Intercultural knowledge and competence

The world around us continues to grow and change. In order to communicate with the diverse people from different cultures in the expanding global environment, we need to understand and deal with our own perceptions and sense of self. Friendship is a very important arena for this kind of intercultural exchange.
The Assignment
Review the concepts you have learned about Interpersonal Communication, Identity, Perceptions, Verba/Non-Verbal Communication, Mindful Listening, Managing Emotions, Communication Climate, and Managing Conflict in Chapters 1 through 9 in the Wood (2020) textbook. Review the concepts you learned about global and intercultural communication in chapter 14 of the Public Speaking Project (http://publicspeakingproject.org/PDF%20Files/global%20web%201.pdf) (Opens in a new window).

Now, choose a particular culture in the world whose members have very different perceptions about identity and effective communication than your own perceptions about identity and effective communication. Do some research to learn more about this one particular culture and the norms that shape its forms and expressions of communication, identity, and perception. Apply key concepts about friendship from Chapter 10, and key concepts about communication from Chapters 1 – 9 to explain how you would participate in a healthy and positive friendship with a person from this different culture. You may use an actual friendship in your life, or you may answer this prompt hypothetically (in other words: imagine that you had a friendship with a person from this different culture.)

Draft a well-organized five-paragraph essay (one Introduction Paragraph, three Body Paragraphs, and one Conclusion Paragraph) that declares a thesis statement and clearly answers the following prompts:

Compare and contrast your own perceptions of identity and effective communication with the perceptions of identity and effective communication often held by people in this other cultural group that you have chosen

Explain how you would adjust your own perceptions and sense of identity and effective communication in order to include this person in your own life as a friend. What are some things you would do (concepts that you would apply) to best communicate your own ideas, wants, and needs with a person from this particular culture? What are some things you would do (concepts that you would apply) to better understand and honor your friend’s ideas, wants, and needs?

Explain why dual perspective, as described by Wood (2020, pp. 38-39) is an important part of this process for you?