Communication and Cultural Diversity

Living in United Arab Emirates, where the expat community is more than the local population, I have been exposed to cultural diversity from my very small age. We are used to seeing different ethnicity on the streets, hear different languages in the super markets and relate with different nationalities at our work places on a daily basis.

 

Since, our thoughts, our gestures, our actions and reactions, the very way we perceive, reflect our unique experiences with our culture, the way we perceive or how we respond may not be the same way others perceive or respond. Therefore on a daily basis, I am obliged to apply different communicating skills with the different people I come in contact with. 

 

When communicating with people who are not fluent in the English language I try to speak in very simple English, avoiding big phrases and complicated sentences. 

 

When I communicate with my older uncles and aunts, I avoid speaking in English and speak in Malayalam, my native language so that they feel comfortable and at ease in speaking with me.

 

 My Bangladeshi cleaner boy who understands and speaks very little English puts on a smile on his face throughout his communication with me. I get irritated with his nonverbal behavior and communicate with him with a straight face without any expression ignoring his smile, using more non verbal skills such as gestures and body movements coupled with basic English words to communicate and put the message across.

 

 In my early childhood classroom, I am exposed to different parenting styles. Some of which I personally do not agree with. I try to in a very subtle way explain to the parents without offending them or exert my values over them. 

 

These are just few examples of the different ways I communicate with people from different groups and cultures. But culture has a wide range. These past two courses, have taught me that culture extends beyond the color of the skin, is deeper than what we see on the surface. Our emotions, our behavior, parenting styles, lifestyles are all related to culture. Based on my learning, I realize the need for more understanding than just recognizing external symbols like holidays, festivities, food and clothing to become an effective intercultural communicator. Especially as an early childhood teacher being a member of a diverse society, it is important for me to communicate appropriately and effectively with a wide variety of individuals. For this purpose, I would need to:

• Understand other’s perspectives, their practices and values better by looking at the situation through their eyes.
• Withhold judgment at the first impression and allow enough time to understand them.
•  Be more aware of nonverbal behaviors. Realize that nonverbal behaviors are different across cultures and in no way is my patterns of nonverbal behavior any superior to others.

Our perceptions are linked to the wide diversity we encounter in the world and culture is a powerful context of communication. To communicate effectively and appropriately in today’s world, we need to possess an understanding of and appreciation for people who perceive differently that we do.

Nonverbal Communication

We communicate with many tools other than language. For this assignment I decided to watch a short comedy called ‘No Offense’ first with the sound turned off and then watch again with the sound turned on, to examine variety of actions such as gestures, tone of voice, body language as well as all aspects of physical appearance that would intentionally or unintentionally signal meaning through behavior other than words.  

The short 4:23 clip starts off with two guys, one black named Dale and the other white named Peter, meeting up at their mail box. As they converse with each other, Dale looks puzzled at something Peter said, but the conversation goes on and everything seems fine. I gather from the scene that they are friendly neighbors because they seem to exchange a pleasant conversation with smiles and pat on the shoulder. Later that day they meet up again at their trash can. From the expression on Peter’s face and mannerisms he looks confused about a DVD he has in his hand and Dale seem to question him on it and pointing to the DVD seem to make comments on it. Again they part with a friendly smile and acknowledgement. Even later that day they meet up on some social networking site. Peter messages to Dale ‘No Offense’. Now I am left puzzled here. Because I do not know what has been going on and why Peter send Dale that message. All I can observe is Dale seems a little taken aback. Next we see Dale at the front door of Peter with a knife in his hand and a plastic bag with furry something sticking out. Peter seems upset with the content in the bag. Though they exchange some serious bit of conversation, nothing seems to be amiss here because they laugh and part ways. Next we see them on the phone with each other. Though they seem to exchange words with stress, they are laughing loud and I therefore assume they are having a friendly conversation. However, in the last scene, peter is standing on top of a red car (which I assume is Dale’s) and is hammering it. Seeing this Dale looks shocked and goes to the backyard of (I guess) Peter’s house and pulls down his pant to ‘poo’ on the lawn which frustrates Peter. At the end of this clip with no sound, I am left confused why what started out to be friendly exchange between neighbors turned out to be hurtful at the end. 

After turning the sound on I was totally surprised to find out I was totally deceived. Although I was able to interpret some of the non verbal communication correctly, I was in for a surprise for the most part of it. Though they were all smiles and their facial expressions and body language seemed to convince me that they are friendly with each other, they were in fact insulting each other all along and having a laugh at it. Since I had never watched a ‘No Offense’ clips before nor have heard of such practice, the turnout of events was totally a big surprise.

Competent Communication

Competent communication is appropriate and effective. When I think of someone who is a competent communicator, the first person that comes to my mind is a cousin of ours who is very good at giving directions. His directions are very brief and clear that no one could go wrong following his directions. In fact I would trust his directions than my GPS when travelling within the city he lives. He guides us with information such as which lane to take, the number of traffic lights we would have to pass before we take the left or right, even on a detoured road he would tell the signboards to look out for from where we must make the turn. He makes us understand the route laid out for us so well, even to last landmark nearest to the destination. It is his ability to observe even the details we sometimes tend to overlook that makes him a successful and a competent communicator. He is also able to adjust his behavior to suit particular individuals and situations. Knowing we are not familiar with the city he lives in, he simplifies the directions so that we can make each turns safely when we get to it and the route is laid out so clearly that we have enough of time to understand, plan and safely execute our next move. I am often inspired to model his observation skills, and his communication skills in being concise, accurate and appropriate.