NAMA : DISHA MAHIRA

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TUGAS TUTORIAL KE-1 (online)

KODE PBIS4102/CROSS CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING/SKS 2
PROGRAM STUDI PENDIDIKAN BAHASA INGGRIS

No Tugas Tutorial
1 You have to find examples (1 example each) of misinterpretation, ethnocentrism,
stereotypes, and prejudices from your surroundings; from your daily life, or from TV
shows, newspapers, or other sources and upload them with a brief explanation for
each example.
The assignment should be in the form of essay, 250-350 words, Times New Roman
12 pts. Pictures can be added for additional points. The assignment is to be uploaded
together with the analysis of the case study above. Remember, this is an individual
assignment, and your score depends on the quality of the assignment that you upload.

CULTURAL CONFLICT

Conflict comes from the Latin 'com' which means together, and 'fligere' which means to
attack. Or it can be interpreted as 'together attack each other' . In fact, conflict is something that
occurs when two or more conflicting interests in achieving their respective goals. This clash can
be expressed in two ways, namely openly (explicitly) and covertly (implicitly).

Based on the above, in the intercultural context, conflict is defined as a mismatch

between values, expectations, processes or results, both actual and perceived, between two or
more parties with different cultures regarding substantive and relational issues.

In Indonesia, conflicts often occur due to differences between cultures, some examples
that can be taken are ethnic conflicts such as Madura, Makassar, Banten, Dayak, Malay in West
Kalimantan, and ethnic groups in Papua. Not only that, this intercultural conflict has attacked
various social layers in society by not viewing ethnic differences as a fact of the problem.
 An example of cultural diversity.

The following are some intercultural conflicts along with examples of these cultural conflicts,
including:

1. Misinterpretation
 Misinterpretation does not always occur when members of two cultures communicate.
But when the conflict actually occurs, it can be considered as a personal conflict rather than a
cultural one. Intercultural conflict usually begins with misinterpretation and miscommunication
between cultures caused by cultural differences. According to Sunarwinadi

(1999: 1) culture is defined as a system of knowledge of meanings and patterns of symbolic

action that are shared by the majority of members of a community group. An example that we
can take from this misinterpretation is from the case of a head nod where in the United States the
nod of the head means that the person understands what the other person is saying, while in
Japan the dependent of the head itself does not mean the person but only means that the person
listen. From this, cultural misunderstandings can occur, this occurs because of their failure to
understand each other's nonverbal signals and the differences in their cultural backgrounds. This
can be prevented by understanding intercultural communication.

According to Chaney & Martin (2004), there are 9 types of cultural barriers that are above the
water. These barriers are usually physical. One example of a barrier is nonverbal barriers
(barriers that are not in the form of words). Examples that can be taken are the angry faces made
by the recipient of the message when the sender of the message communicates as anger that is
made can be an obstacle to communication, because it is possible that the sender of the message
will feel not optimal or be afraid to send the message back to the recipient of the message.

2. Ethnocentrism

The word ethnocentrism comes from the Greek words 'ethnos' or 'natio' and 'kentron' or
'center'. Ethnocentrism is negatively judging parts of another culture by one's own culture. This
ethnocentric attitude or behavior arises because someone believes too much in the superiority of
one's own culture and looks down on other cultures. Ethnocentrism leads people to liberalize and
magnify things in their stories that are unusual and different from others. Attitudes that are more
extreme than ethnocentrism are characterized by the label 'nearsightedness' of culture, which is
thinking of one's own culture as being inherited by another culture. This often leads one to
assume that simple thinking is the same as everywhere. For example, one may recognize only
western holidays in schools that are based on a curriculum on western history, music, and the
arts. The terms 'West' and 'East' have been labeled Eurocen ethnocentric, Asia is east of Europe,
but for Asia 'East' the identity is dependent on Europe. Factors that influence ethnocentrism in
the form of social prejudice (negative attitudes directed at someone on the basis of comparison
with their own group), stereotypes (one's belief in others because it is influenced by knowledge
and experience), social distance (the existence of a distance that is narrow enough to cause
prejudices). in social life.

An example of ethnocentrism in social life :

- Students who come from Medan, the Batak tribe will always insist on a stance and an attitude
that calls itself a firm and opinionated person. Meanwhile, the Malays are shy, religious, and feel
more acceptable wherever they are. As for the Javanese, due to the influence of the New Order
as the center of government, they consider themselves the most advanced from other regions in
Indonesia.

- in 2001 there was a customary war between the Asmat and Dani tribes, each tribe felt that their
tribe was the most righteous and should be respected. This customary war lasted for years
because until one party lost or became stronger and surpassed the other, the war would never
end.

- Bullying, mocking, or insulting friends from Papua, just because of their black physique and
curly or curly hair.

Ethnocentrism can have both negative and positive effects. The positive impacts that can
be taken from this ethnocentrism attitude are such as maintaining the integrity and stability of
culture and maintaining a sense of brotherhood. Meanwhile, the negative impact caused is
causing social conflicts between ethnic groups, religions, races, and groups as well as giving rise
to various kinds of political currents.More extreme ethnocentrism can have a negative impact in
the form of pushing a person toward the rejection of perfection and knowledge that comes from
other cultures, thus hindering communication and hindering the exchange of ideas and skills
between individuals.

3. Stereotypes and prejudices.

Stereotypes and prejudices are a barrier to intercultural communication. The term

stereotype is an extension of the term that is commonly used to refer to negative or positive times
directed at individuals who are perceived in some of the experiences or beliefs of group
members, where prejudice or prajudice relates to irrational hatred or suspicion of a group, race,
religion. , class, and sexual orientation. This term relates to making judgments about individuals
based on group members. Psychologists explain that stereotyped behavior is an error in our
brains making perceptions of other people who have something in common, making mistakes or
we are in perceiving visual illusions (Nisbett, 1980). Based on the statement of Hewstone and
Brown (1986) there are three aspects of stereotypes as mental representations, namely: first,
individuals are categorized based on easily identifiable characteristics such as gender or
ethnicity, second, a set of attributes are considered for all members of the category, and all three
sets of attributes are considered for that individual member. Stereotypes are used by all groups.
For example, until now the sign indicating Japan in American sign language is holding up the
little finger in front of the eyelid as a sign indicating "the slanted eye" whereas in Japanese sign
language the sign for foreigners is the index finger making a circular motion around the eye.
which denotes "the round eye". Stereotype raises assumptions such as a firmly held belief that is
true about all people in a particular group, for example if a group is stereotyped as a dishonest
person then this means that every individual in that group is dishonest.

Examples of stereotypes that develop in our society such as being an office employee is the most
established job, therefore many parents want their children to become civil servants in the hope
that their children's lives can be guaranteed in the future. In fact, if we look further, there are still
many other jobs that can make us established and can make us feel happy in doing it.

Prejudice or prejudice comes from the Latin word 'praejudicium' which means judgment
based on previous decisions or experiences. This prejudice is a broader concept than stereotypes
with prejudice against a group so that a person has had some kind of pre-assessment before
getting to know the person more deeply. Prejudice not only individually or in groups but the
government also supports prejudice against its citizens the policies it sets, for example, the
Japanese policy that does not allow non-Japanese people to become citizens has created second-
class citizens for Korean descent living in Japan. An example of this prejudice in everyday life is
like when we just meet new people. Usually we will immediately make judgments about that
person. We can guess about religion, ethnicity, and social status. However, we will not
immediately state it, but we will only show it with our own body language. So that this attitude
cannot be seen by the naked eye, but can be felt by people who experience it.

Culture is a way of life that develops and is owned by a group of people and then passed
on to the next generation. Culture initially brought us to the origin of the formation of belief
(religion). Culture is very attached to people's lives, so it is undeniable that many different
cultural backgrounds can cause a number of conflicts as described above. We can prevent this by
understanding one another's cultures, and by not feeling that one's own culture is better than
other cultures.

References :

- Riyanti, Rahayu Dwi dkk. (2022). Cross Cultural Understanding (edisi 2). Tangerang Selatan:
Universitas Terbuka.

- Widiastuti, T. (2012). Analisis framing sebuah konflik antarbudaya di media. Journal

Communication Spectrum: Capturing New Perspectives in Communication, 1(2), 147-170.

- Rinaldy Ridho." Komunikasi Lintas Budaya ", https://ridhorinaldy.wordpress.com/komunikasi-

lintas-budaya/, diakses pada 26 Oktober 2022 pukul 01.00.

- Dosen Sosiologi.com. " 18 Contoh Etnosentrisme di Masyarakat dalam Keseharian ",

https://dosensosiologi.com/contoh-etnosentrisme/, diakses pada 26 Oktober 2022 pukul 01.24.

- Adhiputra, A. A. (2013). Konseling Lintas Budaya. Graha Ilmu.