Intercultural Communication

Service Learning Paper

Submitted by:

Logan McGregor

Due 4/30/17

Submitted to:

Tamra K. Phillips, M.S.

Comm2150

Communication

Salt Lake Community College

Community Partner:

The community Partner I volunteered for was the English as a second language class at

Salt Lake Community college. Contact information Below.

Salt Lake Community College

Redwood Campus

Andy Shaw, Instructor

TB 123 & 125

andrewshaw@slcc.edu

Project:

English as a second language is a class that teaches students at SLCC that are not from

America and want to speak English as their second language. My role in this class was to show

up and pretty much do whatever the professor asks me to do, which were things like walking

around talking with each student just so they can hear English from different perspectives since

not any of us that speak English do it the same way. Or it could be grading these students work

and talking with them about it and making sure they understand where the answers come from.

In this class I worked with multiple cultures such as Hispanic, Asian, African, and Muslim

students all trying to learn English. Which was good because I got to experience multiple

cultures in one setting.

Culture Groups

For my service project I was fortunate enough to experience more then one culture. In the

English as a second language class there were students from almost every culture or parts of the

world. I personally worked with African, Asian, Hispanic, and Muslim cultures every time I went
to the class. Coming from all over the world, all mingling in one setting with me as a fly on the

wall. Overall though, the majority of the class were Hispanic students that already knew some

English. Sadly, with all the students I had to help I didnt get to dive as deep as I would have

liked to into the individual cultures they were in.

Challenges

My biggest challenges while volunteering at the ESL class were things that I didnt think

would even be a challenge at all. I figured I would be able to go into the class and be able to help

them with everything since I speak the language and have for 17 years or so. Instantly I found

out how hard the English language really is, for example I would attempt to explain something to

a student and just start explaining it like I would to someone who knew English and I watched

their eyes look at me with so much confusion. So I would go back and try to think of another

way to say it so they would understand but it was so difficult because I would use other words

they didnt know so they would just be lost. I found out really quick that I knew the rules of the

English language but I had no idea how to teach them because they were just imbedded in my

brain. Especially when working with so many different cultures because each culture within the

class understood different things better than the other, so I had to adjust depending on which

student I was working with.

Theory

The theory that I have chosen to attach to my service learning is the Conversational

Constraints Theory developed by Min-Sun Kim in 2005. This theory explains why certain

conversational strategies differ across different cultures and the effects that these differences

cause. It states that there are 5 constraints. 1) Clarity, 2) minimizing imposition, 3) consideration

of others feelings, 4) risking negative evaluation by the hearer, 5) effectiveness.

 1. Clarity is when a person makes their intention clear and explicit.
2. Minimizing Imposition would be when one person avoids imposing on the hearer or with

that persons freedom of action.

3. Consideration of others feelings is when one person thinks through the process of how

what they say or do will affect the feelings of the other person.
4. Risking negative evaluation from hearer is when one person is careful about what they do

or say so they do not risk the hearer creating a negative evaluation of them.
5. Effectiveness is focused on the influence that the message has on the receiver, or how the

message affects the receiver in anyway.

Kim says that individualists tend to belong to clarity while collectivists are concerned of hurting

the others feelings. These different styles are used by different cultures and are a good way of

describing how open or reserved they can be.

Analysis

This theory works for what I did because in the ESL class I was dealing with multiple and

completely different cultures at the same time. So I got to witness first hand where these cultures

were as far as communication and what they wanted people to think of them. For example, I

would say that of those that I worked with from the Hispanic culture in the class they would have

been part of the clarity category. They were not afraid to ask questions or guess out loud even if

their answer was way off. Which meant that they are not that afraid of what people might think

of them because thats how they could have been brought up. Especially with Blanca, she was

willing to ask any and every question and loved to try and speak the language even if she messed

up a lot so I would relate that to the clarity style because she is clear about what she is doing and

wants to accomplish.

Where on the other hand, the students from Asia tended to be more along the lines of

Minimizing Imposition or Avoiding Negative Evaluation of Hearer. When I would work with
these students I noticed that they were way more reserved and respected what I was saying fully.

Almost like they had a lot to say or a lot of questions to ask but were scared to ask because they

didnt want to impose on me or what I was doing. Which is why I would say that they are more

in the minimizing imposition style from my experiences. They also were very respectful when it

came to talking with the professor and never spoke out of turn or over anyone which leads to say

that they care about others and dont want a negative evaluation of themselves.

One of the things that caught me off guard was from John Pierre, who I thought would

have been French, but was not. He came from Africa but I cant remember which exact country

but he was one who I would put in the effectiveness style because of how frustrated he would get

if he couldnt say something in the exact way he wanted it to be said. So I knew he cared about

how he delivered his messages and wanted them to be as clear as possible. Which is also

something I noticed from the Muslim students in the class. Those students I would also say

belong in the consideration of others feelings as well. I personally could tell that when they were

talking with others they didnt want to say anything that would hurt the others feelings. Along

with always smiling and making eye contact which a lot of other cultures Ive noticed do not do

as much.

Reflection

At the beginning of the semester I was pretty upset when I found out we had to do this

since I had to do the same thing last semester. Overall though, I ended up loving it this semester

more than I did last semester. I did know going into it I would enjoy it more this semester

because of the options I had. I just tried to keep an open mind that I get to learn some more about

another culture which I do love doing. My attitude for sure changed throughout the semester as I

learned more and actually dove into it. Overall through my service I would say my number one
thing I learned is patience. It was so frustrating for me to have trouble teaching a language that I

speak everyday. My whole life I knew how to say things and what it meant, but I dont think

most people like my self get why we say it that way and how it may be confusing to learn why it

is this way. I learned that each culture has their own ways of learning the language and have

learn it in different styles because concepts and things can get mixed up depending on how their

first language does things.

After reading about the Conversational Constraint theory I realized this was perfect to

relate to my service. It also helped when talking to these students, it helped me realize that I am

going to have to adjust how I speak and help them depending on which type of culture I am

dealing with. Especially knowing who is a little bit more open minded and outgoing.

At the end of my experience I really am happy that I worked with the ESL class. I feel

like I was learning from them as much as they were learning from me. Especially since I wasnt

just working with one individual culture, I got to see how multiple cultures interact socially.

Along with helping them learn the language of the country they were living in which I am sure

they are grateful for. This made me a more intelligent human being as far as communication

goes, I learned some new things I didnt know about other cultures as well as teaching a little bit

of mine.

Really though I just hope that they learned some things from me which I believe they did.

It truly was amazing to see people want to learn this language so much just so they could

communicate better and live life easier here in the states. I feel like this service will help me

throughout my life in ways of communication for sure. I will know even just a little bit more of

how to communicate with those from another culture. Im sure at some point in my career I will

have to deal with those from another culture and these tools Ive learned will help me know how
to handle those types of situations better. Which is a win win situation for all of those involved,

this also will continue to help in my day to day activities which I will be very grateful for.

References

Phillips T.K. (2017) Intercultural Communication Course Packet

Gudykunst, William B. (2017) Theories of intercultural communication

Martin, J.N. Communication In Contexts (6th ed.). New York: Mcgaw Hill.