3). Pick one concept from either text, not already discussed, that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.
The concept that I wish to discuss further in chapter three is the concept of Nonverbal Communication. It's interesting that the way we listen to people varies depending on what culture we're in.Harris (2008) includes some research in his book, in which "indicates that African Americans may give more subtle conversational feedback in certain contexts than their white American counterparts, causing some white American speakers to assume their African American listeners have not understood what was said" (Victor 1992).
This communication difference potentially can cause quite a bit of confusion between different cultures, as the quote demonstrates. Imagine someone who is brought up in a culture where they're taught to use obvious and frequent nonverbal cues to show the other person they're listening and understanding, talking to someone who was taught to use much more subtle cues while listening. Not only would it probably cause confusion and awkwardness, not being sure if the other person is listening to you or understanding and maybe even asking them "Do you follow?", but it would also make the conversation lag and slow down, having to pause and wonder if they're paying attention.
This kind of communication difference could cause a negative effect in so many situations, including, for example, a job interview. The employer might assume the interviewee isn't paying attention or isn't interested if they don't use the type of nonverbals cues of listening that the employer is used to.Another example of nonverbal communication differing in cultures, is the example of eye contact in Asian cultures and not looking at another in the eyes while listening; they view it as disrespectful. It's kind of ironic that with the Asian culture and the American culture communicating with each other they would both find the other disrespectful in conversation because of what they were taught as to be "respectful."
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Hi John!
ReplyDeleteWhat an insightful post. It really got me thinking. I bet that since we live in such a diverse area, miscommunications related to incorrectly reading another person’s nonverbal communication cues are a frequent occurrence.
Your example of a job interview being somewhere that nonverbal communication cues get mixed up was an excellent one because I can totally see that happening. Imagine the interviewer was from Japan and the person being interviewed was American. I bet that the American would not realize that the Japanese consider it to be rude to make eye contact with someone who is a figure of authority (in this case, because they are the interviewer, they would be considered to have the authority), and it might possibly prevent them from getting the job.
I live in Japan town in San Jose and a lot of the staff at the restaurants and stores are Japanese. I usually make eye contact with people since I was raised in Canada and that’s what we do. However, I notice that when I make eye contact with these store owners they usually look away. I try to remember because I do not want to insult anyone, but sometimes I forget.
Hi JPPS2010, I thought your post was very informative, especially the one on job interview. If someone is being interviewed for the first time and he is extremely a shy individual, there is the possibility he/she uses non verbal cues that they did not mean. For example, they might look down to think of a response before looking back towards the interviewer's eye. The interviewer might think that the action is impolite and cross him/her off the list. I learned the hard way getting interviewed for the first time. Since I was kind of nervous, I would always look down on the table to gather my thoughts. I also noticed myself tapping my toes and biting my fingernails. After the interview, the general manager never called me back. I figured that nonverbal communication is one of the key factors in getting hired to a job.
ReplyDeleteJPPS2010, i was taught to look into my parents eyes when I was in trouble, it was considered very disrespectful if I didn't. Almost as if I wasn't listening to them, understanding what they were saying. But your right, in asian cultures looking at the parent or authority figure while in trouble would be disrespectful, but I wonder why. How would they know the respondent is understanding them if not looking into their eyes. ??? My parents also informed me I used to smile while they would talk to me when I was scolded. I recently learned that smiling, or laughing is just an insecurity while in the situation. Out of four children i was the only one who would laugh...weird?
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