Communicating Differently

Think about the cultural diversity you see in your colleagues at school, in your neighborhood, in your workplace, and also, possibly, within your family. Consider all the aspects that make up culture, including race, religion, political affiliation, sexual orientation, varying abilities, and so on.

• Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

Yes...

• If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently?

1. Communicating is an essential component of any workplace.  When I am in my workplace and among my colleagues I make sure that I speak clearly, use proper grammar, and use a positive tone.  Specifically, using the correct grammar of a particular language helps ensure communication clarity (O'Hair& Wiemann, 2012).  The way you talk at work shows your level of professionalism and respect for yourself and those around you.  How well one can articulate and speak can have a huge impact on career progression and relationships. 
2. I am aware that when I talk among my friends and family it is vastly different than how I speak among colleagues.  When I am with my friends I use more slang.  Slang is a language this is informal, nonstandard, and usually particular to a specific group; it operates as a high-level abstraction because meaning of slang are known only by a particular group of people during a specific time in history(O'Hair& Wiemann, 2012).  For example, to describe anything that it appealing to the eye, my friends and I might say that it is "hot" instead of nice or pretty.  However, I have recently noticed that I do communicate some slang among family members.  Yet, I am careful and highly aware of the words I do chose.  Among family members I would say that I use more Euphemisms, which are, inoffensive words or phrases that substitute for terms that might be perceived as upsetting (O'Hair& Wiemann, 2012).  I have always been brought up to respect my elders and I find that they do not particularly care for slang, but have learned to handle it much better.  So, I am always careful around them.  Yet, interestingly I have noticed that my 16 year old daughter uses more of an evasive type of language with me now.  Evasion is to, avoid providing specific details (O'Hair& Wiemann, 2012).  A particular incident I have in mind where she was evasive was when she recently asked to go to the mall with her friends.  I naturally assumed she was going to our local mall with her friends until I found out later when she returned home that she had gone to a further mall in our area.  Needless to say I was very upset, but it hit me that I need to be more specific in asking questions, because she has become so evasive in her teenage years.

We communicate from the moment we are born (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012).  Yet, how we communicate with one another varies from person to person to situation to situation.  In addition, what is also important is how effectively we communicate with one another.  Effective communication develops over time with constant practice.  That's because communication is a transactional process: it involves two or more people acting in both sender and receiver roles, and their messages are dependent on and influenced by those of their partner (that is, their messages are interdependent) (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012). 

So, when I think of all of the various ways I communicate I immediately begin to think of all of the various channels I use to communicate.  I know that I often do not give eye contact when I am engaged in serious conversation with just about anyone.  However, I am working on it slowly.  Some may not be bothered by it, but I could be offending others.  After all, this week I realized the true importance of each glance. Each glance can send a message of liking, loving, attraction, or contempt (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012).  The second strategy I will work on is my code switching among my elder family members.  I have realized that with age I have come to value my elders because of the stories and experiences they share with me.  Thus in order to continue to value them and show them respect I am working on tuning in to and expressing my more formal language to signal my maturity as well.  They often still view me as the baby of the family and I wonder if that will begin to change when I am careful about the style of communication I begin to reveal.  The third strategy I am working on, is to be a good listener and pick up on the evasive messages.  Teenagers are great for this type of abstract communication, yet there are many people from many different age groups that speak in such a manner.  It is important to be clear and thorough when working in an education field.  Messages can immediately be misconstrued or used against you if you are not clear.  Therefore, listening and paraphrasing and asking detailed questions can make for positive and effective communication.  Of course, being aware of others culture, religion, gender, and age is just as important to effective communication, but as mentioned earlier everything takes time and practice. Hopefully in time I will continue to grow in order to gain better communication skills.
References:
O'- Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's