There were some interesting concepts that were brought to light in this class. Some I took for granted and I was not aware it had a specific name. I found the concept that anthropologist Ruth Benedict pointed out, “we are the products of our cultures,” (Trenholm, pg 343) to be interesting. Culture is something that is very hard to shed and it functions out of awareness. We live in a global world and fail to realize how our cultures influence what we say and do. It is important to realize that cultures are neither better nor worse, they are simply different. We share basic similarities such as love, family, friendship and joy that are common among various cultures. Communication is strongly influenced by our culture and we need to become more conscious of it as we communicate. The textbook gave some good examples on how people from different cultures can misunderstand each other. After reading the text, I came to realize how much culture can influence what we say and how we say it!!
Here is a link I provided earlier for those who missed on culture’s influence in communication:
The God's Must be Crazy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66pTPWg_wUw
Another concept I found interesting was nonverbal communication. So much of what we don’t say influences what we do say. Our facial expressions, voice projection, emotions, habits, body language, clothing and touch can sometimes mean more than our words. Trenholm gave some good examples of how nonverbal communication affects what we say. I didn’t realize how I communicate verbally is affected by my different nonverbal cues such as how I dress, my expressions and body movements.
For those who missed it in my post from last week, is a link to a hilarious British comedy called “Mind Your Language,” it shows how different cultures communicate in an English class and their varying perspectives influenced by nonverbal cues!!
1. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1038032130269325008#docid=-3160152744456346475
2.http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6737881634317446434#docid=1038032130269325008
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