Chapter 5: Culture

When people speak, it is possible for others to discern their culture. Therefore, one could say that the way people talk and behave is similar to ______

wearing "cultural clothes"

Communication is affected by how people perceive time. In the United States, time is greatly valued, making which statement the most accurate for an American?

Time is money.

Characteristics of both collectivist and individualist cultures are reinforced through connections with other people.

True

Most of social life is transacted through communication.

True

Becoming a member of a secret society requires learning and understanding its cultural speech codes, which could be difficult because ______.

a relationship must first be formed

Coded System Of Meaning

a set of beliefs, a heritage, and a way of being that is transacted in communication

Louisiana is a very culturally diverse state with a population that includes people of Creole and Cajun descent. The term for the two cultures is ______.

co-cultures

Members of an organization with a ______ system of meaning may exclude or include others who do not communicate in alignment with the group's culture.

coded

A culture that stresses collaboration and working as a team would be considered ______.

collectivist

High-Context Culture

environment/relationship > words themselves

John has ______ bias because he believes that his culture is inherently "correct."

ethnocentric

China is considered to be a ______ culture because the level of respect given an individual is more important than the words they speak.

high-context

The perception of ______, specifically the way in which people observe the past, the present, and the future, differs among cultures.

time

Cross-Cultural Communication

Compares the communication styles and patterns of people from very different cultural/social structures, such as nation-states

Intercultural Communication

Examines how people from different cultural/social structures speak to one another and what difficulties or conflicts they encounter, over and above the different languages they speak

Culture refers only to physical location.

False

Intercultural communication compares the communication styles and patterns of people from very different cultures.

False

The United States would be considered a polychronic culture.

False

Speech (Communication) Codes

Sets of communication patterns that are the norm for a culture, and only that culture, hence defining it as different from others around it

Speech Communities

Sets of people whose speech codes and practices identify them as a cultural unit, sharing characteristic values through their equally characteristic speech

Co-Cultures (definition)

Smaller groups of culture within a larger cultural mass

Liz's eighth grade class is rewarded for maintaining perfect attendance and straight As. Her teacher often gives lectures to students and parents about the importance of students being high achievers, which is a characteristic of a(an) ______.

individualistic culture

Connie comes from a long line of family members who performed on debate teams while in high school. Because they believe in focusing exclusively on the message, their culture is ______.

low-context

Celebrating Independence Day on July 4 in the U.S. is an example of how culture can be viewed as a(n) ______ structure.

national

Being on "island time" - referring to the relaxed, slower pace of those who live in the Caribbean, as opposed to people who live in the U.S. - makes that culture a ______ one.

polychronic

Members of an exclusive club have a cultural speech code that facilitates the club's ______.

separateness

When a community of people have a similar speech practice, their communication patterns include norms known as ______.

speech (communication) codes