Chapter 2

Communication and Globalization

Communication competence is underscored since it has been the goal of any

english language classroom and has become a focus in higher education. Also we will try
to link communication and globalization.

Globalization takes us to an understanding, advancement and interdependence.

Globalize. Creation of international network of economic systems where there is the

establishment of interdependence and interconnectedness between the varied social,
economic, and political components of the world.

Thomas Larsson (2001): “the process of world shrinkage, of distances getting

shorter, things moving closer. It pertains to the increasing ease with which somebody on
one side of the world can interact...”

We are living in a globalized society, where global alliance and dependence in terms
of business, political, economic, and cultural practice are evident that the world shaped
the world all over the year. For this reason, people must acquire knowledge and skills that
account for "global communication competence" because it is only through global
communication competence can people from different cultures communicate effectively
and productively in the globalize society.

Communication Competence

The term communicative competence refers to both the tacit knowledge of a

language and the ability to use it effectively. It's also called communication competence .
The concept of communicative competence (a term coined by linguist Dell Hymes in
1972) grew out of resistance to the concept of linguistic competence introduced by Noam
Chomsky (1965). Most scholars now consider linguistic competence to be a part of
communicative competence.

1. Linguistic competence is the knowledge of the language code, i.e. its grammar
and vocabulary, and also of the conventions of its written representation (script and
orthography). The grammar component includes the knowledge of the sounds and their
pronunciation (i.e. phonetics), the rules that govern sound interactions and patterns (i.e.
phonology), the formation of words by means of e.g. inflection and derivation (i.e.
morphology), the rules that govern the combination of words and phrases to structure
sentences (i.e. syntax), and the way that meaning is conveyed through language (i.e.
semantics).

2. Sociolinguistic competence is the knowledge of sociocultural rules of use, i.e.

knowing how to use and respond to language appropriately. The appropriateness depends
on the setting of the communication, the topic, and the relationships among the people
communicating. Moreover, being appropriate depends on knowing what the taboos of the
other culture are, what politeness indices are used in each case, what the politically
correct term would be for something, how a specific attitude (authority, friendliness,
courtesy, irony etc.) is expressed etc.

3. Discourse competence is the knowledge of how to produce and comprehend oral

or written texts in the modes of speaking/writing and listening/reading respectively. It’s
knowing how to combine language structures into a cohesive and coherent oral or written
text of different types. Thus, discourse competence deals with organising words, phrases
and sentences in order to create conversations, speeches, poetry, email messages,
newspaper articles etc.

4. Strategic competence is the ability to recognise and repair communication

breakdowns before, during, or after they occur. For instance, the speaker may not know a
certain word, thus will plan to either paraphrase, or ask what that word is in the target
language. During the conversation, background noise or other factors may hinder
communication; thus the speaker must know how to keep the communication channel
open. If the communication was unsuccessful due to external factors (such as
interruptions), or due to the message being misunderstood, the speaker must know how to
restore communication. These strategies may be requests for repetition, clarification,
slower speech, or the usage of gestures, taking turns in conversation etc.

Moreover, for Cooley and Roach (1984) communication competence refers to the
knowledge of effective and appropriate communication patterns and the ability to use and
adapt that knowledge in various contexts. To better understand this definition, let’s break
apart its components.

1. It deals with knowledge

The first part of the definition we will unpack deals with knowledge . The cognitive
elements of competence include knowing how to do something and understanding why
things are done the way they are. People can develop cognitive competence by observing
and evaluating the actions of others.

2. The ability to use

Individual factors affect our ability to do anything. Not everyone has the same
athletic, musical, or intellectual ability. At the individual level, a person’s physiological
and psychological characteristics affect competence. In terms of physiology, age,
maturity, and ability to communicate affect competence. In terms of psychology, a
person’s mood, stress level, personality, and level of communication apprehension (level
of anxiety regarding communication) affect competence.

3. The ability to adapt various context

What is competent or not varies based on social and cultural context, which makes it
impossible to only have one standard for what counts as communication competence.
Social variables such as status and power affect competence. Cultural variables such as
race and nationality also affect competence.
 Expected Skills for College Graduates

The National Communication Association (NCA) has identified that students should be
able to do in terms speaking and listening competencies by the time they graduate from
college.

1. State ideas clearly.

2. Communication 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 is the ability of individuals that relates effectively to self and others in daily
life. It is an integration of various components based on the individual’s cognitive,
affective and behavioral abilities.

 CHEN (2005)
o 3 Aspects of competence
1. It is the cognitive ability to understand situational and
environmental requirements;
2. It is the motivation to demonstrate the ability to understand
situational and environmental requirements
3. It is the effectiveness and appropriateness for accomplishing
specific goals in interaction.

Model of Global Communication Competence

1. Global Mindset – As a psychological process, mindset represents patterns of

individual or group thinking. Through perception and reasoning process, which is
predisposed by culture, mindset is a fixed mental attitude that leads people to see
things and events from a specific lens. Mindset, to see things in a particular way,
then serves as a cognitive filter through which we look at the world around us.
Because we acquire cognitive filters through learning, which is embedded in the
process of socialization and personal experience, the more diverse the personal
and cultural background is, the more different the mindset would be

 People with global mindset are characterized as culturally sensitive,

open, knowledgeable, critical and holistic thinkers and flexible.

2. Unfolding the Self – Global communication competence requires individuals to

unfold and expand the personal characteristics, including flexibility, sensitivity,
being open-mindedness and motivation. As the centrality of the global society, the
self must be mobilized to visualize its identity for the establishment of its
continuity.
 Unfolding the self, comprises the following components (Chen, 2005)
 i. Ceaseless purifying. The “self” must be ceaselessly edified,
constantly liberated, and perpetually purified in order to play the
most important and fundamental role in achieving the productive
living of global society.

ii. Continuous learning. Individual should strive for continuous

learning and enlightenment. The continuous improvements create
superior individuals who possess a refined and elegant character
and a balance mind.

iii. Cultivate sensitivity. Refinement and cultivation transform the

superior individual into an excellent one whose actions are in
harmony with the high standard of values that are universally
acceptable in all human societies.

iv. Develop creativity. The ability of unfolding the self is an

important way to promote creativity, learning and innovation
process of globalization.

v. Foster empathy. Great empathy formulates the ideal of fellow-

feeling by expanding the self-consciousness of one’s fellow
persons.

3. Mapping the Culture – Global communication competence requires cognitive

ability to map one's own and another’s cultures. It is the ability to acquire cultural
knowledge. To understand ourselves as a cultural being from our own cultural
perspective is the basis of knowing our counterparts’ culture. It is this mutual
awareness of cultural knowledge that makes respect and integration of cultural
difference possible.

 Bewilderment of the differences. The knowledge which is based on the

superficial cultural traits leads to the reaction of unbelievability.

 Frustration of the differences. The knowledge of deeper cultural traits

that greatly contrast with ours leads to an internal conflict situation and
irrational interpretations of differences.

 Cognitive analysis. Individuals begin to analyze intellectually the

differences of cultural traits

 Emphatic immersion. Individuals move into the stage of emphatic

awareness in which they are able to see the differences from their
culturally-different counterpart’s position.

4. Aligning the Interaction – To act or align interactions effectively in the process of

intercultural or global communication enables individuals to get the task done and attain
communication goals for being a successful global citizen (Chen, 2005)
 *Effectiveness-This component refers to the individual’s ability to select among a
set of communication behaviors to accomplish specific goals in the process of global
communication..

These specific goals include getting relevant information about these goals , accurately
predicting the other’s response, selecting communication strategies, and correctly
assessing the result of interaction in a multicultural context.

*Appropriateness-refers to the ability of a person to meet the contextual

requirements in the global communication, or to recognize the different sets of rules in
different situation.

(Chen , 2002)

-It indicates the right quantity of message sending , the consistent quality of
message delivered, the relevance of the message and situation, and the manner of
expression

(Wiemann, 1977)

Context of appropriateness in global communication

a. Verbal and non-verbal contexts

b. Relationship contexts
c. Environmental contexts

GLOBALIZATION-promotes the development the development and prevalence of

digital technologies that make communication faster and information more easily
accessible.

Consider the followiing definitions of globalization from the Standford Encyclopedia of

Philosophy edited by Scheuerman (2014)

1.Globalization is associated with deterritorialization

-according to which a growing variety of social activities takes place irrespective of the
geographical location of participants .

2. Globalization is linked to the growth of social interconnectedness across existing

geographical and political boundaries

-It refers “to processes of change which underpin a transformation in the organization of
human affairs by linking together and expanding human activity across regions and
continents” (Held, McGrew ,GoldBlatt and Perraton 1999, 15)

3. Globalization must also include a reference to the speed or velocity of social

activity
-The linking and expanding of social activities across borders is predicated on the
possibility of relatively fast flow and movements of people, information ,capital and
goods.

4. Globalization should be conceived as a relatively long-term process

s-some contemporary theorists believe that globalization has taken a particularly intense
form in recent decades , as innovations in communication, transportation, and
possibilities for simultaneity and instantaneousness (Harvey , 1989

5. Globalization should be understood as a multi-pronged process

-The emergence of “around-the-world around-the-clock” financial markets , where major

border financial transaction made in cyberspace at the blink of an eye, represents a
familiar example of the economic face of globalization.

Features of Globalization

Thompson (1995) acknowledged that the origins of globalization of

communication can be traced back to the mid nineteenth century.

*The emergence of transnational communication conglomerates as key

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

Major Trend in Globalization

1. Technology development has made globalization inevitable and irreversible. The

human society has fundamentally transformed a rapid development of communication
technologies and linked every part of the world into an interconnected network. The most
recent advancement of technology is the development of electronic mail systems such as
email, computer conferencing, web pages; the use of mobile phones, and the innovation
of transportation technologies.

1. Internet is the most significant contribution to the global interconnectivity. It

has blurred the line between mass and interpersonal communication and enable
both personal and public messages to flow across national boundaries faster and
more easily.

2. Economic transformation has led to a new landscape of economic world. The

economic shifts to globalization inevitably changes the contour of the world of work and
bring in new customers, new corporations, new knowledge, and new jobs (O'Hara -
Devereaux & Johansen, 1994)
The Impact of Globalization

Globalization Impact on Communication Skills Development

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 dor cultural awareness is a major

impact of globalization on the required skill set of effective communicator.
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 distance, colflict styles, eye contact, and posture
in different cultures, accepting that the physical expressions of their own culture
are not universall accepted.

4. Time differences. The advent of global collaboration introduces another new

dynamic to communicate and share information with people across several time
zones. When people collaborate with other on the other side of the globe, their
counterparts are usually at home asleep while they themselves are at work.
Today's communication skill development program should address the nuances of
overcoming this challenges by teaching people to understand the information
needs of their colleagues, according to the communication styles of different
countr and cultures. Being able to share effectively 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 the Globalization Process

Communication media play a significant role in constructing and representing the

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

Cornali and Tirocchi (2012) presented the role of media in the globalization
process:

1. It enables communication to take place in real time over great distances. The
new forms of communication, especially the electronic media, had shrunk the
globe into a much smaller physical space where information passes
instantaneously from one part of the world to another.

2. It advances the 21st century into what we speak as the globalization of

communication. There are aspects that express these advances of communication
(Thompson, 1995)
 The emergence of transnational communication conglomerates as key players in
the global system;
the social impact of new technologies, especially those associated with satellite
communication;
The asymmetric flow of information and communication produts with in the
global system.
The variations of inequalities in terms of access to the global networks of
communication.
3. The emerge of the electronic media and the digital media has brought about a
radical change on how we see education, forcing people to relocate it in the new
economic and social scene and to redefine educational roles, content and styles.

2 stages:

1. Characterized by the advent of television and the electronic media

2. The birth of the telematic networks and the internet

Language and Globalization

Language continues evolve. It keeps. On developing as. People are become more
literate in the global world.

Terminologies in the Globalizing Society

11. Chat room - an area on the Internet or other computer network where users can
communicate, typically limiting communication to a particular topic.
 Computer literacy -requires some understanding of computer programming and
how computers work
 Cyberspace - the notional environment in which communication over computer
networks occurs
 Digital citizenship s- refers to a person utilizing information technology in order
to engage in society, politics, and government.
 Digital competence - It comprises the related knowledge and skills you need have
to exploit ICT efficiently for your own purposes, be it for your personal or
professional life.
 Digital immigrants - a person born or brought up before the widespread use of
digital technology.
 Digital natives - a person born or brought up during the age of digital technology
and therefore familiar with computers and the Internet from an early age.
 Digital skills -'the ability to find, evaluate, utilize, share, and create content using
information technologies and the Internet
 Emoji - a small digital image or icon used to express an idea, emotion, etc.
 Emoticon - representation of a facial expression such as:-) (representing a smile),
formed by various combinations of keyboard characters and used to convey the
writer's feelings or intended tone.
 Ethnoscape - is one of five elementary frameworks used by Arjun Appadurai, in
purpose of exploring fundamental discrepancies of global cultural flows.
 Hyperpersonal Communication - The hyperpersonal model is a model of
interpersonal communication that suggests computer-mediated communication
(CMC) can become hyperpersonal because it "exceeds [face-to-face] interaction",
thus affording message senders a host of communicative advantages over
traditional face-to-face (FtF) interaction.
 Ideoscape - it is usually composed of ideas ,terms, and images including
"freedom, welfare, right sovereignty, representation, and democracy
 Mediascape - refers to the electronic and print media in "global cultural flows".
 Mediamorphosis - newspapers, magazines, television, and radio, in the context of
transformations in human
 OMG - used to express shock, excitement, disbelief, etc
 Selfie - a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a
smartphone or webcam and shared via social media.
 Streaming multimedia - is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented
to an end-user while being delivered by a provider.
 Technoscape - is the movement of technology and the ability to move such
technology at rapid speeds.
 Telematic network - describe the integrated use of communications and
information technology to transmit, store and receive information
 Virtual Community - a community of people sharing common interests, ideas, and
feelings over the Internet.
 Virtual Reality - the computer - seemingly real or physical way by a person using
special electronic equipment, such as a helmet with a screen inside or gloves fitted
with sensors.

Republic of the Philippines

Tarlac State University
College of Business and Accountancy
Tarlac, City

Written
Report
“Communication and Globalization”

Submitted by:
 Abitong, Errish Jake
Amurao, Anthonie
Antona, Joyce Balmores
Basilio, Vanessa Rose
Guinto, Ranniella

Submitted to:

Howard Aries V. Ronquillo