Chapters 3, 9, and 10 by Millie Alvarez

Introduction

     Throughout these chapters, we learn the significance of speech and communication around the world. Every day, all around us, we experience the wonders of communication. It has been a vital component of everyday life since the beginning of time. These chapters explore the importance of speech and communication in different cultural groups, as well as work-groups and even among families. We learn about the advantages and disadvantages that come with working in groups, along with key components of group leadership.

Chapter 3: Intercultural Communication

    This chapter is all about the relationship between culture and communication, and how each culture is different in the way they communicate within their group. We learn how to be able to communicate interculturally and understand the different communication styles among the cultures we may come across. Intercultural communication is when people of different cultures interact.

    Culture is defined as the system of shared values, beliefs, attitudes, and norms that guide what is considered appropriate among an identifiable group of people. In other words, it is a group of people who share the same or similar views and ways of living life. Each culture has its own unique way of communicating with different languages and even the manner in which they speak. In order to efficiently communicate interculturally, we must be open-minded and willing to understand that each culture is unique and we must learn to respect and even embrace their individuality. In the presentation for this particular chapter, Anthony gave a great example of how cultures can be widely diverse, he explained how in Asian cultures it is viewed as respectful to slurp your food while in America it is viewed as disrespectful to slurp your food while you eat so, it is very important that we understand and respect their differences. Different cultures have different values, which are a set of standards we believe to be right and wrong. What might be considered normal for one culture can be completely bizarre for another. This causes what we call a "culture shock" which is when one experiences something out of their norm. However, cultures are constantly being modified and influenced through intercultural communication. In the presentation, we get a great example of a culture being modified due to communication. Anthony presents how Americans watch Japanese shows and listen to Korean music while still having their own norms.

       Dominant culture is a group within the culture whose norms reflect the majority of the society. In the presentation, Fabienne explains how being part of the dominant culture can generate certain privileges that people who pertain to the co-culture group don't have. Co-culture is a subset group of people within the same culture whose norms defer from the dominant culture. The way people identify themselves and associate more with either the dominant culture or the co-cultures is called cultural identity. Race and ethnicity, which as Fabienne explains in the presentation, both form two different types of co-cultures within a larger culture. As opposed to the book, the presentation goes more in-depth and gives a better explanation of both co-cultures. Fabienne explains how race is a biological and genetic trait that is a key component of how people identify themselves within a culture. While ethnicity is defined as a shared cultural heritage that is learned. In the presentation, we see a very informative chart that shows us the differences between both co-cultures. On the chart, we see that race is based on appearance and members of one race cannot become part of another race while on the other hand, a member of one ethnicity can join another ethnicity. Religion is another co-culture that exists in larger cultures, it is a belief system of what is sacred or holy and is set on different morals and values. In the next portion of the chapter, we learn that two people born in the same generation may identify with different co-cultures. People born in different generations can somethimes clash due to their different up bringings. In the presentation, Alfredo gives us a very good example of this, he states how when people from younger generations interact with people of older generations they have different persepectives of what is considered respectful.

    Brianette introduces us to the next topic in the chapter, "How cultures differ", she states how she believes that it is critical we understand that not everyone around us belongs to the same culture because in present times, communicating with different people around the world is an everyday task. She plays us a comedic yet very informative video that shows the 3 different categories of groups, the close group, medium group, and far group. We learn that one of the ways cultures differ is in the how they associate themselves to individualism or collectivism. People in individualistic cultures are centered around "the self", they value personal rights and responsibilites, and consider oneself before the rest of the group. While people in collectivist cultures put the groups wants and needs before their own. Alfonso neatly outlines the differences between both cultures in the presentation.

    Towards the end of the presentation and chapter Angel gives us some useful strategies on how to communicate interculturally. He tells us to acquire accurate knowledge before communicating with an individual from a different culture, adopt an appropriate attitude by tolerating and being open-minded, and lastly to develop culture-centered skills like active listening and understanding.

Chapter 9: Communicating in Groups   

    This chapter is all about group work like, how to communicate as a group and the advantages and disadvantages of working with other people. Ironically, my group was fortunate enough to have to learn and teach this particular chapter. I first hand experienced what the chapter is explaining. Group communication is all the verbal and nonverbal messages that are exchanged among the members of the group.

    We first learn about different types of groups like families, social groups, support groups, interest groups, service groups, work groups, teams, and virtual groups. Groups make up the world all around us, everywhere we go we experience group work, at home, work, school, church, clubs, etc. Therefore, it is very important to master how to communicate as a group. For this assignment due to the current pandemic we are living through, my group and I would be considered a virtual group. In order to make everything work, we created a group chat with each member of the group where we can all discuss and plan how we would put together our presentation. Thanks to the technology we have today, we had active communication among each other at any moment of the day. This assignment showed me the advantage of working as a group and the synergy that comes with group work. Synergy is the combined efforts of each member of the group that creates a result greater than each of it's parts. Working as a group taught me different ideas and persepcetive I wouldn't have came up with on my own. 

    As I said previously, we first hand experienced this chapter. We went throught the exact stages of group development discussed in the chapter. Forming, which was when we all first got grouped together and discussed our goals and exchanged numbers to create a platform where we could further discuss our assignment. Storming, which was when we all had different ideas on how exactly we would put together our presentation and collectively decided to create a slideshow presentation on Google Slides where we would all be able to work on our part on our own time. Norming, which was when we all began working on our assigned portion of the presentation and actively communicated through our group chat. Perfoming, which was when we finally reached the group goal and had our finished project which we were able to present to the class.

    We also learned about the different types of conflicts that can occur while working as a group. Thankfully we were all very respectful through-out our assignment and were each as involved on the assignment. It was very helpful and useful to work as a group for our presentation, there is no better way to learn than from experience.

Chapter 10: Group Leadership and Problem Solving

    This chapter goes hand in hand with chapter 9, it is all about how to handle the potential conflicts that come with working as a group. It teaches us the importance of having good leadership in a group and problem solving skills. Although working as a group is a huge advantage, it can sometimes be a bit of a hassle, that is why it is important for us to learn how to deal with the disadvantages of group work.

    Leadership is defined as a process in which an individual guides and influences a group of people to reach a specific goal. In the presentation, Rodrigo shares a very good and inspirational quote by Nelson Mandela which tells us how leaders are always working and putting together so that the group as a whole can work together. Leadership is at the core of a group, with good leadership comes a good group. We learn about the different group roles that make groups function smoothly. A role is a specific behavior that group members perform in order to meet the group's needs and goals. There are different kinds of roles like, task roles, maintenance roles, and procedural roles which we learn in detail throughout the presentation. In the next portion of the presentation and chapter, we learn what it takes to hold an effective meeting. Nicholas and Yuliya both share different guidelines both leaders and participants should follow before, during, and after a meeting. Yuliya shares a very quick but straight to the point video that summarizes the guidelines to follow to have an effective meeting. 

    This chapter teaches us the different steps of systematic problem solving, which as Johan shares, was created by John Dewey in 1933. The first step is to identify and define the problem, it is important to know what the problem is before coming up with a solution. Johan teaches us that an effective way to completing this step is by asking questions. The second step is to analyze the problem which can be done by interviewing experts, research, and surveys. The third step is to determine criteria for judging solutions. In the presentation, Welmys shares and explains some useful startegies that we can use to complete this step. The fourth step is to generate a host of solutions which is where brainstorming comes in the picture. Welmys emphasizes the importance of being open minded in this step by giving us a quick example of what would happen if we weren't open minded. The fifth step is to evaluate solutions and decide, as Nate explains this is the step where the group collectively chooses which route to take. In the presentation, Nate shares the different methods of deciding a solution. The sixth and final step is to implement the agreed-upon solution and assess it.

Conclusion

This project was a much more effective way to learning than the typical reading and taking notes. It provides a more visual and entertaining way of learning. Each group added their own tocuh to the chapters and were very creative in the way that they curated their presentations. Each group brought their assigned chapter to life through their presentation.