Sunday, November 15, 2015

Intercultural Communication Ethics

In chapter 9, the idea of intercultural communication ethics is discussed.  On part that I found to be very interesting was when the idea of the "stranger" vs the "guest roles.  The book talks about how the stranger is one who wants to have the culture adapt to their needs, and the guest is one who learns along with the culture to begin to pickup on different social ideas.  The line that best summarized this concept is, "...our best approach to intercultural communication ethics lies within the pragmatic humility of the guest" (169).

To apply this concept to my life, I spent a lot of time with Ecuadorian cooks at my job.  Since i was trying to adapt to the new job, I spent a lot of time as the guest trying to learn from their culture and their work ethics. I think this is important because had I come in as the stranger, I would have not built the relationship that I have with them now.  I have been able to pick up on different jokes and other little cultural details that have established a relationship between us.

3 comments:

  1. When you are trying to better understand a different culture than your own, taking on the role of the guest is very important. It sounds like you are attempting to immerse yourself in the culture of your co-workers, rather than have them try to adapt to your culture and ways of thinking. Although you may be able to research facts about cultures of different countries, simply being around others is the best way to learn about them in a more hands-on way. Showing that you are willing to adapt to some of their cultural norms allows for a stronger relationship to be built from the start. This leads me to question whether or not it is beneficial to be in the stranger role. Maybe now that you have become more comfortable with the culture of your co-workers, you could possibly switch roles and allow them to try to learn more about the culture and some of the norms you have in your every day life. Finding the balance between the two cultures of the groups allows for a strong relationship where aspects from each person's life can be included and intertwined.

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  2. When you are trying to better understand a different culture than your own, taking on the role of the guest is very important. It sounds like you are attempting to immerse yourself in the culture of your co-workers, rather than have them try to adapt to your culture and ways of thinking. Although you may be able to research facts about cultures of different countries, simply being around others is the best way to learn about them in a more hands-on way. Showing that you are willing to adapt to some of their cultural norms allows for a stronger relationship to be built from the start. This leads me to question whether or not it is beneficial to be in the stranger role. Maybe now that you have become more comfortable with the culture of your co-workers, you could possibly switch roles and allow them to try to learn more about the culture and some of the norms you have in your every day life. Finding the balance between the two cultures of the groups allows for a strong relationship where aspects from each person's life can be included and intertwined.

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  3. Hello, I agree with what you are saying about how we should adapt to the new environment instead of expecting the environment to change for us. It is my third year in the US this year. It is my semester here at the U. I was in Seattle for two years before coming here and I was in Indonesia before that. Having said that, I have experienced a lot of culture shock. I can say that the best way of enjoying where you are is by adapting to it. It is not like you have to change who you are, it's more like the little things like handshake, eye contact, and greetings for example. We have to adapt to where we are in order for us to be accepted, we have to be the guest instead of stranger. If we expect the society to change for us, we won't fit in

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