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Intercultural Communication
Service Learning Paper
Submitted By:
Ana Kinghorn
May 1, 2015
Submitted to:
Tamara K. Phillips, M.S.
COMM 2150-002
Department of Communication
Salt Lake Community College
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Service Organization
For my service-learning project, I volunteered at the Sanderson Community Center
of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. The contact information is the following:
Jenefer Reudtet
Administrative Secretary
Sanderson Community Center of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing.
5709 South 1500 West
Taylorsville, UT 84123-5217
Phone: 801-657-5203
Email: jreudter@utah.gov
Project Plan
The mission of Sanderson Community Center is to help the deaf and hard of
hearing community with assistance to all its members. This facility is one of the largest
state funded facilities in the nation. Some of the help this center provides to its members is
legal advice, medical advice, help with interpreters, assistance with technology,
recreational programs, and other activities.
Every Wednesday the senior members of Sanderson Community Center meet at this
location to play “Table Game Social” activities. This group of seniors is from 45 years old
and up. All of them speak Sign Language (ASL). On Wednesdays the group meet from 9am
to 4pm. Every week the games they play are different and everyone brings their own lunch
with the exception of the 3rd Wednesday of each month where there is a pot luck lunch.
At the beginning of my project I was very nervous to be participating in their
activities since I had heard that this group is very protective of each other and my sign
language is very basic. I wanted to serve or be part of this group since it fitted my schedule
perfectly and I really want to learn more about this community. I went with the attitude of
having patience with myself and not to give up. Relax and enjoy the journey.
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Cultural Groups
In my Service Learning Project I had the opportunity to work with such a
diversity of seniors. The deaf and hard of hearing community is very diverse because there
are variations in the degree of hearing loss. At the same time I noticed a diversity of
backgrounds and education. Some of the seniors could read leaps and others were not
familiar with some of the new words in signing.
In my learning project I had the
opportunity to work with such intellectual individuals that my views of the deaf and hard
of hearing community is as rich as their values and traditions. As I had mentioned before I
participated every Wednesday with the seniors in general no one in particular. At the same
time this group was unique because they were some members that not only were deaf or
hard have hearing but their backgrounds were also from a different country or ethnical
background.
Challenges
I think the biggest challenge for me was sometimes not being able to understand
what the persons were trying to communicate to me. I think the biggest challenge for me
was sometimes not being able to understand what a particular person was trying to
communicate to me. Luckily I was able to get past that and was able to learn to understand
what it was they were communicating to me with feeling frustrated along the way. Another
thing I had difficulties with was that I had to listen to their culture and attempt not to force
them to change the way they think or the beliefs they had. I have always enjoyed listening
to know cultures and the things that they value most. So for me it was enjoyable being able
to learn their culture. Even though it was difficult at times to not argue with them on their
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beliefs I learned to adapt much better and was able to accept the fact they believe different
things. Another challenging part was to remember my proper grammar. I speak Spanish
and English so it gets hard/confusing trying to remember the proper way of grammar and
being able to explain it to them.
Theory
The theory I want to focus on my service-learning project is the theory developed by
Geert Hofstede. Hofstede is well known in his research of cross-cultural groups. He also
helped develop the framework for assessing and differentiating national cultures and
organization cultures. His research showed that cultural differences matter and are
national and regional cultural groups that influence the behavior of societies and
organizations. Hofstede provided a definition of culture and how culture can be measured.
His research showed that cultural differences matter. Managers in international
organizations operate according to their country's values, rather than to the organization’s
culture (Wikipedia). In the web site of Geert Hofstede & Gert Jan Hofstede culture is define
as “the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or
category of people from another (Hofstede, Geert).” These “categories” can be defined as
nation, regions, or ethnicities, as well as religions, occupations, organizations, and even
genders. In our text, “Intercultural Communication in Contexts” we read that when
Hofstede worked for IBM, he preformed a study across the multinational corporation in 53
major countries (pg. 107). He discovered that most if not all cultures have certain types of
values in common. He named four major types of dimensions that exist in almost every
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culture
group.
These
are
Power
Distance
Index,
Individualism/Collectivism,
Masculinity/Femininity value, and Uncertainty Avoidance.
1. POWER DISTANCE The power is distributed equally within a society and the degree in
which society accepts this distribution. A high power distance culture prefers hierarchical
bureaucracies, strong leaders and a high regard for authority. A low power distance culture
tends to favor personal responsibility and autonomy.
2. INDIVIDUALISM VS COLLECTIVISM It is the degree to which individuals base their actions
on self-interest versus the interests of the group. In an individual culture, is up to the
individual to provide for its own needs and the needs of his/her family. In a collective
culture, personal needs are less important than the group's needs. For an outsider,
becoming part of the group is not easy.
3. MASCULINITY VS FEMININITY A measure of a society's goal orientation: a masculine
culture emphasizes status derived from wages and position; a feminine culture emphasizes
human relations and quality of life.
4. UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE The degree to which individuals require set boundaries and
clear structures: a high uncertainty culture allows individuals to cope better with risk and
innovation; a low uncertainty culture emphasizes a higher level of standardization and
greater job security.
In Geert Hofstede web page mentioned earlier said: “Human culture is the result of
hundreds of thousands of years of evolution“. Also, it said: “All human groups, from the
nuclear family to society, develop cultures as they go. Culture is what enables a group to
function smoothly.
Analysis
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Working with the deaf and hard of hearing gave me the opportunity to embrace a
complete different culture for what my own idea of culture was. I always thought that to
experience a different culture you needed to go to another country. The Deaf and Hard of
Hearing is all around our own culture but they have their own culture that value and
cherished with great pride. I think, Hofstede Collectivism theory relates to the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing culture because all of the people I interacted with put the needs of the
entire group over the needs and wants of just one individual or themselves. This is one of
the theories I can relate to more since I believe that for being Chilean I have lots of
collectivism in me. I always thought that Deaf and Hard of Hearing community was more
individualistic because I always heard that they are very private and is very hard to get into
their inner circle. Now, I believe this culture is more uncertainty avoidance. This culture
has its own structure and way of doing things. By protecting and helping each other they
are sure none of its members gets hurts or excluded from some activity or another
important event.
Reflection
I was really excited and nervous to do this project. My own insecurity with my level
of the language made it very stressful at first. I think my age was part of being accepted
more easily into their activities. The only time I felt left out of a conversation was my first
day. That was normal since I was new to all of them. This community could see I have real
interest on learning their language and it is not just because I am taking a class, it is
because I really love this language. To the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community their
language is their identity. They are very proud of who they are and they are not afraid of
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expressing it. They are a very tightly knit community that value communication among
themselves and being kept in what is going on in the lives of the people they know and care
about.
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References
Geert Hofstede. “Geert Hofstede”. http://geerthofstede.nl/culture.aspx. May 02,2015.
Martin, Judith N. Nakayama, Thomas K. “Intercultural Communication in Contexts”.
Wikipedia. Geert Hofstede. Wikimedia Foundation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geert_Hofstede May 02, 2015.