Culture and identity communicate implicitly.
communicate implicitly. Americans are calm about open
Culture is ongoing negotiation of learned and patterned beliefs,
attitudes, values, and behaviors.
When used as a count noun, a "culture" is the set of customs,
traditions, and values of a society or community, such as an
ethnic group or nation. Culture is the set of knowledge acquired
over time. In this sense.
Cultural values are enduring beliefs that a given behavior or
outcome is desirable or good. Our values, as enduring beliefs,
serve as standards that guide our behavior across situations and
over time. Values are so ingrained that most of us are not really
consciously aware of them and individuals often have difficulty
describing them.
Identity is the qualities, beliefs, personality, looks and/or
expressions that make a person (self-identity as emphasized in
psychology) or group (collective identity as pre-eminent in
sociology). One can regard the awareness and the categorizing
of identity as positive or as destructive.
Identities
● Personal (Connected to our life experiences) ●Loves reading
fantasy books, hates cooking
● Social (Membership in social groups) ● Teacher, gym member
● Cultural (Embedded in us from birth) ● Kazakh, Asian,
Woman
There is 3 types of identity: Personal, social, and cultural
identities.Personal - connected to our life experiences, Based on
experience/ hobbies. For example: Loves singing, loves dancing.
Social - membership in social groups. For example: Student,
activist, k-pop fan. Cultural - embedded in us from birth. For
example: Kazakh, Asian, Woman. All 3 identities are voluntary
or involuntary, explicit or implicit, ascribed or avowed,
dominant or nondominant.
Special cultural identities
Cultural identity is basically the way you structure your
personality based on shared traditions, norms, values, symbols,
Cultural identity is self-identification, a sense of belonging to a
group that reaffirms itself. It is the extent to which one is a
representative of a given culture behaviorally, communicatively,
psy-chologically and sociologically. It consists of values,
meanings, customs and beliefs used to re-late to the world. It
reflects the common historical experiences and shared cultural
codes which give us as one entity a stable, unchanging,
continuing frame of reference and meaning. People’s judgments
about whether they or others belong to a cultural group can be
influenced by physical appearance, ancestral origin or personal
behavior (dressing, speech, holidays, and celebrations). A
historical event, political conditions, who is present,
situation/site of interaction and public dis-course, also affects
cultural identity.
Cultural identity is not only determined by the ethnic group or
culture with which you identify yourself. Cultural identity also
includes, for example, racial, religious, class, gender, sexual,
soci-oeconomic status, and family identity. In addition, national,
social and personal identities also contribute to cultural identity.
Each person has several identities that intersect and shape their
view of the world.
There is 3 types of special cultural identities: race, gender,
abilities.
Cultural identity №1: Race. Race is a socially constructed
category based on differences in appearance. The difference in
appearance is used to privilege some people and discriminate
others. Types of human raceses: Negroid, Caucasian,
Mongolian, Native American, Australoid.
Cultural identity №2: Gender. Gender is a socially constructed
category based on people’s behavior and roles in the society. Sex
– a set of biological attributes based on physical and
physiological features. There is types of gender: female, male,
agender, bigender, transgender, and so on.
Cultural identity №3: Ability. Ability is the quality or state of
being able. Disability is an individual and medical issue but it
has a lot of social and cultural dimensions. Physical and
cognitive disability.
3. Children with disability (Samuel’s story)
Photojournalist Dan Habib didn't give much thought to disability
— until his son Samuel was born with cerebral palsy. In this
video, Dan Habib tells his story. This is how they learned that
his son was disabled. How they tried to make his life as
comfortable as possible. And how inclusive learning helps these
children. They realized that they had to create a vision for
Samuel, a vision of himself, the environment. The most
important vision was to make him feel like he belonged.
Environment, community, and most importantly a regular
school. They gave Samuel to a regular school and he lived a
normal life. All the children looked at him as their friend.
According to statistics, children attending a regular school have
the best results in social, academic life, in everything. Children
who go to special schools are usually stressed all the time.
Because they communicate with them so, but they are crippled.
But this is wrong thinking.
Inclusive education helps not only children with disabilities but
also those around them. If we make people understand that
disability is not an oddity, that it is normal, that they are people
just like us, the world will change. Everyone became kinder,
children became loving thanks to Samuel. Through inclusive
education. I believe that all children are equal and all should
learn together.
4. Intercultural Communication: a dialectical approach
Intercultural communication is a discipline that studies
communication across different cultures and social groups
Intercultural communication refers to the communication
between people from two different cultures.
Intercultural communication skills are those required to
communicate, or share information, with people from other
cultures and social groups.
There are many different intercultural communication types and
theories. The most important ones are:
- Social science approach-Interpretive approach
-Dialectical approach-Critical approach
American and Indian cultures share some common cultural
characteristics when it comes to communication. For example,
they both appreciate politeness and friendliness.
However, they also have differences. Americans communicate
explicitly, while Indians
between human beings and the natural world, 3) time, 4) human
conflicts, while in Indian culture
it requires subtlety.
A dialectical approach to studying intercultural communication
is useful because it allows us to think about culture and identity
in complex ways. The social science, critical and interpretive
approaches to studying intercultural communication are all
valuable. However, these approaches may seem to contradict
with one another.There are at least six dialectics that
characterize intercultural communication.
5. Components of intercultural communication competence
Intercultural communication competence (ICC) is the ability to
communicate effectively and ap-propriately in various cultural
contexts. There are numerous components of ICC. Some key
com-ponents include motivation, self- and other knowledge, and
tolerance for uncertainty.
Motivation refers to the root of a person’s desire to foster
intercultural relationships and can be intrinsic or extrinsic . Put
simply, if a person isn’t motivated to communicate with people
from different cultures, then the components of ICC discussed
next don’t really matter. This intrinsic motivation makes inter-
cultural communication a voluntary, rewarding, and lifelong
learning process. Motivation can al-so be extrinsic, meaning that
the desire for intercultural communication is driven by an
outside reward like money, power, or recognition.
Mindfulness is a state of self- and other-monitoring that informs
later reflection on communication interactions. As mindful
communicators we should ask questions that focus on the
interactive process like “How is our communication going?
What are my reactions? What are their reactions?” Being able to
adapt our communication in the moment based on our answers
to these questions is a skill that comes with a high level of ICC.
Reflecting on the communication encounter later to see what can
be learned is also a way to build ICC.
Cognitive flexibility refers to the ability to continually
supplement and revise existing knowledge to create new
categories rather than forcing new knowledge into old
categories. Cognitive flexibility helps prevent our knowledge
from becoming stale and also prevents the formation of
stereotypes and can help us avoid prejudging an encounter or
jumping to conclusions. In summary, to be better intercultural
communicators, we should know much about others and
ourselves and be able to reflect on and adapt our knowledge as
we gain new experiences.
Tolerance for uncertainty refers to an individual’s attitude about
and level of comfort in uncertain situations . Some people
perform better in uncertain situations than others, and
intercultural encounters often bring up uncertainty. Whether
communicating with someone of a different gender, race, or
nationality, we are often wondering what we should or shouldn’t
do or say. Individuals who are intrinsically motivated toward
intercultural communication may have a higher tolerance for
uncertainty, in that their curiosity leads them to engage with
others who are different because they find the self- and other-
knowledge gained rewarding.
6. Stereotyping and discrimination
Stereotypes are oversimplified generalizations about groups of
people. Stereotypes can be based on race, ethnicity, age, gender,
sexual orientation—almost any characteristic. They may be
positive (usually about one’s own group, such as when women
suggest they are less likely to complain about physical pain) but
are often negative (usually toward other groups, such as when
members of a dominant racial group suggest that a subordinate
racial group is stupid or lazy). In either case, the stereotype is a
generalization that doesn’t take individual differences into
account.
Where do stereotypes come from? In fact new stereotypes are
rarely created; rather, they are recycled from subordinate groups
that have assimilated into society and are reused to describe
newly subordinate groups. For example, many stereotypes that
are currently used to characterize black people were used earlier
in American history to characterize Irish and Eastern European
immigrants.
Discrimination is the unfair or prejudicial treatment of people
and groups based on characteristics such as race, gender, age or
sexual orientation. That’s the simple answer. But explaining
why it happens is more complicated.
The human brain naturally puts things in categories to make
sense of the world. Very young children quickly learn the
difference between boys and girls, for instance. But the values
we place on different categories are learned – from our parents,
our peers and the observations we make about how the world
works. Often, discrimination stems from fear
and misunderstanding.
7. Theory of adaptation
Adaptation is a process of getting used to a new environment.
Environment includes such aspects of our life as: ecological,
economical, social, cultural, political, academic, religious,
linguistic and traditional aspects. Adaptation always takes time.
And there is no universal way people addapt to new
environment. InterCultural Communication might help people
get used to a new environment.
There is 3 types of Adaptation: Linear Adaptation, Supporative
Adaptation, Mutual Adaptation.
Linear Adaptation its not the best variant because it leaves
people alone with their problems. And as we said adaptation
process is unique, which means that some people might manage
to get adapted. While other people might fail to do so. For
example, student have to adapt to a new country himself.
Supporative Adaptation is not the best variant with because the
dominant culture cannot adapt to every minoraty in the follest
meanion in this word. For example, new society should help
students adapt.
Mutual Adaptation in the current stage of the development is
considered the must balanced way of getting used to a new
environment. For example, society and foreign people should
adopt to each other.
8. Universal cultural values
The Value Orientations theory represents one of the earliest
efforts to develop a cross-cultural theory of values. The basic
questions faced by people everywhere fall into five categories
and reflect concerns about: 1) human nature, 2) the relationship
activity, and 5) social relations.
What is the inherent nature of human beings?
The people in some societies are inclined to believe that people
are in-herently evil and that the society must exercise strong
measures to keep the evil impulses of peo-ple in check. On the
other hand, other societies are more likely to see human beings
as born basi-cally good and possessing an inherent tendency
towards goodness.
What is the relationship between human beings and the natural
world?
We could describe this as “nature over humans.” Other societies
are more likely to believe that through intelligence and the
application of knowledge, humans can control nature. In other
words, they embrace a “humans over nature” position. Between
these two extremes are the societies who believe humans are
wise to strive to live in “harmony with nature.”
What is the best way to think about time?
Some societies are rooted in the past, believing that people
should learn from history and strive to preserve the traditions of
the past. Other societies place more value on the here and now,
believ-ing people should live fully in the present. Then there are
societies that place the greatest value on the future, believing
people should always delay immediate satisfactions while they
plan and work hard to make a better future.
What is the proper mode of human activity?
In some societies, “being” is the most valued orientation.
Striving for great things is not neces-sary or important. In other
societies, “becoming” is what is most valued. Our purpose on
earth, the people might say, is to become fully human.
9. Inter-group relationships
Intergroup relations (relationships between different groups of
people) range along a spectrum be-tween tolerance and
intolerance. The most tolerant form of intergroup relations is
pluralism, in which no distinction is made between minority and
majority groups, but instead there’s equal standing. At the other
end of the continuum are amalgamation, expulsion, and even
genocide—stark examples of intolerant intergroup relations.
Genocide, the deliberate annihilation of a targeted (usually
subordinate) group, is the most toxic intergroup relationship.
Historically, we can see that genocide has included both the
intent to ex-terminate a group and the function of exterminating
of a group, intentional or not.
Expulsion refers to a subordinate group being forced, by a
dominant group, to leave a certain ar-ea or country. As seen in
the examples of the Trail of Tears and the Holocaust, expulsion
can be a factor in genocide. However, it can also stand on its
own as a destructive group interaction.
Segregation refers to the physical separation of two groups,
particularly in residence, but also in workplace and social
functions. It is important to distinguish between de jure
segregation (segre-gation that is enforced by law) and de facto
segregation (segregation that occurs without laws but because of
other factors).
Pluralism is represented by the ideal of the United States as a
“salad bowl”: a great mixture of different cultures where each
culture retains its own identity and yet adds to the flavor of the
whole. True pluralism is characterized by mutual respect on the
part of all cultures, both domi-nant and subordinate, creating a
multicultural environment of acceptance. In reality, true plural-
ism is a difficult goal to reach. In the United States, the mutual
respect required by pluralism is often missing, and the nation’s
past pluralist model of a melting pot posits a society where cul-
tural differences aren’t embraced as much as erased.
Assimilation describes the process by which a minority
individual or group gives up its own identity by taking on the
characteristics of the dominant culture. In the United States,
which has a history of welcoming and absorbing immigrants
from different lands, assimilation has been a function of
immigration.
Amalgamation-the process by which a minority group and a
majority group combine to form a new group
Assimilation-the process by which a minority individual or
group takes on the characteristics of the dominant culture
Expulsion-the act of a dominant group forcing a subordinate
group to leave a certain area or even the country
Genocide-the deliberate annihilation of a targeted (usually
subordinate) group
Pluralism-the ideal of the United States as a “salad bowl:” a
mixture of different cultures where each culture retains its own
identity and yet adds to the “flavor” of the whole
Segregation-the physical separation of two groups, particularly
in residence, but also in workplace and social functions
10. The Kazakh Famine
The Kazakh famine was the defining event in the formation of
Soviet Kazakhstan, what is today the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The famine led to the death of 1.5 million people, approximately
a quarter of the population. More than a third of all Kazakhs
perished.
Before the famine, most Kazakhs practiced nomadic herding,
making seasonal migrations along predetermined routes. But due
to the death of their herds of animals - about ninety percent of
the animal population died during the famine - most Kazakhs
were forced to settle down after the natural disaster, which led to
a sharp reorientation of Kazakh identity.
The Soviets tried to form Kazakhs, a group of nomads, into a
modern, Soviet “nation”: giving them their own national
territory, promoting Kazakhs into the republic’s bureaucracy and
“modernizing” Kazakh society by eliminating backward
practices. Ultimately, the famine made nationality into the most
important marker of Kazakh identity, a goal of the Soviet
regime’s “nation-building” project. Soviet Kazakhstan became a
republic with stable, defined borders and an integral part of the
Soviet economic system.
The effects of the famine are immense: the horrifying death toll,
the fact that Kazakhs became a minority in their own republic,
and the fact that the disaster forced Kazakhs to abandon
nomadism. During the disaster, over a million Kazakhs fled their
own republic. Today, there are significant numbers of Kazakhs
in neighboring countries such as Russia, China and Uzbekistan
as a result, in part, of the famine’s course. In effect, the Kazakh
famine changed the demographic map of the entire region.