Cross-Cultural Communication - Movie Review Example

of the Anthropology of the Teacher 2 December Cross Cultural Communication There is no denying the fact that culture happens to be an inseparable part of an individual’s identity because a person simply cannot separate oneself from the culture in which one is born. Thereby, it would be right to say that culture plays an important part in the choices an individual makes in varied aspects of one’s life. Culture always has a deep influence on the personal and social choices that a person relates to, the sense of belonging that an individual enjoys in a particular social setup and the way an individual communicates with others, conveys one’s ideas and understands the messages communicated by others (Mathews 2). Hence, it would not be wrong to say that culture happens to be an integral aspect of the vantage point from which a person views, interprets and understands the world. An individual shapes one’s roles and relationships in a social setup in the light of the dominant cultural influences that one subscribes to. Even, in the current times when the world is getting diverse, it is astonishing to acknowledge that it is quiet impossible to separate a person from the culture in which one is born and brought up (Irvine 64). Therefore, culture is the lens through which an individual perceives the things and ideas. Yet, the thing is that the relationship between an individual and the culture one owes loyalty to happens to be quiet confusing. If on the one side the culture helps a person to adapt to the society in which one is born, on the other side it really makes it difficult to adapt to and adjust to the societies which have a different culture. Hence, in a way an individual happens to be both the beneficiary as well as the victim of culture. In the light of these facts the video under consideration does present many relevant and practical ideas regarding culture, how the varied cultures tend to differ from one another and as to what can people do to adjust to cultures that are different and foreign. The message conveyed by the video that in the current times when the varied cultures could not help being influenced by each other owing to the globalized trading of goods and services, influence of technologies like the internet and the ease of travel made possible by air travel, culture still continues to play a vital role in the human interactions, is indeed true and important. People do feel proud of the culture in which they are born and really appreciate if the individuals from other cultures do recognize their cultural peculiarities and traits (Allen 4). In the light of this fact the definition of culture given by this video that culture is, “A pattern of learned and shared human behavior embodied in thought, speech and action transmitted to succeeding generations through the usage of tools, language and abstract thought” is indeed true and relevant. It is indeed an undeniable fact that the relationship between an individual and one’s culture happens to be complex in the sense that it is very ancient, unavoidable and to a large extent necessary to help a person adjust and adapt to the society in which one is born. One simply cannot deny one’s culture. The best option is always to accept and understand the culture in which one is born. This goes a long way in advancing a person’s understanding of other cultures as well. The further information conveyed by the video as to the associated important aspects of a culture that are values, attitudes and beliefs indeed goes a long way in enabling an individual understand as to what culture actually is and what does it practically involve. As per the video, values do represent the actual conscience of a particular culture and are an important guiding influence as to how the people in a culture think and behave. Attitudes affiliate to the emotional makeup of a particular culture and determine as to how people in a specific culture think about and react to particular people, places or things. Beliefs associate with the spiritual and intellectual aspects of a culture that are the product of both formal and informal education. Yes, it is a fact that people simply cannot help being carriers of the values, beliefs and attitudes of the culture they belong to, irrespective of their best attitudes and intentions. A person is a vessel that is filled with the beliefs, attitudes and values of the culture one belongs to, both at a conscious and subconscious level. Culture plays an important role in shaping the worldview of a person and various aspects of a person’s personality like ethics, religious beliefs and practices, gender beliefs and practices are shaped by one’s culture. However, the reason why culture commands so much importance in the current times is owing to the problems individuals face while engaging in cross-cultural communication. The process of cross-cultural communication happens to have a very complex dynamics that requires much cultural literacy and understanding. It is certainly not about deciding as to which culture is better or worse, but rather about understanding and appreciating different cultures. Going by the complex nature and dynamics of cross-cultural communication, it would be really helpful if one could have access to an organized and systematic approach towards cultural understanding (Laubscher xiv). In the light of this fact it is indeed heartening to say that this particular video does present the conclusions arrived at by the scholars like Hofstede and Hall regarding the cultural dimensions that not only help classify and categorize the salient attributes of different cultures, but also help much in enhancing cultural literacy and adapting to the intricacies of cross-cultural communication (Boyacigiller, Goodman & Phillips 136). Geert Hofstede identified some important cultural dimensions like individualism-collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculine-feminine that indeed make it easier the task of understanding various cultures. For instance, being of Chinese origins I found it really enlightening to know that the individualist societies like the US not only appreciate individual achievement, but rather appreciate individual differences and deviations. This happened to be indeed contrary to the collectivist culture in which I was born, which gives precedence to group objectives and collective aspirations over individual goals and preferences. The understanding of this fact not only enhanced my understanding of the American culture, but also enabled me as to conveniently adapt to the American culture. The other thing that always impressed me was that in the US I found that people tend to approach each other as equals and are really comfortable addressing even their superiors by their first name. This both encouraged and confused me. However, the understanding of the fact that America happens to be a low power distance nation and people here do not extend that high status and formal honor to their superiors and tend to concentrate more on the task at hand indeed enhanced my appreciation of the American culture. In contrast, in China, where I was born, one simply could not think about treating one’s superiors as equals. It is not that the American culture is better than the Chinese culture, but rather about appreciating the things that are specific to both cultures. It indeed enhanced my psychological grip over the understanding of cultures to know that some cultures happen to be masculine and appreciate male attributes like success and competition; while other cultures happen to be feminine that is they value female attributes like sharing, nurturing and bonding. Likewise some cultures happen to have high uncertainty avoidance and the people there are not comfortable in situations that are ambiguous, and uncertain. Contrary to this there are low uncertainty avoidance cultures like the US where people feel at home with confusion, vagueness, uncertainty and ambiguity. One thing that often irritated me when I came to the US was that the people here happened to be so particular about time and while interacting required much detailed inputs and information. However, realizing the fact that America has a low context culture with monochronic time where people attribute much importance to promptness, facts and details did enhance my enhancing of the American culture and better enabled me to adjust to life in the US. This was because I was born in a low context and polychronic time culture where people tend to have a very relaxed and fluid understanding of time and rather than sharing many details, rely on non-verbal aspects of communication and the understanding of the particular context to deduce conclusions. The video did enhance my understanding of the subtle aspects of culture like in some cultures religion and politics happen to be closely intertwined. Then there are cultures where exchange of information regarding the personal aspects of life like family is not appreciated, and there are cultures like my Chinese culture where it is normal to exchange courteous queries about personal life. This enhanced my appreciation regarding how the planet earth is inhabited by diverse and varied cultures. In fact the beliefs inherent in different cultures do determine the way they approach physical health and disease. It also forewarned me about the bad effects of ethnocentrism, prejudice and stereotyping. One particular thing that I found quiet pragmatic was the tips extended by the relevant experts regarding assuring a positive inter-cultural communication. Indeed it is really appropriate to approach a foreign culture with an open mind and with the attitude of a student and a learner. People from other cultures do appreciate the effort put in by a person to learn about their culture. It goes without saying that the video presents the concept of culture in a very broad based and holistic way, while enunciating on the varied facets of culture and the effect they have in cross-cultural communication and interactions. It is really insightful to notice that culture impacts most of the aspects of a person’s life as to the kind of attitude one has towards authority figures, the degree of individuality or gregariousness, how comfortable one feels in a scenario marked by confusion and indecision, the way one chooses to compete and eke out a place in the society and the like. Besides, after listening to the views of the varied scholars presented in the video, it gets amply clear as to how important it is to address the cultural concerns in interpersonal affairs and team scenarios. It gets really clear that in multicultural societies and scenarios one inevitably comes across situations when one need to exercise cultural literacy and the ability to navigate across cultures. The ideas and concepts presented by the video tend to be really useful in that context. I think that this video is a must see for any person who has a lifestyle that involves interacting with people from other cultures. Not knowing about the peculiarities of a foreign culture or not being able to properly appreciate cultural differences could give way to unwanted and serious situations. Besides, the given video facilitated a theoretical framework which one could adhere to enhance one’s understanding of one’s own and other cultures. Watching this video certainly enhanced my cultural literacy and made me a more sensitive and well informed person. However, I believe that the video could have said or shown more about the fact that in the current times when people from diverse cultures are required to interact with each other on a more common basis, they do tend to share the attributes of culture that are foreign and different. Overall, the video was indeed enlightening and thought provoking. Works Cited Allen, Tim. Culture and Global Change. London: Routledge, 2007. Print. Boyacigiller, Nakiye Avdan, Richard Alan Goodman and Margaret E, Phillips. Crossing Cultures. New York: Routledge, 2003. Print. Irvine, Judith T. The Psychology of Culture. New York: Mouton de Gruyter, 2002. Print. Laubscher, Michael R. Encounters with Differences. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2001. Print. Mathews, Gordon. Global Culture/Individual Identity. London: Routledge, 2005. Print. Read More