Communicative Competence
Communicative competences have not been scientifically studied until recently; however being able to distinguish one's words and one's meaning is crucial in order to communicate effectively. People who do not have the same cultural background may interpret the same sentence in different ways which is why learning to understand others' point of view and background is important. This concept does not only apply to oral communication but also to body language. The article mentioned that if nodding would means "yes" in the United States and most of the western countries, in the South Asian Region it would be interepreted completely differentely.
In South Korea it is expected for people to bow when meeting someone, in western countries however bowing would be reserved for important official settings only and would be seen as "way too much" for people to bow when meeting someone. Another difference in body language communication would simply be the difference between the amount of gestures one would do in western countries, especially in Italy, Spain and other Latino countries as opposed to the Asian countries where gestures are minimal and rare, as a sign of modesty, respect and politness.For these reasons, learning directly from a Korean about the ways to interact is worth much more than simply learning in a textbook.
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