YOU CAN MAKE ANYTHING UP FOR THE ASSIGNMENT. MAYBE JUST WRITE ABOUT ANOTHER CULTURE OTHER THAN HISPANIC CULTURE. HERE IS A LINK TO THE TEXT BOOK. I NEED TO REFERENCE 3 SOURCES. SOMETHING IN THE TEXT FOR THE ASSIGNMENT IS REQUIRED AS ONE SOURCE.
http://www.rasaneh.org/Images/News/AtachFile/15-8-1390/FILE634561743619907963.pdf
OR COPY AND PASTE THIS IF THAT IS NOT WORKING. SHOULD BE A PDF OF THE BOOK GOOGLE:
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2009). Intercultural communication in contexts.(5thEd.)
Individual “cultural awareness” midterm assignment,
Intercultural Awareness from a Local, Cross Cultural Communication
Perspective. The midterm exam will be a take home assignment where you will conduct individual field research and write your reflections on your intercultural experience. This assignment will integrate the course readings and lectures and will help you develop your own intercultural awareness, which is necessary to understand the ways diverse cultures and societies communicate, both locally and globally.
For this assignment, you will analyze your cross cultural experience and the effects of your environment. Papers should be typed, double spaced, 12 point font, 3-4 pages, APA formatted (including citation of the textbooks), and well written. The paper should “flow” well and include an introductory paragraph with multiple body paragraphs, a conclusion paragraph and a references page. Grammar, spelling, and punctuation should be excellent. Your paper should reference at least 3 sources, including our assigned textbook. Further details about this assignment are described below
Introduction to assignment:
Our degree of knowledge and sensitivity towards other cultures, what
can be referred to as cultural intelligence, often becomes greater when we dare to try out new things. By opening our eyes and reaching out towards other cultures, even those nearby, and thus going outside our comfort zones, we give ourselves a chance to broaden our horizons.
This leads to new behavior, new ways of thinking and new skills. It opens our minds. We must be careful to analyze the effects of these new experiences on the way we feel about ourselves and other cultures.
Learning from cross-cultural interaction, even if it doesn’t always work out as planned, is an important way to improve our cultural intelligence. When we observe and attempt to understand the thought processes and motivations of the new, foreign cultures we attempt to enter, either as observers or participants, we improve our chances of becoming more culturally aware of our surroundings. For example, when we are sent on overseas assignments as expatriates, we must learn to try and understand the behavior of others from their own (rather than our own) cultural background. We need to adapt our thinking processes and behavior to our environments.
Cross-cultural interactions at home:
Our multicultural society may present you with numerous opportunities to engage with others who are culturally different. However, these interactions are often superficial and lack the depth and intensity of interpersonal interaction that is required for you to enjoy experiential learning. In the same way that leadership skills are often taught in terms of challenging outdoor activities such as ropes courses, significant cultural awareness development will probably require you to move outside your comfort zone. For a westerner, having dinner at a Cantonese restaurant and interacting with the service people is
indeed an intercultural interaction, but it is a very mild experience and lacks significant engagement. Although it might become a bit more intense if you order chicken feet! Those who seek to become more culturally intelligent need to challenge themselves in deeper ways than this type of experience allows. This assignment is an invitation for you to engage in a nontrivial cross-cultural experience in your local area in order to practice your cultural awareness and communication skills. “Culture” in this case is not confined to national or ethnic culture. It can be any social group, as subcultures in a society provide excellent learning experiences. In order to learn, you need to feel culturally uncomfortable in the situation, at least at first. In fact, some of you might not have been born and raised in the country you are
currently living in. You came here as foreigners, and at first, you felt uncomfortable in your new surroundings, until you adjusted to your
lifestyle abroad. Hopefully, you now feel somewhat at home in your adopted country. Your midterm exam for this course will be this take home assignment, where you will conduct individual field research and write your reflections on your cultural experience. This assignment will integrate the course readings and lectures and will help you develop your own intercultural awareness, which is necessary to better understand and communicate with people from diverse cultures and societies.
To enhance your learning with this assignment, I am looking for fresh examples of cross- cultural awareness; therefore, please search for new, different experiences between today and the date this assignment is due. It might take you a little while to come up with a challenging idea. Use your imagination!
Examples of cross-cultural interactions at home:
Some ways to engage in cross-cultural experiences, to increase your cultural awareness, are:
-Attend a religious service or wedding ceremony of someone from another culture. Ask a member to explain the significance of the rituals involved.
-Locate an ethnic organization in your community and attend (participating if possible) a cultural celebration. Ask members to explain the significance of the event and the symbolism of activities.
-Find an interest group that represents a set of beliefs to which you do not subscribe and attend one of their meetings. For example, heterosexual university students have attended meetings of gay and lesbian associations. One mature student attended “bass and drums night” at a nightclub with her son –a major excursion into a foreign “youth culture.”
Describe your personal experience (3-4
pages): Once you have taken the step forward and plunged into your new environment (once, twice or more times if you wish), you will be ready to describe your feelings and emotions about how it felt for you to become an outsider participating in the activities or environment of a new culture. It probably will feel strange and not very comfortable at first. Here is an excerpt of what a student who attended a nightclub’s
“bass and drums night” wrote regarding her uncomfortable new situation
: “As more people showed up, I began to feel nervous. Some people looked strange and menacing, with leather, tattoos, body piercing in places I found to be weird. I felt like I needed a friend in this cold, loud, unfamiliar world. I caught a few glimpses of my son as he flitted from here to there, dancing, drinking beer, and talking to people…. This experience reminded me that there is a lot going on around me that I don’t know about. And, I do think I experienced a little, tiny bit of what
it’s like to have to function in a distant culture, where nothing is as usual, and even things that seem familiar turn out to be strange.”
This shows that cross-cultural interactions can be found in your own backyard as well as outside your country’s borders. For my own, “cultural awareness” assignment, I did two things that took me outside my comfort zone:
1)“I volunteered to help developmentally disabled children for a full day
, on a Sunday. These children were either mentally or physically disabled, or both. I had never really worked with children very much, never really babysat, and never worked with developmentally disabled people. I was given one child to take care of all day. I must admit, it was a challenge, especially since I’m very sensitive to noise. The kids were playing the drums, piano, guitar and shouting all the time. Plus, an even more stressful detail: the day I chose to volunteer, a local TV crew came and filmed us—the entire day. We took the children swimming and
I was scared for my child. I had a hard time keeping his head out of the water. But it was an experience I’ll never forget. My child was so cute and happy and thankful for my help, I was hooked. After that meaningful experience, I volunteered with this association for seven years
. Each time, I assisted a new child and in return, I got a new, mind
-opening, rich and loving experience.”
2)“I had been studying Mandarin Chinese on my own for about 2 years but really didn’t know how to speak it or understand it very well, without a teacher. A friend from Taiwan invited me to a Chinese conversation table where Chinese people and foreigners learning Chinese could practice their language skills. I was afraid to go, since I didn’t know anyone (my friend wasn’t going to attend) and I really didn’t understand much Chinese. I could read it a bit, since I know Japanese, but that’s not the same thing at all. I forced myself to go anyway. The room was mostly full of Chinese and Taiwanese people. I felt very intimidated. The first thing we had to do was introduce ourselves, in Chinese. It was awful. I stammered out a few words that I’d memorized, but I really couldn’t say much, and could understand even less what the others were saying. They all sounded completely fluent. After the class was over, I rushed off, but promised to write a short essay for the next class.
Two weeks later, after studying every day, I went back, nervously read my essay out loud, and was happy to realize that I understood a bit more that second time. I think I understood one word out of nine that day, whereas the first time I went, I understood one word out of thirty.
It was really embarrassing. I felt stupid. I was in culture shock. But the people were so friendly, I decided to make an effort and keep on attending the class…”
This midterm assignment will be 3-
4 pages in length, 12-point type, double-spaced. Grades for papers submitted with fewer pages or more pages than requested will be
penalized, as will papers that are not submitted on time. As indicated in the syllabus, submitting assignments on time is required for this course. Late or incomplete assignments will receive significantly reduced grades.As a reminder, you must use the APA style when writing a paper for this course. You will need to cite your sources in the text and in the References page. Do not forget your introduction, conclusion, cover page, and a references page. An abstract will not be necessary for this assignment.
*
