The Role of Culture and Self-Awareness in Interpersonal Communication

You began preparing for this assignment in Week One by reviewing the required elements and reflecting on the Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 content. There are three steps to completing this written assignment. Each step should be a separate, identifiable section of your paper. Start with an introductory paragraph that describes what you will be covering in your paper and end with a concluding paragraph that summarizes the information you have provided. Use Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the textbook and other relevant resources.

First step:

• Describe the impact of culture on communication.
• Identify strategies you can use to demonstrate cultural sensitivity when working in human services settings. Be sure to use examples to help make your points. – being able to adapt to others when communicating from effective listening skills. People often seek me out when they need to get something off their chest, or when seeking guidance.

Second step:

• Assess your own other-orientation, as described in the textbook, as one measure of self-awareness.
  • I come from a strong Italian cultural background. Every Sunday was “Pasta Sunday” where the family would gather and have a giant three course meal and just spend time together. Because of the values and traditions we shared in, school and having the willpower to succeed was highly anticipated and influenced.
• Identify personal communication strengths and growth.
  • Personal communication strengths I can identify are my ability to listen and effectively understand. I put myself in other people’s perspective and try to rationalize that way. I’m able to build and maintain relationships with others because of this. I am often viewed as the “go-to” person for help and guidance with family, friends and colleagues.
• Describe your strengths with regard to this perspective. – based on above information
• Identify areas in which you would like to improve. –
  • I would like to improve on stereotyping and reduce my Ethnocentrism : is the tendency to see others and their behaviors through your own cultural filters, often as distortions of your own behaviors. It’s the tendency to evaluate the values, beliefs, and behaviors of your own culture as superior—as more positive, logical, and natural than those of other cultures.
• Discuss how having a strong other-orientation might be helpful for interpersonal communication in human services. – based on above information

Third step:

• Refer to Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 5 in the textbook and other relevant resources.
• Explain how both culture and self-awareness may be critical in interpersonal communication in human services.
• Identify two to three examples of effective verbal and non-verbal communication techniques that can be used to demonstrate self-awareness and culture in human service settings.

Your Final Paper:

• Must be five double-spaced pages in length (not including title and reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
• Must include a separate title page with the following:
  • Title of paper
  • Student’s name
  • Course name and number
  • Instructor’s name
  • Date submitted
• Must use at least two scholarly sources in addition to the course text.
• Must document all sources in APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
• Must include a separate reference page that is formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Review the grading rubric and remember that 30% of your grade is based on your application of course material content and subject knowledge in Discussions, 40% is based on your ability to think critically and present original ideas in Assignments, and 30% is based on your ability to demonstrate your application of the core concepts of communication and apply them to a human services scenario in the Final Project.

TEXT BOOK SOURCE THAT MUST BE USED IN ADDITION TO THE 2 SCHOLARLY SOURCES : DeVito, J.A. (2016). The interpersonal communication book (14th ed.). Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu