Cultural Diversity
When communicating with other people it is the switch that comes on automatically when I am communicating with various cultures. For example: When I am communicating with my family members and friends who are African American I tend to abbreviate words or use slang. In a general statement I may ask my sister “Girl what is going down tonight “implying about her plans for the evening. If I was talking to someone from another culture I would generally ask “What do you have planned for the rest of the evening” which simply means the same thing. I try to use proper English when communicating with other cultures. With my family I generally tend to say whatever because I feel comfortable in my own skin.
Most of this behavior is based upon the stereotype and prejudices of other people. If I went around talking to other people in the manner that I speak to my friends and family, I would be considered “ghetto” because of my broken English. I know who I am and what I believe in so I am not offended by others assumptions of me. It always amaze me how individuals can lose their self identify because of the judgment of other people. In our classroom community we will have children who communicate as if they are talking to people in their home environment. It is not our duty to label, prejudge of place stereotypes because of our differences. As an educator we must embrace one another differences in order to provide children with quality learning experiences
Nequiatuia, I agree that there are times you must blend in such as family or outsiders who may judge. However I am a person who challenges myself to improve in all aspects of life. Although I do find it difficult to not to use text language when emailing someone. I believe that this takes practice to achieve the level of verbal and non-verbal communication to different cultures I come in contact with, in order for them to understand me and communication is successful. Great post!
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