Week 16 Question 3

Organizational communication is the chapter that I feel like needs further discussion. Organization, “is a system consisting of a large number of people working together in a structured way to accomplish multiple goals” (Trenholm,, 2008, p. 215). I think this topic needs further discussion because I think we are in college and soon to be out in the society. Topics like intercultural communication and organizational communication are going to affect us greatly in a working environment. For the most of are going into the corporate world it is very important for us to understand organizational world. However, I feel like this chapter didn’t explain enough internal aspects in the organization. For example, how does one become part of the organization, how is diversity effects the organization…etc.Topics like the norms, roles, ritual, and diversity in a organization isn’t discuss in the book and I think these are the topic can effect us greatly once we start working in a corporate environment.

Week 16 Question 2

I always like the intercultural communication because I think I can relate to that in my daily life. The concept about co-cultures sound very interesting to me because it is a trend that has being going on in the United States for a while. “We are a country of many coexisting cultures. Americans from different ethnic or religious backgrounds may seem as alien as someone “just off the boat.” It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the presence of co-cultures” (Trenholm, 2008, p. 349). It is becoming more obvious that we should be aware of the co-culture trend and be competent with different cultural backgrounds because there could be misunderstandings behind these cultural differences. Whether it is in school, work or even in business context, intercultural communication skills become one of the major factors for success. I think it is also a reason why school starts to emphasis on the importance of intercultural communication more and more throughout the years.

Week 16 Question 1

I think the survey research interests me the most because I am more of a quantitative person when it comes to research. I have done a survey research in my quantitative communication class on what do college students looking for in their romantic partners. I really like gathering information and conduct interviews with people, and the analysis afterwards. If I want to study some aspect of deception I would probably frame my question like “What is consider deception in a romantic relationship among college student?” I would use the survey research method and comes up with questions for interviewees to answer on a liker scale. For example, “Is omitting about past relationship counts ask deception?”

Yes Somewhat No

1 2 3 4 5

I would find a random sample about 50 college students, both male and female. Interview them and look for my common findings. This way I would have a general idea about how college students’ opinion on deception in a romantic relationship.

Week 14 Question 3

The concept that interests me in chapter 11 is gatekeepers, “select the issues they feel are most worthy of coverage and give these issues wide attention. Receivers accept the gatekeepers’ agendas without realizing that, somewhere along the line, an editor or producer is making choices about what to cover and what to ignore” (p. 304). This concept makes me thinking about how the Chinese government always presses any news or information that are coming from Tibet. Just recently, there was a huge earthquake happened in the Tibet area but surprising we didn’t hear or see that many news coverage on this incident. Compare with the earthquake happened two years ago in SiChuan, we saw that was the major headline in every newspaper and television. Because of the political stands between China and Tibet, Chinese government is gate keeping any information that are coming out of Tibet and isolating the community.

Week 14 Question 2

I agree with Marshall McLuhan that medium is the message. The way he expresses is that “the beliefs that the channel through which a message is transmitted is as important as the message itself and that the channel, in fact, often determines which messages will be transmitted and which will be ignored”(p. 307). I agree with this concept because it is just like the basic communication concept that when you deliver a message, the message is not the only thing that matter. Things like the content of the message, how you deliver it, in what way you are delivering it and when you are delivering it. However, I can’t fully understand his idea on television being a cool medium because I feel like it really depends on what kind of television program you are watching. The way he refers cool medium as “it demands that viewers fill in detail”(p. 307). Compare with radio, we don’t need to concentrate that much in television because “television encourages sensory involvement”(p.307).

Week 14 Question 1

I have never make friendships that exist exclusively in cyberspace. And I do not plan on moving towards that direction. I think I am still very traditional when it comes to friends because I think relationship made based only on Internet is not safe and legit. We all know stories about people made up identity about who they are on the Internet and being manipulative in cyberspace. And I also think relationships based on Internet cannot be real like face-to-face relationship. There are a lot of elements that you can’t observe through Internet for example nonverbal cues like facial expression and eye contact. These are the things I rely on the most when I am observing people are whether being truthful or not. On the other hand, cyberspace relationship is too dangerous and as a girl, I don’t want to put myself in a vulnerable position. When it comes to making a relationship, I still prefer the old traditional way.

Week 12 Question 3

The concept that interests in me is self-disclosure, “when one person voluntarily tells another person things about himself which the other is unlikely to know or discover from other sources” (Trenholm, 2008, p. 160). I like this concept because I have a bad habit of disclosing too much information about myself to the people I just know. Because I always believe the best in people. If I’m lucky, the person will respect my self-disclosure and I will feel relive to get something off of my chest. However, I have experience that people use the information I told to against me. I think people should be grateful that others want to disclose themselves to you because that means they value you and your personality. “When we self-disclose, we share with another our past experience, present feelings, basic values, and hopes and fears” (p.161). And I think it takes a lot of courage to disclose that kind of information.

Week 12 Question 2

When eliminating people from consideration as potential romantic partners, there are always few characteristics or behaviors lead me to judge others as unattractive. First is whether or not they are close with their parents or family, because I think that says a lot about a guy whether or not he is a family person. Second, is if they care about their future or not, because honestly as a girl, I just want security in life and if they don’t even care about their future then I don’t think I can have a future with them. Third, is that I want a sincere person so liar is a big fat NO. Duck’s theory make sense to me the part about cognitive cues because I believe that if two people want to be together for a long time values and beliefs are important, “In the long run, the extent to which values are shared and attitudes and beliefs are similar is a more important determinant of friendship than is physical appearance”(Trenholm, 2008, p. 160). Yes, I have eliminated someone by using a sociological or pre0interaction cue only to reconsider them based on interaction and cognitive cues later. When I met a good friend of mine in Asia, I didn’t think we could carry on this friendship even though I really like her, because we live so far apart. However, later I found out we share so much common interests and beliefs we started talking a lot online and on the phone. And the good news is, I will be moving back to Asia after summer and we can finally hang out like real friends.

Week 12 Question 1

I think the most difficult to change is the competitive symmetry pattern. When people are competitive in nature, it is very hard for them to admit they are the submissive one and in a relationship like this, they just keep competing. Competitive symmetry defined as “both members fight for the one-up position”(Trenholm, 2008, p. 148). Basically, I think it is never ending cycle and sometimes it can be “encouraging or stressful”(p.148). The most damaging to a relationship is the submissive symmetry pattern, “both parties struggle to relinquish control” (p.148). Because I think if either of the members are going to make a decision, there could be more problems and eventually will lead to arguments. The most potentially damaging to the self-esteem is the complementary pattern, “one partner takes the one-up position and the other takes the one-down” (p.148). The partner who takes the one-down position might feel being control all the time and sometimes it leads to more problems. For example, “The parent controls the child, making most of the decisions and exerting most of the influence. For the most part, the child complies, although occasional temper tantrums show the child’s dissatisfaction with the one-down role”(p.148).

Week 9 Question 3

The concept I find interesting in this chapter is Ethnocentrism, “the belief that one’s own culture is superior to all others and the tendency to judge all cultures by one’s own criteria” (p.359). I think we can see this happens a lot in the Western society. I have been living in the States for about 10 years, when I started to go to school here, I noticed most American students are very self-centered and some of them even think United States is the whole world. They are not interested in me nor they are nice to me. When I said something that is not part of the norm, they would look at me weirdly. I think part of the reason for that behavior is that back then, there weren’t many intercultural activities going on at school, therefore, students wouldn’t know how to treat other people who were a little different than they are.

Week 9 Question 2

I don’t believe in the rationality, perfectibility, and mutability premises are the three basic beliefs about human nature. Rationality premises “the belief that most people are capable of discovering the truth through logical analysis. The reason I don’t believe this is because I don’t think there is a solid truth about everything. Truths are subjective; therefore we have different parties in government. People believe what they want to believe in because truth is multifaceted. Perfectibility premise “humans are born in sin but are capable of achieving goodness through effort and control”(P.353). However, I believe humans are born in goodness and it was the later outside influence make human become more complicated. I think I have this belief is because I was influenced by my own culture, the Confucianism. The last belief is mutability premise “human behavior is shaped by environmental factors and that the way to improve humans is to improve their physical and psychological circumstances”(p. 353). I agreed with this premise because it has something to do with human shaped by culture and we later improve ourselves by improve our physical and psychological circumstances. Especially psychological, because what we think and how we proceed the world effects our choices and our choices effects our lives.

Week 9 Question 1

I agree with anthropologist Ruth Benedict that we are creatures of our culture. I believe that our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities are shaped by our culture. The reason is that when we were born in an environment, we starting to learn from our surroundings. And the surrounding affects our experience, which shape our behavior and what we believe in. As Benedict put it “We are the products of our cultures”(p.343). How can we break through the limits of our cultures? I believe as we are growing, we naturally move beyond our culture. We become more intelligent and interact with people from different culture background. In this process, we are changing, we begin to expand and become selective. Even though we are changing, we still remain some of the characteristics that reflect on our culture but adding or changing some habits and impossibilities to be more suitable in the bigger society.

Week 7 Question 3

The concept I find interesting in chapter 5 is adaptors. Adaptors “they are behaviors that people use to adapt to stresses and to satisfy personal needs. Some are behaviors that satisfy immediate needs, whereas others may be residual displays of behaviors that were once functional” (p.117). I was thinking what kind of adaptors I have when I was nervous or stress. I found out I have a couple of them. When I was studying I like to play with the fabric of my clothing with my fingers. I think this helps me to be calm and focus. When I was nervous about something, especially waiting for something, I get agitate, therefore I tend to tap my foot. However, my mom always stops me from tapping my foot. I would stop for a while and then I would feel uncomfortable. Later I would start tapping again unconsciously. Because all of these are unconscious actions, we can observe uncover hidden information about people’s emotional states (Trenholm, 2008, p. 118).

Week 7 Question 2

The nonverbal displays definitely have different meanings among cultures. I remember when I first came to the U.S as a visitor (I was 8) I saw people on the street smiling at me. When it happened more than once, I asked my dad why would strangers smiling on me. He said it is normal in the U.S, it is a sign of friendliness and he told me I should do the same. In the Asian culture, we don’t go around and smile at strangers; people would think you have mental problems. We also don’t make that much eye contact as well. In the U.S eye contact is consider respect, however in the Asian culture, its very impolite if we look an elder in the eyes when we are spoken to. As it was explained in the text “When it comes to other kinds of nonverbal meanings, such as the use of time and space, quite dramatic cultural differences occur. The implication is clear: do not assume that everyone shares your own nonverbal rules” (p.111). Basically, just like verbal language, and other culture differences, nonverbal messages are also important. If we are going to work with people with different backgrounds, we have to be acknowledging of nonverbal aspect as well.

Week 7 Question 1

Since nonverbal messages don’t involve any verbal messages, it can be ambiguous. When my father was listening to my sister’s explanation about her recent attitude problems, he had his arms crossed, lean back on the chair and with a serious look on his face. I though he was angry with my sister’s explanation and was about to burst up right after. As I was watching on the side I got really nervous and I interrupted my sister. I turned to my dad, and I asked him not to be angry with my sister because it wasn’t that big of a deal. He replied that he wasn’t mad at all and he was just listening to my sister. Later I asked him what was up with all the serious gestures. He said he lean back because my sister was out of focus in his eyes (he has eyesight problem) and his serious look was because he couldn’t hear my sister loud enough (my dad couldn’t hear in one ear). It was funny how I forgot all of my dad’s physical problems under the situation and I misinterpreted all of his nonverbal messages. A lot of nonverbal messages are unintentional and there are a lot of aspects we should consider when we are interpreting them. As it was mention in the text, “…Check the context…Compare current behavior to baseline behavior…Ask for verbal feedback” (Trenholm, 2008, p. 109). As for me, I did “ask for verbal feedback” to increase my accuracy because I think it is the easier way. However, this method couldn’t use on any situation.

Week 6 Question 3

The concept interested me the most in Chapter 4 is the intercultural language use of formality. Trenholm defined this concept “Some cultures use language in a formal way. Protocol is very important, deference should be shown to superiors, and all message should flow through proper channel”(p.97). Compare with the United States, language is very formal in the Chinese culture. The difference is obvious by how people address their names. In the U.S, we see people address other’s name by their first name even with elders. However, in the Chinese culture, they address people names by their last name with a title. For example, Mr. Tang or Mrs. Huang. They seldom refer a person’s first name especially with elders because that is considering disrespectful. The formality of language use is greatly reflected on the culture. Chinese culture is very proper and values hierarchy. On the other hand, US culture is more casual and believe in equality among individuals.

Week 6 Question 2

I agree that men and women use language differently. I also think this is because when we were little, adults communicate with us according to our gender. If a girl falls down, their parents would lift her up and calm her down. However, if a boy falls down, their parents would tell him, he is a boy and needs to be strong. Women are taught to communicate to express their feelings. However, men are taught use communication express their masculinity, to be independent, to be strong. For example, in relationship, it is very typical that the girlfriend wants to “talk about feelings” but the boyfriend would think talking about feelings is unnecessary. Men don’t think communication is a big part in the relationship because they believe communicating is a tool for them to be successful in the workplace. Women values the verbal communication in the relationship, however, men values the physical interaction even more.

Week 6 Question 1

I do not think it is possible to perceive others without judging or categorizing them at first. It is human nature that we always judge people by their first impressions. When we see someone for the first time, we are judging them by how they look, how they dress, what they wear and how they present themselves. By doing that, we are already judging them. After that, we start to have thoughts about them such as “I met someone just like him before” or “She is that kind of girl who doesn’t care about what other people say about her”. We categorized them in our mental picture and gave them labels without further understanding. I think the only way to make judgments more accurately and more fair is to get the know the person better by talking to them and listen to what he or she has to say. I met a girl before, I thought she looks tough and mean; therefore, I basically kept my distance with her. Unfortunately, I got stuck with her to do a group project. Because of the group meetings, we started to hang out more. After more talking with her, and listened to what she has to say, I found out she is actually a nice and sweet person. Ever since that class, we became best friend she is at my house right now). We should always keep in mind that first impressions aren’t always correct and it takes a long time to make the right judgment of a person.

Week 2 Question 3

The concept that I find very interesting in chapter 2 is nonverbal interaction. In the textbook, nonverbal interaction defined as “the unspoken, often unintentional behavior that accompanies verbal communication and helps us fully interpret its meaning” (p.23). I grew up in the Eastern culture; verbal communication is fully expressed, therefore, it’s very important for me to know how to read nonverbal cues. Very often I can tell a person’s message by the expression on her/his face or in their eyes. Most people focus on verbal communication and tend to forget to read nonverbal cues, however, for me, I think most of the important messages doesn’t express verbally and rather nonverbally. Because it is the unintentional behavior that is the most truthful and reliable source to interpret the meaning of a message. By saying that, verbal message is also important as well, one must use verbal cues and accompany by nonverbal cues to achieve effective communication.

Week 2 Question 2

1. For pragmatic perspective scholar, communication is more like playing a game (p.32). As it describe in the text, “According to pragmatic view, communication consists of a system of interlocking, interdependent behavior that become patterned over time” (p.32). In this perspective, communication is a game that involves players and moves and how the players interact with each other become a sequence of patterns. For example, when player A said something to player B, player B would give some feedback to A, in another word; they are interacting with each other. Overtime, the interaction between players would become interdependent because they are dependent on each other’s actions to keep playing the game. Communication is like a game because the ball in the air is always throwing back and fourth, therefore, is like the sender and receiver in communication. However, this communication game doesn’t require a winner or a loser but games sometimes do.

Week 2 Question 1

1. Social constructionist perspective defined communication in a much broader way. “Communication is not something that goes on between individuals; instead, communication is something that surrounds people and hold their world together”(29). Communication is a process; a process that create meanings of the world we lived in; our language, our beliefs, our values and how we act according to our roles. Through this communication process, we create our world, defined our worlds and we get to experience it, “This perspective points out that most of what we know and believe about the world comes to us through communication rather than through direct experience” (30). Basically, we communicate as individuals and through that process we create a sense of our world. In the Western culture, we value individualism. We encourage individual achievement and we educate our children to be unique and special. The idea of individualism directly affects us as people of this nation; US is one of the leading countries in the world.

Week 1 Question 3

1. Psychological/epistemological approach-

The concept I am interested in chapter 1 is psychological approach of communication, “…the relationship of communication and thought, trying to understand in a “scientific” way how people could influence one another through speech”(p.10). I always believe communication involves many aspects of psychology. There could be several of reasons for us to communicate with each other, to deliver message, sharing thoughts and even persuade. I like how the textbook explain that psychological approach is focus on human communication, “…how human action could be influenced by speech, and they wanted to describe the thought processes of receivers listening to persuasive messages” (p.10). We often use communication to persuade people and to do that; we have to understand the basic of psychology. Learn how to deliver a message is more effective, and how message can influence one another are some of the examples I can think of psychological approach in communication. If we can combine the theories of communication and the theories of psychology then we probably can reach a better level of effective communication.

Week 1 Question 2

1. I agree that to be an orator the person has to be morally good. I think an orator has social responsibilities and with responsibility to society, an orator has to be morally good. When an orator speaks in public, he/she is influencing the audience with his/her speech, if he/she is morally evil, whatever the message they trying to deliver would pollute the public. A lot of orators are politician or lawyer and both of these professions needs to have ethic, goodness and moral because they are representing not only themselves, but also other people or even a country. For example, lawyers represent people who can’t speak for themselves. Lawyers need to have justice in mind and able to distinguish right and wrong. Therefore, an ideal lawyer needs to have a strong will, speaks the truth, and morally good because whatever they say in public is going to have impact on people.

Week 1 Question 1

1. The speaker whom I really admire is Ellen Degeneres. She exudes a persona that is confident in your own skin. I think everybody can learn to be more comfortable with themselves. Ellen uses ethos when speaking to the audience in her daily talk shows. Her ability to persuade comes from her likability as a person, that’s why it is ethos. However, for any public speaker to be great in persuading, I believe that he/she must have all three ethos, pathos and logos. If we were to listen closely to a great, public speaker, we would find that they possess a little bit of each. Ellen, is more ethos than pathos and logos because her cheerful personality and charisma are what attracts her fans to watch and listen to her shows. As for myself, I think my ability to persuade lies in my ability to gain trust and inspire others. This would fall more into the pathos category. I am able to speak on topics that I am passionate about and lead others to eventually think in the direction as I.

Introductory Post

Hi, this is Sogo
I am a Communication Studies major at SJSU and this is my second to last semester. The reason I chose to be a communication major is because of the broadness of it and I like how I can apply the concepts I learned in classes to real life. I also like the interaction with classes and I feel discussions among group helps me to be open minded.

I am looking forward to this class because I feel the knowledge I gain from this class is going to help me when I start working after school.
I took one online class for Winter 2010 and I really like the flexibility of online classes.

I like moves, dramas and traveling

-Sogo