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Global Citizenship Program

Rubric

Cultural Self-
Summary
awareness Approximately 90% of communication is through nonverbal means.
Cultural worldview
Nonverbal communication differs from verbal communication in two
Empathy ways: It is more unconscious and is learned implicitly.
Verbal
It can reinforce, substitute for, or contradict verbal communication.
Communication

Nonverbal
Nonverbal codes include facial expressions, eye contact (oculesics
(oculesics),
),
Communication gestures, time management (chronemics
(chronemics),
), silence, space

Summary
(proxemics
proxemics),
), touch (haptics
(haptics),
), senses (sensorics
(sensorics),
), tone and
intonation (paralanguage
(paralanguage).
).
Discussion
questions Sometimes cultural differences in nonverbal behaviors can lead to 


Activities stereo-typing others. (such as slurping food to indicate the food

tastes good)
Curiosity

Openness
Cultural space influences cultural identity and includes homes,
neighborhoods, regions, and nations. (Do we share bedrooms with
Helpful books
our siblings; bed with our parents; are friends invited into our homes
Contacts
and if so, into every room; do we build walls around our houses; how
close to we feel comfortable standing or sitting near others, etc)
Discussion questions
1-How does nonverbal communication differ from verbal
communication?

2-What are some of the messages that we communicate through

our nonverbal behaviors?

3-Which nonverbal behaviors, if any, are universal?

4-How do our cultural spaces affect our identities?

5-What role does power play in determining our cultural spaces?

Activities
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1-Cultural Spaces. Think about the different cultural spaces in which you
participate (clubs, churches, concerts, and so on). Select one of these
spaces and describe when and how you enter and leave. As a group,
discuss the answers to the following questions:

a-Which cultural spaces do may students share? Which are not shared by
many students?

b-Which cultural spaces, if any, are denied to some people?

c-What factors determine whether a person has access to a specific

cultural space?

2-Nonverbal Rules. Choose a cultural space that you are interested in

studying. Visit the space on four occasions to observe how people there
interact. Focus on one aspect of nonverbal communication (e.g., eye
contact or proximity). List some rules that seem to govern this aspect of
nonverbal communication. For example, if you are focusing on proximity,
you might describe, among other things, how far apart people tend to
stand when conversing. Based on your observations, list some
prescriptions about the proper (expected) nonverbal behavior in this
cultural space. Share your conclusions with the class.

3- Nonverbal messages. Have the class watch a segment of a sitcom with

the volume off. Ask the class to discuss what they believe the situation to
be from the nonverbal messages they see? Watch it a second time with
the volume on and see how close they were to understanding the
situation. Do the same with a segment of a soap opera or a movie (such
as Dead Poets Societywhere space, or lack of, with the different
professors shows how authoritarian they feel

4-How others see us. Have students go to an expensive store twice. Once
very well dressed and another not so. How were they treated in each case
by the store employees?

5-Intonation. Read the following same sentence changing the intonation

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

(italicized word) and see how the meaning of the sentence changes. This
is much easier for native speakers to understand.

John loves Mary. (statement)

John loves Mary? (I thought it was Ann….)

John loves Mary? (no way…..)

John loves Mary? (I thought it was Bob….)

6-Send messages. Have students demonstrate how the following

nonverbal send messages:

haptics (touching, or not, someone; how we touch, where we touch, who

we can touch)

sensorics (use of perfume, baking cookies when trying to sell a house,

etc)

chronemics (arriving late what does it mean in different cultures?)

chronemics (arriving late what does it mean in different cultures?)

paralanguage (tone)

oculesics (when you look into someone’s eyes – what does it mean?
Does it mean the same everywhere?)

7-Emojis. Why do we find it important today when texting to use emojis?

Have you ever been misunderstood or have you misunderstood someone
through e-mail or text? Why?

8-Non-verbal vocalized (grunts and other non-verbal sounds, including

sighs and sharp intake of air) Again, this will only work with a
multinational class. Ask individuals from different countries if there are
any non-verbal but vocalized sounds which are often used to
communicate a particular meaning. Ask them to give a demonstration of
that sound. Then other students can try to guess the meaning. Perhaps
more interesting, other students might find that the sound is also used in

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their own culture to indicate a similar meaning (I have found that myself
comparing Kenyans with Austrians in inter-personal communication in a
socializing situation.)

-Gestures. Again, this is for a multinational class. Have students compare

gestures (nodding/shaking the head, movements with hands, arms, etc)
which are well known in individual cultures to carry a certain meaning. A
student demonstrates the gesture, others guess the meaning. For
example:

--thumbs up means different things in different cultures

--shaking the head in some cultures can mean ‘yes’ and in India it’s a head
wobble

--In British culture, you give someone the finger using the back side of the
first and second fingers in a V shape; curiously, the reverse of that sign
means victory.)

10-Sense of time. Stereotypically, Latin Americans are known for their

loose timekeeping (late to start work, long preliminaries/socializing in
business negotiations before getting down to details, etc) and North
Americans and Germans for being punctual, both in starting and finishing
things. Bearing in mind that this is just a stereotype, but might have some
bearing on reality, put students in groups to discuss a business situation
between a US and a Latin American firm (e.g. delegations negotiating a
deal). Students have to come up with (a) situations in which different
senses of time could cause problems and (b) ways to avoid those
problems.

11-Body language. For an imaginary cocktail party, the instructor makes

cards with either a U.S. or Latin American identify and distributes them to
individual students. Each student gets a partner who represents the
opposite (a U.S. student is partnered with a Latin American student).
When the cocktail party begins, students pair up with their designated
partners. Students have to role play a conversation for a specified period
of time (a few minutes). Beforehand, the class has discussed differences
in US and Latin American body language. The stereotype is that Latin
Americans expect close physical proximity in socializing situations, as
well as body contact at times. Extended eye contact is also normal. On 
the other hand US Americans like to have at least a meter and a half
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distance between interlocutors and find it uncomfortable to stare
someone in the eye for a longer period of time. Touching is not expected,
either.

12-Posture. Research which body postures could send a suggestive

message in certain cultures (e.g.sitting with the soles of your feet pointing
at someone can be offensive in certain cultures).

13-Greetings and goodbyes. Research cultural differences in greetings

and goodbyes – long handshakes versus short ones, kissing on one
cheek, on both cheeks or three times (as in Serbia), men kissing on
cheeks, no body contact at all between the sexes, bowing the head,
placing the bent arm over the chest, raising the open palm of the hand,
etc. Are any of these class-based or age-based as well as cultural?

14-Silence. Some cultures (Japanese) silence is part of the dialogue,

whereas for Europeans and Americans it makes an uncomfortable social
situation. With American students, discuss the types of situation in which
silence could be uncomfortable and the reasons why this might be so.
 silence could be uncomfortable and the reasons why this might be so.
(The idea that, with new acquaintances, to ping-pong something back and
forth verbally is necessary to establish common ground contrasts with
silently appreciating the presence of someone else.)

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