W11_B2

Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

The one concept I found interesting is according to Young Yun Kim, “She believes that sojourners interested in acculturation (i.e., becoming part of a new culture) should expose themselves as much as possible to host social communication. They should make interpersonal contacts and familiarize themselves with mass communication within the host culture. They should also avoid depending too heavily on ethnic communication networks” [p. 363]. The past year, our unit was fortunate enough to host five interns from Singapore to work on several projects. However, one of the gentlemen for whatever reason had a difficult time acclimating himself to the culture in California. For example, he basically kept to himself, he did not really socialize or did not know how to socialize with groups of people during or after work, and he really seemed to want to be an outcast. He definitely did not have any proper mannerisms according to the American standards. It is sad to say, but he was labeled the “contaminator.” The reason for that is everyday, we would have a table with goodies such as bottles of beef jerky, cashews, chocolate raisins, etc. with scoopers to use. Instead, he was always blowing his nose due to allergies and sticking his hand in the bottles. Needless to say, we had to throw the entire bottles away. It got so bad; we discontinued putting out goodies until after he left in December 2008.

One the other hand, the other four interns who were two females and two males were able to adjust very quickly with their new surroundings and made friends with everyone in the unit of about a hundred people. They were very open to venture out to new areas like eating at different ethnic restaurants; they visited different tourist attractions every week and they would join us for happy hour after work. These four Singapore students were sad to have to go back home.

W11_B1

Do you agree with anthropologist Ruth Benedict that we are “creatures of our culture” and that our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities are shaped by our culture? If so, how can we break through the limits of our cultures?

Yes, I agree with Ruth Benedict when she states we are “creatures of our culture” and that our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities are shaped by our cultures.

According to Sarah Trenholm, in order to “become a more open communicator and break thorough the limits of our cultures we need to: open yourself to new contacts, learn about the history and experiences of people from diverse cultures, examine yourself for possible stereotypes, responsible and open communicators are willing and able to role-take, and work on becoming more self-confident” [Trenholm 2008, p. 364]. A great example is my work environment. Within the four departments that I support, there are people that represent cultures from Asia, Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Since each project consists of teams made up of about 50 cross-functional people, everyone must be able to work together in order to meet their bonus able milestones. Each member of the team must be open and respect other people’s (cultural) perspective. Each team member must be knowledgeable of their team’s diverse cultures and have a tolerance for the differences. Finally, each team member must challenge themselves to see if they have any prejudices with their thinking and be understanding, patient and accommodating with each other.

W8_B3

Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

Sarah Trenholm argues, “The way we arrange home and public territories affect our lives. Architects and interior designers know how important spatial arrangement can be. The way walls and furniture are arranged within structures affects the amount, flow, kind of interaction in them. Seating choice in classrooms, for example, often predicts which students are likely to talk and which are not…most participation comes from the so-called action zone, a roughly triangle area beginning with the seats immediately in front of the teacher and diminishing as it approaches the back of the room” (Trenholm 2008, p. 126). To me, spatial arrangement is especially crucial in a professional atmosphere. For example, whenever I sit down in my boss’s office for a meeting, I make sure never to sit in the 11 o’clock seat, but across from him. In addition, I will not sit at the head of the table in his office. Furthermore, I will not sit at the head of the table when I go into a meeting. I try to remain neutral as possible. It is similar when you go in for an interview to be aware of where you are sitting which will indicate something about your choice.

W8_B2

Although nonverbal messages are more universal than verbal messages, nonverbals do not always carry the same meanings in other cultures. Can you give examples of some of the nonverbal displays that take on different meanings in other countries? If you have moved around within this country, have you ever encountered regional differences in nonverbal meaning?

According to Sarah Trenholm, “Each one of us varies in how close we prefer to be to other people. This preference, called personal space, acts as a kind of portable territory that we carry with us wherever we go…Factors that affect personal closeness include liking, status, gender, and the way we define the interact” (Trenholm 2008, p. 128). While in Paris, I ate at many sidewalk Cafés. On several occasions and at some upscale Cafés, I sat next door to another couple almost shoulder to shoulder. This is absolutely normal in Paris to be sitting and your next table is on your right or left side. Another example was one morning while I was eating my breakfast in my hotel, there was a couple that arrived late and so the only table where they could sit and share was my table. This couple happened to be from Hawaii and of course, since I was born and raised in Hawaii, we immediately became good friends and two years later, we still keep in contact via email. Again, it is usual and customary to share a table while eating in Paris. How else are you going to meet some of the neatest people in the world?

W8_B1

Because nonverbal messages can be ambiguous, they are open to misinterpretation. Have you ever been wrong about the meaning of someone’s nonverbal message? Describe what happened. How can people increase the accuracy with which they interpret nonverbal messages?

Sarah Trenholm argues, “Responsiveness, the degree to which we are psychologically involved in an interaction, is shown by such cues as rate and volume of speech, amount of gesture, and variability of facial display. Someone who responds to us in a monotone, staring straight ahead with a dull, expressionless look, is indicating low involvement and low responsiveness…Nonverbal communication gives us a clear picture where we stand” (Trenholm 2008, p. 112).

Yes, I was wrong about the meaning of a gentlemen’s nonverbal message, I sat next to on the Eurostar (Chunnel) from Waterloo, London to Gare du Nord, Paris. I took a one day trip from Paris to London. On my way home, I found my cabin, and proceeded to look for my seat. When I got to my seat number, I noticed a gentleman taking off his coat, putting away his briefcase, so I asked him if his seat was the window or the aisle. He looked at me and just grunted and pointed the window with a expressionless look. So I said to myself, “Boy this is going to be 4 long hours back to Paris.” Once the train started, I put on my iPod nano and took out my Blackberry and began answering and cleaning up my emails. Within a few seconds, Francois (not his real name), leaned over and said to me, “Excuse moi, is that for your business?” I said, yes and the rest was history. We chatted for four hours. Francois is a Physicist who lives in Paris and works in London at an Aerospace company. I asked him about his favorite restaurants (I ate at 3 of them----delicious), music shop to buy French music, places to see, and tips and tricks. He was headed to Nice for the holidays (our Memorial Day weekend) to swim in the ocean.

How can people increase the accuracy with which they interpret nonverbal messages? The multiple codes must work together to get an accurate outcome or confusion will occur.

W7_P3

Pick one concept from the assigned reading that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.

Sarah Trenholm argues, “The concept of ‘Linguistic relativity,’ theorizes that people from different language communities perceive the world differently…If you have ever studied a foreign language, you may know that some concepts and ideas that are easily expressed in one language are difficult to translate into another…we are told that Arabic has many words for horses and that the Eskimos have many ways to talk about snow…French speakers have two ways to say ‘you’: a polite and a familiar form” (Trenolm 2008, p. 75).

I love the different language communities represented in the work place. I especially love the French and Arabic languages. I have studied both languages and have found Trenholm’s argument precisely true. First of all, both languages have a polite (Formal) and a familiar (Informal) version of words. It depends upon who you are speaking to which will determine the version used. For example, if you are speaking to a friend you would address him or her using the familiar version of the word within a phrase. However, if you are speaking to a stranger, you would use the polite version.

W7_P2

Do you agree that men and women use language differently? In what areas?

I agree men and women use language differently in the following areas: self-disclosure, quantity of talk, topics of talk and vocabulary. According to Laurie Arliss, her “Conclusions Drawn from Research on Gender Differences in Communication revealed that women tend both to self-disclose more and to receive more disclosures from others more then men do. The quality of talk: who talks the most? In friendly same-gender dyads, women prefer to spend time talking; men prefer to share activities such as sports or hobbies. Topics of talk: What do Men and Women talk about? Men talk more about public matters (sports, money, and news) than do women. Women talk more about private matters (family, relational problems, other women, men, and clothing) than men do. Vocabulary: Do Women and Men Use Different Words? Women more often use weaker expletives (‘Oh dear’), whereas men more often use stronger expletives including obscenities. Women use certain evaluative adjectives (adorable, cute, and fabulous) that men do not use” [Arliss 1991, p. 93].

I have a hilarious example about men who will not stop and ask for directions when they are lost. My husband and I had to be in San Francisco on a Friday night by 6:30 p.m. to board a Dinner Cruise with all his co-workers. It was raining very hard. My husband forgot to bring the invitation with the map, so since he lived in San Francisco, he said I know how to get there. I just kept quite. Well, to make a long story short, he didn’t stop to ask for directions, instead he went around in circles and we ended up missing the boarding time. We missed out on one heck of a company party. LOL.

Week7_P1

Is it possible to perceive others without in some way judging or categorizing them? Is so, how? If not, how can we make judgments we do make more fair?

For me, the answer is no. At times, I have a hard time not judging or categorizing a person. Sarah Trenholm argues, “Constructs that are important to us and that we frequently use, regardless of circumstances are called chronically accessible constructs, and the constructs are likely to color and bias our interpretation of others and their messages. Psychologist John Bargh tells us that there are wide personal differences in construct accessibility and that this accessibility does not often overlap between individuals. Thus two people may ‘pick up very different information about the third person, and interpret the same information in very different ways” (Trenholm 2008, p. 52). For instance, I worked in a department with two other ladies, Mary and Jill (not there real names). Mary and Jill both White and I am Asian. Mary got along with both Jill and I. Her personality was friendly, bubbly and a real people person. Consequently, Jill was an angry person and would fly off the handle in a split second. People stayed away from her because she would actually yell and scream at them. Therefore, my first impression of Jill was she has some major psychological/neurological issues. Furthermore, I did not want to be around someone who was a walking time bomb who could explode anytime. Since she born and raised in Chicago, I also thought to myself, she may be prejudice. I just kept to myself and my friends where all the 125 engineers, technicians, and the 10 managers/advisors that I supported for two years. The ironic thing was, when I transferred to another department, Jill gave a present. I was shocked and nearly fell on the floor.

Further, in my case, in order for me to make fair judgment(s) about a person, I like what Trenholm states, “Cognitive complexity occurs when an individual has a large, rich, and varied set of personal constructs. The
cognitive complexity person is willing to combine seemingly contradictory characteristics in creative ways, realizing that people are not all good or all bad” (Trenholm 2008, pp. 52-53). Thus, in order for me to make a fair judgment about people, I will require deep understanding and patience with every individual I interact with, since I really do not have
any idea what is going on in their life at this specific time.