October 27, 2008

• Bell Activity– In analyzing an audience, one important consideration

is the audience’s cultural background. Many factors shape cultural backgrounds. List at least 5 factors that shape a persons cultural background.

– Name at least one good thing that happened to you this weekend.

Culture and Communication

Business Management

Culture and Communication

• Factors– Region of the country or world where raised– Region of the country or world where the parents or

grandparents were raised– Religion– Race– Gender– Age– Level of education– Workplace and type of job– Economic situation

Culture and Communication

• Culture influences a persons life– Ways of celebrating holidays and other special

occasions– Attitudes about work and school– Attitudes about roles of men and women– Reactions to technology– Feelings about personal space– Use of body language– Style of communications

Idioms

• Phrases, or sentences that cannot be understood literally.

• A phrase or sentence of this type is said to be idiomatic.

• Using idioms with audiences with different cultural backgrounds can lead to misunderstanding

Idioms

• Consider how the word fall changes meaning in the following expressions:– fall apart– fall asleep– fall back– fall down on the job– fall in love– fall off

Idioms

• Explain how a person who learned English from a textbook might interpret the following idiomatic sentences:

– Larry dug up a date for the wedding.– The convertible cut me off just before the exit.– I am crazy abort chocolate.– Sean aced the test without cracking a book.– The old heap broke down in the middle of the desert.

Idioms

• In your group, list five common idioms that you use in your conversation. Explain how the same person (English as a second language) might interpret your words.

Interesting Facts

• If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing percentages remaining the same there would be:– 60 Asians– 12 Europeans– 15 from the Western Hemisphere– 13 Africans

Interesting Facts

– 50 would be female– 50 would be male– 80 would be non-white– 20 would be white– 67 would be non-Christian– 33 would be Christian

Interesting Facts

– 20 people would earn 89% of the entire world's wealth– 25 would live in substandard housing– 17 would be unable to read– 13 would suffer from malnutrition– 1 would die within the year– 2 would give birth within the year– 2 would have a college education– 4 would own a computer

Dialect

• A dialect is a style of language that is distinctive to a particular region– mulligrubs – neb-nose – alamagoozlum– chizzywink– Juneteenth – noshery – bizmaroon – faunch – lanai – Oklahoma rain

Culture Differences around the World

• Signal for “no”• U.S. & Canada shake heads back and

forth• Bulgaria nod up and down• Japan move their right hand• Sicily raise their chin•  

Culture Differences around the World

• Eye contact• U.S. - avoiding eye contact is evasive and

dishonest• Latin America - keeping eyes lowered is a sign

of respect• Asia “ “• Native Americans - a child maintaining eye

contact with an adult is disrespectful

Culture Differences around the World

• Miscellaneous• Exposing the sole of your shoe is offering a grave

insult in Egypt• In Arab countries it’s impolite to take gifts to a

man’s wife, but acceptable to take gifts to his children

• In Germany giving a woman a red rose is considered a romantic invitation—inappropriate if you are trying to establish a business relationship with her.

Culture Differences around the World

• In some countries companies are expected to pay government official extra fees for approving government contracts. These payments aren’t illegal or unethical; they are routine. However, the same payments are seen as bribes in the US, Sweden, and many other countries, where they are both unethical and illegal.

• In the United Kingdom and the US, someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but in Mexico and Turkey, someone is presumed guilty until proven innocent

• .