Katherine Carbonell

 Chapters 3, 9, and 10

    In just a couple of weeks of class, I have learned so many new things in speech class. Not only have I learned through the work I've done but also through my classmates and their research in communications in groups, intercultural groups, and group leadership. 

Chapter 3:

    Chapter three is about Intercultural Communication, culture plays an important role in shaping the style of communication. People are more likely to react to how we speak than to what we say. Individuals' communication styles are influenced by the culture in which they were socialized, and communication styles can change the culture. Being bicultural is having or integrating two nations, peoples, or ethnic groups cultural views and customs. The component of our self-concept that is based on how closely we relate with both the dominant culture and diverse co-cultures is known as cultural identity. 

Cultural identity is a very big deal this days, this is because a mixed person may not feel accepted in their culture and it is vey hard being mixed, because most of the times you don't get accepted in neither of the cultures. Religion, sex, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, financial class, age, and handicap are all factors that influence your culture. Sex and gender is a very big topic in the whole world, today more and more people can express about what they identify as, they can express their preferences. Men are expected to speak in manly ways, while women are expected to communicate in feminine ways, according to the dominating American society.

American culture has praised for years heterosexuals, and the people that are not heterosexuals most f the time receive a lot of hate almost everyday, it is very painful seeing a person mistreating someone else just because of their sexual preference, or the way they dress, or their lifestyle. When we deal with others whose cultural norms differ from ours, understanding how cultures differ becomes crucial because it allows us to empathize and change our communication patterns accordingly. Punctuality, uninterrupted task completion, meeting deadlines, sticking to schedules, and completing tasks one at a time are valued in monochronic cultures. In the United States, the dominant culture promotes a monochronic view of time.

Traditional gender roles are valued differently in different cultures. Men and women are required to follow traditional gender roles and behaviors in very masculine cultures. Masculine responsibilities are likewise valued more highly in these societies than feminine roles. People in strongly feminine cultures take on a variety of roles and are praised for it, regardless of gender. Both men and women are accustomed to being nurturing, loving, and service oriented in feminine societies, and these attributes are valued as highly as performance, ambition, and competitiveness. We can improve our intercultural communication skills by first recognizing potential barriers and then using a variety of tactics to overcome them.

Chapter 9:

The act of sending and receiving messages to several members of a group is known as group communication. In a business setting, this sort of communication is frequently used to exchange ideas, set goals, and motivate other members. A group is a collection of 3 to 20 people who share a sense of belonging and try to persuade one another to achieve a common goal. A family can be defined as a collection of individuals who generate a sense of belonging, group identity, past, and future through their communication.

 The majority of people's life revolve on their families. It is there that children are socialized, and it is there that we seek social and emotional support first. In pluralistic families, all mem-bers engage in conversation about an issue. These families may have formal family meetings to decide important fam-ily issues. In laissez-faire families, members accept some conversation but make individual decisions. Some research shows that the typical family communication pattern may differ across cultures. A social group is composed of people who genuinely care about each other's welfare and enjoy spending time together. Most of us belong to more than one social group. 

Communication in these groups should encourage quieter members to participate in conversations and provide opportunities for friends to disclose problems. Interest groups may be formal or informal. They may be part of a larger organization like La Raza or the Urban League. Some inter-est groups are externally focused on a common political or social issue. Other interest groups are internally focused on their members' skills or knowledge. A virtual group is a group whose members "meet" via technologi-cal media. Figure 9.1 lists some examples of different types of virtual groups. We can interact with our families, social friendship groups, support groups, interest groups, service groups, and work group teams through texts, email, teleconferences, and video-conferences. Teleconferences and videoconferences are examples of virtual group communications taking place in real time. 

Virtual group communication via email typically occurs at different times. Communicating in groups has become popular for a number of reasons. Group members can interact while in different cities, states, and countries. Because virtual group meetings can be conducted over the phone or Internet, meeting costs can be reduced. The goals of healthy groups are ethical; that is, they are honest, upright, and honorable. Sometimes the actual goal of a group is unethical; other times, fulfilling the goal would require some or all group members to behave in unethical ways. Cohesiveness is the force that brings group members closer together. In a highly cohesive group, members respect each other and work cooperatively to reach the group's goals. 

Norms are expectations about the way group mem-bers are to behave. Norms can be developed through formal discussions or informal group processes. Synergy is the multiplying force of a group of individuals working together. For instance, "no-name teams" have won major championships over opponents with more tal-ented players. 

Pseudo-conflict occurs when people who disagree about something believe they disagree due to poor communication. To manage or resolve pseudo conflict, employ the effective listening, perception-checking, and paraphrasing skills.Personality-related group conflict occurs when two or more group members become defensive because they feel like they are being attacked. Typically, personality-related conflicts are rooted in a power struggle. They can also emerge from poorly managed issue-related conflict between members of a group.

People who belong to different cultural and co-cultural groups tend to abide by unique communication norms. People who identify with individualistic cultural norms tend to use direct verbal methods to manage conflict. Knowing that cultural differences may exist can help you select communication strategies for managing group conflict effectively. Managing conflict effectively in virtual groups can be difficult. This is due to the fact that most tech-nology channels reduce our ability to send and receive nonverbal messages. 

Work to overcome the limits of virtual communication by making a conscious effort to communicate both what you think and how you feel about an issue to effectively manage potential conflict in virtual groups.

 

                                          Chapter 10:

    The essence of what leaders exist to accomplish is solve problems. As leaders, our job is to keep difficulties to a minimum. When we think of a leader we think of a person that will guide us and solve our problems, however more than one person can be the leader in one group. Shared leadership functions are a set of roles that various group members execute to assist the group work more efficiently and preserve harmonious relationships. Knowing how to arrange, facilitate, and follow up on meetings is a valuable set of abilities.

 Many often, what appears to be a problem is merely a symptom of a larger issue, and if the group concentrates on remedies that only address the symptom, the underlying issue will continue to exist. You'll write a problem definition once your group agrees on the nature of the root problem. The majority of groups start the process of assessing a problem by having each member share what he or she already knows about the issue. The group then decides which further questions they need to address and undertakes research to get the answers. Group members should be encouraged to share information that is new or contradicts the sentiments or preferences expressed in the group. According to research, when groups set criteria before considering specific solutions, they are more likely to reach an agreement that all members can accept. 

Many groups fail to generate solution ideas because they criticize the first ideas expressed. This dis-courages members from taking the risk to put their ideas out for the group to consider. You need to take the time to carefully consider each potential solution and choose the best one based on the criteria that fit the needs of the area in question. The group then decides how best to implement the solution, and makes recommendations for how the solution should be presented to others for implementation.

Overall these chapters have been a great learning experience about communication, groups, and cultural matters. All of my classmates did great on their project, I learned a lot from their presentation, and the very well chosen videos that were played during class. All of us had a little bit to share and I believe all of us did great.