- Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?
- If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently?
I find myself all the time communicating with people from different groups and cultures. I have found that communicating with different groups can be difficult at times especially when you are not a part of that culture.
Three strategies I can use during this could be :
1. Understanding cultural differences could be understanding yourself as a culture being and coming to understand that the way you see the world, organize your behavior and look at children are to a great extent, influenced by my own culture which may have been influenced by my training (Mena-Gonzalez,2010).
2. Understanding nonverbal cues can help when communicating. I look at others when they talk and I may be mislead by their nonverbal cues. One way is by looking at their eyes. Eye contact is very important in some cultures like in the United States. It is very important that a person looks at someone when they are talking. (Mena-Gonzalez, 2010)
3. I shouldn't expect because I know someone's culture that I can predict their behavior pattern. Culture patterns will change when they come in contact with a new pattern.
Reference:
Gonzalez-Mena, J. (2010). 50 Strategies for Communicating and Working With Diverse Families. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc
Hi Andrea,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that reading body language, such as eye contact is important for communication in the United States. I agree, however, what do you do if you are communicating with a person on the autism spectrum or someone from another country? These individuals can look just like you and I until their true identity is revealed and we discover that they have limited language, if any. There is a lot to be left up to interpretation.
Hi Andrea,
ReplyDeleteAs I read your blog post this week there were many points that you made that I agreed with. One strategy in particular was the one about understanding different cultures. I believe it's very important for us to learn other cultures so we can get to know people who may seem differently from us. We can learn a lot from conversing with individuals from different cultures. The more we learn the more knowledgable we are in the world we live in especially because our world is very diverse. Thanks for sharing!
-Jasmine