Interview or Participant Observation

Participant Observation Students Name Institutional Affiliation Overview People from different parts of the world have different cultures that ought to be embraced to ensure an efficient interaction. Some of the cultures contradict with one another, and therefore, it is the obligation for every individual to choose the cultures that they wish to embrace or not. Communication is one of the key aspects that determine how individuals understand one another's culture. People speak different languages hence resulting in the chances of misinterpreting another person's words. Therefore, this calls for the individuals who chose to be multicultural communicators to understand all the aspects of communication from other cultures. As a result, they will be able to effectively communicate with other cultures and make it easy for them to understand people's ways of living. The issue of a language barrier is one of the challenges that people from different cultures are facing, but given the current improvements in technology, learning a foreign language has become an easy process. However, mastering the art of communication with people from other cultures requires individuals to have direct contact with them in order to get a close understanding of the various aspects involved in the communication process. This led to my curiosity in knowing much about the American culture because I intend to work in Washington, DC. I expect to interact with many Americans in my learning and working environment, and therefore, this research is a great starting point towards the earning of the American culture. I chose to interview a person in the working sector because I intend to work here, and it is necessary that I learn how to be a perfect multicultural communicator. I met the interviewee in a restaurant in Washington, DC, where he works. The interview lasted for one hour, and I was able to cover all the intended questions. The responses provided me with adequate information for use in knowing much about the American culture and what was required of me as a multicultural communicator. Analysis of findings The data was collected through an interview process that enabled me to ask all the planned questions to my interviewee. This has helped me realize that people from different parts of the world have similarities and differences in their cultures. The outcome of the interview met my standard because all the questions were answered effectively. This made it easy for me to learn a lot of things that I never knew about American culture. I have interacted with plenty of Americans, but I have not always been keen about noticing the slight differences that occur in the case of being a multicultural communicator. The interviewee pointed out that the observation of time is an important aspect of their culture. They ensure that all appointments are attended to on time. For instance, my interviewee arrived twenty minutes earlier than the scheduled time. Also, their culture s accommodative of people from other parts of the world, and they try their best to understand the other people's cultural way of life. He pointed out that they have people from different cultures in their workplace, and they have learned how to interact with them. However, he made it clear that their culture has stereotypes such as bosses who opt not to employ people from other cultures and those that try to judge or ridicule the cultural practices of other people. Among such actions is racial discrimination, but the American was becoming enlightened about the importance of appreciating other people's culture. Therefore, the number of stereotypes was greatly reducing. The most dominant aspect of their culture is the manner in which they hold a conversation. I was amazed by the manner in which the interviewee was able to perfectly use non-verbal cues such as nodding to pass across the information that did not seem clear to me. He was enthusiastic in ensuring that I understood everything that he said. As well, they maintained direct eye contact throughout the whole process, something that I am not able to do for a long period. However, I found it to be a contributing aspect towards my ability to paying attention to the speaker. Hence, this is something that I have to learn in order to become an effective multicultural communicator. The interviewee also pointed out that they do not like it when people interrupt them in the middle of a conversation. This is a similarity in our culture, and I was able to give him adequate time to answer each of the questions before asking another. I also borrowed this aspect from the course concepts in regard to the ways of ensuring effective communication with an individual from another culture. This gave us ample time to interact and obtain as many details as possible regarding the American culture. I intend to use such details during my stay here in order to interact effectively with other people from the same culture. Reflection I have learned that being a multicultural listener of the american culture requires an individual to learn all the various aspects of communication from the people of the culture in order to be able to pay attention during the communication process. For instance, I find that the American in business prefer to maintai...