Module 5 - Communication Styles

Module Objectives: By the end of this module, participants should be able to...

1. Meet the objectives for the Redundancia activity (see below)
2. Explain the importance of non-verbal communication in overall communication, especially in cultures with less direct communication
3. Question their assumptions about people or cultures with communication styles different from their own

Activity 1 - Redundancia

• Become aware of changes that occur in our behavior and in our reactions to the behavior of others when communicating in a foreign language.
• Learn how language ability influences perceptions of overall intelligence and competence.
• Discover methods for enhancing the accuracy of communication in a nonnative language.
• Comprehend how emotions may modify, interfere with or assist in the process of communication in a foreign language.

Objectives from Barbara Kapler, distributed by NAFSA in 2001

Redundancia © 2011 Nipporica Associates, LLC

Activity 2 - Verbal and non-verbal communication

• What messages do you communicate verbally and/or non-verbally to students?
• Exploring Nonverbal Communication - University of California Santa Cruz
• The Secrets of Non-Verbal Communication - Dr. Chris Shea, Ted Talks (21:02)

 Activity 3 - Communication styles

• What mode of discussion is most appropriate for your class?  Why?
• How open are you to multiple modes of discourse? 
• How do you react to direct versus indirect communication styles?
• How do respond to emotionally-restrained versus emotionally-expressive styles of communication?

Module 4 - What is the relationship between culture and higher education?

Module Objectives: By the end of this module, participants should be able to...

• Compare the differences of their high school experiences to present day high school experiences
• Describe real or imagined high school experiences of their students
• Identity the differences of higher education from their experiences to present day experiences
• Describe real or imagined expectations and experiences of their students at Kirkwood

Activity 1 - Your high school education

• What was your high school education experience like?
• How different is your high school now compared to then?
• What didn't you like about your high school back then?  How have these issues changed?
• How many of your Kirkwood students attended your high school?

Activity 2 - Your Kirkwood students' high school education

• Do you know where your students went to high school? 
• What ideas do you have about high schools in other part of Iowa?  In Chicago?  
• How can you even guess how high school was like academically and socially for those who come from another country? 

Activity 3 - Your higher education

• What made you decide to go to college or university?
• What tests did you have to take in order to gain admittance to your college or university?
• How did your expectations of college or university differ from your later experiences?
• What was your higher education experience like socially?
• What was your higher education experience like academically?
• How different is your college or university now compared to then?
• Besides the degree you earned, what do you value most from your higher education?

Activity 4 - Your Kirkwood students' higher education

• Why do you think your students decided to go to Kirkwood?
• Did your students have to take the same tests you did to get a higher education?  If not, how are they different? 
• How can you learn about your students' expectations about education at Kirkwood?
• How does the Kirkwood student experience differ socially from your higher education experience?
• What do you think your students value most about their Kirkwood education?

For the next module, please take the Intercultural Conflict Style Inventory to assess your style of resolving conflict.

Module 3 - What is the culture of your classroom?

Module Objectives: By the end of this module, participants should be able to...

• Provide a rationale for or against creating learner profiles
• Discuss how to use and maintain learner profiles
• Compare their group membership with their perceptions of their students' group memberships
• Develop strategies of better understanding their students' identities
• Elaborate on the results of the "Five Tricks" card game

Activity 1 - Learner Profiles

• Do you keep a learner profile of your students?
• Why?
• How?

Activity 2 - Cultural Profiles

• Not Racial Profiling
• Recall the cultural profile you made of yourself
• How many of the students fit into each your the identity groups?
• What proportion of your students fit into other identity groups?
• Why would you want to learn more about your student's identities?
• Besides making assumptions, how do you learn about their identities?

Activity 3 - "Five Tricks" Card Game

• Get into groups of 4-6
• No verbal communication is allowed
• The player taking the most tricks in the game wins.

Activity 4 - Reflect on a video of student life

• Chinese students at the University of Iowa
• Video concerning Kirkwood students is a project for Fall 2013; tentatively planned for use after the pilot