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BEING A CULTURALLY EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR
Pauline Carpenter, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA
The International Teaching Assistant Program (ITAP) at Cornell offers a
mid-semester, weeklong workshop series called “The ITA Excellence in
Communication and Presentation Series.” The sessions are offered to ITA
program participants so that they can explore a communication concept in
depth and meet other ITAs. This article describes one of the hour-long
workshops in the series entitled “Being a Culturally Effective
Communicator.”
This workshop touches on some cultural factors that influence
interactions, thereby affecting relationship building and general
communication effectiveness in the many roles ITAs play in a North
American educational context. Participants also have the opportunity to
practice culturally effective communication techniques, skills that are
useful in educational, professional, and social contexts.
There are three learning outcomes for the session. As a result of
participating in this workshop, participants will be able to
- Review some differences in communication across cultures
- Discuss how differences in communication might influence
interactions as a graduate student and teaching assistant
- Practice techniques useful for being a culturally effective communicator
The session is made up of a number of activities that address
verbal and nonverbal communication across cultures and some underlying
values that influence behaviors. Many of the resources were adapted from
an online cultural training resource Web site, What’s Up With
Culture?, created by Dr. Bruce La Brack. The resource was
originally developed for American undergraduates studying abroad, but I
have repurposed the activities for ITAs at Cornell.
VERBAL COMMUNICATION STYLES
The first activity starts with a verbal communications
inventory (see 1.6.3 on the Web site). ITAs reflect on their
verbal communication styles by answering yes or no to 10 statements that
address different ways of completing communicative tasks such as
debating, conversing, and organizing verbal communication (e.g., “It is
necessary to give background information for any topic that is
discussed”). To interpret their responses, ITAs refer to a guide that
categorizes and describes the different communication styles. ITAs then
have the opportunity to summarize their verbal communication tendencies
with other ITAs.
Because we are working within an American university context, in the
next stage of the activity a cultural generalization of “American”
verbal styles is presented. ITAs then have an opportunity to compare and
contrast their own styles with that of “Americans.” The purpose of this
activity is to introduce the concept of verbal communication styles and
to point out that there are differences across cultures and
individuals. Because it is important to note the difference between
cultural generalizations and stereotypes, a quick discussion of the
difference between the two is beneficial.
After students engage with the concept, a question is posed for
discussion: What do cultural differences in verbal
communication styles mean for you in your role as an international
graduate student or TA? A facilitator could elicit the
importance in realizing that there are differences in verbal
communication so that we can adjust our expectations of how students,
professors, and colleagues might interact. We can also better predict
what might be expected in a given situation and negotiate an appropriate
way to communicate.
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
The second activity focuses on nonverbal communication. Students are
prompted to brainstorm the various ways we communicate nonverbally. The
facilitator may elicit eye contact, gestures, personal space, and
movement and may then present a summary of typical
non-verbal communication in an American context (see 1.6.1 on
the Web site). ITAs can then discuss the similarities and differences
between American nonverbal communication styles and what they are
accustomed to.
To practice nonverbal communication, each pair of ITAs receives
a card with a nonverbal communication cue, such as eyes focused on the
ground; talking very close to someone else; arms folded tightly in
front; or prolonged silence. Participants are instructed to think about a
TA displaying this behavior in a class and to discuss what it might be
communicating to students. Each pair then enacts the nonverbal
communication and leads a discussion with the group addressing what
would be considered effective or ineffective and why.
Another question is posed for discussion: Why is
nonverbal communication important for me to be aware of as an
international graduate student or TA? A facilitator could
elicit that others draw conclusions based on nonverbal communication
cues and this can influence your overall effectiveness as a graduate
student or TA.
CULTURAL VALUES
The third activity discusses the values systems that influence
behaviors and communication. Participants do a quick
quiz (Wu, 1996) on cultural values. This quiz introduces
short scenarios in which a conflict in cultural values exists and
workshop participants identify and discuss the differences between the
values of the student and the host culture.
Next, a summary of Robert Kohls’ (1984) “The
Values Americans Live By”, which depicts common American
cultural values, is introduced. ITAs are prompted to discuss one or two
of these values in relation to what they understand their own cultural
values to be. It is important to note that students may not be
consciously aware of their cultural values and norms. In this activity
participants may discover differences in cultural values that influence
behavior and have an opportunity to discuss experiences they have had
interacting with others with differing values and norms.
CRITICAL INCIDENTS: STRATEGIES FOR BEING A CULTURALLY EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR
For the final activity in the workshop, pairs or small groups of
students are given one of three critical
incidents. These incidents are common ITA experiences of
cultural misunderstandings in a North American academic context
involving a professor, a classmate, and an undergraduate student. In
pairs or small groups, students analyze the critical incidents by
answering the following questions: What happened? Why did it happen
(consider the perspective of each individual)? What could have been done
differently? Each pair or small group explains their critical incident
and their analysis of what happened, often drawing on one or two
elements of the theories presented earlier in the workshop. The pairs or
small groups can then reenact the situation, but this time using more
appropriate verbal and nonverbal communication.
Once the critical incidents have been discussed, the
facilitator asks the ITAs to consider the
process they just completed to come up with possible ways to handle each situation. The ITAs are prompted to reflect on the steps
involved in being a culturally effective communicator and with a
partner, come up with some tips.
Examples of tips:
- Understand that there are differences in communication styles across cultures
- Think about and become familiar with your own cultural norms of communicating
- Before reacting to a confusing situation, stand back and ask
why a person may have behaved or communicated in a certain way
- If you still do not understand, do some research or ask someone who may have some insight
- Expose yourself to many situations and relationships and learn from the experiences
- Be ok with having misunderstandings. Get something out of
them by asking: What happened? Why did it happen? And what could have
been done differently?
If time permits, invite ITAs to think about a misunderstanding
they have experienced. With a partner, ITAs then apply the
strategies—analyze what happened from multiple perspectives and consider
ways it could have been dealt with differently.
One challenge of this workshop is that a lot of material, such as
cultural communication theories and concepts, is covered. Each activity
could easily be expanded into a workshop on its own. The purpose of this
workshop is to get ITAs thinking about culture and communication as
well as to practice the strategies involved in being effective in their
interactions in an American university context.
REFERENCES
Kohls, R. (1984). The values Americans live by. Retrieved from http://www.uri.edu/mind/VALUES2.pdf
Wu, A. (1996). Could this be culture shock? ISSO
Newsletter, Fall. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University.
Pauline Carpenter teaches in the International
Teaching Assistant Program at Cornell University’s Center for Teaching
Excellence. Her interests include intercultural communication and teaching, and international graduate student
experiences in North American educational contexts.
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