Intercultural Communication Issue (Socio-Cultural Conflict)

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Dear Student,
Hello and welcome to Brainmass. Here in Brainmass we seek to guide and help students in their academic challenges by providing them with the tools they need to complete and understand their studies. The problem you presented - intercultural communication issue - is familiar to me as I have advised and taught on the subject previously. There are 2 assumptions that I will make here - one that you are familiar with what an intercultural issue is and that you have been taught in class why diversity and ethnicity can contribute to conflict in the workplace. I have chosen to give you the solution below to illustrate a communication problem within a workplace. Normally, in the US setting, the one who finds difficulty in adjusting is the one who has a culture and ethnicity other than American - perhaps an immigrant or a foreign worker. In this context however, we are looking at the difficulty an American has in foreign soil in a working environment in a culture that is absolutely removed from his/her own. Before going through the solution however, if you feel the need to explore 'the language-translation' issue, please visit this site:

http://tlu.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/pdfs/intercul_comm.pdf

There you will find some very interesting language-translation intercultural issues that can lead to some very serious miscommunication. May I also advise to download another solution I have written on the same problem - this time, it is an intercultural workplace issue in the office of the Mayor of Miami in relation to differences of ethnic and cultural beliefs conflicting with workplace responsibilities. You can download this solution by following this link:

http://www.brainmass.com/homework-help/sociology/all-topics/270513

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Best of luck with your paper and your studies. As always, you can use this solution as a basis/template for yours - something that you are familiar with, perhaps one that you have experienced in your own workplace.

Sincerely,
OTA 105878/Xenia Jones

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The Situation

Ana is an American English language teacher taking the summer to teach at a school in Thailand for an exchange program. She was not assigned to an urban school - her teaching assignment brought her to a small, highly devout Buddhist school in North-eastern Thailand with an equally devout local provincial community. Upon arrival, Ana immediately felt the difference between the cultures - her own and that of the local community and in the school in Thailand where she was to teach in a special program. While respect for hierarchy is present, for example in the American system, in Thailand, respect for the hierarchy in the school system is entrenched. Ana is amazed at the unquestioned authority of teachers over students, of the obedience of students and of the superiors over the staff. She is also amazed at the manner by which the Thai King is revered and the ...