代做COMU2170、代写Python/c++设计编程

日期：2024-08-06 09:51

Week 2 lecture notes

Sem 2, 2023

1

Week 2: Communication and culture

This week’s lecture will explore how the expansion of human communication beyond

national, geographic, and time boundaries influences definitions of communication; and how

culture and communication mutually influence each other, generating diverse behavioural

expectations in different cultural contexts.

Learning Objectives

After this lecture, you should be able to:

Recognise the multifaceted nature of culture and communication.

Identify different components and characteristics of culture and communication.

Evaluate the influence of culture on communication.

About the required readings

The chapter by Dodd is a classic reading on culture. It defines culture and explores elements

of culture through a model that organises elements of culture into three layers. Elements of

culture and their functions in each layer are explained with examples, as well as the

relationship among the three layers of culture in the model. Understanding characteristics and

functions of elements of culture helps you to develop cultural sensitivity and appreciate the

influence of culture on communication, which is a prerequisite for effective intercultural

communication.

The article by Lie and Bailey addresses the questions: What does your name mean? Could it

reflect the cultural, historical, or political context at the time you were born? The authors

analysed the patterns of naming across four generations in Lie’s Chinese Indonesian family.

They argue that naming practices are not just a function of personal taste; it can reflect the

larger-political and historical contexts. The article shows that seeming contradictions and

puzzles in the names and naming practices in Lie’s family can be explained by the specific

social and political challenges faced by members of the family. A very interesting reading!

Required readings

Dodd, C. (1998). Chapter 3 of Dynamics of intercultural communication

(5th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Lie, S., & Bailey, B. (2017). The power of names in a Chinese Indonesian

family’s negotiations of politics, culture, and identities. Journal of

International and Intercultural Communication, 10(1), 80-95.

[Available on Blackboard]

Critical thinking

Think about your learning experience as a student (including your

learning experience in the high school). Are students encouraged to

engage in critical thinking in your culture? Are students encouraged to

challenge authority? Why or why not?

COMU2170

Week 2 lecture notes

Sem 2, 2023

2

Components and characteristics of culture

Culture permeates almost all aspects of our life (e.g., food, clothing, shelter, music, language,

artifacts, family, health systems, and kinship systems – to mention just a few). For decades

scholars across the academic spectrum have attempted to define culture. Almost 200

definitions can be located, each attempting to delineate the boundaries and inclusions of the

concept. In its general sense, culture can be broadly defined as the total way of life of a group

of people, comprising the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, traditions,

religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, worldviews, material objects and

geographic territory. Culture can be defined at the macro (national) level or micro

(subcultural) levels, that is, within the larger cultural context, there are sub-cultural groups

that can be defined by, for example, gender, religion, age, or geographic region and so forth.

In the required reading by Dodd (1998), he organised various components of culture into

three layers:

The inner core (history, identity, beliefs and values, and worldviews of a cultural

group).

The intermediate layer (activities as expressed in technology, material objects, roles,

rules, rituals, customs, communication patterns and artistic expressions).

The outer layer (formalised systems including economy, politics, family, health care

and education).

Key characteristics of culture are:

Holistic. The whole is more than simply the sum of the interconnected parts.

Learned. We learn our cultural rules and norms through communication.

Dynamic. It is subject to change over time.

Ethnocentric. There is a tendency for people to believe that one’s own culture is

superior to other cultures.

Components and characteristics of communication

Similar to culture, it is almost impossible to find a single, all-encompassing definition of

communication. Communication scholars propose that the concept might better be theorised

as a “family” of related concepts to reflect the multifaceted nature of communication. Two

dominant models representing communication processes are:

The early linear model, which views communication as transmission of information.

This model is also known as the transmission model.

The interactive model, which views communication as two-way and influenced by the

context in which it occurs. The interactive model is the model that intercultural

researchers tend to adopt.

Key characteristics of communication are:

Dynamic. Communication is a dynamic process; although a specific communication

act has definite beginning and ending points, the overall communication process does

not.

Interactive. Communication requires active participation of at least two persons.

Write down three things that are important to you in your culture, and then

place them in the respective layers of culture.

COMU2170

Week 2 lecture notes

Sem 2, 2023

3

Symbolic. We use verbal and nonverbal symbols to create meaning.

Contextual. We interact with others in a specific setting.

The influence of culture on communication (refer to Dodd’s chapter)

Many cultural imprints are subtle and elusive, if not beyond conscious recognition at times.

Culture teaches us significant rules, rituals, and procedures; the process through

which we learn those rules is called socialisation.

Culture cultivates and reinforces beliefs and values.

Culture teaches us how to develop relationships with others.

Approaches to studying culture

Emic approach views each culture as a unique entity that can only be studied from

inside that culture. This approach focuses on identifying culture-specific aspects of

concepts and behaviour. Aligned with the emic approach are cultural anthropologists

who use ethnography as research methods to obtain in-depth and rich knowledge of

particular cultural communities or groups from the native’s point of view.

Etic approach believes that culture can be examined with predetermined categories

that can be applied to all cultures in the search for cultural universals. Etic researchers

(e.g., cross-cultural psychologists) attempt to identify universal aspects of human

behaviour across cultures (beliefs, values, worldviews) and seek to segregate common

components of culture and test hypotheses.

After class…

Next week (Week 3)

In Week 3, we will explore the process of human perception and its influence on intergroup

and intercultural relations.

Write down two cultural rules you have learned as you grew up.

Which rule you have learned at a conscious level, and which was

learned at an unconscious level? Has your interpretation of those two

rules changed over time? Why (not)?

Critical thinking

What do you think are indicators of successful communication? Does it

make sense to say that two parties in conflict are communicating

successfully if they decode each other’s messages correctly but continue

to disagree? Why?

Watch an old movie from your grandparents’ time. Then watch another

contemporary movie but of similar themes (e.g., romantic love, family, gender

roles). Are there are any changes in values and beliefs? Would you agree that

any movie is a product of a specific culture at a specific time in history?