Language Barriers

I found the section of the book and culture and language style to be extremely interesting. It reminds us that it's more than just a difference in language but it's also in the meanings behind the words themselves that lend to the creation of culture barriers. Not everything translates directly from one language to another, but it's important to remember that it's more than just the words themselves that convey meaning. I think it is important how the book goes into how culture affects our communication patterns, both verbally and nonverbally. It covers what we do, how we use, and our shared understandings of communication through culture, including even the forms of speech we use and how they are valued.
I remember this being one of the hardest parts of language study. I could learn and remember the meanings of words, the ones that directly translated across anyway, what I found myself having a hard time with was the ways in which the link which is used the words in context. Once I was able to understand the style of the language it was easier to actually learn the language itself. Remembering and beginning to understand these nuances between languages is a key contributor in successful cross-cultural interaction.

Rationality, Perfectibility, and Mutability Premises

As much as I would like to deny that my basic belief system and that of our country can be so easily summed up by three basic beliefs I have to agree that the basis of our society are mostly centered around the premises of rationality, perfectibility, and mutuality. The rationality premise that most people are capable of discovering the truth through logical analysis is firmly rooted in our judicial system, especially since in our society ignorance is not a defense. We do not rule that just because you weren’t aware of knowledgeable of a law that you are freed of the consequence in breaking it. The mutability premise is exhibited through our educational systems and by how we as a society generally value a college degree over experience. The perfectibility premise, however, is the one I have the most issue with but at its core logic I would have to agree that people are judged in society based upon their deeds. We prove ourselves to be good by preforming and presenting ourselves in ways that are considered to be social good and acceptable. In most cases as a society we do not assume that are people are good unless they prove otherwise. We tend to be much more guarded and cautious. Not that this response to our society is necessarily unfounded, but it does differ from other cultural beliefs in other societies.

Cultural Limitations

In many ways I do agree that we are “creatures of our culture.” Realistically, we are influenced from birth by our surroundings. We learn to speak by imitating those that we hear around us. These early interacts make up our culture and shape our actions and communication patterns from an early age.  As we continue to grow and learn we absorb the information presented and begin to shape our beliefs off of the world around us. Our knowledge base tends to be limited by the opportunities that are presented to us along the way. If a person were to grow up in a small town with no access to information outside of that culture they would not know anything else and their belief system would be based on those around them. We break through these limitations by actively seeking out other cultural beliefs and knowledge to expand our horizons and challenge our beliefs with new found information. By opening ourselves up to different ways of thinking and culture we allow ourselves to expand and adapt our habits and beliefs counteracting the limited knowledge of our immediate surrounds.

Paralinguistics

I found the section on paralinguistics to be very intriguing. I think it may be one area of communication that is often taken for granted and often over looked. Because just as the delivery in a speech is important, so too are the characteristics in our everyday conversations. It’s important to remember that the way in which we vocalize our thoughts are of equal importance as the words in which we use to organize them. For instance, a sentence will take on different meanings depending on which words we choose to emphasize. Paralinguistics also accounts for the tone of voice that is used, as well as the pitch of a person’s voice. These often indicate the emotion behind the meaning of a sentence or illuminate the mood a person was in when the thought was vocalized. So many of these things seem to be overlooked but weigh heavily in our judgments and perceptions during the course of a conversation.

Gestures

There are many differences between nonverbal gestures in the United States and those in other countries. For instance, in most Asian cultures pointing with one finger is considered to be disrespectful and they normally will gesture with their entire hand to bring attention to an item. Most Asian cultures also regard the touching of another person’s head to be highly inappropriate as the head is considered to be a sacred part of the body. I hadn’t really thought about it much but we do have a tendency to lightly pat small children on the head or play with their hair as sign of friendliness or affection.  This would be considered highly inappropriate and very disrespectful. There is also a difference in how eye contact is viewed between cultures. Here direct eye contact is normally regarded as honesty or attentiveness, but in many places around the world direct eye contact is considered to be rude or aggressive. In some Middle Eastern cultures direct eye contact between opposite genders is even considered to be a sign of sexual interest.

Body Language

Nonverbal communication can often be difficult to interpret. As much as there are general guidelines or expected responses to give you clues as to what a person’s body language may be conveying it can often be misconstrued. I have found this to be the case more often in today’s society as we have become increasingly reliant on technology because a smaller percentage of our social interactions take place in person.

I, myself, tend to be socially awkward in many social situations which has led to being diagnosed with social anxiety disorder in my later teen years and has haunted me into my adult life. Due to this I spend more time “people watching” at social occasions then I do participating in conversation. In my experience I have noticed that a lot of body language depends on personality. Many times I have mistaken shy behaviors as negative nonverbal communication. Such as when a person looks down a lot while speaking can be construed as being untruthful, but too much direct eye contact can be construed as a sign of aggression. I think it’s best to remember that nonverbal communication is an extension of a person’s personality and as such should not be taken at face value because it can be just as complex.