Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Chapter Exercises
Chapter 1: Defining Culture and Communication
Exercise 1: Diversity Board
Purposes
1. To understand culturally diverse backgrounds
2. To overcome negative expectations when communicating with strangers who are
culturally dissimilar in some way
3. To become aware that competence in intercultural communication requires a
combination of knowledge, skills, and motivation
Instructions
The instructor should bring to class the Diversity Board (see below). The size of the Diversity Board can
vary depending upon the need and space restrictions. It consists of 35 boxes resembling a checkerboard,
each designating a specific role in our diverse society. Some of the roles in the boxes focus on race; others
focus on other human aspects such as ethnicity, religion, health status, socioeconomic class, and life
experience. With the aid of the instructor and/or fellow classmates, a student is blindfolded and led to the
Diversity Board, which lies flat on the floor. The blindfolded student is then instructed to gently toss a
small lightweight object onto the Diversity Board. The student’s role for this exercise is dependent upon
which box on the Diversity Board the lightweight object lands on.
Once all students have thrown for their roles on the Diversity Board, each will prepare to answer
questions based upon his or her Diversity Board role. Examples of questions include:
1. What are the stereotypes others form of you?
2. How do you deal with such stereotypes in your communication interactions?
3. What sort of prejudice or bias have you experienced in your personal life and/or in the workplace?
4. How have you coped with such prejudice?
5. When was a time you gave off a good impression when communicating with others who were
culturally dissimilar to you?
In order to effectively answer these questions, each student should research his or her individual role.
This research may include personal interviews, books, periodicals, videos, and information from the
Internet that add to students’ understanding of their assigned roles. Students should be given time out of
class to adequately research their individual roles.
Conclusions
After students have answered the above questions, they are encouraged to answer questions from their
own perspectives about their experiences in conducting the activity. These questions include:
1. What have you learned about this role that you did not know before?
2. How does this new knowledge affect your perception of an individual who has this role in real life?
3. How does this new knowledge affect your interpersonal communication with an individual who fits
this role in real life?
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
4. What were the difficulties and reservations you had (if any) in assuming this role?
Note: This exercise is adapted from Randy K. Dillon’s paper “Intercultural Communication Activities
in the Classroom: Turning stumbling blocks into building blocks.”
(http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_Searc
hValue_0=ED419254&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED419254)
Exercise 2: Family Tree
Purposes
1. To discover how your culture affects how you define your family
2. To understand how family background affects how you communicate
Instructions
A family tree is a genealogical chart showing the ancestry and relationship of all members of a family.
Make a family tree that shows three or more generations of your family. Use any information that is
available to you, such as family records and conversations with older members of your family. Include
when and where your family members were born (dates and places of birth). Also include the dates when
any members of your family migrated from one country to another.
Use the information from your family tree to answer the questions in the “Conclusions” section.
Conclusions
1. How did you decide who to include in your family tree? Think about how you defined the concept
“family.” Consider the use of the family name (e.g., father’s last name, both mother’s and father’s last
name).
2. How do you think other cultures define family? Think of ways to define family that are different from
the way that you defined it.
3. How did influences outside of your family affect your family tree (e.g., cultural expectations about
size of families, government policies, war, religion)?
4. What were the reasons for any migration? What are possible influences led the decision to stay in a
country of origin?
5. In what ways has your family background affected how you communicate?
Exercise 3: Friendship Choice
Purpose
To recognize the effects of cultural, social class, ethnic, and subgroup identity on friendship choice.
Instructions
1. List your 10 best friends by name below. For this exercise, a friend is someone to whom you tell the
most personal information about yourself. Also, you know a lot of personal information about him or
her.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
2. Next, identify these friends by their group memberships. These should be the groups that you
consider the most important in your relationship with that person. They may be cultural, social class,
ethnic, or subgroup.
Example:
Friend’s Name
Friend’s Group Memberships
Fred
Star Trek fan club, fraternity, Spanish major,
International Student Club
Conclusions
1. How many of your friends are members of the same or a similar group? Are you a member of this
group, too?
2. If you have any friends who do not share similar group memberships with you, what is the basis of
your friendship?
3. In what ways, if any, is communication different between friends of your group and those not of your
group? Based on your own experiences, how do people who have shared the same experiences
communicate? How is this different from those who have not shared the same or similar
experiences?
Note: This exercise is based on Richard W. Brislin’s. “Increasing Awareness of Class, Ethnicity, Culture, and
Race by Expanding on Students’ Own Experiences,” in I. Cohen (Ed.), The G. Stanley Hall Lecture Series Vol. 8
(Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 1988).
Exercise 4: Group Memberships
Purposes
1. To help you recognize the many cultural groups and subgroups to which you belong
2. To help you identify the norms (rules of behavior) that are provided to us by various groups
Instructions
1. Make a list of all the groups you identify with. Consider nationality, ethnicity, geographic region,
interests, and hobbies (e.g., U.S., German-American, Californian, surfing, and skiing).
2. Give an example of a perceived norm for each group. Remember that a norm is an action and not a
value. How do you know this is a norm for that group?
Example:
Group
Sample Norm
Japanese
Don’t ask questions in class
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Conclusion
We all participate in many groups. Sometimes, we even participate in many groups at the same time (e.g.,
members of a fraternity playing basketball). Which groups do you identify with most? Which groups’
norms do you follow the most?
Exercise 5: Norms Around the World
Purpose
To recognize diverse cultural norms
Instructions
1. To test your knowledge of cultural customs, answer the following questions.
2. Answer the questions that follow the test.
Test
1. People eat with forks in their right hands in which country?
A. South Africa
B. United Kingdom
2. In which country do members of the dominant religion not eat pork (meat that comes from pigs)?
C. United Kingdom
D. United States of America
3. At what time do people usually eat dinner in Spain?
A. at about 5 p.m.
B. at about 7 p.m.
4. Before entering a South Korean’s home, you should remove your shoes and wait to be invited in.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
5. In England, to “table an issue or motion” means to ______.
C. ignore it
D. write it down
6. In which country is it polite to use both hands to pass an object to somebody?
A. Germany
B. Canada
7. When discussing business with a person from a Latin American or Asian country, if you try to
maintain eye contact with that person, he or she will think that you are ______.
C. attentive
D. kind
8. In which country would you expect to be told directly that your work was bad?
A. Japan
B. China
9. In Saudi Arabia, it is not polite to admire an object while your host is with you because he may feel
that he must give it to you.
10. When talking, South Americans, Africans, and Arabs usually stand closer together than people
from other cultures do. If you back away from them, they may think that you do not like them or that
you are not interested in what they want to say.
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
11. During the month of Ramadan, Muslims do not eat during the daytime. While in their presence,
you should not ______.
C. pray
D. sing
12. Friday is NOT the official day of rest in which country?
A. Pakistan
B. Jordan
13. In Islamic countries, women must wear clothing that will cover up their arms and legs and hide
their body shape.
14. Saturday is the official day of rest in which country?
15. Seven is a lucky number in the United States but an unlucky number in Ghana, Kenya, and
Singapore.
16. Potato chips manufactured by the Wise Corporation, with its owl trademark, probably will not be
sold in ______.
C. Canada because of the shape of the chip
D. France because of its packaging and shape
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
17. In which country do people think that it is unsanitary to have a toilet and bathing facilities in the
same room?
C. Venezuela
D. Oman
18. In which country does a man greet a woman by placing the palms of both hands together and
bowing slightly?
A. China
B. Taiwan
19. In which country would a person greet an elder by bowing lower and longer than the older
person?
A. China
B. Taiwan
20. Men do not shake hands with women in ______.
A. South Korea
B. India
Your number correct: ______
Conclusions
1. How did your score compare to others? Why were some people more familiar with the norms of other
cultures?
2. How could you improve your knowledge of the norms of other countries?
3. What problems in communication could arise from not knowing the norms of other countries?
Source: The test questions were developed by William A. Nowlin, Associate Professor of Management in the
College of Business at the Rochester (New York) Institute of Technology, and printed in Southwest Airlines
Spirit, May 1990, pp. 33, 36, and 95, and June 1990, pp. 27, 30, and 89. Published by East/West Network, Inc.,
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
34 East 51st Street, New York, NY 10022. Reprinted courtesy of Southwest SPIRIT, carried aboard Southwest
Airlines© 1990; East/West Network, Publisher and AA Magazine Publications.
Exercise 6: Food Norms
Purpose
To recognize that food habits are an important part of cultural identity
Every culture has its own culinary traditions: Danish roast goose and red cabbage, Mexico’s tamales, and
Polish baked or fried fish and herring in sour cream. Many U.S. holiday feasts were actually staples in the
indigenous diet—sweet potatoes, squash, corn, and cranberries.
Instructions
1. Keep a journal of all the food that you eat in one day.
2. Write down the recipe for a special dish that is unique to your family background (e.g., something
that your family eats only on special occasions like holidays or other special times).
3. Answer the questions at the end of this exercise.
Example:
Food Journal for the Day:
Time
Circumstances (what, where, with whom, etc.
8:00 a.m.
Breakfast (eggs and toast, home, alone)
Conclusions
1. How does the food in your journal reflect your culture? Think about what you ate, when you ate, with
whom you ate, and how you ate the food.
2. Food habits remain in a family even after other elements of culture are gone. What aspects of culture
are reflected in your family food recipe?
3. List some common foods in your country that have been borrowed from other cultures (e.g.,
croissant from France).
Exercise 7: Gender Game
Purpose
To recognize that gender is an important part of identity
Instructions
1. Make a list of gender-specific activities you participate in during the week
2. Compare your list of activities with those of a peer of the other gender
3. Discuss some of the gender-specific activities and expectations in our culture
Jandt, An Introduction to Intercultural Communication 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Conclusions
1. What gender norms exist in our culture?
2. How are these gender norms similar to or different from gender norms in other culture?
Exercise 8: Personal Subculture Reflection
Purpose
To reflect upon your preferred forms of communication
Instructions
1. Thinking back to the last 24 hr, consider all the ways you have communicated with other
people.
2. Write a list indicating with whom you communicated, and the channel that you used (e.g., “Friend
Tom – text message“).
3. Calculate which channels you used most.
Conclusions
1. Reflect upon the types of communication channels you use most often. Why do you use
these channels?
2. How do you think your list might differ from your parents? Grandparents? How has
communication changed?