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Chapter 1: Studying Intercultural Communication

Chapter 1

Studying Intercultural Communication

Study Objectives

After studying the material in this chapter, students should be able to accomplish the following

objectives.

1. Describe the peace imperative for studying intercultural communication.

2. Identify and describe the economic and technological imperatives for studying intercultural

communication.

3. Describe how the changing demographics in the United States and the changing worldwide

immigration patterns affect intercultural communication.

4. Explain how studying intercultural communication can lead to increased self-

understanding.

5. Understand the difference between a universalistic and relativist approach to the study of

ethics and intercultural communication.

6. Identify and describe characteristics of an ethical student of culture.

Key Terms

• Assimilable

• Class structure

• Cosmopolitans

• Cross-cultural trainers

• Demographics

• Diversity

• Enclaves

• Ethics

• Globalization

• Heterogeneous

• Immigration

• Maquiladoras

• Melting pot metaphor

• Relativist position

• Self-awareness

• Self-reflexivity

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• Universalist position

Detailed Chapter Outline

I. Introduction

A child born today will be faced as an adult, almost daily, with problems of a global

interdependent nature, be it peace, food, the quality of life, inflation, or scarcity of resources.

He/she will be both an actor and a beneficiary or a victim in the total world fabric, and may

rightly ask: “Why was I not warned? Why was I not better educated? Why did my teachers not

tell me about these problems and indicate my behavior as a member of an interdependent human

race?”

• This quote from Robert Muller, known as “the father of global education” is as relevant

today as it was 30 years ago and underscores the importance of learning about the

interdependent world people live in. In addition to peace, food, the economy, and the

quality of life identified by Muller, climate change, terrorism, conflicts around the globe

require working across cultural differences to find solutions to these complex problems.

• Economics are one important force, but there are many other reasons that people come into

intercultural contact.

o Wars or other violent conflicts drive some people to leave their homelands to seek a

safer place to live.

o Natural disasters can drive people to other areas where they can rebuild their lives.

o Some people seek a better life somewhere else, or are driven by their own curiosity

to seek out and visit other parts of the world.

o People often fall in love and build families in another country.

• There are many reasons why one might want to learn more about intercultural

communication.

o Perhaps one wants to better serve a diverse clientele in one’s chosen occupation;

perhaps members of one’s extended family are from different races or religions, or

have physical abilities that one would like to understand better.

o Perhaps one wants to better understand the culturally diverse colleagues in one’s

workplace.

o Or perhaps one wants to learn more about the people one comes into contact with

through the Internet, or to learn more about the countries and cultures that are in the

daily news.

II. The Peace Imperative

• The key issue is whether or not individuals of different genders, ages, ethnicities, races,

languages, and religions peacefully coexist on the planet. According to the Center for

Systemic Peace, while conflict between national powers has decreased, societal wars

(conflict between groups within a country) have increased.

• The current trend is toward longer, more intra-national protracted conflicts where military

or material support is supplied by foreign powers—fighting “proxy wars”—to warring

groups.

• Some conflicts have to do with economic disparities and legacies of oppression, seen in the

racial and ethnic tensions in U.S. neighborhoods and recent conflicts between law

enforcement and some Black communities.

o Communication, especially facilitated dialogue, plays a key role in the peacebuilding

process.

o People need to remember that individuals often are born into and are caught up in

conflicts that they neither started nor chose and are impacted by larger societal

forces.

III. The Economic Imperative

• One can see tremendous changes in the workplace in coming years, and knowing about

intercultural communication is strategically important for U.S. businesses in the emerging

transnational economy.

A. The Workplace

• Given the growing cultural diversity in the United States, businesses necessarily must

be more attentive to diversity issues. As the workforce becomes more diverse, many

businesses are seeking to capitalize on these differences: “Once organizations learn to

adopt an inclusive orientation in dealing with their members, this will also have a

positive impact on how they look at their customer base, how they develop products and

assess business opportunities, and how they relate to their communities.”

o Benefiting from cultural differences in the workplace involves not only working

with diverse employees and employers but also seeing new business markets,

developing new products for differing cultural contexts, and marketing products in

culturally appropriate and effective ways.

B. The Global Economy

• Businesses all around the world are continually expanding into overseas markets in a

process of globalization.

o Some economists defend globalization by saying that the losses are always offset

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by the gains in consumer prices but many workers who have lost jobs in the recent

past and seen wages stagnate aren’t so sure.

o The world economy has been volatile and seemingly shrinking in recent years.

The economic powerhouse, China, has seen disastrous economic trends with a

plummeting stock market, housing crises, and a manufacturing slowdown, and its

slowest growth since 1990.

• The point is that to compete effectively in this shrinking global market, Americans must

understand how business is conducted in other countries and how to negotiate deals that

are advantageous to the U.S. economy.

• Moving operations overseas to take advantage of lower labor costs has far-reaching

implications for corporations. One example is the maquiladoras—foreign-owned plants

that use domestic labor—just across the U.S.–Mexican border.

• To help bridge the cultural gap, many companies employ cross-cultural trainers, who

assist people going abroad by giving them information about and strategies for dealing

with cultural differences.

IV. The Technological Imperative

• Communication technology is a constant. People are linked by technology to events in the

most remote parts of the world and also to people that they may never meet face-to-face.

• It is possible not only to communicate with other people but also to develop complex

relationships with them through such technology.

A. Technology and Human Communication

• The extent of global connection and communication through social network sites is

staggering. These networking sites are often available in multiple languages and enable

users to connect with friends or people across geographical, political, or economic

borders.

• The effect of social media like Facebook and Twitter have far-reaching consequences,

and it is important to understand that these technologies can have positive and negative

impacts on intercultural encounters.

o For example, by using Twitter and Facebook, people were able to receive up-to–

the-minute information and connect with friends and family in the immediate

aftermath of the devastating Japanese tsunami in January 2011. On the other hand,

people may feel like they are too dependent on social media and suffer from

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), checking their phone many times a day to see if

they have messages or if there are new posts to Facebook that they have to see.

• Technology has increased the frequency with which many people encounter

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multilingual situations; they must decide which language will be used.

o Digital translation apps like Google Translate, Universal Translator, and

iTranslate can facilitate communication for travelers and business people and

others in everyday intercultural encounters.

• Social media and other interactive media also give people the opportunity to stay in

contact with people who are very similar to themselves, with family members, friends,

and others who share common interests. However, the social media can also provide a

venue for like-minded people to promote prejudice and hatred.

V. The Demographic Imperative

• Demographics refers to the general characteristics of a given population. As shown by the

2000 and 2010 U.S. Census data, the demographics of the United States are changing

dramatically. These changes come from two sources: changing demographics within the

United States and changing immigration patterns.

A. Changing U.S. Demographics

• According to the U.S. Population Reference Bureau, the nation’s Hispanic and Asian

populations are expected to triple by 2050, while non-Hispanic Whites are expected to

grow more slowly to represent about one-half of the nation’s population.

• Another interesting projection involves the “multiracial” category, partly due to the

increasing numbers of interracial couples. The 2000 Census was the first that allowed

persons to categorize themselves as being of “two or more races.”

• The most recent statistics released from the 2010 Census shows that the projections for

increasing diversity are right on target—reflecting dramatic changes in the ethnic and

racial makeup of the United States. In fact, the nation is moving a step closer to a

demographic milestone in which no group commands a majority, already true in 317

counties in four states (California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Texas) and the District of

Columbia with Nevada, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, and Maryland approaching this

milestone.

• Overall, the integration of new workers with the current ones will provide both

opportunities and challenges for American businesses, as well as for the country as a

whole.

B. Changing Immigration Patterns

• The second source of demographic change is immigration. There are two contradictory

faces to the story of immigration in the United States. The United States often is

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Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

described as a nation of immigrants, but it is also a nation that established itself by

subjugating the original inhabitants of the land and that prospered economically while

forcibly importing millions of Africans to perform slave labor.

• Immigrants tend to settle in particular areas of the country. They are more likely to live

in the western part of the United States and more likely to live in the central locations of

metropolitan areas, adding to the diversity of these areas. These immigration changes,

along with increasing domestic diversity clearly show that the United States is

becoming more heterogeneous (diverse).

• Tensions among different racial and ethnic groups, as well as fear on the part of

politically dominant groups, must be acknowledged. However, intercultural conflict is

not necessarily a consequence of diversity. Intercultural encounters in certain types of

conditions can lead to very positive outcomes, including reduced prejudice and positive

intergroup relationships.

o Diverse college campuses, for example, can provide opportunities for the type of

intercultural contact in which intercultural friendships can flourish—opportunities

for extensive contact in a variety of formal and informal settings that promote

communication and foster relationship development.

• The United States has always been a nation of immigrants. When Europeans began

arriving on the shores of the New World, an estimated 8 to 10 million Native Americans

were already living here. The outcome of the encounters between these groups—the

colonizing Europeans and the native peoples—is well known.

• African Americans are a special case in the history of U.S. immigration because they

were brought to this country involuntarily. Some Europeans and Asians also arrived in

the country as indentured or contract labor. However, by the middle of the seventeenth

century this system of indenture was stopped because it was not economically viable for

farmers and did not solve the problem of chronic labor shortage.

o Historically, slavery presented a moral dilemma for many Whites, but today a

common response is to ignore history. Many Whites say that because not all

Whites owned slaves people should simply forget it and move on. For most

African Americans, however, this is unacceptable.

• Relationships between residents and immigrants—between old-timers and

newcomers—often have been contentious. In 1887, Congress passed the Dawes

Severalty Act, terminating Native Americans’ special relationship with the U.S.

government and paving the way for the removal of Native Americans from their land.

o In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, an anti-immigrant, nativistic

movement promoted violence against newer immigrants. The anti-immigrant,

nativistic sentiment was well supported at the government level as well. By the

1930s, immigrants from southern and eastern Europe were considered

assimilable, or able to become members of White American society, and the

concept of race assumed new meaning.

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Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

• Economic conditions make a big difference in attitudes toward foreign workers and

immigration policies. Thus, during the Great Depression of the 1930s, Mexicans and

Mexican Americans were forced to return to Mexico to free up jobs for White

Americans. When prosperity returned in the 1940s, Mexicans were welcomed back as a

source of cheap labor. In recent years, many businesses as well as the government

favored a “guest worker program” with Mexico—which would allow Mexican workers

to temporarily reside in the United States.

• Ethnic and race relations in the United States are impacted by specific events and the

economic climate. Some of the conflict may be due to the economic disparity that exists

among these different groups. Most Americans are reluctant to admit that a class

structure exists, let alone admit how difficult it is to move up in this structure. Studies

have shown that U.S. Americans seriously underestimate the gap between the rich and

not rich.

o This widening gap is partly due to the loss of stable industrial jobs as companies

move to cheaper labor markets within the United States and abroad, and slow

recovery from the recession with wages remaining low.

• Increasingly diverse groups mostly come in contact during the day in schools,

businesses, and hospitals, but they bring different languages, histories, and economic

backgrounds to these encounters. This presents a challenge for the society and for the

people as individuals to look beyond the Hollywood stereotypes, to be aware of this

diversity, and to apply what they know about intercultural communication. Perhaps the

first step is to realize that the melting pot metaphor—in which all immigrants enter

and blend into American society—probably was never viable.

• Fortunately, most individuals are able to negotiate day-to-day activities in schools,

businesses, and other settings in spite of cultural differences. Diversity can even be a

positive force.

VI. The Self-Awareness Imperative

• One of the most important reasons for studying intercultural communication is to gain an

awareness of one’s own cultural identity and background. This self-awareness is one of

the least obvious reasons. Peter Adler, a noted social psychologist, observes that the study

of intercultural communication begins as a journey into another culture and reality and

ends as a journey into one’s own culture.

• Self-awareness, then, that comes through intercultural learning may involve an increased

awareness of being caught up in political, economic, and historical systems.

VII. The Ethical Imperative

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Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

• Ethics may be thought of as principles of conduct that help govern the behavior of

individuals and groups.

A. Ethical Judgments and Cultural Values

• Ethical judgments focus more on the degrees of rightness and wrongness in human

behavior than do cultural values. Some judgments are stated very explicitly. For

example, the Ten Commandments teach that it is wrong to steal, tell a lie, commit

murder, and so on.

o Many Americans are taught the “Golden Rule”—do unto others as you would

have them do unto you. Many other identifiable principles arise from cultural

experience that may be less explicit—for example, that people should be treated

equally and that they should work hard.

• Ethical principles are often culture-bound, and intercultural conflicts arise from varying

notions of what constitutes ethical behavior. According to the universalist position, one

needs to identify the rules that apply across cultures. A universalist might try, for

example, to identify acts and conditions that most societies think of as wrong, such as

murder, treason, and theft.

• By contrast, according to the relativist position, any cultural behavior can be judged

only within the cultural context in which it occurs. This means that only a community

can truly judge the ethics of its members.

• Philosopher Kwame Appiah discusses how the misplaced belief of “my values are the

only right ones” can lead to intolerance, cruelty, and even murder by both Christians

and Muslim fundamentalists (e.g., bombings of abortion clinics or other buildings). He

addresses the difficult question of how people can maintain universal values and still

respect cultural distinctness. His answer is that people must become cosmopolitans—

citizens of the world—taking seriously the value of not just human life, but particular

human life, but particular human life, never forgetting that each human being has

responsibilities to every other.

B. Becoming an Ethical Student of Culture

• Part of learning about intercultural communication is learning about cultural patterns

and identities. Four skills are important here: practicing self-reflexivity, learning about

others, listening to the voices of others, and developing a sense of social justice.

o Self-reflexivity refers to the process by which people “look in the mirror” to see

themselves. In studying intercultural communication, people must understand

themselves and their position in society.

o When people learn about other cultures and cultural practices, they often learn

much about themselves as well. And the knowledge gained from experience is an

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important way to learn about intercultural communication.

o When considering ethical issues in intercultural communication, people need to

recognize the strengths and limitations of their own intercultural experiences.

Many immigrants have observed that they never felt so much like someone of

their nationality until they left their homeland. As part of the process of self-

reflexivity, when people gain more intercultural experiences, their views on ethics

may change.

o It is important to remember that the study of cultures is actually the study of other

people. One must never lose sight of the humanity of the topic of study and try not

to observe people as if they are zoo animals.

o Hearing about the experiences of people who are different can lead to different

ways of viewing the world. Many differences—based on race, gender, sexual

orientation, nationality, ethnicity, age, and so on—deeply affect the everyday lives

of people. Listening carefully as people relate their experiences and their

knowledge helps them learn about other cultures.

o A final ethical issue involves the responsibility that comes with the acquisition of

intercultural knowledge and insights.

VIII. Building Intercultural Skills

• The following are a few general skills that can be applied to the various aspects of

intercultural communication: (1) understanding cultural identity and history, (2) improving

verbal and nonverbal communication, (3) understanding the role of popular culture in

intercultural communication, and (4) building relationships and resolving conflicts.

• It is important to remember that becoming a better intercultural communicator is not

achieved quickly but rather is a lifelong process.

Discussion Questions

1. How do electronic means of communication (e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, instant messaging,

and so on) differ from face-to-face interaction? How might these differences affect

intercultural communication?

2. How does the increased mobility of our society affect us as individuals? How does it affect

the way we form relationships?

3. What are some of the challenges that organizations face as they become more diverse?

4. How might organizations benefit from increased diversity in the workplace? How might

individuals benefit?

5. What is the potential impact of the “Digital Divide” on intercultural communication?

6. How do economic situations affect intergroup relations?

7. What roles do ethics play in intercultural communication?

Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

8. Why are some immigrant groups subjected to prejudice while others are not?

9. How can we apply what we learn about intercultural communication in an ethical way?

10. How has technology changed your relationships with friends, family, and others?

11. How can learning about intercultural communication reinforce the peace imperative?

12. Why would intercultural awareness lead to a concern for social justice?

13. Which of the four skills important to becoming an ethical student of culture seems the most

important to you? Why?

Classroom Exercises and Chapter Activities

1. Introduction Exercise: At the beginning of the course, it is useful to provide opportunities

for the students to become familiar with one another so that they will feel more

comfortable contributing to class discussions. This exercise can be facilitated by dividing

students into pairs. Each student has five minutes to play the role of interviewer and five

minutes to be interviewed. At the end of ten minutes, the student pairs take turns

introducing each other to the class. The following questions are useful in becoming

acquainted with students and the repertoire of cultural experiences they bring to class:

• Where did you grow up?

• What other languages besides English do you speak?

• What areas outside the United States have you visited?

• Have you lived outside of the United States? Where?

• What was one intercultural experience you have had?

• What was one ritual your family practiced as you were growing up?

• Explain something about your name. What does it mean? Where did it come from?

Were you named after someone?

• Why are you taking this class?

• Would you like to live in another country? Why?

The length of time needed for this exercise depends on the class size and the number of

questions you suggest to the students and whether you decide to let other students ask

questions of the person being introduced. Typically, 10 to 15 minutes are provided for the

interviews; you can alert students when it is time to switch from being the interviewer to

the interviewee. The oral introductions average about 2 to 3 minutes per pair. If you need

to cut down on the time allotted for the oral introductions, limit the students to reporting

four or five things they learned about their partners.

2. Intercultural Issues Exercise: Use this activity to increase student awareness of the impact

and prevalence of the imperatives (for example, technological, demographic) described in

this chapter. You need an edition (if the class size is large, multiple editions may be used)

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of a fairly large local newspaper.

Divide the class into groups of two to four individuals, and give each group a section of the

newspaper with articles of some type (for example, local, state, national, international,

sports, or business). Then assign the groups of students to skim through their sections of

the paper for articles that report on issues related to the imperatives. One member of the

group should record on a piece of paper the number of articles found for each imperative

and write a brief description of the subject of each article. You may want to show them one

or two examples from another paper/edition.

Students will need 10 to 20 minutes to work as groups, unless their assigned sections are

small. When they have finished, record on the board the number of articles found by each

group for each imperative. After tallying the total in each column, ask students to discuss

why there were more articles concerning some initiatives than others (were there any

precipitating events that generated more articles?) and to share examples of some of the

articles.

An alternative to this exercise would be to ask the students to search articles or media

stories for themselves and bring them to class. The groups can then examine and decide

which example is the most relevant.

3. Local Immigration Assignment: The focus of this assignment is on familiarizing students

with the way immigration patterns may have affected their own communities. Assign

students to research the communities in which they grew up or currently live to discover

some of the immigrant groups that have moved to their communities and explore why they

came. This assignment may be given as an individual project or as a group project.

Potential information sources include state or local historical societies, reference librarians

at local libraries, tourist information bureaus, chambers of commerce, local historians, their

own family histories, and longtime residents of the community. Students can compile the

information in a written or oral presentation form. The following questions can guide their

research:

• What ethnic background or countries are exemplified in your community?

• What ethnic backgrounds or countries do the majority of the people in your

community come from?

• Give reasons why people from different ethnic backgrounds or countries came to

your community? How did these people influence the community?

• Give the visible evidence of the cultures of these people in your community today

(celebrations, traditions, or architecture)?

• Were there huge groups of people from different ethnic backgrounds or countries

who came to the community and have since left? Why did they do so?

Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

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4. Video Assignment: Students may select a video to watch that depicts the experiences of

immigration to the United States for a particular ethnic group or individual. After they have

watched the video, ask them to describe the immigration experience highlighting the

following aspects:

• Factors that influenced the group or individual to move to the United States

• The primary challenges this group or individual faced in trying to get along in the

United States and their reactions to such challenges.

• Presence or absence of people or events that aided the group or individual

The films listed below are only a few of many excellent films on immigration.

A Day Without a Mexican (2004): One third of the population of California are Latinos,

Hispanics, and Mexicans. How would it affect life for the state’s other residents if this

population was not there? This is a “mockumentary” to show the valuable contributions

made every day by Latinos.

El Norte (1983): In this video, the Guatemalan army discovers Mayan Indian peasants

hoping to rise above their label of “brazos fuertes” or “strong arms” (manual laborers),

have begun to organize themselves. As a counter attack, the army massacres their families

and destroys their village to give the new recruits no options but to follow and obey the

army. However, two uneducated teenage siblings manage to survive and are firm about

their escape to the United States or El Norte. Finally, they make their way to L.A.

The Joy Luck Club (1993): This is a story of four Chinese women who immigrated to the

United States and their first-generation daughters. The video shows the death of one

women. Her daughter begins to really learn what her mother endured in China and of her

sisters who were left behind while playing Mahjong with the older women.

Goodbye Solo (2008): This film is touching and humorous. The video shows a struggling

cab driver from Senegal and his unlikely friendship with a southern man with secrets.

The Visitor (2007): This video shows the story of a lonely economics professor from

Connecticut whose life changes forever (and for the better) when he finds a couple of

illegals, who happen to be living in his New York apartment.

Under the Same Moon (2007): This video is a heartwarming story about a mother who

leaves Mexico to make a home for herself and her son (Adrian Alonso). When the boy’s

grandmother dies, leaving him alone, he sets off on his own to find his mother.

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Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

Sentenced Home (2007): This documentary shows three Cambodian American men, who

were brought as children by their refugee families to the United States. These three kids

were raised in the grim public housing of Seattle. Bad choices by them as teens altered

their lives forever. After the implementation of the immigration laws post 9/11 provided no

second chances for such children. Though they were raised in the United States, speak to

one another in English, and even think in English, each is sentenced to return to

Cambodia—indefinitely separated from their families.

Forging a Nation (2007): In this video, director David Blaustein retraced the phases of his

Jewish ancestors accompanied by his mother and an extended family. The film is an

exploration of the many factors and people that joined to build Argentina.

The Namesake (2006): The video shows a first-generation son of traditional, Indian

immigrant parents. In the event of trying to make a place for himself, he is surprised by the

things he learns about his family and himself.

5. Assessing Cultural Behavior/Ethics Exercise: This activity is designed to help students

begin to explore their personal ethics and the challenges created by viewing intercultural

communication in a relativistic rather than a universalistic manner. Be prepared to discuss

difficult issues that may arise during this activity and to help students view ethics within a

more complex framework by applying the guidelines in this chapter.

For this exercise, ask students to find an ethical issue from a news broadcast, a newspaper

article, or the Internet. Instruct them to come prepared to describe the issue and the ethical

challenge or dilemma it poses. Challenge students to describe the position from a

relativistic and then from a universalist perspective.

Once all the students have presented their issues (in a large class, they could do this in

dyads or small groups), ask them to describe ways in which ethical intercultural

communicators would handle these dilemmas using the guidelines in this chapter.

Reinforce to students that many ethical issues are difficult and that the guidelines for

ethical communication are challenging to use. Therefore, it is important to listen patiently

to each other and then help each other sort out the issues by asking questions like the ones

suggested in the following hypothetical example.

Example: Suppose a student chose the debate over the requirement of bilingual education

formats for new immigrants versus the requirement that all courses be taught in Standard

English in public schools. The ethical issues raised in this debate may include what it

means to be an “American,” the history of language acquisition and immigration, language,

whether students will be more disadvantaged by being put into English emersion versus

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bilingual classes, and the message that is being communicated to speakers of other

languages in the United States. You might then encourage students to apply the ethical

guidelines in their thinking by asking them the following questions:

• How can teaching in another language and standard English help us respect others?

• Can we practice self-reflexivity by striving to see the value of being bilingual and/or

bicultural from our own and another’s point of view?

• What can we learn about others by listening to those who have a viewpoint different

from our own?

6. Early Experiences With Cultural Differences: This introductory activity is useful for

helping students explore their initial experiences with diversity. Ask students to write a

one-page essay about their recollection of the first time they were aware of meeting

someone different when compared to themselves. This difference could be related to

culture, religion, physical disability, ethnicity, or economic class. In their essays, students

should answer the following questions:

• How did they meet the person? What were the circumstances?

• What made them aware that this person was different?

• How did they react?

• Was the interaction positive, negative, or neutral?

• Did they tell anyone about the interaction, and what was that person’s reaction?

• How has this first interaction affected future interactions with persons from the same

group?

7. Cultural Artifacts Exercise: To encourage students to become more aware of their own

cultural backgrounds and to emphasize the hidden nature of culture, ask them to bring to

class an article or object from home that they believe exemplifies their cultural background

and its values. During class, the students (if a large class, have them do this in small

groups) can “show and tell” their object and explain how the article is representative of

their culture’s values and beliefs.

8. Cultural Bingo Warm-Up: This is a fun and active way for students to meet and begin to

develop relationships with one another. Provide each student with a list or a grid with

boxes next to 10 to 15 statements (the number will depend on how many students are

participating and the amount of time you want to use). You may want to choose questions

that will help identify some of the diversity existing among the students. For example, find

someone with some or all of the following qualities:

• Speaks a language other than English

• In love

• A dog owner

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Martin, Experiencing Intercultural Communication, 6e

• A cat owner

• Wants to be a rock star

• Was born in a country other than the United States

• Has parents who speak more than one language

• Has seen a foreign movie

• Knows what Bollywood is

• Has studied abroad

Have students move around the room asking each other these questions until they find

someone who can answer one affirmatively. That person puts his or her initials in the box

or next to the question. This game continues until a student gets all the questions answered

or until the instructor determines the game is over. The student who gets the most

questions initialed wins. This activity can be debriefed by asking students the following

questions:

• How did the winner (or others) get so many questions answered?

• What assumptions did you make about the others so as not to waste time asking

questions a person could not answer “yes” to?

• Did you learn anything surprising while doing this activity?

• What types of diversity exist among the members of this class?

Note: If time is limited or it is not feasible for students to move around the room, you can

use this exercise with the entire class at the same time. Simply read statements, and have

students raise their hands or stand if the item describes them. This approach will still give

students an opportunity to learn about one another.