North Seattle Community College
Embracing a Complex Future: Winter 2011
Cultural Interview and Active Listening Assignment
Due: January 17, 2011
Assignment: Ask someone in the class who has a different cultural background
than you to be your interview partner. (For this assignment, we are defining
culture as racial, place of origin, or ethnic.) Before meeting your cultural interview
partner, spend some time thinking about questions you’d like to ask him/her. Ask
important questions – questions about love, birth, family, passion, cultural stories,
vocation, etc. You might also do some initial research before meeting about their
culture if you are unfamiliar with their culture so you are more prepared.
Spend at least 45 minutes with them asking questions about their culture and
listening to their story as it unfolds. Frame your questions within the context of
being a witness. Use the Dynamic Listening skills listed below and LaRay Barna’s
article “Stumbling Blocks to Intercultural Communication” and the active listening
article written by Carl Rogers and Roger Farson (both can be found on the website)
to help you be a more culturally aware and mindful listener. If at all possible,
audiotape your interview so that you don’t have to rely solely on your notes to
develop your paper but this is not required. If you can, take a picture of the two of
you with your phone camera and send me (jreis@sccd.ctc.edu) the image so I can
post on our blogsite.
Immediately following the interview, sit and write about your listening experience
to recapture the details of your experience while your memory is still fresh. These
reflective notes will be important when you write your paper.
SYNTHESIS DUE: JANUARY 17TH
Write a short synthesis of your listening experience and post it on the blogsite by
Monday, January 17th. When you create your synthesis on the blog, please put your
name and who you interviewed in the subject line, for example, Jane Lister Reis
(interviewer) Margot Boyer (interviewee)
FINAL PAPER DUE: JANUARY 19TH (BRING EXTRA TWO COPIES TO
CLASS)
Now you’re ready to write your paper. Divide your paper into three section
headings:
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A. Overview:
Your overview is an introduction to your paper. It establishes the context for your
reader. It tells your reader what this experience was like for you and for the other
person. How easy or difficult was it to practice the listening skills listed below?
What “stumbling block” (Barna) was present for you? Where did you meet? What
time did the interview start? End? Where did you meet? Was the space
conducive to listening? Did you feel comfortable or awkward? How do you think
the other person felt?
B. Analysis about Culture Listening:
Write an analysis about what you learned about yourself as a multicultural
listener from your conversation with this person. Make this section a coherent
analysis and not a listing or mechanical record of the answers to your questions.
Remember that you don’t have to cover all of the questions and your interview
may have gone in a direction that wasn’t represented by the questions you
prepared. Besides learning about another person’s culture, what did you learn
about the challenges of being an effective listener? Be as specific in this section of
your paper citing examples of when you used the various listening skills, referring
to the Rogers/Farson article, or when Barna’s “stumbling blocks” were helpful to
you.
C. Reflection:
What did you learn from this interview about being a multicultural listener? What
aspect of your listening experience will stay with you as an important aspect of
communication across cultures? What most surprised you as you communicated
this way with your cultural partner? Did this experience give you a better
understanding of the person’s culture? Were there questions, in hindsight, that
you wished you had asked? How might this interview experience influence your
learning in the future as a multicultural communicator?
Format: typed, double spaced, 12 point font (preferably Times Roman), maximum
three pages that includes the headings for each of the three sections above.
Due Dates:
Monday, January 17 – post a synthesis of your interview (who did you interview,
what did you learn, what surprised you, what would you change?). Send Jane
(jreis@sccd.ctc.edu) your pictures to post on our blog site.
Wednesday, January 19 – turn in your complete paper. Bring two extra copies
to share with peers.
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LISTENING SKILLS:
Dynamic (Active) Listening and the Cultivation of Empathy (seeking to
understand)
1. Presencing– Intentionality (I choose to be here); breathing (centered in the
present moment).
Listening Tip: Empty your mind of thoughts, ideas, plans, and concerns so that
you are open to the other person.
2. Receiving – Opening heart and mind to hear/receive the “whole” message.
Listening Tip: Concentrate on the person with whom you are interacting. Say to
yourself, "I want to focus on this person and what he or she is feeling and
thinking."
3. Clarifying – Asking strategic questions to open up greater understanding.
Listening Tip: If you find yourself framing responses to the other person, try to
push those aside; they interfere with your concentration on what the other
person is saying. If your mind wanders, don't criticize yourself; that's
distracting. Instead, gently refocus on the person you are with and what that
person is communicating to you. It's natural for other thoughts to intrude, so
just push them away and stay focused on the other person.
4. Summarizing/Paraphrasing – Restating to seek clarification of understanding.
Listening Tip: Let the other person know you are attending mindfully by giving
nonverbal responses (nods, facial expressions); ask questions to encourage
elaboration; keep eye contact (as appropriate).
5. Observing Nonverbals
Listening Tip: Listen for feelings; be aware of the “hidden” content in the
message; listen to the sounds of the words (tone, rate, volume). Watch for
hot/cold nonverbals.
6. Resonating - moving beyond me to you; moving beyond you/me to we.
Listening Tip: In this part of communicating/listening experience, you find
yourself in a heightened state of respect, understanding, even excitement as you
seek to fully understand another person through the act of listening.
7. Checking – Did I fully understand what you shared with me? If not, ask for
clarification.
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North Seattle Community College
First Intercultural Interview Assignment
Grading Rubric: Intercultural Knowledge and Competence (NSCC Essential Learning Outcome)
Element
Expertise (4)
Developing (3)
Developing (2)
Assignment
Completion
Follows completely the
assignment instructions creating a
holistic, well crafted (with both
evidence and reflection), and
grammatically correct writing on
the complex intersection of
culture and communication from a
personal perspective.
Attitudes
Curiosity
Asks complex questions about
other cultures, seeks out and
articulates answers to these
questions that reflect multiple
cultural perspectives.
Suspends judgment in valuing
her/ his interactions with
culturally different others.
Attitudes
Openness
Knowledge
Cultural selfawareness
Articulates insights into own cultural
rules and biases (e.g. seeking
complexity; aware of how her/his
experiences have shaped these rules,
and how to recognize and respond to
cultural biases, resulting in a shift in
self-description.)
Total Points: ___/16
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Beginning Awareness (1)
Provides the reader with
a well crafted
assignment that follows
the assignment format
and develops for the
reader a clear sense of
what the writer did and
learned through this
assignment about culture
and communication
Asks deeper questions
about other cultures and
seeks out answers to
these questions.
Somewhat follows the
instructions of the
assignment showing the
reader a beginning
understanding of
difference, complexity,
sensitivity and curiosity
The assignment
demonstrates a
rudimentary level of
completion and
complexity
Asks simple or surface
questions about other
cultures.
States minimal interest in
learning more about other
cultures.
Begins to suspend
judgment in valuing her/
his interactions with
culturally different
others. Aware of
judgment.
Expresses openness but
has difficulty suspending
any judgment in her/ his
interactions with culturally
different others, and is
aware of own judgment
and expresses a
willingness to change.
Identifies own cultural
rules and biases (e.g. with
a strong preference for
those rules shared with
own cultural group and
seeks the same in others.)
Has difficulty suspending
any judgment in her/ his
interactions with
culturally different others,
and is unaware of own
judgment.
Recognizes new
perspectives about own
cultural rules and biases
(e.g. not looking for
sameness; comfortable
with the complexities that
new perspectives offer.)
Shows minimal awareness of
own cultural rules and biases
(even those shared with own
cultural group(s)) (e.g.
uncomfortable with
identifying possible cultural
differences with others.)
14.4-16 (90-100/3.5-4.0 or A); 12.8-14.3 (80-89/3.4-2.5 or B); 11.2- 12.7 (70-79/2.4-1.5 or C)
SAMPLE STUDENT PAPER
Cultural Interview #1
Overview
I met Lilia on Saturday, October 2nd at the Starbucks located in University Village. We
sat outside at one of the nearby tables to discuss our backgrounds and the cultures that shaped
and defined who we are. I was uncomfortable at first because we didn’t really know each other.
We were strangers to each other, which caused a few moments of awkward silence as we tried to
transition from one topic to the next. I feel that as the interview progressed, we got more
comfortable talking about our histories with one another. By the end of the interview, the
conversation was more fluid and we were chatting like two friends instead of two complete
strangers. The weather was gorgeous, so it was a nice day to sit outside and learn about a culture
that is both similar and different from my own.
Analysis about Cultural Listening
I think that I went into the interview expecting to have captured more differences than
similarities between our cultures. I was surprised to hear how many times Lilia referenced a
similarity between Russia and the United States. My own perception of Russia was that it was a
cold place, both in terms of the type of weather and the type of people. Influenced by what I see
on television, I find myself guilty of creating a “single story” of Russia. What I knew of Russia
was what I saw in movies like Rocky IV and The Bourne Supremacy or in the television show
24. I thought of it as a place overrun with stories of repression and espionage, where assassins
and conspiracy theorists run rampant throughout the country. This perception that I had of Russia
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clearly illustrates what Barna describes in her article, “Stumbling Blocks in Intercultural
Communication.” She states, “Stereotypes persist because they are firmly established as myths or
truisms by one’s won national culture and because they sometimes rationalize prejudices.” When
Lilia described Russians as being “generally very hospitable,” it surprised me and challenged my
own perceptions of how I viewed the people and culture of Russia.
Throughout the interview, Lilia gave numerous examples of similarities I would find in
Russia as compared to the United States. Her family enjoys spending time together watching
television, engaging in conversation, celebrating holidays, cooking and playing outside in the
snow. She also gave me examples of differences, but none that I would have expected to hear.
Attending the same school for 11 years, playing in the snow until 2am and not eating fast food
are certainly not the differences I expected to hear going into the interview. Where was my story
about assassination plots and world domination? Where were the sensational stories about the
high-speed police chases through the crowded streets of Moscow? I guess I will have to leave
those stories to the Hollywood screenwriters.
Going into the interview, I was guilty of Stumbling Block #4. I had a certain perception
in my mind of Russian culture. I had created a single story, and Lilia helped give me a broader
perspective of what life was like for her growing up in a culture that, while slightly different, was
also very similar in how we relate, connect and respond to one another as human beings. Lilia
shared her story with me and gave me a new perspective on the country and people of Russia.
Reflection
This exercise was beneficial for me in that I learned not to rely on preconceived notions
about what I think a culture might be like. I went into the interview expecting to hear certain
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things and was surprised with what I discovered. When I have to do this exercise again, I would
like to focus more on the skill of “receiving.” I want to focus more on listening with an open
heart and mind to hear/receive the whole message. I would also like to focus more on observing
nonverbals. Although I tried to keep an eye out for these during the interview, I would like to get
better at paying attention to the nonverbals that I give and receive as a communicator.
Additionally, as the interviewee I learned that I need to slow down and be patient. In reflecting
on how I responded when I was the person being interviewed, I find myself guilty of talking to
fast and assuming that the other person knew what I was talking about. This directly tied to what
Barna describes in her article, “In the United States nodding, smiling and affirmative comments
will probably be confidently interpreted by straightforward, friendly Americans as meaning that
they have informed, helped and pleased the newcomer. It is likely, however, that the foreigner
actually understood very little of the verbal and nonverbal content and was merely indicating
polite interest or trying not to embarrass himself or herself or the host by trying to verbalize
questions.” I left the interview wondering how much of what I tried to explain about my own
culture growing up in New Orleans was understood by my interviewer. I think I could have done
a better job of explaining my own culture versus assuming that she understood what I was
talking about.
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