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Week 8: Intercultural Communication in Education and Health Care

Final Project: Portfolio and Reflection

Renata Alexander

December 9, 2017

COM 40164 Intercultural/International Communication

Ottawa University
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Final Project: Portfolio and Reflection

I identify as a Caucasian, a heterosexual female, a Christian, a physically disabled person,

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,

work-related communication conflicts, and language barriers.

In order to grow interculturally, I must identify interpersonal, institutional or collective

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;

Offermann, et al., 2014).

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).

In order to grow interculturally, I must identify pop cultures influence on identity.

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).

For example, I identify as a devout Christian. In my pursuit to embrace that identity, I

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
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only a small portion of their identity. Behind all the facades and actions, though, all ultimately

attest to the narrative that is ones anchored self-identity (Titton, 2015).

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

communication conflicts occur due to a difference in individualistic versus collectivist ideals,

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,

prefer high-context, indirect, harmonizing communication (Martin & Nakayama, 2018).

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

interculturally savvy in communication. I plan to become more interculturally savvy in

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).
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I will be observant by immersing myself in a culture by sharing food, holding a long

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

intercultural communication by realizing that communication ultimately involves people (Martin

& Nakayama, 2018).

In order to grow interculturally, I must understand language barriers. I do not believe it is

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

people can entirely communicate effectively simply because miscommunication is practically

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

week, without intending to.

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

Thaos grandmother, indeed, did not like him (Eastwood, 2008).

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

intercultural communicator, regardless of my wide-range of identities. This class has shown me

that intercultural communication matters in every encounter because it is such an intricate part of

discrimination, identity, work-related communication conflicts, and language barriers. I hope to

put my plan of action into practice in my everyday life, even if I never travel overseas.
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References

Cobb, T. (2010). Strategies for providing cultural competent health care for Hmong Americans.

Journal of Cultural Diversity, 17(3), 79-83.

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

Dessel. Journal of Social Work Education, 50(1), 153-163.

doi:10.1080/10437797.2014.856240

Learning Abroad (2017, May 1). Orientation and cultural preparation. The University of Utah.

Retrieved from https://learningabroad.utah.edu/handbook/orientation.php

Martin, J., & Nakayama, T. (2018). Experiencing intercultural communication: an introduction.

(6th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

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

workplace. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(4), 499-507.

doi:10.1037/a0037237

Tilsen, J., & Nylund, D. (2016). Cultural studies methodologies and narrative family therapy:

Therapeutic conversations about pop culture. Family Process, 55(2), 225-237.

Titton, M. (2015). Fashionable Personae: Self-identity and enactments of fashion narratives in

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:

Oxford University Press.

Rothwell, J. (2013). In mixed company: Communicating in small groups and teams. (8th ed.).

Boston: Cengage Learning.

Shockley-Zalabak, P. (2015). Fundamentals of organizational communication: Knowledge,

sensitivity, skills, values. (9th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.