Skyler Miller
COMM 2150 – Intercultural Communication
Service Learning Paper
Service Organization
The contact information for my project is as follows:
Michelle Love-Day
Principal
Taylorsville Elementary School
School Office
Phone: 385-646-5038
Email: mlove-day@graniteschools.org
Project
My project was to tutor and assist elementary students who speak Spanish and are struggling with
English. I began working with a young girl in Kindergarten named Dana. She had recently moved to the
United States from Mexico with her family and is still learning to speak English. I eventually helped
several other students from many different cultural groups such as Carlos, a 6th grader from Guatemala,
Melanie, and 4th grader from Micronesia, and also Forrest, a 3rd grader from the islands of Chuuk. All of
these students struggled with English as a second language and my goal was to help them understand
their school work and better their language skills.
Culture Groups
All of the people I worked with were young, elementary school students whom have recently
immigrated to the United States and are currently learning English. Dana and Carlos come from Hispanic
cultures- Dana from Mexico and Carlos from Guatemala- while Melanie and Forrest both came from
Micronesia. I was able to see that Hispanic cultures are very different from Micronesian cultures in their
context and their proxemics.
Challenges
I faced numerous challenges throughout my service learning project, the largest being cultural
differences. Not only did I face the challenge of trying to effectively communicate with elementary age
children, but I had to effectively communicate with children from different countries who are still
struggling to speak English. With Dana and Carlos, I was able to communicate more effectively with
them in Spanish, but it was a challenge because each country has a unique dialect. Working with
Melanie and Forrest was harder because I could not communicate with them in their native language of
Chuuk so I helped them out in English. Another large challenge was consistency. Dana was absent
several times and Carlos moved out of town shortly after I began tutoring him, so it was challenging to
maintain consistency with one student.
Theory
The theory that applies best to my Service Learning Project was Edward T. Hall’s theory of Proxemics.
According to the textbook, “Hall introduced the notion of proxemics, the study of how people use
personal space to communicate.” (Martin & Nakayama, 2007, p. 45) The theory of proxemics proposes
that all people interact within certain distance zones of communication- intimate, personal, social, and
public. Each person knows which distance they will use depending on the situation, and each cultural
group will have their own generally accepted rules for personal space.
Our relationship and comfort level with another person will affect which distance zone we use to
communicate. Hall describes these distance zones as “bubbles” that surround us. We will be more likely
to communicate with close friends and family within our Intimate Space, whereas a routine social
interaction with acquaintances and strangers will take place within our Social Space. This theory plays a
very large role in intercultural communication because cultural expectations about these spaces vary
with each cultural group. According to the Center for Spatially Integrated Social Science’s article on the
theory of proxemics, they state “In the United States, for instance, people engaged in conversation will
assume a social distance of roughly 4–7', but in many parts of Europe the expected social distance is
roughly half that with the result that Americans traveling overseas often experience the urgent need to
back away from a conversation partner who seems to be getting too close.”
(http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/13)
It is important to apply this theory in our communication with other cultures. The textbook describes
how the Foreign Service Institute hired Edward T. Hall to help them apply this theory within the
institute. The text states: “This emphasis on the application of theory spawned a parallel discipline of
cross-cultural training, which began with the FSI staff and was expanded in the 1960s to include training
for students and business personnel.” (Martin & Nakayama, 2007, p. 45) This cross-cultural training is
defined as “Training people to become familiar with other cultural norms and to improve their
interactions with people of different domestic and international cultures.” (p. 45) Learning to recognize
proxemics in communication allows one to see where they stand with the person they are
communicating with. Recognizing when a person becomes more personal or intimate with their
personal space, sends non-verbal signals of trust and comfort. This is especially important when dealing
with others in business, daily life, or as a teacher.
Hall further defined proxemics within cultures and divided cultures into two groups- Contact and
Noncontact cultures. “Societies, in which people stand closer together while talking, engage in more
direct eye-contact, use face-to-face body orientations more often while talking, touch more frequently,
and speak in louder voices” (p. 260) are considered contact cultures. Cultures in South America and
southern Europe are generally considered contact cultures, whereas those in northern Europe, the
United States, and the Far East and considered noncontact cultures. In noncontact cultures, “people
tend to stand farther apart when conversing, maintain less eye contact, and touch less often.” (p. 260)
Analysis
After reading and studying this theory, I found that it easily applied to my service learning project. I was
able to witness this theory work as I helped tutor these children. The distance zones were noticeable as
our relationship developed. I was also able to see the differences between contact cultures and
noncontact cultures as I worked with students from Hispanic Cultures and students from Pacific Island
cultures. Dana and Carlos both had a much closer social space than Melanie and Forrest, and they used
much more hand gestures and made much more eye contact. This could be misinterpreted that Melanie
and Forrest are less social and shyer, but applying this theory, their cultures are simply a more
noncontact culture.
As I got to know the students better and as they felt more comfortable with me coming each week to
tutor them, I slowly became part of their personal bubble instead of merely their social bubble. This was
especially apparent with Dana and Carlos, who began talking much more frequently with me, asking
more questions, and acting more comfortable with me around. Forrest also began to speak more but he
still kept hand-gestures and eye-contact to a minimum.
One specific example that applies to the theory of proxemics was with Carlos. The first time I tutored
him, he kept me at a social distance. He talked openly with me, he used a lot of hand-gestures, but he
did not communicate with me in personal space. The second time I visited with him, he seemed happy
to see me, and he came up to me and gave me a high-five. He began communicating with me in a closer
proximity and began joking more and using even more hand-gestures. That was when I was most able to
notice the transition between social space and personal space.
The proxemics theory was easy to recognize with Dana and Carlos, but it took me some time to
recognize it with Melanie and Forrest. I worked with Forrest for several weeks in a row, and for the first
few weeks, he would only offer a one-word greeting, only speak if I spoke to him, and would never make
eye-contact. I finally realized that he was using a more social or personal distance after a few weeks
when he began waving his hand wildly to greet me and smiling as broadly as possible. He slowly began
speak to me and ask his own questions, but it took much longer than Dana or Carlos.
This theory was very useful as a tutor and teacher in this position because it gave me a good idea of our
teacher-student relationship and how it had progressed. A teacher needs their students to feel
comfortable around them and to trust them so that they will speak their minds openly and present any
doubts that they may have about the material. If a student does not trust or does not feel comfortable
around their tutor/teacher, they will simply respond when spoken to and the learning process will be
hindered greatly. Applying this theory to my service learning project has helped me recognize proxemics
in intercultural communication and more effectively adapt my communication to meet the needs of the
students.
Reflection
At the beginning of the semester I was not very fond of the idea of a service learning project. I did not
see how I would learn much about intercultural communication by tutoring students once a week. I was
also a little nervous because I had never really tutored before, let alone students from different cultures
who are struggling with English. I did not consider myself a great teacher and I was not sure I would be
able to help them effectively.
When I originally set up my service learning project, I was excited to work with students who speak
Spanish so that I could help them, but when I learned that I would also be working with ESL students
from different cultures, I wasn’t sure how I would effectively communicate with them. I was not sure
what to expect working with students from numerous different cultures and so I just began the project
throwing out all of my doubts.
I learned a lot about many different cultures. I first learned how to more effectively communicate and
help younger children. It was difficult at first but I feel much more comfortable teaching young
elementary students now than I did before. I also learned a lot about cultural differences and
communication styles between different cultures. I had to adapt my teaching style with Dana and Carlos
much differently than I did with Melanie and Forrest.
Throughout the course of the project, I noticed that my attitude changed. I first began going as a
responsibility to my grade in class and to fulfill my hours, but I began noticing that I was going for my
responsibility to the students I was tutoring. I enjoyed seeing the progress they made and the look they
got when they finally understood the school material.
I first learned that knowledge gained in a classroom is not as easily understood as knowledge gained
through personal experience. This service learning project acted as a steroid to what we learned in class
and enhanced that knowledge. Learning to interact with other cultures simply takes patience and
actually interacting with them!
After studying the theory, my experience became much more clear and understandable. If I had applied
the theory and studied it much earlier, I am sure I would have learned even more from this service
learning project.
References
Intercultural Communication in Contexts Fourth Ed. by Judith N. Martin and Thomas K. Nakayama, 2007
http://www.csiss.org/classics/content/13 by Nina Brown, 2009