CHEM-E0100 Academic Learning Community Intercultural Communication Workshop 1

Transcription

1 CHEM-E0100 Academic Learning Community Intercultural Communication Workshop 1 Carlos Mendoza Teacher in Intercultural Communication Aalto University

2 Goals of the workshops At the end of the workshops you will be able to: identify essential factors that influence collaboration in multicultural working environments put in practice strategies to enhance collaboration with people from other working cultures

3 Outcome for today s workshop We will learn and identify: different social and working cultures cultural traits that influence communication across cultures differences between national and local culture

4 Dynamics of this workshops short lectures followed by practical exercises group discussions about culture and personality traits that influence collaboration questions, comments and doubts welcomed at any time

5 Experience teaching ICC

6 Education Master s in Intercultural Communication Aalto-Tongji CollaborationProgramme Vocational Teacher Education Programme Master s in Spanish Philology and Culture

7 Why should I care about intercultural communication? Rapid internationalization of the University and the workplace in and outside of Finland. Need of skills to work in virtual and physical different cultural context

8 The working and academic environment is more multicultural than ever before More than 16,000 foreigners moved to Finland in 2014 ( Aalto University has students from almost 100 nationalities (AYY, 2012)

9 How diverse is this group? With your cellphone: go to the following link: kahoot.it Enter the pin:

10 Advantages of cultural diversity? Different perspectives Different working cultures Different styles of leadership More potential for innovation Source: Source of image: Carlos Mendoza 1/25/

11 Cultural misunderstandings A cultural misunderstanding occurs when something like gestures, a word, social context, object, almost anything you can think of has different meanings in two or more cultures. Sometimes the misunderstandings lead to nowhere or they can be resolved.

12 REFLECTION Think about an event (recent) you were involved in which an intercultural misunderstanding took place (perplexing behavior, body language, expressions / something that irritated you, etc.) Be ready to describe this situation in a small group setting. Discuss with the group the causes of the misunderstanding from both parts of the misunderstanding.

13 Three levels of uniqueness in mental programming (Hofstede, 2005) Personality (individual, inherited and learned) Culture (Specific patterns of a group or category, learned) Human nature (Universal)

14 Human dilema: the Car Accident Your riding in a car by a close friend or yours. He is riding at 50 km per hour and hits a pedestrian. Don t worry, you are the only witness.

15 Would you lie for your friend? Select your answer in Kahoot What right does your friend have to expect you to lie for him? A. My friend has a definite right as a friend to expect me to lie for him B. He has some right as a friend to expect expect me to lie. C. He has no right as a friend to expect me to lie

16 What Culture Does VALUES ATTITUDE BEHAVIOR Honesty Lying is wrong.?

17 What is a Cultural Assumption? It is an idea that is common throughout the culture of a group. Each culture may have completely different or similar assumption, based on the tradition, laws and people of that particular group

18 We look at other cultures through our own cultural sunglasses. We use our own culturally influenced worldview to interpret information.

19 Truth Is Relative Cultural relativism Cultural relativism is the view that no culture is superior to any other culture when comparing systems of morality, law, politics, etc. It's the notion that all cultural beliefs are equally valid and that truth itself is relative, depending on the cultural environment.

20 Culture is the collective programming of the mind" (Geert Hofstede). is how things are done here" (John Mole).

21 What Cultural Assumptions Do You Make Consider the statements given to you and mark them with yes, no and it depends. Be ready to share and discuss your views in a group of 3. Choose three of the statements where you differed the most with the other students.

22 Intercultural competence Cultural self awareness Knowledge of other cultures Action Knowledge of similarities and differences among cultures Carlos Mendoza 1/25/

23 Avoid ethnocentrism Applying the standards of one s own society to people outside that society (Hofstede, 2011).

24 How language and culture influences communication?

25 Discuss the following question in small teams: Have you talked to someone in a foreign language with whom you felt awkward or you had trouble following the conversation? Did you tell the person about the challenge for you? Explain why and how

26 Patterns of language American style of communication is like a tennis match. The japanese style of communication is like bowling.

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28 Difference between language families

29 Interrupting others Overlapping speech is common in Southern European conversation and is perceived as involvement and a sign of presence. In many Finnish contexts, overlapping speech is perceived as impolite (Carbaugh, 1995).

30 Rules of communication What language (s) will we use to work or socialize? E.g. only English, Finnish and English, other. Explain How formal or informal will we be? E.g. title, lastname, name. How will we address inbalance of language fluency? E.g. giving short pauses, speaking slowly, making clarifications, etc. How are interruptions managed? E.g. turn taking or allowing interruptions. How will we ensure participation? E.g. brainstorms, paired discussions, prepared remarks. How is feedback provided? E.g. Direct, indirect, written or verbally, private or in front of the group. Schneider and Bardoux, 1997, pp

31 The creation of a succesful team

32 Globalization and migration (Migrationmap,2007)

33 Globalization: an opportunity and a challenge International mobility, interpersonal relationships, national, cultural and ethnic boundaries are becoming blurred (Salo-Lee, 2005, p.79). Intercultural competence is particularly required in leadership and team work as groups communicate through languages, working cultures and fields (Salo- Lee, 2005).

34 Investment in multicultural teams Kovach (in Adler, 2002) demonstrated that diverse cultural and professional backgrounds tend to achieve either better of poorer results than homogenous groups.

35 Formation of multicultural teams Similarity bias: We choose people that are more similar to us than people that seem different in values or appearance. 1/25/2016 Carlos Mendoza 35

36 Intercultural intelligence: mapping cultures

37 Cultural dimensions of Hofstede

38 Journal entries Keeping a journal allows you to reflect and process topics covered in class or in the readings. 1. Look at Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions at 2) Write a 1-page reflection, in which you a) make a comparison of values with your home country and another country that you know quite well. b) Reflect whether you agree / disagree with the results? Justify your answer and illustrate with practical examples.

39 Sources Adler, N.J. (2002). Multicultural Teams. In: N.J. Adler (ed.), International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior. 4th. Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western; Berry, Michael, Carbaugh, Donal, & Nurmikari-Berry, Marjatta (2004). Communicating Finnish Quietude: A Pedagogical Process for Discovering Implicit Cultural Meanings in Languages. Language & Intercultural Communication. 4 (4), Nazir, Enz, Lim, Aylett, Cawsey A. (2009) Culture-personality based affective model. Springer- Verlag London Limited Salo-Lee, L Intercultural competence in research and practice: Challenges of globalization for intercultural leadership and team work. Teoks. Aalto, N. & Reuter, E. (toim.) Aspects of intercultural dialogue, Köln: SAXA Verlag. Schneider and Bardoux (1997) Managing across cultures. Prentice Hall