SLP Module 3 Essay

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...quizzes did you take?



I took the Pakistan quiz and Cross-Cultural Work Scenario quiz.



• Were you surprised at your score?



No, I was unsurprised at my score as I have a fair amount of knowledge pertaining to the cultural requisites of diverse nation with regard to business and work. Further, I am fairly well-informed of numerous nations' basics and this facilitated my completion of the aforementioned quizzes.



• What strengths do you think you have in the area of inter-cultural awareness?



One can safely state that intercultural awareness is a mainstay of communication. This idea encompasses the following two aspects: knowledge regarding one's own, and others' cultures. That is, intercultural awareness entails the capability to stand back from one's vantage point and gain awareness of both one's own, and others', cultural beliefs, outlooks and principles. It has a crucial role to play in communication between individuals hailing from different cultural backgrounds. As individuals tend to view, construe and assess things differently, what one society deems proper may not be regarded so by another. This may give rise to misunderstandings when individuals of diverse cultures interact with each other (Zhu, 2011).



For instance, the Chinese's view of the typical American is: a person who is constantly working, discusses business at lunch meetings, dresses casually, consumes soft drinks and eats junk food. Such impressions fairly reflect the fact that individual interpretations of particular activities (e.g., having food) differ in different cultures. The Chinese set great store by personal relationships. Thus, tea, lunch, or dinner meetings hold special meaning: the Chinese assemble at such occasions to converse with one another, unwind, and most notably, cultivate a close bond with others. Misunderstandings largely surface when individuals are unaware of their culture's behavioral codes and end up projecting them onto other people. Cultural unawareness typically causes one to misread the nonverbal and verbal communication of individuals belonging to other cultures (Zhu, 2011).



I believe my forte is intercultural empathy, defined as a reasonable grasp and acknowledgement of a target culture's cultural disparities. Firstly, I strive to gain familiarity with target cultures, and to communicate with individuals belonging to them. Moreover, I understand that individual thinking patterns differ and this disparity fails to produce negative transfers of target cultures in me; rather, I attempt to learn their language. Lastly, I don't disregard cultural differences and don't tend to overemphasize cultural universals (Zhu, 2011).



• What weaknesses are you able to identify?



Stereotypes stem from cultural misinterpretation during dealings with other cultures. They may be described as a person's "naive" view of others, determined by their individual value systems via cognitive schemes. "Slothful", "slow" and other negative stereotypes and "brainy", "driven" and other positive stereotypes characterize membership within certain societal groups and enable cognitive sifting of a plethora of data on the basis of key features. While applying stereotypes for describing individual conduct is wrong and the right approach is applying it to the whole group's behavioral norm, individuals always bank on this initial "best guess" erroneously when considering individual cultural and ethnic minority communities (Adler, 1986). The Americans, for instance, hold a stereotype regarding the Chinese that the latter are scientific and mathematical geniuses, which is strengthened by news reports of Chinese-Americans scoring significantly higher marks in their math examinations as compared to White-American pupils. Further, the share of Asian-American U.S. scientists is twice or thrice that of Asian-American individuals in the whole population (Usaquen, 2012).



Multicultural sensitivity represents the trait of being cognizant and tolerant of cultures other than one's own. Culturally insensitive people tend to overlook cultural disparities and this subsequently adversely impacts their interactions and relationships with people hailing from other cultures.



Diverse cultures generate diverse thinking patterns. On the basis of the Greek logic system, Chinese and Western thinking patterns differ drastically from one another. For instance, people in the West often argue through deduction, initially introducing the subject and subsequently presenting the supporting or secondary arguments. This is in contrast to the Chinese approach of induction wherein the secondary arguments are presented initially and the chief argument is left for the end. Intercultural communicators cannot be adequately empathic if they do not know such a system exists (Kramsch, 1993).



• If there were gaps between your assessment results and your own thoughts about your level of cultural awareness, why do these gaps exist?



On account of their lack of knowledge regarding the variations in customs, beliefs and principles between different cultures, individuals experience a surprise or even a shock when they see that the nations they visit differ starkly from their expectations of them. Desirable communication is contingent on the interaction of numerous aspects and can fail because of personal biases, cultural insensitivity, and typecasting, thereby leading to gaps. Improved rates of successful communication can ensue if one effectively conveys intercultural empathy, cultivated by constantly attempting to see things from others' perspective (Zhu, 2011).

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• Create a plan of specific, concrete actions you can take to build on your strengths and improve areas of weakness so that you improve your cultural awareness.



1) Constantly maintain honest and receptive communication. In the event of miscommunication, consider it an issue to resolve and a chance to find better ways of communicating.



2) Understand that fundamental differences exist in how individuals hailing from diverse cultures communicate (e.g., different body language, word usage and voice). Readily appreciate and accept the significance of the culture one hails from and readily gain knowledge regarding the cultural features and customs of others (Zhu, 2011).



3) Maintain honesty, the readiness to err and take risks, and flexibility in one's style of communication.



4) Ponder over and explore the cultural foundations of one's personal system of beliefs when attempting at understanding other cultures. Cultural empathy entails not being judgmental and realizing the fact that one can still engage in interactions with other cultures despite the presence of cultural differences.



5) Show active curiosity in learning and understanding others' cultures and norms and be enthusiastic in adapting one's conduct and communication consistent with the principles of other cultures. With increased knowledge of a given culture, the probability of engaging in successful communication increases. Additionally, honesty, mutual regard for others' dignity, and concern are key intercultural empathy related traits irrespective of cultural disparities (Zhu, 2011).



• Why is it important for managers to increase their levels of cultural awareness?



A cross-cultural manager needs to view global trend changes as a test as well as a chance to realize both individual and company growth. Aside from tackling the aforementioned changes, global business facilitators and educators must react in a rapid and timely manner to globalization, demographics, and technological effects for providing precise job skill training on international leadership, constant learning and work ethic (Chuang, 2013). For cultivating a lasting leadership, an international leader needs to demonstrate the requisite competence in the areas of cross-cultural know-how and practice. Comprehending leadership expectations and the value of leaders, besides developing and maintaining sound leadership approaches for long-run transformation is imperative (Ulrich & Smallwood, 2012).



User Score: 6



Total Score: 7



Passing Score %: 85



The user spent 01:23 on this quiz has passed the quiz



1. [0/1] Bob de Jonge and his Thai associate, Chaiwat Soonvichai, are walking into a meeting in Bangkok. Chaiwat asks Bob casually, 'Do you have the latest marketing portfolio with you?' Bob stops in his tracks and slaps his forehead. 'Why on earth didn't you ask me that earlier? Now there's no time to go back and get it'. The two continue on and conduct a successful meeting yet a month later Chaiwat leaves the company. What went wrong?



A. Chaiwat saw the slapping of the forehead as an insult to his intellect.



B. Chaiwat felt a great loss of face through Bob's reaction and felt compelled to leave the company.



C. Bob should have apologised to Chaiwat after the meeting as the missing portfolio had no negative effect.



D. Bob's reaction was seen as hot-headed and Chaiwat construed that as a bad sign in terms of an employer.



Answer: B



2. [1/1] George Tailor works as a supervisor for an engineering company in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In the UK, he had a reputation for speaking his mind and by doing so getting the best out of his staff. At the current project in Riyadh he supervises 12 British staff and nearly 50 Saudi staff. After a few months George has become increasingly frustrated….....

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Bibliography

Chuang, S.-F. (2013). ESSENTIAL SKILLS FOR LEADERSHIP EFFECTIVENESS IN DIVERSE WORKPLACE DEVELOPMENT. Online Journal for Workforce Education and Development.

Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and Culture in Language Teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ulrich, D., & Smallwood, N. (2012). What is leadership? In W. H. Mobley, Ying Wang, Ming Li (ed.) Advances in Global Leadership (Advances in Global Leadership, Volume 7), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, pp.9-36. doi:10.1108/S1535-1203(2012)07005.

Usaquen, M. E. (2012). Adolescent Students' Intercultural Awareness When Using Culture-Based Materials in the English Class. Secretaria de Educacion de Bogota.

Zhu, H. (2011). From Intercultural Awareness to Intercultural Empathy. English Language Teaching.

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