A Study of Communication Effectiveness for English-speaking Tour Guides in Yunnan

A Study of Communication Effectiveness for English-speakingTour Guides in YunnanAbstract：The significant roles of English-speaking tourguides have long been recognized in the development of travelindustry.For the international tourists，effective communicationbetween English-speaking tour guides and international touristsbecomes more important in that tourism is not only aneconomic issue，but also a cultural and political issue.Thispaper explores English-speaking tour guides requiredcommunication competence in effective interculturalcommunication.?Keywords：English-speaking tour guides；international tourists；effective communication；interculturalcommunication?1、Introduction?Since China carried out the reform and opening up policyin 1978，its tourism has witnessed a robust development.Moreand more international tourists come to China for sightseeing，and their purposes are various，ranging from political visit，economic survey to cultural exchanges.In the late 1970s，theinternational tourists came to China to see what was happening；however，some tourists now come to China in the hope ofseeking business opportunities or learning Chinese culture.Inresponse to the call of times，English-speaking tour guides areexpected not only to introduce the knowledge thatinternational tourists are interested in，but also tocommunicate effectively with them so as to enhance their goodunderstanding of China.Consequently，the significant roles ofEnglish-speaking tour guides have long been recognized in thedevelopment of tourism.For the international tourists，theEnglish-speaking tour guides in China function as a“window”of a region and our country，and their effective communicationwith English-speaking tour guides will foster their confidence ininvesting in China and enhance their understanding of Chineseculture.How effectively tour guides communicate with theinternational tourists will have some bearing on thedevelopment of tourism in China as well as on Chinas culturalexchanges with other countries.?2、Definition of Intercultural CommunicationEffectiveness?According to Ting-Toomey，intercultural communicationeffectiveness refers to the degree to which shared meanings arereached.The communication effectiveness depends on thedegree to which the participants attach similar meanings to themessages exchanged.Generally speaking，effectivecommunication entails minimizing misunderstandings.Communicators have to actively construct meanings in thecommunication process to manage the conflicts caused bycultural differences.?Communication is a complex process thatinvolves the exchange of messages and the creation of meaning.Different people will have different perception of the messages.For the tour guides，most of the international tourists arestrangers.When tour guides communicate with theirinternational guests，they attach meaning to the messages theywant to convey.Meanwhile，they also attach meaning tomessages they receive from tourists.?Powers and Lowrey（1984）refer to the degree ofcongruence between the cognitions of two or more individualsfollowing a communication event as the basic communicationfidelity.Triandis（1977）argues that effectiveness involvesmaking similar quality or characteristic in the communication；ineffective communication may happen for various reasonswhen we communicate with strangers，because we may notconvey our messages in ways that can be understood bystrangers，and strangers may misinterpret what we aretransmitting.From the views mentioned，some of the reasonsthat caused the ineffective communication between the tourguides and the tourists can be narrowed down to pronunciation，grammar，familiarity with the topic being discussed，familiaritywith tourists native language，and fluency in the touristslanguage and so on.However，English-speaking tour guides stillhave a lot to learn before they are able to fully meet therequirements in their guiding.?For the English-speaking tour guides，how to make theirgusts satisfied is a demanding job.A successful tour is usuallyjudged by whether the guide has fulfilled his or her task，whether he or she has set up good relationships with tourists，and whether he or she has brought the tourists satisfaction（Huang，2008：9）.Generally speaking，the more similaritiesthe tour guides share with the tourists in their cultural andlinguistic knowledge，the more things the tour guides mayshare with the tourists and the less the likelihood is that therewill be misunderstanding between them.?3、Approaches to the Study of Intercultural CommunicationEffectiveness?This research is related to the intercultural communicationin touristic context；however，it is also related to theintercultural communication with strangers in a larger scope.Consequently，the viewpoints involved in interculturalcommunication with strangers can be applied to theintercultural communication in tourism in that most of theinternational tourists are strangers for tour guides.There havebeen a few attempts to specify the characteristics of the peoplewho can co