Due to cultural diversity, I find myself
communicating differently with people from different groups, such as my
colleagues in the workplace, my friends, my family, and so on. For example,
when I interact with my colleagues, I would pay attention to the topics we are
talking about to avoid severe political conflict, which is not appropriate in
an international school; I would observe what kind of nonverbal communication
skills they possess, such as eye movement, personal distance, body language,
etc.. However, with my families, since we are in the same family culture, we
know each other better in most aspects, I feel more easy and casual to talk
with them about any topics without being afraid that they might feel offensive;
as well, I would feel so accustomed to each other's nonverbal communication
skills.
From what I have learned this week, there are
some strategies that I can use when I interact with people from different cultures.
Strategy 1: Recognize my own patterns of
nonverbal behaviors and be aware of nonverbal behaviors from other cultures. I
need to know that some nonverbal behaviors that are normal to me would look
strange and hard to comprehend in other cultures. When it occurs, I would try
to talk a little bit more about this kind of nonverbal behaviors without
causing discomfort or defensiveness. Meanwhile, I would try to observe those
nonverbal behaviors that are different from me to detect what messages they
convey. (Gonzalez-Mena, 2010)
Strategy 2: Seek information, ask questions and
listen effectively. To get to know a different culture, we should take
initiative to learn more about another culture by seeking some related
information, asking colleagues or other groups questions about their dos and
don'ts, listening carefully so that we can "bridge differences in culture
and background" (Beebe, Beebe, & Redmond, 2011).
Strategy 3: Become other-orientated. In
intercultural communication, we take into consideration others' thoughts and values,
and put ourselves in others' place to feel what others might feel emotionally.
In this way, we show respect and have a better understanding of what they go
through so that we can adjust our behaviors to accommodate differences. (Beebe,
Beebe, & Redmond, 2011)
Reference:
Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M.
V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.).
Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 strategies for
communicating and working with diverse families. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education, Inc.
I love the new concept we just learned about "other-oriented" well, it's a new concept for me. I had been following the rule of "treat others as you would like to be treated" for so long. It really makes more sense to treat people the way they would like to be treated.
回复删除Xiaowan,
回复删除I communicate with my colleagues differently with my family. I am professional with my colleagues and I am mindful with the conversations I participate in. As far as my family, I am not as cautious I communicating with them because as you said we are from the same culture and we have basely have the same aspects of life. Thanks for sharing! Great post
I enjoyed reading your blog post, you made a great point about their difference in communicating with co-workers and communicating with family. At my job many of us have form really close relationship and build friendships. We see our selves as a family and have developed a family culture at work. Being that everyone come from very different backgrounds it is important that we first respect one another and that we treat each other the way the desire to be treated. This takes a lot of effort from each person but the benefit out weighs the work and energy it takes to build such a close relationship.
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