Intercultural Commnunication
Byeun Hye Won (Christina Byeun)
12S1070
METH, G2
June, 7, 2012
Final Essay
Imagine! You are studying English and meet a western guy in the subway. You want to talk to him and ask some questions like “where are you come from?”, “How old are you?”, “Are you married?”, “What is your job?” etc. Gradually his face grows grim and he leaves. You might think he is so rude. However, is this because of him? What make him so angry? The answer is an understanding of other cultures. Most Koreans think these questions are needed when they become friends with a person who meet for the first time but it is different in western countries. Many people do not understand the reason why they have to learn other country’s culture when they learn other language. If I did not learn ICC, I also might think that the culture and language are independent of each other. However, I have concluded this semester successfully and realized sever things were learned from the Cultural Informant Report, which in turn also made me reflect on my own intercultural competence and communication, as well as on how important intercultural concepts are in language education.
First, I learned the modern technology has an influence on overcoming culture shock from the informant who came from Chile to Korea about one year ago. He has lots of experienced in living other countries such South Africa, Italy, Hong Kong, etc because his father is a diplomat. However, he does not want to learn other country’s language even though he has trouble in communication. Instead of learning language, he uses a smart phone as a translator. Learning language is helpful for people can adjust to a foreign country easier. However, this is also can be a stereotype. Like the informant, we can use modern technology and it allows us to adjust other country by feeling less stress. Moreover, he likely to think he do not need to adapt Korean culture because he might be a minimization stage. Therefore he said when he has a
12S1070
METH, G2
June, 7, 2012
Final Essay
Imagine! You are studying English and meet a western guy in the subway. You want to talk to him and ask some questions like “where are you come from?”, “How old are you?”, “Are you married?”, “What is your job?” etc. Gradually his face grows grim and he leaves. You might think he is so rude. However, is this because of him? What make him so angry? The answer is an understanding of other cultures. Most Koreans think these questions are needed when they become friends with a person who meet for the first time but it is different in western countries. Many people do not understand the reason why they have to learn other country’s culture when they learn other language. If I did not learn ICC, I also might think that the culture and language are independent of each other. However, I have concluded this semester successfully and realized sever things were learned from the Cultural Informant Report, which in turn also made me reflect on my own intercultural competence and communication, as well as on how important intercultural concepts are in language education.
First, I learned the modern technology has an influence on overcoming culture shock from the informant who came from Chile to Korea about one year ago. He has lots of experienced in living other countries such South Africa, Italy, Hong Kong, etc because his father is a diplomat. However, he does not want to learn other country’s language even though he has trouble in communication. Instead of learning language, he uses a smart phone as a translator. Learning language is helpful for people can adjust to a foreign country easier. However, this is also can be a stereotype. Like the informant, we can use modern technology and it allows us to adjust other country by feeling less stress. Moreover, he likely to think he do not need to adapt Korean culture because he might be a minimization stage. Therefore he said when he has a