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CULTURE–COMMUNICATION–INTERCULTURALCOMMUNICATION
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interculturaldivergencescanbeinterpretedasthedivergencesbetweenverbaland
non-verbalsymbolswithinaspecificcontextofcommunication.Apartfromcul-
turaldivergences,theprocessofcommunicationisinfluencedbytheage,gender,
professionandsocialstatusofthecommunicants.
Tosumup,interculturalcommunicationistobeviewedasthetotalityofdif-
ferentformsofrelationshipsandcommunicationbetweenindividualsandgroups
belongingtodifferentcultures.
1.2.ApproachestoStudyingInterculturalCommunication
Thehistoryofinterculturalcommunicationdevelopmentshowsthatitwasini-
tiallyformedonthebasisofintegrationofthedifferentbranchesofhumanities
andtheirmethods.Interculturalcommunicationoriginatedfromanumberoffields:
linguistics,anthropology,psychology,sociology,ethnologyetc.Intheprocessof
cooperation,theirtheoriesandmethodsmixed,gaininganintegrativecharacter,
whichbecameoneofthefundamentalprinciplesofinterculturalcommunication.
However,theinterdisciplinarycharacterofinterculturalcommunicationdoesnot
excludedifferentapproachestostudyingit.Thus,thefollowingapproachesto
studyinginterculturalcommunicationwereformed:functional,explanatory,cul-
turalcriticality,experientiallearningand"emic”and"etic”approaches(Humprey
2002).Theseapproachesarebasedondifferentconceptionsofhumannature,be-
haviourandthenatureofhumanknowledge.Everyapproachcontributestoabetter
understandingoftheprocessofinterculturalcommunication.
TheFunctionalApproach
Thefunctionalapproachwasformedinthe1980sandisbasedonmethodsused
insociologyandpsychology(Chesboro1984).Accordingtothisapproach,allthe
changesinculturecanbemeasuredandexplained,consequently,predicted,since
culturedefineshumanbehaviourandcommunication.Themainobjectiveofthe
approachistoshowthespecificcharacterofthenatureoftheinfluenceofculture
oncommunication.Acomparisonoftheculturaldivergencesoftheinteracting
partiescanpredictthesuccessorfailureoftheircommunication.
ThefunctionalapproachresultedinCommunicativeAdjustmentTheory,
whichclaimsthatininterculturalcommunicativesituationspeoplehaveaten-
dencytoadjusttheircommunicativebehaviourtothebehaviouroftheircommu-
nicativepartners(Hyun2009).Changingthestyleofcommunicationoccursmore
rapidlyduringarelaxed,calmexchangeorincaseswhenthecommunicantsdonot
seeanydramaticdifferencesbetweenthemselvesandtheirinterlocutors.While
communicatingwithrepresentativesofdifferentculturesweprefertoadjusttothe
interlocutorsifweestimatethempositively.Forinstance,whilecommunicating
withaforeigner,wetendtospeakmoreslowly,clearlyandmoredistinctly,useless
