User:FR JE SPRING 2008

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Jessica Frate Sociology 101 May 15, 2008 Dr. Ted Welser

COMPLETED PROJECT: --FR JE SPRING 2008 (talk) 19:00, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Cross-Cultural Communication as Deviance

Cross-Cultural Communication is a field of study that looks at how people from different cultural backgrounds endeavor to communicate. All cultures make use of nonverbal communication but the meanings of nonverbal communication vary across cultures. In one particular country, a non-verbal sign may stand for one thing, and mean something else in another culture or country. The relation of cross-cultural communication with deviance is that a sign may be offensive to one in one culture and mean something completely appropriate in another. This is an important field of study because as educators, business employees, or any other form of career that consists of communicating with ones from other cultures you; need to understand non-verbal signs and their meanings, so you avoid offensive conversation, or misleading conversation. Below is a list of non-verbal gestures that are appropriate in one country, and that would be considered deviant in another.

Asian United States Korea United States United States
avoid eye contact- a greeting gesture The O.K. signal The middle finger is used to point Thumbs up-used for hitch hiking, or approving of something A sound of a beat or someone may whistle when happy.
United States Japan United States Nigeria Europe
When saying hello or talking to someone it is impolite to not look directly at the person. The O.K. signal means that you are asking for money. Using your middle finger is very offensive. Used in place of inappropriate language. This is a rude gesture in Nigeria. Whistling is a sign of disapproval at public events.


These are just a few signs of non-verbal cross-cultural communication that one should be aware. Cross-Cultural communication can make or break a business deal, or even prevent an educator from offending a student. Different cultures have different ways of communicating with one another and when different cultures are mixed as we are here in the United States, it is important to understand cultures of others.


DEVIANCE IN SOCIAL SCIENCE: WIKIPEDIA PAGE 1. Objective I propose to add information to the “deviance in social science” page in Wikipedia. I will do in depth research on deviance, and primarily focus on deviance in other countries, that may be acceptable in the US. 2. Interest This is extremely interesting because it will help you interact with individuals or groups from other countries, and be able to understand them more efficiently if you know where they are coming from. This is extremely important to me because I am working to become an Early Childhood educator. I need to understand children from other countries and be aware of their background to be a successful teacher of that student. Understanding deviance is important because for example, in Japan looking an adult in the eye is considered disrespectful and deviant. If I have a student from Japan in my classroom, I have to understand that when I am talking to them they may not look at me. I should not yell at this child, but understand that it is part of his or her culture. 3. Background reading: My background reading is going to be the main part of my project. I will research many different types of websites primarily using Google. I will check books out at the library on Deviance, and read scholarly articles through the Ohio University Library website. I will then put the information in an organized matter, cite all my findings and add it to the Wikipedia Page named “Deviant Behavior.” The link is as follows: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deviance 4. General Plan My General plan is to do a large amount of research. Possibly create a chart of some sort with deviant behaviors in other countries, and compare them to some deviant behaviors in the United States. I will also help elaborate on other areas researched in this page. I will then print out the updated Wikipedia page and highlight the areas in which I added, and produce a work cited page. 5. Collaborators I will be researching and editing Wikipedia on my own. I will hopefully not only complete the project as an assignment but help other viewers of this page become more knowledgeable on Deviance in Social Science.