Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Renata Alexander
December 9, 2017
Ottawa University
Running head: FINAL PROJECT 2
a Russian, and an American. Despite my plethora of identities, I do not consider myself entirely
interculturally competent. I believe I can grow in more areas than one. I believe this because I
have had a small glimpse of the power of intercultural communication in all interactions,
regardless of ones age, race, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, and religion (Martin &
Nakayama, 2018). In that small glimpse, I realized I have a lot more to learn about people and
life in general. Nevertheless, I do not come to this realization with fear. Instead, I am thankful. I
strive to grow interculturally with a plan of action by identifying discrimination, pop culture,
discrimination. Generally speaking, discrimination involves power and prejudice of one person
or group over another (Martin & Nakayama, 2018). It often occurs at a subconscious level, thus
why countless individuals and companies tend to believe they are not biased (Hodge, 2014;
Martin & Nakayama, 2018). Interpersonal discrimination occurs between two people, while
institutional or collective is more towards a whole group (Martin & Nakayama, 2018). Both
often occur within racial or religious pretenses (Hodge, 2014; Martin & Nakayama, 2018;
Both can be subtle or blatant (Martin & Nakayama, 2018; Offermann, et al., 2014). This
discrimination may involve a lack of eye contact or exclusion, a job rejection, verbal insults, or
physical violence (Hodge, 2014; Martin & Nakayama, 2018; Offermann, et al., 2014). For
instance, those who whitened their resume, were twice as likely to get callbacks in a batch of
1,600 job postings (Martin & Nakayama, 2018). In my own personal life, I think the owner of
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the company I work for discriminates against those who are not Christians. In fact, instead of not
hiring Christians, he strives to do just that. He would rather hire a Christian for one of the
positions that require handling money because he believes those people are more trustworthy.
That is not to say he would not hire somebody who is not a Christian, but he does have a
preference. I strongly disagree with this. I understand his intention to create a certain office
culture, but I think it is taking it too far to have a rather obvious preference, and I am a Christian
(Shockley-Zalabak, 2015).
Examples of popular culture can be anything that is consumed by the masses from television,
books, movies, fashion, music, social media, video games, and much more (Martin & Nakayama,
2018; Tilsen & Nylund, 2016). In fact, it can even include language variations, such as on
fleek or memes (Tilsen & Nyund, 2016). Some do not believe popular culture affects ones
identity. Others believe it affects everyones identity, even those who strive to reject it.
Nevertheless, either option is a choice that ultimately impacts ones ever-changing, non-
permanent identity (Martin & Nakayama, 2018; Tilsen & Nyund, 2016). For, when we choose to
either embrace or reject popular culture, we give it meaning (Tilsen & Nylund, 2016).
make conscious choices to not watch certain television shows that encourage behaviors I do not
condone or listen to music that has foul language. Others may turn to popular culture to begin to
discover their identities, like teens who view the now current fashion blogs, such as Style Bubble
and The Coveted. Some may use popular culture to create a persona, like what many of the
fashion bloggers, in fact, do. In other words, ones choice to wear a garment, post a political
status, write a reflective blog post, watch a show, or even what to name their blog platform, is
Running head: FINAL PROJECT 4
only a small portion of their identity. Behind all the facades and actions, though, all ultimately
In order to grow interculturally, I must understand how different work attitudes can lead
to intercultural communication conflicts. First, it is important to note that not all work attitude
differences are obvious and quick to spot (Martin & Nakayama, 2018). Many of the differences
are blurred, yet nearly impossible to neglect, due to globalization. Nevertheless, most of these
which contradict on the betterment of the individual versus the group or society (Rothwell,
2013). There are other contradicting communication practices that may lead to conflict. Some
nations, like America, prefer low-context, direct, and honest communication. Other nations,
In business, work is generally of high priority in America, while other countries tend to
work as a necessary burden. In America, it is common for people to value efficiency at the
lowest cost possible. Also, it is common for Americans to value tasks over people. As a result,
Americans usually assign certain job duties to one person, rather than choosing to work as a team
in all regards. Americans often want to get down to business quickly rather than develop mutual
trust (Martin & Nakayama, 2018). Simply put, these differences and much more can lead to
intercultural conflict because the bottom line, purpose, and execution of meeting do not align.
In order to grow interculturally, I must create a plan of action on how to become more
communication by, being observant, being more conscious of my own and others
communication, and being flexible and open to other ways of living (Martin & Nakayama,
2018, p. 302).
Running head: FINAL PROJECT 5
conversation, or simply participating in a meaningful slice of the local culture and emulating
their behaviors and attitudes (Learning Abroad, 2017; Martin & Nakayama, 2018, p. 301). In
other words, I will be observant by meeting people where they are, aware that everywhere brings
their own form of culture to each encounter (Martin & Nakayama, 2018).
I will be conscious of my own and others communication by realizing that not everyone
speaks English. If necessary, then, I will take the initiative to learn basic words and etiquette,
depending on where I am or who I am speaking to. Furthermore, I will be wary of any nonverbal
or verbal communication that may be offensive to others that is not offensive to Americans, such
as being casual with names and greetings (Martin & Nakayama, 2018).
I will be flexible and open to other ways of living by simply traveling near and far, from
my neighbors house to all over the world. After all, people from a particular culture are not
identical (Martin & Nakayama, 2018, p. 38). I will take any chance I get to travel or meet new
people as a constant dose of humility and gratitude. Most importantly, I will become savvy in my
possible for two people to communicate effectively if they do not speak the same language.
However, I do believe people can generally communicate, despite language barriers, by the
notion, We are all human. We are more alike than we are different (Cobb, 2010). I do not think
inevitable even among people in the same household and language. In fact, A person can know
perfectly well what is required in a given situation and still not perform adequately (Trenholm
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& Jensen, 2013, p. 18). Honestly, I probably miscommunicate with my husband at least once a
Therefore, I think it would be difficult to communicate entirely effective, but a basic idea
of what one is trying to say is possible by nonverbal communications alone because they are so
powerful (Trenholm & Jensen, 2013). As shown in the film Gran Torino, Walt and Thaos
grandmother made it evident they did not like each other with their body language, like throwing
their hands in the air and scowling. Despite the language barrier, they still yelled at each other,
too. Nevertheless, it took Sues act as a mediator between the two languages for Walt to know
Plus, Nonverbal codes, while influenced by culture, do express more universal meaning
(Trenholm & Jensen, p. 50). As a result, one can find ways to best communicate an idea,
depending on the cultures involved. Also, people tend to trust nonverbal codes over verbal ones.
This could be because nonverbal codes are constant. They do not cease (Trenholm & Jensen,
2013). A lot of times, they can be the entirety of a conversation. My husband and I often use
nonverbal glances at one another to communicate when we are ready to leave an event.
In conclusion, this class has taught me that I have a lot more to learn. Thankfully, this
course has given me a realistic and honest idea of my strengths and weaknesses as an
that intercultural communication matters in every encounter because it is such an intricate part of
put my plan of action into practice in my everyday life, even if I never travel overseas.
Running head: FINAL PROJECT 7
References
Cobb, T. (2010). Strategies for providing cultural competent health care for Hmong Americans.
Eastwood, C. (Director & Producer). (2008). Gran Torino [Motion picture]. United States:
Warner Bros.
Hodge, D. R. (2014). Affirming diversity, difference, and the basic human rights of those with
whom we disagree: A difficult task but worth the challenge-a reply to Bolen and
doi:10.1080/10437797.2014.856240
Learning Abroad (2017, May 1). Orientation and cultural preparation. The University of Utah.
Offermann, L. R., Basford, T. E., Graebner, R., Jaffer, S., De Graaf, S. B., & Kaminsky, S. E.
(2014). See no evil: Color blindness and perceptions of subtle racial discrimination in the
doi:10.1037/a0037237
Tilsen, J., & Nylund, D. (2016). Cultural studies methodologies and narrative family therapy:
fashion blogs. Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, 19(2), 201-220.
doi:10.2752/175174115X14168357992391
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Trenholm, S. & Jensen, A. (2013). Interpersonal communication. (7th ed.). New York, NY:
Rothwell, J. (2013). In mixed company: Communicating in small groups and teams. (8th ed.).