In your current and future career, you will meet and interact with people from diverse backgrounds with differing viewpoints, beliefs and values. This assignment is a self-reflective exercise to help you understand and describe your own cultural identity and context.
Self-reflection is an important aspect of intercultural competencies as it helps you understand your own cultural views, historical evolution and biases which is the cultural lens you use to view others.
In turn, your self-awareness helps you develop a better understanding of other cultures and peoples to communicate more effectively as you navigate this interconnected and interdependent world.
This assignment is in 2 parts using the text An Introduction to Intercultural Communication, 10th edition by Fred E. Jandt.
After reading Chapter 1 in the text, you should be familiar with the 6 regulators of human behaviour and identity which are religion, nationality, class (socio-economic status), gender, race (and ethnicity), and civilization.
Part A – Provide a summary or self-reflection of your identity which must include the 6 regulators listed above. Some questions to help you write: Which of the 6 regulators do you identify with the most? Have any of these regulators changed over time?
Chapter 2 discusses 6 barriers to intercultural communication but only 4 will be applicable to this assignment which are anxiety, assuming similarity instead of differences, ethnocentrism, stereotypes and prejudice.
Part B – Describe and discuss the barriers you have experienced using any of the 4 barriers listed above. You can use all 4 barriers but you must choose at least 2. Some questions to help you write: How have any of these barriers affected your identity? What stereotypes/prejudices have you experienced, if any? How have you overcome these barriers?
