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Difference in Cultures:
- History and geography
- political social and economical organisation
- languages
- philosophies
- beliefs and religions
- rituals, etiquette and ethics
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What is "worldview"?
- the way people characteristically look out on the universe
- systemised totality of beliefs about the world
- system of beliefs that provides a frame of reference for understanding the culture's way of perceiving, thinking and speaking
- lense we look through
- shapes behaviours, beliefs, actions etc
- fundamental understanding of how people look at the world
- provide social rules and laws that govern almost every aspect of life
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Secular: Post/Modern worldview
- Linear view
- search for meaning, knowledge, answers to the big questions
- use science and technology to attempt to explain worlds mysteries
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Dualistic worldview
- Attempt to understand and interperet the spiritual/divine world
- Religion
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Worldview typically adopted by the East:
- humans are one with nature
- mind and body are one
- humans should not try to control nature
- humans shoudl feel comfortable with anyone
- science and technology create an illusion of progress
- enlightenment causes differences to disappear and brings oneness
- rebirth - no judgement
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Worldview typically adopted by the West:
- humans = seperate from nature
- humans consist of mind body and soul
- humans have to manipulate and control nature to survive
- humans should reward actions competetive in spirit
- science and technology provide the good life
- look to science and technology to explain
- judgement @ end to get into "heaven or hell"
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Indigenous/Tribal worldview:
- Realm of the Gods
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- Realm of the Humans
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- Realm of the Dead
- Bad and good things occure because of the relationships between the realms
- Meduims, Diviners and animals can move between realms
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What is Purity and Pollution?
- can be physical or spiritual (pollution = uncleanliness)
- imaginary lines around people time space nature
- pollution = out of place, not belonging
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Purity and Pollution (boundaries)
What are the six areas of purity and pollution?
- 1. Time - daily, seasonal, lifetime
- 2. Place - clean/unclean
- 3. People - marriage/eating/authority and function (who to associate with)
- 4. Things - offered in sacrifice
- 5. Meals - grown, prepared, slaughtered, eaten & shared (eg Islam, Jewish)
- 6. Others - whoever, whatever can pollute by contact
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How do you think issues of purity and pollution impact on guest-host behaviours?
EG: guests concerned with purity may only want to use towels once => direct impact on hotel and staff
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Where can cultural differences be seen in the way we communicate?
- Verbal
- - vocab
- - grammar
- - sentence structure
- - sounds
- Non-verbal
- - body movement
- - facial expressions
- - physical space
- - touch
- - time orientation perception
- - speed
- - volume
- - posture
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What are some barriers to intercultural communication?
- anxiety
- assuming similarity instead of difference
- ethnocentrism (assuming your culture/background is superior)
- stereotypes
- prejudice
- racism
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What are sterotypes/generalisation?
- A way of mentally organising what is familiar and unfamiliar so we can copare what we do not yet understand with what we already know
- Can be negative, positive or neutral
- Risk of assuming what applies to one applies to all
- The reality is that we are all individuals within our culture
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What is ethnocentrism?
- negative evaluation of other cultures based on the person's own culture
- belief that your way of doing things is right and preferable
- a form of superiority
- the reality is, we may have "different minds but similar problems"
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What is racism?
- belief that all members of a race/cultural background exhibit the same characteristics, qualities, and abilities
- belief in superiority of one race over the other
- often related to a negative view of the other person or group
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What are some translation problems?
- Vocabulary equivalence
- Idiomatic equivalence
- Grammatical-synatical equivalence
- - differences in grammar/word order
- Experiential equivalence
- - objects or experiences may not exist in all cultures therefore may not have a word for it
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What does this mean for a tourism organisation?
- be aware
- select simple, specific, concrete words
- use the most common meaning of words
- avoid idioms, slang, jargon, buzzwords, and acronyms
- respect the basic rules of correct grammar
- be polite and formal
- accommodate: meet your communication partner halfway
- develop empathy and patience
- listen
- in a business environment: use several communication models
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