The goal of this paper is to outline a model of intercultttral communication that provides a theoretically rigorous foundation for the training of intercultural workers. This model exists, as any does in a vast field of multiple spatial and temporal, social and political contexts. Primary among those is the increasing migration of people across and into new cultural settings. This can precipitate a range of results from increased interpersonal stress through to an awareness of an increase in the richness of experience with a culturally diverse context. The model presented in this article has been developed in response to what has been perceived as an urgent need to improve intercultural relations in various national and local institutions.
Canadian immigration policies of the past twenty years have significantly increased the number of immigrants in this country. Demographic data suggests that ethnic diversity in Canada is likely to increase (Clairmont & Wen, 1980, p. 316) and lead to greater intercultural interaction. Accordingly, there is an ever greater need for sophisticated and practical understanding of intercultural communication and training.
The assumption underlying this paper is that the optimum relationship between cultures, as between individuals, is mutual satisfaction and benefit. This is implied in the word 'communication,' from the Latin communis, common, which is itself composed of corn, with or together, and munis, service or gift, giving rise to the idea of making common through gifting or offering service to the other, the creation of a shared domain. Enhanced communication results in a more accurate data flow, greater shared understanding and greater sense of mutual well-being and fulfillment. On the individual level, each person comes away from the contact without frustration and anxiety and without apprehension about further meetings.
How can this be achieved?
There has been a recent explosion of interest and writing in the field of intercultural communication, much of it grounded in anthropology, but drawing also from linguistics and psychology (