Culture is the shared assumptions, values, and beliefs of a group of people which result in characteristic behaviors (Craig Storti, 1999)
What we do and say are not arbitrary or spontaneous.
Culture proscribes our: Notions of politeness and appropriateness Language Foods, music, danceHOWEVER, people are individuals and therefore
there is a great deal of diversity within cultures
Universal :◦We all eat◦We all want to be treated with respect
Cultural:◦What we prefer to eat ◦What is considered respectful
Personal:◦ How much we eat◦ Choosing to be respectful or not
Leaving school or work to attend the wedding of a distant cousin
Centrality of the family---------Centrality of work
Agreeing to a suggestion you think is wrong
Being direct---------------------Being indirect
Visiting offices in groups to solve a problem
Individualistic------------------Collective
Not speaking in class
Formal -------------------informal culture
Asking students to call you by your first name
Deference to authority-----------Egalitarian
Accepting, without question, that something cannot be changed
Fatalism----------------------Determinism
Exceptions to rules should be very rare, otherwise you open up the floodgates
Particularist--------------------Universalist
Having no anxiety about arriving late to an appointment
Monochronic-------------------Polychronic
Example: Student: I have some questionsJuanita: Okay, fire away
Example:Student: So, Linda, what are you doing this
weekend?Linda: I’m getting out of Dodge.
Exercise: What’s your idiom?
Let your hair down Show your true colors Once in a blue moon Under the weather The bottom line Throw in the towel
Strike while the iron is hotRaining cats and dogsPiece of cakeTwo-facedSleep tightFeather in your capWith flying colors
Different strokes for different folks◦ Different rules for international students
How will you modify your communication to be understood by international students?