Features of Intercultural Communications

Marianna Sergeevna Santalova

and Irina Vladimirovna Soklakova

Moscow City University of Management Under the Government of Moscow, Moscow, Russia

Keywords: Intercultural Communications, Collectivist Culture, Cultural Worldview, Linguistic Worldview, Cultural

Values.

Abstract: The article explores intercultural relations, cultures of the collectivist type; the features of communications of

small nations, their influence on large nations are highlighted. The purpose of the study is to show the

characteristic features of the collectivist culture of a small people, their communication and interaction in a

single ethnic culture of Russia. The main applied methods for studying the features of intercultural

communications are: bibliographic reflection, interactive modeling, role-playing games, etc. The result of the

research is such features of intercultural communications within the country as: language barriers, age-old

traditions, norms, customs, etiquette, type of culture, small number or large number of people.

1 INTRODUCTION

In the modern world, there is a tendency to expand

intercultural relations.

At present, society faces many problems

(political, economic, environmental, etc.) that can

only be overcome by joint actions and decisions of all

countries and nations. In this case, attention should be

paid to the individuality of each nation, to its cultural

self-determination,the preservation of their cultural

values.

2 MATERIALS AND METHODS

The main applied methods for studying the features

of intercultural communications include the

following: bibliographic reflection, interactive

modeling, role-playing games, etc.

The following scientists have been and are

engaged in the problems of intercultural

communications: Brighton K. (Brighton, 2013),

Dzida G. A. (Dzida, 2011), Ikonnikova N. K.

(Ikonnikova, 1995), Kokhan O. V. (Kokhan, 2012),

Larchenko S. G. (Larchenko, 1991), Luchin A. E.,

Chumakov A. N. and others, on whose points of view

we relied in the work.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3682-4680

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2577-9757

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In intercultural communications, collectivist cultures

are the most interesting (Dzida, 2011). This is due to

the fact that in them a person considers himself

obligated to a large group of people (primarily to a

kindred clan), in cultures of an individualistic type -

in relation to only his immediate family (and

sometimes contacts with the family are minimized or

cut off) . There are two features in world views: the

position of "I" and the position of "we". "We" is a

collectivist culture, resting on harmony and

avoidance of direct clashes, and in individualistic

cultures, open expression of one's opinion is

encouraged. Breaking the rules in cultures entails

shame and loss of face not only in one's own eyes but

also in the eyes of the group, in individualistic

cultures - personal shame and loss of self-respect. If

we consider Ingushetia, then it has a culture of a

collectivist type. There are family surnames, respect

for elders, a collective opinion is formed in it, etc.

Married couples are created by surname, gender;

holidays are arranged by surnames, and trusting

communications and relationships are formed mainly

within the surname. Surnames in Ingushetia

constantly evaluate their historical biography,

highlight its features, experience collective pride in

their relatives, their family. They are proud of their

Santalova, M. and Soklakova, I.

Features of Intercultural Communications.

DOI: 10.5220/0011602800003577

In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Actual Issues of Linguistics, Linguodidactics and Intercultural Communication (TLLIC 2022), pages 84-86

ISBN: 978-989-758-655-2

 2023 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. Under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

own identity and how it manifests itself in everyday

life.

If we consider relationships at work, then in

countries, peoples with a collectivist culture, they are

similar to family relationships.

Collectivist culture is dominated by collective

interests, and management is collective, i.e. group.

Private life does not entirely depend on the individual,

it is determined by the genus (collective). People are

accustomed to reckon with the team and bring their

problems to the general discussion, no matter what

they are. In fact, in these relations, the ideology of

equality dominates. It determines the way of life,

connections in society, and communication.

However, in various collectivist cultures, a person

always stands between the word and the real object

(Brighton, 2013; Kokhan, 2012). The word reflects

not the object of reality itself, but the person's vision

of it. And it should be remembered that human

consciousness in any type of culture is determined not

only by collective, but also by individual factors. And

language reflects reality as if through two mirrors -

collective and individual, resulting in a double

curvature. Nevertheless, in collectivist cultures, the

world appears to a person as real, as well as

conceptual and linguistic (Ikonnikova, 1995;

Larchenko, 1991).

As we have already said, life in society and family

relations of the Ingush are very original. Relations in

society, surnames and in the family are determined by

age-old customs, traditions of the people, adat norms.

Problems of relations in the family, in the surname

and in society are still being resolved, first of all, at

the general council of elders. The so-called "council

of the country" meets twice a year. It includes the

most respected people. It was the elders who

developed and implemented Ingush etiquette. In

accordance with the etiquette, the Ingush respect the

elderly, parents, do not interfere in the conversation

of the elders, etc. The Ingush people do not abandon

the elderly, do not leave children orphans, take care

of their parents.

It is quite obvious that each nation has its own

picture of the world. But the most significant part of

it is linguistic. It is during the study of foreign

languages that the so-called "cultural pictures of the

world" are superimposed. Something primary,

something secondary. A foreign language allows a

person to penetrate into a foreign picture of the world,

a foreign culture.

Ingush is the language of the Ingush, i.e.

indigenous people of the North Caucasus. The origin

of the name of this people originates from the word

"tower" or the builder of towers. The Russian word

"Ingush" comes from the name of the settlement

Angusht, located on the territory of the original

residence of the Ingush (Santalova, 2017).

The Ingush call their language – «mother

language», i.e. , from their point of view, it is the

"language of the mother." The Ingush speak the

Ingush language on their territory, in their family

name, but at the same time they are fluent in Russian.

Sometimes there is an accent in the pronunciation of

Russian words.

As of 2021, there are slightly more than 500

thousand native speakers of the Ingush language. The

area of distribution and functioning of the Ingush

language on the territory of the Russian Federation is

mainly the Republic of Ingushetia, the Chechen

Republic and the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania

(settlements of the Prigorodny district of North

Ossetia-A, where the Ingush live compactly). A small

number of native speakers of the Ingush language live

in Turkey, Jordan and the Republic of Kazakhstan,

etc.

On the one hand, the Ingush perceive Russian

culture and we can say that they have adapted to the

collectivist culture. On the other hand, they adhere to

the collectivist culture of their society, while the

Russians could not enter their collectivist culture

(Santalova, 2021; Santalova, 2014).

The problems arise in the fact that a small society

cannot fully influence the collectivist culture of a

large society. Also, there is no need for a larger

society to become native speakers of the Ingush

language.

Of course, when translating into another

language, non-equivalent vocabulary appears, i.e.

there is a lack of information (Sadokhin, A. P., 2008).

. The fact is that in each language there is a certain

uniqueness, i.e. words that cannot be found in other

languages (Vasilik, M. A., 2004). There is a certain

lack of information,when the semantic structure of a

word partially coincides with the semantic structure

of a word in another language. But there are no

absolutely equivalent words, except perhaps only in

terminology. All this gives rise to hidden

communication difficulties. These can be the so-

called "collocation" - lexical and phraseological

difficulties, restrictions that regulate the use of the

language. Every word in every language has its own

circle of compatibility. This is the so-called "valence"

of the word and it is not universal, but specific in each

language. Cultural representations usually determine

the appearance of different stylistic connotations in

words of different languages.

For example, in the Russian language there are

words that cannot be understood by the student of the

Features of Intercultural Communications

language until he is immersed in a foreign language

environment. Sometimes, there is simply no

conceptual equivalence.

4 CONCLUSIONS

If we consider Russia as one ethnic culture, and

different languages are inherent in it, then linguistic

adaptation comes from small peoples.

The features of intercultural communications

include language barriers, age-old traditions, norms,

customs, etiquette, type of culture, small or large

number of people.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The problems of intercultural communications were

discussed at the conference of the Academy of

Management and Production, Moscow City

University of Management under the Government of

Moscow.

REFERENCES

Dzida, G. A., 2011. Intercultural communication: modern

problems and solutions. p. 338.

Luzin, A. E., 2008. Intercultural differences and ways of

adapting to them.

Brighton, K., 2013. Assessment of intercultural

communicative competence. Pedagogical education in

Russia. 1. pp. 207-214.

Kokhan, O. V., 2012. Communicative stereotypes in

everyday practices (on the material of German and

Russian cultures). p. 24.

Sadokhin, A. P., 2008. Intercultural competence: the

essence and mechanisms of formation. p. 44.

Vasilik, M. A., 2004. The science of communication or the

theory of communication? On the problem of

theoretical identification. Actual problems of

communication theory. Collection of scientific papers.

p. 4.

Ikonnikova, N. K., 1995. Mechanisms of intercultural

perception. Sociological research. 4. p. 15.

Larchenko, S. G., Eremin S.N., 1991. Intercultural

interaction in the historical process. p. 23.

Santalova, M., Sadykova, K., Kosarev, K., Nechayeva, S.,

Kublanov, A., 2017. The subjective approach to

accessing the quality of life in the regions of Russia.

Contributions to Economics (in books).

9783319552569. pp. 3-8.

Santalova, M. S., Soklakova, I. V., Balakhanova, D. K.,

Lesnikova, E. P., Chudakova, E. A., 2021. Target

organizational structure and human potential. SHS Web

of Conferences. SAHD 2021 - 5th International

Scientific and Practical Conference 2021 “Modern

Science: Problems and Development Prospects (Social

and Humanitarian Directions)”. p. 02009.

Santalova, M. S., Petrov, D. S., 2014. Evaluation of

personnel and enterprises organization culture.

Advances in Volcanology. 2. 1. p. 98.

TLLIC 2022 - I INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "ACTUAL ISSUES OF LINGUISTICS, LINGUODIDACTICS AND

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION"