Extract 2. Learning Environment

To start with Seating Patterns

Research shows that distance reduces participation – trainees in back rows are less likely to participate than those in front. Any kind of 'row' reduces interaction: it is difficult for those in the back row to hear front row contributions and for those in the front row to twist round to interact with people behind. Changes in seating patterns from one session to another can be psychologically upsetting for participants. At repetitive sessions participants will invariably sit in the same place.

Angry or cynical participants will attempt to move away from a group seating pattern. Review the seating patterns below:

(Legend - FC = Flip Chart / P = Projector / S = Screen / С = Carousel / V = Video)

 

U shape

Advantages

• Businesslike

• Trainer can walk into IT

• Generally good participant visibility

• Standard, therefore non-threatening

Disadvantages

• Somewhat formal; needs ice-breaking

• Some participants masked by audio visual equipment

• Front participants constantly at 60-90° (neck ache)

• Rear participants are far from screen/flip chart

V shape

Advantages

• Best pattern for visibility/neck ache

• Optimum trainer/participant contact   

 • Less formal and intimidating than 'U'

Disadvantages

• Space requirements (only small groups)

Herring Bone

Advantages

• Space effective for large numbers

• All participants at good angle to screen/flip chart, etc

• Trainer can walk down 'spine'

Disadvantages

• Several participants 'masked' by others

• Reminiscent of school

• Encourages dysfunctional groupings

 

 

 

• Rear participants far from screen/flip chart, etc

• Relatively poor participant/trainer contact

Bistro'

Advantages

• Ideal for 'teambuilding' sessions and small group workshops

• Informal: encourages maximum trainee participation/identification

• Original: encourages open-mindedness

• Trainer can 'circulate'

Disadvantages

• Some participants have poor visibility or may be constantly at an angle to screen/flip chart

• May foster lack of attention and encourage side conversations

• Encourages splinter group identification

Circle

Advantages

• Ideal for sensitivity training sessions   

• Encourages maximum participant involvement 

• Excellent trainer/participant contact

• Minimum side conversations;

• No informal group formation

Disadvantages

• Difficult to find tables which can be set up in a circle

• Some participants have poor visibility/neck ache

• Without suitable tables participants may feel unnecessarily 'exposed'

• Overtones of 'touchy/feely' style encounter groups

 

 

 

 

Amphitheatre

Advantages

• If room is well designed, excellent visibility and acoustics

• Very space-effective

• Good for lecture-type presentations

Disadvantages

• Very poor trainer-participant contact

• Difficult to set up unless room is designed with permanent seating

• Back rows must be elevated

• Very university-like

 

Practicum 4.13

Translate the italicized parts of Text 4a into Russian

Practicum 4.14

Practicum 4.15

Assess the class room seating pattern according to the above criteria. Suggest Arguments for a better one

Practicum 4.16

E-mail a memo to your superior explaining the seating pattern you suggest for the presentation of a new project to your potential partner

III. Communication Practice

Team work

Your team is preparing for a conference. Start with the research into the venue, its facilities and participants’ needs to hold the plenary sessions, sections and workshops. Rely on Asking for details strategy.

Text 4b

The text to follow deals in talking office politics / policies. Study the text and use it as a starting point for communication

Tips for On-Site Training

1. Start. Always start with a learning 'hook' or attention-getter. Establish the gap between participants' present skills/knowledge and those to be acquired during the course. Check that participants understand the existence and size of skills/knowledge gap. Establish the need for participants to close the skills / knowledge gap. Ask and answer questions to check participants' individual needs (encourage those with smaller gap/need to help with 'teaching'). Outline course coverage, stressing results to be achieved (during and after the course) in closing skills/knowledge gap.

2. Course timing. In a training day of 9 hours (08.30 -17.30) always plan for downtime as follows:

Latecomers, settling, housekeeping = 10 mins

Coffee/Tea breaks = 20 + 20 = 40 mins (even if you have planned 15 minute breaks!)

Lunch and 're-settling' after lunch = 75 mins (even if you have planned 1 hour!)

Stretch breaks, breaking into syndicates and other miscellaneous down time = 25 mins (Total = 2 hrs 30 mins).

Always keep a clock or watch on your desk – but don't rely on looking at the watch on your wrist; allow time for discussion – build it in to your course plan

3. Icebreakers. Professional trainers always start with an Icebreaker or Inclusion Activity. When trainees arrive in a training room they are usually a loose mix of individuals with different mind sets. At the beginning of a course, trainees are usually notthinking about the trainer or the course content but about their neighbour, coffee time for phoning/messages, the end of the day for errands, sights, sounds and smells in the room, etc. An inclusion activity will make them feel includedand, if well designed, help them to relate to the others in the group; it can also provide a bridge into the course itself. Above all it puts the spotlight on them(the most important people in the room) and takes it off youand allows you to relax into the course

4. Enthusiasm. If you're not enthusiastic about your subject, how can you expect the trainees to be! Consciously use your eyes and eyebrows to communicate enthusiasm. Always keep a sparkle in your voice. Fight boredom of repetitive sessions by introducing new anecdotes, examples, etc, or by changing lesson structure

5. Using your voice. Speak louder than usual; throw your voice to back of room. Don't swallow words and beware of verbal 'tics'. Vary tone and pitch; be dramatic, confidential and/or triumphant. Watch tonic accents; check difficult words; beware of malapropisms.Repeat key phrases with different vocal emphasis. Use delivery speed to manipulate the audience; fastdelivery to excite and stimulate; slow delivery to emphasise, awe, dramatise and control.

6. You can’t not communicate. Research has shown that when someone gives a spoken message the listener's understanding and judgement of that message come from: 7% words, 38% paralinguistics, 55% facial expressions. Words are only labels and listeners put their own interpretation on speakers' words. The wayin which something is said (ie: accent, tone, inflection, etc) is very important to a listener's understanding. What a speaker looks like while delivering a message affects the listener's understanding most.

7. Body language tips. Don'tbe tempted by manual props (pens, pointers, spectacles, etc). Don't keep loose change in your pocket. Be aware of your verbal tics and work on eliminating them (ie: OK, You know, and so forth, Now). Watch out for furniture! Avoid 'closed' or tense body positions. Don't worry about pacing, leaning, etc. Check your hair / tie / trousers / dress before standing up!

8. To keep it going. Here are 4 ways to keep a group discussion going:

Building – Build on incomplete answers by adding own comments and asking for agreement or disagreement.

Boosting – Support timid participants' contributions, boost their confidence and ask for extra comment.

Blocking – Interrupt dominant/talkative/aggressive participants by asking what others think.

Bantering – Establish non-threatening atmosphere by engaging in friendly repartee with outgoing participants.

9. Dealing with difficult questions you either reflect or deflect.

Most participant questions are not questions. They are requests for the spotlight. If it's one of those rare, closed realquestions – answer it succinctly. If not, first:

Reflect back to the questioner what you thought was the question ('If I understand correctly, you're asking...'). Depending on how the questioner 'reformulates' the question, answer it, or

Deflect it as follows: Group: How do the rest of the group feel? Has anyone else had a similar problem? Ricochet: (to one participant) Bill, you're an expert on this? Reverse: (back to questioner) You've obviously done some thinking on this. What's yourview?

                                                                                                 L. Kellaway. Financial Times

Practicum 4.17

Translate the italicized parts of Text 4b into Russian

Practicum 4.18

Practicum 4.19

Prioritize the Tips for On-Site Training

Practicum 4.20

Account for the most natural pattern of communicative behaviour in the suggested settings, rely on Asking for Details strategy

- a journalist, interviewing a prominent on-site trainer, is Asking for Details

- a would-be on-site trainer, discussing his first training with his colleague, is Asking for Details and advice

III. Communication Practice

Brainstorming

Your on-site training team is to brief the personnel on the office codes. Start with the research into the current state of affairs in the company. Rely on Asking for details strategy. Analyze the answers and train the personnel.

PROGRESS TEST 4

 

 

PART 2. TALKING MENTALITY

Topic 5. G ossiping

I. General

Tips to keep in mind

Tip1. The English are certainly a nation of gossips. Recent studies in this country have shown that about two-thirds of our conversation time is entirely devoted to social topics such as who is doing what with whom; who is ‘in’, who is ‘out’ and why; how to deal with difficult social situations; the behavior and relationships of friends, family and celebrities; our own problems with family, friends, lovers, colleagues and neighbours; the miniature of everyday social life – in a word: GOSSIP. Although it has been shown that criticism and negative evaluations account for only about five per cent of gossip time, gossip does generally involve the expression of opinions or feelings. Among the English these opinions or feelings may often be implied, rather than directly stated, but we rarely share details about ‘who is doing what with whom’ without providing some indication of our views on the matter.

Contrary to popular belief, researchers have found that men gossip just as much as women. In one English study the difference was found to be quite small, with gossip accounting for 55 per cent of male conversation time and 67 per cent of female time. Men were certainly found to be more likely than women to discuss such important or highbrow subjects as politics, work, art and cultural matters, still it is only in mix-sex groups, where there are women to impress, that proportion of male conversation time devoted to these more highbrow subjects increases dramatically.

The gossip tone should be high and quick, or sometimes a stage whisper, but always highly animated. You have to make it sound surprising or scandalous, even when it is not really that big of a secret. Females also stress the importance of detail in the telling of gossip. For women, the detailed speculation about possible motives and causes is a crucial element of gossip, as is detailed speculation about possible outcomes. English males find all this detail boring, irrelevant and un-manly. Among English women, it is understood that to be a good gossip requires more than a lively tone and attention to detail: you also need a good audience, by which they mean appreciative listeners who give plenty of appropriate feedback. The feedback rule requires that listeners be at least as animated and enthusiastic as speakers. The reasoning seems to be that this is only polite: the speaker has gone to the trouble of making the information sound surprising and scandalous, so the least one can do is to reciprocate by sounding suitably shocked. You are supposed to say NO! Really? And Oh my GOD!

                                                                                                    K. Fox. Watching the English

Practicum 5.1

Relate the tips above to your cultural practices

Tip 2. Telephoning is generally essential part of office life. Whether answering the phone or making phone calls, the proper etiquette is a must. Gossiping is often done on the telephone as well.

Telephone etiquette

When making a formal call, three rules should influence your choice of words: Be brief - do not waste the receiver's time. Be clear - explain the background and purpose of your call. Be polite - recognize the receiver's point of view.

These are the most common phrases in telephoning on the following stages:

Identifying yourself

- Hello, This is … (otherwise you will hear Excuse me, to whom am I speaking?)

Is it a good time for you (to speak)?

- Well, we are just about to leave / I am really pressed for time right now / I’d really like to talk to you, but we just sat down to dinner / but I have a company / people here; Could I call you back in an hour? When could I get back to you? Will you be home later? What would be a good time to call you?

If you dial the wrong number, explain yourself and check the phone number so you don't repeat the call. Don't hang up; that's rude.
Asking for Someone

Can I have extension 321? (extensions are internal numbers at a company)
May / Could I speak to N? Is N in / in the office?
Connecting Someone
I'll put you through, can you hold on (the line)?
How to reply when someone is not available
1. He has stepped out / away from his desk / I expect him shortly /

He is not in today / he is not in the office / has left for the day

He is with a client now / tied up now / out to lunch / unavailable at the moment

2. Could I take a message? Who could I tell him is calling? Would you like to leave a message? Can someone else help you?

Leaving a Message on the answering machine, follow the simple rules:

1. Introduction

2. State (the time of day) reason for calling - It's ten in the morning. I'm phoning to find out if. / to see if / to let you know that / to tell you that

3. Make a request - Could you call me back? / Would you mind?

4. Leave your telephone number - My number is / You can reach me at / Call me at  

5. Finish - Thanks a lot / I'll talk to you later, bye.

Return calls that have been left on voice mail and answering machine ASAP. If the other party is not at the place, leave at least a few words on the answering machine to show you appreciate his / her time and business:

Hello, this is …. I’ve got your call. Sorry I missed you, please do get back to me.

Practicum 5.2

Practice telephoning skills in the situations to follow

- you are going on a business meeting over the next weekend. Telephone a travel agency and reserve: round-trip flight; hotel accommodation for two nights; ask for restaurant recommendation, prices and departure times

- you need to purchase six new computers for your office. Call a computer retailer and ask for: current special offers on computers; computer configuration (RAM, Hard Drive, CPU); possible discount for an order of six computers

- you want to speak to the head of the department about your account with their company. As the person you are calling is not in the office, leave the following information: your name; telephone number; the purpose of calling; when you can be reached.

Practicum 5.3

Study the communication strategy of Gossiping

Step 1	Try to spark interest in the news you are going to deliver
Step 2	Once you feel that your counterpart is with you, deliver the bombshell, wait for feedback
Step 3	Add details

Practicum 5.4

Arrange Gossiping vocabulary in 3 groups relating to 3 steps of the communication strategy, e.g:

Step 1	Step 2	Step 3
You will hardly believe what’s happened	He has proposed to her at last - Oh, has he? It is incredibly good news	I bet you thought it would never happen, didn’t you?

Guess what?

Listen, you know what I heard?

There is a rumour / it’s rumoured / people say

NO! Really? / Oh, dear

They are going to separate

It’s going to be her third marriage, besides, he is 5 years her junior

Oh, it’s ridiculous / scandalous / I can hardly believe it

There is talk they have been on these terms for a year already

I am shocked / totally embarrassed

Fancy that!

II. Gossiping Practice

Practicum 5.5

Practice Gossiping communication strategy in the settings to follow. Assume the roles of:

- two female colleagues discuss the new appointment in their department for the position of their superior (it’s going to be a he)

- two male colleagues, discussing the same news

- a PA brings the news about the engagement of two of your subordinates, you are surprised to learn they are in love

- a friend of yours breaks the news about an acquaintance you both know who is divorcing with three children

- you’ve read the news about another plastic surgery of a celebrity and call your friend to discuss the miraculous young look of the ageing star

Text 5a

The text to follow deals in t alking mentality. Study the text and use it as a starting point for communication

The American Ideals

What among all of its regional and cultural diversity gives America its national character and enables its citizens to affirm their common identity as Americans? Clearly, having a particular race or creed or lifestyle does not identify one as American. However, there are certain ideals and values, rooted in the country's history, which many Americans share

At the center of all that Americans value is freedom. Americans commonly regard their society as the freest and best in the world. They like to think of their country as a welcoming haven for those longing for freedom and opportunity. They are proud that even today America's immigration offices are flooded with hopeful applicants who expect the chance for a better life. It provides continuity to Americans' perception of their history as being a nation populated by immigrants who exercised free choice in coming to the New World for a better life.

America’s understanding of freedom is shaped by the Founding Fathers' belief that all people are equal and that the role of government is to protect each person's basic inalienable rights. The U.S. Constitution's Bill of Rights of 1791 assures individual rights, including provisions for freedom of speech, press, and religion. American history is the history of groups and individuals strugglingto attain the freedoms the Founding Fathers promised. Americans' notion of freedom focuses on the individual, and individualism has strong philosophical roots in America. Individualism, understood as self-reliance and as economic self-sufficiency, has been a central theme in American history. In the early days, most Americans were farmers whose success depended not on cooper­ation with others but on their ability to confront the hardships of land and climate on their own. Both success and virtue were measured by individual resourcefulness. In American history, the concept of rugged individualism is commonly translated in the industrial age into thecelebration of the small businessman who became a financial success on his own. Even in today's society, where most Americans work for large, complex organizations and few people can claim economic self-sufficiency, individualism persists. Individual proprietorship in business is still extolled as the ideal. Many historians argue that most of the beliefs and values which are characteristically American emerged within the context of the frontier experience.

Survival in the wilderness was best achieved by robust individualists. Survival experiences also explain the American tendency to idealize whatever is prac­tical. In America, what works is what counts. The can-do spirit is something Americans are proud of today. They like to think they are natural-born do-it-yourselfers. There are do-it-yourself books on everything from how to build and repair your own engine to how to be your own best friend. These kinds of solutions appeal toAmericans' preference for what­ ever is quick and practical.

The do-it-yourself spirit is known as volunteerismin American community and political life. Volunteerism means people helping people through privately-initiated, rather than government-sponsored, agencies. Volunteers, usually unpaid, are highly motivated workers who organize themselves and others to solve a particular community problem or meet an immediate social need, rather than waiting for someone else — usually the government — to do it. Volunteerism is pervasive, arising wherever social services do not cover community needs. Volunteer fund-raising groups step in to help the needy in all spheres, where there aregaps in federal social programs. Volunteers provide services such as adult education, psychological counseling, and legal aid. Volunteerism reflects Americans' optimistic pride in their ability to work out practical solutions themselves.

It is easy to be an optimistic do-it-yourselfer in so many spheres when one takes for granted an abundance of resources. Historically, Americans have regarded their country as a land of limitless wealth. The abundance of untapped natural resources on the American frontier attracted plenty of people, who exploited the land and exercised little restraint, opposing togovernment regulation of their activities. Today attitudestoward wastefulness are changing. While some Americans still believe in the inexhaustibility of the nation's resources, others reluctantly recognize that theera of cheap and plentiful resources is over. They realize that America must adopt new values to cope with a shrinking world.

Practicum 5.6

Translate the italicized parts of Text 5a into Russian

Practicum 5.7

Answer the questions to the text above

Which value is at the centre of the American outlook?

Who was it shaped by?

Explain how it is related to typical American national features: self-reliance, individualism, do-it-yourself spirit and volunteerism

Practicum 5.8

Read the text below and account for the American habit of mobility and rags-to-riches vision: where they stem from

The pragmatism of Americans and their trust in an abundance of resources relates to the American habit of mobility. As a nation of immigrants, Americans have from the beginning shared the assumption that the practical solution to a problem is to move elsewhere and make a fresh start. After all, this is the attitude that settled the West. Mobility in America is not a sign of aimlessness but optimism. Americans move from place to place, hoping to secure a better job or enjoy a warmer climate. Moving about from place to place is such a common and accepted practice that most Americans take it for granted that they may live in four or five cities during their lifetime, perhaps buying a house and then reselling it each time they move. Consequently, when Americans go house-hunting, their foremost concern is usually how profitably they will be able to resell the house. A comfortable, well-designed house is not necessarily desirable unless it has a good resale value. Americans hate to feel that buying a house might immobilize them forever, thereby inhibiting their chances of bettering their lives. The American habit of mobility has been important in contributing a degree of homogeneity to a societyof such extreme cultural diversity and spaciousness. Cultural differences still exist from region to region, but they are becoming increasingly less distinct as mutual exchange occurs.

A further consequence of Americans' mobility is that they develop relatively little attachment to place. In this century, national pride has become generally stronger than regional pride. Foreign visitors to America arequick to observe the prevalence of patriotic symbols: flags fly in suburban neighborhoods, bumper stickers announce I’m proud to be American, the national anthem is played at every sporting event. National holidays such as Thanksgiving and Independence Day intensify the sense of national identity. Yet patriotism in America is in some ways distinct from patriotism in other countries. In many nations, patriotism is essentially the love of the land. Songs celebrate the scenery of certain rivers, valleys, and forests. In America, however, this specific sense of place, this identification with a particular geographical region is generally not developed to this extent. American patriotism is concentrated instead upon the particular historic event of the nation's creation as a new start and upon the idea of freedom which inspired the nation's beginnings.

Directly associated with the value of freedom is the ideal of progress. The nation's progress has been measured by the taming of the frontier and industrial expansion. The desire to progress by making use of opportunities is important for Americans. In this immigrant society, progresses personally-measured as family progress over generations. Many Americans can boast that with each succeeding generation since their first ancestors arrived, the family's status has improved. The classic American family saga is all about progress. The great-grandparents, arriving from the Old World with nothing but clothes on their backs, work hard and suffer poverty and alienation so that they can provide good education for their children. The second generation, motivated by the same vision of the future and willingness to work hard and make sacrifices, pass these values to their children. The attainment of the vision of one's grandparents is part of the American Dream.

The term American Dream, used in widely different contexts from political speeches to Broadway musicals, is popularized in countless rags-to-riches stories and in the portrayal of the good life in adver­tising and on TV shows. It teaches Americans to believe that contentment can be reached through the virtues of thrift, hard work, family loyalty, and faith in the free enterprise system. However, throughout America's history, reality has also taught her citizens, that the American Dream is not open to all. Questioning of events in the late 1960s and early 1970s, most obviously the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal, jolted the country with doubts and insecurities and created fundamental divisions among Americans about their country's goals. Themainstream Protestant values which had held society together seemed to be collapsing, and no coherent, unifying system of belief emerged as an alternative. The 1980s saw a return to conservative family values and morals, as well as a renewal of national pride. Some critics observe that with the break­down of consensus on beliefs and values which began around 1970, there has been increasingdisparity of opinion about Americans' values and national goals.

All other nations had come into being among people whose families had lived for time out of mind on the same land where they were born. Englishmen are English, Frenchmen are French, Chinese are Chinese, while their governments come and go; their national states can be torn apart and remade without losing their nationhood. But Americans are a nation born of an idea; not the place, but the idea, created the United States Government. The story of America’s Independence is the story of how the American idea worked itself out, stretched and changed and how Jefferson’s call for “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness ” does still, as it did in the beginning, mean different things to different people…

                                                                                                                               T.H. White

Practicum 5.9

Translate the italicized parts of the above text into Russian

Practicum 5.10

Practicum 5.11

Practicum 5.12

Suggest Arguments to Support the Idea that American individualism, resourcefulness, mobility, patriotism are deeply rooted in their history. Provide Evidence to stress the fundamental value of freedom for Americans, Think of Ideas to explain why Americans are commonly regarded a nation born of an idea, not a place.

III. Communication Practice

Role play

You are to discuss on the phone with your friend the news about your common friend’s emigration to America. They are a family of lawyers, and as you’d thought, successful ones. You are totally taken aback and try to grasp their motivation. Turn to the ideas, outlined in Text 5a.

Text 5b

The text to follow deals in talking mentality. Study the text and use it as a starting point for communication

The American Idea

In the late 50s, Florence Scala led the fight against City Hall to save her neighborhood, which was amultiethnic, multicultural community

I had a feeling that things would happen in my life that would be magical. I thought I would grow up to be whatever I wanted to be. My first memory, as a small girl, was going to school and not being able speak English, feeling panicky and running all the way home. My parents worked very hard. You had to when you when you are running a small business like that, a tailor shop. He did the pressing and the tailoring; my mother did the more simple things of repairing. Getting very early in the morning, working late at night. He’d close the shop at around nine at night. I don’t remember those days with loving nostalgia, the street was miserable, our neighborhood was a mess. At the same time it was a wonder. There was a lot of anxiety because of the hooliganism. Our parents were worried because the kids might get in volved and that it would touch their lives. My father was frightened during the trade union wars in the cleaning industry, which was dominated by hoodlums. For weeks, his business was closed down because they struck the plant and he had no place to send the clothes. Then he was a scab and took the clothes to another cleaning establishment. There were killings on the streets. We were used to seeing that. Among Italians, there were padrones who went tomediate the fights within the neighborhoods. My father never participated in any of this. He was aloof, a loner. He was really an educated man by the standards of the time. He did a lot of reading. He loved opera and astronomy. We still have our old Caruso records. He had this one dream that he wanted to see Grand Canyon. He never saw it. He was so tired by the time he had time that he was afraid to take the trip. I never really got to talk to him. He was very shy and lonely.

Black people came to our store, left clothes. Our parents had no animosity toward blacks. They – the immigrants – saw themselves as being in the same predicament, trying to make it in the city. I never remember any racial conflict when I was little. Later I saw it.

Today the community is very small, five or six square blocks. There's public housing, largely black. The medical center students and young people from advertising and TV see it as part of chic downtown. Some old Italian families are hanging on. It began to change as my generation was growing up. People my age wanted to be more like the people from other communities. Friends of mine would prefer to meet their friends elsewhere than invite them into the neighborhood. That didn't happen in my case because I was growing up in a whole different atmosphere of pride.

I don't have regrets. I believe strongly – and I see signs of it today – that what we were trying to do and didn't succeed in doing had left its mark on the people there. They don't take things sitting down any more. I don't dream-any more like I used to. I believed that in this country, we would have all we needed for the decent life. I don’t see that any more. The self-interest of the individual – "I'm number one" – iscontaminating much of our thinking today. It's happening with our institutions as well. They seem to be acting in their own self-interest. The world doesn't seem definable any more. I see it becoming more and more disoriented. We're strangers. It's a time that's hard to figure out.

It's a world I don't know. The world of the computer and the microwave oven. There are things alien to my understanding. Younger people growing up will find it easier to contend with, but I doubt it. They'll conform because it's the only way to go. Big Brother is there. I think they will become digits. I don't see myself as a digit, but I know I'm becoming one. It's necessary for me to have my social security number available or my driver's license, because I don't have credit cards. It's un-American. I don't even know what the American Dream  is any more. Maybe it's picking up some pieces I've left behind.

III. Communication Practice

Team work

Suggest arguments in favour of and against emigration of your friends to America. Think how newcomers can benefit from American experience; accept the angle of the younger generation and the older one. Support your views with evidence from Text 5b, refer to other sources of information. Try to project what emigrants might face in the new place. Relate your forecasts to your knowledge of national mentality and cultural stereotypes

Practicum 5.13

Translate the italicized parts of Text 5b into Russian

Practicum 5.14

Practicum 5.15

Study the text below; identify the most striking cultural differences between Americans and your cultural practices. Work as a team to develop a safe communication strategy for people of different cultural backgrounds on how to avoid communication breakdowns

One of the loudest American claim to fame is a strong belief that their country enables the individual (even someone from a humble background) to climb the ladder of social prestige and wealth. There is a deeply held belief in the USA, that anyone – through persistence, talent, and especially hard work – can rise well above the station in life to which he or she was born. The emphasis on the work ethic helps to explain the importance that US people place on valuessuch as efficiency, punctuality, and practicality. Work is considered to be a valuable experience for children and youth, one that teaches them to be a contributing member of the family and community. That is why students very often are encouraged to work after their classes, on weekends, and on vacations; in some cases they work even if their families don’t need the extra money that they can earn.

People from different cultures attach a wide variety of meanings to the same non-verbal behavior: looking another person in the eye, touching, holding up two fingers… Many misunderstandings between culturally different people arise simply because a non-verbal signal was misinterpreted. In general, people in the USA do not touch each other frequently; still women are freer about touching each other than are men. With men lengthy touching is viewed as a sign of homosexuality, and therefore is avoided. Men never kiss each other. Women are free to kiss each other lightly on one or both cheeks (or to touch cheek-to-cheek and kiss the air). The traditional pattern for men and women is that they shake hands only if a woman takes the initiative by offering her hand. In recent decades, however, the rulesfor men and women in some social circles have broadened to include man’s taking the initiative in hand-shaking.

When in conversation with one another, Americans generally stand about half a meter apart and look each other in the eye frequently but not constantly. The distance that is maintained between people in conversation can vary: a larger distance is likely to be maintained between people who have a clear superior-subordinate relationship, while a lesser distance is common between peers who are good friends. Under most circumstances people in the US instantly are made to feel uncomfortable by others who stand very close to them. People in the US often point with their index finger and wave it around as they make important points in conversation. Americans show respect and deference for another person by looking him or her in the face, not by looking down. Americans are uncomfortable with silence. They expect to talk rather constantly when in the presence of others. Punctuality is important to many US people, they become quite annoyed if forced to wait more than 15 minutes beyond the scheduled time for appointments. When they offer food or drink, they expect the other person to say yes at once if the food is desired, they don’t expect polite refusals first.

One common feature of US people that you are likely to notice is that most of them know very little about your country and culture, very little about the world beyond the borders of the USA. Until recently, US economic, political, and military power enabled most Americans to assume that it was not important for them to be knowledgeable about other countries and cultures. Now it is becoming obvious that the US must be a sensitive and well informed member of the community of nations, educators and government officials are seeing the value of citizens who have a global perspective.

Practicum 5.16

Translate the italicized parts of Practicum 5.12 into Russian

Practicum 5.17

PROGRESS TEST 5 (part 1)

Review Gossiping strategy

- practice Gossiping abouta new American employee in a multinational company, who is regularly taking out a single female colleague, with seemingly serious intentions

- exchange news with a friend of yours about your mutual friend, who two years ago married an American and left Russia for the USA with her four-year-old son

- practice Gossiping abouta B-actress, who is rumored to have come back from America after failing in a six-year pursuit of happiness and attempts to join the Hollywood crowd

PROGRESS TEST 5 (part 2)