First Presentation Reflections - Samantha Ruiz

 Reflections on the first presentations of the chapters 3, 9, and 10 by Samantha Ruiz. 

Reflection of chapter 3 "Intercultural Communication" presented by group 1:

Chapter 3 talks about the relationship between communication and culture. It explains how cultures differ and relate when it comes to communication. Things that can affect communication are race, ethnicity, sex and gender, sexual orientation, religion, socioeconomic status, age, generation, and disability. It also explains the potential barriers that can happen when it comes to communicating. These barriers include anxiety, assumed similarity or difference, ethnocentrism, stereotyping, incompatible communication codes, and incompatible norms and values. Another thing that people can experience within communication and culture, is culture shock. Culture shock is when you feel and experience a new culture but then all of a sudden everything feels very different. You may feel out of place and like you don't belong. It can also be very overwhelming. It's very common and it can take a lot of time to get used to a new culture that is different than yours. 

Overall, in chapter 3, we learned about culture shock, dominant cultures, co-cultures, types of cultural identities, and code switching. We learned about chronemics which is the communication of time between cultures. We learned about uncertainty avoidance which is different culture reactions to tolerating issues and matters. We also learned about masculine and feminine cultures, short term and long term orientation, indulgent and restraint cultures/societies, potential barriers, and communication strategies.

Reflection on chapter 9 "Communicating in Groups" presented by group 2:

Chapter 9 was based around knowing how groups function, and how to be able to appropriately communicate with them. In this chapter, we talk about the types of groups, about healthy functioning groups, stages of group development, and conflict in groups. This chapter helps us to be mindful about the different types of groups and about understanding the difference between the groups. In the chapter we also learned something very important. It is to understand how to manage a conflict amongst groups in an efficient manner. Conflict in groups can be caused by many things. One of these things being culture. When trying to solve a conflict, it can be very hard when someone from a different culture is present. This is because in different cultures they all have their own ways to solve these group conflicts. Some may use direct verbal methods and others may use indirect verbal methods. We also learned how to overcome communication barriers we learned about families which are individuals that share history and genetics. When it comes to family, healthy family communication can build self-concept and self-esteem. Although this is very important amongst families, it sadly doesn't always happen. Not all families participate in healthy communication. We also saw the different types of groups that there are. These groups are social groups, support groups, interest groups, service groups, work groups, and virtual groups. Healthy groups contain ethical goals, cohesiveness, norms, accountability, and synergy. We also saw the stages of group development. These stages are introduction, formation, storming, norming, and also performing. This chapter also demonstrates great information when it comes to communicating in groups. 

Overall, this chapter states the many steps and lists that are used in communication within different groups. 

Reflection on chapter 10 "Group Leadership and Problem Solving" presented by group 3:

In chapter 10, we learned all about leadership and how to communicate group solutions. Leadership is when an individual helps themselves and helps others in doing the right thing. Leaders come in many different forms. Whether you decide to become a leader or not it does not matter because in the end when the group finds a way to work together, that already counts as a form of leadership. In groups, there are also maintenance roles. These maintenance roles include supporters, interpreters, harmonizers, tension relievers, and mediators. There are also task roles which are givers, seekers, and analyzers. There are many ways you can communicate group solutions within your group. You do this using deliverables. Deliverables are basically products of your work that must be provided to someone else. Deliverables come in many different forms. They are written formats, oral formats, and virtual formats. Written format consist of the written briefs and comprehensive reports. Written briefs are short, and they state the main idea. It includes a problem, background, process, decision, and rationale. Comprehensive reports are long and detailed. They are divided into sections. They are so long they need an executive summary. Another version of deliverables are the oral formats. They include oral briefs, oral reports, panel discussions, and symposiums. Oral briefs are done by one group member. It can take about 10 minutes to do. Like the written, it is short and states the main idea. Oral reports are done by one or more group members. It ranges from 30 to 60 minutes. Like the comprehensive, it is long and detailed. Panel discussions include one person from the group being a group moderator. The rest of the group members are panelists. The audience can ask questions during the presentation. Symposium's have one group member. The rest of the group members are speakers that go up one at a time. The audience can ask questions after the presentation. In the virtual formats, it is like a slide presentation or a video like one that you would post on YouTube. We also learned about procedural roles which are logistic coordinators, gatekeepers, expediters, and recorders. We learned about sharing leadership responsibilities, guidelines for meetings, analyzing problems and criteria for judging solutions, and evaluating solutions. We also learned how to evaluate group effectiveness.

Overall, this chapter teaches us how to collaborate and how to work smoothly within our own groups. Whether it be for a project at school or for something at work, it is important for the group to be able to work together and for all members of the group to be in agreement. If not, you may experience a lot of trouble within the group.