How to improve intercultural communication in Italy

To improve intercultural communication in Italy, key strategies include:

• Awareness and sensitivity to cultural differences: Understanding Italian cultural norms, values, and communication styles is vital. Italians may rely on indirect communication and value emotional expressiveness and relationships. ^{1, 2}

• Language considerations: While Italian is the primary language, many local dialects and regional languages exist, and some immigrants may have limited Italian proficiency. Non-verbal communication such as gestures is also significant in Italy. ^{3, 4}

• Patient-centered and empathetic communication: In healthcare and other sensitive contexts, focusing on the whole person and avoiding assumptions based solely on language proficiency enhances communication. ^{5, 1}

• Role-playing and educational programs: Schools and institutions use role-playing techniques and intercultural education to build awareness and competence in communication across cultures. ^{2, 6, 7}

• Encouraging dialogue and virtual exchanges: Promoting virtual international collaboration and intercultural dialogue helps build awareness and mutual understanding. ^{8, 9}

• Addressing intercultural challenges openly: Intercultural policies and practices in Italian cities like Turin emphasize moving beyond official rhetoric to practical integration efforts that recognize diversity. ¹⁰

Thus, improving intercultural communication in Italy involves cultural awareness, language flexibility, empathetic dialogue, educational initiatives, and institutional policies promoting diversity and inclusion.

References

• Navigating Intercultural Medical Encounters: An Examination of Patient-Centered Communication Practices with Italian and Foreign Cancer Patients Living in Italy

• Primary Teacher Trainees’ Intercultural Education The Italian case

• How gestures facilitate communication among the speakers of English as L2 and the implications for Language Education

• Language Varieties of Italy: Technology Challenges and Opportunities

• Teaching intercultural communication skills in healthcare to improve care for culturally and linguistically diverse patients.

• Transactional Analysis Counseling to Improve Intercultural Communication of Tourism Vocational Students

• Role-playing Techniques to Improve Intercultural Communication Competence

• Teaching intercultural communicative competence through virtual exchange

• Facilitating the Development of Intercultural Competence via Virtual Internationalization

• Intercultural policy in times of crisis: theory and practice in the case of Turin, Italy

• Imagined intergroup contact facilitates intercultural communication for college students on academic exchange programs

• Films and Blogs: an authentic approach to improve the writing skill – An intercultural project-based framework in the Senior High State School

• Theory and Best Practice Models in Educational Institutions in Spain and Italy

• Diplomatic Relations and Intercultural Communication of the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy in the Risorgimento Era

• Intercultural Communication: Strategy to Improve School Competitiveness Based on Public Demand

• From being othered to promoting the value of otherness: pride and price of intercultural dialogue among migrant immediate descendants in Italy

• Twelve Years of the Italian Program to Enhance Relational and Communication Skills (PERCS)

• Aspetti interculturali nella comunicazione medico-paziente Il punto di vista del personale sanitario e dei pazienti

• The Abu Dhabi Document: A Potential Cornerstone for Islamic-Christian Dialogue in Italian Educational Contexts

• The Study and Research Methodology

• English as a lingua franca and interculturality: navigating structure- and process-oriented perspectives in intercultural interactions

• Italian via email: from an online project of learning and teaching towards the development of a multi-cultural discourse community

• We were like them” Intersecting Identities and Mediators’ Intercultural Communication in a Municipal Service

• Applying Soft Power Diplomacy through Instituto Italiano di Cultura to Promote Italian Culture

• Language and Identities: The Exceptional Normality of Italy

• The Cultural Intelligence Scale (CQS): A Contribution to the Italian Validation