Browsing by Subject "Intercultural communication--United States"
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Item A collaborative inquiry with white women about our understanding of difference in education(2005) Dray, Barbara Jean, 1973-; Garcia, Shernaz B.Although the research literature has documented teacher’s deficit beliefs about culturally, linguistically, economically, diverse (CLED) students, the literature on shifting deficit thinking has itself often been characterized by a deficit view of educators as the problem. This position places teachers at the center of the discourse rather than examining the ways in which competing discourses about diversity in general and special education as well as society at large serve to complicate teachers’ ability to develop a critical consciousness (Freire, 1990). A critical consciousness refers to the process of learning to recognize the social, cultural, political, linguistic, and economic contradictions that account for the disparities in education (e.g., disproportionate representation in special education, drop-out rate, achievement, etc) as a way of understanding and changing such oppressive and inequitable practices (Britzman, 1991; Freire, 1990). Notably absent are the voices of the teachers involved in transformative learning experiences (Cranton1994; Mezirow, 1990, 2000) and their perceptions of factors, which facilitated their growth. In particular, I collaboratively explored the interrelationships between the life experiences of five White women and their reported shift toward a critical consciousness about difference as a result of their engagement in a Master's level course on intercultural communication in special education. I conducted surveys, individual interviews, written reflection and collaborative inquiry (Bray, Lee, Smith, & Yorks, 2000; Brooks & Edwards, 1997) to actively engage my participants in a critical discussion/reflection about our life stories and experience in the course. Participants were not only actively involved in the data collection but also in the analysis and representation of the data. Findings indicate that participants’ development of a critical consciousness about difference was influenced greatly by their exposure to difference, experiences, which disrupted their comfort zone, and influential relationships with others. Characteristics of the course to which participants attributed shifts in their thinking included: a safe environment where their views were accepted, reflective journaling, learning from others, developing another perspective, and viewing the process as an ongoing journey. Ultimately these course experiences resulted in the development of mindfulness, a critical attribute of intercultural competence. Implications for research and teacher education are discussed.Item Communication practices in a Japanese subsidiary in the U.S.: globalization in process(2002) Tsutsui, Kumiko; Maxwell, Madeline M.This dissertation explores various communication activities in a multinational workplace where employees from different cultures engage in and attempt to make sense of their reality, their experiences, and other cultures. Using an interpretive approach, I analyzed communicative practices based on three different levels—macro, local, and micro—in a Japanese multinational company based in the United States. The triangulation of methods, including participant observation, interviews, analysis of documents, and discourse analysis is used to understand the complex phenomena of intercultural communication at work on a global, local, and individual scale. At the macro level of analysis, I present the global ideology that a parent company tries to exert in order to shape organizational actors’ sense-making, and influence their work attitude and motivation. Their relationality with the external world and the power relationship between the parent company and its subsidiary are highlighted. At the local level of analysis, I demonstrate a bicultural workplace and its constituent members’ learning and active negotiation by identifying mono-cultural, bicultural, negotiated, and shared cultural practices, which are likely to exist when two distinct national cultures come together in one organization. A macro level of analysis explores organizational members’ face-to-face communication, including terms of address, language issues, stereotypical images toward one’s own and other nationals, humor, and videoconferences. By looking at intercultural communication from the above three levels of analysis, this study shows that cultural factors, such as a shared ideology, goal, history, membership, or expectation, and habitualized practices influence successful interactions at work, regardless of members’ different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In contrast, members from different cultures still retain mental cultural images or possibly conflicting perceptions and must constantly negotiate which is right, which is better, and which is the American or the Japanese way. Intercultural communication in the workplace is not a one time interaction, but an on-going activity involving habitualization, relationaility, and contextuality. This dissertation suggests both what should be emphasized in a practical sense when working with intercultural members of a working environment and attempting to find a middle ground, and what should be considered academically when studying intercultural communication in a multinational workplace in the future.