Analysis of Intercultural Communication Problems: a Case Study of Mtl
The role of English in Thailand is very important as it is in many other developing countries. New technology and the adoption of the internet have resulted in a major transition in terms of business, education, science, and technological progress, all of which demand high proficiency in English. With the economic downturn in Thailand recently, a large number of Thai companies have embraced cooperation regionally and internationally.
Mergers, associations, and takeovers are common and English is used as the means to communicate, negotiate and execute transactions by participants where one partner can be a native speaker of English or none of the partners are native speakers of English. The world we live like a “global village” where no nation, group or culture can remain anonymous (Samovar & Porter, 1991).
As the world becoming smaller, we are increasing interaction with people from different cultures.
Today modern technology has important role for us to communicate with people anywhere in the world, such interactions can be difficult if we do not know to deal with people and cultures different form us. Every country has its own communication style and habits. These different styles do not translate well and businesses need to pay special attention to communication with foreign colleges and clients. The communications between people happens all the time, especially when one of the parties is using a second language.
As mentioned earlier, intercultural communication problems must occurred because of linguistic and cultural differences.
Language can be a barrier to intercultural communication that is problems of vocabulary equivalence, idiomatic equivalence, experimental, and conceptual equivalence (Jandt, 2001). Culture is a human part of the environment (Wang, Brislin, Wang, Williams, and Chao, 2000). In other word, it is the process of generating and sharing meaning within a social system.
Samovar & Porter (1997) point out that as cultures differ from another, the communication practices and behaviors of people will inevitably vary as a result of their different perception of the world. Thailand’s economic growth has created opportunities to international companies in a number of infrastructure sectors, including electrical power, telecommunications and renewable energy. Thai consumers are creating opportunities for new sales of international medical products, osmetics, security equipment, food supplements, educational and services.
According to the report of IMF 2009 stated that GDP performance has averaged 5-6 percent since the recovery from the Asian financial crisis. The 2009 GDP is expected to fall by 2. 5-3. 5 percent, reflecting a contraction in exports and tourism as a result of the global downturn. GDP per capita is $8,100 (IMF: 2009 est. ).
As a result, Thailand is the attractive country to invest.
