Intercultural stumbling blocks always exist between people who come from different countries. LaRay M. Barna describes six stumbling blocks during the process of communication in her reading ‘Intercultural Communication Stumbling Blocks’. These are: assumption of similarities, language difference, nonverbal misinterpretations, the presence of preconceptions and stereotype, tendency to evaluate and high anxiety. Many people face problems with regards to cross-cultural communication and is a process for a person to adapt to another culture. Discussion of language barriers, stereotypes and high anxiety will be seen in the following paragraphs as, in my opinion, are more important. One of the greatest and regular issues seen while communicating with an outsider is language barrier. Stereotypes help understand different people from different cultures and in distinguishing them before becoming more acquainted about them. Moreover, it is anything but easy to cause high anxiety that makes them feel uneasy and strange. These are some of the aspects Barna talks about that, in her opinion, can help recognize and analyze the stumbling blocks in order to have smooth communication with outsiders.
There is a wide range of styles of communicating around the world and language difference & misunderstanding can cause numerous issues in Cross-Cultural Communication. For instance, a few nations used to talk broader while others are briefer. When I came to the United States, I experienced considerable difficulties to comprehend what individuals were stating. I felt they jabbered and talked very fast. In this way, it was challenging to make sense of what they were saying. Similarly, after I have been here around three months and have made a ton of American friends, I started to understand little things like when an American says “no”, it implies they don’t need any more without a doubt. However, when individuals say “no” in the majority of the Asian nations, it implies that they may require more. Barna also gives an example saying, “In some cultures, also, it is polite to refuse the first or second offer of refreshment. Many foreign guests have gone hungry because their U.S hostess never presented the third offer.” (Barna, Pg. 69) In my opinion, language is an important bridge to associate with one another. Even though there might be difficulties, it is essential to recognize that understanding language barriers helps bring people who are from different cultures together.
A preconception and a label besides that has been utilized to distinguish individuals before we speak with them may meddle with the nature of the correspondence. A preconception is just a label we put on different people and cultures for us to help distinguish them. But that can cause misunderstandings and can meddle with the nature of correspondence. We might perceive a culture differently before we even get to know it and that can cause differences. According to Barna,
Stereotypes are over generalized beliefs that provide conceptual bases from which to “make sense” out of what goes on around us. In a foreign land they increase our feeling of security and are psychologically necessary to the degree that we cannot tolerate ambiguity or the sense of helplessness resulting from inability to understand and deal with people and situation beyond our comprehension. (Barna, Pg. 70)
That is valid. Be that as it may, these stereotypes ought not to be utilized to clarify everyone. Barna says that we should look past the preconceptions we have. We should become acquainted with individuals around us independent from anyone else. Now and again, a few people from a particular culture may leave a particular impression for other people from that same culture, however, it doesn’t really imply that everybody from that culture is the same. The stereotype in my country, India, is that Americans are very outgoing and bold whereas in India, people are rather shy and not that straightforward or bold. However, I have met an American girl, who is acting more like an Indian. She is not that bold and speaks in a low voice. Moreover, she likes Indian traditions and can understand Bollywood movies very well. When I was talking to her, I have never felt there were some stumbling blocks between us because she knows the Indian culture even though she’s an American and at the same time doesn’t let it affect the way she acts or speaks. I would not have had this friend if I’d become intimidated and put the preconception on her at first time. I agree with Barna that we need to look past the stereotype and preconception, and be open to learn new people from different cultures.
High anxiety is another significant obstacle during cross culture communication. This can be caused by a misconception of language, stereotypes and numerous different components. Barna affirms that when an international student can’t comprehend what Americans are stating or laughing at, he or she acts as if they understand by nodding and smiling. In the same way, I have experienced the same situation when I came to Montclair State University. I have registered for American and European history as it is a requirement. It is very difficult for me when we have any group discussion because all the students are native speakers and have learned about American history during their High school years. They were very friendly and willing to talk to me. However, I experienced a lot of stress and nervousness when I had to express my ideas after them. My feelings can best be described when Barna says, “His self-esteem is often intolerably undermined when he employs such defenses as withdrawal into his own reference group or into himself, screening out or misperceiving stimuli, rationalizing, overcompensating, even hostility- none of which leads to effective communication.” (Barna, Pg. 72) In some cases, I couldn’t comprehend what they were stating, yet I normally stayed silent, smiling, even when I felt humiliated. I reckon it is important to understand that high anxiety is just a stumbling block and need to overcome it in order to communicate easily with people from different countries and cultures.
Intercultural stumbling blocks do exist in cross culture communications. A great many people will encounter a hard time to alter themselves to another culture. In my very own view, we should keep a positive attitude and determination to overcome these issues. Barna’s methodology and observation on these stumbling blocks to intercultural communication present a legitimate contention in social understanding. Know that these components are extremely important in deciding the result of cultural understanding. No language, culture, values and norms are a standard for human integration. We can’t all view just one language and culture as bridge in a multicultural setting. There are contrasts that exist. In any case, we should have a nonjudgmental methodology while managing these differences and realize the intercultural stumbling blocks. I, accordingly, agree with Barna regarding this matter that all the better we can do is to accept our differences as we move towards social understanding and be considerate of other cultures and people. While it can also be said that there might be more than six stumbling blocks that are essential to understand in order to fully defeat barriers that prevail between people from different cultures but it is also true that it is equally important to recognize the stumbling blocks for intercultural communication as given by Barna. In this manner, it calls for tolerance with each other and taking time to understand one another. Barna’s stumbling blocks can in fact help tons of foreign people through their difficult times facing the barriers and help conquer them.