Extra Activities

Below a number of extra activities are provided to give a flavour of the types of issues and approaches to these issues that the book contains.

Task 1

Think of someone who you believe is culturally distinct from you.

What concept of culture are you using to do this? In other words what is it about this person that means you can see yourself as culturally distinct from you? Is it to do with behaviour (what people do), values (what people believe), or emotions (how people react), the language the person speaks or the persons’ physical appearance?

Task 2

a) If a person can be considered to be a mix of cognition (mental thought), affect (emotions) and behaviour (what a person does), and these are related to culture, in what ways do you see yourself as a cultural being? What are your cultural characteristics?

b) How possible is it to do this kind of analysis? Do you feel you are able to ‘see’ yourself as a cultural being? How would you better be able to get an understanding of yourself as a cultural being? Give some suggestions.

Task 3

a) Think of the way you speak. Do you use the same accent, register and type of vocabulary all the time? If not, what are the factors that affect the type of language you use? List these factors.

b) Why do you think people vary their language? What might happen if someone didn’t? What does this make you think about the notion of ‘correct language’?

Task 4

a) Look at the way in which a certain group of people are a) talked about b) visually portrayed in either the newspapers or/and the television or in a film.

b) You may pick a group according to any criteria you wish – this may be as a class group, an ethnic group a politically defined group, a religious group, etc. Look at the type of information that is presented about this group and ask the question – What information is not presented? In other words what aspects of the group in question are and are not emphasised?

c) In what way could another image of the group be presented?

d) Why do you think this group is represented in this way? Whose interests does this representation serve – i.e. who gains or is made to look good by this?

e) Is it possible to simply say – this group is represented in this way because that is how they are – or is it more a question of a group having the possibility of being different according to who is describing them?

Task 5

a) List all the groups you have been a member of. Include family, friendship groups, work groups, leisure groups, clubs, special interest groups, political and religious groups, etc.

b) Note down what you think you may have learned from being a member of these groups.

c) Try to come up with a list of important factors to consider about groups and group membership.

Task 6

Observe closely someone you know well communicating with another person or other people in three different situations (e.g. in a social setting with friends, in a classroom with classmates and lecturer, and at home with members of the family).

Consider the two following questions in particular:

a) What differences are there in the ways this person communicates both verbally and non-verbally in the three situations?

b) What reasons might there be for these differences?

Task 7

Investigate the identity of two people of different backgrounds. You are asked to also investigate how the identity of the two people influences:

a) The way they express themselves both verbally and non-verbally
b) The way they relate to other people
c) Their values and beliefs
d) Their lifestyles

The major research method should be interviewing; you may also like to draw on observations of the individuals in interaction with other people.

Task 8

In this task you are asked to carry out an ethnographic investigation into communication and behaviour in a particular ‘small culture’.

Steps:

1) Choose a particular cultural context where members of the public interact, such as a pub, a shop, a classroom, a fast food restaurant, a gym, a railway station, a church, a bank, a nightclub, the street, etc

2) Carry out ethnographic observation of this context and make notes of how some or all of the people in this cultural context communicate (both verbally and non-verbally) and behave.

3) Identify aspects of the communication and behaviour in this context which you think are of particular interest.

4) If appropriate and feasible, interview three or four informants to try and shed light on the communication and behaviour that you observe, and take notes during or immediately after the interviews (you could record the interviews).

5) Write up the findings. Your report should have the following structure:

Section A (approximately 750 words)

1. Introduction
- Reasons for choosing the particular cultural context you have decided to focus on.
- An introduction to ethnographic research

2. Description of the research procedures


Section B (approximately 1,250 words)

3. Description of findings from research

4. Discussion of findings from research