Cross cultural communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Cross cultural communication - Essay Example She advises that when you visit another country; forget about popular notions about the people. When doing business with Spanish and Swiss for instance, do not expect that the latter arrives on time and is more organized because that is how we have been socialized to believe. It is imperative to appreciate that such characteristics are dependent on the individual. We had punctual Spanish people and disorganized Swiss. Therefore do not assume that every Spanish person you meet will be late and that the Swiss are always punctual, you might end up very surprised. In other words, cross-cultural stereotypes might negatively influence our ability to perceive things properly. Currently, there are very helpful courses that help those who want to work or live abroad cultivate cross-cultural awareness, which is very essential in developing global competence and in building international teams. Such courses help individuals identify and then can deal with such cross-cultural differences ultimately improving their overall capacity in developing and most of all maintaining efficacious cros s-cultural relations. Sometimes stereotypes lead us into misunderstanding and judging other individuals in accordance to much unfounded generalizations, which sometimes may be very detrimental since we miss the point of meeting new people and knowing them as individuals, not as a population. Communicaid is a cross-cultural awareness-training center that helps you understand your counterpart’s behavior without relying on any stereotypes. Remember that such beliefs about other individual’s habits and behavior can greatly influence our expectations and attitudes when communicating with cultures different from our own. Nevertheless, this does not imply that no stereotypes are important. They help us in some situations where we are dealing with strangers since culture is responsible for shaping our perceptions and thoughts, we can be able to

Turning Fear Into and Everyday Relevance Term Paper

Turning Fear Into and Everyday Relevance - Term Paper Example Even more revealing were the results found by the 2000 Decorte, Verschaffel and Green study which stated, â€Å"when middle school students were prompted to ask their parents about their use of the Pythagorean Theorem, an overwhelming 78% answered that they could not recall ever using the Pythagorean Theorem in their day to day lives† (Decorte, Verschaffel and Green). In response, many modern day teachers have begun to explore new ways to teach the Pythagorean Theorem in an attempt to help students see the relevance it can have in their everyday lives. For many students, the words â€Å"Pythagorean Theorem† can sound incredibly daunting and intimidating. It is the teacher's job to show them how the process of this theorem are performed in various daily situations, and that they have probably already experienced it without realizing it. By introducing students to real-life examples, teachers can help take the fear out of the equation. â€Å"Some mathematicians and teachers have attempted to produce textbooks that use a bare minimum of sentential representation and argument† (Lindsay). These books often proved useless without further explanation from the teacher. They proved that students needed real-life examples of how the Pythagorean Theorem worked in order to understand the process. The diagrams in these textbooks are often referred to as â€Å"diagrammatic demonstrations†. â€Å"A diagram that illustrates a mathematical relation by showing in essence that it is an accurate reflection of the behavior of obje cts in space and provides an understanding because it grounds the abstraction in our customary experience† (Lindsay). The problem with these diagrams was that they often reflected shaped that were unrealistic and never seen in real life. One approach that many teachers are currently pursuing is to use pictures of real buildings, baseball fields, and other such relevant structures.