WHAT TO DO WHEN LANGUAGE BARRIER BARS COMMUNICATION

The world is bombarded with communication， this can be proven by the fact that wherever one goes we have to communicate and there is no way it can be avoided， whether people are from different culture backgrounds， don’t speak the same language or as complicated as it might be， we always have to find a common way to communicate. Communication not only includes language but also human relation， customs and a person's words and deeds .

Stated below are several ways that can ease communication breakdown if followed

1. TACT MAXIM

Tact maxim means trying to decrease adverse information when communicating， this include trying to find common habits and avoid making others feel uncomfortable. To be able to do this we should be keen on some aspects like making sure that the way we talk and the things we talk about are clear to the other person， it is also important to put into consideration factors like who we converse with， contents of/reason for conversation and venue where it takes place among others .

2. CO-OPERATIVE PRINCIPLE

In 1967， American philosopher Grice proposed a cooperative conversation principle， which consists of four conversational maxims namely quantity， quality， relation and manner， what he was trying to say is that the information we give should be essential， true and accurate， to achieve this the words we use should be relevant and able to convey information intended without causing confusion or altering the meaning.

3. POLITENESS PRINCIPLE

We all know that \"culture is not the same \"， one rule that we should strictly abide by is to be polite and friendly to everyone despite of coming from different countries. Rule number one to come into practice should be \"when in Rome do as the Romans do\"， particularly when not in our territory thus don't know the dos and donts for the natives， in addition we should practice all the virtues we can like being polite， friendly and modest among others .

4. HONESTY AND RESPECTFUL PRINCIPLE

We should strive to maintain a healthy talking environment and try to enjoy each others’ company with openness and honesty， paying attention to each other’s feelings by being respectful and cautious of our words.

In most cases， we have different ways and ideas of looking at things， this might hinder or disable communication， if such a scenario occurred what we need to do is to respect each other’s traditions or believes without criticism， we can't change ourselves to abide to others and vice versa but instead try to fit into each other’s society.

Generally， cross-culture communication can be stressful ，however， with proper ways and adjustments we can find solutions to deal with it， It’s through experiencing intercultural events that we enrich our young life with knowledge and wisdom therefore let's try the best way possible to be well-prepared to experience different kinds of life .

（作者單位： 西南大學國際學院）