Communication Across Cultures
Students develop cultural awareness by examining cultural differences and concepts that impact individuals and society.
In the Spring Semester of 2020, I completed a course entitled Communication Across Cultures. This course was completed for the requirement of my Applied Language Studies (Linguistics) concentration. However, it was also completed to fulfill a requirement for my TESL Certificate (Teaching English as a Second Language). This was a writing-intensive course that had challenged me academically, morally, and culturally. I have attached the syllabus for your viewing. Please click the document to view it in its entirety.
diversity-syllabus
As a writing-intensive course, I completed weekly writing assignments as well as two major papers. I am attaching an example of one of my weekly writing assignments. Each week, we completed required readings related to specific modules (nonverbal communication, gender, education, etc), and had to write a discussion board response in regards to each reading. All of my discussion board posts forced me to critically think about the topic at hand in comparison to my own culture. Each reading expanded my worldview by introducing me to a wide variety of cultural practices, traditions, and everyday ways of life.
The following discussion board was in response to readings about Verbal Communication in culture. Please click the document to view it in its entirety.
diversity-dbI am also attaching both of my large writing assignments for the course. Our first large writing assignment was a Case Study in which we were to interview a person who learned English as a secondary, tertiary, etc language. I asked a women I met on a book related Facebook page about her experience learning English as a German native.
diversity-case-studyI am also attaching my Ethnographic research essay. This was a semester long research project. I interviewed a Mexican native about 8 aspects of Mexican culture. I met her from the same Facebook page and grew close to her as I learned so much about her life and her worldview.
This assignment has not been submitted yet, will update upon submission.
Both my weekly assignments and my large assignments allowed me boost my written communication skills by encouraging me to critically think and explain my thoughts about difficult topics. It is not easy to digest intense cultural discussions, and the weekly discussion board posts gave me an open platform to discuss these matters with my classmates. My large writing assignments allowed me to explore these same cultural topics in a much deeper manner. I discussed 8 cultural topics with my interviewee for my ethnographic essay, and we often would compare ideals and cultural traditions, leading to a symbiotic relationship where we learned from each other over time.
This course was incredibly influential in the building of my interpersonal skills. I work as a tutor for the ODU athletic department, and many of our students are international students. The completion of this course has encouraged me to ask more questions about their culture, how they learn best, and how to be more sensitive in working with them. The skills from this course also apply greatly to my TESL certificate and there are increased professional prospects for students who have international communication experience.