Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Intercultural communication works as a training for volunteers

According to US legal definitions, the term “Intercultural communication” refers that individuals from different cultures, languages and social value share information by communication, especially within an organization composed of various backgrounds. Overseas volunteers, accordingly, will encounters this situation and need to contact people while offering aids. Learning languages of their duty station (place where volunteer assigned) is a main solution to breaking the barrier of this kind of communication. When being familiar with local language, volunteers have ability to exchange opinions with the people and understand how language, culture and perception build the present condition, which is an important part for volunteers to learn. (Bennett, M. J. 1998) Also, Intercultural Sensitivity plays an important role when communicating with different culture; that is, it is crucial for volunteers to have empathy with local people in multi-cultural environment and understand their development goals and agendas based on their culture and custom.
Intercultural Communication for Development, a master thesis written by Keisuke Taketani. He conducted an online survey that measure UNV (United Nation) volunteers’ intercultural sensitivity by the framework of DMIS. DMIS, Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, developed by Milton J. Bennett, is a method to level ones different cultural experiences following by six stages: Denial, Defense, Minimization, Acceptance, Adaptation, and Integration. We can see that how these being-surveyed volunteers are generalized into each stage and see what their attitude and behavior are when interacting with various cultures. For example, a Swiss volunteer mentions that the disabilities of cultural communication and lack of respect for local culture tend to cause mistrust and the feeling of inferiority between volunteers (foreigner) and local community.
     As a whole, we can reach to a conclusion that Intercultural communication is a crucial part for people engaging in activities that need to contact with various cultures, especially for overseas volunteers. However, according to Taketani’s online survey, by asking the question: What kind of Intercultural training or support have you received from UNV? A few volunteers would take courses for only gaining country-specific information, yet, ten of 48 volunteers said they would not have any pre-training: they go to their duty station directly. Only rare instance have chance to have training include intercultural communication. It seems that the awareness for intercultural sensitivity isn’t much valued by relevant organizations and volunteers themselves. In the introductory book Basic Concept of Intercultural Communication, Interculturalist Milton J. Bennett penetrates to the core question of “How do people understand one another when they do not share a common cultural experience?” (1998:1).

Reference
Legal Definition legal term dictionary, available from
Keisuke Taketani (2008) Intercultural Communication for Development, retrieved fromhttp://dspace.mah.se/bitstream/handle/2043/7099/ComDev%20KT%20Final.pdf?sequence=1

Bennett, M. J. (1998) Intercultural Communication: A Current Perspective in Bennett, Milton J. (ed) Basic Concepts of Intercultural communication. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press

10 comments:

  1. I agree that being a good volunteer shall equips himself with the local culture and some country background history, races and offense. If the volunteers are not preparing before, maybe they will be just as the tourists and they do not really give the help for local people; even cause the harm to the local. I think if I am going to be a volunteer, I will try my best to understand the culture. As for the language, maybe I can only learn the basic words and sentences to talk a little bit to local people. Since if I would like to go to many different countries, it is difficult for me to learn every language proficiently. Besides, maybe there are also existing some important issue such as communication skills, friendship, cooperation with team group......and so on. I think that your annotation makes me to think deeper about the relationship with foreigners in issue of intercultural volunteers.

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  2. I think basically I agreed with you pretty much on the point that international volunteers will have to learn languages of their duty station. For the reason that it is the main solution to break the barrier of intercultural communication as you mentioned, and also when being familiar with local language, volunteers have ability to exchange opinions with the people and understand how language, culture and perception build the present condition, as you quoted Bennett’s word.
    However, under what kind of situation is this question considered? Does it matter differently base on the volunteer function, which is professional and unprofessional?

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  3. Learning the local language once you go volunteering int that country is a great idea to me. I agree that it would help understand and learn culture more efficiently by this means; however, I want to know the "degree" of learning the language. Most time, volunteers would not have sufficient time to absorb the learning in no real time and, especially, be willing to learn a new skill which he/she might not use any longer after their return. Therefore, I'd like to know further that what kind of degree of learning a language is enough to at least not hamper the intercultural communication and also in what way should be given to offer volunteers the learning in short time. Maybe there's a timeline of short, middle and long term mapping out the procedure to learn a language for volunteers in your personal opinion and it would be thrilling if you share with us.

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  4. Being a volunteer to other culture, the knowledge and training for intercultural is important, for wrong or misunderstanding about other's culture may cause serious problem, such as do harm to the native or bring incorrect conceptions to other culture and lead to negative influence. As a result, I think training of intercultural is necessary. Language learning is important as well, for that language is one of the most direct reflection of native culture. You've mentioned the six stages of cultural experiences, and I think there can be more explanations o them, just as the professor has said.

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  5. Dear Olive,
    I like the annotation because it is well organized and provides intense information and a theory. I think you can make a good use of the theory, “Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity,” to analyze some concrete examples, such as the experience of your own or of your friends and relatives. I would also like to know your stance in this argument. Do you agree that we should get intercultural communication training before going to the duty station? What ways can people get trained? I think you could also provide an experience of the negative impact that people didn’t get trained before going abroad to be a volunteer.

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  6. First, the six stages you provided can make people consider their own state and know more about their adaption situation. Second, about the question: Whether the volunteers need to know the language before he or she goes to the foreign country? I think the outcome can be divided into two parts. One is that if you are a short-term volunteer and want to be familiar with the locals soon. Then, you must learn the language before you go to the foreign country. In other hand, if you have an interpreter or you have useful specialized subject like doctors, then you can go to that foreign country directly. But learning the language before you head to the country indeed can make you know more about the local culture and easily get alone with them.

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  7. I agree with you the point that during international volunteering activities, communication is one of the most important parts, and learning local languages can improve interaction. You also mention “empathy” with local people in multi-cultural environment. I think maybe you could develop another argument that “empathy” and “sympathy” are different. Locals should be helped with empathy and sympathy because sympathy is out of volunteers’ own pre-conceived notion. Perhaps locals do not think in the same way as volunteers. Additionally, I asked an international volunteer of a Taiwanese university. She said before they went abroad for international volunteering, they would definitely receive orientation training including reminding of no destruction to the locals. Above is for your reference. Thank you for sharing this intellectual topic.

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  8. Olive: My annotation is about the intercultural communication, because I think before the volunteers go oversea to help people, they need to have the skill of intercultural communication. When they learn the local language, they can easily communicate with the local people. There won’t be a barrier between the volunteers and the local people. Since there are problems needed to be solved, they won’t need 中間者 help them to translate language, because it is easy to cause misunderstanding. So I find a master thesis that is about intercultural communication, and in this thesis, the writer quotes a sentence from a person. There is a frame work of DMIS, called Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity, and there is a six stage of how to make sure the intercultural sensitivity. The intercultural sensitivity means that volunteers need to have the empathy with the local people, because if volunteers sense what local people feel, they will easily know what their problem is, and how to solve it base on their culture and customs. So the writer points out the six stages, which are: Denial, Defense, Minimization, Acceptance, Adaptation, and Integration. He levels the volunteers to these six stages. I didn’t write down the meanings, so in my revised annotation I will put them in. That is my annotation 3.
    Milano: So you think that learning the language of where they are going to is the measure to breaking the barrier, do you really think so? Is there any other solution?
    Olive: Yes, because if you want to get familiar with the environment, the first thing you need to do is know their culture, language, what things you can’t do and what you can do in that area. So when you learn their language, and the local people tell you you can’t do this, you won’t do this, so there won’t be misunderstanding between them, because they can communicate.
    Milano: But you said that learn the language, culture and perception build the present condition, so you said it’s crucial to have empathy with local people. What if like, once you know their culture, and you think their culture is in a much lower stage than your own culture, will you try to correct their culture?
    Olive: There are six stages, and the first is called Defense. In this stage, people who go to other country think that he will protect his own culture won’t be destroyed by the culture he just encountered, so he will have some ideas like I don’t like this culture, like eating with your hands in India, so I won’t do that. But the fact is the local people all do this thing and if you don’t do this, you will be criticized.
    Milano: What if their culture has problem, like in Africa, they eat all kinds of animal meat like bat. If that culture is not appropriate, will you tend to correct them?
    Olive: I think it’s not correct, it’s about to respect it or not.
    Milano: I mean that if that culture is making the problem of the solution you’re trying to solve.
    Olive: You mean that it is unhealthy to eat…?

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  9. Milano: Yes.
    Olive: Or maybe just told them why it is the problem cause the unhealthy thing. Just tell them why do this thing is bad and eating 生肉 is really unhealthy. It’s not correct this culture, it’s to improve it to solve the problem.
    Milano: It is also important to have the volunteers to learn how to be appropriate to present their ideas, while trying to dismiss the local people’s culture, because when we’re trying to educate them that that’s not appropriate to do, the local people may think that you are trying to criticize me.
    Olive: Yes, it’s the training of communication. You can’t say some words that will attack their feeling. You need to say it in the right way. If you don’t have the intercultural communication, you will definitely do this hurting thing, so it is important to have this training.
    Milano: Is there any organization aware of this problem?
    Olive: Yes. Your question is my annotation 4. I am going to find out an organization that will have this training thing. I’m sure there are some organizations that emphasize on intercultural communication training. I need to find out.
    Milano: You said that rare instance have chance to have training including intercultural communication. Do you mean that now most people go volunteer won’t have training before?
    Olive: Yes. This outcome is from the survey online. This writer interview about forty volunteers and they work for UNV (United State Volunteers). He found out that rare United volunteers have this training. Most of them didn’t have the training. He found out that the volunteers also want to have this training, but they don’t know how to get it.
    Milano: What involves in the training?
    Olive: I don’t know. It will be included in my annotation 4.
    Milano: Is there something to do with the six stages?
    Olive: Yes. It definitely needs to face their condition that they are on the denial stage, defense stage, or how can we do to break this stage to level up to acceptance stage or adaptation stage. If the volunteers come to the level up stage, they can easily encounter the local people. They won’t be afraid or don’t know how to do. Maybe there will be more respect to local culture and won’t have some discrimination.
    Milano: What about the local people? You mean that you will have the volunteer training before they go there, but the local people don’t have any training before. What if they’re not familiar with the volunteers?
    Olive: In my opinion, I think one of the training will invite the local people to come here to tell them what their custom is and how to communicate with the local people, because the volunteer is the one who wants to help the local people. We need to serve the help, so the local people are the big one. We need to respect them, not to say I don’t like this, I don’t like that, say they are wrong or don’t respect them.

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  10. Milano: I mean that what if the local people don’t want the volunteers to come?
    Olive: So they won’t have the volunteers. The organization needs to decide whether this place wants the organization to interfere their situation.
    Milano: What if the situation there is very emergent, but the local people still don’t want any other people to involve in? Can you search any case?
    Olive: I don’t know, because I deal with the organization with the volunteers, I don’t go far to the local people with the organization. I think this needs to be arranged by the organization, not the volunteers. The volunteers are someone that the organization wants them to come, and the organization will arrange all the condition to let them help them.
    Milano: What about learning language? Do you think there are other training that the volunteers need to get? The language is the first training they will get, what will be the second?
    Olive: Maybe will know more about their culture, customs, public, and their society. I don’t know. Many.
    Milano: So you’re going to write…
    Olive: In my annotation 4 I will find an organization that has this training program and I will find what they can do. I will also give my opinion to make this training more thorough. The problem is the time, because if you want a thorough training, it definitely will take much time to do it. Many people don’t want this training, because they don’t have time. The time problem is very difficult to deal with.
    Milano: So I think it’s the professional volunteers and the non-professional volunteers. The question is the time. These professional volunteers are devoted to this problem, so they must have time.
    Olive: My annotation focus on the volunteers who are non-professional, so I won’t talk about the professional ones. The professional ones will do their professional things and they don’t need to deal with these intercultural communication problem. I will focus more on the college students who want to be volunteers but will face these problems when they go abroad.
    Milano: You said that you focus on non-professional volunteers, i.e. college students. College students only have leisure time in summer and winter vacation. So this means that the training part must be limited to these time period. Do you think it’s possible for them to have the training and also to go abroad?
    Olive: I think it is like the advanced condition. If one organization has the rule that if you want to go abroad, you need to have this training part, and the volunteer who really wants to go this place will need to go through the training part. I think it is the organization that needs to know the whole intercultural communication things, and then they can push the volunteers to do this. But I think if the volunteer has the time to go abroad to be a volunteer, they will definitely have time to go….
    Milano: I mean how many percents should they attend in these six stages?
    Olive: I’m not sure. This depends on individual case. Maybe there are people familiar with the cultural shock, so they won’t need to go through this, or they just need to learn their language. I think it needs to have a thorough inspect on the volunteers to see if they need to take this course or they need another.
    Olive: Do you think there are some ways to become one of the intercultural communication training?
    Milano: Besides language learning?
    Olive: Yes. Maybe like cultural shock.
    Milano: I think it’s also important.
    Olive: How about operation? Do you think the training of operation is also important? Cooperation, I’m sorry.
    Milano: Cooperation, or team work. I think it’s also important, because you go there in a group, you need to learn how to cooperate with the others to make the aids more success. Like being a leader or the one who listens. I think the organization must know what these people’s personality.

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