New approach to intercultural understanding

Multicultural or intercultural communication cannot be learned without intercultural understanding, which is based on the knowledge of culture. The word “culture” has four different meanings:

(1) High culture, the achievements of a society in terms of the most esteemed forms of literature, art, music.

(2) Culture as behavior, the ways people agree to behave, act, and respond.

(3) Culture as ways of thinking: modes of perception, beliefs and values.

(4)Culture as language, the close link between language and culture.

The second meaning of culture, that is, culture as behavior, is related to clothing, food, architecture, transportation, appearance and so on, it is usually called “overt culture” or, in the “iceberg model of culture”, what is above the waterline and therefore easily observable.

Culture as behavior is subject to constant changes and is easily learned. The third meaning of culture, modes of perception, beliefs and values, is not easily observable and is often out of our own and others’ awareness, it is called “covert culture” and, in the “iceberg model of culture,” what is below the waterline. In our search of how to teach and learn intercultural understanding and communication, we shall be dealing with meanings three and four of culture.