Extra Credit Blog Assignment

The five concepts that I am choosing to cover in this blog are:

Third stage of culture shock- "reintegration of new cues" (Jandt, pg. 292)

Third-culture kids (Jandt, pg. 294)

Jargon (Jandt, pg. 354)

Slang (Jandt, pg. 354)

Social identity (Chuang, Fong, pg. 183)

Third stage of culture shock- "reintegration of new cues" (Jandt, pg. 292)

The third stage of culture shock is defined in Jandt's book as a "reintegration of new cues." It is the step where a person is aware of the differences and can functionwith them, however, they often find themselves upset at the new culture for its differences from the old culture.

Here is a link for a presentation on culture shock going into Russia

My own experience with culture shock was when I went to Hawaii for a semester. While Hawaii is in the United States, things were different for me there. I experienced some culture shock. And as this third step is described, I could function within the new culture, but it was irritating at times to have to take the bus, instead of driving a car. Or dealing with the time change when I wanted or needed to talk to friends or family.

Third-culture kids (Jandt, pg. 294)

Jandt defines the third-culture kidas a person who lives outside of their home country and then later on incorporates elements from both cultures to make a third culture.

The concept of a third-culture kid stuck out to me because some of my family are going to be living in another country and my nephews will probably grow up there and perhaps they will experience that third culture lifestyle. If they remember enough about American culture, they may in fact one day create their own third-culture, combining the two "homes" they have lived in.

This cartoon is not the greatest example, but it could show how in the future, if two differing cultures are blended into one by a person, they themselves, or others, may be confused.

Jargon (Jandt, pg. 354)

Jargon is defined by Jandt as the "technical language of a professional subgroup, such as doctors and lawyers." As opposed to slang, this language is professional.

This cartoon shows how one can be taken advantage of if they don't know the specific jargon of another group.

Medical providers also have their own jargon as shown here.

Sometimes, when going to the doctor, you have to ask them to clarify certain terms, because although you may know what they are talking about in theory, you may not know what they mean when they use a specific, differing word.

Slang (Jandt, pg. 354)

Slang is defined in Jandt's book as a stigmatized vocabulary, sometimes used by prostitutes, drug dealers, and thugs.

I believe that slang is not only used in a heavily stigmatized way, but also by younger generations. It also applies to foreigners who may not understand more casual words of phrases.

Just last week, Erik, a friend of mine from Germany, who is living here for a quarter sent me a message saying that he hoped everything was alright, since I had missed a meeting that we both usually go to. I told him that I had felt "meh" that night and he wrote back wondering what "meh" was because as he put it, he does not understand all of the slang.

Social identity (Chuang, Fong, pg. 183)

Social identity is how we are defined by a group. It is how we view the world through the eyes of the group.

This picture shows that this group determines the way that they dress by the standards of the group. Their social identities are , therefore, found within the group and shown in the way they dress. (Another way that this could be exhibited would be though speech communities.)

I feel that around certain groups, by behavior can change, or other sides of my personality are shown more prominently in some occasions, but not others.

For example, since I am now 21, I will occasionally have a drink with friends, but if I were in front of certain people, I might hold back on ordering something alcoholic and go for water or something else. The group (or the people in it), in a way, dictates my behavior.

Blog Assignment #1- Julianne Varcie

Group Members- Julianne Varcie and Michel'le Jones

The five concepts that I chose to cover in this blog assignment are stereotyping, prejudice, proxemics, paralanguage, and silence.

Stereotyping (Jandt, 86)

According to Jandt, stereotyping is "used to refer to negative or positive judgments made about individuals based on any observable or believed group membership."

One thing that often is confused by those who use the term stereotype is that sometimes, these judgments can be positive. An example of this is when someone might say that "all Asians are smart and get good grades." While still a stereotype, it is a positive thing. However, on the other side, are negative stereotypes. If someone were to say that all blondes were dumb, that would be an example of a negative stereotype.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ipEflG4lxc

In this clip, Michael Scott is stereotyping Kelly's race. This shows Michael's view of Indian people. He stereotypes them all as owning convenience stores and trying to pressure customers into purchases.

Prejudice (Jandt, 91)

In Jandt's book, prejudice is defined as the "irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group group, race, religion, or sexual orientation."

The first clip shows that people often have a specific type of criminal that they imagine. While criminals comes from all sorts of backgrounds, races, religions, etc. people tend to think of a specific group or gender when they imagine a criminal.

Not only does this apply to prejudice of criminals, but in more recent times there is a heavy prejudice against those from Middle Eastern countries. People seem to suspect anyone who dresses like a Muslim of being a terrorist. Not only is this irrational suspicion, but it causes discomfort on the part of those who are being shown prejudice.

Proxemics (Jandt, 113)

Proxemics is the study of one's personal space. Different cultures regard proxemics differently. While some cultures regard touch

This song perfectly illustrates proxemics.

The scene is a teacher singing this song to a student of his who seems to have taken an interest in him. This shows that in US culture, closer distance is seen as intimate and is not something that is condoned in just any kind of situation. Usually, intimate distance (touching to 18 inches) is only seen as acceptable for those who have close relationships or in intimate settings.

Paralanguage (Jandt, 118)

Paralanguage is the "nonverbal elements of the voice." These can include laughter, tone, pitch of voice, and vocal segregates ("umm" "err", etc. )

The following clip illustrates how one's tone can change the impact of a statement:

By use of a certain tone (and sarcasm), the teacher in this scene fools a student into believing that she is in the wrong classroom.

Silence (Jandt, 119)

Silence is the absence of words; it is one of the elements of the nonverbal spectrum.

Silence can mea many different things, depending on who you ask and what the situation is.

While silence in US culture can be awkward or a means of avoiding conversation, in China silence is respectful.

In this cartoon, silence communicates two different things to the two people involved. While one person may see silence as a comfortable thing, another may feel very awkward or even bored.