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Multiple Perspectives on Teaching Pedagogy for the New Generation

of Tibetan Americans*Tenzin Dorjee, Ph.D.

California State University, FullertonSecond North American Tibetan Language Conference and Workshop

August 25, 2012 @ Dhezhi Phunstokling, TANC, Northern CA

*Power Points in English, Oral Presentation in Tibetan Language

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

OVERVIEW

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).

CONTEXTING: TIBETAN DIASPORA IN NORTH AMERICA

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)

IDENTITY 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.


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.


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 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).

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?


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


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).

LANGUAGE IDENTITY AND TIBETAN AMERICANS

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).

TIBETAN AMERICANS COULD BE …

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.

CONCLUSION