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1 Chapter 1 Exercises
EXERCISE 1.1: DIVERSITY BOARD
Purposes 1.To understand the multicultural diverse backgrounds of people.
2.To overcome negative expectations when communicating with strangers that are culturally dissimilar in some way.
3.To become aware that competence in intercultural communication requires a combination of knowledge, skills and motivation.Instructions The instructor should bring to class the Diversity Board (see below). The size of the Diversity Board can vary depending upon need and space restrictions. It consists of 35 boxes resembling a checkerboard each designating a specific role in our diverse society. Some of the roles in the boxes focus on race; others focus on other human aspects such as ethnicity, religion, health status, socioeconomic class, and life experience. With the aid of the instructor and/or fellow classmates a student is blind folded and led to the Diversity Board, which lies flat on the floor. The blindfolded student is then instructed to gently toss a small lightweight object onto the Diversity Board. The student’s role for this exercise is dependent upon the box on the Diversity board that the lightweight object lands.Once all students have thrown for their roles on the Diversity Board they will prepare to answer questions assuming the role that each student has landed on the Diversity Board. Examples of
questions include:
1.What are the stereotypes others form of you?
2.How do you deal with such stereotypes in your communication interactions?
3.What sort of prejudice or bias have you experienced in our personal life and in the workplace?
4.How have you coped with such prejudice?
5.When was a time you gave off a good impression when communicating with others who were culturally dissimilar to you?In order for the questions to be answered sufficiently allow students time out of class to research their individual role from the Diversity Board. Encourage students to be as objective as possible in answering questions. In order to effectively supply answers students should research his or her individual role. This research can include personal interviews, consultation of books, periodicals, video and the Internet that enrich a student’s understanding of their assigned role.Conclusions After students have answered questions assuming the role from the Diversity Board, students are encouraged to answer questions from their own perspective about their experiences in conducting
the activity. These questions include:
1.What have you learned about this role that you did not know before?
2.How does this new knowledge affect your perception of an individual who has this role in real life?
3.How does this new knowledge affect your interpersonal communication with an individual who fits this role in real life?
4.What were the difficulties and reservations you had (if any) in assuming this role?An Introduction to Intercultural Communication Identities in a Global Community 7e Fred Jandt (Instructor Manual (Lecture Notes Only) All Chapters, 100% Original Verified, A+ Grade) 1 / 4
Jandt – Introduction to Intercultural Communication, 7e – Instructor Resources 2 Note: this exercise is adapted from Randy K. Dillon’s paper, entitled Intercultural Communication
Activities in the classroom: Turning stumbling blocks into building blocks.
(http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValu e_0=ED419254&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED419254)
EXERCISE 1.2: FAMILY TREE
Purposes 1.To discover how your culture affects how you define your family.
2.To understand how family background affects how you communicate.Instructions A family tree is a genealogical chart showing the ancestry and relationship of all members of a family.Make a family tree that shows three or more generations of your family. Use any information that is available to you, such as family records and conversations with older members of your family. Include when and where your family members were born (dates and places of birth). Also include the dates that anyone migrated from one country to another.Use the information from your family tree to answer the questions in the “Conclusions” section.Conclusions 1.How did you decide who to include in your family tree? Think about how you defined the concept “family.” Consider the use of the family name (e.g., father’s last name, both mother’s and father’s last name).
2.How do you think other cultures define family? Think of ways to define family that are different from the way that you defined it.
3.How did influences outside of your family affect your family tree (e.g., cultural expectations about size of families, government policies, war, religion)?
4.What were the reasons for any migration? What influenced the decision to stay in a country?
5.In what ways has your family background affected how you communicate?
EXERCISE 1.3: FRIENDSHIP CHOICE
Purpose To recognize the effect of cultural, social class, ethnic, and subgroup identity on friendship choice.Instructions 1.List your 10 best friends by name below. For this exercise, a friend is someone to whom you tell the most personal information about yourself. Also, you know a lot of personal information about them.
2.Next, identify these friends by their group memberships. These should be the groups that you consider the most important in your relationship with that person. They may be culture, social class, ethnic, or subgroup.
Example:
Friend’s Name Friend’s Group Memberships Fred Star Trek fan club, fraternity, Spanish major, 2 / 4
Jandt – Introduction to Intercultural Communication, 7e – Instructor Resources 3 international student club Conclusions 1.How many of your friends are of the same or similar group? Are you a member of this group, too?
2.If you have any friends who do not share similar group memberships with you, what is the basis of the friendship?
3.In what ways, if any, is communication different between friends of your group and those not of your group? Recall the story in Box 1.2: Personalizing the Concept. How do people who have shared the same experiences communicate? How is this different from those who have not shared the same or similar experiences?Note: This exercise is based on Richard W. Brislin, “Increasing Awareness of Class, Ethnicity, Culture, and Race by Expanding on Students’ Own Experiences,” in I. Cohen (Ed.), The G. Stanley Hall Lecture Series,
Vol. 8 (Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1988).
EXERCISE 1.4: GROUP MEMBERSHIPS
Purposes 1.To help you recognize the many cultural groups and subgroups to which you belong.
2.To help you identify the norms (rules of behavior) that are provided us by various groups.Instructions 1.Make a list of all the groups you identify with. Consider nationality, ethnicity, geographic region, interests, and hobbies (for example, U.S., German-American, Californian, surfing, and skiing).
2.Give an example of a norm for each group. Remember that a norm is an action and not 3.a value.
Example:
Group Sample Norm Japanese Don’t ask questions in class Conclusion We all participate in many groups. Sometimes, we even participate in many groups at the same time (e.g., members of a fraternity playing basketball). Which groups do you identify with most? Which groups’ norms do you follow the most? 3 / 4
Jandt – Introduction to Intercultural Communication, 7e – Instructor Resources
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EXERCISE 1.5: NORMS AROUND THE WORLD
Purpose To recognize diverse cultural norms.Instructions
- To test your knowledge of cultural customs, answer the following questions. Check your answers
- Answer the questions that follow the test.
- People eat with a fork in their left hand in which country?
- South Africa
- United Kingdom
- Indonesia
- The Netherlands
- All of the above
against those in the Answer section at the end of the workbook.
Test
- In which country do members of the dominant religion not eat pork (meat that comes from
- Saudi Arabia
- Egypt
- Malaysia
- Indonesia
- All of the above
pigs)?
- People usually eat dinner
- at about 5 p.m. in South Africa
- at about 7 p.m. in Indonesia, Switzerland, and Malaysia
- at about 8 p.m. in Italy and France
- after 9 p.m. in Spain
- All of the above
- Before entering a South Korean’s home, you should remove your shoes and wait to be invited
- True
- False
in.
- In England, to “table an issue or motion” means to
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