Intercultural Activity - Personal Essay Example

I will visit a live concert in Texas to facilitate my competencies in cross-cultural communication. My pre-assessment statistics show that more than 90% of its population is of Hispanics. Also, I will visit a fast food outlet in Laredo which is also a city in Texas. Through these visits, I intend to use my anthropological skills including observation, analysis, and introspection of cultural interactions among the Hispanics. Ideally, social places such as restaurants and entertainment halls provide an ideal environment in which to attain a real-time and pure expression of cultures such as music, language, courtesy, respect, emotional feelings, eating habits, and inter-age relationships.

I will make the visitation in December when several families are likely to be out on vacation. During such a time, a relatively more significant proportion of the population is expected to converge in social places hence provide an ideal environment in which to develop a cultural comprehension of the people. Due to the diversity of ethnic expression, it is necessary that an assessment of culture occur in an environment where the targeted population which in this case are the Hispanics are well represented. An adequately represented community is likely to display the general situation within the broader society.

Some of the cultural patterns which will be central in my assessment include the extent of formality or the lack of it in communication among the Hispanics and the nonverbal cues that the members of the community use in expressing their emotions and feelings. The specific non-verbal cues in conversation that I will focus on include eye contact, expressions of affection, comforting and congratulatory signs. I will also assess how the adults treat the children in public and vice versa. These interactions among people of different ages express the intergenerational sustainability of a culture thus giving a high support whether a cultural aspect is just transitory or has the probability of enduring in the society long enough.

I will randomly interview visitors to the restaurants who have a firsthand experience with the Hispanics in local social settings; I will also talk with the management of the restaurant and live performance halls where individuals of different heritages come to assert some sense of social identity. While my questions will explore how the Hispanics interact with a member of other cultures, most of them will mainly target the Hispanics as a community in the United States.

The interview questions will include;

What is your general assessment of how Hispanics communicate among themselves?

How does the Hispanic adults and children interact in public occasions?

Do you perceive any similarities or differences in the way Hispanics interact among themselves with the general trends among other American societies?

Is it common for a Hispanic to ignore the presence of someone within his or her vicinity?

Do the Hispanics respect ranks and titles in their communication?

What shows that Hispanics have a general sense of respect, courtesy, the decorum of a lack of all these?

Apart from the interview and observation, I will explore secondary sources of information on intercultural communication such as books and journals. In using both primary and secondary sources of information, I anticipate attaining a more comprehensive understanding of the Hispanic culture relative to other American population. It is my conception that since Hispanic is a form of identity, then they apparently have some binding value system and norms which will be evident in their exchange of pleasantries, verbal and non-verbal communication, dressing, and music.

Outline

Title: Assessment of the Hispanic culture

Thesis Statement: The Hispanics is a distinct cultural group in the United States of America that has binding value system and norms. These cultural patterns are expressed in their speech, dressing, or non-verbal cues.

I. Introduction of Hispanics as a community in the United States

A. The composition of the Hispanics based on their origin and areas of settlement

Distinguishing aspects of the Hispanic population

II. Cultural feedback generated from personal observations

Expression of the Hispanic cultural attributes in the restaurant

Appearance and interpretation of the Hispanic cultural patterns at the live concert

III. Interview responses from persons familiar with the dominant Hispanic culture

Reactions from visitors to the restaurants who have a firsthand experience with the Hispanics in local social settings

Perspectives on the management of the restaurant and live performance halls

IV. Conclusion

References

Bryan, W. V. (2014). Multicultural aspects of human behavior: A guide to understanding human cultural development. Springfield, Ill., U.S.A: Charles C Thomas Publisher, LTD

Gudykunst, W. B., & Mody, B. (2001). A Handbook of international and intercultural communication. Thousand Oaks [u.a.: Sage Publ.

Neuliep, J. W. (2009). Intercultural communication: A contextual approach. Los Angeles: Sage.