Zrozumieć „innego”: identyfikacja barier w komunikowaniu międzykulturowym

Understanding the “Other”:Identification of Barriers in Intercultural CommunicationAn important condition for good communication of people from different countries, regions and cultures is the knowledge of barriers that may distort the message, preventing its proper interpretation. The aim of this text is to answer the question to what extent the problem with the correct understanding of the message goes beyond the knowledge of the sender's language, including other aspects of communication. In order toanswer this question, the results of research in various fields were analyzed, mainly in the areas of migration, communication,linguistics, psychology and cultural anthropology. It made it possible to look at verbal, para-verbal and non-verbal messages in terms of cultural differences and different experiences, and then to identify the main communication barriers at each of the tested levels. The analysis confirmed that in the area of verbal communication, the knowledge of the cultural context, i.e. knowledge about a given culture and its symbols, is of key importance. It is no less important to avoid traps in the area of non-verbal communication –they concern the manner of speaking, differences in gestures, facial expressions and appearance, different perception of time and space, or knowledge of norms and customs regulating interpersonal interactions. These threads are discussed in detail in the following parts of the text.