Evaluating Intercultural Behavior (Blog Post #4)

For this post, return to the skill builder for Fostering Intercultural Communication. Describe in writing the intercultural scenario that you observed for that task and present an interpretation in light of your understanding of cultural norms and values and the fundamentals of effective communication.

















I went to Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand together with my church youth group last December. We were led by our missionary to visit a few Christian gatherings in various village houses. Usually we would be treated to a meal prepared by the family after which we would be seated in a circle for songs and sharing.

There was an embarrassing situation when we were at one of the houses. While we were in a circle and sharing, one of my friends stood up and cut across the circle in an attempt to visit the toilet. My friends and I did not think much of it because the house was very packed and everyone was sitting near to the wall which gave little space to walk. However, our missionary was very embarrassed and apologized immediately. It was later I found out that in the Thai culture it was very rude to cut across the circle in a gathering like this. The situation was made worse because most of the Thai present were the elderly and they were very traditional and strict regarding this. I apologised immediately to our missionary for our rudeness and lack of observation that placed her in a difficult position.

I took more effort to be observant about the Thai culture after that incident. Like any Asian culture, there is a great emphasis on being polite. Filial piety and respect for the elders are also of great importance. These cultural norms, which are regarded much lesser by the younger generation like my friends and I, set the stage for the awkward situation above. I guess the fundamentals of effective communication would require a background knowledge of the culture we are engaging. However, since we are not always all-knowing, one fundamental might be good awareness and listening to both verbal and non-verbal cues of the parties involved. That way we might pick up their cultural norms before offending anyone.

Potential Research Project Topics (Blog Post #3)

In conjunction with the skill builder for Documenting Reports 1, write a description of the issue/problem/product that you would like to research. Be sure to follow that description with your topic’s general research question. Also, explain why an attitudinal survey would be needed in order to study this topic.














The Issue
"There are too many emails!" "Did you really send it? Let me go back to check again." "I think your email is lost in my inbox." These comments are unfamiliar to many of us. In fact, it is increasingly a problem.

Emailing is an efficient communication channel. Information and documents are transported with just a click. Everyone in NUS is provided an NUS email account where they are connected with their lecturers, project group members, information from IVLE and CORS during module bidding period. However, these are not the only emails that find their way into our inbox. Every company, organization and student club wants to squeeze their advertisement into that cramped inbox and publicize their products and events. Without proper regulation, our inbox can be described by the commonly used term 'flooded'. Flooded inbox prevents important messages from being transmitted and hinders much required communication. Time is wasted daily to read and filter unwanted emails commonly known as 'junk mail'. This discourages students to even bother checking their emails subsequently.

General Research Question
How many unwanted* emails are students receiving each day?

*Unwanted would be defined as those emails that students would wish they did not receive.

Why an Attitudinal Survey is needed
As labeling certain emails and advertisements as junk mail is subjective, a survey is needed to see if the student body is comfortable in receiving these endless emails and advertisements. There is also a concern if there are frequent cases of broken communication and lost information due to the crowding of other unnecessary emails.

If this is indeed the situation, then there will be a need to notify the Office of Student Affairs to impose stricter regulations and limit the emails that can be sent to each student's account for the benefit and relief of the whole student body.