Communicating Across Cultures

Communicating across Cultures

Tutorial activity 1:

Ongoing Semester Case Study - Businessville Hotel.

The Beijing Businessville Hotel has recruited a large number of Chinese staff for all its departments. Staff come from all over China which means that they come from many different regional backgrounds and speak different languages. While most speak East Mandarin, others speak Jin, West Mandarin, Xinan, Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese and Jianghuai. Other staff speak Thai, Filipino, Japanese, English and Arabic.

Consider the following questions as a focus of class discussion. Prepare your ideas before class.

1. What training would you suggest to develop staff language skills?

* Provide staff with language skills seminars

2. How would you suggest dealing with guests who speak unknown languages?

* Use technology and gestures and try to understand what they say with use of technology eg, use a language translator to understand.

Tutorial activity 2:

Complete the following exercise by placing a circle around the correct answer.

1. The CEO in Taiwan was offended when Mr. Romano called him "Lau-ban ya" instead of "Au-ban" because "Lau-ban ya" meant _____ instead of "No.1 Boss."

a. Wife of Boss

b. Low level employee

c. Not happy to see you

d. I wish I had never come here

2. According to communication researchers Samovar, Porter, and Jain, _____.

a. cultural factors pervade the communication process

b. noise is always equally present in cross-cultural communication

c. culture does not influence with whom we choose to speak

d. communication behavior is not largely dependent on culture

3. _____ is the process in which people look for the explanation of another person's behavior.

a. Attribution

b. Cultural noise

c. Stereotyping

d. Affirmation

4. Research by the World Values Study Group shows that _____ had the highest disposition to trust other people.

a. Nordic countries

b. Japan

c. United States

d. African countries

5. _____ and _____ are cultural variables in the communication process.

a. Attitude; ethnicity

b. Ethnicity; physical appearance

c. Thought patterns; language

d. Ethnicity; language

6. When an Asian says "yes" to your questions he is indicating that _____.

a. he is in complete agreement with what you say

b. he has heard you

c. he will have to ask his boss

d. all of the above

7. Which of the following is an example of proxemics?

a. widening your eyes

b. moving closer to the listener

c. speaking faster

d. using a translator

8. Which of the following characteristics is not true of people in a high-contact culture?