Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
Chapter 1: Defining Culture and Communication
Test Bank
Multiple Choice
1. Research on genetic material has shown that ______.
A. humans alive today descended from different groups from different continents
B. humans alive today share ancestry from one group in Africa
C. humans alive today share ancestry from one group in Europe
D. ancestry of humans can only be studied for existing groups
2. Diverse cultures developed due to which of the following?
A. immigration out of Asia
B. development of common social network regulators
C. development of diverse sets of beliefs
D. divergence from a common global language
3. The totality of a group’s thought, experiences, and patterns of behavior developed
over the course of generations is part of a definition of ______.
A. cultural identity
B. culture
C. religion
D. race
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
4. One’s identification with and perceived acceptance into a group that has a shared
system of symbols, meanings, and norms is ______.
A. cultural identity
B. culture
C. religion
D. race
5. In Hofstede’s categorization of elements of culture, a country’s Independence Day
parades would be an example of a ______.
A. hero
B. ritual
C. symbol
D. value
Difficulty Level: Hard
6. What do Catalan demands for independence from Spain demonstrate?
A. The Catalan population is large enough to be self-sustaining.
B. Arbitrarily drawn political boundaries do not reflect people’s identities.
C. Some feelings are not open for discussion within a culture.
D. Thoughts and behaviors are transmitted from generation to generation.
7. What type of caste system exists in India?
A. a class system based on relationship to the means of production
B. a class system based on economic position in society
C. a hereditary class system
D. a linear class system
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
8. Which of the following is true of the biological perspective on race?
A. It shows that skin color alone does not define race.
B. It has led to ordering races from most primitive to most advanced.
C. It explains how racial categories have varied across time, between cultures.
D. It has demonstrated that there is no single race-defining gene.
9. Michael Omi’s statement that “You can be born one race and die another” is
consistent with which perspective on race?
A. biological
B. cultural
C. scientific
D. sociohistorical
Difficulty Level: Hard
10. In the 19th century, the term culture was commonly used as a synonym for ______.
A. historical civilizations
B. Eastern civilization
C. all civilizations
D. Western civilization
11. To prove entitlement to the land, fisheries quota, shares, and cash that are being
returned to Māori in compensation for successive Crown breaches a person must
______.
A. be a “pure–blooded” Māori
B. trace heritage back to the 1848 census
C. be able to speak Māori
D. elect to be considered Māori
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
12. How many distinct nations exist within the borders of the United States?
A. 1
B. 567
C. 5
D. 155
13. Confucius taught that society is made up of five relationships, including which of the
following?
A. grandparent and grandchild
B. father and son
C. uncle and nephew
D. mother and daughter
14. Which of the following is true of Berlo’s model of communication?
A. Berlo was interested in using communication to create relationships.
B. Berlo emphasized that communication is a linear process.
C. Berlo drew from engineering to conceptualize communication.
D. It is the only model of communication.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
15. In 2017, the use of English for Internet content was approximately ______.
A. 92%
B. 72%
C. 52%
D. 32%
16. For how many languages does Google Translate provide text translations?
A. 30
B. more than 100
C. fewer than 10
D. 50
17. Schmid-Isler compared Western and Chinese Internet news sites and found a
difference in layout that is attributed to ______.
A. culturally influenced perceptions of information storage and display
B. symbol differences in both written and spoken language
C. the culturally specific Internet browser used
D. values of what is considered to be socially polite
True/False
1. Neuroscientist Antonio Damasio contends that our world is so complex that cultures
developed to regulate life so that we could survive.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
2. While Western cultures, beginning with ancient Greece, believed that their own way
of life was superior, imperial China did not.
3. In Hofstede’s categorization of elements of culture, symbols refer to the socially
essential activities within a culture.
4. Cultural identity refers to the identification with and perceived acceptance into a
group that has a shared system of symbols and means as well as norms for conduct.
5. As the Treaty of Waitangi was recorded in both Māori and in English, there have
been few misunderstandings about governance and sovereignty in New
Zealand.
6. One study of English and French speakers in Quebec found that interethnic
communicators limited their interaction to superficial encounters.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
Difficulty Level: Medium
7. The term “coculture” is used to emphasize that we are all members of multiple
groups.
8. The Employment Division of Oregon v. Smith decision has been used to limit
religious expression in the United States.
9. Subgroups are like cultures in that they have an important influence on the values
and attitudes you hold.
10. New research has identified a single race-defining gene.
11. Most scientists have abandoned the concept of biological race as a meaningful
concept.
12. Communication and culture should be studied separately.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
13. Culture is a code we learn and share, and learning and sharing require
communication.
14. Among the five effects June Yum describes that Confucianism has on interpersonal
communication is the use of intermediaries or third parties to avoid direct
confrontation.
15. Korean has special vocabularies for each sex, for different degrees of social status
and degrees of intimacy, and for formal occasions.
16. The Chinese concept of guanxi is best translated as the “connections” one has.
17. In all communication models, the role of the communication receiver is passive.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
Short Answer
1. According to Sir David Cannadine (2013), there are six main forms of regulators of
social networks of human life: religion, nation, class, gender, race, and ______.
2. ______ is the oldest source of human identity and conflict.
3. The Crusades of the 11th to 13th centuries of the Christians against the Muslims, the
16th century Wars of Succession between Roman Catholics and Protestants, and the
1990s war in former Yugoslavia, divided along Orthodox, Catholic, and Muslim lines,
are examples of ______.
4. The ______ may be the most significant political creation of modern times.
5. ______ are an element of culture referring to verbal and nonverbal language.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
Difficulty Level: Easy
6. ______ are real or imaginary people who serve as behavior models within a culture.
7. ______ has been traditionally defined as a position in a society’s hierarchy based on
income, education, occupation, or neighborhood.
8. ______ refers to the identification with and perceived acceptance into a group that
has a shared system of symbols and meanings as well as norms for conduct.
9. ______ is considered by many notable feminists as more significant in shaping
identity than religion, nation, or class.
10. ______ has been defined from two perspectives: biological and sociohistorical.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
11. The notion that because the meaning of race has been debated in societies, and as
a consequence, new categories have been formed and others transformed, is a part of
the ______ perspective on race.
12. Subcultures exist within dominant cultures and are often based on geographic
region, ______, or economic or social class.
13. ______ suggests that no one culture is inherently superior to the other coexisting
culture; however, mutuality may not be easily established.
14. ______ exist within a dominant culture and are dependent on that culture.
15. In a Western perspective, ______ is one-way, top-down, and suited for the
transmission media.
Difficulty Level: Medium
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
16. The country with both the most landline users and cell phone users is ______.
17. The country with the second largest number of cell phone users is ______.
18. If a telephone is answered with the phrase “Moshi moshi,” the person is most likely
in ______.
19. What is most commonly called text messaging in the United States, the United
Kingdom, and the Philippines is more likely to be known as ______ elsewhere.
20. The country with the most Internet users is ______.
Essay
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
1. Discuss how diverse cultures have developed in spite of a common human ancestry.
2. Discuss the statement by Damasio Antonio (2010) that our world, our environment is
so complex and so varied on the planet that diverse social networks developed to
regulate life so that we could survive.
3. Discuss how religion can be a regulator of how we live our lives.
4. Discuss how the nation-state can be a regulator of human life.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
Difficulty Level: Easy
5. Discuss how class can be a regulator of human life.
6. Discuss how gender can be a regulator of human life.
7. Discuss how race and skin color have operated as regulators of human life.
8. Discuss how civilization has operated as a regulator of human life.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
9. Discuss the concept of cultures within cultures.
10. Discuss how definitions of communication are cultural.
11. Discuss the implications of the change in the use of the term culture from a
synonym for Western civilization to a recognition of multiple cultures.
12. Give examples of your country’s heroes, rituals, symbols, and values.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
13. What are the implications of the different ways of determining who is Māori?
14. Compare and contrast the following terms: culture, subculture, coculture, and
subgroup.
15. Discuss the implications of changing definitions of the term race.
16. Describe the meaning of the term cultural identity.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018
17. Describe the effects of Confucian thought on communication.
18. Discuss how the telephone has served as a medium of intercultural communication.
19. Discuss how the Internet serves as a medium of intercultural communication.
20. Discuss how social media serve as a medium of intercultural communication.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publications, 2018