Activity 12 - "Intercultural Communication In The Future"

I think the most important thing I learned about intercultural communication is to have an open mind. I need to remember that everyone is equal, no matter what race, religion, or gender. I am usually not one to stereotype or be cruel, but sometimes it is difficult not to judge someone. It is hard to remove those stereotypes, especially if they are negative.

Intercultural communication has taught me to be myself and to not let others put you down based on your culture. That is something that is important to everyone and though you may not have the same culture as others, your culture is still just as important. I am very proud of my ethnicity and how I was raised, and I would never let anyone let me think differently. It is important to be true to yourself and live your life how you want to.

I do not think this class has necessarily taught me to be an intercultural communication “expert,” but I think it has taught me to be able to determine situations that deal with intercultural communication and has taught me to evaluate these as well. I now know how to look at things from both sides and how to keep an open heart and an open mind. I am not extremely book smart when it comes to intercultural communication, but I do have a lot of common sense on this topic and I would be able to control my thoughts and help others if they were to be put down or putting down others.

After this course, in order to properly maintain my intercultural communication experience and knowledge, I plan on thinking a lot harder about my actions and spreading the word to others. I am going to be better about pointing out inappropriate situations and actions to my friends and family and will be more likely to stand up for what is right. A lot of times I will see something that is rude concerning cultures and I usually just look away, or think to myself how rude that would be if it were to happen to me. I will now try harder to stop situations like this happening and help others to learn more about intercultural communication.

What was the most important thing you will take away from this class?

Activity 11 - "Intercultural Conflict"

The article that I found online was at Kare 11. This article interested me because it was about a school and since I am an elementary education major, school issues like this pertain to me. This is something I may have to deal with in my future career, and I need to be prepared for them.

The article is about single-gender classrooms. There are two schools in the twin cities that are experimenting with single-gender classrooms. One school is all girls and one is all boys. They are discussing the issues of how classrooms with one gender often have better learning environments and how they are able to focus more on certain topics that the specific gender they are teaching struggles in. They said that these classrooms also often avoid a lot of gossiping and drama and it allows them to focus more on their studies, instead of their boyfriends and girlfriends.

This is an intercultural issue because many cultures do not believe in single-gender classrooms, but some cultures believe in only having single-gender classrooms. It is an issue that many cultures face and that many cultures look down on others for. Everyone has their own certain ways of dealing with these issues, and they do not always match up.

The major issues cultures have are whether single-gender classrooms are better learning environments or not. Some cultures believe that they are and some cultures believe that boys and girls need to be immersed in the same classroom together to understand what real life is like. It is not an extreme issue, but it definitely has cause controversy and is a big difference between certain cultures.

I would classify this conflict as a high-context conflict. These are issues that deal with gender and roles in the classroom. They deal with customs and making sure that people are following the rules. In this type of conflict, it is important to be proper and follow the correct procedure and that is what the issue deals with.

Overall, the issue of whether single-gender classrooms are appropriate or not is an issue that will always be a topic between cultures. Not everyone is going to agree with it and not everyone is going to disagree. It depends on personal opinion, but it is also influenced by culture and the way we were raised.

What is your personal opinion on single-gender cultures? Do you support them or no?

Activity 10 - "Cultures Views"

1. In my culture, family is considered people that are related by blood, marriage, or birth. Family is pretty limited when it comes to this culture and we really do not extend out super far. There are two types of family in my culture, immediate and extended. Immediate is considered to be your parents, spouses, children, and siblings. Extended is considered to be your grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and in-laws.

2. Parents have specific roles and are supposed to be the providers. They have to take care of their children until they are 18 and need to make sure they are safe and free from harm. Husbands and wives are also supposed to take care of each other and provide for each other as well.

3. Children are not expected to stay in the same house they grew up in and are actually usually expected to move out once they turn 18. If a child is going to school or are just temporarily moving back home, it is usually acceptable, but often times they are charged rent or are expected to move out on their own soon.

4. The culture norms regarding dating could go anywhere. Most of the time they are expected to take a person out on a date to a nice restaurant, buy them flowers, and take the home. The men are supposed to pay for the meal and it is looked down upon to go home with them on the first date. This does sometimes happen, but they are often looked at as skanky or cheap if they were to do this.

5. Marriage proposals are similar to dating. There is really only one way to do it and most people expect it to happen that way. It is typical for the man to propose to the woman. He is to get down on one knee and having a shiny ring in a box and is expected to say, “Will You Marry Me?” There is really no other way around it and if it doesn’t happen, people may think it is untraditional.

6. A typical wedding is similar to a marriage proposal in the sense of tradition. Depending on religion, a wedding can be inside a church, inside a big dance hall/auditorium, or outside. The bride always wears white and the groom always wears black. Generally they have a few bridesmaids and a few groomsmen, along with a maid of honor and a best man. They usually have a big dinner, full of toasts and tears, and then they have a dance to follow.

7. In my culture, divorce is becoming more and more popular. It used to be so rare and people only got divorced if they absolutely could not live together, but today, the divorce rate is almost 50%. In the region I live in, divorce is not as popular, but it definitely still happens and is still looked down upon.

8. Each partner is supposed to split everything evenly unless there is a pre-nup signed. They usually split the house and the furniture evenly and if they have kids, one person gets them and the other person gets visitation rights and pays child support.

9. Homosexuality is a big topic that I usually do not like discussing. Our culture still views this very negatively. We are starting to open up more to it and are even allowing homosexual marriages in some states, however, people have personal reasons not to agree to it and I don’t think this will ever change.

10. I am still on the fence about my views on gender roles. I am very traditional and I am very religious so non-traditional gender roles sometimes still bother me. I try to have an open mind and I am becoming very accepting of people, but I can’t help how I feel and I do not think I should change my personal views to adapt to society.

Do you disagree with any of these stereotypes in culture? How does that affect you?

Activity 9 - "American TV Show"

For Activity number nine, we were to watch a TV show we normally watch and discuss the show. This activity was particularly enjoyable for me, since on my days off, I like to sit around and be lazy! Today was also a perfect day because it has rained all day and there really wasn’t much else to do. So, the show I chose to watch was Gilmore Girls. I know that sometimes people think this show is kind of annoying and made up, but I think its really funny and lighthearted and I can watch it without thinking too hard.

This show is set in a small town in Connecticut. They are all very neighborly and every body gets along with everybody. They show that being “American” is being friendly and visiting your neighbors and eating at a diner and having close friends you can always talk to. What I found interesting about this episode is that they did two very stereotypical American things.

The first involved the mother, Lorelai, and her relationship with her boyfriend. She had been dating this man for a while and their relationship was getting much closer. They would spend time together in one another’s houses/apartments, and her boyfriend decided it was time to give her a key. This is a very American thing. A major step in a relationship is giving one another a key, because it is a symbol that they are comfortable with one another being in their houses. I don’t think this happens in very many countries besides America.

The next thing “American” thing that they did involved the daughter, Rory. Rory is a college student that goes to school at Yale University. She wants to be the “typical” college student, so her and her friends decide to go on a “typical” college spring break. They drive down to Florida and spend a couple days there doing the “typical” college spring break things: drinking, partying, beach, etc. These things are all very much American. Not every country spends their spring break in a tropical state and getting drunk, but ours sure does!

I think these two examples of American things really show how our country is portrayed. Lorelai's experience with her boyfriend is very typical of an older woman dating an older man. Once the reached a certain point in their relationship, they realized they wanted to take it a step further and give one another their house keys. This was a difficult process and was not accepted at first, but it really showed the American way. Rory’s experience with Spring Break could not have happened at a better time. When most students go to college, this is what they think happens in the spring. It is not always true (especially in Wisconsin), but it does happen and it is the way other countries probably view America.

What do these things show about America? Is it positive or negative?

Activity 8 - "Transitions"

One of the largest transitions that occurred in my life was in high school. My junior year, I transferred high schools. There are three schools in my district, the “head” school, with about 450 students per class, and the two “satellite” schools, one at about 120 students per class, and one at about 250 students per class. Now these schools aren’t satellite schools, they are completely public schools, we just refer to them as this because the largest school was the original high school in the district.

My sophomore year, I was not enjoying school. I had a lot of friends, but most of them were kind of up tight and were turning out not to be very much fun. I was starting to loosen up and have more fun, but my friends were not doing the same. I was tired of being just a number in my school and wanted to switch to somewhere a lot smaller, so I transferred.

My dad taught at this smaller school and my brother transferred his junior year and had a good experience, so I made the switch. It was a tough choice to make, leaving all my friends behind, but since I would still live in the same town, I was sure I would still see them often. It was hard to be a “new student” since I hadn’t been new since kindergarten.

At first, I was kind of scared of being in a different place not knowing anyone, but I transitioned very well. I made friends very fast and became friends with people that were more like me. Overall, I would never have changed this decision and am grateful that I was bold and courageous that year. I made some of my best friends in those two years, and I had an excellent education.

What was the best part of your transition?

Activity 7 - "Body Language"

I completed this activity last night after hanging out with a couple of my friends. After work, we all went out to Buffalo Wild Wings and had a girls night, ordering wings and sodas. After we had been there for about a half hour and had really gotten into a conversation, I decided to complete this experiment. These two girls are my best friends and we are used to being pretty strange around each other so I knew it would go over well and there wouldn’t be any hurt feelings.

I started with my friend Meghan. She was talking about her night at work and I continued to stare at her. I made sure to look at her directly in the eyes and not break eye contact. I even managed to take a couple of sips of my pop while doing this. She didn’t seem to think much of it and just continued talking, but you could tell she was slightly uncomfortable and was watching her words. I think that she mostly just thought I was paying really good attention to her, which doesn’t always happen, especially late at night.

The second experiment was the no eye contact. This one was especially hard for me because I am so used to having eye contact. I think it is incredibly rude not to look at someone and have found that in the professional world, this is a no go. I tried to look around and tried to just stare down into my pop, but it was quite a challenge. Again, Meghan didn’t seemed phased by it and continued to keep talking, but it seemed like the conversation didn’t last as long. It helped that we had another friend with us to continue to have eye contact, but every once in a while the conversation would kind of switch to a new topic or I would find that Meghan was mostly focusing her attention on our other friend.

The third experiment was a lot more challenging for me to complete. It was hard to find a time that we had a conversation standing up because most of the night we were sitting down at a table. When we finally were about to head home for the night, we all went outside and had our last minute conversations at our cars before heading out. While we were talking I would try to take slow, small steps towards Meghan, but it really didn’t do much. She wasn’t super uncomfortable and would just casually change her stance. She would just adjust her weight from side to side or take a small step to the side. Eventually she just got in her car and left, but I don’t think that had anything to do with the experiment, I think it was just time to go home.

Overall, I didn’t get much information from this experiment. I found that body language does have a lot but it was a hard experiment to do with my friends. If I wanted a better understanding of this experiment, I should have done it with someone that I was not as close with. My friends and I are all pretty close, so none of this really seemed unnatural to them.

What was the most uncomfortable experiment for you to do? Why?

Activity 6 - "Accents"

After playing each of the quizzes, I found that the American language can be quite confusing. It seems like we should be able to understand simple things like our own language, but with the different dialects in different regions, things are not always as easy as they seem.

The first quiz I took was the one where you had to match the accent with the region. I was feeling pretty confident when I went into this quiz. Usually I can place like a southern accent to the south or a New Jersey accent on the east coast. Midwest is usually pretty easy because we often times get made fun of for the way we talk. After listening to those sound clips, however, I was definitely out of my element. I didn’t know where any of them belonged! Most of my placements were put there based on guessing and the ones I guessed right had a lot to do with luck! I felt kind of silly because I really thought I knew where they were supposed to be going. I guess I was proved wrong. It also probably didn’t help that a couple of them weren’t working, but oh well; it was pretty funny to see how far off I was.

The second quiz was guessing what word they were saying. This again proved to be a lot more challenging than I originally thought. I know I struggle with accents and I often times feel a little embarrassed when I am talking to someone and I cannot understand them and have to continue to ask them to repeat themselves, but I can’t be held responsible for that. I listened to the sound clip with just the word and then listened to the sound clip with the phrase and felt like the answers for most of them were pretty obvious. I was all excited because I felt like I had aced it, but then I got the answers back and found out I only got about two of them right. Embarrassing! The first two I was confident that I had the right answer, but after getting them back, I was one letter off on both. Sounds good right? Not so much. This letter was unfortunately one of the most important letters. The first word I put black instead of block and the second word I put sacks instead of socks. This all has to do with region and the accent that is generally associated with that region. If you’re not from there, you will probably not understand it. The other ones were pretty far off, but once I knew the answers and listened to them again, it seemed so simple!

Overall, these quizzes were fun and really showed me what it was like to live in different regions of the world and how the accents changed from one region to the next. I thought I was some accent genius and could easily decipher between two regions or different accents, but these quizzes sure proved me wrong.

What do you think our knowledge on these accents shows?

Activity 5 - "Avowed and Ascribed"

Avowed (how an individual portrays oneself): girl, young, old, student, worker, daughter, sister, girlfriend, granddaughter, cousin, friend, role model, child, adult, short, fun, special, lovable, loving, caring, exciting

Ascribed (how others attribute identities to an individual): girl, young, old, student, child, friend, daughter, sister, girlfriend, granddaughter, cousin, fun, boring, annoying, exciting, loving, controlling, teacher, friend

I think I got most of my ascribed identities from my peers, my family, and my friends. There are certain qualities that came from each type of person and there are some qualities that came from multiple people.

The obvious ones would be daughter, sister, girlfriend, granddaughter, cousin, and friend. These obviously came from one person. Daughter is from my parents, sister is from my brother, girlfriend is from my boyfriend, etc., but some of them could have double meanings. Friend, most people, would assume is from my friends, but this is not necessarily true. Friend could be from my family too, and my boyfriend. It is not just from one person, but also from many.

Girl, young, student, fun, boring, annoying, and a few more really depend on how an individual looks at me. Girl is obvious because I am obviously a girl, but in some cultures, maybe I wouldn’t be looked at as that. Young is just a way of viewing someone. To my parents, I am young. To my class, I am young because I have a late birthday. To my 11-year old cousin, I am probably old. It really depends on the person and on the perspective.

I sometimes struggle with labels and do not really being stereotyped. I am sometimes looked as a being controlling because if I am in a situation that does not have a leader or is a little messy, I feel free to step up and take control, however, I do not see this as being controlling. I see this as a responsibility. I am going to school to be a teacher, so often times I am put in these situations and from the experience I have had throughout my education, I am often able to step up and take responsibility. This is just one of many cases where some people look at an identity as being negative, when it is not necessarily that. It is just the way people perceive an individual.

Overall, I think many people have distinct ascribed identities, but not everyone can place where they are from. Most of these ascribed identities come from friends and family, but not all of them are from people that we would appreciate getting labels from. Although some identities are kind, not all of them are positive. We need to look past them and be our own person and take our own paths. Just because we are labeled with them doesn’t mean they are true, it is just how others perceive us.

Have you had any ascribed identities that have negatively hurt you? How do you deal with a situation like this?

Activity 4 - "Famous People In History"

After taking the quizzes, I have found that I do not know very much about history. I thought I was always pretty good at history, but having to recall particular names was quite a challenge. What I thought was mostly interesting was the ability I had to recall races and genders. I never looked at it like this, but once I began to write them down, I was kind of disappointed in myself.

The two easiest categories for me were black and white races, mostly white. I find this to be somewhat disappointing, but at the same time, I can understand it. We have always been taught about white people. For so many years in history, other races either did not exist in the United States, or they were looked at as being slaves. That has a lot to do with how we are taught. I also think that the history books we used in high school haven’t changed a lot over the years and we did not have this large of an immigration population back then. I’m not sure if that’s the case really, but it is the only explanation I could really think of. I am disappointed that I could not come up with a lot of Asian, Latino, or middle eastern races, but I do not get to write the history books and the type of population I grew up in did not include a lot of these types of races.

When it comes to gender, however, I didn’t see much of a difference. I could usually name about as many men as I could women and I think this has a lot to do with my personal choice. I am obviously a woman, and sometimes I can be a little over the top concerning women’s rights. I am proud to be a woman and am proud of all of the women over the years that have stood up for themselves and taken over. They have always interested me and I have done a bit of research on this. I think that is why it was easier for me to name them.

In the history of the United States, I do not think that Asian, Latino, or Middle Eastern are talked about often. White and black are discussed often because white people were the main immigrants, and black people used to be slaves and then became freed and did a lot to take that role over. Asian, Latino, and middle eastern did not have as much affect on our history. There are not a ton of US leaders that are of these races, and there are not a lot of famous people besides actors that are of this race.

The only group I could see that is not really talked about is the Middle Eastern race. I hate even having to bring this topic up, but the US has a lot of hate towards this race ever since September 11^th. We all know the reasoning behind it and I don’t think I need to point it out, but fact of the matter is, it’s a stereotype that we have, that will unfortunately take a lot to get rid of.

Overall, it upsets me that I could not name a person from each of the categories, but I think it has a lot to do with history and how I was brought up. Different races are not often discussed, so we do not always know much about them. It is a shame that we stereotype and do not include ever race equally, but that is how history has been for so many years, and no one could really be sure when and if it will change.

Why do you think we know more about one group than others? Does this bother you?