Tenzin Dorjee, Ph.D.
California State University, Fullerton
Second North American Tibetan Language Conference and Workshop
August 25, 2012 @ Dhezhi Phunstokling, TANC, Northern CA
*Power Points in English, Oral Presentation in Tibetan Language 


CONTEXTING: TIBETAN DIASPORA IN NORTH AMERICA

IDENTITY PERSPECTIVES

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVES

COMPARING COMMUNICATION STYLES

LANGUAGE IDENTITY AND TIBETAN AMERICANS: A
DESCRIPTIVE MODEL

CONCLUSION

QUESTION AND ANSWER


AS A COMMUNITY WE FACE TWO MAJOR
CHALLENGES IN NORTH AMERICA.

ONE, INTERCULTURAL ADAPTATION (e.g., KIM, 2001)

TWO, TRANSMITTING AND PRESERVING TIBETAN
CULTURE AND IDENTITY (e.g., DORJEE, 2006;
DORJEE, GILES, & BARKER, 2012).


QUESTIONS: WHO AM I? WHO ARE WE?

AVOWED IDENTITY (WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE OR
WHO WE THINK WE ARE).

ASCRIBED IDENTITY (WHO OTHERS THINK YOU ARE
OR WHO OTHERS THINK WE ARE).

THESE PERSPECTIVES HELP US UNDERSTAND OUR
YOUNGER GENERATION’S IDENTITY STRUGGLES.


INTERGROUP PERSPECTIVE: PERSONAL IDENTITY
AND SOCIAL IDENTITY (SEE GILES, REID, &
HARWOOD, 2010)

PERSONAL IDENTITY = INDIVIDUAL UNIQUENESS OR
IDIOSYNCRASIES (e.g., PERSONALITY TRAITS)

SOCIAL IDENTITY = GROUP MEMBERSHIP (e.g.,
CULTURAL IDENTITY, LANGUAGE IDENTITY, ETHNIC
IDENTITY, RELIGIOUS IDENTITY, AGE IDENTITY,
NATIONAL IDENTITY, PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY)


WHAT IS CULTURE? MANY DEFINITIONS.

IT IS A LEARNED SYSTEM OF MEANINGS ABOUT
PATTERNS OF TRADITIONS, BELIEFS, VALUES,
NORMS, AND SYMBOLS (TING-TOOMEY & CHUNG,
2012).

FOR EXAMPLE, AN ICEBERG METAPHOR

MULTIPLE LEVELS: SURFACE, INTERMEDIATE, DEEP,
AND UNIVERSAL NEEDS.


CULTURAL VARIABILITY DIMENSIONS (e.g.,
HOFSTEDE, 2001; HOFSTEDE & McCRAE, 2004):

INDIVIDUALISM-COLLECTIVISM

POWER DISTANCE: SMALL OR LARGE

UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE: WEAK OR STRONG

GENDER ROLES: MASCULINE OR FEMININE VALUE
PATTERN

I WILL FOCUS ON THE FIRST TWO OF THESE
DIMENSIONS.


INDIVIDUALISM REFERS TO CULTURAL PATTERN THAT
EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY OVER
GROUP IDENTITY, INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS OVER GROUP RIGHTS,
AND INDIVIDUAL NEEDS OVER GROUP NEEDS.

FOR EXAMPLE, U.S.A. & WESTERN EUROPEAN CULTURES.

COLLECTIVISM REFERS TO CULTURAL PATTERN THAT
EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “WE” IDENTITY OVER
“I” IDENTITY, GROUP RIGHTS AND NEEDS OVER INDIVIDUAL
RIGHTS AND NEEDS (2/3 RD OF WORLD CULTURES).

FOR EXAMPLE, ASIAN CULTURES INCLUDING TIBET’S CULTURE.


POWER DISTANCE REFERS TO HOW POWER IS
DISTRIBUTED WITHIN A CULTURE.

SMALL POWER DISTANCE CULTURES TEND TO VALUE
EQUAL POWER DISTRIBUTIONS, EQUAL RIGHTS AND
FAIRNESS. FOR EXAMPLE, U.S.A. AND WESTERN
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.

LARGE POWER DISTANCE CULTURES TEND TO ACCEPT
UNEQUAL POWER DISTRIBUTIONS, HIERARCHICAL
RIGHTS, AND ASYMMETRICAL ROLE RELATIONS. FOR
EXAMPLE, MOST ASIAN CULTURES.


COMMUNICATION IS THE RELATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL
PROCESS OF ENCODING (CREATING) AND DECODING
(INTERPRETING) VERBAL AND NONVERBAL MESSAGES THAT ELICIT
A RESPONSE WITHIN A CONTEXT (SEE GRIFFIN, 2009).

ITS KEY ELEMENTS ARE:

1) RELATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL PROCESS

2) MESSAGES (NEGOTIATE MEANINGS)

3) REACTION (THE EFFECT OF THE MESSAGE)

4) CONTEXT (INTERPERSONAL, ORGANIZATIONAL, MEDIA,
INTERGROUP/INTERCULTURAL, & OTHERS)


HALL (1976) DISTINGUISED BETWEEN LOW AND HIGH
CONTEXTS OF COMMUNICATION.

LOW CONTEXT EMPHASIZES EXPLICIT EXPRESSION OF THE
INTENTED MESSAGES. FOR EXAMPLE, I NEED HELP, CAN YOU
HELP ME? “SAY WHAT YOU MEAN, MEAN WHAT YOU SAY.”
OTHER EXAMPLES?

HIGH CONTEXT EMPHASIZES IMPLICIT EXPRESSION OF THE
INTENDED MESSAGES. FOR EXAMPLE, LET’S MEET NEXT WEEK.
“READ BETWEEN THE LINES.” OTHER EXAMPLES?


COMPARING COMMUNICATION STYLES BETWEEN MAINSTREAM
AMERICANS AND TIBETANS:

MAINSTREAM AMERICANS VERSUS TRADITIONAL TIBETANS

LOW CONTEXT

DIRECT

INFORMAL

TALKING
HIGH CONTEXT
INDIRECT
FORMAL
LISTENING

SELF-ENHANCEMENT STYLE

LINEAR THINKING
SELF-HUMBLING STYLE
WHOLISTIC THINKING


A PROPOSED DESCRIPTIVE MODEL

1. THOSE WHO SPEAK TIBETAN & REGARD IT AS MOST
IMPORTANT TO THEIR IDENTITY (MORE TIBETAN THAN
AMERICAN).

2. THOSE WHO DO NOT SPEAK TIBETAN BUT REGARD IT AS
IMPORTANT TO THEIR IDENTITY (BICULTURAL IDENTITY).

3. THOSE WHO REGARD OTHER ASPECTS OF TIBETAN CULTURE
AS IMPORTANT TO THEIR IDENTITY (STRONG TIBETAN IDENTITY
BUT LANGUAGE MAY NOT BE IMPORTANT TO THEM).

4. THOSE WHO MAY NOT CARE ABOUT TIBETAN LANGUAGE
(ASSIMILATED TIBETANS; MORE AMERICAN THAN TIBETAN).


BICULTURAL = IDENTIFY WITH BOTH TIBETAN AND AMERICAN
CULTURES.

THEY ARE BOTH INDIVIDUALISTIC AND COLLECTIVISTIC IN
THEIR CULTURAL ORIENTATIONS.

THEY ARE BOTH LOW AND HIGH CONTEXTS COMMUNICATORS.

THEY MAY REGARD TIBETAN LANGUAGE IS IMPORTANT TO
THEIR IDENTITY REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY SPEAK IT OR
NOT.

THEY MAY SEE THEMSELVES AS “T-PLUS” (TIBETAN PLUS
WHATEVER).


CONTEXTING: TIBETAN DIASPORA IN U.S.A.

IDENTITY PERSPECTIVES

CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVES

COMPARING COMMUNICATION STYLES

LANGUAGE IDENTITY AND TIBETAN AMERICANS

TIBETAN AMERICANS COULD BE BICULTURAL

Q AND A SESSION

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND PARTICIPATION.