Transcript what is culture? - Tibetan Association of Northern California

Tenzin Dorjee, Ph.D.
California State University, Fullerton
Second North American Tibetan Language Conference and Workshop
August 25, 2012 @ Dhezhi Phunstokling, TANC, Northern CA
*Power Points in English, Oral Presentation in Tibetan Language 
OVERVIEW
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CONTEXTING: TIBETAN DIASPORA IN NORTH AMERICA
IDENTITY PERSPECTIVES
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVES
COMPARING COMMUNICATION STYLES
LANGUAGE IDENTITY AND TIBETAN AMERICANS: A
DESCRIPTIVE MODEL
 CONCLUSION
 QUESTION AND ANSWER
CONTEXTING: TIBETAN DIASPORA IN NORTH
AMERICA
 AS A COMMUNITY WE FACE TWO MAJOR
CHALLENGES IN NORTH AMERICA.
 ONE, INTERCULTURAL ADAPTATION (e.g., KIM, 2001)
 TWO, TRANSMITTING AND PRESERVING TIBETAN
CULTURE AND IDENTITY (e.g., DORJEE, 2006;
DORJEE, GILES, & BARKER, 2012).
IDENTITY PERSPECTIVES
 QUESTIONS: WHO AM I? WHO ARE WE?
 AVOWED IDENTITY (WHO YOU THINK YOU ARE OR
WHO WE THINK WE ARE).
 ASCRIBED IDENTITY (WHO OTHERS THINK YOU ARE
OR WHO OTHERS THINK WE ARE).
 THESE PERSPECTIVES HELP US UNDERSTAND OUR
YOUNGER GENERATION’S IDENTITY STRUGGLES.
IDENTITY PERSPECTIVES
 INTERGROUP PERSPECTIVE: PERSONAL IDENTITY
AND SOCIAL IDENTITY (SEE GILES, REID, &
HARWOOD, 2010)
 PERSONAL IDENTITY = INDIVIDUAL UNIQUENESS OR
IDIOSYNCRASIES (e.g., PERSONALITY TRAITS)
 SOCIAL IDENTITY = GROUP MEMBERSHIP (e.g.,
CULTURAL IDENTITY, LANGUAGE IDENTITY, ETHNIC
IDENTITY, RELIGIOUS IDENTITY, AGE IDENTITY,
NATIONAL IDENTITY, PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY)
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
 WHAT IS CULTURE? MANY DEFINITIONS.
 IT IS A LEARNED SYSTEM OF MEANINGS ABOUT
PATTERNS OF TRADITIONS, BELIEFS, VALUES,
NORMS, AND SYMBOLS (TING-TOOMEY & CHUNG,
2012).
 FOR EXAMPLE, AN ICEBERG METAPHOR
 MULTIPLE LEVELS: SURFACE, INTERMEDIATE, DEEP,
AND UNIVERSAL NEEDS.
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
 CULTURAL VARIABILITY DIMENSIONS (e.g.,
HOFSTEDE, 2001; HOFSTEDE & McCRAE, 2004):
 INDIVIDUALISM-COLLECTIVISM
 POWER DISTANCE: SMALL OR LARGE
 UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE: WEAK OR STRONG
 GENDER ROLES: MASCULINE OR FEMININE VALUE
PATTERN
 I WILL FOCUS ON THE FIRST TWO OF THESE
DIMENSIONS.
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
 INDIVIDUALISM REFERS TO CULTURAL PATTERN THAT
EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY OVER
GROUP IDENTITY, INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS OVER GROUP RIGHTS,
AND INDIVIDUAL NEEDS OVER GROUP NEEDS.
 FOR EXAMPLE, U.S.A. & WESTERN EUROPEAN CULTURES.
 COLLECTIVISM REFERS TO CULTURAL PATTERN THAT
EMPHASIZES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE “WE” IDENTITY OVER
“I” IDENTITY, GROUP RIGHTS AND NEEDS OVER INDIVIDUAL
RIGHTS AND NEEDS (2/3RD OF WORLD CULTURES).
 FOR EXAMPLE, ASIAN CULTURES INCLUDING TIBET’S CULTURE.
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
 POWER DISTANCE REFERS TO HOW POWER IS
DISTRIBUTED WITHIN A CULTURE.
 SMALL POWER DISTANCE CULTURES TEND TO VALUE
EQUAL POWER DISTRIBUTIONS, EQUAL RIGHTS AND
FAIRNESS. FOR EXAMPLE, U.S.A. AND WESTERN
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
 LARGE POWER DISTANCE CULTURES TEND TO ACCEPT
UNEQUAL POWER DISTRIBUTIONS, HIERARCHICAL
RIGHTS, AND ASYMMETRICAL ROLE RELATIONS. FOR
EXAMPLE, MOST ASIAN CULTURES.
COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVES
 COMMUNICATION IS THE RELATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL
PROCESS OF ENCODING (CREATING) AND DECODING
(INTERPRETING) VERBAL AND NONVERBAL MESSAGES THAT ELICIT
A RESPONSE WITHIN A CONTEXT (SEE GRIFFIN, 2009).
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ITS KEY ELEMENTS ARE:
1) RELATIONAL AND TRANSACTIONAL PROCESS
2) MESSAGES (NEGOTIATE MEANINGS)
3) REACTION (THE EFFECT OF THE MESSAGE)
4) CONTEXT (INTERPERSONAL, ORGANIZATIONAL, MEDIA,
INTERGROUP/INTERCULTURAL, & OTHERS)
COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVES
 HALL (1976) DISTINGUISED BETWEEN LOW AND HIGH
CONTEXTS OF COMMUNICATION.
 LOW CONTEXT EMPHASIZES EXPLICIT EXPRESSION OF THE
INTENTED MESSAGES. FOR EXAMPLE, I NEED HELP, CAN YOU
HELP ME? “SAY WHAT YOU MEAN, MEAN WHAT YOU SAY.”
OTHER EXAMPLES?
 HIGH CONTEXT EMPHASIZES IMPLICIT EXPRESSION OF THE
INTENDED MESSAGES. FOR EXAMPLE, LET’S MEET NEXT WEEK.
“READ BETWEEN THE LINES.” OTHER EXAMPLES?
COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVES
 COMPARING COMMUNICATION STYLES BETWEEN MAINSTREAM
AMERICANS AND TIBETANS:
 MAINSTREAM AMERICANS VERSUS TRADITIONAL TIBETANS
 LOW CONTEXT
HIGH CONTEXT
 DIRECT
INDIRECT
 INFORMAL
FORMAL
 TALKING
LISTENING
 SELF-ENHANCEMENT STYLE
SELF-HUMBLING STYLE
 LINEAR THINKING
WHOLISTIC THINKING
LANGUAGE IDENTITY AND TIBETAN
AMERICANS
 A PROPOSED DESCRIPTIVE MODEL
 1. THOSE WHO SPEAK TIBETAN & REGARD IT AS MOST
IMPORTANT TO THEIR IDENTITY (MORE TIBETAN THAN
AMERICAN).
 2. THOSE WHO DO NOT SPEAK TIBETAN BUT REGARD IT AS
IMPORTANT TO THEIR IDENTITY (BICULTURAL IDENTITY).
 3. THOSE WHO REGARD OTHER ASPECTS OF TIBETAN CULTURE
AS IMPORTANT TO THEIR IDENTITY (STRONG TIBETAN IDENTITY
BUT LANGUAGE MAY NOT BE IMPORTANT TO THEM).
 4. THOSE WHO MAY NOT CARE ABOUT TIBETAN LANGUAGE
(ASSIMILATED TIBETANS; MORE AMERICAN THAN TIBETAN).
TIBETAN AMERICANS COULD BE …
 BICULTURAL = IDENTIFY WITH BOTH TIBETAN AND AMERICAN
CULTURES.
 THEY ARE BOTH INDIVIDUALISTIC AND COLLECTIVISTIC IN
THEIR CULTURAL ORIENTATIONS.
 THEY ARE BOTH LOW AND HIGH CONTEXTS COMMUNICATORS.
 THEY MAY REGARD TIBETAN LANGUAGE IS IMPORTANT TO
THEIR IDENTITY REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THEY SPEAK IT OR
NOT.
 THEY MAY SEE THEMSELVES AS “T-PLUS” (TIBETAN PLUS
WHATEVER).
CONCLUSION
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CONTEXTING: TIBETAN DIASPORA IN U.S.A.
IDENTITY PERSPECTIVES
CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES
COMMUNICATION PERSPECTIVES
COMPARING COMMUNICATION STYLES
LANGUAGE IDENTITY AND TIBETAN AMERICANS
TIBETAN AMERICANS COULD BE BICULTURAL
Q AND A SESSION
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND PARTICIPATION.