Cross-Cultural Communication Class

  When thinking about intercultural communication I’ve come to realize that there are many factors, other than my lack of exposure, that limit me from becoming more competent. Motivation is probably the biggest factor that limits me from becoming more competent. Motivation in terms of a component of intercultural communication competence, is the desire to make a commitment in relationships, to learn about the self and others, and to remain flexible (Martin & Nakayama, 2022) . While I have never shied away from interacting or communicating with individuals from other cultures it typically makes me uncomfortable. This was mainly due to fear of offending or saying something wrong that not only would make the other individual uncomfortable or mad but could possibly make me look silly or rude. I also think my lack of self-knowledge plays a part in my decreased competency level. Self-knowledge, in relation to intercultural communication competence, is the quality of knowing how one ...

              In looking into conflict and how I have dealt with conflict in my life I was made aware of a few things I had never thought about in my readings for classes this week. Growing up I was always taught to say what I mean and to mean what I say, which according to Martin and Nakayama 2022 would be a more discussion style when dealing with conflict. The discussion style combines the direct and emotional restrained approaches to conflict with individuals being comfortable expressing disagreements but do so with their emotions in check. In further reading, understanding and examination of myself I have felt that I relate more to the accommodating style. Accommodating style combines the indirect and emotional restrained approaches to conflict. As I tend to be more silent and like to avoid conflict whenever possible I was shocked in my reading that this style related more to the way I handle conflict especially knowing th...

  When thinking about intercultural relationships , I never really thought about age and physical ability being part of the difference in a culture. According to Martin and Nakayama 2022, intercultural relationships are relationships that are formed between individuals from diverse cultures, with the possibility of differences in age, physical abilities, gender, ethnicity, class, religion, race, or nationality  (Martin & Nakayama, 2022) . The idea that age and physical ability is considered an intercultural relationship has given me more of an idea about the diverse cultures I am exposed to on a regular basis that I never considered. I always thought about intercultural relationships and culture to be based on more of the race and nationality standpoint. In reading this week’s readings I have feel more enlightened that intercultural relationships are much broader than I expected. Having a new understanding of intercultural relationships has opened my eyes to the amount o...

In thinking about how dominant the US is and how we get products to different regions it occurred to me that cultural imperialism   (Martin, 2022) is a real thing. I never used to think about why I never heard of, tried, or tasted different things from different regions however, in my readings this week it became clear. The US has dominated the spread of its products to different regions and with the monetary control they have it has made it more difficult to experience culture from other regions. In thinking about the control that the US has it also made me think about the shift of popular culture (Martin, 2022) . While I may not engage in much of the popular culture for those of my age/generation I still know about and contribute to some of the sharing of popular shows, music, and videos. Even though I don't consider myself to be well versed or even care much about popular culture the readings this week have opened my eyes to a new understanding of popular culture and the impact...