- Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures? If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently?
Yes, I find that whenever I am in the presence of members of the dominant culture ( wealthy. powerful and influential people) I strive to ensure that my speech is perfectly structured. I do this because I think that they are perfect and I do not want to appear lesser than them in anyway.I also find that when I communicate with my peers and younger groups of people I am my speech is more casual, because I have found that younger people respond better to casual rather than formal speech especially in informal settings. I have come to realise that we are great actors in life and so we adjust to suit the occasion and the circumstance.The way we communicate is also affected by the way we perceive things to be.
Since I have started this course, I have learned that the different language we use in different relationships is often affected by unique communication climates. O'Hair and Wiemann (2012) talk about language reflecting context. In other words we use language that suits the people we are around, where we are, our cultural context and our experiences with language. We find the most suitable language to meet the demands of a given relationship, situation, or cultural environment.
Great Post! I liked the part of your post where you stated we are great actors. I never looked at communication in that way, but I agree with you. Thinking about myself and others I know, we really do act differently depending on the environment and the people we are around. Even when we are teaching, we act for our students. I was told my first year of teaching that pretend I am in a movie and I am the lead actress. We need to put on a show for your students. We need to be entertaining enough to keep them engaged. Therefore, we may have to act out of character just when we are teaching for our students. Thanks for opening my eyes to a new way of looking at communication and how we are similar to actors and actresses.
ReplyDeleteHi Nicola,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we all can be actors. It depends on who we are communicating with. Speech and conversation are different with different groups of people, and I think that sometimes it is the way things have to be. As long as we learn to communicate effectively with people across groups and cultures and remain culturally appropriate, I think that good communication can still be achieved. Thanks for sharing.