Individuals learn of cultural identity through the acculturation process. Megan* established her cultural identities and I learned about my own cultural identities, through our communication encounters (Guo, 2016). Megan identifies herself as of Samoan-Tokelauan ethnicity (collectivism) but considers her ‘home’ as Seattle in the United States of America (individualism). Thus, she is influenced by collectivist and individualist worldviews. Individualism versus collectivism determines how people live together, alone, in families or tribes and their values and how they communicate (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel & Roy, 2015, p.233). Both of these worldviews have contributed to determining Megan’s values of family, respect and religion and how they …show more content…
Some communication barriers appeared when Megan returned to New Zealand. This included language differences– the speech rate, vocabulary, and different accent. For example, using American terms (trash) instead of New Zealand terms (rubbish). Sometimes, both of us would have to repeat ourselves in order to correctly understand the conveyed meaning. A strategy used is defined as convergence, based on the Accommodation Theory. Convergence occurs when individuals adapt their – often non-verbal - communication behaviours towards each other (Giles, Coupland & Coupland, 1991). Megan and I demonstrated convergence by using similar hand gestures and having a more balanced speech rate to simply convey meaning through our spoken language. Another challenge I faced was perceiving Megan in light of the American stereotype; to be proud and openly expressive of her opinions and emotions. The influence of her cultural values didn’t categorise her as the American stereotype. However, Megan did mention the Islander stereotype she faces; being perceived as messy, uneducated, large, and violent. These two stereotypes have contributed to how she communicated her ethnic identity. Using standard English language features and showing respect and love to the person rather than speaking off hate and forcing her opinions on others. My strategic response was to have a more dialectic approach. In this case, I would take into account her Samoan cultural influence and her American cultural influence rather than perceiving her as one or the other in our
“Our own culture is often hidden from us, and we frequently describe it as “the way things are.”” People do not even realize their own cultural identity, so then how do people know what shapes it? A person’s identity is shaped by cultural experiences that make them into the person they are today. Some of these experiences include someone’s parents, the media, and where they grew up.
“At a time when people are seeking to become more culturally aware it is important to note distinctions which make cultures different and unique from one another” (Giger, 2013, p. 163). “Culture involves much more than race, ethnic background, and language” (Smith, 2013, p. 32). Culture is a combination of learned behaviors, beliefs, and values that are reinforced through exposure to social interactions within one’s immediate social group or surrounding society. A personal interview was conducted with Andrea Sinkler, is an African-American female, whose culture influence is mainly attributed from her association with family and social interactions.
In conclusion, this book gave me a whole new view on life and how we can interact better with different people. The book emphasized that culture is key to understanding people. Sometimes it is hard to connect with others because they are indicated as different but in due time we can adjust. Every culture has their own traditions when it comes to what they eat, what to wear, dating, various ceremonies, holidays and more. Reading this book helped me become more accepting of who I am and where I come from.
276). Curtin’s Coculturation (2010) combats this hegemonic discourse by stating, “everyone is continually engaged in social and political processes of identification” (p. 283). Thus, one’s identity can consist of multiple cultures and they can in fact coincide. The idea that one group “belongs” in a particular imagined community is a myth, there is no single response or adaption. The theory of Coculturation ultimately accommodates to a more realistic approach to cultural adjustment where a newcomer can adopt some behavior of the host culture while still maintaining the conciliatory and subconscious aspects of their native
The United States is the largest immigrant receiving country in the world. A number of people with different cultures are moving to the United States every day. Therefore, American culture is a diverse mix of customs and traditions from almost every region of the world. However, any culture with the value of the traditions and beliefs can be greatly weakened when introduced to a new and overpowering culture. It happens quite frequently to families that move to a new city or country with different lifestyles. As a result, the children of these families grow up to not care as much about their original culture 's traditions as the older generations do. As we know, Native Americans, who are indigenous peoples of the United States, account for less
Experiencing a society of multi-cultures is beneficial through a variety of concepts to epitomize each individual identity. A person may vary in the degree to which he or she identifies with, morals, or...
It is therefore important to be a multicultural person by first forming a positive cultural identity. Manning and Baruth (2009, p.24) defines culture as “people’s values, languages, religions, ideals, artistic expressions, patterns of social and interpersonal relationships and ways of perceiving, behaving and thinking.” However, in this paper, cultural identity also relate to race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, social class and all that defines the self. Hence to have a positive cultural identity (PCI), one must be able to identify with and integrate those identities that bring about a well-built, healthy self-perception and a sense of well-being. PCI would also be ingrained into a person’s self-concept seeing as culture affect how a person thinks, understands and perceives the self. “I am a psychology student, my mother’s daughter and I am gay.” The sentence used to describe myself illustrates how culture shapes the structure of self-concept with the use of more social self-descriptions indicating an interdependent self, typical in collectivistic cultures (Franzoi, 2009).
Times are changing and I feel like I am forced to conform to the everyday social norms of America, which makes me feel impuissance. Racial identity, which refers to identifying with a social group with similar phenotypes and racial category, is the only experience that I have with life (Organista, 2010). Racial ethnicity was used to build my self-esteem and to keep me in the dark when it came to how society treats individuals of darker complexion. However, once I left the confines of my family and neighborhood, I was forced to befriend and interact with individuals that had different cultural values and beliefs than me. This experience caused me to learn how to appreciate other racial and ethnic groups and their cultural values and belief. This is an accurate definition, of acculturation because I was able to understand and fit in with individuals different from me, while maintaining my own culture and ethnic identity. Therefore, knowing the importance of my ancestry, while acculturating and developing my own identity was all used
“Culture refers to the organized pattern of values, beliefs, and behaviors developed and transmitted over time by a cultural group” (Robbins, Chatterjee & Canda, 2012). I talked about the different aspects of how I define my culture. A social worker working with my family would be the most effective if he or she takes my family beliefs and values into consideration. The case that I choose based on familiarity was the Jones Family. Despite some differences, I connected more with this family when talking about my family’s culture. To help the Jones family in their situation, I would focus on the strength and empowerment perspective. Cultural can easily be defined in many ways, but it is up to a family to choose what is include when discussing culture.
According to Jackson (1988), the persistent myth that no real law existed in New Zealand prior to 1840, is a racist and colonising myth used to justify the imposition of ongoing application of law from Britain. Pre-European Maori society regulated behaviour and punished wrongdoings through the sanction of muru. Jackson defines muru as, “a legalised system of plundering as penalty for offences, which in a rough way resembled (the Pakeha) law by which a man is obliged to pay damages” (p.40). Due to the law brought and imposed by settlers, it rendered Maori’s values, ways of thinking, and living. This essay aims to discuss the Maori social and cultural values expressed in the sanction muru. Furthermore, how the British opposition to the use of
Ruth Benedict’s anthropological book, Patterns of Culture explores the dualism of culture and personality. Benedict studies different cultures such as the Zuni tribe and the Dobu Indians. Each culture she finds is so different and distinctive in relation to the norm of our society. Each difference is what makes it unique. Benedict compares the likenesses of culture and individuality, “A culture, like an individual, is a more or less consistent pattern of thought or action” (46), but note, they are not the same by use of the word, “like.” Benedict is saying that figuratively, cultures are like personalities. Culture and individuality are intertwined and dependent upon each other for survival.
Culture has a big impact on how we all fit in as individuals in today’s society, and since this assignment is about that I decided to include some of my own experiences to illustrate my point of view and compare it with those of my classmates and some of the readings.
If I were to choose one place in the whole world which would be the best setting to learn the lessons of life, it would be at home with my family. I am from the islands of Samoa located in the Pacific. I grew up in a family of five people in a society of strong culture and religious atmosphere. I love being with my family because they play a vital role in my life. Most of my time was spent on helping out with the family chores, going to school and fulfilling my church callings. In this essay I will discuss how my culture, my family and my church has changed and molded my character for the better.
There are a lot of different cultures in the world we live in today. Finding the place you belong and discovering your own culture can be a challenge. This is especially true when you look at culture as an individual versus culture in your family, or even within your community. I’ve always been very family oriented, so that plays a big part in who I am and how my family’s dynamic works. I believe that my family has had a huge impact on the development of my culture, and I hope that I have had the same impact on theirs.
The Communication Accommodation Theory developed by Giles while broad and complex is undeniably important to the field of Communication Studies. The broad focus of CAT can be perceived as a drawback, but could also be viewed as a merit by allowing researchers to apply CAT principles in almost any situation dealing with communication between representatives of differing cultural backgrounds. By using CAT, Communication Researchers can objectively make observations of the communication strategies, as well as the motivations for those strategies on both small and large scales. By understanding such information, individuals and organizations alike could potentially make great strides in the improvement of relations with other cultural counterparts. In a sense, the Communication Accommodation Theory is significant because it can be applied to any cultural interaction, can help disseminate the causes of intercultural incongruity, and potentially help prevent future misunderstanding.