There are a number of factors that have contributed to the dramatic demographic changes within various regions that have driven an increased level of interaction among people of different regions and cultures. Among these are vastly improved transportation and communication technologies, the globalization of the world economy, the democratization of the world’s markets, and other socio-political factors. Such increased cross-cultural interaction makes communication more complex. This is due to the different norms, rules, values, and behaviors exhibited by different cultures and co-cultures. Nevertheless, these challenges overcome lead to a positive and embracing perspective with respect to different cultures. In their book Intercultural Communication, Rogers and Steinfatt (1999) explain the “fascination that intercultural communication naturally holds for everyone…to raise consciousness about cultural differences and to help [individuals] become more competent in intercultural communication” (xiii). Such a learned and ongoing fascination and ability to communicate lead to much greater outcomes for all cultures and individuals.
Such cross-cultural interactions as depicted above create a varied group of co-cultures existing within a region. According to Kearney and Plax (2001), co-cultures are “culturally diverse groups distinguished by such factors as race or ethnicity, gender, and profession” (3). Asian-Americans are a co-culture I have interacted with to a significant extent. This is true in school, community, and internet interaction. Intercultural communication among co-cultures refers to a message being exchange between different cultures that have significant differences to change the message. For example, in American culture it is not considered rude to disagree with someone in public, but it is considered rude within the Hispanic-American co-culture.
I chose the Asian-American co-culture for a vari...