Description

To prepare for your Discussion:

Review Chapter 1 of your course text. Pay particular attention to the concept of communication as a transaction between people and as a process that is open to interpretation. How successful are you in communicating with others in general? Are you usually understood or misunderstood? What do you believe may be the cause for this?
Review Chapter 2 of your course text. Note culture’s relationship to beliefs, values, and norms. Bring to mind one belief, one value, and one norm that you hold that is also held by the “typical” member of your culture. Are these the same for all people in your culture?
View the media piece, “The Use of Silence in Japan,” and consider how even the concept of communication (or non-communication) varies from culture to culture.
Consider how the beliefs, values, and norms that you share with your culture impact how you communicate with others. Do these seem to help or hinder communication? How much does successful communication depend on whether or not you are communicating with someone from your own culture?
Note: One of the goals of this course is to promote a wide variety of views. You are encouraged to present your honest personal viewpoint while at all times reflecting a respectful tone for the views of others.

By Day 3
Post a 2- to 3-paragraph explanation of your culture. Intercultural communication can be seen as a negotiation of competing values, beliefs and norms. Describe the relationship among and between your personal beliefs, values, and norms and those found in your culture. Briefly explain how beliefs, values, and norms can vary even within your culture. Describe how your personal culture informs your communication choices. Explain how the elements of your culture affect how you communicate with others.

Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to at least one of this week’s Learning Resources. Additionally, you may opt to include an outside academic resource that you have identified.

By Day 5
Respond to the posts of at least two different colleagues in one of the following ways:

Share an insight from having read your colleague’s posting.
Expand on your colleague’s posting by providing an additional example of the element of personal culture in communication.
Offer an alternative view of how personal culture can affect communication with others.
Support all responses by citing your resources or other scholarly material. For assistance with APA citation, visit the Walden Writing Center’s information on APA referencing in this week’s Learning Resources.