My Final Paper

Boshi Chen

ENGLISH 191

FINAL PAPER

4/23/2012

Intercultural Communication

The most important thing for international students is not learning knowledge, I thought, learning how to work and get along with people from different cultures, beliefs and religions. However, intercultural communication is of importance to international businesses as it examines how people from different cultures, beliefs and religions come together to work and communicate with each other. Consequently, it is necessary and important to understand what exactly intercultural communication is. The aim of my paper is to learn Intercultural communication, give my reader an entire understand about Intercultural communication. I want to analyze an Intercultural communication as well, solve some misunderstandings about it. As an international student, I have experienced both positive and negative encounters that are why I find Intercultural communication is interesting.

As to know intercultural communication, what is Intercultural communication? “It is a form of global communication. It is usually used to describe the wide range of communication problems that naturally appear within an organization made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds.”That is the definition from Wikipedia, kind of in written form and precise. For me, Intercultural communication means communication between people of different cultures and backgrounds. Actually my demands for intercultural communication skills are increasing as more and more. Although I had been studying in Unite State for almost two years, I still prefer making friends with Asian, Japanese, Korean, etc. People around me realize that there are barriers and limitations when entering a foreign territory as well. Then I thought without the help of intercultural communication we can unknowingly cause confusion and misunderstandings. Without misunderstandings and breakdowns, we could integrate into the community better. With this idea I even find an Institute for Intercultural Communication, it follows that the demands for intercultural communication skill are increasing, not only for our international students, but also for people around the world.

So it is certainly needed to understand and analyze intercultural communication. For this reason, I did some work to figure out the main issues surround Intercultural communication.

I found out that the main issues surround Intercultural communication are language, culture diversity and ethnocentrism.

In fact, all of us in one form or another come across situations that require some kind of cross cultural communication and understanding. One such situation is when communicating with foreigners. We all encounter people at work, study, on holiday or elsewhere who does not share the same language as us. Although we consider language the main means of communicating, language only represents part of what we communicate. There are many ways of overcoming the language barrier to allow us communicate better. Sometimes, you can use body language, like use hands, arms, legs, gestures, facial expressions and everything else your charades experience has taught you. Sometimes, you even can draw a picture to people who you want to talk with. For example, if you really cannot explain 'milk' to the shop owner draws the cow, the udders and the milk. Pictures speak louder than words. Remember when the first time I came to Unite State, I spent all my time use drawing and body language talking with Japanese beside me; although we got language problems, it was a wonderful experience for me. Most cultures will be able to spot what you are getting at straight away. Even in our own language and culture we do not always use language to express fright, frustration, anger or joy. Emotions transcend linguistic barriers, like eye contact. In addition, sometimes we share common words and we do not know it. Additionally people from different cultures will have a passive knowledge of English gained through the media. Try saying the word slowly or with a different pronunciation.

SCSU is a good place to see culture diversity, because we got American, Asian, and African here. We need got in touch with each other every day. When I was IEC, it is important to increase our awareness of and sensitivity to culturally different modes of behavior. We need to recognize different cultural patterns at study, and get a good chance to know in the behavior of people from other countries and cultures. It is also useful to be aware of how our own cultural background influences our behavior. For me, usually but not always, I can find the same points in people with Asia background. And we need to develop tolerance for behavior patterns that are different from our own.

I always think ethnocentrism is the biggest barrier for intercultural communication. You can see lot examples for that, and you don't have to go, even go back so far period. In World War II, Nazi Germany left us a nightmare to ethnocentrism; it is like the worst intercultural communication between Nazi and the Jews.

We got issues, we got methods. There are many theories that set principles to help interpret the basis of intercultural communication. These theories help to eliminate misunderstandings, the basic principle of giving use guidelines how to resolve the situation. These guidelines will help to prevent conflict between different cultural groups caused by the misunderstanding.

The basic skills of intercultural communication are fundamentally general communication skills that can be used universally by all cultures and races. These skills usually adjust the direction, taking the cultural limitation into consideration. An example of such communication skills in the intercultural environment is to listen without judging, repeat what you understand, confirm meanings, give suggestions and acknowledge a mutual understanding. Building an understanding of other people's cultures, their communication styles and behaviors can go a long way in improving relationships and being more successful in an intercultural environment. The following intercultural communication tips can help people get some basic insight into dealing more effectively with people and not letting culture become an issue. First one, be patient, sometimes intercultural communication could be a frustrating affair. The different of cultural and the issue of language could make communication inappropriate. Patience with yourself and others is a good way to go, favor returns. Second one, ask questions, when I don’t understand something or want to know how to do something right, I would ask question, and that helps me a lot so far, asking questions can stop me making mistakes. Besides, I could avoid similar incidents in the future. Third one, the written word, sometimes I know some English word but I cannot spell it out, it is a good time to write it down as a backup. Fourth, humor, in an intercultural environment one man's joke is another's insult. Be wary of differences in the sense of humor and also the acceptability of banter. Fifth, be positive, when I faced with incidents of intercultural communication, I would depressed for a little, then positive came, analyze the problem areas found solutions to ensure the same incidents never occurs again.

In the general, the main purpose of following such theories is to earn respect from others. Respect in all cultures in the world is a common language and by earning it through respecting other peoples culture and religion.

Times change, times change, so does intercultural communication. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have become interdependent of one another. Intercultural communication is not new; it is a symbol which should be used to create shared meanings. Don't be afraid of it, get brave to do it.

Bibliography:

“Handbook of International and Intercultural Communication”  By William B. Gudykunst, Bella Mody. Book. Sun. 22 Apr. 2012

http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0FYtvfvpphIC&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&dq=intercultural+communication+issues&ots=WDPf77RQLI&sig=2wZRinI5ifeIAR0OlVS_Z3v6nm4#v=onepage&q=intercultural%20communication%20issues&f=false

Wikipedia. Web. Mon. 23 Apr. 2012

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercultural_communication

“Cross-Cultural Communication Strategies.” Mon. 23 Apr. 2012

http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/xcolcomm.htm

“An introduction to intercultural communication.” Web. Mon. 23 Apr. 2012 http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/introduction-intercultural.html

“Journal of Intercultural Communication” Editor in chief: Prof. Jens Allwood. Web. Mon. 23 Apr. 2012

http://www.immi.se/intercultural/

The Intercultural Communication Institute (ICI) Web. Mon. 23 Apr. 2012

http://www.intercultural.org/

 “intercultural communication tips.” Web. Mon.23 Apr. 2012

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/cultural-services/articles/intercultural-communication-tips.html

Outline Talk

Janvier B

Abdullah M

Ashley K

Final Paper Topic：Intercultural Communication

Introduction 
 
  The aim of my paper is to learn Intercultural communication, give my reader an entire understand about Intercultural communication. I want to analyse an Intercultural communication as well, solve some misunderstandings about it. As an international student, I have experienced both positive and negative encounters, that is the reason I find Intercultural communication is interesting.


Outline

1.The definition of Intercultural communication. Communication between people of different cultures and background.

2.How different cultures do greeting when first meet.

3.The main issues surround Intercultural communication：language,barriers,culture diversity and ethnocentrism.

4. Some positive and negative Intercultural encounter experiences around me.  


Conclusion

  Times change, Intercultural communication does. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have became interdependent of one another.Intercultural communication is not new, it is a symbol which should be used to create shared meanings. Don't be afraid of it, get brave to do it.

Final paper topic：Greeting in other culture

    After finishing my deep consideration, I decided my final paper topic as greeting in other culture. My inspiration comes from one of our interview question we made in class. "what's the general greeting in your country?" I'm interested about it, and I believe greeting can reflect a lot culture situations. I am going to find historical change of greeting as well, this process would be a lot of fun to me.
Introduction

Some example for other country's greeting

How they did it in past

History

How they do it today

Reflection of culture

Conclusion

Comparing interview three to interview two and one

From my first interview to my second there was kind of similar, but my second to my third one I changed my interviewee’s country, Korea to Japan. I changed place to doing interview, first one and the third one we doing it in library, the second one I chose Atwood as the place; we ate food, and talked. From my first one to my third one, I feel my interviewee and I were getting better. Besides, I did a nice preparation in all three interviews, like question sheet, record and pens. One of my interview, I did it when we were eating so probably we had more things to chat and felt more comfortable, it is second one. The reason I chose Korean and Japanese interviewees is I got these friends by coincidence, and I am interested about Korea and Japan culture. In addition, all china, Korea and Japan is in the same culture background, I feel comfortable about it. All my interviews were going flow, because we know each other for a while. Transcribing the recorded audio portion is pretty cost me about 1 hour; I recorded it after us finishing the interview immediately like the first two times. I am not satisfied with my second one so much, the third one got better. But it is not so good compare to other American students’ work; I feel like I got many grammar mistakes and my sentences are not pretty as well. My second interview focuses less attention about interview questions on paper, compare to the other two/

From all my interviews, I learned a lot, not only in English, but also got a chance to communicate more with my international friends, to know their culture deeply. These three interviews would be one of my great experiences in US.

Using Quotes Correctly

    Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia.[1] The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun". [2] In 1603, after decades of civil warfare, the Tokugawa shogunate (a military-led, dynastic government) ushered in a long period of relative political stability and isolation from foreign influence. [3]Japan opened its ports after signing the Treaty of Kanagawa with the US in 1854 and began to intensively modernize and industrialize. [4]A major economic power, Japan has the world's third-largest economy by nominal GDP and fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer.[5]

[1]. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan Visited 4/7/12 at 8:42 P.M.
[2]. (1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan Visited 4/7/12 at 9:00P.M.

[3]. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html
[4]. (3) https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html
[5]. (1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan

Evaluation for the third interview

TOP 3:
Smith, Tiffany M: 19 POINTS
Cai, Wenting: 18 POINTS
Gu, Yi:: 18 POINTS
Evaluation: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AhQDPMSRQzRkdC1IZlZ6UzhtOU5uMWF0cW1BbTBYOGc

3rd interview

My first interview (30-45 minutes in length)
Interviewer: Boshi Chen
interviewee: S H
date: 04/02/2012 
Interview Preparation:
My third interviewee is named S H, she is a Japanese. I know her from one of my Chinese friends. This time, I invite her to come to library, I want to learn about their cultural traditions, to learn how they live their daily lives to learn how they date and marry,  to learn what the overall family structure is like. Second, I made a list of questions. I chose the questions our class decided on, and I also create some question from myself, I made a few of my own though. The questions I created were more specific to for my purpose.
Third, last time, I just did a small talk with my friend; I did not ask the whole bunch of questions either. However, this time, I did it more formal. I prepared a voice recorder, and get so SH’s permission in advance.
Interview report:

This interview was made in library at 3:00 pm on Monday, Apr. 2. The interviewee is named S H; she is an international student, from Japan. We know each other through one of my Chinese friend. So I have a little knowing about her and her country. The all the conversation went very well. In this report, I prepared 10 core questions to ask, aiming to know whether it has differences in life style between America and Japan.

At the beginning of our talking, we greeted, and chat. The whole conversation she looks very comfortable about my asking, so we had very happy talking.

Through these 3 interviews, I learned a lot from these 3 friends. I learned new culture and new country and cities. It was fun for me.

Country report:

"Japan (Japanese: 日本 Nihon or Nippon; formally 日本国Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, literally the State of Japan) is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south. The characters that make up Japan's name mean "sun-origin", which is why Japan is sometimes referred to as the "Land of the Rising Sun".

Japan is an archipelago of 6,852 islands. The four largest islands are Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū and Shikoku, together accounting for ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area. Japan has the world's tenth-largest population, with over 127 million people. The Greater Tokyo Area, which includes the de facto capital city of Tokyo and several surrounding prefectures, is the largest metropolitan area in the world, with over 30 million residents."(1)

Food:  

Chilled Tofu

Chilled tofu is simply served with various toppings. This is a picture about it.

 It's a traditional tofu dish called hiyayakko. They can be a wide variety of fresh or cooked ingredients of your choice. Common toppings are katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes), grated ginger, green onion, shiso (perilla), and so on. I like to use silken tofu for this dish. When it's too hot to cook, hiyayakko is a quick appetizer to prepare.

Miso soup

Miso soup (with tofu, wakame and scallion).

"Miso soup (味噌汁 misoshiru) is a traditional Japanese soup consisting of a stock called "dashi" into which softened miso paste is mixed. Many ingredients are added depending on regional and seasonal recipes, and personal preference."(3)

Wedding: 
 "Japanese wedding customs fall into two categories: traditional Shinto ceremonies, and modern Western-style weddings. In either case, the couple must first be legally married by filing for marriage at their local government office, and the official documentation must be produced in order for the ceremony to be held. Traditionally, marriages were categorized into two types according to the method of finding a partner—miai, meaning arranged or resulting from an arranged introduction, and ren'ai, in which the principals met and decided to marry on their own—although the distinction has grown less meaningful over postwar decades as the proportion of miai matches has dwindled. The Japanese bride-to-be may be painted pure white from head to toe, visibly declaring her maiden status to the gods. Two choices of headgear exist. One, the watabōshi, is a white hood; the other, called the tsunokakushi, serves to hide the bride's 'horns of jealousy.' It also symbolizes the bride's intention to become a gentle and obedient wife."(2)

Transcription

Me: hi SH so nice to meet you.

SH: yeah, how are you doing?

Me: I am good, how are you

SH: I am good too.

Me: well, as I said in the email, today I am going to ask and talk some questions about your life and your country. And I am going to use this voice recorder, is that ok for you?

SH: yeah, sure of course you can.

Me: ok, here is the list of questions; you may keep one of it.

SH: um, ok.

Me: how many family members you have?

SH: there are my mom, my dad, my little brother and me. My dad is an editor, and my mom is a house wife. My brother, he is 16 years old, he is at a high school.

Me: wow, that is a median size family, so what is the normal size of family members in Japan?

SH: I think 4-5 is media.

Me: ok, you said your mom is a house wife, does that mean your father takes care of your family??

SH: oh, our family main income is from my dad, but my mom also takes care of us, including cooking, buying new items for family, and what is the most important is when there is a big decision should be made, then my parent will talk with my mom first. So I think both of them goanna take care of our family.

Me: yeah, that makes sense. As I know that you are an international student, Which country`s food do you like the most?

SH: I guess for me it should be Japanese food, and Chinese food. Actually all Asian food is my favorite.

Me: that our common view, haha, what are the similarities and differences between it and your own culture`s food?

SH: Japanese food got more fresh cuisine, you must know sushi, right? I guess that was because we living near the sea. By the way, did you go to Fuji? That restaurant is great, you should have a try.

Me: I love Fuji! Japanese food is my favorite either, delicious and delicate.

SH: I deeply agree with you haha.

Me: you know what I saw some Japanese film, it looks like Japanese bowing a lot, is that truth?

SH: er, actually bowing is not so common today, especially between our young people. We prefer shaking hand to bowing. But Old generation still doing that a lot I guess.

Me: oh, I never know that, next question could you tell me a secret about yourself that very few people here know about?

SH: ok… for me, I think it is the language, and the way we think. my English was not that good when the first day I came to here, it is hard for me to make American friends, and also hard for me to express what I want to talk about, so that was a hard time to get used to. Then it is the way we think, nowadays, i am doing a project with my group members, they are amercing, in Japanese, we are always doing things together, and discuss problem, and making decision together. But in U.S., I found that most of American prefers to do the work individually, not for whole group. That is kind of hard, and I rarely to talk when we have meetings.

Me: yeah, I have the same situation before. But I found we can try to do other things, like searching information that kind of thing.

SH: yes. I will try, but I am not sure they will assign me to do that or not.

Me: yeah, good luck!!! Why did you decide to come to SCSU instead of studying or working in your own country?

SH: I just found there is a program for going to U.S. to study, so I decide to come to here, time went very fast, I learned a lot, and SCSU is a great school for me.

Me:  talk about this, I am interested that at what age do you start school? Are you under a lot 8b.Can you describe a typical day for a child in your country?

SH: in this question, I guess we are kind of the same, under huge stress in school, and have gone to school under 8 years old. Even finding job is hard, we got too many people in japans in America that is will be much harder for us too, we don’t have the language advantage, ... that is a big problem disturbing me.

Me: Depending on you have been here almost half year, can you tell me some things about what are culture differences between your country and here?

SH: as I mentioned before, the thinking way, and the food must be the most different! There is a lot of fast food, and in Japan, people eat fish, and vegetable almost every day, and our main food is rice and noodles.

Me: the same with china, it is hard for me to get used to American food. At what age do you consider marriage?

SH: for girl. It may be at 22-25, for men, it probably at 25-27. That depends on.

Me: I see. I was wondering you guys would do what for fun as usually?

SH: we will go to the night club, karaoke, or stay at friends’ place having parties. Or hang out with friends, watching movie, shopping and so on.

Me: that must be a lot fun.

Me: so at what age did you start to learn English? And what was the most difficult thing about learning English?

SH: well, I began learn English when I was at middle school, for now, the most difficult thing is speaking, Asian people are shy, I am not good at talking with people first. So I may don’t have problem to write or read, but I do have problem to listen and talk.

Me: Asian are shy, that right. Moving on! What could SCSU do to make your stay on campus better?

SH: I feel good in SCSU, I like studying here, everyone was kind, people always smile to you, even you are shy, and don’t like talk too much.

Me: Same feeling! So how would you describe famous sports in your country?

SH: actually, I am not a big fan of sport, but I think skate and skiing are very popular, some boys also like baseball.

Me: it is a lot baseball competition in your country, I have done with my questions! So nice to talk with you.

SH: hah, have a nice one.

 

Reference: 
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_in_Japan

3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miso_soup

Evaluation for the second interview

Top three:
Nicholas : 18 points
Gu, Yi: 18 points
TiffanyS: 18 points


Evaluation: Here