Comparing Cultures Project-Transition to a New Culture

Paper details:

Your final paper should be between 2-3 pages, plus a reference page for your sources.

Use 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, 1-inch margins and APA style citation throughout the paper

Provide in-text citations for the sources that you referenced when writing your paper AND provide a reference list of the sources cited at the end of the paper. Cite all sources that you use, both in text and in the reference section. Both in-text citations and reference list citations should follow APA guidelines provided in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed-2019). [You may refer to OWL Purdue (Links to an external site.)for brief examples of the APA style]

When you cite online material, please be very specific. Note the website section and subsection where you found the information.

The objective of this assignment is to apply the course material to synthesize new insights on intercultural competence in communication. Through this project, it is expected that you will demonstrate your understanding and application of key concepts, communication theories, and frameworks discussed in this class. You will research and gain an in-depth understanding of a specific country (or cultural group) of your choosing and prepare a short communication training session to inform and prepare the “clients” to work and live in a foreign culture/country for an extended period of time, and help teach them how to communicate competently in the new setting.

You will select a country (or cultural group within an international country) and that will be the Host culture. It must be in a different country than your Home country (where you are from). The country or international culture you choose should be one that is well-known and large enough that it has has been researched in academic literature and in credible websites and media reports, but one that is still different enough from your own home culture to make the assignment interesting for you. Your work will be graded on the quality of your research, the credibility and relevance of the information you share, and the connections you make to course material in your presentation (or paper). You will teach us about a variety of cultural and communication practices within the Host culture. Including cultural values, communication styles, etiquette, the influence of history and even pop culture on their society and everyday lives, etc. Prepare us for the transition into a new cultural environment and help us effectively and appropriately communicate with people in the Host country.

Write a 2-3 page paper describing the cultural features of the country as they relate to the communication behaviors you should adopt when living and working in the host culture. Using vocabulary from the course material will be essential. A reference page must also be included with the paper. Show us what the culture is like with specific examples and explanations related to the course material.

The reference list must include at least 5 credible sources (such as: scholarly journal article, newspapers, professional training publications, books, certain websites, documentaries, government or education material, interviews with members of the host culture, etc.) Personal interviews may be used and cited as well and will be counted as additional sources. You should also cite your sources verbally in your presentation as appropriate.

 

There is not enough time to cover all the information about a country, so your task is, after your research, to decide what is the most important/interesting information that we need to know to get a sense of the culture and be prepared to live and work and communicate in or with that culture. The most important feature of your presentation will be relating the cultural information you find back to the course concepts and vocabulary to demonstrate you understand their connection. You should aim to cover three to five categories or subtopics in the time/space that you have. It is better to cover fewer topics but go more in-depth into them.

 

topics you can teach us about

Gender roles/Identity

Nonverbal Communication behaviors

Professional behavior/etiquette