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Five Paragraph THESIS Essay

Read the following essay and pay particular attention to its structure and pattern of development

Ethnocentrism As An Obstacle to Intercultural Understanding in the USA

The United States has always been a multi-ethnic society consisting of people from

many different parts of the world. In large cities, smaller towns, and even rural areas, too,

there is a diversity of citizens, immigrants, tourists, and visitors that is growing by the year.

Multiculturalism creates many advantages for US culture and opportunity for the exchange

of ideas and customs. However, although the idea of intercultural exchange is viewed as

positive, the reality can be problematic for people trying to live and work together.

Ethnocentric attitudes rooted in language, verbal communication styles, and non-verbal

communication styles are often barriers to effective intercultural communication in the USA.

One of the biggest obstacles to effective intercultural communication in the USA

today is lack of common language skills. The majority of the native born population only

speaks English, and access to most opportunities, especially in education and for jobs,

requires knowledge of the language. Without good language skills, people who do not speak

English are often isolated in their own communities and do not interact with mainstream US

culture. The isolation of new immigrants with limited English skills can sometimes be

viewed with suspicion by both native US-Americans and immigrants from other language

groups. Native English speakers may worry that foreigners who dont speak English (or

dont speak well) dont like their life in the US and dont value US culture. Complicating the

problem is the fact the most native speakers of English in the US do not speak other

languages. This is unfortunate and caused by many reasons, but it means that most US-

Americas dont understand the difficulties of learning a foreign language. Also, US-

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Americans often have the ethnocentric attitude that everyone should speak English. This is

just one reason why intercultural communication in the USA can be a challenge today.

Lack of a common language is one problem, but it can often be overcome with time;

most often the children of non-English speakers learn English in school and can integrate

into US-culture. However, another real problem even when people from cultures share a

common language is how they use the language, or what is known as communication style.

US-Americans tend to value direct communication, meaning that they will usually say what

they think: for example, someone asked in a business meeting for an opinion about an idea

will just give it openly. This can offend immigrants from Asia and other cultures where a

more indirect style is valued and all negative comments are seen as hostile. US-Americans

can be very social and enjoy chatting with friends, but if they are busy, they dont like to

waste time and will often not talk to people or engage in social conversation with friends or

colleagues. As noted in the article Friends and Strangers, in New Directions, this kind of

non-emotional and direct behavior can seem very rude to people from Saudi Arabia where

friendship comes first and work second.

Finally, another barrier to effective intercultural communication in the USA is

nonverbal communication, though most people are unconscious of it. Depending on where

ones own culture is on the continuum of personal space as discussed in the article Where

Do We Stand, she/he will see people from other cultures as either cold and unfriendly

or rude and aggressive. For example, US-American culture is exactly in the middle of the

personal space continuum, and US-Americans value limited physical contact on a social level

(like half-hugs, hand-shakes, and high-fives) but not excessive contact (like kissing on the

cheek). Because of this, a person from a high contact culture may think that US-Americans

are incapable of genuine affection, passion, and strong feelings. However, someone from a

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low contact culture like Japan may think that US-Americans are disrespectful in their

physicality or even worry that they are dangerous For example, once I had a Japanese

student who was struggling with grammar in my class. I was standing next to him helping

him and went to pat him on his shoulder to encourage him when suddenly he stiffened and

looked frightened. I didnt mean to, of course, but I realized later that I had offended him

by touching him at all.

Although these and many other obstacles to intercultural communication exist, it is

important to remember that most can be overcome when we recognize our own tendency to

ethnocentric judgment. Instead of labeling people from other cultures as rude or

unfriendly we need to stop and reflect upon the values we have been taught in our own

cultures and recognize that people from other cultures often value different ways of

expression. Regardless of how or in what language they express themselves, most people

want the same things: to love and be loved; to fulfill their dreams; and to find meaning in

their lives. If we remember this, we can appreciate the common humanity we share with

everyone we meet.

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Questions to Answer about Structure of the Essay

1. What is the title of the essay?

2. How many paragraphs is the essay?

3. What is the name of the first paragraph?

4. What is the name of the last paragraph?

5. What is the name of each middle paragraph?

Read the introduction.


1. What is the main idea of the entire essay?

2. Is there one sentence in particular that expresses the main idea of the entire essay?
Which one?

3. What is the name of the sentence that expresses the main idea of the entire
essay?

Skim the next three paragraphs.


1. Which sentence expresses the main idea of paragraph 2?

2. Which sentence expresses the main idea of paragraph 3?

3. Which sentence expresses the main idea of paragraph 4?

4. What is the name for each of these sentences?

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