"We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams."
Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the USA
This is the final blog post of my final semester in NUS.
This module has been an interesting one to end the semester with. It's taught me so much about how people interact with each other. I initially took it thinking it was a module to learn to talk to people from different "cultures" (ie. people from India, Africa,etc). I guess I was wrong, and it turns out it wasn't the focus of the module after all.
This is not to say that its a bad thing. Turns out I've managed to gain so much knowledge about the mundane things in life. So interesting to learn about speech acts, different writing styles, etc. I'd say this module managed to help me understand people and myself better. For example, after this module, I realise that I'm quite an extreme compliment rejecter and I'd reject almost all compliments directed at me.
I wish I'd taken this module sooner, but later better than never.
Here is me, saying goodbye blog, goodbye class and goodbye NUS.
The last blog entry of the semester. Can't say I'll miss it, never was much into blogs haha, I prefer forums which stimulate more interactive discussions. But a man's gotta do, what a man's gotta do for his grades:)
Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) is a recent construct. With current advances in communication technology, human beings can be connected to each other like never before. With CMC u can talk to people half the globe away as if they were nearby. This is communication on a global scale.
The whole "Internet" culture and netlingo has sprung out from this. Forums, blogs, facebook, twits can have participants all over the world. People from all over the world, from different cultures share their ideas thru a variety of social media sites. This has resulted in the creation of this new Internet culture.
This netlingo has entered into even everyday speech, and is commonly used in all forms of CMC. From the lecture, it seems that many of the stereotypes we have learnt about in cross-cultural communication (face-to-face speaking) also applies for CMC.
Perhaps netlingo might erode our original language, but honestly the effects are small. And why is it not possible to integrate netlingo into mainstream speech? After all, feminists have succeeded in putting Ms. to replace Miss.
The internet and CMC has created ways in which people can connect to each other in a way that was never possible before. A tool for learning, a tool for exchanging, a tool for interaction. It has become so easy to organise events, meetings, to connect with people and to learn about new ideas with CMC.
Internet technology is constantly evolving, and hence CMC will also evolve. For example, in the past video conferencing wasnt possible, but now it is extremely common. Advances in this field will continue to create new changes, new possibilities.
Of course it isnt all rosy, and there are cons with this new internet culture, the chief of which is internet addiction. Only time will tell if the pros outweigh the cons.
In this lesson we learnt about the differences in the use of speech and some of the behavorial differences as a result of the differing use of speech between men and women.
Much of the stereotypes that we associate with being "male" or "female" is really learnt behavior. Learnt from your gender sub-culture, the media and tradition. How much are the differences in the way we use speech. Or at least that's what advocates of equality among the sexes would say. I don't buy it. Don't get me wrong, I'm no sexist, and I'm all for equality but I think God made us different for a reason. After all, the World's a more interesting place because of our uniqueness.
What I'm trying to say is biological differences do affect the way we behave. Hormones such as testosterone fuel males desire to dominate to compete. In the same way, hormones fuel females desire to nurture and to be relationship focused. Like it or not, hormones and genes affect the way we think. I mean, quite honestly, if not for hormones, why do the two sexes even bother to date each other and get married in todays society where children are no longer seen as a resource but a liability? It is this biological difference that fuels the development of the gender subcultures.
It is these differences in focus, competition focus vs relationship focus that makes the way we behave and talk so different. The structured pattern of male-male speech, the overlaps and informality in female-female speech all spring out from this difference in focus.
However, just like u can learn another nation's culture and become a part of that culture, males and females can swap roles by learning about each other's "cultures". Today, the lines between genders are blurring? Why? Feminism and advocates of equality have resulted in greater respect of women among men. Resulting in absorption of each others cultures.
Gender identity is picked up from a very young age.Thanks to the media?
In this lecture, we learnt about politeness strategies used by people. Human beings are social creatures, and to live in society, certain unwritten rules are followed in our interactions with each other in order to maintain harmonious relationships. We also learnt about politeness maxims and negative and positive politeness strategies.
This lecture helped me to take a greater notice on my interactions with my friends. The kind of politeness strategies that I tend to use with my interactions with them. I realise that for close friends, I tended to use positive politeness strategies, knowing that such strategies would gain a better response. I know that close friends would have more to "lose" for rejecting me, so positive strategies work. Whereas for friends who are are not so close, I would use negative strategies for fear of imposing them.
So I guess the researchers Brown and Levinson were really right about the kind of politeness strategies we use.
So as always politeness is all usually about trying to reduce imposition on the other party (you being unselfish) or appealing to the other party's sense of solidarity (to be part of a bigger group, appealing to the other party's need to be "unselfish")
This lecture, we did a quick study on how different cultures diifer from each other. Cultures differ from each other on many dimensions. Differing perceptions of masculinity and feminity, power, time, risks and uncertainty, whether the culture is individualistic or collectivist, time sensitivity and whether the culture is high context or low context.
These differences between cultures create the unique cultures we have in our world today! What might be seen as normal and perfectly all right in one culture might be totally taboo and unthinkable in another! It is important that before interacting with people from other cultures, care must be taken to learn the norms of another culture and not be offended or offend!
This reminds me of an experience I had recently where I interviewed a CEO a company as part of my project in another module. He was an American. Now American culture is low power distance culture and does not put much weight to heirachy. Me and my team were all prepared for a formal discussion and to adress him respectfully as "Sir" so as to give a good impression, that he might be more willing to answer our questions. This is Singaporean culture. Singapore is a heirachal society where people in high positions must be respected. But the instant we entered the office we were blown away by his friendliness. He told us to call him by his first name and hurried about making sure we were comfortable, eager to shake out hands and with a warm open smile all the time. And the only thing I thought was "Wow".
In todays globalising society, we might often find ourselves working with people from different cultures. We must remember to respect their differences and appreciate these differences that make us unique rather than take offense at them! If I ever work in the Philipines or Thailand, I'd probably have to get used to my colleagues coming late, last minute cancellations of business-meetings, etc. A time-sensitive Singaporean person like me would probably find it tough initially, but hey, at least I know what makes them tick now:)
So we studied about how writing styles differ across cultures. And what an interesting lesson it was! This lesson made me wish I took this module semesters earlier. Why so?
In NUS, we actually have many non-Singaporean students in our classes. Me, being in the School of Computing often find myself having to work with students from China and India in my projects. For projects, we are usually required to write Reports and Proposals (yes, even in SoC) and usually, I'm tasked to be the "compiler" of the report (this is usually because by SoC standards, I'm considered to have a good command of English. but i know im crap when compared to all the arts students in class). My task is mainly to put everyone's parts together and compile it into a single coherent report.
And I say, what a frustrating task it usually is. I usually can't understand what the hell the foreign students are writing and sometimes it's not just the bad grammar, but the whole way the essay is structured. I always wondered why this was the case. Initially I was quite fed-up with it, but I came to terms with it eventually.
And then boom! This lesson explained everything! Now I know the reason it was so hard to understand the foreign students writings! Non-native English writers from different cultures write things differently!
The Oriental way of writing is so fundamentally different from the English way that even when translated, the script is hard to understand when judged with English standards (which Singaporeans are trained to write with). But it really is very interesting in its own way. English-writers might complain that Chinese writing is so "confusing", while Chinese-writers might complain that English writing is shallow. So who is right? Nobody!
The world is different and that's why it's a fun place to be! Calling English-writing the linear and straight way might be a sign of ethno-centricity. So let's try not to fall into the trap of being enthno-centric, like I once did. But to engage an open mind, accepting all different forms of writing, taking the effort to understand it.
In our daily conversations, be it on the phone or in-person, we actually mutter many listener responses. And the way we respond is actually greatly affected by culture. It's very interesting to know that even the way we "listen" differs across cultures.
An interesting example would have been the Japanese listener vs the American listener. It is part of Japanese culture to utter many listener responses to show that you understand and are following the speaker. Whereas this does not hold true in America. So an American peaking to a Japanese might actually get annoyed by being interrupted with the Japanese's constant string of "Hais/Yes". But if the Japanese was speaking, he would wonder why the American was so silent and think that the American was not following the conversation.
Even the way we write our narratives and the things we focus on(in the narratives) differ across cultures. It makes me think that the way we are brought and the environment we live in can have such a profound impact on the way we think and perceive the world. For example, Western narratives tend to focus heavily on their characters, making me think that their culture is perhaps more focused on the individual. In another case, Chinese narratives also tend to be more "philosophical" then Western ones, always attaching a "moral" to their stories.
All in all, studying these differences makes me realise that even in the mundane things, we, the People of the Earth can be so different!
It's been quite a few weeks since I've blogged about this module, what with many assignments due and the Chinese New Year to boot, I've been really busy.
So a few weeks ago I learnt about speech events and how almost all "events" whether formal or informal are governed by rules determined by cultural norms. And my, it was amusing to learn so much about how different cultures react and speak differently to the same event. And the New Year was a good way to start investigating this. I never really thought about it, but I realised that there are certain very strict rules that we follow upon visiting a relative's home for the New Year. For example, upon entering, you must find the oldest member of the household and greet him/her with a "Gong Xi Fa Cai".
We studied many other events during the class. The most interesting situation I studied, is when Chinese politely decline dinner invitations in an attempt to be considerate, whereas in American culture, people would accept to be polite. (I've actually talked a Norweigan guy about this, and he said that Scandinavians actually behave more like Chinese in this respect than Americans, though American culture is starting to pervade into almost all societies. The younger generation of many societies actually subscribe more to American norms than their own cultural norms at times)
I've never realised that all our daily mundane events in our lives which involve communication are governed by so many rules. Deviation from these rules might make you look really out of place, or worse, cause people to misunderstand you, or even take offense at your behavior! This bears careful consideration, especially if you are going to spend extended periods overseas or when dealing with people from other cultures!
I chose to study this module because I meet International Students regularly as part of a society I am in. (Partially because there is no exam too!) The module calls for blogging as part of the cirriculum and so here, I am, with my first blog. I don't believe in creating blogs, being a person who likes to keep his thoughts private, but I guess I've gotta make an exception for my thoughts with this module, which is no problem, since this is for academic purposes.
So the first two lectures have been over, the first lecture was a simple course introduction, but in the recent one, we learnt about Speech Acts.
So what exactly are Speech Acts? Speech acts are utterances conceived as an act by which the speaker does something. The act of inviting, rejecting, commanding, promising, apologizing, etc. all constitute as speech acts.
There are 3 different types of research related to speech acts. Cross-cultural variation is the differences in speech acts across culture, interlanguage variation is the differences in the use of the same language due to differences in skill with the language and sociopragmatic variation is in how social factors affect speech acts.
Learning about the differences in speech acts due to differences in culture and social factors was quite an eye-opener. It really reminded me to be more sensitive when speaking to people from different cultures, as one thing can mean another to people from different cultures. The example that was given about how a Chinese tour guide who was being complimented by the American tourist was truly hilarious. In the example, a Chinese tour guide is told by the American tourist that "You are beautiful", fully expecting her to say "Thank You" and accept the compliment, the tour guide instead answered harshly, "Where? Where?"
In many Asian cultures, compliments aren't commonplace, and even if complimented, people will usually adopt a rejecting attitude towards it. They feel that they must maintain an image of "humility" (I think it partially stems from the fact that they do not want the complimenter to think they are arrogant or proud) In Western culture, the tendency is to accept the compliment, they would rather Accept the compliment as it is easier to accept than reject, and Agreement is better than Disagreeing.
Even more interesting are the people of the Middle East who like most Asians, adopt the humble approach, but their poetic replies are certainly interesting to people unused to it!
This makes me think back on times when I have interacted with people from different cultures. In Singapore, we are used to talking extremely briefly and speaking in short sentences. In Singapore short sentences and questions are the norm. Like example "''xcuse me", or "Where is ....?". No please, and even thanks are uttered in a hurried manner. Some friends of mine (non-Singaporeans) have mentioned how rude they felt Singaporeans were, until they realised it was part of our culture to speak like this. (I admit, they accused me of talking like this to them too, haha! I'm trying to learn now to be more culturally sensitive)
A hilarious cultural misunderstanding due to interlanguage variations.A little offensive content,u have been warned!
In some cultures, age plays a big role in affecting speech acts. Some cultures pay great respect to older people, and speech will always be extra polite to seniors. In Japan, for instance. Others, such as America do not believe in heirachies at all, and well, they will cut straight to the point, even talking to superiors. A possible situation where this might be an issue is when an American employee for a Japanse company, Toyata for instance speaks to his Japanese boss, as if to an equal, as is common in America, the boss would be mighty offended! Gender, social distance, etc all might also affect speech acts. The list goes on!
So we know how a person uses Speech to do something depends heavily on that individual's culture. Learning to Understand another culture's Speech Acts begins with understanding the culture itself.
Many of the people of different ethnicity who haved lived in Singapore for years, have become "Singaporeanized", and we now share a similar culture and identity and that is to be : Singaporean. I can tell you, the way I talk and perform my speech acts as a Singaporean Chinese is probably a lot closer to a Singaporean Indian than a Chinese person from China or Australia. However, the great numbers of expatriats we have living here also mean that we, as Singaporeans should try to understand the cultures of other races, so that awkward situations do not happen, and we can continue to live together harmoniously!
