SPC BLOG Group 1

 

Alejandra Saenz

                                   Reflection                                         

            Our group was given Chapter three to analyze and interpret as a team. We had to dissect the key information into a summarized bit for the power point presentations. Chapter three is titled Intercultural Communications where they speak about different cultures and their views. We as a group read the information and picked our own subsection to present. The first subsection was culture which we explained how coming from diverse backgrounds can affect your perspective on things. A group member mentioned that culture shock can affect those who are new to a certain area. For example, if they moved from Cuba to Miami then they would go under culture shock from missing their home and feeling like that they do not belong because they don’t know English.     

 This example intertwines with intercultural communication because it explains how people can find it hard to communicate with someone else that comes from a different culture. From there dominant culture was explained as a system of norms presented by the majority group who are empowered. Additionally, biculturalism was defined as appreciating and embracing various aspects of two originally distinct cultures. Our group decided to use Miami as an example of biculturalism because as you all know Miami is filled with immigrants from all over the world. An example we used was the United States because it is clearly one of the most powerful countries. Co- The two subsections I chose were long term and short-term Orientation along with Indulgence. Long term Orientation is when you are more of a slow-paced person with your goals. For short term orientation you would rather get to your goals quicker by working extra hours. This explained to me how the people surrounded by you can affect your work ethic because this might annoy your co-worker. The second topic was indulgence which means someone who is likely to work in something they enjoy doing for example as a bracelet maker. Along with biculturalism we spoke about co-culture which is defined as a group of people within the larger culture who hold the common values, beliefs, attitudes, and customs that differ from those in the dominant culture. An example I think we could have used for this would be if a group of people preferred apple pie than the majority of the society. Code switch was also discussed in this chapter and I learned that it basically explained how slang is created. One thing I want to mention is that I enjoyed that our group gave each other their own space and we all able to bring different characters on to our own slides. The second presentation was group two which covered chapter nine titled, “Communicating in Groups.” I found this title funny because that’s exactly what this class demonstrates because we speak to each other in order to get this information to come together. The first example mentioned that represents a group is a family the only difference is that they are related to each other. Everyone knows that as family communication is important whether its letting your mom know what groceries are missing or parents parenting their kids by telling them what they should and shouldn’t do. Group two spoke about social and support groups which I think we can relate to in our lives. Social groups are defined a group of people who genuinely care for each other and enjoy each other’s presence. An example of this would be friendships. Whereas support groups were defined as people who come together to provide encouragement towards one another and who are there to listen and console. An example of this would be a group of people who have all recently had a family member pass away and listen what each other is feeling towards their passing. This can help those get out of their depressive state knowing someone is feeling the same way they are which can inspire them to want to move on from the grievance. I learned about social information processing theory that explains how we form relationships with people in virtual settings. This interested me because nowadays most of use social media and meet new people online through posts or simply by following each other. Another part I liked about the presentation was when they brought up pseudo conflict which is defined as when group members agree about something they believe they disagree to due to poor communication. An example of this would be if we all agreed we didn’t like the cafeteria food. I really enjoyed the images and videos provided by group two. I’m sure the rest of the class enjoyed it too if they consider themselves to be a visual learner. Everyone in group two informed the class well and presented without reading much of the power point which is a skill all of us should try to learn. The last group that presented was group three and they were given chapter ten titled “Group Leadership and Problem Solving”. The first subsection speaks about leadership which is defined as a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal. An example of this would be exactly what we are doing in this class in our own groups where we have a leader. The leader helps put together all the other students and makes sure the assignment is well done. The next subsection mentioned was task roles which is defined as sets of behaviors that help a group acquire, process, or apply information that contributes directly to completing a task or role.  This is exactly what we do when we talk about our own projects in our class because we all do our part of the assignment to make sure we all pass. I really loved how they explained this chapter because the information they presented can help better each one of our groups for the next assignment.     

 Lastly,Ithink all the groups did a great job and I hope we all continue to strive in this course.