Use the space provided to answer each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.
Identifying Cultural Influences Imagine you and a friend are traveling to a different country for a month. After picking a country to visit, look back to the discussion of cultural influences on communication (pp. 96-106). Think about how you communicate your cultural or co-cultural identity in regard to the following: individualistic vs. collectivistic culture, high- vs. low-context culture, uncertainty avoidance, emotion displays, power distance, and views of time. Then, think about the culture of the country you’re traveling to and how it views those influences. (You can do research online if you’re unsure.) Write a paragraph about how you and your friend would have to adjust your communication expectations while you’re traveling to accommodate any differences.
Encouraging World-Mindedness Reflect on a time you witnessed someone judge another’s culture as worse than his or her own. What was the situation? How did the person communicate that his or her culture was superior? After rereading the discussion of world-mindedness, attributional complexity, and communication accommodation (pp. 107-111), write a brief dialogue between you and that person in which you explain the importance of avoiding cultural judgments and encourage him or her to practice world-mindedness by respecting other cultures.