So important are symbols to the study of intercultural communication that we
have set aside Chapter 8 (verbal messages) and Chapter 9 (nonverbal messages) to
further develop this connection between symbols and human behavior.Culture Is Learned
It should be clear by now that cultureis
not innate; it is learned.Thismeansthat
what is shared, transmitted from genera-
tion to generation, and symbolized needs
to be internalized by the members of each
culture. This internalization process is not a simple matter. Remember that we are
born into a world without meaning. Imagine what a confusing place this is for a
newborn. After living in a peaceful environment for nine months, the infant is thrust
into this novel place called“the world.”It is a world filled with sights, sounds, tastes,
and other sensations that, at this stage oflife, have no meaning. As the psychologist
William James noted, what greets the newborn is a bubbling, babbling mass of
confusion. From the moment of birth to the end of life, you seek to overcome that
confusion and make sense of the world. It is culture that assists you in that sense-
making process. As each person arrives, heor she immediately and automatically
becomes a member of a cultural environment that has been coping with thousands of
problems and solutions long before the infant is born. The work of culture then
becomes one of getting the newborn to adjust to and flourish in a life that includes
other people. Nanda and Warms develop this important idea when they write,
Child-rearing practices in all cultures are designed to produce adults who know the skills,
norms, and behavior patterns—the cultural content—of their society. But the transmission
of culture involves more than just knowing these things. It also involves patterning chil-
dren’s attitudes, motivations, values, perceptions, and beliefs so that they can function in
their society.^30
This suggestion that culture is learned has direct implications for the study of inter-
cultural communication. If you were reared in a home where your family spoke Span-
ish, you learned to communicate in that language. If your family spoke in hushed
tones, you learned to speak softly. If your family engaged in a great deal of touching,
you learned about touch as a form of communication. Even what you learned to talk
about was part of your learning experiences. If your family discussed politics and
believed people should never gossip, you too, at least early in your life, held these
beliefs about appropriate and inappropriate topics for discussion. We are suggesting
that all people have learned and carry around an assorted fund of knowledge about
communication. However, it is obvious that not all people and cultures have gathered
the same information. In one culture, people might have received“training”on how
to grow rice and other grains; in another group, people have obtained instructions on
how to ride a camel or a horse. Some people have learned to tell others about their
personal problems; others believe that a stoic approach is best. Some people talk to
God; others sit quietly and wait for God to talk to them.
In many ways, this entire book is about how and what members of particular cul-
tures have learned and how that“learning”might influence intercultural communica-
tion. When we speak of“learning,”we are using the word in a rather broad sense.
Informal learningis often very subtle and normally takes place through interactionREMEMBER THIS
Culture serves a variety of functions.Characteristics of Culture 43Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).