INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING SEMINAR

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING SEMINAR

Emily Russell, Kyra Cochran, Tori Massey, Hannah Morris, and Valerie Stetzer
Oklahoma Baptist University

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING SEMINAR

Context
For our seminar we are working with a group of five Oklahoma Baptist
University students. The five students are going to Manchester England for one month,
and the students who are attending the trip are going through the Global Outreach center
at Oklahoma Baptist University. Each student attending is 20-22 years of age, and are all
Caucasian, middle class students. All the students going are Southern Baptist. The group
is going to Manchester, England at the end of May. The 5 students will be working with
college students from the area. While working with the students our audience will also be
working with the urbanites of Manchester city central. Although our audience may feel
more comfortable in Manchester because there is not language barrier, there is a cultural
barrier. According to Ameri-think: a transatlantic survival guide there is an inherent
difference in the two cultures. The guide states America and Britain are two nations
divided by a common language. Between us is a Great Philosophical and Cultural Divide,
which is obscured by the familiar lingo (Walmsley,1993). The philosophical and
cultural divides are why our group needs training in the subjects of cultural beliefs,
norms, values, and social practices. There are many differences between American and
English culture. So in order for this group to have intercultural competence then they
must be informed of the competence of cultural patterns.
The seminar will be helpful to the group because the audience will be able to
connect with the English culture. There are several cultural norms that differ from
English culture in the book, Life in the USA: an immigrant's guide to understanding
Americans there is a list of 100 cultural norms, Number seventeen is as follow,
Americans smile a lot and talk easily to strangers, sharing

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING SEMINAR

Personal stories (Price, 2009). Americans enjoy interacting with strangers. This is not
the same for England. England residents enjoy keeping to themselves and hate when
strangers interrupt day-to-day activity because it is not a norm to them.
While focusing on the cultural norms, the seminar will also look at cultural
values. For example the British culture values dressing appropriately. In an article by
Barrow, she explains that as a culture dress-up is valued. It is much more normal to wear
dresses and ties to class in England, than it is in America. Here we wear Nike shorts and
T-shirts which would be seen as disrespectful (2013).
For the majority of the seminar there will be a focus on social practices. For part
of this time we will be looking into the practice of tea time. Since tea time is a major part
of the culture in England it shows a complete cultural difference. While the English love
to share in this activity the Americans share in a love for pop culture. In an article by
Berger the author explains that relate through movies and artist which is inherently
different than other cultures who relate through activities partaken together (2013). Our
team is excited to share this information with our audience, and we believe that they will
benefit from the programs we have put together to a great degree.

INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING SEMINAR

Seminar Components
Schedule.
Seminar One.
7:00-7:15- Introduction/Icebreaker
7:15-7:30- Lecturette
7:30-7:45- Brain Storm Questions
7:45-7:50- Wrap Up and Closing Game

Seminar Two.
7:00-7:15- Lecturette
7:15-7:35- Cultural Experience Activity
7:35-7:45- Debriefing Discussion
7:45-7:50- Wrap Up
Seminar One
Icebreaker.
To begin our first seminar we will have an icebreaker. Our group thought
it was important to center this game on the intercultural communication theme. So we
used the following matching game. In the game you have to match the American slang
word with the English slang.

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Lecturette.
Components of Cultural Patterns
A. Introduction
a. Attention getter: Write down what you feel like norms values and beliefs
are
b. Introduce components and discuss
B. Beliefs
a. Ideas that people assume to be true about the world
b. Set of learned interpretations that form the basis of a culture, members
decide what is and what it not correct
C. Values
a. Involves what a culture views as good or bad, right or wrong, just or
unjust, etc.
D. Norms
a. Socially shared expectations of appropriate behaviors
E. Social Practices
a. Predictable behavior patterns that members of a culture typically follow
F. Conclusion:
a. Compare your answers to the definition.
b. If these matter this much to you, then no wonder we have to learn other
cultures

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Brain Storm Questions:

For this section we are discussing the question that the group had for Ms. Johnson
(Emilys Aunt). She is an American who has spent the last few years living in London.
Each question has to do with the previous discussed terms.
1. What are some of the main cultural differences compared to the US?
2. How do people dress? Is it different than the normal attire in America?
3. What are some slang words that may have different meanings in
England vs. here in America?
4. Have you ever accidently offended someone, or vice versa?
5. What is their (people in England) take on the American culture?
6. Have you ever had a funny/awkward encounter on your visit?
7. What are their views on religion?
8. What is transportation like?
10. Is there much difference in food?
11. We all heard that soccer is a huge deal there? Is that true? Or is it a
stereotype?
12. What is the most important thing to know as an American visiting
England for the first time?
13. What do you remember about your first time going to England?

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Wrap Up and Closing Game.

To wrap up and have a bit of fun the last few minutes we are going to host
a review game. The game will consist of the terms that we have learned and the
information from the lecturette.

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Seminar Two.
Lecturette
Q&A
1. Intro:
a. Attention getter: America and Britain are two nations divided by a
common language. Between us is a Great Philosophical and Cultural
Divide, which is obscured by the familiar lingo (Walmsley,1993).
2. What are some of the main cultural differences compared to the United States?
a. Timeliness is something that the British value. They place a higher value
on intellectual pursuits than Americans do. They like people who are wellspoken and on time. If you are invited to someones home, take a small
hostess gift like chocolate or flowers and send a thank you note
afterwards.
b. These are some values
3. We all heard that soccer is a huge deal there. Is that true? Or is that just a
stereotype?
a. Soccer is indeed a very big deal! Ive been walking with friends in London
and they will keep popping in and out of pubs to check the scores. Stay
away from big crowds on soccer match nights, as they can be belligerent
and kind of scary. There is always a lot of police presence after matches,
but expect big crowds and lots of drunks on the subway or the train.
These are some social practices
4. How do people dress? Is it different than the normal attire in the America?

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a. There is a wide-range of dress in the UK, and clothes are a sign of class in
a way that they aren't in the US. In general, both men and women's
apparel is more subdued and more dressy, with fewer patterns, plaids and
bright colors. Wearing slogans on t-shirts is a lower-class style. Clothes
are more fitted, not baggy as in the US, particularly for men, and they
generally wear a 'top layer', like a sweater (which is called a jumper) or a
blazer, instead of just a shirt and trousers or skirt. Wearing khaki trousers
in particular will mark you as an American! So will matching things too
closely; they go for a blended look, not for matched 'outfits'. When in
doubt, wear black. With a scarf. High quality shoes are considered a sign
of class. They don't wear flip-flops everywhere like Americans do. In
general, flip-flops are a bad idea for getting on and off subways and
spending most of the day on dirty urban streets. They also don't wear ballcaps. They do carry umbrellas, because it rains a lot! Don't go out
without your umbrella, or you will regret it. Europeans in general don't
have as much stuff as Americans. No one will expect to see you wear a
different outfit every day, so pack light. Remember that you'll be handcarrying your luggage upstairs in the subway station. I can go to England
for a month with a single carry-on size bag! These are some norms
b. Cultural value
5. Conclusion
a. Do we see the Cultural Gap now?

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Cultural Experience Activity.

One of the major parts of English culture is the practice of tea time. Tea
time is partaken most days at about 10:30 and again at 3:30. The cultural norm is
to stop and enjoy time together by drinking tea and enjoying snacks. So for this
section we will show the group this norm and have them participate in the ritual.
At the tea we will discuss etiquette.

Debriefing Discussion.
This is the point where the participants can ask questions. The anticipated
questions are as followed:
1. How will the values affect sharing about Jesus?
2. How can we handle hostile environments toward religion in an intercultural
context?
3. Explain more on how to dress in England?
4. How soft do you have to speak without being labeled as a loud American?
5. How often will I come incompact with the slang words?

Wrap Up.
At this point we would thank the participants for their time. We would
also go over the basic plans for what we will be discussing in the next session. We
would also go back over what we have learned and take some time to pray for the
group.

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REFFRENCE
Barrow, M. (2013). Clothes worn by people in Britain. Clothes worn by people in
Britain. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from http://resources.woodlandsjunior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/clothes

BERGER, A. (2013). Media Tribes: Making Sense of Popular Culture, the Mass
Media, and Everyday Life in America. ETC: A Review Of General Semantics, 70(3), 339347.

Price, P. J., & Awakuni, E. (2009). Life in the USA: an immigrant's guide to
understanding Americans. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

Walmsley, J. (1993). Brit-think - Ameri-think: a transatlantic survival guide

(Reprint ed.). Edinburgh [u.a.: Harrap.