Intercultural

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION ASSISGNMENT

RICHELLE LANCASTER

APRIL 26, 2005

CJ-9

CHARLES RICKS

SESSION ONE TAKE HOME QUIZ

1. cultural relativism-theory that the differences in peoples are the results of historical, social, and geographic conditions and that all population have complete and equally developed cultures.

2. ethnocentrism- negatively judging aspects of another culture by the standards of one’s own culture

3. ethnography-the direct observation and reporting of customary behavior of a culture

4. cultural sensitivity-making no value judgments based on one’s own cultural values about other culture’s practices or artifacts (right or wrong)

5. profiling-law enforcement practice of scrutinizing certain individuals based on characteristics though to indicate the likelihood of criminal behavior

6. stereotype-judgment made about another solely on the basis of ethnic or other group membership

7. chronemics-study of our use of time

8. nonverbal communication-actions and attributes with a socially shared meaning with a socially shared meaning intentionally sent and received

9. proxemics-use of fixed space, territoriality, and personal space

10. back translation-translation from one language into another and then translating back into the original to compare the result to avoid errors in translation.

11. cultural invasion-refers to one group penetrating the culture of another group to impose its own view of the world.

12. idiom-expression whose meaning is not predictable from the usual meanings of its words

13. sapir-whorf hypothesis- useful way of thinking about the relationship between language and culture (a.k.a. Whorfian thesis)

SESSION TWO TAKE HOME QUIZ

1. collectivism-dimension of culture that refers to interdependence and social cohesion

2. individualism-dimension of culture that refers to the rights and independent action of the individual

3. long-term orientation-fostering of virtures, particularly perseverance and thrift, oriented toward future rewards

4. short-term orientation-dimension of cultures standing for the fostering of virtues related to the past and present, in particular respect for tradition preservation of face, and fulfilling social obligations

5. uncertainty avoidance-dimension of culture that refers to the extent to which people are made nervous by unstructured or unpredictable situations

6. hyperindividualism-excesses of individualism, disregard for others, and withdrawing into individual private shells

7. opinion leadership- individuals who are able to influence other’s attitudes and behaviors

SESSION ONE REACTION PAPER

Of what culture are you a part? What are the top 3 values of your culture? Do you subscribe to these values? I was born into the African-American culture. Both of my parents are black, or the politically correct term in African-American, which is of African descent. Our skin tones are deep brown and our background is said to have come from Africa. The top 3 values in my culture would be God, or your faith, your family, and then your career or whatever you hold close to you. I do subscribe to the first two, family and faith, and career is important but as far as my third, it would be my well being.

Describe a time when you saw a cultural conflict in the workplace ( or other organization)? What values do you think led to the conflict and how could it have been avoided? The most recent cultural conflict I experienced at work was when a caucasian inmate was irate and wanted to talk with a caucasian Sgt. We couldn’t get a caucasian Sgt. so a black Sgt. stepped in the situation. This made matters worse and the situation turned into a big incident that ended up in inmated being peppersprayed. The incident could’ve been avoided if the proper staff was available.