The Role of Cultural Upbringing and Cultural Differences in Everyday Communication

Ramy S. Gadalla

Communication 100_028

Professor Esther

26 September 2013

Anna, Bianca, Sasha, and Dave of the diversity team gave students in the public speaking class an interesting opportunity to exchange cultural information between each another. The workshop included students from different walks of life, and as the students stood face-to-face against each other, they exchanged valuable information about their upbringing and how they cope today, having moved to the United States. After the workshop was done, students were able to cite the respect of Indians and Columbians to the elders, the sociability of North Americans, and the coping of Arabs to the American calendar, which conflicts with Eid Al Fitr.

Dave’s upbringing in a church community in North America makes him go every Sunday to his Spanish-English church, attend the service and eat, as well as, barbeque with his friends.

Deepika, on the other hand, having been brought up in India, she celebrates Duballi in November during the afternoon and eats sweets. Deepika’s upbringing, also, makes her express her point of view to the elders, but respect them very much and never deny a word of what they say.

Being brought up in Columbia, Jorge was very uncomfortable in the first eight, or so, years of his advent to the United States; he was not used to calling his friends’ moms by their first name, instead of calling them, mam. Due to the respect Jorge has been brought up with since childhood, he found it very difficult to communicate with his friend’s mom by their first name, without calling them, mam.

The Eid Al Fitr, in Aziz’s case, as he is Muslim, conflicts with the United States calendar. He has to take permission from his instructors to take a day off from school to celebrate. Aziz is flexible, however, and is never annoyed.

By the end of the discussion, students of the public speaking class did not want the diversity team to departure; students had learned a lot of information on the role that cultural upbringing plays when a person moves to a different culture. They are now more informed of North Americans’ socialism on Sundays, of Indians’, as well as, Columbians’ respect to elders, and of the Arabs’ strategy in enjoying Eid Al Fitr while sufficing their duties.