Multicultural Communication Workbook

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TOPIC PAGE
Introduction 3-4
Prezi Presentation Countries 5
How to Say “Hello” in 30 Different Languages 6
My Big Fat Greek Wedding Wikipedia Entry 7-11
My Big Fat Greek Wedding – Hidden vs. Visible Culture 12-13
Low vs. High Context 14-15
Two-Dimensional Model of Emotional Display 16-17

Outsourced Episode 1 – Low vs High Context 18-19
Outsourced Episode 2 – Emotional Display 20-21
Direct versus Indirect Communication Style 22
Body Language Around the World 23-24
Pushing Hands Wikipedia Entry 25

Pushing Hands Literary/Cultural Analysis 26
The Wedding Banquet Wikipedia Entry 27-28
The Wedding Banquet Cultural Identity Worksheet 29-30
Hofstede’s Six Cultural Dimensions 31-37
American versus Thai Culture 38-40
Autobiography of Hugh Fox III 41-43
Syllabi 44-47
Hugh Fox Schedule 48
Academic Calendar 48
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Introduction
My philosophy of second language teaching is to combine a high interest message + high touch
media + high tech media! For media I combine high touch and high technology. Motivation is
extremely important in the second language learning and the appropriate choice of message and
media can help motivate students.
The high touch media part of my lessons includes the use of props and video. I use props and
costumes to engage all the senses including the kinesic sense. Teaching with multiple modalities
accommodates different perceptual learning styles. The use of costumes is a fun activity that
lowers anxiety, boredom and doubt and lowers the affective filter. According to Krashen’s Input
Hypothesis, a lowered affective filter should enhance second language learning. I also use video
as the common classroom experience of a Language Experience Approach (LEA) lesson in order
to engage all the senses of the students prior to discussion.
The high tech media part of my lessons includes both hypermedia and student centered
technology projects. I use my blog to provide a hypermedia mode of instruction and this
increases teacher control over lesson content. The use of online hypermedia content means the
instructor can more readily control the difficulty level of text presented in the classroom for
lecture and/or discussion purposes. The instructor can easily share lecture and/or discussion
notes by sending links to the notes via social media. The students can access information that
was not presented in class through hyperlinks in the online lesson. The hyperlinks are designed
as extensions for remediation or enrichment.
When appropriate the students in my classes do technology based communication projects.

Second language learners may be unsure of their English skills but still have a strong interest in
technology that motivates them to try to communicate to their fellow students via technology
based communication projects. The infusion of technology as a communication tool in the
second language classroom also improves the technological competence of the students. Finally,
the best way to teach second language learners how to talk about technology is through
technology projects.
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If the main second language objective of the class is the development of Basic Interpersonal
Communication Skills (BICS) then I pick topics from pop culture. I also use more high touch
media rather than a high tech media when BICS are the main goal.
If the main second language objective of the class is the development of Cognitive Academic
Language Proficiency (CALP) then I use authentic academic materials. I also rely more on
hypermedia to communicate complex material in a fun and interesting way in which the pace of
comprehensible input is tightly controlled. I am also more likely to put an emphasis on
technology based communication projects.
In either case, I use prior research that I have done on what EFL students find interesting in order
to guide my lesson content decisions. In Fox (2004) the focus was just on student interests. The
follow up article Fox and Miller (2007) compared student interests with textbook content and
found there was a poor match. This packet is an attempt to provide research based high interest
topics that is superior to that of most textbooks. In my opinion, effective second language
teaching is the masterful synergy of message and media to create optimal conditions for learning!
In all my lesson plans there will be both a BICS and CALP activity but I vary the ratio of time
spent on the BICS versus CALP objective depending on the level. The table below is an
approximation of the ratio of time this instructor will spend on BICS versus CALP activities
depending on the ESL level.
If the level of the students is very low then I might focus on the BICS activity and forego the
CALP activity altogether. On the other hand, even with a very high level class, I would never
neglect the BICS activity altogether. The BICS activity acts as a natural motivational warm up
activity that introduces the CALP activity even in the case of very high level ESL learners.
References
Fox, H. & Miller, A. (2007). What EFL Topics do Students find Interesting? Hwa Kang
Journal, 13, 99-110
Fox, H. (2004). A Study of ESL Teachers and Their Attitudes about Computer-Assisted
Language Learning Usage, Hwa Kang Journal of TEFL, 10. 37-56
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Prezi Presentation Countries

The students will pick one of the countries listed below for their Prezi presentation. Every
student must pick a different country. The student will discuss the business culture of that
country which includes customs and etiquette of that country.
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The students will take a vocabulary test of the words listed in the table below
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My Big Fat Greek Wedding Wikipedia Entry
My Big Fat Greek Wedding is a 2002 Canadian-American romantic comedy film written by and
starring Nia Vardalos and directed by Joel Zwick. The film is centered on Fotoula “Toula”
Portokalos, a middle class Greek American woman who falls in love with a non-Greek upper
middle class "White Anglo-Saxon Protestant" Ian Miller. At the 75th Academy Awards, it was
nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. A sleeper hit, the film became
the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time,[2] and grossed $241.4 million in North
America, despite never reaching number one at the box office during its release (the
highest-grossing film to accomplish this feat).
1) Plot
Fortoula “Toula” Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) is going through an early midlife crisis. At thirty,
having had her childhood, adolescence and adult life plagued by bad luck she feels that she is the
only woman in her family who has “failed” at being a typical Greek girl. Her family expects her
to be more like her 33-year-old sister Athena (Stavroula Logothettis) and marry a Greek boy,
make Greek babies, and “feed everyone until the day she dies.” Instead, Toula is stuck working
in the family restaurant in Chicago, “Dancing Zorba’s.” Frumpy and cynical, she fears that she is
doomed to be stuck with her life as it is and always has been. One day while at the restaurant,
Toula briefly becomes enamored with and embarrasses herself in front of Ian Miller (John
Corbett), a handsome school teacher.
An argument with her overly-patriotic father, Gus (Michael Constantine), who merely wants
his daughter to marry and settle down rather than pursue a career, causes Toula to want her own
life, away from the restaurant and her intrusive family. After some persuasion by his wife, Maria
(Lainie Kazan), Gus reluctantly permits Toula to begin taking computer classes at a local
college, Toula then trades her glasses for contact lenses, curls her hair, and begins to wear
make-up, improving her confidence, mood and self-esteem. Armed with her skills, Toula
convinces her mother and her Aunt Voula (Andrea Martin) to get Gus to allow Toula to work at
Voula’s travel agency instead of the restaurant.
Toula does better in her new job, even catching the eye of Ian who is amazed at her makeover
and becomes smitten with her. Despite Toula being shy whenever she sees Ian, they finally
introduce themselves indirectly, fall in love and begin to date. Toula tries to keep the relationship
secret from her family, until some weeks later when Gus finds out due to the closeness of the
Greek American community. He throws a fit because Ian is not an ethnic Greek (a xeno), and he
orders Toula to end the relationship and tries to set her up on dates with Greek men, but Ian and
Toula continue to see each other against Gus’s wishes. Ian proposes to her, and Toula accepts.
Gus is hurt and infuriated, feeling that his daughter has betrayed him. Ian wanting to be with
Toula agrees to be baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, an act which earns Gus’s grudging
respect and the acceptance of the rest of the family. As the months pass, the wedding planning
hits snag after snag as Toula’s numerous relatives “helpfully” interfere by imposing their ideas
into her planning. The situation reaches its head when Gus and Maria invite the entire family to
what was meant to be a “quiet” introductory dinner with Ian’s demure and private parents. The
Millers are not used to such cultural fervor, and are completely overwhelmed, a situation made
worse by the copious amounts of ouzo they accidentally consume. The evening is a failure, with
Gus complaining that the Millers are too dry, “like a piece of toast”. The wedding day dawns
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with liveliness and hysteria, and though Toula is nervous the traditional Greek wedding itself
goes without a hitch albeit in a comical fashion. At the Reception Gus gives a speech accepting
Ian and the Millers as his new family and as his wedding gift, he presents the newlyweds with a
deed to a new home. Following the reception and colorful Greek dancing, Toula and Ian drive
away to begin their honeymoon and married life together. An epilogue shows the new couple’s
life six years later. They have had a daughter, Paris, who complains that she would prefer not to
go to Greek school. Toula placates her by assuring her that when the time comes, Paris can
marry whomever she wants. As they walk towards Greek school, it is revealed that their home is
right next door to that of Toula’s parents.
2) Cast
• Nia Vardalos as Fortoula “Toula” Portokalos

• John Corbett as Ian Miller
• Lainie Kazan as Maria Portokalos
• Michael Constantine as Kostas “Gus” Portokalos
• Andrea Martin as Aunt Voula
• Louis Mandylor as Nick Portokalos
• Gia Carides as Cousin Nikki
• Joey Fatone as Cousin Angelo
• Stavroula Logothettis as Athena Portokalos
• Ian Gomez as Mike, Ian’s best man; he is Nia Vardalos’s real-life husband
• Bruce Gray as Rodney Miller
• Fiona Reid as Harriet Miller
• Jayne Eastwood as Mrs. White
• Arielle Sugarman as Paris Miller
• Frank Falcone as Suitor/Bartender at LeJardin
3) Production
My Big Fat Greek Wedding started as a one-woman play written by and starring Vardalos,
performed for six weeks at the Hudson Backstage Theatre in Los Angeles in the summer of
1997.[3] Vardalos later jokingly stated that she only wrote the play “to get a better agent.”[4] The
play was based on Vardalos’s own family in Winnipeg in Canada and on her experience
marrying a non-Greek man (actor Ian Gomez).[4] The play was popular, and was sold out for
much of its run, in part due to Vardalos’s marketing it across Greek Orthodox churches in the
area.[5] A number of Hollywood executives and celebrities saw it, including actress Rita Wilson,
who is herself of Greek origin;[5]
Wilson convinced her husband, actor Tom Hanks, to see it as well.
Vardalos began meeting various executives about making a film version of the play and began
writing a screenplay as well. However, the meetings proved fruitless because the executives
insisted on making changes that they felt would make the film more marketable, which Vardalos
objected to: these included changing the plot, getting a known actress in the lead role (Marisa
Tomei was one name mentioned),[5] and changing the family’s ethnicity to Hispanic.[4]
Two
months after the play’s initial run ended, Hanks’s production company, Playtone, contacted
Vardalos about producing a film based on her vision for it; they also agreed to remount the play
in early 1998, this time at LA’s Globe Theatre.[3] Hanks later said that casting Vardalos in the
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lead role “brings a huge amount of integrity to the piece, because it’s Nia’s version of her own
life and her own experience. I think that shows through on the screen and people recognize it.”[4]
In 2000, while in Toronto doing pre-production for the film, Vardalos and Playtone producer
Gary Goetzman overheard actor John Corbett (who was in town shooting the film Serendipity) at
a bar, telling a friend of his about having read the script for My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and
being upset that he couldn't make the auditions. Vardalos and Goetzman approached Corbett and
offered him the part of Ian Miller on the spot, which he accepted.[4]
Parts of the film were shot in Greektown, Toronto
Despite being based on life in the Greek community of Winnipeg, the film was set in Chicago
and shot in both Toronto and Chicago. Toronto’s Ryerson University and Greektown
neighborhood feature prominently in the film. The home used to depict Gus and Maria
Portokalos’ residence (as well as the home bought next door at the end of the film for Toula and
Ian) is located on Glenwood Crescent just off O'Connor Drive in East York. The real home
representing the Portokalos’ residence actually has most of the external ornamentation that was
shown in the film. Also, some minor parts of the movie were shot in Jarvis High School in
Toronto.
After a February 2002 premiere, it was initially released in the United States on April 19, 2002.
That summer it opened in Iceland, Israel, Greece, and Canada. The following fall and winter it
opened in Turkey, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, Hong Kong, Brazil,
Norway, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Taiwan, the Philippines,
Egypt, Peru, Sweden, Mexico, Hungary, Germany, Austria, Switzerland (German speaking
region), France, Poland, Kuwait, Estonia, and Lithuania. It was finally released in South Korea in
March 2
5) Reception and performance
My Big Fat Greek Wedding became a sleeper hit and grew steadily from its limited release.
Despite never hitting the number one spot and being an independent film with a $5 million
budget, it ultimately grossed over $368.7 million worldwide, becoming one of the top romantic
films of the 21st century according to Echo Bridge Entertainment.[1]
It was the fifth
highest-grossing film of 2002 in the United States and Canada, with USD$241,438,208, and
[6]
the highest-grossing romantic comedy in history.[2] Domestically, it is also the highest-grossing

film never having been number one on the weekly North American box office charts.[7] The film
is among the most profitable of all time, with a 6150% return on an (inflation adjusted) cost of
$6 million to produce.[8]
The movie received generally positive reviews. Based on 121 reviews collected by Rotten
Tomatoes, the film has an overall approval rating from critics of 76%, with an average rating of
6.7/10. The website’s critical consensus was, “Though it sometimes feels like a television
sitcom, My Big Fat Greek Wedding is good-hearted and lovable.”[9] By comparison, Metacritic,
which assigns a rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, calculated an average
score of 62, based on 29 reviews, which is considered to be “Generally favorable reviews”.[10]
6) Lawsuits
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The cast (with the exception of Nia Vardalos, who had a separate deal), as well as Hanks’s
production company, Playtone, later sued the studio for their part of the profits, charging that
Gold Circle Films was engaging in so-called "Hollywood accounting" practices.[11]
7) 10th-anniversary edition
In 2012, a 10th anniversary edition of the film was released. The edition includes a DVD version
and a digital copy of the film and features deleted scenes as well as a 30-minute retrospective
with Vardalos and Corbett.
8) My Big Fat Greek Life
Main article: My Big Fat Greek Life
The film inspired the brief 2003 TV series My Big Fat Greek Life, with most of the major
characters played by the same actors, with the exception of Steven Eckholdt replacing Corbett as
the husband. Corbett had already signed on to the TV series Lucky. He was scheduled to appear
as the best friend of his replacement’s character, but the show was cancelled before he appeared.
The show received poor reviews from critics noting the random character entrances and serious
plot “adjustments” that did not match the film.
The 7 episodes from the series are available on DVD from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment,
whose TV studio division produced the show.
9) References within the film
Throughout the entire film, Gus continually uses Windex, the popular window cleaner, as a
remedy for everything. The film makes references to Zorba the Greek (1964), The Lost Boys
(1987), That Thing You Do! (1996), and Meet the Parents (2000), while spoofing Thoroughly
Modern Millie (1967).
10) Cultural references to the film
Another independent Canadian feature, Mambo Italiano (2003), referenced Wedding. The film
was also parodied in the 2006 film Date Movie. The film’s title has been used as a snowclone,
being copied across various titles:
• An episode of the 15th season of The Simpsons is titled "My Big Fat Geek Wedding".
• A 2003 Fox reality series was entitled My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiance, followed up in 2004 by
the short lived My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss.
• The 2005 film My Big Fat Independent Movie was both named after, and parodied, the film.
• A 2006 episode of Veronica Mars is titled "My Big Fat Greek Rush Week".
• In 2008, TV production firm DCD Media produced My Big Fat Mexican Wedding, a
documentary about the marriage of Manuel Uribe, formerly the world’s heaviest man, with his
girlfriend Claudia Solis.
• NDTV (a Southeast Asian Broadcast Channel) runs a series of episodes on lavish weddings,
called My Big Fat Indian Wedding.
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• An episode of Ben 10 is titled My Big Fat Alien Wedding.

• Channel 4 in the UK produced a documentary called My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding about gypsy
and traveler weddings, followed by a mini-series called Big Fat Gypsy Weddings.
• An episode of the cooking show Good Eats revolving around gyros was titled “My Big Fat
Greek Sandwich”.
11) Sequel
In a 2009 interview for her film My Life in Ruins, asked about a possible sequel for My Big Fat
Greek Wedding, Vardalos stated that she had an idea for a sequel and had started writing it,
hinting that, like Ruins, the film would be set in Greece.[12] Asked about a sequel again in a
November, 2012 interview, she stated, “Well, actually, yes. And it’s only now that I've really
become open to the idea. Over the years, I've heard from everybody about what the sequel should
be. People next to me at Starbucks would say, 'Hey, let me tell you my idea,' and I'd be like,
'Hey, I'm just trying to get a cup of coffee.' I never thought much about it. But then when John
(Corbett) and I recently sat down to do that interview (for the 10th anniversary edition), we
laughed so hard through the whole thing. It made me think that it’s time. He said, “Come on,
write something, will you?" And I now think I will. We have such an easy chemistry together.
And we have chemistry because we never 'did it.' That’s the surefire way to kill chemistry in a
scene. You have to make sure your actors don't 'do it' off-screen. If they don't 'do it,' then they'll
have chemistry on camera.”[13] On May 27, 2014, various news and media outlets reported that a
sequel is in the works. Nia Vardalos later confirmed this via Twitter, and she also has written a
script for the film.[14] The sequel is set for a March 25, 2016 release date.[15]
12) References
[1] “My Life in Ruins” (PDF). Echo Bridge Entertainment. Retrieved on May 12, 2008
[2] “TV Review - My Big Fat Greek Life”. Entertainment Weekly. 2003-04-07. Retrieved
2008-09-28.
[3] My Big Fat Greek Wedding Headed for L.A.'s Globe Jan. 15 -- and Film, Willard Manus,
Playbill, January 15, 1998
[4] My Big Fat Greek Wedding: About the Production, Hollywood Jesus, 2002
[5] Nia Vardalos interview, Robin Rea, Screenmancer.com [6] Box Office Mojo
[7] “Top Grossing Movies that never hit #1”. Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-07-26.
[8] Staff (September 15, 2010). “The 15 Most Profitable Movies of All Time”. CNBC.
Retrieved September 15,
2010. The rankings cited in this article have been disputed as some movies were not included.
[9] “My Big Fat Greek Wedding Movie Reviews, Pictures”. Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster.
Retrieved 2010-05-08.
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My Big Fat Greek Wedding – Hidden vs. Visible Culture

http://foxhugh.com/tv-series-esl-discussion-questions/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-multicultural-e
xercise/
Class Exercise
Which of the following items on the list are examples of visible culture? Which of the following
items on the list are examples of hidden culture?
1. facial expressions 2. religious beliefs

3. religious rituals 4. importance of time
5. paintings 6. values
7. literature 8. child-raising beliefs
9. ideas about leadership 10. gestures
11. holiday customs 12. ideas about fairness
13. ideas about friendship 14. ideas about modesty
15. foods 16. eating habits
17. understanding of the natural world 18. concept of self
19. the importance of work 20. concept of beauty
21. music 22. styles of dress
23. general world view 24. concept of personal space
25. rules of social etiquette 26. housing
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The students will do the class discussion exercise or the group exercise depending on their
knowledge level of cross-cultural communication.
Class Discussion Exercise
1) The students will label 1-26 above as being an example of visible or hidden culture.
2) The students will work with a partner and compare and contrast Toula's and Ian's family in
areas 1-26 above before participating in a class discussion.
3) After watching the YouTube videos about cross-cultural marriage, the relative importance on
marriage of areas 1-26 will be discussed.
Group Exercise
Group 1) Compare and contrast Toula’s and Ian’s family in the areas of visible culture.
Group 2) Compare and contrast Toula’s and Ian’s family in the areas of hidden culture.
Group 3) Compare and contrast the communication style of Toula’s and Ian’s family in terms of
direct versus indirect communication.
emotional expression.
low versus high context communication.
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Low vs. High Context Worksheet

http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/low-vs-high-context-communication/
The student will be able to discuss the overall concept of low versus high context cultures. The
student will be able to fill out the table below.
1.0) Low and High Context Cultures

1.1) Edward T. Hall - Wikipedia
1.2) Describe a low context message.
1.3) Describe high context message.
1.4) Is a stupa and example of low context or high context?
1.5) Is a McDonald’s advertisement and example of low context or high context?
2.0) Verbal versus Nonverbal

2.1) What is the relationship between none verbal communication and context?
2.2) What is the advice this video gives?
3.0) Cultural Dimension: time versus relationship

3.1) What is the difference between a time versus relationship work ethic?
3.2) What happens when people with different work styles interact?
4.0) Individualism and Collectivism

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4.1) What is the relationship between high versus low context and individualism?
4.2) What is the relationship between high versus low context and individualism?
5.0) Cultural Dimension: achieved status versus ascribed status

5.1) What is ascribed status?
5.2) What is achieved status?
5.3) What is the relationship between high versus low context and status?
6.0) What are some low context regions and low context regions?
7.0) View of Change

7.1) Innovation
7.2) Tradition
8.0) Knowledge
8.1) Explicit
8.2) Implicit
9.0) Planning
9.1) Explicit – Written – Formal
9.2) Implicit – Oral - Informal
10.0) Learning
10.1) Knowledge is situational
10.2) Knowledge is transferable
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Two-Dimensional Model of Emotional Display

http://foxhugh.wordpress.com/2013/10/02/two-dimensional-model-of-emotional-display/
Various researchers have contrasted positive and negative emotions including Robinson (2009).
The more widely used Plutchik's wheel of emotions also dichotomizes emotions.
Other researchers have also noted that there is a relationship between emotions and culture.
Some cultures are more animated and allow for greater display of emotion (animated). Some
cultures have rules that call for less display of emotion. Generally the cultural rules governing
display of emotion are called display rules. If one combines the two concepts then a two
dimensional model of emotional display can be created as shown in the table below.
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My own experience would suggest that in Thai culture 1 and 4 are the foundations of their
display rules. Thais are encouraged to smile but are discouraged from showing negative
emotions especially anger. Chinese use 2 and 4 as the foundation of their display rules. Chinese
culture tends to encourage its members not to display positive or negative emotions. Latinos
occupy the 1 and 3 quadrants. Latinos are more likely to display both positive and negative
emotions.
References
Robinson, D. L. (2009). Brain function, mental experience and personality. The Netherlands
Journal of Psychology, 64, 152–167".
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Outsourced Discussion Questions

http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/outsourced-discussion-questions/
Season 1, Episode 1, Pilot

When Todd Dempsy finishes management training for his job at Mid America Novelties, he
finds that his call center has been outsourced to Mumbai, India, and that in order to keep his job;
he must relocate to India and manage the call center there. He is picked up from the corporate
housing by Rajiv, his assistant manager, who is interested in replacing him, and meets the rest of
his employees. He also meets two other call center managers: Charlie, who gives him advice
over lunch, and later Tonya, who immediately shows an interest in him.
1.0) Describe Todd’s situation in one sentence.

1.1) Describe Asha.
1.2) Describe Charlie Davies.
1.3) Describe Gupta.
1.4) Describe Madhuri.
1.5) Describe Manmeet.
1.6) Describe Rajiv Gidwani.
1.7) Describe Todd Dempsy.
1.8) Describe Tonya.
1.9) What is outsourcing?
1.10) What causes outsourcing?
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1.11) What is a call center?

1.12) What is a novelty product?
1.13) What does Todd find when he goes to the call center in the US?
1.14) What will Todd get if he goes to India?
1.15) What will Todd’s boss do if Todd does not go to India?
1.16) How much money is student loans does Todd owe?
1.17) How does the Hindu view of cows differ from the American view?
1.18) What is the name of Todd’s company?
1.19) What foods does Charlie import from America and why?
1.20) Charlie mentions an “A” team and “B” team what does that mean?
1.21) What can the A team do that the B team cannot?
1.22) Tonya’s runs a call center for Koala Airlines. What is Tonya like?
1.23) What are some differences between Tonya’s Australian English and Todd’s American
English?
1.24) What is a cheese head?
1.25) What is mistletoe and what are the customs associated with mistletoe?
1.26) Rajiv hired one worker with the plan to fire her to scare the other workers. Rajiv thinks
she should not work at the call center because she is of a lower caste. Do you agree or
disagree?
1.27) Is Rajiv on Todd’s side?
1.28) Do the call center workers from India need to understand American culture to do
their job?
1.29) Do you understand Todd’s “Bad News Bears” reference?
1.30) Why did Amazon go into India?
HOW DIFFERENT IS THE CULTURAL CONTEXT BETWEEN INDIA AND THE US?
EXPLAIN!
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Outsourced Discussion Questions

http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/outsourced-discussion-questions/
Season 1, Episode 2, the Measure of a Manmeet

Management tasks Todd with evaluating his team. Todd must lay off an employee due to low
revenues. Gupta believes that he will be the one laid off as he incorrectly lip-reads Rajiv and
Todd’s conversation. Todd is invited by Manmeet to a hotel to eat steak and quickly befriends
him. Todd finds out that the reason why revenue is down is because Manmeet flirts with his
customers instead of selling products. He confronts Manmeet, who uses his flirtatiousness to sell
more novelties and increasing revenue, so no one needs to be laid off.
2.0) What are two day-to-day problems Todd faces in this episode?
2.1) What are sales numbers?
2.2) What is revenue?
2.3) What are employee evaluations?
2.4) What is a vegetarian?
2.5) Rajiv thinks fear and shame are the best motivators. Do you agree?
2.6) What is what Todd calls the “head bobble thing”?
2.7) What is a lentil hamburger?
2.8) Why does management in the US want Todd to fire someone?
2.9) Charlie has nicknamed his employees Frodo, Morpheus, Indiana Jones, and Roger Ebert.
Do you know any of these characters?
2.10) Why does Manmeet have the lowest sales numbers?
2.11) Why isn’t Manmeet fired in the end?
2.12) Why does Gupta insult his coworkers?
2.13) How would you fire someone?
2.14) Would you do business in India? Why or why not?

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APPLY THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF EMOTIONAL DISPLAY TO INDIA!

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Direct versus Indirect Communication Style

http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/direct-versus-indirect-communication-style/
1) The student will be able to define and use direct and indirect communication.
2) The student will be able explain productivity, candidate recruitment, racist terms, the need for
a safety helmet at a construction site, enhanced health insurance and cons of outsourcing.
Group 1 – Do two role plays in which you discuss productivity problems with a worker. Use
direct communication in the first role play and an indirect communication in the second role
play.
Group 2 – Do two role plays in which you are trying to recruit a candidate. Use direct
communication in the first role play and an indirect communication in the second role play.
Group 3 – Do two role plays in which you are trying to convince your boss for the need for
computer training (Office) for new employees. Use direct communication in the first role
play and an indirect communication in the second role play.
Group 4 – Do two role plays in which you are trying to warn a candidate about using racist
terms at the workplace. Use direct communication in the first role play and an indirect
communication in the second role play.
Group 5 – Do two role plays in which you are trying to get a worker to wear his safety helmet
on a construction site. Use direct communication in the first role play and an indirect
communication in the second role play.
Group 6 – Do two role plays in which you are trying to convince the boss that the company
should use an enhanced health insurance plan versus the current plan. Use direct
communication in the first role play and an indirect communication in the second role play.
Group 7 – Do two role plays in which you are trying to convince the boss widget
production for your company should not be outsourced. Use direct communication in the
first role play and an indirect communication in the second role play.
25
Body Language around the World

http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/gestures-around-the-world/
The student will be able to discuss gestures, greetings using body language, proxemics and
public displays of affection from a cross cultural perspective.
1.0) GESTURES
1.1) What does thumbs up mean in America?
1.2) What hand sign means “victory or peace” in America?
1.3) What hand sign means “a ok” in America?
1.4) What hand sign means “stop” in America?
1.5) What does the “Texas Long Horn” mean and how does it look like?
1.6) What gesture can get you arrested in the Philippines?
1.7) What gesture means “settle down” in the US?
1.8) What gesture resembles the Thai wai and what does it mean in Japan?
1.9) What are some black girl gestures?
2.0) GREETING BODY LANGUAGE

2.1) What are some hand shake pointers?
2.2) What are some Thai wai pointers?
2.3) What are some considerations when bowing in South Korea?
2.4) What are some considerations when bowing Japan?

3.0) PROXEMICS
3.1) What are the three types of body distance?

26
3.2) What are some differences in personal space between different cultures?
4.0) PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION AROUND THE WORLD (PDA)

4.1) What are some annoying types of PDA?
4.2) How is PDA viewed in Japan?
4.3) How is PDA viewed in India?
4.4) Describe PDA in South Korea.

27
Pushing Hands Wikipedia Entry

Pushing Hands (Chinese: 推手; pinyin: tuī shǒu) is a film directed by Ang Lee. Released in
1992, it was his first feature film. Together with Ang Lee's two following films, The Wedding
Banquet (1993) and Eat Drink Man Woman (1994), it forms his "Father Knows Best" trilogy,
each of which deals with conflicts between an older and more traditional generation and their
children as they confront a world of change.
Plot
The story is about an elderly Chinese t'ai chi ch'uan teacher and grandfather who emigrates from
Beijing to live with his son, American daughter-in-law, and grandson in a New York City
suburb. The grandfather is increasingly distanced from the family as a "fish out of water" in
Western culture. The film shows the contrast between traditional Chinese ideas of Confucian
relationships within a family and the much more informal Western emphasis on the individual.
The friction in the family caused by these differing expectations eventually leads to the
grandfather moving out of the family home (something very alien to traditional expectations),
and in the process he learns lessons (some comical, some poignant) about how he must adapt to
his new surroundings before he comes to terms with his new life.
Title
The title of the film refers to the pushing hands training that is part of the grandfather's t'ai chi
routine. Pushing hands is a two person training which teaches t'ai chi students to yield in the face
of brute force. T'ai chi ch'uan teachers were persecuted in China during the Cultural Revolution,
and the grandfather's family was broken up as a result. He sent his son to the West several years
earlier and when he could he came to live with his family with the expectation of picking up
where they left off, but he was unprepared for the very different atmosphere of the West.
"Pushing Hands" thereby alludes to the process of adaptation to culture shock felt by a traditional
teacher in moving to the United States.
External links
• Pushing Hands [1]
at the Internet Movie Database
References
[1] http:/ /www. imdb.com/ title/tt0105652/
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported
//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
28
Pushing Hands Literary/Cultural Analysis

http://foxhugh.com/tv-series-esl-discussion-questions/pushing-hands/
1.0) What is the point of view of the movie?
2.0) What is the plot of the movie?
3.0) Describe the following characters using the Fox Character Analysis Pyramid.
3.1) Describe Sihung Lung as Mr. Chu.
3.2) Describe Fanny de Luz as Linda.
4.0) What is the theme of the movie?
5.0) What is the setting of the movie?
5.1)Describe Chinatown, New York
5.2) What is Thai Town like?
5.3) What are some similarities between Chinatown and Thai Town?
5.4) How important is the setting?
6.0) What is the genre of the movie?
7.0) Does the movie have any cultural lessons?
7.1) Wikipedia describes the story as a “fish out of water” story. What is the meaning of the
“fish out of water” idiom?
7.2) What is destroy the Four Olds?
7.3) What is t'ai chi ch'uan?
7.4) Why was t'ai chi ch'uan banned in China?
7.5) How does Confucianism value of filial piety effect the communication between Mr. Chu
and his daughter-in-law Martha?
7.6) How is t'ai chi ch'uan a communication metaphor?
8.0) What are some similarities between Pushing Hands and The Wedding Banquet?
8.1) Which film do you like more and why?

29
The Wedding Banquet Wikipedia Entry

The Wedding Banquet (Chinese: 喜宴; pinyin: Xǐyàn; Wade-Giles: Hsi yen) is a 1993 film about
a gay Taiwanese immigrant man who marries a mainland Chinese woman to placate his parents
and get her a green card. His plan backfires when his parents arrive in the United States to plan
his wedding banquet. The film was directed by Ang Lee and stars Winston Chao, May Chin, Ah
Lei Gua, Sihung Lung, and Mitchell Lichtenstein. The Wedding Banquet is the first of three
movies that Ang Lee would make about gay characters; the second is Brokeback Mountain and
the third being Taking Woodstock. The film is a co-production between Taiwan and the United
States. Together with Pushing Hands and Eat Drink Man Woman, all made in Taiwan, all
showing the Confucian family at risk, and all starring the Taiwanese actor Sihung Lung, its
forms what has been called Lee's "Father Knows Best" trilogy.[1]
Plot
Wai-Tung Gao and Simon are a happy gay couple living in Manhattan. Wai-Tung is in his late
20s, so his tradition-minded parents are eager to see him get married and have a child in order to
continue the family line. The early part of the film is madcap comedy. When Wai-Tung's parents
hire a dating service, he and Simon stall for time by inventing impossible demands. They
demand an opera singer and add that she must be 5'9" have two PhD's and speak five languages.
The service actually locates a 5'8" Chinese woman who sings Western opera, speaks five
languages and has a single PhD. She is very gracious when Wai-Tung explains his dilemma, as
she, too, is hiding a relationship (with a Caucasian man). At Simon's insistence, Wai-Tung
decides to get married to one of his tenants, Wei-Wei, a penniless artist from mainland China in
need of a green card. Besides helping out Wei-Wei, Simon and Wai-Tung hope that this will
placate Wai-Tung's parents. Mr. and Mrs. Gao decide to fly in from Taiwan, bringing US$30,000
to hold an extravagant wedding for their son. Wai-Tung dares not tell his parents the truth,
because his father, a retired officer in the Chinese Nationalist Army, has just recovered from a
stroke; they go through with the wedding. However, the heartbreak his mother experiences at the
courthouse wedding prepares the story for a shift to drama. The only way to atone for the
disgraceful wedding is a magnificent wedding banquet. After the banquet, Wei-Wei seduces the
drunken Wai-Tung, and becomes pregnant. Simon is extremely upset when he finds out, and his
relationship with Wai-Tung begins to deteriorate. Shortly after, Mr. Gao has another stroke, and
in a moment of anger, after a fight with both Simon and Wei-Wei, Wai-Tung admits the truth to
his mother. She is shocked and insists that he not tell his father. The perceptive Mr. Gao has seen
more than he is letting on; he secretly tells Simon that he knows about their relationship, and,
appreciating the considerable sacrifices he made for his biological son, takes Simon as his son as
well. Simon accepts the Hongbao from Wai-Tung's father, a symbolic admission of their
relationship, but Mr. Gao makes him promise not to tell anyone; without everyone trying to lie to
him, he points out, he'd never have gotten a grandchild. After making an appointment to have an
abortion, Wei-Wei decides to keep the baby, and asks Simon to stay together with Wai-Tung and
be the baby's other father. In the final parting scene, as Wai-Tung's parents prepare to fly home,
Mrs. Gao has forged an emotional bond to daughter-in-law Wei-Wei. Mr. Gao accepts Simon
and warmly shakes his hand. In the end, both derive some happiness from the situation, and they
walk off to board the aircraft, leaving the unconventional family to sort itself out.
Cast
• Winston Chao as Gao Wei Tong (高偉同 Gāo Wěitóng)
• May Chin as Wei-Wei (顧葳葳 Gù Wēiwēi)
30
• Ah Lei Gua as Mrs. Gao

• Sihung Lung as Mr. Gao
• Mitchell Lichtenstein as Simon
• Dion Birney as Andrew
• Jeanne Kuo Chang as Wai-Tung's secretary
• Michael Gaston as Justice of the Peace
• Ang Lee (cameo) as Wedding guest
The Wedding Banquet
Reception
The Wedding Banquet received mostly positive reviews; it currently holds a 96% "fresh" rating
on Rotten Tomatoes.[2]

Accolades
The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th
Academy Awards and also nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
It won the Golden Space Needle of the Seattle International Film Festival and the Golden Bear at
the 43rd Berlin International Film Festival.
Adaptations
In December 1993, a novelization of the film, titled Wedding Banquet (ウェディングバン
ケット Wedingu Banketto) and published in Japan, was written by Yūji Konno (今野雄二
Konno Yūji). (ISBN 4-8387-0508-5)[3]
In 2003, a musical staging was performed at the Village Theatre. It was directed by John
Tillinger, choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, with music by Woody Pak and book and lyrics by
Brian Yorkey. Yorkey, Village's associate artistic director, said this of the production, "The film
succeeds because of Ang Lee's delicate poetry, and there is no way we can replicate that or
translate that into a musical. So we took the story a step further. Whereas the film ends very
ambiguously, our musical goes on past where the film ends". The show starred Welly Yang as
Wai Tung.[4]
Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

//creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
31
The Wedding Banquet Cultural Identity Worksheet

http://foxhugh.wordpress.com/multicultural/the-wedding-banquet-xi-yan-cultural-identity-works
heet/
The student will be able to discuss cultural identity and the related concepts of ethnic identity
development, ethnicity, gender, language, nationality, race, religion, identity politics, market
segmentation, internet identity and apply these concepts to enhance cross-cultural
communication.
1.0) What is cultural identity?
2.0) What is ethnic identity development?
3.0) What is gender identity?
4.0) What is racial identity?
5.0) What are some of pros and cons of nationalism?
6.0) What is language identity?

32
7.0) What is sexual orientation?

8.0) What is religious identity?
9.0) What is ethnic identity?
10.0) What is the difference between ethnicity and race?
11.0) What is the relationship between the internet and cultural identity?
12.0) What are some practical applications of cultural identity?
13.1) Politics – Identity Politics
13.2) Business - Marketing Segmentation
14.0) What do you think is the dominant cultural identity for each character and why?
14.1) Mr. Gao –

14.2) Mrs. Gao –
14.3) Simon –
14.4) Wai-Tung Gao –
14.5) Wei-Wei –
15) How would you describe your own cultural identity in terms of ethnicity, gender, nationality,
race and religion?
16) How can we apply cultural identity theory to enhance cross-cultural communication?
33
Hofstede’s Six Cultural Dimensions

http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/hofstede-index/cross-cultural-organizational-behavior-and-hofs
tedes-cultural-dimensions/
1.0) Power Distance Index (PDI)

PDI is the extent to which the less powerful members of organizations and institutions (like the
family) accept and expect that power is distributed unequally. This represents inequality (more
versus less), but defined from below, not from above. It suggests that a society's level of
inequality is endorsed by the followers as much as by the leaders. Power and inequality, of
course, are extremely fundamental facts of any society and anybody with some international
experience will be aware that 'all societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others.
China (80), Thailand (64), US (40), Japan (54), World Average (55)
1.1) Egalitarian vs. Hierarchical

1.2) China is more ________ than Thailand.
1.3) The US is more _______ than China.
1.4) Thailand is more ______ than Japan.
1.5) Thailand is more ______ that the World Average.
1.6) China is less ________ than Thailand.
1.7) The US is less_______ than China.
1.8) Thailand is less ______ than Japan.
1.9) Thailand is less______ that the World Average.
1.10) How do you think PDI affects leadership, overall?
1.11) If your boss asks for your opinion, that is negative, then what should you do?
1.12) What sort of school issues should be voted on by the students, if any?
1.13) Your boss is about to release a statement in English to a newspaper. You notice several
mistakes in the statement. Your English is actually better than her English since you have
studied in an English speaking country but she hasn’t. What should you do?
34
2.0) Individualism (IDV)

IDV is on the one side versus its opposite, collectivism, that is the degree to which individuals
are integrated into groups. On the individualist side we find societies in which the ties between
individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after him/herself and his/her immediate
family. On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are
integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, often extended families (with uncles, aunts and
grandparents) which continue protecting them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.
2.1) Individualistic versus Collectivist

2.10) What are some in-groups that Thais belong to?
2.11) What does guanxi mean in Chinese? How does guanxi reflect collectivism in Chinese
society?
35
2.12) If an old class mate asks for a “special” price from your company because of your
relationship then what should you do?
2.13) If your sister asks you to get your niece an entry level job at your company then what
should you do?
2.14) Which is more important for success in business? Who you know or what you know?
2.15) Your father is a successful business man. You want to be a musician but your father is
totally against this idea and thinks you should study business and even work for his company
when you graduate. Should you go ahead and study music despite the objections of your father?
2.16) What does the Thai word kreng jai mean? How does kreng jai reflect collectivism in Thai
society?
3.0) Masculinity (MAS)

MAS versus its opposite, femininity, refers to the distribution of roles between the genders which
is another fundamental issue for any society to which a range of solutions are found. The IBM
studies revealed that (a) women's values differ less among societies than men's values; (b) men's
values from one country to another contain a dimension from very assertive and competitive and
maximally different from women's values on the one side, to modest and caring and similar to
women's values on the other. The assertive pole has been called 'masculine' and the modest,
caring pole 'feminine'.
3.1) Masculine versus Feminine

36

3.10) One of your employees has a sick mother and has been absent or late almost every other
work day for more than a month. What should you do?
3.11) Is a company like a family or not?
4.0) Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAI)

UAI deals with a society's tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity; it ultimately refers to man's
search for Truth. It indicates to what extent a culture programs its members to feel either
uncomfortable or comfortable in unstructured situations. Unstructured situations are novel,
unknown, surprising, and different from usual. Uncertainty avoiding cultures try to minimize the
possibility of such situations by strict laws and rules, safety and security measures, and on the
philosophical and religious level by a belief in absolute Truth; 'there can only be one Truth and
we have it.
4.1) During a brainstorming session the Chinese employees are much more quiet than their
American counterparts. How would you explain this difference in behavior using the UAI
concept?
4.2) Could Steve Jobs have started Apple in Japan? Why or why not?
37
4.3) Bill Gates dropped out of Harvard to start Microsoft! Your classmate and close friend
also wants to drop out of college to start his own company and keeps mentioning Bill Gates.
What advice would you give your friend?
5.0) Long-Term Orientation (LTO)

LTO vs. short term orientation: First called "Confucian dynamism", it describes societies' time
horizon. Long-term oriented societies attach more importance to the future. They foster
pragmatic values oriented towards rewards, including persistence, saving and capacity for
adaptation. In short term oriented societies, values promoted are related to the past and the
present, including steadiness, respect for tradition, preservation of one's face, reciprocation and
fulfilling social obligations.
China (118), Thailand (44), US (29), Japan (80H), World Average (45)
5.1) Long-Term Orientation versus Short-Term Orientation

5.2) China has a more ________ than Thailand.
5.3) The US has a more _______ than China.
5.4) Thailand has a more ______ than Japan.
5.5) Thailand has a more ______ that the World Average.
5.6) China has a less ________ than Thailand.
5.7) The US has a less_______ than China.
5.8) Thailand has a less ______ than Japan.
5.9) Thailand has a less______ that the World Average.
5.10) You have job offers from two companies. One company is very stable and large and is
offering a low starting salary and is famous for having low salaries compared to other companies
but offers life time employment. The other company is new and much smaller and is offering a
much higher starting salary. The new company may or may not be around in two years in your
opinion. Which company should you work for?
6.0) Indulgence versus Restraint (IVR)

Indulgence stands for a society that allows relatively free gratification of basic and natural
human drives related to enjoying life and having fun. Restraint stands for a society that
suppresses gratification of needs and regulates it by means of strict social norms.
38
Indulgence as a cultural value also tends towards a perception of personal life control, while
restraint as a cultural value tends towards a perception of helplessness and that what happens in
one's life is beyond his/her own control.
Clinicians may find that, in response to a disability, individuals from a culture of indulgence feel
that they have control over their future level of function and participation in life activities;
meanwhile, individuals from a background of cultural restraint may have a sense of helplessness
and be less actively involved in taking control over their involvement in functional activities
outside of the clinic.
Additionally, in cultures valuing restraint, leisure activities are of lesser value, which may prove
important to consider in selecting functional therapy activities. Cultures valuing indulgence place
higher importance on leisure and so activities considered enjoyable may be more appropriate for
individuals with this cultural trait.
China (24), Thailand (45), US (68), Japan (42)
6.1) Indulgence versus Restraint

6.2) China has more ________ than Thailand.
6.3) The US has more _______ than China.
6.4) Thailand has more ______ than Japan.
6.5) China has less ________ than Thailand.
6.6) The US has less_______ than China.
6.7) Thailand has less ______ than Japan.
39
40
American versus Thai Culture

https://foxhugh.com/multicultural/american-versus-thai-communication/
Objective: The student will explain American versus Thai culture in terms of context,
directness, efficiency, emotional expression, group identity, power distance, status, values and
management dichotomies.
1) Low versus High Context
2) Direct versus Indirect
3) Efficiency
4) Positive versus Negative Emotional Expression

Two Dimensional Model of Emotional Display
17 Types of Thai Smiles
5) Group Identity
Thai Sakdina System
Rugged Individualism – Often associated with Social Darwinism or an "up-by-the-bootstraps"

philosophy.
Darwin: The Life and Legacy - Social Darwinism
http://www.pewglobal.org/2011/11/17/the-american-western-european-values-gap/
6) Low versus High Power Distance
7) Status
Achieved status - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

8) Values
41
Knutson, T. J. (1994). Comparison of Thai and US American cultural values: ‘mai pen rai’
versus ‘just do it’. ABAC Journal, 14, 1–38.
Mai pen rai - Fatalism

Doris Day - Que Sera, Sera [lyrics]
Just do it
USA economy 1950s
Buddhism vs Christianity – Difference and Comparison | Diffen

Americans may have a higher locus of control than Thais:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/260109336/Locus-of-Control-and-Social-Influence-in-the-Buying-
Decision-a-Four-nation-Study
9) Management Dichotomies
Phradet vs. Phrakhun
Theory X vs. Theory Y

THEORY X AND Y INFO.WMV
42
10) Comparison Using Facts and Figures

http://geert-hofstede.com/united-states.html
http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/compare/TH/US
http://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_countries_result.jsp?country1=United+States&
country2=Thailand
http://www.indexmundi.com/factbook/compare/united-states.thailand
https://www.transparency.org/cpi2014/infographic/compare
Thai Culture Collection of Articles

Thailand Do’s and Don’ts
US Do’s and Don’ts
43
Autobiography of Hugh Fox III

https://foxhugh.com/about-me/about/
Introduction
This autobiography is divided into five sections that include this introduction, my family
background, fifth ward and professor days. The approach is basically chronological but I do
believe that each stage in my life has had a central theme. The focus of each section will be on
what I learned from that particular stage in my life.
Family Background
Both my parents were professors. The house was always filled with books and intellectuals.
They both had extremely successful careers at Michigan State University. My father is
Hugh Fox Jr. and had a Ph.D. in American Thought and Language. My grandfather was an MD
and was Hugh Fox senior. I am Hugh Fox III. I think from my earliest years it was expected that
I would get a doctorate and continue the family tradition. I suppose if I had a son then he would
be Hugh B. Fox IV and would also be expected to get a doctorate.
I spent several summers in Sun City, California with my grandparents. My grandfather

Hugh Fox senior was very different from my father and humble about his education. I would
like to think I learned some life lessons from my grandfather in this regard but probably not!
My most vivid memories summers of that time were swimming at the community pool in Sun
City.
44
Some of my father's friends include the famous American beatnik authors Allen Gingsberg, and
Charles Bukowski. I talked with Allen Gingsberg and Charles Bukowski and got a lot of
interesting ideas about life from them and other similar friends of my fathers. I also met James
T. Farrell, Issac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Diane de Prima, Richard Brautigan and countless other
poets and novelists while growing up. I really didn’t appreciate how lucky I was to meet some
of the great writers of the US while growing up.
My mother is Lucia Fox Lockert and is from Peru originally but got her Doctorate at Illinois
State University and spent the next 30 plus years of her life doing research and teaching in the
area of Spanish Literature. The fact that my mother is from Peru means that I basically grew up
in a bilingual/bicultural household. I was very aware of both US and Latin American intellectual
traditions. My mother had very different friends than my father including Luis Borges. Below is
a picture of me as a teenager with Borges. I am the one with a beard.
45
Borges viewed the world in a totally different way than someone like Gingsberg or Bukowski
and he would often ask very enigmatic questions in the middle of a conversation. Years later I
realized how lucky I was to have an opportunity to talk with some of the great thinkers of our
generation as a teenager.
My mother did make sure that I went to Latin American schools for three years. I did realize at
an early age that there was big world beyond the borders of the US. My mother was determined
that I learn Spanish. I spent fourth grade studying at Colegio Schönthal in Caracas, Venezuela.
I studied at Colegio Claret a Venezuelan school for fifth grade. I studied at a public school
(Escuela Emilio Lamarca) in Buenos Aires, Argentina for seventh grade. I also spent a year in
the Sierra Madre of Mexico when I was three. I spent summers in Peru with my mother's
family. I do speak, read and write Spanish fluently thanks to my mother’s efforts.
My mother and father were connected to very different intellectual traditions but from both of
them I gained an enduring belief and love in the intellectual method for figuring out problems
both cosmic and mundane. I was lucky enough to graduate from an excellent high school, East
Lansing High School. One of the alumni of East Lansing High School is Larry Page: CEO and
co-founder of Google Inc.
Fifth Ward
I got my bachelor’s and teaching certification from Michigan State University in East Lansing
Michigan but did not go straight on to get a Masters and Doctorate and then become a professor
as my parents expected. I felt that I needed some life experience above and beyond going to
school. I taught English as a Second Language to refugees from SE Asia including the
Vietnamese boat people and Cuban Mariel boatlift for one year at Tri-City/Ser-Jobs For Progress
Inc. I saved some money and with my brand new teaching certificate, a brand new wife and a
20-year old car, I drove to Texas from Michigan. At the time the Texas economy was booming
and teaching jobs abounded. Michigan was the rust belt and teachers were being laid off. I
could justify my move on economic grounds but in truth it was time to hit the open highway like
so many young Americans before me. I am sure Bukowski would have approved and asked to
46
have a beer in Texas for him. Borges probably would have asked some question like “Are you
looking for a job or yourself?” Both views have their place.
I taught ESL and social studies in Fleming Middle School in the Fifth Ward of Houston for five
years. The room next to mine saw ten teachers come and go in that period. Fleming Middle
School was a tough inner-city school. I learned that courage and calm can get your through just
about any experience. I also learned that sometimes you are most needed where you are least
expected. Any good karma I have garnered in this lifetime was during those five years teaching
at Fleming Middle School.
Professor Days
I went to Texas A&M University for five years from which I received a Master’s (Educational
Psychology) and Doctorate (Curriculum and Instruction). My main area of specialization is
computer assisted language learning. After I graduated, I was an Assistant Professor at
Texas Tech University in Lubbock Texas for a year but the desert terrain soon got on my nerves.
They have no sewers in Lubbock because it never rains, literally. One of my favorite cities in the
world is San Antonio and when I saw a job opening in that city I jumped at it.
I was an Associate Professor at Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) in San Antonio in the
teacher education program for six years. I taught ESL methodology and language acquisition
theory. I created and administered a M.Ed. in educational technology at OLLU. I was on the
committee which set up a computer based language lab at OLLU. I was 39 in 1999 and decided
to do a sabbatical year in China. I suppose seeing so much of Latin America when I was young
created a taste for exploration.
I got a job at Suzhou Railway Teacher College in Suzhou, China as a Visiting Professor. I spent
one incredible year there. China was great and I would still be there except for the small
problem, money. At the time, a well-paid professor in China made three thousand dollars a
year! China is cheap but not that cheap. I liked the Chinese adventure but I also like money.
Also you need more than three hundred a month to have adventures in other Asian countries. I
started to write a novel while in China. The novel was Half Square and I finished the novel
years later in Taiwan. I learned more in one year in China than in ten years in the US. I craved
more adventure and did not want to go back to the US.
I applied for a university job in Taiwan. I was an Assistant Professor at Tunghai University for a
year in Taichung, Taiwan. I was later an Assistant Professor at Chinese Culture University in
Taipei for six years. Taiwan offered good pay and a perfect base from which to explore Asia
due to its central location. During my years in Taiwan, I visited Australia, Bali, Brunei, Guam,
Hong Kong, India, Japan (Hokkaido, Fukuoka), Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines (Angeles City,
Cebu and Manila), Singapore, Thailand, Macau, and Vietnam. After seven years in Taiwan, I
had finished my novel Half Square and felt I had gotten into a rut.
I opted for more money and more adventure at Chungnam National University in Dajeon, South
Korea for a year. I then taught at the Nagoya University of Commerce and Business in Nagoya,
47
Japan for a semester. I decided I had enough of the cold of NE Asia and relocated to the warm
climes of Thailand. Ironically I could make more money as a school teacher than a professor in
Thailand unlike NE Asia. I gave the K-12 system one more shot at Sunflower Trilingual School
for a semester. Children are fun but exhausting and I then applied to the one major university in
Thailand that was next to a beach. I have been teaching at Burapha International College in
Bangsaen, Thailand for over seven years. I would say that there are many ways to live life and
one should be totally open to new experiences.
48
Syllabi
Section 1: General Information
1.1) Course Code: 952214
1.2) Course name: Multicultural Communication
1.3) Type of course: ___ General Education course ___ Core course __x_ Major course ___
Major Elective course___ Free Elective Course
1.4) Term: ___Fall ___ Spring _x__ Year: 2018
1.5) Instructor’s Name: Hugh Fox III
1.6) E-mail: foxhugh@yahoo.com,
1.7) Website: http://foxhugh.com/
1.7) Office Hours: Tuesday 4-5 pm
1.8) Pre-requisite course: none
1.9) Co-requisite course: none
1.10) Classroom: 503
1.11) This course syllabus was last updated on ___1_____/_____14___ /____2018____
1.12) Class meets Tuesday, 1-4 pm
Section 2: Course objectives

2.1) The students will learn the theory of multicultural communication.
2.2) The students will apply multicultural theory to practice.
2.3) The student will learn academically related vocabulary.
Section 3: Teaching Approaches
3.1 Course description:
Understand innovation and technological advancement of communication. The meanings and
expansion of multiculture. Creation of modern communication culture and communication
practices of multi culture usage for specific purposes.
3.2 Course credits: 3
Section 4: How does your student apply the knowledge from the class into everyday lives?
4.1) Ethics - A student in my class does not lie, cheat or steal, or tolerate those who do.
4.2) Body of Knowledge - The student will be able to apply the knowledge gained in this class in
an organizational setting successfully.
4.3) Intellectual Skills - Higher order cognitive outcomes will be emphasized in each class.
4.4) Interpersonal Skills - Intercultural interpersonal skills will be emphasized in each class.
4.5) Responsibilities - The students will be proactive towards assignments rather than reactive.
4.6) Analytical Skills - Both quantitative and qualitative analytical skills will be emphasized in
each class.
4.7) Communication Skills - Intercultural communication skills will be emphasized in each class.
The students will learn specialized academic vocabulary.
4.8) Innovation and Technologies - My blog will be used to provide as a hypermedia teaching
tool. The students will do a presentation using Prezi.
Section 5: Lesson Plan and Course Evaluation

5.1 Lesson plan
Week Topic/description Date
1 Introductions 1-9
2 The students will watch the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding. 1-16
3 The student will discuss hidden versus visible culture relative to My Big Fat 1-23
Greek Wedding.
49
http://foxhugh.com/tv-series-esl-discussion-questions/my-big-fat-greek-wedding-
multicultural-exercise/
4 Low vs High Context 1-30
5 Emotional Expression 2-6
Midterm Review
6 Midterm 2-13
7 Outsourced Episode 1 2-20
Low vs High Context
8 Outsourced Episode 2 2-27
Emotional Expression
9 Direct versus Indirect Communication Style 3-6
http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/direct-versus-indirect-communication-style/
10 Body Language Around the World 3-13
http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/gestures-around-the-world/
11 How to Say “Hello” in 30 Different Languages Vocabulary Test 25 points 3-20
http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/how-to-say-hello-in-30-different-languages/
12 Hofstede’s Six Cultural Dimensions 3-27
http://foxhugh.com/multicultural/hofstede-index/cross-cultural-organizational-be
havior-and-hofstedes-cultural-dimensions/
13 American versus Thai Culture 4-3
https://foxhugh.com/multicultural/american-versus-thai-communication/
14 The students will do a Prezi presentation about a country from a provided list on 4-10
this day.
15 Songkran - Holiday 4-17
16 Final 4-24
5.2 Course Evaluation:

Course Description Points
Attendance If a student has perfect attendance then they will receive 20 extra 20
credit points applied to their final grade. If the student has six
absences or more then they will fail the course!
Prezi Presentation The student will create a report using Prezi about a country from a 25
provided list. The presentation will be about the business culture of
a particular country. Each student must pick a different country for
his or her presentation. The presentation will be five minutes or less
and will be timed!
Midterm The midterm will be an oral exam. The student will be assigned 25
questions randomly. The topic of the questions will be based on
class readings, activities and discussion. The student will be
evaluated in the areas of content, grammar, fluency and
pronunciation. The midterm will be worth 25% of the grade.
Vocabulary Test The students will take a vocabulary test related to the subject of this 25
class.
Final examination The final will be an oral exam. The student will be assigned 25
questions randomly. The topic of the questions will be based on
class readings, activities and discussion. The student will be
evaluated in the areas of content, grammar, fluency and
50
pronunciation. The midterm will be worth 25% of the grade. The

final will be worth 50% of your grade.
Penalties If you do not do make up the exam, vocabulary test and/or Prezi
presentation within a week of the due date then you will receive a
zero. You will lose five points for missing the exam, test or
presentation during the due date. You can take the test earlier
without penalty.
Grading system: For example (Fixed-score or T-score)

80-100 = A 75-79 = B+ 70-74 = B 65-69 = C+ 60-64 = C
55-59 = D+ 50-54 = D 0-49 = F Incomplete = I
Section 6: Course materials

Instructor Provided Packet
Section 7: Course evaluation

The course evaluation will help our college to improve the quality of learning and teaching.
Thus, at the end of this course, all students need to go to Burapha University website at:
www.buu.ac.th to evaluate yourselves and course instructors. Those students who do not
evaluate the course will not be allowed to see their grades for the course.
51
Hugh Fox Schedule

No Day Section Time Course Room
1 Mon 6 9-12 am 95110259 English for Advanced 503
Communication
2 Mon 7 1-4 pm 95110259 English for Advanced 503
Communication
3 Tues 1 9-12 am 412
951165 Spanish for Communication II
95116559 Spanish for Advanced
Communication
4 Tues 1 1-4 pm 503
95221459 Multicultural Communication
52

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2

Two-Dimensional Model of Emotional Display 16-17

Pushing Hands​ Wikipedia Entry 25

When appropriate the students in my classes do technology based communication projects.

Prezi Presentation Countries

My Big Fat Greek Wedding Wikipedia Entry

•​ ​Nia Vardalos​ as Fortoula “Toula” Portokalos

Parts of the film were shot in ​Greektown, Toronto

5) Reception and performance

the highest-grossing romantic comedy in history.​[2]​ Domestically, it is also the highest-grossing

8) ​My Big Fat Greek Life

Main article: ​My Big Fat Greek Life

9) References within the film

10) Cultural references to the film

•​ An episode of​ ​Ben 10​ is titled​ My Big Fat Alien Wedding​.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding – Hidden vs. Visible Culture

1. facial expressions 2. religious beliefs

Class Discussion Exercise

Low vs. High Context Worksheet

1.0) Low and High Context Cultures

2.0) Verbal versus Nonverbal

3.0) ​Cultural Dimension: time versus relationship

4.0) Individualism and Collectivism

5.0) Cultural Dimension: achieved status versus ascribed status

7.0) View of Change

Two-Dimensional Model of Emotional Display

Outsourced Discussion Questions

Season 1, Episode 1, Pilot

1.0) Describe Todd’s situation in one sentence.

1.11) What is a call center?

Outsourced Discussion Questions

Season 1, Episode 2, the Measure of a Manmeet

2.1) What are sales numbers?

2.2) What is revenue?

2.3) What are employee evaluations?

2.4) What is a vegetarian?

2.6) What is what Todd calls the “head bobble thing”?

2.7) What is a lentil hamburger?

2.8) Why does management in the US want Todd to fire someone?

2.11) Why isn’t Manmeet fired in the end?

2.12) Why does Gupta insult his coworkers?

2.13) How would you fire someone?

2.14) Would you do business in India? Why or why not?

APPLY THE TWO-DIMENSIONAL MODEL OF EMOTIONAL DISPLAY TO INDIA!

Direct versus Indirect Communication Style

Body Language around the World

1.2) What hand sign means “victory or peace” in America?

1.3) What hand sign means “a ok” in America?

1.4) What hand sign means “stop” in America?

1.6) What gesture can get you arrested in the Philippines?

1.7) What gesture means “settle down” in the US?

1.9) What are some black girl gestures?

2.0) GREETING BODY LANGUAGE

2.2) What are some Thai wai pointers?

2.3) What are some considerations when bowing in South Korea?

2.4) What are some considerations when bowing Japan?

3.1) What are the three types of body distance?

4.0) PUBLIC DISPLAY OF AFFECTION AROUND THE WORLD (PDA)

4.2) How is PDA viewed in Japan?

4.3) How is PDA viewed in India?

4.4) Describe PDA in South Korea.

Pushing Hands Wikipedia Entry

Pushing Hands Literary/Cultural Analysis

Pushing Hands Wikipedia Entry 25

• Nia Vardalos as Fortoula “Toula” Portokalos

Parts of the film were shot in Greektown, Toronto

the highest-grossing romantic comedy in history.[2] Domestically, it is also the highest-grossing

8) My Big Fat Greek Life

Main article: My Big Fat Greek Life

• An episode of Ben 10 is titled My Big Fat Alien Wedding.

3.0) Cultural Dimension: time versus relationship

Rugged Individualism – Often associated with Social Darwinism or an "up-by-the-bootstraps"

Mai pen rai - Fatalism

I spent several summers in Sun City, California with my grandparents. My grandfather