Johanna Marie Nickas's Point Of View On Chapter 3,9,10.
My impression about Speech Class on the second day of Spring semester was "We have a project on the second day of class?" Our Teacher said, we need two leaders for the class and to raise your hand. So another student and I were selected. For our luck we did not have to present the chapters we read unlike the other students. All the presentations were well done and very informative. I was very happy that the presentations went smoothly. The Powerpoint Presentation that I got a lot of information from was Chapter 3 which was Intercultural Communication and Chapter 10 Problem Solving and Leadership. All we had to do was give an introduction and a conclusion for the three chapters discussed.
What I have learned from Chapter 3, Intercultural Communication, is that Intercultural Communication refers to the interactions that occur between people whose cultures are so very different that communication between them is challenging. Communication is key to being successful in a person's life or in a job or anything you do in life. Sometimes the language barrier is an issue, imagine all the other factors combined. Miami Dade Hialeah Campus has students and teachers from all cultural backgrounds and heritage such as Colombian , American , African, Haitian , Jamaican and Cuban. The language barrier is an issue because sometimes people in stores only speak English and not Spanish and sometimes people in stores only know how to speak Spanish and not speak english. For example, when I go to stores with my grandmother and she asks for something in Spanish they do not understand her so I have to ask for the same thing in English.
Different countries have different cultures, each unique in its own way. However, the one way of cultures coming together and learning about each other is "dinner". A big part of communication is performed during the culturally based dining rituals. For example: Japanese people have dinner sitting on the floor at a really low table. They sit on cushions and bow before starting dinner. In Morocco, they eat about five times a day. Breakfast, midmorning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack and dinner. Their tradition is to eat with your hands. The Colombian dining ritual is that Colombians do not switch knives and forks while eating. The Greek dining ritual is to cross your knife and fork when you are done eating. I would recommend that we do our research before visiting a different country and find out their dining rituals before making a fool of ourselves. Culture shock will settle in when you have no clue of what is going on. I remember President Obama wanting to shake the hand of Queen Elizabeth when he first met her. If someone would have told him. You are not supposed to touch royalty!! The US had not been embarrassed with the incident.
It gives me "anxiety" just thinking about the many topics we covered in chapter 3. Topics like, race, ethnicity, religion, age generation, etc. The age generation gave me a chance to understand the reasons why there is a gap between the years and the generations. Each has a specific characteristic that makes them special. Baby boomers, questioning authority and opening businesses. Generation X is self-sufficient and adaptable. Millennials, always with a computer at hand. Generation Z, those that live and breath the internet. This chapter was eye opening.
Chapter 9 is all about communicating in groups and this is basically what we do all the time during class and after class. The class is divided into three groups to speak about the different topics. We can say we are social groups, support groups, interest groups, and mainly virtual groups. A social group is composed of a group of people who genuinely care about each other and their welfare and spending time together. An example of a social group is Cafe Cultura where students spend time every Friday afternoon to make a magazine for the Hialeah campus and it is held by two professors. The magazine is all about culture and the mix of culture at Hialeah Campus.
The pandemic has forced a lot of people to communicate virtually. The different apps we use for communicating in groups are Whats app, Instagram, Meta, Twitter,Tick Tock, Text Messaging, Blogs. My favorite social communication app is Instagram because you can communicate with friends and family that do not live around your area or in your state anymore. In some instances, I don't find it personable resulting in a lack of verbal and nonverbal cues. Not being able to see the person on the other side can result in participants finding other visual aids or help in order to compensate for the verbal and non verbal messages. We have to resort to group cohesiveness to engage and encourage team building for people to communicate effectively.
Leadership is part of Chapter 10. Leadership is the process of influencing a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. In the virtual world, the leader has to come up with ways to guide those individuals, build a cohesive team, help them grow, practice problem solving and achieve common goals. These groups help people with common interests gather and share information. Bonds people together. The pandemic has also taught us to look after each other in the most particular ways. Service groups have helped people overcome very difficult situations, natural disasters and have pulled us together as a community. An example of leadership was when I had to present a poem for The Holocaust Memorial Event which gives more of a chance to break out of shell and become confident. This class has given me the chance to be a class leader, the chance to understand the importance of voicing out your thoughts and opinions. I have learned to work with virtual groups and in a way I had not done before through task roles. I would recommend students to take this class. It will help you come out of your shell. I am thankful for the opportunity and hope to do it again soon !!!
Great!! Excellent post!
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