WilliamHartPhD's Notes: Culture

Showing posts with label Culture. Show all posts

Thursday, February 16, 2017

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: "The Ugly American" (W6-P6) [VID] Sp17

What are the counterproductive attitudes that Americans can have about people from other countries?*

"Foreigners coming to live in the U.S. should adapt American ways."
"Asians do many things backwards."
"Much of the world’s population remains underdeveloped because they don’t take the initiative to develop themselves."
"Americans have been very generous in teaching other people how to do things the right way."
"English should be accepted as the universal language."

Q: Central theme in the counterproductive attitudes expressed above?
A: Ethnocentrism: a belief that your group's ways are the best ways.

Imagine a person working in development communication who heads into a development project abroad with the above attitudes. How would things work out?

The phrase "ugly American" comes, in part, from a 1958 novel about an American who travels abroad and expresses an ethnocentric attitude. The novel was made into a 1963 film staring Marlon Brando.

Now to another film. How does Disney's Pocahontas fit into this discussion?

Do you spot the ethnocentric attitude from John Smith in this Pocahontas clip?
(If the video clip does not work, then the Disney's Pocahontas film can be found on sites like Netflix. If you find the full film see the segment from about 35:45 to about 40:00.)

Given the similarity between Pocahontas and Avatar (see below), then you might explore the "ugly Earthling" aspects of Avatar. Can you think of other related films?

* Of course, this could go the other way. People in other countries can have ethnocentric views toward the U.S. -- The ugly _____.

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GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: Cultural Values (W6-P4) Sp17

What are values?

"Social principles, goals, or standards accepted by persons in a culture. They are learned by contacts with the family, teachers, and religious leaders. The media also may influence one’s value system."

Or what are the things that a culture finds valuable, important.
Money? Family?

What are your values? Where did you get them? Are there some values more important than others? What is your most important value? Interacted with somebody who has a different set of values?

GlobalMedia: Intercultural Com: A Model of Intercultural Com (W6-P3) Sp17

Read the diagram above. The model of intercultural communication (ICC) begins with two people from different cultures interacting or communicating. What is the rest of the process? What are the parts of the process of intercultural communication? In this model, the goal is effective intercultural communication, but what are some of the barriers that can cause problems? Prejudice? Stereotypes? Discrimination? Differences in language? Others?

Thursday, December 1, 2016

MassMedia: Development Communication: "The Ugly American" (W15-P4) [VID] Fa16

When an U.S. American enters another country as a development worker, tourist, etc., they should be conscious and cautious of the "Ugly American" concept.

Counterproductive attitudes that Americans can have about people from other countries?*

"Foreigners coming to live in the U.S. should adapt American ways."
"Asians do many things backwards."
"Much of the world’s population remains underdeveloped because they don’t take the initiative to develop themselves."
"Americans have been very generous in teaching other people how to do things the right way."
"English should be accepted as the universal language."

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

InterculturalCom: Culture Shock: The W-Curve (W13-P3) Fa16

The cultural adjustment is not finished once an individual leaves a new cultural environment. Depending on the degree to which the new cultural environment has effected the individual, the individual may have to readjust to their home environment. The overall process is not just the U-shaped curve seen in a previous post, but more a W-shaped curve showing the return and adjustment at home.

Ever traveled into a new culture, spent some time there, and then returned home and had to readjust? Can you ever go home again? Can you step in the same river twice?

InterculturalCom: Culture Shock: What is Culture Shock? (W14-P2) Fa16

When an individual enters a new cultural environment they may "suffer" to some degree culture shock.

Is it helpful to think of culture shock as a "disease" or to see it in a more positive light as a growth phase?

Have you experienced culture shock?

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to culture shock.

What is culture shock?
What are the "symptoms" of culture shock?
How do you lessen culture shock? What is active and passive coping?

The instructional video that this clip comes from appears to be no longer available for purchase. If you can find a copy available in a library, I'd recommend it. Berry's comments are especially insightful. The video was titled "World Within Reach."

InterculturalCom: Culture Shock: Process of Cultural Adjustment (W14-P1) Fa16

As an individual moves into a new cultural environment (a new country, a new city, a new school, etc.), depending on the degree of cultural difference, the individual generally goes through certain stages.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence: Intercultural Training - Part 2 (W13-Activity) Fa16

Some well-known intercultural training activities include "The Parable" and "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes".

"The Parable"

The study of intercultural communication has a rich and interesting history. That's one of the reasons that I study it. There is a long history of government organizations training people to be better intercultural communicators (e.g., diplomats). Out of this training comes some helpful and long-lasting intercultural training exercises. "The Parable" is one of those exercises. Below is the parable as it appeared in a 1973 Unesco document (pdf). Read the story and then rank in order that characters that you most approve of. The person that you approve of at the top and the bottom would be the person that you least approve of.

If you are curious, see also Dr. Ting-Toomey's version of The Parable.

Dr. Hart's classroom instructions:

Write down on a piece of paper, in rank order, the characters whose behaviors you most approve.
Break into groups of 4 to discuss your results. Create a rank list for the group.
What have you learned as a result of this activity?
Can anyone point to something in your past that shaped the values you used in this activity? Who/what programmed you?
Value: “A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable” (TheFreeDictionary.com).

If you are curious: More related activities from CSU Fullerton faculty (pdf).

"Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes"

Another famous intercultural training activity was created by Jane Elliot. What are the steps in Jane Elliot's Blue Eyes / Brown Eyes Experiment?

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to methods of using intercultural training to reduce prejudice.

How effective do you think this method is?
Any ethical concerns?

Additional intercultural training activities may be covered in future posts.

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InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence: Intercultural Training - Part 1 (W13-Activity) Fa16

Research on the best methods of teaching and training in intercultural communication has a long history beginning with the work of anthropologist around the time of World War II. By the 1970s anthropologist lost interest in intercultural interactions and communication scholars carried on the study of intercultural communication. Two of these communication scholars (Gudykunst and Hammer) are among the top prolific authors and most cited authors in the field of intercultural communication (Hammer was my advisor at American University). In one of the articles written by Gudykunst and Hammer they outlined the overall goals of intercultural education or intercultural training (ICT).

"...most ICT involves some form of change in three areas: cognition, affect, and behavior. Cognitively, ICT generally is aimed at helping trainees understand how their culture, stereotypes, and attitudes influence their interactions with members of other cultures. Cognitive ICT goals, therefore, focus on knowledge and/or awareness. Affectively, ICT generally is aimed at helping trainees effectively manage their emotional reactions (e.g., anxiety) when interacting with members of other cultures. Behaviorally, ICT generally is designed to help trainees develop the skills they need to interact effectively with members of other cultures" (Gudykunst, Guzley and Hammer, 1996, p. 65).

In this course we will work on these three goals: cognition, affect and behavior.

Let's explore some types of intercultural training and well-known intercultural training activities.

First, film may be used in intercultural training. A fictional film which shows intercultural interaction may teach a viewer some facts about another culture and, depending on how well the viewer identifies with the characters in the film, it may also have an emotional or affective effect.

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the difficulties of intercultural communication.

In the clip Jackie's fiancé has just arrived in the U.S.

Is there intercultural miscommunication? What is the problem exactly? Whose fault is it? Is it right to blame somebody?

Some additional types of intercultural training and well-known intercultural training activities will be explored in future posts.

InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence: Principled Negotiation (W13-P4) Fa16

What is principled negotiation and what does it have to do with intercultural conflict?

William Ury: The walk from "no" to "yes"

What does principled negotiation have to do with intercultural conflict?

InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence: Intercultural Conflict (W13-P3) Fa16

Intercultural Competency: Managing Intercultural Conflict

Culture can enter conflict in a variety of places as shown in the diagram below.

Now, let's shift gears and look at conflict in a different way, by using a film clip.

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the concept of intercultural competence, especially in conflict situations.

The film clip wasn't about intercultural conflict, but how could you use Nash's idea to resolve intercultural conflict?

The film is based on a true story.
Background: JOHN NASH, Princeton math prof., played key role in game theory,
Game theory had important impacts on scholarly thinking in economics, international relations, biology, etc.
So, important, Nash won 1994 Nobel Prize

InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence: Bennett's Model (W13-P2) Fa16

According to the Bennett model, as people gain more intercultural sensitivity, they move through a variety of stages starting with Denial and possibility ending in Integration.

In each stage, people express a certain mindset or way of thinking about cultural differences. The mindset of each stage is expressed in the quotes below. In the first stage what is being denied? In the Defense stage what are defensive about? In the third stage what is being minimized? Continue this line of questions with the remaining stages.

Not that the first three stages are labeled Ethnocentric. How does this relate to our previous definition of ethnocentrism?

Last question and perhaps most important question, what stage are you in? Does that depend? On what?

InterculturalCom: Intercultural Sensitivity and Competence (W13-P1) [VID] Fa16

In order to work toward an understanding of intercultural sensitivity, let's start with a clip from South Park which shows Cartman travelling internationally to Costa Rica.

Is Cartman interculturally insensitive? How?
What's it mean to be interculturally sensitive?
Can you think of another fictional characters that show this same type of intercultural insensitivity?
Is there a certain perspective/attitude?
Is there a particular set of skills?
How interculturally sensitive are you?
Can a person be too interculturally sensitive?
Relationship to politically correct (PC)?

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Tuesday, October 18, 2016

InterculturalCom: Cultural Identity and The Debut: Minority Identity Development (W9-P2) Fa16

The stages of minority identify development are illustrated well in the film, The Debut.

The stages are as below.

Note: Click on images to see a larger version.

Source: Intercultural Communication in Contexts by Martin and Nakayama

InterculturalCom: Cultural Identity and The Debut (W9-P1) Fa16

The concepts of cultural identity and cultural identity development are illustrated well in the film, The Debut.

Besides helping us to understand cultural identity, the film also allows us to learn about some Filipino culture.

Here are some Filipino cultural literacy to learn from the film.

Tagalog: a key language of the Philippines
Barkada: peer group
Oo: yes
Singkil: "the stick dance"

Collectivism/Individualism Through Dance
See this video I posted on YouTube. How does it relate to the film?

The above clip is from I'm Normal, You're Weird! Understanding Other Cultures. This was an excellent teaching resource. I wish that it was released in some form on DVD.

The film also shows some Filipino values:

Family/Group (Authority)
Food
Education/Success

Lastly the film gives a sense of the Filipino "Time Orientation," how time is used.

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Tuesday, October 4, 2016

InterculturalCom: Language & Culture: Linguistic Discrimination (W7-P4) [VID] Fa16

What is linguistic discrimination?

Let's start with some examples. What is happening in these examples?

"HUD Fair Housing Public Service Announcement"

"Linguistic Discrimination in School: African American English"
Note: The audio is a little out of sync on this YouTube video, but the content is informative.

So, what is linguistic discrimination?

Linguistic discrimination (also called linguicism and languagism) is "the unfair treatment of an individual based solely on their use of language" (Wikipedia).

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InterculturalCom: Language & Culture: Cultural Literacy (W7-P3) [VID] Fa16

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to the idea of cultural literacy and the role it plays in intercultural communication.

E.D. Hirsch: education scholar who proposed the idea of cultural literacy. The idea was first introduced in the book Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.

Cultural Literacy: All U.S. American students should have a commonly shared set of knowledge.

Rationale: Better communication and thus better relations.

People w/o a shared cultural literacy have less effective communication. (Heterophily).
People w/ a shared cultural literacy more effective, efficient communication. (Homophily)

Additional rationale: Many business leaders find young graduates lack good communication skills.

Examples of Things All Americans Should Know

1492
1776
Achilles
Adam & Eve
Adams, John
Aesop's Fables
Ahab, Captain
Alamo
Alcott, Louisa May
Ali, Muhammad Allah
Allen, Woody
All roads lead to Rome

This is a somewhat representative sample of his list of 500+.

Video: Billy Joel - We Didn't Start the Fire - lyrics.

You may also want to see the official music video for the song.

What does this have to do with intercultural communication?
Your task: You are in China and have to teach
An American Culture/English Language class. What would you do?

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InterculturalCom: Language & Culture: Beware of Idioms (W7-P2) Fa16

Beware of using idioms in intercultural settings.

An idiom is "a group of words whose meaning cannot be predicted from the meanings of the constituent words, as for example ( It was raining ) cats and dogs" or "kick the bucket or hang one's head." (Dictionary.com). See additional information, plus examples here.

“A traditional way of saying something. Often an idiom, such as 'under the weather,' does not seem to make sense if taken literally. Someone unfamiliar with English idioms would probably not understand that to be 'under the weather' is to be sick.” (American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy)

Why would you want to be careful about using idioms in intercultural situations?
Any connections between idioms and emblems?

Example of a Chinese idiom: "Dui niu tan ching"
It literally means “Playing music for a cow.”
See image here.

If a wife told her husband that talking to him is like "dui niu tan ching," what is she really saying?
Does this translate into any American idioms?

If you are in an intercultural situation where idioms are used how can you figure out the meaning?

InterculturalCom: Language & Culture: Star Trek, Darmok & the Picard Principle of Intercultural Com [VID] (W7-P1) Fa16

This is a clip that I edited and posted on YouTube. I use this clip in my Intercultural Communication course to introduce students to issues of language differences in intercultural situations.

The video is set in the far future and far off into space, but does this situation seem familiar to you in any way?

The “Picard Principle” of Intercultural Communication:

In the clip Picard says “Communication is a matter of patience [and] imagination.”

During the video answer the following questions:

Would you face the same experience? Have you?
Can you figure out the language?
What advice would you offer when interacting with people and you both don’t speak the others’ language (in short, lessons learned?)?

The crew of the Enterprise encounter a "strange" alien race and have difficulty in communicating.

Captain Picard is kidnapped and brought to the planet.

How to solve this intercultural communication problem?

The “Picard Principle” of Intercultural Communication:
In the clip Picard says “Communication is a matter of patience [and] imagination.”

What does that phrase mean? Is it true?

If you are curious, do a Google search on "Darmok Dictionary"
You may also want to see the full episode of Darmok.

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Tuesday, September 6, 2016

InterculturalCom: What is Culture? (W3-P1) Fa16

What is Culture?

A 19th century approach to culture:

cultured: a high state of Western civilization.

Over 200 definitions in the literature.

Culture is "the set of shared knowledge that influences a particular group of peoples' thoughts and behavior" (Hart).

So, if you had to define culture in one word, what would that word be?

Knowledge.

So where is culture?

In our head, our brain?

How did it get there?

We learned it. Culture is learned and itt is there between our ears.

As members of cultural groups, what knowledge do we learn?

Language, beliefs, values, history, rituals, etc.

Who teaches us the culture?

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