Week 16 Question 3

In chapter 5 Diversity in Groups: The Strength of Different Perspectives, I feel the intercultural communication is not emphasis enough under the topic of language use. Language use is the first thing we notice about intercultural differences, however, language is not the only differences within intercultural context. There are things like use of time, space, general communication context aren’t discuss enough in this chapter. Sometimes different cultures can be people from different country or people with different religion. These are the factors are going to effect us greatly in an organization because we are interaction with people constantly. I feel like since it is a chapter about diversity, intercultural communication in the organizational world should be included and to be explain in depth. More importantly, United States is a multi-cultural country and it is hard to find an organization with only one dominant culture. To learn about intercultural communication is the first step for us to be intercultural competent.

Week 16 Question 2

For the outside group project, I feel it is useful to observe and apply the concepts we learn in the book. Sometimes when we read about these concepts we only have ideas, it is helpful to create a situation and apply these concepts to real life. I like this project because being an observer gives me a better focus on the group itself. I chose a teenager church group in Santa Clara and every meeting is about a topic in the Bible. The leader will teach these teenagers the topic of the day with his personal experience and throw in a lot anecdote. He has a very creative teaching style and care for his students as well. He is very close with the group and it is very obvious from their interaction. I feel the project is useful to me because not only being an observer gives me a chance to apply the things I learn in life also I feel I learn from the bible teaching as well.

Week 16 Question 1

CMC is any communication that “takes place through a variety of media and provides distributed group member with video, audio, and text-based messaging capabilities (Harris & Sherbolm 2008, p. 296). CMC doesn’t include human contact so basically it is less interpersonal. “CMC group members tend to focus more on the task and instrumental aspects of the process than on the personal and social aspects of the group. Thus they tend to be more content oriented and less social-emotional in their communication style than face-to-face groups are” (Harris & Sherbolm, 2008, p. 296). Since, some of the CMC doesn’t involve images of the personal u are communicating, sometimes it is less intimidating. It was undeniable that f2f communication contains more information than CMC communication such as nonverbal cues, facial expression, eye behaviors…etc. I feel like we still need that human aspect in the communication process, therefore, I would prefer to have a face-to-fact relationship before starting a CMC communication relationship.

Week 14 Question 3

The concept that interests me in chapter 12 is charismatic power. It was defined in the text book as “Charismatic or personal power resides in particular personalities to which others are attracted. It is elusive in that it is difficult to define, but we recognize it when we see it or feel it” (p. 241). I think this power gives people the extra edge. Whenever I go to a speaker’s event or presentation, I usually would remember the speaker the most and if he or she is a funny and personable person, it image would be with me for a long period of time. I remember I saw a video once with a psychologist talking about brain. The subject sounds boring but he is most interesting speaker I have never seen. I ended up learning a lot of useful information about brain and it is because this charismatic psychologist made the speech so much more interesting.

Week 14 Question 2

Normally I would force myself into the collaborative conflict resolution when it comes to conflict with family and closes friends. When I have conflict with my father, I would want him to understand my point of view and he usually very understanding therefore, it is worth the time and energy to communicate with him. I am very lucky that I can talk to my father and whenever we have conflict, we would identify the problems we are having and speak what we have in mind and come up with a solution that we both can agree on. When it comes to competitive conflict solution, I usually end up with destructive conflict rather than constructive. Whenever, I argue with my sister, I automatically shifted and become a difficult person and trying to “win” the argument because I am older. Needless to say, it is not the best solution for my sister and I. My sister is not appreciating this method of conflict resolution and I can see it is hurting our relationship. I think collaborative conflict resolution is more satisfying because at the end of the day we can solve our problem and not hurting our relationship.

Week 14 Question 1

A forum consists with “a public discussion in which the full audience participates, examining a topic or problem after a short presentation by the group” (p. 219). A panel is “a public format with group of four to eight experts discusses a problem or decision in front of an audience. This discussion often follows the problem-solving format but uses an informal, sometimes humorous, style of interaction to keep the audience’s attention and to effetely share information that may be technical in nature” (p. 220). However, a panel has no direct interaction between audience and panel of expert. A colloquium usually “open with short position or opinion statements by the experts and then shifts to a more interactive public discussion of the issues with audience participation, shifting back to comments by one or more of the experts, and returning again to audience comments, so that the discussion is carried on both in front of and with the participation of audience members” (p. 221). A symposium is “to present complex technical information to the audience about the problem. The speeches are well prepared, practiced, and polished presentations that are uninterrupted by the audience and presented by skilled public speakers” (p. 221). I would prefer the colloquium because I think the constant interaction between audience and speaker is very helpful. Feedbacks from the speaker is very direct and the shifting back and forth of comments would encourage audience to participate more because they would know they would get more feedback.

Week 13 Question 3

The concept that interested me in this chapter is openness, “maintaining openness-a supportive communication climate-during the problem solving process is vital for creativity” (p.194). I always like this concept because I think that is the key for more creativity. I also believe that openness is important in communication, especially group communication. I find it refreshing when I keep an open mind, how much I can be inspired. If we are closed-mind, I think its hard for us to breakthrough, and if we do not breakthrough, it even harder for us to think outside of the box and be creative. In this century, people are more competitive, and the quality employers looking for is not whether or not you can operate on Microsoft office or know how to do bookkeeping. They need an employee to have an open mind and generate new idea, be creative; this way employee can become a real asset for the company.

Week 13 Question 2

Cultural barriers include “requirement for conformity, expectation of politeness and following rules for social order, a reliance on statistical proofs, a dependence on generalization, a belief in an either/or perspective on issues” (p. 188). I think these are the reasons I experienced from being creative. Every summer, my whole family goes on a trip with about 10 family members. Sometimes the younger members in the family always think of some activity exciting to do like kayaking. However, there are older family members involved, therefore, we just always end up with some peace and more relax vacation. Plus, adults always more paranoid about exciting trips because they are more afraid of accidents. In the end, no matter how many exciting ideas my cousins and I come up with, we usually pick a place that travel agents suggest us. The pressure of conformity, expect of the elders, terrible accidents reports on trips…. etc made these trips always less exciting than they can be.

Week 13 Question 1

Creativity is explained as “going beyond the current boundaries of technology, knowledge, social norms or beliefs seeing and acting on new relationships, thereby bringing them to life” (p. 183). When I think of creativity, I think is generating some idea that catches eyes. When I was doing a skit for a debate class, each of the group has to come up with a skit for a given topic. However, my group was given the most boring topic with a limitation. Our topic was to create a skit that demonstrates a family that uses good communication skills to revolve problems. We first came up with a really boring and safe skit that basically consist each family members talk about their needs. And then I thought, if our topic is boring we could be creative in the content of the skit itself. Therefore, I came up with story that requires one daughter in the family has a problem with diarrhea and that skit was a huge success with a lot of laughers. Our group was thinking outside the box and used our creativity to turn a boring skit to an interesting one.

Week 9 Question 3

The concept that interested me in chapter 7 is providing constructive feedback. “Offer constructive feedback that uses descriptive statements without judgment, exaggeration, labeling, or attribution of motives”(p.139). To be honest, I really don’t know how to give a good feedback, because I always afraid I would say something hurtful or inappropriate. I feel kind of disrespectful if I offer some changes to the person, because I think they must work really hard on their piece and I am not just comfortable to give negative feedback. When I give feedback I follow the rules, “Say why you are affected that way and describe the connection between the facts you observed and your feelings, let the other person respond, Describe he change you want the other person to consider…”(p. 139). However, the concept of constructive feedback is easy to understand but it is easier said then done. I think I just have to overcome my issue with giving feedback.

Week 9 Question 2

When my dad was talking to the family about my sister’s attitude problem, I knew I had to be there for my sister, however, I just find it very boring that we were talking about the same problem again. I think the most difficult part for me in this situation is selective attention. When we are talking about something interesting, I would listen more carefully and give more feedbacks. However, when my dad starts to repeat himself, my attention tends to drift off elsewhere. The way to overcome that is to speak up, and remind my father that he is repeating the information and we should move on to more important issue. Because I am a very selective attention kind of person, I always avoid the topic I am not interested in. However, if the topic of a listening situation benefits me, then I would constantly remind myself that and try to keep my focus.

Week 9 Question 1

The most difficult part in listening situation for me is noise, both internal and external. When I was in my World Communication class today, the bird are chirping, then I would look outside the window and thinking, “what kind of bird that is”. This is a classic example of external noise “distractions that make it difficult to hear the other person” (p.132). Then half way through the class, I would start thinking there are some bills I have to pay when I get home. That is an example of internal noise,” a preoccupation with personal issue…”(p.133). This tendency of me shifting my attention else where in a lecture is really hurting me because when I shift back my focus to the lecture, I already missed a lot and its hard for me to catch up. The way for myself to overcome this bad habit is that I have to focus on the lecture from the very beginning otherwise I would shift my focus somewhere else very fast. If I have full attention in the lecture from the beginning then there will be too much information for me to absorb therefore I wouldn’t have time to shift my attention.

Week 7 Question 3

The concept that interests me in chapter 6 is humor. I think humor in very important in any kind of relationship and that includes in groups and teams “humor uses the power of verbal communication to share messages, relive stress, support group fantasies, integrate ideas, support common values, convey messages and meaning to people, and help listener acceptance” (Harris & Sherblom, 2008, p. 113). All of these subjects are keys to hold a cohesive group together and create a positive atmosphere for groups or teams. My example is that when I am in a group and there is a humorous person who always cracks jokes about himself or the things we do, I feel more comfortable in the situation and I wouldn’t be hesitate to contribute more. If I am in a stiff group or team, I would still be able to contribute my part but it wouldn’t be a nice experience and we wouldn’t have a sense of unity.

Week 7 Question 2

Proxemics is the use of space, for example personal space and individual boundary, “the study of the structuring of personal space- the invisible boundary individuals draw around themselves as proxemics. Chronemics is the use of time or “study of the use of time” (p.119). There isn’t a universal rules for all cultures regarding these concepts. Every culture is different in the sense of the use of space and time. For example, in the U.S people have larger personal space. When in line at McDonalds, people stand further apart from each other. However, at a McDonalds’ in Asia, people stand so much closer, and almost like they knew each other to be in such close proxemics. Same thing with Chronemic; in the U.S time is very precise, if say the meeting start at 3 then the meeting will start at 3. However, the use of time is much more flexible in Asian countries.

Week 7 Question 1

Principle 2 it is more likely to be believed than verbal communication. I think this principle apply to any nonverbal situation and not just in small group. We always hear “actions are louder than words” because it is what you do that matters more than what you say. When a person say we will work hard to accomplish this group project but he/she is the one always show up late and didn’t contribute enough in the project. In this case, we will believe in what his/her nonverbal message, which is he/she doesn’t take this group project as serious as he/she said.

Principle 7 women are more sensitive than men to nonverbal cues. I think this is true especially in group communication. I often notice in a group or team, the social-emotional roles who create a better climate and working relationships among group members are usually women. Women are more sensitive therefore they pick up on nonverbal messages quicker and more accurate. When creating a positive atmosphere in the group the social-emotional role has to be sensitive enough to notice every member’s needs and their emotion state.

Week 3 Question 3

1. The concept I found very interesting in chapter 5 is communication contexts. A high communication context means, “that less of the meaning needs to be explicitly stated” (90). On the other hand, a low communication context means, “meanings need to be explicitly communicated” (91). Basically, in a high context situation, the real meaning of the message is hidden somewhere in the actual message, and the receiver has to acknowledge that on their own. In a low context situation, the real meaning of the message is transparent. In the Western culture, communication is leaning towards low context and people like to be directly informed without any hidden messages. In the other hand, in the Eastern culture, communication pattern is definitely more high context. The reason is that, being too direct is consider rude in the Eastern culture, therefore, people communicate in a much more indirect way to avoid rudeness and embarrassment.

Week 3 Question 2

1. The concept of white men of privilege was discussed in the text as “organizational behaviors and expectations have been defined within the context of that privileged upper-middle-class, middle-aged, able-bodied, white make experience” (p. 96). Basically, people like the typical white men come from upper-middle class and well educated usually more privileged from others because they usually the first candidates for jobs or anything else. I don’t agree with this concept because I’ve known too many talented people are not able to get the position they wanted because they don’t fit the typical profile. And sadly, they lost their job to those “white men of privilege”. I don’t agree with this concept, because I believe the world is changing and people are gradually abolishing this ridiculous concept. In terms of getting jobs, we should choose the best candidates based on their abilities and their work ethic and disregard how they look like, their cultural or financial background.

Week 3 Question 1

1. I have been a member of a group that has been stereotyped against. Stereotype, as it explains in the text, “as a form of categorization is part of the human condition…helps us make immediate and potentially critical decisions, saving us from having to sort through each individual circumstance and from overloading our mental circuits” (p.89). When I was a freshman in high school, I had a math tutor to preview materials that were coming up in the class; therefore, I usually didn’t have any problems when I was doing worksheet in class. One day, a guy in my class always copy off of my worksheets asked me if I know all the math problems in the world because I am Asian. Well, I basically kept my silence and moved on. I felt it was ridiculous and ignorance of him to asked me that question. The funny thing is, I hate math, and very bad at it too. The guy just put me in a category “Asians good at math” because of this perpetuate myth that he has about Asians. My example definitely reflects the concept in the text of how stereotyping is over generalizing human condition and not allowing people to differentiate individuals.

Week 2 Question 3

1. The concept I find interesting is role. The textbook described it as “role is associated with the position and status of a member in a group and implies the rights and duties of that member toward one or more other group members”(49). Three types of roles were talked about in the text, task roles, social-emotional roles and self-centered roles. I am usually a task roles when it comes to group project or team work in school. I am very much focus on the goal of the group and make a plan to get the job done. I become the social-emotional role among my group of friends. We talk about feelings and we try to be expressive among ourselves. I tried to avoid being the self-centered roles that only care about my own needs; however, I sometimes become that role among my family members. I become selfish and not contributing in a positive way.

Week 2 Question 2

The basic function of the norms in groups is letting group members know what is acceptable. “Norms are prescribed by an organization’s culture or by the prevailing understanding about how groups operate in a given situation. Norms are the set of assumptions or expectations by members of a group or organization concerning what kind of behavior is right or wrong, good or bad, appropriate or inappropriate allowed or not allowed”(47). Group norms is like a unspoken messages that spreading among the group and the group members would catch on how to behavior among this group and become integrated to the group he/she wants to associate with. For example, in my group of friends, we always put friends before guys. And when one of my friends would ditch us for her boyfriend, we would think she violated our group norms. When she has done this for more than a couple of times, she becomes distance with the group.

Week 2 Question 1

1. I I don’t usually spend my time on campus. I go to my classes on time but I don’t ever hang out or involve in any kind of clubs at SJSU. However, I am still part of SJSU and notice the group norms. Since a lot of students at SJSU work a part time job or a full time job, they are very particular about professor letting them out of class on time. If the class ends at 1:15 p.m, we can see people packing up and getting ready to leave at 1:10 p.m. The professor would notice this nonverbal cue and start wrapping up for the class. These actions are not something we say, it just happened naturally because this is the nature of the group and acceptable by the group.

In my group, we are also aware of the group norms. When we talk on the phone we always “Okay, let me call u later”, by that means “I want to hang up now”. And we never really call each other back. We never mention this because as a group we think this is an acceptable behavior.

Week 1 Question 3

1. The concept I find very interesting in chapter 2 is feedback. I used to think getting feedback is a way to know how people think about your work, but the textbook explain feedback in a small group in a intriguing way; “A group must pay attention both to the feedback that it receives from its larger environment in the form of its initial charge and directions, as well as to the response to its presentations”(p.32). We should not only pay attention to the content of the feedback and also how it was delivered, so this way we can fully take that feedback into account and improves the group. I also think both positive feedback and negative feedback are equally important because we want creativity but at the same time we need to also maintain certain balance. I actually like getting feedbacks because this is how I improve myself and also know how the rest of the group is doing.

Week 1 Question 2

1. I believe everyone experienced entropy in school or at work. Entropy affects small groups because it is the reason to prevent small group to move forward and accomplish the common goal. When there aren’t enough input in the group, energy of the group deflated and the group might lose its direction. When there are too much input in the group, the members of the group would get overwhelm and steer away from their purpose. Therefore, balance is very important and members of the group should always be monitoring their progress and always communicate with each other. Equifinality is also important in the group, because every group has different dynamic. We all need to be flexible and bring our special skill or talent into full play in the group, and then we can achieve our common goal. Since every group is different, there isn’t a right way to do things in small group therefore, understand the concept of equifinality is essential in small group communication.

Week 1 Question 1

1. When parts of the system do not function well, the group might end up with a chaotic situation and undesirable result. Example 1: When I was in a quantitative class, we were doing a group research presentation. One of the members kept switching writing section with other members of the group because when she encountered problems in her parts, she didn’t try to figure out herself, she just simply gave up. It was very troublesome for the rest of the group because we all depended on each other’s writing section to create a group paper but we couldn’t depend on her. Example 2: When I was in a group communication class, we have to create a product to sell as a group. I really liked the group dynamic because we always keep a close contact of each other through out the course. But there was one person who was always busy with his job and didn’t check his email frequently. The day before the presentation, each of us had to bring something for the group so I sent a remainder email to everybody. Not surprising, the busy working person didn’t see the email and show up empty handed. We spent so much time and energy on the presentation but still, it couldn’t be perfect.

Introductory Post

Hi, this is Sogo
I am a Communication Studies major at SJSU and this is my second to last semester. The reason I chose to be a communication major is because of the broadness of it and I like how I can apply the concepts I learned in classes to real life. I also like the interaction with classes and I feel discussions among group helps me to be open minded.

I am looking forward to this class because I feel the knowledge I gain from this class is going to help me when I start working after school.
I took one online class for Winter 2010 and I really like the flexibility of online classes.

I like moves, dramas and traveling

-Sogo