CollectivismandIndividualisminCyberspace.docx
- 文档编号:1566944
- 上传时间:2022-10-23
- 格式:DOCX
- 页数:8
- 大小:24.19KB
CollectivismandIndividualisminCyberspace.docx
《CollectivismandIndividualisminCyberspace.docx》由会员分享,可在线阅读,更多相关《CollectivismandIndividualisminCyberspace.docx(8页珍藏版)》请在冰豆网上搜索。
CollectivismandIndividualisminCyberspace
Collectivism-and-Individualism-in-Cyberspace
CreatingSynergybetweenCollectivismandIndividualisminCyberspace:
AComparisonofOnlineCommunicationPatternsbetweenHongKongandU.S.Students
KayKyeongjuSeo,Ph.D.&PaulChamnessMiller,Ph.D.
UniversityofCincinnati,USA
CynthiaSchmidt,Ph.D.
UniversityofMissouri-KansasCity,USA
PatienceSowa,Ph.D.
ZayedUniversity,UnitedArabEmirates
Abstract
Inrecentyears,studieshaveproposedtheuseofinterculturalcommunicationtopromoteunderstandingamongstudentsacrossgeographicdistancesandfosterstudents’globalawarenessandinternationalexperience.ThisstudycomparedHongKongstudents’WebCTdiscussionpostingswiththoseofU.S.studentstoinvestigatedifferencesintheironlinecommunicationpatterns.ResultsshowedthatwhileAsianstudentsweremoreinteractivebyinvitingotherstudents’opinions,Americanstudentswerelessresponsiveandmoreinterestedinstatingtheirownviews.Inaddition,AmericanstudentstendedtobedirectandstraightforwardinexpressingtheirpositionswhereasAsianparticipantsusedambiguouslanguageandconveyedtheirthoughtsimplicitly.
Keywords:
interculturalcommunication,onlinediscussion,collectivism,individualism
Introduction
Computer-mediatedcommunicationtechnologyhasenhancedtheabilitytoconnectpeoplefromanywhereintheworldbyfacilitatingthedistributionofideasandinformationacrossdistances.Thisdevelopmenthasprovidednewopportunitiestoimprovelearningaboutandfromotherswhosharesimilarinterests,butwhohavedifferentculturesandlifeexperiences.ManyuniversitiesintheUnitedStateshaveestablishedinterculturaldistancelearningpartnershipswithAsiancountriestopromotemulticulturalunderstandingandtoexplorethebenefitsofdiversifiedlearningenvironments(seeNickel2001;Shih&Cifuentes2001).
Teachersandstudentsareenthusiasticaboutthebenefitsoflearningwithpartnersbeyondtraditionalclassroomboundaries,butthereareimportantcommunicationissuestoconsiderwhenplanningdistancelearningwithpartnersfromdifferentcultures.Thesecommunicationissuesextendbeyondlevelsofwrittenlanguageproficiencyandtechnicalcompetencewithcomputers.Forexample,researchershavenotedculturaldifferencesinpatternsofcommunicationasasignificantfactorinonlinediscussionsbetweenuniversitystudentsindifferentcountries(Liang&McQueen2000;Shih&Cifuentes2001).CasestudiesofAmericanmiddleschoolstudentsfromdifferentculturalbackgroundsalsoprovideinsightsintothecomplexroleofculturaldifferencesincommunicationpatternsandlearningstylesandemphasizetheimportanceofteacherplanningandscaffoldingtomaximizelearningforstudents(Cifuentes&Murphy2000;Freedman&Liu1996).
Forsuccessfulpartnershipsandlearningthroughdistanceeducationtotakeplace,educatorsmustpayattentiontotheculturesoftheirstudents.Cultureisanimportantconsiderationbecause,asScollonandScollon(2000)state,culturalvaluesandnormsdetermineformsofcommunicationofdifferentgroups.Inhisstudyofculturaldiversityininstructionaldesign,Jian(2001)emphasizestheneedfordesigners,trainers,orteacherstotakeintoconsiderationtheculturesofstudentswhendesigninganddeliveringeducationaltechnology,becausethesestudentsbring"culturallybasedrules,expectations,valuesystems,andeducationalneedstothelearningenvironment"(Jian2001:
300).
WiththegrowinginterestinforminglearningpartnershipsbetweentheU.S.andAsiancountries,therehavebeenconsistenteffortstounderstanddifferencesincommunicationpatternsbetweenAmericanandAsiancultures.Hofstede(1986,1997)providesinsightsintomajordifferencesbetweenthetwocultures.AccordingtoHofstede’sperspectiveoncollectivismversusindividualism,theAsiancultureisacollectiveculturewherepeoplevalueharmonywithothersandemphasizehumanrelationships.Inaddition,influencedbytheteachingsofConfucius,calledConfuciandynamism,Asianpeoplepursuealong-termorientationinlife,wheretheybelieveinworkinghardtoacquireskillsandeducationinpreparationforthefuture.Ontheotherhand,intheAmericanculturepeopleseektheindependenceofeachindividual,andthesocietyislooselyconnected.Theseculturaldifferencesbetweenthetwogroupsinfluencetheircommunicationpatterns.HallandHall(1989)andGudykunstetal.(1988)notethatAsianpeople,seekingharmonyinagroup,tendtoavoiddirectexpressionoftheirownintentionsandpositions.Incontrast,Americanpeopleusemoreexplicitlanguageandmoredirectexpressionoftheirthoughts.
Theexistingliteratureonthistopicraisesthefollowingquestion:
Canthecommunicationpatternsofthesetwoculturesbeobservedinonlinediscussions?
Thel
- 配套讲稿:
如PPT文件的首页显示word图标,表示该PPT已包含配套word讲稿。双击word图标可打开word文档。
- 特殊限制:
部分文档作品中含有的国旗、国徽等图片,仅作为作品整体效果示例展示,禁止商用。设计者仅对作品中独创性部分享有著作权。
- 关 键 词:
- CollectivismandIndividualisminCyberspace