One common source of interpersonal conflict is a lack of cultural understanding and how culture influences the communication choices of those we interact with on a daily basis. Your task isn’t terribly difficult provided you spend some time planning and preparing. Here is what you need to do:
1. Think of someone you know (a classmate, friend, co-worker, etc.) who is a member of a culture different from your own. Ask this person if they will help you with an assignment for your communication class. Tell them you will probably need no more than around 30 or 40 minutes of their time.
2. Write four or five questions you will ask this person about their culture AND how communication works in their culture. Questions could be about gender and communication, nonverbal communication, words or language, etc. Start thinking of your questions now. Post your ideas and we’ll discuss them in this week’s discussion board (“Intercultural Communication”).
3. Get together with your interviewee and…you guessed it…ask the questions. You should also include what are called “probes” – these are follow-ups to your initial question. Examples include “Why do you feel that way?” or “Can you tell me more?” or “Can you share a specific example?”
4. Take some time to analyze and reflect on the information you gathered. How would your answers have been different from your interviewee? How would they have been similar? Then, in a 3 to 4 page (750-1,000 words) compare and contrast your culture with your interviewees, identify which of the cultural dimensions best capture your understanding of your interviewee’s culture and why? Most importantly, discuss what you learned about communication via the interview AND the steps you could take to ensure that communication between you and this person, or another person from the same culture as your interviewee, is as positive and effective as possible.
