The nation is becoming more multicultural. More immigrants and refugees are arriving each year, and with globalization occurring, students should expect to deal with people from different cultures more than ever. If the students do not have adequate training, they could easily offend a member from a different culture. True, students should have had at least one class in Intercultural Communication, or taken other classes to prepare them for study-abroad. If a student is planning to go to France during their junior or senior year, they have studied the language and expectations of the culture. However, some classes do not have time to cover all topics related to cultures. In addition, students that are not planning to study abroad …show more content…
It is not surprising that he is shocked when every time he tries to complete a deal, he fails. He does not know why he is not having any success; he has studied the language, what went wrong? Well, if this student had proper intercultural training before he left, he would have known that he was making some big mistakes, the biggest one was thinking that every business setting worked like America’s business setting. The Multicultural Manners book would have provided answers to his question. For example, he may have tried to greet the Japanese business partners with a hug and eye contact. However, under the “Body Language” section of Multicultural Manners, it specifies that when around the Japanese keep eyes downward and avoid body contact (Dresser 15-16). In the “Miscellany” section, it says to accept a card from a business Japanese partner with both hands and a slight bow. Then read the card a little, shake hands and bow again. Afterwards, the card should go into the front pocket of a jacket or card case, never in the back pocket. If the American business student wishes to give the Japanese business collaborates a card, he should have English on one side and Japanese on the other (Dresser 155-156). Lastly, under the same section it mentions that when during business practices, avoid getting straight to business. Establish a friendship with your business
“Multicultural education is an essential component of school reform. Nevertheless, when it is mentioned, many people first think of lessons in human relations and sensitivity training, units about ethnic holidays, education in inner-city schools, or food festivals. If multicultural education is limited to these issues, the potential for substantive change in schools is severely diminished” (Nieto, 2012, pp. 40).
Mergers and acquisitions has become an important part of the American commerce, which communication plays an important role in reducing the negative impacts. While Schweiger agrees that failure to communicate with employees during a merger will increase employee uncertainty and anxiety, he highlights that previous researchers (Napier et al., 1989) did not measure uncertainty nor any of the supposed dysfunctional outcomes said to follow uncertainty.
Anthropologists have always had their discrepancies with the word culture and its background significance. There have been numerous definitions that have filtered through the field, yet not one that everyone can accept or agree with. Franz Boas, an anthropologist in the early 20th Century, and his students, had a difficult time figuring out the objective of what culture is. Culture is about learning and shared ideas about behaviour. Although Boas and his students had a slightly different idea in mind. They ultimately reached a conclusion, a definition of culture in their view that is a contradiction in terms. Boas sates that, “ culture was expressed through the medium of language but was not reducible to it;
In sixteen years of life, I have received an opportunity to experience different cultures, learning styles, and languages. To start of, I am an American since I was born here, but the reality is that I was raised in India. My parents’ main motivation for moving back to India was because they wanted us to embrace our traditions, and most importantly, value our family relationships. We relocated back to the US at the start of 9th grade. This transition was a huge factor for transforming me as a person. I am cognizant of the two systems, cherish both, and realize that these multicultural experiences have encouraged me to grow and mature beyond my years. Relocating from a place is not as easy as one can imagine. When compared to the US, India
Multicultural psychology is "the systematic study of all aspects of human behavior as it occurs in settings where people of different cultural backgrounds encounter each other. Multiculturalism has been considered a "fourth force" in the field of psychology, supplementing behaviorism, psychodynamic theories, and humanistic psychology. It explores such topics as differences in worldviews and in means of communication; the acculturation process; stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination and racism; cultural identity development; and building multicultural competence" (Fhagen-Smith, 2010). Multicultural psychology attempts "to understand and to accurately represent the psychology
Ask any American how they feel about multiculturalism you are likely to get one of two responses: either a cringe or a smile. Those that cringe will say something along the line of “Multiculturalism is the wrong way to look at things. It separates us by saying that everyone is different instead of saying that we are the same and unifying us.” Those that smile will talk about how great multiculturalism is because they get to see aspects of all different cultures on television and on the radio and they are free to explore all the different things that various cultures have to offer. In actuality, one cannot help but wonder if either of these responses reflects the true meaning of multiculturalism? What do
As educators, it is important for us to understand the cultural diversity we face in our classroom. We can strengthen our relationship by communicating with the student, as well as the family. Cultural diversity can help us when we expand our search in this area to better educate us and help prepare a curriculum to better educate our students in communicating with all cultures.
It is a challenge to provide important information about specific cultures without the appearances of stereotyping and many educational programs are focused on helping learners to understand how to communicate with individuals from other cultures or with beliefs and experiences that are different from their own. (Fetters, 2005, p. 1307)
Developing the ability to communicate with culturally diverse students allows for teachers to create a positive learning experience for every individual. The author states that not only is it important for teachers to be prepared to work with students from different backgrounds, but also from a young age students in today’s generation should be developing an understanding of the world around them. Dr. Keengwe refers to multicultural scholars as he
For centuries, racism has become the universal epitome of culture, despite the efforts of various civilizations, such as the Western and European to combat these indifferences among people. A race is specific social group that can be differentiated through various ways, from facial features and hair textures, to social norms and habits that constitutes to that group. These differences contribute to our uniqueness and humanity. Because people can be grouped by any number of differences, Man, lead by his ignorance, perpetuated the issue once social-hierarchies began to develop, splitting society to its various groups. As a result, social disparity from one’s upbringing became the common tendency to look down, or look up at people of other
Teaching in a school with a diverse student body can help you prepare your students for citizenship in a multicultural democracy. With the United States becoming more culturally and ethnically diverse, public schools are following suit. Teachers need to model the acceptance of a respect for all cultures in our nation. It shows students the importance of fostering positive self-regard to one’s culture and positive attitude and open-mindedness to the culture of others. While interviewing my colleague, I was hoping to pinpoint some resources to identifying teaching strategies and cross-cultural communication strategies that will allow
In today’s society us humans are so distinct with one another, when it comes to our norms, beliefs, representations of our groups, even material goods representing these groups. This in short, is culture “The values, norms and material characteristic of a given group...one of the most distinctive properties of human social association.” As stated in Chapter 2 “Culture and Society” under “Sociology-The Basics”. Now, something else that has shaped society and changed it ultimately is race. That being, “..any group into which humans can be divided according to their shared physical or genetic characteristics” (Cambridge Dictionary). It seems evident to me that Culture is a deep, much more personal, changeable representation of a group or an individual.
The first important custom to understand when conducting business with Japan is bowing. In Japan bowing represents respect and can be very instrumental in making a positive initial impression (Nevison, 2009). There are many incidents when bowing should be conducted and they are, introducing oneself, as a welcome, as a form of gratitude, and to express remorse (Custom of Bowing, n.d.). Japan’s business culture is very inclusive. According to Japanese Business Customs (2011, para.3) “group decision-making is important in Japan and has been generally described as a “bottom up” exercise rather than “top down.” The fact that Japan conducts business with this approach can make the process time consuming. It is important to be aware that developing connections with Japan will/do not happen overnight. Another custom of Japan is gift giving. According to Japanese Business Customs (2011, para.4) “gift giving is expected on many business occasions in Japan.” It is imperative to note that the value of the gift is not as important as the essence of the gift. Exchanging business cards are another very important aspect of conducting business with Japan. According to Nevison (2009, para.5), “business cards should be printed on both sides, with your first language on one side and the other party’s language on the other." Physical contact like hand shaking, hugging and even
Multicultural literature is a way of increasing cultural awareness. Through multicultural books many young readers are able to make a connection with their own culture
The Purpose of this report is to understand the culture and values of New Zealand culture in terms of their living condition, behaviour, society, aspect, ethics, rules, regulations, greetings, treating, food and environment. I will be focusing on the main cultures of New Zealand as it is a multi cultural society.