Chapter 2

COMMUNICATION & GLOBALIZATION

RATIONALE:
Communication and globalization in the 21st century introduce us to a new
dimension of perspectives. In this chapter, the students will be able to understand
the kind of communication required for an individual to perform and manifest in the
real world.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
At the end of this chapter, you must be able to:
1. explain how cultural and global issues affect communication.
2. understand the role of media in globalization.

PRETEST:
Complete the tables on page 39.

CONTENT:

COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE - the ability to function in a truly communicative

setting. It is the knowledge of effective and appropriate communication patterns and
the ability to use and adapt knowledge in various contexts. It is also the synthesis of
an underlying system of knowledge and skill needed for communication

COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE deals with:

• knowledge.
• the ability to use
• the ability to adapt to various contexts

COMPETENCE - refers to the conscious and unconscious knowledge of an individual

about language and about other aspects of language use

COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCE

1. GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE - the domain of grammatical and lexical

capacity 2.SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCE - an understanding of the social
context in which communication takes place, including role relationships, the
shared information of the participants, and the communicative purpose of their
interaction
3. DISCOURSE COMPETENCE - the ability to interpret individual message
elements in terms of their interconnectedness and of how meaning is
represented in relationship to the entire discourse
4. STRATEGIC COMPETENCE - the coping strategies that communicators employ
to initiate, terminate, maintain, repair and redirect communication
EXPECTED SKILLS FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES
(National Communication Association)
1. State ideas clearly.
2. Communicate ethically.
3. Recognize when it is appropriate to communicate.
4. Identify their communication goals.
5. Select the most appropriate and effective medium for
communicating. 6. Demonstrate credibility.
7. Identify and manage misunderstandings.
8. Manage conflict.
9. Be open-minded about another’s point of view.
10. Listen attentively.

GLOBAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE

COMPETENCE - the ability of individuals that relates effectively to self and others in
daily life.

COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE - an innate individual trait that is not related to

personal intellect or education, thus, is an internal ability that is enhanced and
luminated through the promotion of empathy in the process of socialization

In the global communication context, competence further requires individuals to be

equipped with the ability to acknowledge, respect, tolerate and integrate cultural
differences to be qualified for enlightened global citizenship

MODEL OF GLOBAL COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE

This enables individuals to search for the vision, shared understanding, and sense of
multiple identities that lead to the unlocking of human potential in the development of
intelligence, knowledge, and creativity for a peaceful and productive society.

FOUR DIMENSIONS OF COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE

Chen (2005) defines communication competence as an innate individual trait that is not
related to personal intellect or education. Thus, he developed a “model of global
communication competence” that enables individuals to search for the vision, shared
understanding, and sense of multiple identities that lead to the unlocking of human
potential in the development of intelligence, knowledge, and creativity for a peaceful
and productive society.

1. GLOBAL MINDSET - is a psychological process that represents patterns of an

individual or group thinking. It is a fixed mental attitude that leads people to see
things and events from a specific lens through perception and reasoning.

2. UNFOLDING THE SELF - the ability to look for shared communication symbols and
project the self into another person’s mind by thinking the same thoughts, feelings,
and emotions as the person.

3. MAPPING THE CULTURE - ability to contrast cultural differences that may motivate
us to prefer alternative styles of cultural expressions and engender in us a desire to
 retool so that we can better function with the demands of global environment and
cope with the changing environment rapidly.

4. ALIGNING THE INTERACTION - requires individuals to foster the ability of cultural

adroitness by which they can function effectively and appropriately without violating
their counterpart’s norms and rules to reach a global civic society.

GLOBALIZATION

Definitions of Globalization:
1. Globalization is associated with deterritorialization
2. Globalization is linked to the growth of social interconnectedness across existing
geographical and political boundaries.
3. Globalization must also include a reference to the speed or velocity of social
activity 4. Globalization should be conceived as a relatively long-term process

FEATURES OF GLOBALIZATION

1. The emergence of transnational communication conglomerates as key players in

the global system.
2. The social impact of new technologies, especially those associated with satellite
communication
3. The asymmetric flow of information and communication products within the global
system
4. The variations and inequalities in terms of access to the global networks of
communication

MAJOR TRENDS IN GLOBALIZATION

1. Technology development has made globalization inevitable and
irreversible. 2. Economic transformation has led to a new landscape of
economic world.

THE IMPACT OF GLOBALIZATION

Globalization requires the development of a person’s language ability. The ability to use
language accurately and appropriately is a requirement of a globalizing society. In a
social interaction, a person demonstrates the ability to respond appropriately to the
formality level of the situation, can use a variety of sentence structures, and can
handle expanded inventory of concrete, idiomatic and conceptual language. Hence,
the creativity to use the English language is a determinant of a person’s
communication skill.

Today, people need to understand the dynamics of long-distance collaboration, the

impact of culture on manners of speaking and body language, and how to use
technology to communicate with people on the other side of the globe. Understanding
the impact of globalization on each of these factors can help students to select their
most useful communication skills development programs.

1. VIRTUAL INTERACTIONS. Globalization has introduced virtual communication

 and collaboration as a major part of workplace dynamics. Modern entrepreneurs
need to understand the strengths and limitations of different communications
media, and how to use each medium to maximum effect.

2. CULTURAL AWARENESS IN SPEECH. The need for cultural awareness is a

major impact of globalization on the required skillset of effective communicators.
Modern entrepreneurs and employees need the ability to catch subtle nuances
of people’s manner of speech when communicating across cultures. Even when
two people are speaking the same language, cultural differences can affect
vocabulary, colloquial expressions, voice tone, and taboo topics (Ingram, 2009).

3. CULTURAL AWARENESS IN BODY LANGUAGE. Awareness of cultural

differences in body language can be just as important as the nuances of speech.
Students should understand acceptable speaking distances, conflict styles, eye
contact, and posture in different cultures, accepting that the physical expressions
of their own culture are not universally accepted. These differences should be
addressed to avoid difficulties or miscommunication.
4. TIME DIFFERENCES. The advent of global collaboration introduces another new
dynamic to communication skills— the need to communicate and share
information with people across several time zones. When people collaborate
with others on the other side of the globe, their counterparts are usually at home
asleep while they themselves are at work. Today’s communication skills
development programs should address the nuances of overcoming this
challenge by teaching people to understand the information needs of their
colleagues, according to the communication styles of different countries or
cultures. Being able to effectively share information between shifts can make or
break the productivity of a geographically dispersed team, making this an
important issue for many companies (Ingram, 2009).

THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN GLOBALIZATION

COMMUNICATION MEDIA - plays a significant role in constructing and representing

the phenomenon of globalization and subsequently changing educational and learning
processes.

ROLES OF MEDIA:
1. It enables communication to take place in real time over great
distances. 2. It advances the 21st century into what we speak as the
globalization of communication.
3. The emergence of electronic media and the digital media has brought about a
radical change on how we see education.

LANGUAGE AND GLOBALIZATION

21ST CENTURY LANGUAGE has become the language that exists in the global

world. Here are some of the terminologies in the globalizing society:

CHAT ROOM - internet feature that allows people to communicate in

real time COMPUTER LITERACY - internet literacy; ability to use
computers
CYBERSPACE - world wide web
DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP - the creation of conscious critical forms of integration
in the globalizing society; a person utilizing technology (digital citizen)
DIGITAL COMPETENCE - confidence and critical use of information
technology DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS - adults who adapt to their environment as
they retain their language; born before the widespread of technology
DIGITAL NATIVES - young people who are native speakers of the digital
language of computers; born on the era of technology
DIGITAL SKILLS - ability to evaluate a variety of technological solutions; more
than just knowing how to use a specific technology well
EMOJI - the creation of a new alphabet; pictograph
EMOTICON - words without letters conveying emotional responses
ETHNOSCAPE - landscape of persons who form the shifting world where we
live HYPERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION - computer mediated
communication that is more socially desirable than face-to-face communication
IDEOSCAPE - the movement of ideologies
MEDIASCAPE - pertains to the electronic and print media in global cultural
flows MEDIAMORPHOSIS - transformation of communication media
OMG - Oh My God!
SELFIE - an ego-manical madness; gives focus on an individual
STREAMING MULTIMEDIA - live audio and video available on a
website TECHNOSCAPE - movement of technology
TELEMATIC NETWORK - convergence of telecommunications and
information processing
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY - community that exists in the world of
electronic communication rather than in the physical world
VIRTUAL REALITY - the use of computer to simulate an experience in a way that is