TASK 1 : Ethnographic Report
THIRD YEAR ENGLISH
Antonella Landolfi
MODULE: “English for intercultural communication”
GROUP: f
25/11/2006
THE FINDINGS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC QUESTIONS
(My interviewee is Kate, an American Student I met at a party.)
The values I analyzed are:
MERITOCRATIC
(the important thing is what you do, for whatever
reason)
?
COOPTATION
(the important thing is who you are, what group you belong to)
BEFORE THE INTERVIEW (EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS)
The position of the two values (in my opinion) of: PB= the Teacher; X= me; O=my
family/community,
= Italy in general ; TC= where I think Trinity College Students should
be positioned.
-
Here in Italy the value of Cooptation is more diffuse than Meritocratic’s one. I can say this for
many reasons and thanks to various situations I had in the pass; for example in my country it is very
difficult to get a job, or a good job, but I often see that doctor’s daughters or sons have more
possibilities than the other boys and girls. The same happens at school: if you are a teacher’s or a
headmaster’s child, or you know them, they have a particular consideration of you and all the door
are opened for you, without any problems. For this reason here in Italy many people do not deserve
their job. Fortunately now a days it seems that the situation is better. And you can find only few
case of these examples, because young people know that cooptation is very dangerous for our
society.
I think that in USA meritocratic value often prevails on cooptation’s one, even if it can be possible
to find some situation of cooptation.
MY QUESTIONS (descriptive, structural and contrast questions, anecdotes)
These are the questions I used to determinate American Student’s position on the values:

What are you studying here in Italy?

In the future do you want to work here or do you think it’s better to come back in America?

Here in Italy it’s often very difficult to find a job, you know, is it the same in America ?

Often here in Italy many famous people’s child have more possibilities than common
people’s child. What happens there? Are there any differences among boys and girls?

Some days ago I heard a strange noise about a politician in USA that gives out jobs to
people who campaign for him! Here in Italy this happens every day, but do you think there
are many situations like this in USA?
( I hypothesized that these questions could determinate an American Student’s position on my
cultural dimension line because “getting a job” is an interesting topic in young people’s speech, and
through the answers I can understand both student’s position and his country’s position.)
MY REPORT (after the interview)
My questions were very useful. After the “Grand tour questions”, the American Student told me
exactly her position about this topic. First of all she said she would like to come back in America
because she loves her country and because the situation about “getting job” is very different there.
In America it isn’t very simple to find a job, but if you are an intellectually strong person you can
become very famous even if you are not a politician’s child. To find a job there, you need to have a
particular kind of “conversation” or “interview” with the employer. The group you belong to and
what you are, are not the magic keys to get a very good job; you have to share what you can do,
your talent and your capacity. About the anecdote I told her, she answered that it is very strange and
rare to find a situation like that and that she never heard a notice like that.
Thanks to this interview I can say that my prediction about Trinity student was not very exact,
because now I understand that there is quite impossible to find some situation of cooptation. So I
have to change Trinity College Student’s position on the cultural dimension line:
THE FINDINGS OF SOCIOMETRIC QUESTIONNAIRE
Behind a questionnaire is always hidden the
particular point of view of the person who has
A. Typical “middle-class-Anglo” ways
B. Other possible cultural styles in the US
written the questions. In this case I can
understand the situation about male/female
1. A boy and a girl, alone at a party, notice each other. Who
speaks first? What might s/he say?A.B.
power ploys. I think the implicit idea of the
interviewer is that in his society there is a neat
2. The party is over. Both want to maintain contact. Who asks
whom for a phone number and how?1,B.
differentiation of behaviours between the two
parts. There is a general male dominance,
3. The next day one of them phones. Who in general? Would s/he
ask for a date right away and, if so, how?A.B.
and the idea that a girl could never propose to
pick the boy up at his home, and I can
suppose this interviewer is Italian, because
4. Does the boy usually propose to pick the girl up at her home by
car? If he doesn't have a car, can she propose to drive him? Or
would she just refuse the date? Can he propose taking the bus
downtown? A.B.
here in Italy most of us have this concept
about male/female parts.
Thanks to the interview, I learned that in
5. When going to night spots, does he act like a traditional
“gentleman” (opening the door for her, helping her take her coast
off, paying the bill, etc.)?A.B.
America the situation is really different. The
student I interviewed did not confirm male
6. While conversing, are there taboo subjects to avoid on a first
date and, if so, which ones?A.B.
dominance in all the questions: she said that
boys and girls have the same behaviours in
most of all the aspects of life. To say the truth
she said that these questions were almost
unusual to hear in her society. For example at
7. What might each talk about to win the interest of the other?
What is “cool” to be knowledgeable about?A.B.
8. How does the evening end? There are no rules, it all depends,
but what generally happens?A.B.
the question number 3 she said that very often
girls ask to boys to go out, and she felt a little embarrassed when I said here in Italy is very difficult
that a girl ask for a date right away.