Cross- cultural Communication This page intentionally left blank

particular IT system. He has no previous experience of the area.
‘What do we think we know about them already?’
For each of the following three nationalities, write a maximum of six words 
or phrases which describe how you perceive people of these countries:
Estonians
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………..
Latvians
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………..
Lithuanians
………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………..
Comment
It is very likely that the businessman’s answers will reveal some generali-
zations and stereotypical views. In addition, he will probably not have 
considered the three nationalities as being very distinct, as he has been 
conditioned to refer to them as the ‘Baltic States’, that is, as one group.
In discussion, students should realize that stereotyping is very often inac-
curate, but, nevertheless, it can retain a very forcible and suggestive power. 
If the points made, whether true or false, are repeated enough times, there 
is a strong tendency for them to be believed.
Perception exercises
There are a number of simple exercises to help explain perception to 
students. These include a famous perceptual illusion in which the brain 
switches between seeing a young girl and an old woman. For many years, 

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Teaching Cross- Cultural Communication 291
the creator of this figure was considered to be the British cartoonist W. Hill, 
who published it in 1915 in Puck, a humour magazine in America, inspired 
by the British magazine Punch. Hill almost certainly adapted it from an origi-
nal concept widely popular on trading and puzzle cards. This is represented 
below in Figure 15.3.
Figure 15.3 The ‘young lady/old lady’ (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/ YoungGirl-
OldWomanIllusion.html, date accessed 17 December 2012)
This exercise shows that our perception is our reality, at least until we 
know better. In our daily life, perception involves checking data for validity. 
In dealing with perception, it is important to impress upon students that:
perception is selective and is very often culture- driven;
perception works on differences more than similarities;
perceived differences lead to various reactions depending on the level of 
culture affected;
our perception of another culture is relative, very often in comparison to 
our own set of values.
Summary
The methodology of teaching cross- cultural communication can involve 
cultural awareness training, country- specific briefings, case studies, criti-
cal incident scenarios, simulation and role playing, and cultural values 
exercises. In addition, there may be a need for language training.
The choice of methods depends greatly on the time and resources available.
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292 Cross-Cultural Communication
Whenever possible, teaching should be experiential, encouraging students 
to make choices, and sufficient time for discussion should be allowed 
as required. Simulation, role playing and case studies can be used to 
advantage.
Whenever possible, nationals of the foreign culture should be involved. 
If appropriate and if time permits, members of the family as well as the 
working partner should be involved in at least part of the pre- departure 
cultural training.
All teaching should use up- to- date scenarios, based on relevant experi-
ence in the target culture, involving nationals of the destination culture 
if possible.
The benefits of intercultural competence and cultural awareness training 
should be emphasized to all students – in particular, that such training 
enhances their people skills and future employment opportunities.