Images from my tutoring job this summer to give light to the bit about my goals of communicating more "savvily" across cultures. ;)

Final Reflective Essay

 

Identify and explain interpersonal, collective and/or institutional discrimination.

In order to explain interpersonal, collective or institutional discrimination, we will need to understand prejudice and what leads to such hateful behavior. Discrimination is always based off of an “ism,” which is usually a targeted category that relates you to a particular group, for example there is sexism, ageism, elitism and so on. Discrimination has been explained as “overt actions to exclude, avoid, or distance oneself from other groups” (Martin, 2011).

            Collective or institutional discrimination excludes people from being allowed rights or participation in formal or informal settings that one should normally be included in, other than the trait they possess which the group is prejudiced against. Interpersonal discrimination is much more subtle, but equally deliberate. People exclude others for all types of reasons, whether it is a behavior and a prejudice that your family has held for years, or one that you yourself have formed based off of a personal experience.

            Our country is not slowing down when it comes to diversity, and according to Kenneth Jost, “The increased diversity has created strains in many workplaces,” (Jost, 1997). If that was said in 1997, and can be said even much more today, with increased amounts of women and people of other cultures holding positions of high authority, and being a part of everyday social and business transactions in our country, but “…experts urge companies to view their diversity not as a problem but as a challenge and an opportunity” (Jost, 1997). I completely agree with this exhortation, because we cannot control who our next door neighbor, or boss, or store clerk is, but we can control our attitudes toward and about them, and whether it is in the workplace or socially, we should embrace the wonderfully expanding mosaic of our country. “Although prejudice can hold either a positive or negative valence, racial and ethnic prejudice in the United States has taken on primarily negative connotations,” if this is true, then there are some serious attitudes that need to be changed in our culture today (Ponterotto, 2006).

How do the choices we make about popular culture influence the formation of our cultural identity?

            If popular culture is in fact something that must “bear the interests of the people,” as noted by Judith Martin and Thomas Nakayama, then it makes sense that it should form the identity of a culture. Cultural identity should include the interests of a people, because if they are the ones bearing the identity, then it should do nothing less than accurately represent them. So, if we choose to listen to a particular kind of music, and cook foods that lend to a particular style or flavor, we are then exhibiting our interests in the things we are representing to outsiders as characteristics of who we are. This should naturally be the banner under which others see us, the interests and motivations that drive us to become what we are as a nation.

How might different attitudes toward work lead to intercultural communication conflicts?

            When you work with someone, you often times see them more than your own family. You see them on a more regular basis than most people, and if this is the case, harmony is deeply necessary between co-workers. If I have a list of priorities that exist, whether mentally or physically, they are not going to get done or respected if my business partner has a completely different agenda. We must have understanding and respect for our co-workers agendas, as well as draw a clear boundary of the amount to which each person has a say in the decisions the company makes. If you have a different attitude toward work than someone working closely with you, then you might need to find a way you can each change a few goals, or ask to be relocated. Difference of work ethic can lead to unfinished work, discontentedness, and negativity.

            One way to ensure more harmony between co-workers is to encourage a foundational care and respect for one another. “Care in an organizational context is likely to revolve significantly around the ways in which organizational members communicate with, listen to, and especially tell stories to and with one another," (Sevenhuijsen, 2004: 36). So, to counteract bickering, disagreements or simply lack of production, lift up and encourage an environment of friendliness and respect between coworkers and employees, so that it is a known response to respect one another’s goals and work together towards a common goal.

Describe your plan to become more interculturally savvy in communication.

            In order to become more interculturally savvy, I must get to know more people! It is impossible to relate or share with people of other cultures if you do not spend time with them, ask them questions, and in order to be around people of other cultures to implement these practices, you must open doors to spend time in places other than where people you already know well spend time. This requires some level of getting out of your comfort zone, but it is so worth it!

            I was provided the opportunity with a tutoring job outside of the US this summer, and if I had not asked countless questions and embraced being with the family of the student as much as possible, I would not have learned half as much as I did! It is so crucial to take a step back mentally when you are with people of another culture, especially if you are the minority. What is made possible by taking a step back is that you are able to see their interactions, behaviors, customs and way of communicating so that rather than jumping in with your way of doing things, you may have a better understanding of their culture and so then be able to respect and follow it.

            Don Prince and Michael Hoppe discuss key ways to communicate across cultures in their book, Communicating Across Cultures, and their main encouragement is to become  “a lifelong learner of other cultures,” (2000: 30). They offer four points to help guide one into communicating cross-culturally, “First, examine your own cultural conditioning. Second, review your experiences with other cultures. Third, watch for discomfort that can signal cultural differences. Fourth, recognize and modify your communication approach,” (2000: 30). These, in addition to what I have already mentioned are methods I feel confident in sharing with others and using myself in the future.

Is it possible for two people to communicate effectively if they don't speak the same language? How?

            ABSOLUTELY. Judith Martin and Thomas Nakayama state in their book, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, that “what is not said is often as important as what is said” (2011). I could not agree more, and would even argue that sometimes what is not said is more important than what is said. We exhibit what we think about ourselves, how we feel about others and our opinions about many issues simply by how we dress, walk, what we carry, the faces we make and in countless other ways.

            It is most often perfectly evident what one is trying to communicate if you use adequate hand gestures, fitting facial expressions and the like. One can demonstrate an action with their hands, point, compare images and utilize so many more nonverbal skills that are out there. I agree with Miles Patterson and Valerie Manusov, who say that the“unique features of face-to-face dialogue” make for a “primary mode of language use” (2006). Because without face-to-face language sharing, we could not be provided with the opportunity of hand gestures, facial expression and the like.