Attitudinal Barriers to Intercultural Comunication
Ever fallen into a particular stereotype? Be it gender, racial, nationailty, I’m sure most of us have fallen into the unjust grasp of it at one point or another. But lets take a closer look at racial or ethnic stereotype.
As a chinese Singaporean, I think i’ve been spared the bulk of stereotypes. Of course, Chinese being quite the big majority in this country helps. When the vast majority is like you, your ethnic community’s own stereotype of other races become more wide spread and better propagated.
Here is a blog i came across recently that expresses the one of the many stereotypes faced by our Indian community here in singapore.
http://sourgrapesatsg.blogspot.com/2008/02/racial-stereotypes-in-singapore-indians.html
“The fear that i would be stoned, and hung to dry, as i was an indian and simply because of the fact that IF , if a fart exists, it is because of indians.”
“I told her, that it has become so ingrained in my psyche that whenever someone farts, i have this automatic urge to apologize.”
Above are some excerpts from the blog. Amazing is it not? That when we smell fart, we automatically assume its the Indians that are the culprits? Don’t we all fart from time to time?
This is a perfect example of an attitudinal barrier for intercultural communication. How can we communicate effectively with those of other ethnic groups when we have so very many negative stereotypes ingrained in us, so much so it becomes innate and natural in our train of thoughts.
Stereotypes are generalized beliefs we have by which we make sense of the world around us, regardless of context or accuracy. Prejudice or negative social attitudes held by members of one group toward members of another group brings about negative interpretation, discounting significant information, fundermental attribution biasness, exaggeration of negativities, and polarization, a sharp division, as of a population or group, into opposing factions.
In the case of Indians in Singapore, we often interpret their actions or behavior negatively. Not only that, we discount whatever good or significant attributes, actions, or achievements and focus on our stereotype. We take a step further by exaggerating those negative stereotypes and propagating them, discussing, bad mouthing them whenever we come across one. And to top it all off most are simply biased against something that is fundermentally atrributed to them. Take skin color for example, i’ve heard them being called black ants in the MRT, and we attribute every foul smelling thing to them as if it were true, and we do so in such a second-nature, innate way; as if we know it as fact.
Ever watched a Kumar show at Hard Rock Cafe Singapore? He said “We Indians only have one motto in life; Drink, Drunk, Drama.” How’s that for helping the fight against stereotypes when such a thing is said by a well known figure whose an Indian no less.
Collectivism -Singapore
In this week’s Communications 101 class we started on International and Mass Communication, and in this chapter, we touched on Individualism and Collectivism. Our lecturer professed our nation of Singapore as a country with a collectivist culture and society. Meaning that our social behaviors are mostly determined by the views, needs, and goals of the in-group rather than of self; our social norms and sense of duty is defined by the group rather than for self pleasure; our beliefs are shared with the in-group rather than to distinguish, alienate and separate ourselves from the group; and we possess a great readiness to cooperate with our in-group members.
Now what characterizes a collectivist society? Namely high interdependence, meaning mutually dependent or depending on each other the vast majority of the time; Interpersonal sensitivity: being sensitive to the needs of others, accommodating and being considerate; Conformity: our actions tend to be in accordance with prevailing social standards, attitudes and practices; Readiness to be influenced by others: we are willing parties, though at times unwitting partakers at being compelled and influenced by the environment and people of our group; Mutual sympathy: the harmony of feeling naturally existing between people of congenial dispositions, and the fact or power of sharing the feelings of another, esp. in sorrow or trouble; fellow feeling, compassion, or commiseration; Self-sacrifice: the sacrifice of one’s interests, desires, etc., as for duty or the good of another.
In 1976, Harry Triandis said that collectivism consists of harmony, face-saving (saving or bailing others from embarrassing or shameful situations), duty to parent, i.e. filial piety, modesty, moderation (the quality of being moderate; restraint; avoidance of extremes or excesses; temperance.), thrift, equality in reward distribution, and fulfillment of other’s needs.
I agree that all of the above listed can be found in the majority of Singaporeans, though perhaps not all, not quite. But in the light of the recent Deepavali (Festival of Lights), and an article I read online, I would like to bring into the spotlight something extremely valuable that our small nation possess; racial harmony, mutual sympathy and the fulfillment of other’s needs.
Pay close attention to the underlined.
Title : Little India abuzz with Deepavali festivities
By : Chitra Balagumaran, Channel NewsAsia
Date : 13 Oct 2009 1854 hrs (GMT + 8hrs)
SINGAPORE: Little India is abuzz with the grand light-up and heavy human traffic ahead of Deepavali on Saturday.
A street parade called “Utsav” was held on October 10 along Race Course Road, and it clearly captured the essence of the celebrations.
The event, which was introduced in 2004, is part of the festivities to preserve and showcase the rich cultural traditions of Indians. This year, thousands gathered to catch the songs, dances and martial arts performed by local artistes, as well as artistes from India and Sri Lanka.
As part of the festivities, many people are buying gold despite prices hitting new highs recently. However, some people are holding back, preferring costume jewellery instead.
The Deepavali fair at Campbell Lane is packed with traditional and modern delicacies and decorative items for the home. It is congested in the evenings with the after-office crowd and others looking for bargains.
The needy have not been forgotten amidst all the festivities. Visitors to the area are urged to donate to the Singapore Indian Development Association’s (SINDA) “Project Give” – in order to help needy families cope with the economic downturn.
The donation booth will be open till the eve of Deepavali, and SINDA said it is encouraged by the response.
Moreover, some 500 members of Rider’s Aid did their bit for “Project Give” by taking part in a charity ride – from Hougang Stadium to SINDA’s headquarters in Little India – on Sunday.
The ride was organised in conjunction with Deepavali and marked Singapore’s racial harmony, as most of the bikers were Malays.
– CNA/sc
This article highlights not only our nation’s citizen’s mutual sympathy, sympathizing with the needy and less fortunate in our midst, but also the racial harmony that many of us take for granted. Where there is difference, conflict is bound to arise, especially here in Singapore where there are four core races and an assortment of others besides. But it is our ability to band together and still coexist harmoniously that is truly valuable and that which makes us a true blue collectivist nation.
Group Communication
Group Communication
This week, right after Interpersonal Communication, we covered group communication. This topic though less interesting as compared to the prior for the individual, is crucial, and informative to us who constantly have to work in groups for our various modules.
It would be easiest to relate this topic by using my own experience as an example.
When we first formed our communications module group, it wasn’t so much our choice, rather we were given our groups. This in itself already set us on a nice paved path out of our comfort zone. So in our forming stage, we had a rather uncomfortable experience in breaking the ice. Fortunately, our team leader is an amiable, outspoken individual, thus allowing the group to integrate with relative ease. In that orientational pahse marked by our primary tension, we engaged each other in surface level, phatic communication, creating an atmosphere of shared feelings, sociability, and goodwill. Sharing and expressing our adapting to the new school and educational environment for instance, and generally maintaining polite yet genuine conversations. Over time, the initial awkwardness faded away, overwritten by frank, honest and candid conversations.
In accordance to Bruce Tuckman’s Five-Stage Model, we would next enter the Storming and Norming stages, but it was not so in our case. We were able to get to know one another, gradually fit into our individual roles without any arguments, or competing for status. For good or ill, we didn’t have any overtly domineering characters in the group, thus eliminating or at least reducing the chances of conflicts amongst team members. Everyone was eager to cooperate and accommodate to make our immediate tasks the priority. Without virtually any conflicts to speak of, we had nothing to iron out. We went straight down to stage four, Performing Stage, and got to work (in this case an introductory video of the group). To the lecturer’s credit, this activity also served as an ice-breaker.
Comparing Bruce Tuckman’s model to Aubrey Fisher’s Four Phase Model, we also lacked the Conflict Phase.
Balancing our group and individual needs was something we saw fit to all partake in. we all had our individual timetables to adhere to, and we negotiated our way to consensus. Individuals also had personal commitments that we accommodated to as well. Those that needed time off for family matters, boyfriends, were all accommodated.
Our Group socializing process did not encompass much of the investigation phase because we were assigned our groups as mentioned before. But at the socialization phase, we excelled. In accommodating and assimilating our way to acceptance by one another, we became full members of the group without much of a hassle. Entering out maintenance phase, we have maintained our individual roles to date, going no where near divergence.
We took on our task (our comms project), and each moved to assume the role we are individually more suited for. We have our initiator/contributor, the information seeker, opinion seeker/giver, our orienter, our evaluator/critic, the energizer, and recorder. Though listed as single roles, some members doubled up and took up dual roles or more. The evaluator or critic for instance, we are all a critic for one another, and by critic, I mean positive manners of feedback.
To date our team is doing fine, communication students of course have the priviledge of prior knowledge in dealing with comunication. I highly doubt our team will run headlong into any major disagreements.
Interpersonal Communication
I have realized over the past week that much of what we know or understand about interpersonal communication, whether subconsciously or consciously through our experiences, actually has a theorized or modeled background to it. This new piece of knowledge though enlightening, also reminded me of one other thing, that the interpersonal relationships we sometimes take for granted is more often than not fragile. And without effective interpersonal communication, can easily fall apart.
Oft we hear the likes of: “oh, it simply fell apart” or “it’s just not working” when people relate their relationship woes to us. But to communication students like us who have studied and understand the intrinsic value of communication in every kind of relationship would beg to differ.
Taking a closer look at Knapp Model of Relational Development, every step from the ‘coming together’ right up to the end of the relational maintenance stages at stage 7, could easily fall apart, aggravate or deteriorate if bad communication skills are adopted.
Some would use communication skills as a tool to communicate their discontentment so as to speed the relationship along to its final stages. But in most cases, it is the lack of proper communication that relationships, marriages, fall apart.
Let me cite an example, about how my parent’s marriage imploded on itself.
Stage 1: Initiating
They met as schoolmates, one the only son of a successful business man, the other the 3rd daughter of 9 from an average family. My father presented himself as the suave revolutionist and arts enthusiast, and my mother presented herself the amiable, quiet, gentle girl.
Like every other couple, they sailed through stages 2, 3 and 4, experimenting, intensifying, and integrating respectively.
Then they went on to Stage 5 and got married before taking off to London where my father pursued his studies in IT as instructed by my grandfather. He subsequently dropped out and signed up for Arts instead. My grandfather refused to finance them any further from that point forth. My mother had to work while father pursued his studies, and they had two children there, both miscarriages.
Up to this point, they had gone through the significant public rituals of engagement, marriage, and having a child.
Conflict and the eventual realization of intense differentiation, the hallmarks of a relationship started too fast.
Over the years the regressed, and along came their third child, my elder sister, who became the disappointment of the family only and just because she was born a girl. Eventually I came along, a product of one of their regressions.
Then at some point they progressed into stages 7 and 8, circumscribing and stagnation. They went through the motions that were required by the relationship they shared; a marriage. Then they same script repeated itself day after day, month after month. Their persistence or at least on my mother’s part, was only to avoid the pain of separation, both in its practical sense and emotional sense.
When I turned 10 years old, my father moved out. At that point, by his choice, they moved on to stage 9 where avoidance of one another, withdrawn physically and emotionally, and channels of communication being sealed, were prevalent.
To date, their relationship is at its most superficial sense. It is only reflected on a paper. In all other sense, their relationship ceased to exist. And at stage 10, my father moved on to have another partner, who bore him 2 adorable children. Horror of horrors, the little boy resembles me.
I was the byproduct of some form of regression they went through but could not sustain. Sounds a little sad does it not?
Non-verbal communication – Mr. Bean
Non-verbal communication
Ever watched a Charlie Chaplin film before? Or perhaps Mr. Bean would be more relevant to those of our age; Perhaps the finest example of non-verbal communication for communication students – no dialog, only facial expressions, eye behavior, gestures, the use of settings, props and the environment.
Part innate, part learned, part cultural influence, part personal experiences. We have all learnt to the interpretation of gestures, the deciphering of eye behavior and reading of facial expressions. We all communicate using a wide array of gestures, varied facial expressions to convey and communicate our message in the most effective manner. Just imagine for a second attempting to express your affections for a person you’re interested in without any of the above mentioned. Or worse, an episode of Mr. Bean with out any of the above. Your loved one would leave you. And we certainly would not be laughing at Mr. Bean anymore.
A simple smile conveys joy, a smirk conveys mischief, a frown suggests anger or frustration, tears convey sadness. These are our norms, examples of the non-verbal communication that we are accustomed to. Sometimes, we utilize our store of knowledge about non-verbal communication to mask or neutralize another emotion.
Take a look at this clip of Mr. Bean from Youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KsgJC6brhgc : Mr. Bean on the train.
If you take a close look at 0:27, Mr. Bean used his facial expression and eyes to express his discomfort at the speed of the trains’ movement. Then at 1:15, frowns, eye behavior, expressing his displeasure towards the other character. Subsequently, at 1:23, he puts his fingers in his ears to show the need to block out the noise. All perfect examples of non-verbal communication, all of which we take for granted.
We all use non-verbal communication in our day-to-day lives, sometimes for persuasion, other times, merely to better express ourselves. I find myself using my facial expressions to convey things I think better left unverbalized or cannot be verbalized very often. Nonverbal communication skills is indispensable when there is a need for persuasion, and personally, I do not relish the idea of persuading my father to pay for a particular something without being able to use facial expressions, hand gestures, and eye behavior. The result would be dismal. Other wise, I find myself using non-verbal communication skills every so often just to coax a laugh or a smile out of my classmates and friends.
The Ugly Truth
The Ugly Truth
Synopses Abby Richter (Katherine Heigl) is a romantically challenged morning show producer whose search for Mr. Perfect has left her hopelessly single. She’s in for a rude awakening when her bosses team her with Mike Chadway (Gerard Butler), a hardcore shock jock who promises to spill the ugly truth on what makes men and women tick.
Launch date: 17 September 2009 (Singapore)
I’m sure some of you must have already caught this movie. I did. Along with a troupe of friends. And while most would notice its cliché story line, I noticed a few other things. This story is essentially about a control freak women attempting to find her perfect man, and a cynical man plagued by past experiences.
Looking pass the story line, you will notice that in this movie, how one man’s perception is translated into a mass communicated message through the media, a talk show. He perceived his surroundings: the general population, men in particular, to be animals, to be treated and dealt with as such, fueled and motivated only by lust. He perceived his experiences to be solid proof that women are deceptive and manipulative creatures. All that was in turn translated into a cynic with the privilege of a talk show, broadcasting his own perception to the public at large.
Although the movie did not show the public’s response per se, the talk show’s rating were proof enough that it influenced a large amount of people. We can only imagine how the audience took his message and what they did in turn to their own lives.
Perception is the process by which we make sense of the world around us. And for Mike Chadway, his perception was shaped by his negative experiences, and that cynical, twisted way he perceives things helps him make sense of his bad experiences.
Our perception is influenced by psychological factors, through our thought processes, character, and experiences. Our experiences triggers a thought process that will eventually be aided or can only be curbed by our character. If one man allows his bad relationship experiences to alter his perception to such a degree, without a strong character, can that individual still remain an objective, responsible communicator?
If any of us becomes part of the media industry, we will be partaking as an influence in our changing society. Will we remain conscious of our role and be mindful of the ideas and opinions we disseminate?
Our perception is often incomplete or flawed. And while we may as individuals feel we are right, we must also remain vigilant to the fact that our perception when communicated to other, may have negative impacts on other’s lives.
Been giving advice flippantly recently??
Week 2: Save Our Vowels
Article: Save Our Vowels
All over the planet, they are disappearing. Scientists are worried. It may be a sign of THE END OF THE WORLD. No, I’m not talking about absent vowels. I got a message the other day that said, “Mt @ 3 rd st crnr @ 12”, signed “QT.” What did it mean? A young text-savvy person in the office told me that QT meant “cutie,” and translated: “An attractive young woman wants to meet you at the corner of Third Street at noon.”
I turned up at the designated spot and found a large insurance salesman called Quentin who used his body odour as a lethal weapon. I narrowly avoided purchasing ten year coverage against being kicked to death by emus. Curiously, there were no policies available against assault by insurance agent.
The following week I was at a private dining club when a Hong Kong banker named David told me he had encountered a man who pronounced his name Choong, but spelt in C-H-N-G. “There can’t be many names with no vowels in them,” he said/ it turned out he was sitting next to a Singaporean doctor named Ng.
That got me thinking. Names without vowels are springing up everywhere. One of the tip executives at DBS Group, one of Asia’s biggest banks, is another Chng. And the real name of Top Singaporean Singer Stephanie Sun is Sng. This columnist gets regular story tips from an Indian girl called Shyrnne. I’ve also heard from a s South Asian reader named Mythry.
Vowels are disappearing at high speed among businesses, too. Ever wondered what happened to Reebok, the sportswear firm? It’s still around but has renamed itself Rbk, which to me looks like it should be pronounced rrrrrbuk. Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC. I have an aged uncle who doesn’t utter it as three initials, but pronounces it as time before he is arrested for uttering obscenities in public. I hope the KFC staff will have the decency to visit him in prison.
The loss-of-vowels ailment spread to phone maker Motorola, which launched a phone called the Razor, spelt RAZR. This was followed by the ROKR, the SLVR and the PEBL. The really weird thing is that the company itself is gratuitously oversupplied with vowels. Shouldn’t Motorola become MTRLA for the sake of consistency? Could someone suggest that to the company’s boss Greg Brown, or is he now Grg Brwn?
I’ve read articles saying that the no-vowels trend is caused by companies trying to give their products the flavor of the trendy shorthand spelling favoured by young people. But a bit of research reveals that the real reason is often more mundane. Flickr, one of the busiest websites on the internet, was set up by people who wanted the name Flicker, but were to slow to register that word and too uncreative to find any alternatives.
Incidentally, any reader been to that tiny town in the dusty mountains of California called Zzyzx? A quack named Curtis Howe Springer founded it as a health spa and called Zzyzx because he thought it sounded different. The business failed. People who looked through listings or directories for somewhere to go, never reached it.
Older readers may recall the computer game Zzyzzyxx, launched in 1982. It got rave reviews from critics but flopped in the stored. Fans did not know how to ask for it. They must have been going into shops and saying: “Do you have a game called zz, ziz, zy, er, um, ah, never mind, just gimme Pac Man.”
James Gleick’s book Faster has been issued in paperback, now re-titled FSTR. But the publishers’ revision is half-hearted, with the main text of the book STILL containing vowels. Why not go the whole hog? U cn stll rd ths wtht vwls. On the other hand, just be aware that vowel-free words can be interpreted in various ways. One day I’ll get a message from a QT who actually is a Cutie. But I won’t take the risk. Quentin is out there.
Reader’s Digest – September 2009 issue – Pages 36 and 37
–
This article brings to our attention a very real issue that we currently face, of which I am sure many can easily relate to; the misuse of short-forms, and jargons.
In the course of the pass week, we learned Bacon’s four idols, and one that we can see this article highlighting would be the idols of the market place – vocabularies and jargons, and faulty, vague or misleading names.
In the first paragraph we see an example of a text message. This is a perfect example of how a sender can miscommunicate a message by blatantly ignoring the fact that the recipient might not understand the same lingo or short-forms used. Now, do not tell me you have never been on the receiving end of such a message. We have all, in the course of our lives been a victim of such a message at least once, and know how awfully wrong it can be interpreted. And for some of us, we are also guilty of sending them. How often have we sent back a reply requesting for clarification? And how often have we argued with our friends over a mis-construed message?
This problem is a wide-spread and rampant one. Always there, never fixed. We have so many acronyms, short-forms, jargons that are unique to us, or our generation, or to a certain group of people, and we are so used to utilizing them in our day-to-day, non-face-to-face communications that we often forget that some of the receivers do not or cannot understand our message. And in the case of the horrid example in the article, even a text-savvy person, one whom we would assume can understand such lingo, misinterpreted it.
In the case of having faulty, vague or misleading names; KFC, RBK, RAZR as cited in the article, companies wishing to appeal to the young with trendy-sounding names have over done with the the short-forms don’t you think? An admirable attempt at marketing, but as we can see in the example cited in the article, it can easily back fire irregardless of the quality of the product in question. Especially the ridiculous names given to a multitude of phones from Motorola. I find them impossible to remember, and sometimes difficult to decipher. Needless to say, I have never been a big fan of Motorola.
This article is brilliant in its campaign against the abuse of short-forms and vague names and their vanishing vowels, but I disagree in terms of the joke made out of Asian names. If all of our surnames were to contain vowels, half of our names will not sound like they ought to. Boy am I glad my surnames is Lee.
If we were all sent the text message: “Cls cncld. Dnt trn up fr cls tmmrw.” Half the class will be waiting outside the lecture theater wondering where our professor has gone. That would be most undesirable do you not think? Let us Communication students vow never to commit such a crime again. I for one do not look forward to going to school when I have no classes.
Hope you enjoyed the article as much as I did.
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