Book Application: Understanding Intercultural Communication
Joseph Beuca
GLST 650: Intercultural Communication
October 11th, 2024
Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................1
Critical Review...............................................................................................................................1
References.......................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion......................................................................................................................................5
Bibliography...................................................................................................................................6
ii
1
Introduction
The purpose of this assignment is to review Understanding Intercultural Communication.
The first part will be a critical review of this book. The second part will focus on five references
or lessons learned from this book and their application in local ministry. The last part will be a
conclusion.
Critical Review
The author of this book wrote this book to help the readers of this book better understand
intercultural communication. There are eight chapters covered in this book. The first chapter of
this book lists six reasons why intercultural communications should be studied: the impact of
technology on everyday intercultural communication; the global and domestic diversity
workforce; nontraditional interpersonal relationships; global health care concerns and
opportunities; personal empowerment, social advocacy and social justice; inclusivity reason.1 In
chapter two intercultural communication is defined and intercultural communication flexibility is
discussed.2
Chapter three addresses four cultural value dimensions which are the individualism-
collectivism value dimension, the small-large power distance value dimension, the weak-strong
uncertainty avoidance value dimension and the feminine-masculine value dimension.3 The next
chapter in the book is chapter in the book is chapter six. This chapter discusses the connection
between verbal communication and culture and identifies four distinctive features of human
1 Stella Ting-Toomey and Leeva C. Chung,/Understanding Intercultural Communication, 3rd ed. (New
York: Oxford University Press, 2021), 4.
2 Ibid., 28.
3 Ibid., 47.
2
language. They are arbitrariness, abstractness, meaning-centeredness and creativity.4Chapter
seven lists several ways of communicating nonverbally across cultures. The definition of
nonverbal communication is “the use of nonlinguistic and paralinguistic cues that are
consciously or unconsciously expressed and decode through multiple communication channels in
a sociocultural setting.”5
Chapter eight discusses reasons why people hold biases against outgroups, addressing
ethnocentrism and stereotypes.6 Chapter nine covers how to manage intercultural conflict
flexibly using skills like facework management, and adaptive code-switching.7 Chapter twelve is
the last chapter and gives guidance on how to become ethical intercultural communicators,
covering four ethical positions from ethical absolutism to meta-ethics contextualism.8 A thing the
author of this review critiques is the overwhelming amount of information put forth in an
academic way, making it inaccessible and not very useful to most readers. There is also no
connection in this book to a Christian worldview.
References
The first lesson I learned from this book that can be applied to my current ministry is that
intercultural communication is a symbolic exchange of two or more people from different
cultures attempting to created shared meanings and experiences in a given context.9 What this
means in the context of local ministry is that when I communicate with people in my community
4 Ting-Toomey and Chung, Understanding, 136.
5 Ibid., 164.
6 Ibid., 192.
7 Ibid., 219.
8 Ibid., 298.
9 Ibid., 30.
3
from different backgrounds and try to get on the same page with them when it comes to sharing
the Gospel or serving in ministry, I need to understand that the culture they come from is going
to influence how they approach certain things. The same goes for me. I am a second generation
Romanian American. I have a large Romanian cultural influence. I need to understand that when
I am trying to approach someone to share the Gospel or even to strike up a conversation about
doing some joint church service, I need to be aware of their cultural influences as well as mine so
that I can overcome these and communicate intelligently and interculturally.
The second thing I learned from this book that can be applied to my current ministry is
the importance of flexible intercultural communication which emphasizes the importance of
being open-minded and integrating knowledge and creatively and adaptively practicing this in
everyday communication.10 It is much easier to just stick my guns, what I have learned and
known, my culture and cultural values, and try and influence someone else than to be open-
minded and being adaptive and creative in my communication with people of other cultures. The
church I pastor is a bilingual Romanian American church. We have Sunday evening services
because we do not own our own building are renting from an American church. The way
Romanians see church is different than Americans do when it comes to leadership structure,
operations and fellowship. It is easy to be inflexible and dismissive of other cultures and not find
value in how they are structured, operate and have fellowship. I plan on being a student of other
churches in the hopes of becoming more knowledgeable and open minded when it comes to the
organization of church structure, operations and fellowship so that we are better positioned in the
future to become a multi-ethnic church.
The third thing I learned from this book that I plan to apply to my current ministry is to
be more knowledgeable about cultures that are more collectivistic. Being in the United States,
10 Ting-Toomey and Chung, Understanding, 35.
4
there is strong Individualism, and it is easy to try and continue to be individualistic when it
comes to serving in ministry, when in reality, as the body of Christ, we should be more
collectivistic in our approach to life as the Church. Individualism is when a culture places higher
value on individual identity versus group identity, while collectivism is when a culture places
higher value on group identity than individual identity.11 Knowing the history of communism in
Romania, a place my father risked his life to leave for the sake of freedom and opportunity, it is
even more critical that I do not paint collectivistic cultures with a broad brush. It is important to
understand that others see decision making as more of a group decision and that they are not
inherently wrong to see things this way. I plan to be more understanding of people who are not
very individualistic when it comes to certain decisions and wanting to weigh more options and
the opinions of the group prior to deciding.
The fourth thing I learned from this book that I plan to apply to my current ministry is
understanding direct and indirect verbal variation styles. These different styles of communication
are more and more prevalent in the globalized and multicultural world we live in. I feel that I
personally utilize both direct and indirect styles, depending on who I am speaking with and what
I am speaking about. Direct style is when someone clear speaks what is on their mind with a
direct and forthright voice. Indirect style is when the actual intentions of the speaker are more
camouflaged and are spoken with a softer tone.12 I am more able to notice subtle hints from
congregants having a better understanding of the indirect style of communication. In the church I
serve, the second and third generation Romanian are more direct, while the first generation are
more indirect. I plan on being more aware of these different styles so that I understand when
those with an indirect style are trying to communicate something to me.
11 Ting-Toomey and Chung, Understanding, 54.
12 Ibid., 154.
5
The fifth thing I learned from this book that I want to apply to my current ministry is
being more aware of nonverbal communications from various cultures. Nonverbal messages
communicate emotions, attitudes and the nature of our relationships with other people.13 Each
culture has its unique ways of communicating nonverbally. Knowing more about nonverbal
communication about the various cultures in the neighborhood where the church is located will
help us to better reach them, communicate with them, and present them the Gospel.
.
Conclusion
In closing, this book has been useful in making me more aware of what interculture
communication is and how to use it in the context of local ministry. It has helped make me more
aware of the need to be more active in learning about people from other cultures and how to be
flexible when it comes to intercultural communication. It has also helped me to better understand
people from collectivistic cultures. Lastly, I learned to better understand indirect communication
styles and nonverbal messages. I plan on using principles from this book to aid me in my
ministry not only now, but in the future as well.
13 Ting-Toomey and Chung, Understanding, 164.
6
Bibliography
Ting-Toomey, Stella and Leeva C. Chung./Understanding Intercultural Communication. 3rd ed.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.
