Service Learning Project #3

          Working with people from different cultures, I expected that there might be some difficulty communicating. With the population I work with, it is mostly adolescents. Their biggest language problem is pragmatics. Pragmatics is the effects of language on human perception and behavior. Pragmatics is the social use of language and the ability to participate in conversations. The situation I encountered involved an adolescent boy who wouldn't make eye contact when talking to you. He was very friendly but always looked down or away when we were having a conversation. He also had trouble with answering simple questions like: How are you? He would answer these questions with a lengthy answer about what he had done all day. This situation also involved cultural norms. Norms are group-held beliefs about how members should behave in a given context.

                This teenage boy was from an Asian cultural that thinks looking people in the eye especially someone what is older and of authority is disrespectful. That is his cultural norm. In America it is our norm that you look people in the eye because it shows that you are paying attention and care about what that person has to say. Pragmatics comes into play when I ask a simple question and he answers it very open and honestly. In his culture or at least his own family structure they tell each other about every detail of their lives when you ask how are you? Pragmatics are difficult to learn when entering into a new culture that has a different communication style.

                This situation has taught me to not jump to conclusions as to why someone doesn’t follow the “typical” communication style. It also has made me more sensitive to people who are new to the American culture of conversations and how they work. In the future I will understand that they are not being disrespectful or trying to complain about their day.