Personal Application Reflection
From the chapters covered in class throughout the course, the concept that has caught my attention is ethnocentrism as discussed in the subtopic titled fundamental assumptions regarding intercultural communications. It is defined as the ideology by a person believing their culture is stronger such that the cultures of other people are gauged base on it, and that their culture should be used as a gauge against that of other people. The concept stood out to me because it is a thing that I have been observing throughout my life. Not once have I heard individuals argue about which culture is stronger than the other. A perfect example that illustrates ethnocentrism is the gender inequality phenomenon. Growing up, I have seen a never-ending gender inequality debate across the whole globe. Indeed, gender inequality has been an issue even in developed nations like the United States of America. For instance, the United States' recent election took people by storm when president-elect Joe Bidden was elected and having his running mate being a woman. Many people were amazed, and indeed it was a history written down in that gender inequality is being tackled, and people are trying their best to eliminate it from society. even in my country, there is a lot of issues that showed gender inequality. Comment by Smith, Tara: It’s great that you include why this subject stood out to you, but this next sentence is a little contradictory to that point. If you have been observing it your whole life, how does that reconcile with never hearing other people argue/discuss it? Comment by Smith, Tara: This is a great example of gender inequality issues, but how does it relate to ethnocentrism? Be sure to make that connection. What about gender inequality issues do some cultures believe they are better with? Comment by Smith, Tara: I see that your professor noted that this section should be no longer than a half of a page, so you may want to consider shortening it a bit.
Class Content Reflection
Being part of this class has been the best thing to ever happen to me because I have learned a lot of things regarding intercultural communications. But before that, the definition of culture was vital to build on the whole information that the rest of the course entailed. According to the text, culture is defined as an accumulated pattern of beliefs, values, and behaviors that a group of people shares. These people are identified through their values, beliefs, and behaviors and mostly, they share a common history. Within the main culture, there are other small cultures within them known as micro-cultures. Throughout the chapters and texts in class, the videos, self-assessments and other class activities, guest speaker recorded lectures, and discussion boards among others, I have been gain extremely as far as the topic of intercultural communications are concerned. Right from chapter one of the class – the Necessity of Intercultural Communications, we were introduced to the history of our planet which has been to a large extent the greatest contributor to the history of people mixing. We have had things such as technology, social media, information dissemination, national tensions, and international tensions. All of these, in one way or the other, contribute to intercultural communications. Comment by Smith, Tara: In terms of organization, this section of the assignment calls for you to assess course materials. The next section should contain information relevant to your person experience and overall assessment of the course structure/effectiveness. So, this sentence about your personal experience may be better suited for another section.
The chapter continues to talk about the benefits of society embracing intercultural communication which include;
· Creating healthier communities;
· Reducing conflicts;
· Increasing commerce; and
· Helping personal growth by enhancing tolerance ability by individuals.
The chapter outlines the contextual model of intercultural communication which entails cultural context, micro-cultural context, environmental context, perceptual contexts, and socio-relational context. The cultural context is described to have five different dimensions of cultural variability which are individual-collectivism, high-low context, value orientation, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance. All these dimensions show the extent to which culture is expressed from one person to the other or from one society to the other. On the other hand, a micro-cultural context is described as a group of people that exist within a large cultural group. Usually, these group of people lack linguistic power in that they cannot communicate openly and freely, they do not contribute to language construction, and there are no words and symbols that are representative of their culture. Because of these factors, these groups of people are often locked down upon and they must fight for their rights in society. The major response to fight for their rights include attempts to alter the dominant expression method and creating their “privately-owned” language.
In chapter 4, we have introduced to the environmental context and its impact on culture that an individual ends up picking. Indeed, the environment is a major determinant of the cultures that individuals embrace. An individual is more likely to embrace a culture they were born into than embracing a distant one they have heard or learned from the media and the internet. In this chapter, different environmental contexts such as natural/physical environments (geographic place, terrestrial location), built environment (landscaping, architecture, and housing), and perceptual environments. All these influence cultures in different ways. For instance, the natural environment that consists of natural disasters provides a crucial bridge for intercultural communications. Different cultures manage occurring natural disasters based on how they view nature.
Chapter 5 discusses the perceptual context as a part of the large contextual model of intercultural communication. The objectives covered in this chapter are;
· Discussion of cross-cultural differences in perception;
· Discussions of ethnic and racial stereotypes across different cultures; and
· A discussion of racism and ethnocentrism.
A discussion of recent protests and reaction in the American society following the death of George Floyd were discussed. Perception influences intercultural communications in different ways. It is perceived that people from the East and West have a different way of thinking because of philosophical influences from the ancient Chinese and Greeks. The Greeks’ thinking focuses on linear understanding methods and it is with less regard to context. On the other hand, the Chinese (Confucian-driven) philosophies are focused on holism, fluctuation, harmony, and interdependence.
Online Class Format/Structure Reflection
Honestly, I have never been a fan of online learning because my learning style is inclined towards the physical class setup where we have an instructor and fellow students. I like learning in an environment where I can see others as we learn together, share what we understand about the topics, and grow up as a unit. After this class, I can comfortably say my learning style has been greatly impacted. I have understood that even online learning if conducted well it can result in some learning that I used to get in a physical class. In the online class, I got to meet awesome colleagues in groups where we connected and discussed our assigned topics and we made it to submit all our assignments on time and produce quality work always. At first, I never thought such a style of learning could result in success like it has done for us recently.
The things I liked about the online class was the way the students were active and contributed to the discussions with or with no instructor present. The level of maturity displayed by the students was utmost and I never that could be achieved. What worked well, in the class is the way the lecture notes were brief, concise, and elaborative. Characterized by pictures and illustrations, the class notes were really easy to read and understand and they helped me a lot when going through. and recording lecture that helps us to more understand. I must thank the instructor for that. Additionally, the class activities and the discussion boards were also amazing, and they contributed a lot to our learning in the online class. and I really like one point when we doing a live class as an extra point for us that helps us to improve our grade and more active. Comment by Smith, Tara: You do a great job at analyzing what about the class worked for you in this section! It’s clear that you utilized your course material well. Even though you point out that you normally prefer in personal classes, consider mentioning something about the class that did not work for you or that you would change, as your professor mentions that as a topic for this section in your assignment sheet. Or, if you would not change anything, mention that!
Conclusion
In conclusion, the online class has been an avenue for knowledge-gaining but I never thought would be such a success. The course has been educative as far as the topic of intercultural communication is concerned. The various topics covered succinctly covered the various concepts in the topic. For instance, ethnocentrism is a concept that I discussed at the beginning of this paper and which I learned during this course. It refers to the ideology in which an individual believes their culture is superior when compared to that of other individuals. In real life, the concept has been clear to me based on what I have observed regarding gender inequality across the globe and even in developed nations such as the United States. Comment by Smith, Tara: This conclusion is meant to focus on you personal performance in the course. So, you do not want to include information about the course material or summarize the other sections. Focus on your experience: did you do well in this class? Why do you think that was? Did you feel motivated to do your work in this class? How did your performance differ from other classes? Comment by Smith, Tara:
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