Name Professor CourseDateNonverbal barriers in intercu.docx

Name:
Professor:
Course:
Date:
Nonverbal barriers in intercultural communication
Summary
Different culture facilitates intercultural communication. These
differences are identified in terms of language, type of food
consumed, cultural practices, and dressing styles. The
communication barrier thus sets in due to these language
differences. Apart from the language mode of communication,
we have body language, which is referred to as nonverbal
communication. This form varies from community to
community. As seen in the case of Americans and Chinese, they
have varied nonverbal communication, thus making the two
communities incoherent. Different meaning is usually attached
to common nonverbal communication leading to
misinterpretation of information. Since we cannot avoid
communication, it is advised that we get to understand each
other's cultural differences. This could be possible by watching
movies, TV plays, reading newspapers and novels. Lastly, to
minimize this effect, we are encouraged to use communication
skills more frequently.
What I like about the paper
This paper has identified the specific nonverbal problems, and it
has gone a further step in suggesting possible recommendations
for the identified problem.
Do the authors establish the problem the paper will address?
Yes, the author is addressing what causes nonverbal
communication breakdown and what are the possible solutions
to these barriers.
Is there a clear, proactive thesis?
No, the paper only emphasized on the general problem facing
nonverbal communication.

Is there a clear argument that defends the thesis?
No. In this paper, there is no specific thesis; hence, we cannot
have a defending thesis on what does not exist.
Is the argument at any point weak or unconvincing?
Some arguments are weak since they are not supported by any
evidence such as similar research done by other authors
What questions does the paper raise without answering?
This is concerning the sender of the message and the receiver.
The author does not explain how this difference of
misunderstanding takes place
Is the methodology clearly described?
The paper has not clearly described the methodology of the
paper. There is no basis of information provided, such as the
author has mentioned 55% without giving any credibility
source.
Is it adequate to make the argument the authors want to make?
It is not adequate because the entire information provided is not
supported by evidence
Are any problems spelled out and discussed?
Several problems have been identified and discussed. Non-
understanding between communities, for instance, could be
addressed by having to read newspapers and listen to TV plays.
Do the writers sufficiently establish the setting/context of the
study?
The context has been established. Through giving a personal
experience of what he uncounted in the United States and how
fellow Chinese and American students interact gives a vivid
image of what is happening.
Are all the peoples described treated respectfully/fairly?
In this case, the American teachers mistreat Chinese students.
They do not recognize their silence in class as a matter of
culture learned in China. They assume that they don’t think nor
listen carefully.
Is there anything you don’t understand?
Yes. How could teachers who have extensive knowledge fail to
understand Chinese culture and yet they interact with them quite

often?
Are there unsupported claims made that need to be supported by
reference to some literature or an example from the data?
There is a lot of claims. Giving statistical data, for instance,
need to be supported by the reference. In another instance,
claims like, "Nonverbal behavior usually happens in the
unconscious state. People tend to trust the information conveyed
by nonverbal behavior in communication” should be supported
with reference.
Are there tangential issues the authors get caught up in?
All the information presented by the author is relevant to the
topic of discussion.
Offer specific and concrete suggestions for improvement
The paper should focus more on providing a supporting
reference for claims made, as well as design a methodology to
apply is validating his report.
List any specific and concrete problems you see: typos, errors
of grammar or syntax, errors of fact.
Some of the grammatical errors identified include the repetition
of words such as in the phrase, "So nonverbal communication is
inevitable in communication."
Name:
Professor:
Course:
Date:
Summary
Different culture facilitates intercultural communication
. These differences are

identified in terms of language, type of food consumed, cultural
practices, and
dressing styles
. The communication
barrier thus sets in due to these language
we have body
language, which is referred to as nonverbal communication.
This form varies from
community to community. As seen in the case of Americans an
d Chinese, they have
varied non
verbal communication, thus making the two communities
incoherent.
Different meaning is usually attached to common nonverbal
communication leading
to misinterpretation of information
. Since we cannot avoid communication, it is
advised that we get to understand each other's cultural
differences. This could be
possible by watching movies, TV plays, reading newspapers and
novels. Lastly, to
What
I like about the paper
has gone a further
step in suggesting possible recommendations for the identified
problem.

Yes, the author
is addressing what causes nonverbal communication breakdown
and
Name:
Professor:
Course:
Date:
Summary
Different culture facilitates intercultural communication. These
differences are
identified in terms of language, type of food consumed, cultural
practices, and
dressing styles. The communication barrier thus sets in due to
these language
we have body
language, which is referred to as nonverbal communication.
This form varies from
community to community. As seen in the case of Americans and
Chinese, they have
varied nonverbal communication, thus making the two
communities incoherent.
Different meaning is usually attached to common nonverbal
communication leading
to misinterpretation of information. Since we cannot avoid
communication, it is
advised that we get to understand each other's cultural
differences. This could be
possible by watching movies, TV plays, reading newspapers and
novels. Lastly, to

What I like about the paper
has gone a further
step in suggesting possible recommendations for the identified
problem.
Yes, the author is addressing what causes nonverbal
communication breakdown and
Alexxa Crosby | Tianzhu Ding | & Josephine Webb
ATH 301 | Dr. Mark Allen Peterson
Final Project | Intercultural Relations
November 17, 2019
Greek Life: Intercultural Differences
Miami University has been coined the Mother of Fraternities
due to the five fraternities
who were founded at Miami, known as Alpha chapters.
Additionally, Miami is home to 22 1
Inter-Fraternity organizations (average chapter size 50 members
per organization), 19
Panhellenic organizations (Sororities : average chapter size 80
members per organization), and 6 2 3

National Pan-Hellenic organizations (historically Black
organizations: average chapter size 5 4
members per organization). Institutionally, Miami is a PWI
(Predominantly White Institution)
which is reflected within the Greek community. The majority of
organizations have membership
that is catered to the majority population at Miami. There are
organizations whose purpose is to
provide a home for marginalized students who don’t necessarily
identify with the majority
culture; at Miami these include the 6 National Pan-hellenic
chapters - Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity
Inc., Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Phi Beta Sigma
Fraternity Inc., Zeta Phi Beta Sorority
Inc., Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., and Kappa Alpha Psi
Fraternity Inc. [African
American/Black founding], Alpha Epsilon Phi [Jewish founding
(typical chapter size 15-20)],
1 The Alpha chapter is the first chartered and established
chapter within a Greek organization.
2 Two of the 19 are associate members (Kappa Phi: Christian
Sorority & Sigma Lambda Gamma National
Sorority Inc.: multicultural sorority) meaning that the National
Sorority organizations are not apart of the
national Panellenic council. The other 17 are national members
of the council.

3 Initially sororities were called “women’s Fraternities”.
4 National Pan-Hellenic is composed of the “Divine Nine”, 9
historically Black organizations. Miami has 6
of the 9 represented on campus.
Kappa Phi [Christian founding | typical chapter size 10-15], and
Sigma Lambda Gamma
National Sorority Inc. [Latina/Hispanic founding- evolved to
multicultural in the early 2000’s |
typical chapter size 5-10]. The intercultural conflict here is not
a hard conflict, it is a soft conflict
in terms of representation in the community and conflict of
structure. This leads to multicultural 5
Greek members not feeling as supported by their community or
by the university compared to
their white counterparts. This climate contrasts the university’s
attempts at bolstering their
diversity and inclusion initiatives. Miami is a public university
in the state of Ohio, however, the
university has some of the lowest diversity representations. In
the United States, students of color
are a growing percentage, however, research on student
diversity has shown that students from
underrepresented groups feel alienated from the rest of the

campus community (Boschini &
Thompson, 2002). This issue is important to the individual
members of those organizations
identified above, the National headquarters of the organizations
identified above, and Miami
University diversity and inclusion efforts.
The goals of this paper are threefold, the first of which is to
identify factors within the
Miami Greek community that contribute to the lack of support
in the community as well as the
structural conflicts that occur in terms of semesterly logistics.
The second is to analyze these
factors and introduce two possible alternative policy actions
that could have prevented the
identified problems. Lastly, recommend actions to be taken for
the betterment of the community.
In efforts to consider these problems a wider context is needed,
as such, all institutions have a
context- Miami University’s context is that of being a PWI,
located in a more isolated
geographical location, and being a university that attracts upper
class individuals. Further, the
5 Multicultural for all intensive purposes will include all non-
majority culture groups.

institutional effect of Greek organizations is cultivated by the
community itself (Boschini &
Thompson, 2002). In terms of organizations, Greek
organizations are private in nature, having
their own governance, history, traditions, values, beliefs, and
“brand” that defines their
membership and behavior (Kuh and Whitt, 1988).
The problem primarily came about when non-white
organizations were charted and
started enacting their pillars and creeds on Miami’s campus.
The current state of the issue is 6 7
temperate, there are community efforts at play to create a more
inclusive community. However, 8
it is spearheaded by individuals that are diverse, in terms of not
being part of the majority culture
at Miami, and a small number of allies in the majority groups.
Representation in the community
is still not an equitable space, nonetheless, there have been
improvements made in the last 10
years to increase representation and participation of
multicultural Greeks on Miami’s campus.

For example, every year the Cliff Alexander Office of
Fraternity and Sorority Life holds three
yearly leadership opportunities for its Greek leaders until about
6 years ago only IFC and PHC 9
members were invited to participate in these activities,
excluding NPHC leadership. The
representation overall in the community has been partial in
terms of university support to IFC
and PHC sororities (within PHC: the larger and typically
homogenous memberships). The
conflict of structure is the differences in how organizations
operate logistically. Each council
operates in a specific way as well as each chapter functions in a
different way. For instance most
IFC and PHC chapters participate in the formal recruitment
process, whereas, NPHC chapters do
6 A metaphorical term for the purpose of identifying main
values of an organization. For example; Phi Beta
Sigma Fraternity Inc, - Brotherhood, Scholarship, & Service.
7 A shared belief system via membership that aligns individual
values with the larger organizations values.
Typically is a private text only to be shared by associated
members.
8 Efforts: Diversity & Inclusion module for all Greek members,
goes into effect Spring 2020
9 Greek leaders include Individuals holding executive council
positions with IFC (Inter-Fraternity Council),
PHC (Pahellenic), or NPHC (National Pan-hellenic Council) &

chapter presidents.
not have a formal recruitment process due the individualization
of process between chapters.
Outliers in Panhellenic include Alpha Epsilon Phi & Kappa Phi
who both engage in an informal
recruitment process as well as Sigma Lambda Gamma National
Sorority Inc. whose recruitment
process is modeled after Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.’s intake
process . 10
The history of diversity at Miami University is not one of
celebration until about the mid
2000’s when Miami started to take discrimination reports
seriously while dialectically
establishing diversity and inclusion goals. Racial issues have
typically been at the center of
Miami’s multicultural community. With the ability to
interconnect via technology an individual's
awareness of racial equity and equality issues are growing as
well as the support systems to back
up individuals’ experience is growing. Resulting in more
students to speak out when something
is said or done which is offensive to that person's identities or

sensibilities. Even though the
voices are becoming louder, does not mean that the space is
equitable and inclusive. Historically,
Miami’s student body has engaged in racist, racially insensitive,
and sexist occurrences. For
example; up until 2010 in Uptown Oxford a “Ghetto Fest” was
held which since 2010 has been
abolished and conversations ensued on the racist event and it’s
perpetuation of stereotypes and
stigmas of the black community held, maintained, and sustained
by the white student body. The
event was called “Ghetto Fest” because the festival was located
on the ‘poor’ side of town. This
created negative connotations further of the word Ghetto being
ascribed to Black individuals,
which correlated their identities with being poor. At the event
stereotypical aspects of Black
culture were appropriated and used facilitated entertainment for
community members and Miami
University students. There have been over two dozen findings of
blackface in editorials,
10 Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc. helped found Sigma Lambda
Beta Fraternity Inc, who in turn helped
found Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority Inc.

yearbooks, and Miami Student newspaper archives ranging from
1960 to 2015 (Lumpkins Asst,
Briah. 2019). Which is an obvious sign of the tolerance level of
racist acts in the community,
insofar that these acts were published in public text meant for
community consumption. A more
recent example can be found as recent as 2017 - 2018 where
there was a social media incident. In
which a white male student commented in a groupchat about an
interracial couple, by calling the
black make in the relationship by the N-word. The white student
then bragged about the use of
the word on social media. When reported the university did not
address the situation outside of a
social media post saying a platitude about “Love & Honor”.
These occurrences emboldened a
coalition of black students and allies to come together to protest
the University’s reaction and the
racist environment that allowed the incident to go without
consequence or a training in diversity
and inclusion. The coalition, named B.A.M 2.0 stood in
Armstrong student center with signs and

recited chants together. A different white student took a
Snapchat video of the happening with
the comment “who let the zoo out”. This Snapchat was shared
around the community by an
unnamed whistleblower. After this incident and B.A.M 2.0
issuing a list of demands to the
administration regarding diversity and inclusion, President
Crawford initiated a Diversity Task
Force due to feelings of “sadness and frustration at the hate”
being shown on campus towards
fellow students (Murphy, K. 2018).
In terms occurrences at Miami, the whole community are
participants in the actions that
occur. There are those that are proponents of systemic racism
which shows through name calling
(N-word) and micro-aggression behaviors, there are those that
are complacent with the current
community climate, there are those that actively voice opinions
against racist happenings, and
there are those going about change in actionable ways through
administrative policy reform.
There are a plethora of stakes involved, three of which will be

introduced the first of which are
the multicultural students whose stake is a welcoming
community climate. Secondly, student life
offices and administrators who are tasked with the wellness of
the student environment. Thirdly,
Miami’s reputation, especially to non -white individuals. When
the incident occured in
2017-2018, there were many families and students put off by the
student environment and
consequently chose to go somewhere else. The importance of
diversity is a stake, fraternities and
sororities are founded on the notions of brotherhood and
sisterhood, scholarship, leadership,
service, etc.. As such expanding Greek life representation and
membership to include more
diverse individuals will enhance the experience for the
community.
Greek life at Miami is one of the main proponents of culture at
Miami University due to
the reach and social influence some organizations have. If
Miami University has a diversity and
inclusion issues then those issues are going to be reflected
within the Greek community. A
possible solution to this problem is to conduct Safe Zone

Training within every chapter, insofar
that each member is Safe Zoned certified . There are
considerations and concerns attached to 11
this alternative action. In terms of cultural considerations, there
are many chapters whose culture
is not to be open to outside education, whereas there are other
chapters whose culture is to be
open to outside education. In terms of situation, there would
need to be a way to facilitate this on
a chapter basis, since each chapter is different there will be
different aspects of the training that
may be more relevant to some groups than to others. The
broader social relations involve socials
being more of a priority then inclusive educational training.
This alternative is feasible as long 12
11 Safe Zone Training is a service provided by the Center for
Diversity and Inclusion in which is designed
to educate students on intersectionalities and supporting an
inclusive space for all peers.
12 A social is an event hosted by a Greek organization that
includes another Greek organization, typically
has alcohol available for members aged 21 and up.
as chapters are motivated to change. If not motivated to make a
change then the long term

feasible effect of this bettering the community is slim.
In terms of long term bettering of the community scaffolding a
longer term educational
program, where all of Greek life completes the Diversity and
Inclusion modules presented by the
Cliff Alexander Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, Greek
Office, (required Spring 2020),
building off of these modules would include workshops
presented by the Center for Diversity
and inclusion in order to continue the conversation, and lastly
for each chapter to be Safe Zoned
certified. Some Greek life members are stuck within their
frames of the world and will not be
willing participants in the modules and educational activities, a
way to work around this is for
each chapter, each council, and the Greek Office to be on the
same page explicitly about the
goals and the purpose of these scaffolded educational activities.
Paired with explicit
explanations, making these modules a mandatory educational
module, for accountability if a
chapter does not complete the training then a monetary fine will
be issued for each person that 13

did not complete the training.
Another recommendation would be a student led initiative that
redefined Miami as
learning community, by asking the student what do you need
from this community in order to
learn in a safe space. A safe and comfortable learning space
looks different to different people,
consequently consensus procedure would be required in order to
come to a consens. The
overarching question in this recommendation is who gets to be
in the discussion rooms? If it is a
group of students that represent what Miami has been then
change will not occur. If it is a group
of students that want nothing to do with the current situation
then change is not feasible, the
13 Fines are used as accountability measures within Greek
councils, for instance if a chapter has
members that do not complete the minimum community service
requirements then the chapter is fined
per member that does not complete it.
majority propagate change. Therefore the discussion room
would need to encompass voices from
different frames, purposes, and common sense.

Miami University stereotypically represents a culture of white
cis upperclass individuals,
these systemic notions are bolstered by the history of this
University and as such makes it more
socailly difficult to be represented if the chapter or organization
does not represent the majority
culture. According to The National Study of Student Learning,
“Greek affiliation had a
significant negative effect on openness to challenge and
diversity of men and women. Which is a
direct result of the majority of groups being homogeneity and
universities and administrations
not addressing these community climate problems with urgency
until a group of student speaks
up and out for their community.(Pascarella and others, 1996)
References
Boschini V., & Thompson C. (2002). The Future of the Greek
Experience: Greeks and Diversity.

New Directions For Student Services, 81, 19-27.
https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.8102
Kuh, G. D., & Whitt, E. J. (1988). The Invisible Tapestry:
Culture in American Colleges and
Universities. Washington, D.C.: Asite Press.
Lumpkins Asst, Briah. “They would pretend to stereotypically
be black: Ghetto Fest reflects
Miami’s history of racial insensitivity”. The Miami Student.
Web. 9 April. 2019. Retrieved on
14th November, 2019 from:https://www.miamistudent.net/
Manley, R. E. (1990). Fraternities’ Future Holds Ethnic
Diversity. Fraternal Law. 31,1.
Murphy, K. (n.d.). “Racist Acts at Miami University Fuel New
Black Student Movement.”
Cincinnati.com, Cincinnati Enquirer, 11 April 2018.
Pascarella, E. T., Whitt, E. J., Nora, A., Edison, M., Hagedorn,
L. S., and Terenzini, P. T. (1996)
What Have We Learned from the First Year of the National
Study of Student Learning?.
Journal of College Student Development, 37 (2), 182–192.

https://doi.org/10.1002/ss.8102
Name: Yuheng Chen, Yu Chen, Jingwei Huang
Professor: Mark Peterson
Course: ITS301
Date:11/17/2019
Intercultural communication usually refers to the
communication between people of different cultural
backgrounds. Because of different regions, races and other
factors, cross-cultural communication may take place in the
international, but also in different cultural groups.
We usually observe a culture from the perspectives of
communication and language, self-awareness and space,
clothing and dressing, food and eating habits, time and time
awareness, seasonal concepts, various interpersonal
relationships, values and norms, beliefs and attitudes, thinking
process and learning, work habits and practice, etc. If we need
to understand a cultural system, we can examine the research
system: kinship system, education system, political system,
religious system, association system, health care system,
entertainment system, etc.
The so-called cross-cultural communication occurs in such a
situation: the sender of information is a member of one culture,
while the receiver is a member of another culture.
In our daily life, we can find that there are many problems in
cross-cultural communication. I simply classify them into two
categories: language barrier and non-language barrier. Because
each country and region has formed its own unique language
cognition in the long history of development, it is inevitable to
encounter various embarrassing problems in the communication
between different cultures, which is called language barrier. In
addition, the symbolic meaning of our body organs in different

countries or regions is also very different. The resulting
obstacles are called nonverbal obstacles.
Everyone has different living and growing environment and
different education, so the way and method of dealing with
others will be different. Because everyone is an independent
individual, we can see from our own side that when you get
along with this person, you can get along well with another
person, or even have conflicts, People from different cultures
are more likely to be difficult to get along with.
I remember when I first came to the United States, I found a
phenomenon that Chinese students only communicate with
Chinese students, and American students rarely make friends
with Chinese students. I only thought that this kind of
phenomenon was caused by unfamiliar. But with the passage of
time, I found that this situation did not improve. On the
contrary, it became more and more serious. Sometimes, students
from different cultures would have some hostile behaviors. But
fortunately, I made some good friends in the United States. In
my conversation with them, I learned that the real problem was
the cultural incoherence. Chinese students are often implicit,
and we think that introversion means respect. Those American
students are too active, and they always want to express
themselves in any situation. In China, this kind of behavior is
regarded as no genty. So Chinese students tend to think that
American students don't respect themselves.
American culture pays attention to brave expression. American
students tend to like active and publicized people. These
implicit Chinese students are often considered to be rigid, not
active and do not love life. In fact, this leads to a
misunderstanding, which happens to be caused by the fact that
both sides do not understand each other's culture. When two
students from different regions and under the influence of
different cultures meet, this will inevitably happen.
Interestingly, this situation is not caused by language, so I call
it the non-verbal barrier in cross-cultural communication.
This is the most intuitive manifestation of different cultural

backgrounds, which plays an important role for our foreign
students and businessmen. Therefore, it is necessary for us to
have a deep understanding of the differences between different
cultures. When you have a good grasp of this point, and then
communicate with people from different countries, you can not
only avoid their taboos, but also go deeper Who is not willing to
communicate with the people who can talk? Good
communication is the beginning of success. So, I think it's a
very good way to understand cross-cultural communication
through non-verbal barriers.
Nonverbal communication plays an important role in
intercultural communication. Each cultural background has its
own specific non-verbal behavior system. People from different
cultural backgrounds often cause serious cultural conflicts due
to Non-verbal Barriers in communication. This paper compares
several nonverbal behaviors that are most likely to cause
obstacles in cross-cultural communication. In addition, this
paper will also analyze the causes of Non-verbal Barriers and
give some suggestions on how to avoid them.
In non-verbal disorders, researchers found that non-verbal facial
expressions, gestures, body postures accounted for 55%. The
scope of nonverbal communication includes eyes, gestures,
body posture, smile, facial expression, dress, silence, body
contact, distance between speakers, volume of speech, time
concept, use of space, etc. Each cultural background has its own
specific nonverbal behavior system. The following are some
nonverbal behaviors that are most likely to cause obstacles in
cross-cultural communication:
Take a very common example in our life. Each of us can make
gestures. For example, in China, people usually open their
hands and use all their fingers to make gestures together. In the
United States, people usually shake back and forth with only
one finger. But for Chinese, it's impolite for Americans to greet
others with only one finger. In the eyes of Americans, the hand
gestures of Chinese people are even more strange. They think
Chinese gestures are like saying goodbye. People use different

gestures when greeting adults, children or animals. Chinese
people usually use the hand gesture of palm down, other fingers
swinging back and forth to their own side to greet adults, while
when greeting children and animals, the palm up. Americans use
the opposite gesture. And once, when I was gesturing with a
Chinese friend, the American classmate on the other side
mistakenly thought that he was saying goodbye to each other.
He was very worried about why we had to say goodbye to each
other. When the American friend greeted a Chinese friend, he
used a finger to make a gesture. My Chinese friend mistakenly
thought that he was not respected. I think this is a very typical
non-verbal barrier in cross-cultural communication. People from
different countries with different thinking patterns do not
communicate with each other without words, but it creates
barriers in communication. I am very interested in this, as
expected. In later life, I found several similar examples.
When I took class in China, our class would be very quiet.
Everyone think it is very right. A quiet class means that
students respect their teachers. When the teacher is lecturing in
the classroom, the students sitting at the desk will take notes
quietly and listen to the teacher carefully. At this moment, when
the teacher sees this situation, he will think the students are
listening carefully and will give the students a higher grade, and
both sides will have a good feedback. But in the class in United
States, I found that the students are very positive, sometimes
even some students will interrupt the teacher and ask questions
to the teacher. I was very surprised, but what makes me more
surprised is that American teachers do not reject this kind of
behavior. On the contrary, compared with the silence of Chinese
students in the classroom, American teachers prefer active
students. American teachers think that active students in the
classroom have unique thinking, and active thinking in the
classroom represents serious listening, so American teachers
will give these active students a higher grade for participation.
But for Chinese students, they don't like to talk in class, most
Chinese students are afraid to express their ideas, just like they

were in China, they seldom take the initiative to express
themselves in class. For American teachers, Chinese students'
behavior means that they don't think actively or listen carefully
in during the class. Teachers often question the performance of
Chinese students in class. So, most of Chinese students cannot
get high grade for participation. For Chinese students, they
think that they have respected the teachers, obeyed discipline in
class, didn't interrupt the teacher's words, carefully took notes,
and listened to the teacher's speech. But the result is not as
active as the students, they will think that the teacher is not
very nice. So, there are misunderstandings and contradictions.
These contradictions are not caused by language barriers, they
are non-verbal.
Due to the different geographical conditions, resource
conditions, infrastructure, cultural atmosphere, institutional
mechanisms, policies and regulations of different ethnic groups,
their respective language environments have different language
habits, social culture, local customs and other contextual
factors. Different cultural backgrounds cause different ways or
habits of people to speak. For example, there are differences in
thinking patterns. People in different regions have differences
in cognition of the outside world, so their perspectives and
results of thinking are different, resulting in certain differences.
Different codes of conduct. The specific meaning of codes of
conduct is the moral standards and codes of conduct that are
commonly accepted by the society. Codes of conduct is to tell
people that they can do something in a certain environment
When people from different cultural backgrounds communicate
with each other, they often judge each other's words and deeds
according to their own cultural background. Because of the
different cultural backgrounds of the two parties, their cognition
and understanding of the same problem are not the same.
Therefore, the obstacles and even contradictions caused by
misunderstanding are common phenomena
So nonverbal communication is inevitable in communication.
Like the examples I mentioned above, even if we decide not to

say anything, this behavior itself has already conveyed some
information to the other party. Nonverbal behavior usually
happens in the unconscious state. People tend to trust the
information conveyed by nonverbal behavior in communication.
Therefore, if it is not used properly, nonverbal behavior is more
likely to cause cultural conflict in communication Each culture
has its own specific nonverbal behavior system. When people
from different cultural backgrounds express the same meaning,
they will use different ways and the same nonverbal behaviors
to express different meanings in different cultural systems. This
kind of cultural difference is an important reason for the non-
verbal barrier.
Many of these non-verbal barriers are caused by the lack of
understanding of each other's culture. In the absence of
practical conditions, watching movies and TV plays is also one
of the effective ways to avoid non-verbal communication
barriers. In the process of watching, pay attention to how people
use non-verbal behaviors to communicate, and how people use
non-verbal behaviors in different situations and face to face
with different objects.
I think there are not only differences in language and customs
between different cultures, but also differences in cultural
psychology. From the perspective of culture and psychology, as
the carrier and environment of human psychological activities,
interpretive culture influences the situation, process, style and
result of cross-cultural communication. In order to provide more
practical cross-cultural communication skills, from the
perspective of psychological research, the essence of Non-
verbal Barriers in cross-cultural communication is to explain
how to understand, influence, persuade and learn the art of
dialogue in communication. We must master the skills of non-
verbal communication, as well as the art of conflict resolution
and negotiation in cross-cultural communication, so as to re-
establish the cross-cultural environment to better play the power
of communication.
The use of communication skills can also effectively reduce the

emergence of nonverbal barriers in cross-cultural
communication. For example, when you don't know how much
distance you should keep from the person you are talking to,
you can follow this method: if the other person is close to you
all the time, it means that the other person likes to talk at a
close distance. You just need to stand in the same place and the
other person will decide the distance Observation and imitation
in communication practice, as well as learning and
understanding different cultural systems as much as possible,
are all effective ways to improve communication ability and
avoid non-verbal obstacles in communication.
In addition, I think the way to solve the misunderstanding
caused by nonverbal barriers in cross-cultural communication is
mutual understanding. Most of the misunderstandings caused by
nonverbal barriers come from the fact that people who grow up
in different cultural environments simply think in their own
way. Most of them make a mistake that they use their own
culture to interpret another people's culture. In cross-cultural
communication, everyone should follow the principle of
empathy. If they can think from the perspective of each other,
they should do well to understand different cultures and explore
thinking patterns in other cultures, the misunderstanding caused
by non-verbal barriers will be perfectly eliminated. For
example, American teachers can try to imagine and understand
what happens to Chinese students, while Chinese students can
really experience American culture, so both sides can really
benefit each other. If they have a deep understanding of each
other's culture, then I think not only Non-verbal Barriers, but all
obstacles in cross-cultural communication can be solved.
The specific measures are that we can get to know more basic
information about foreign countries. To understand the situation
of foreign countries, we can start from the whole or pay
attention to the details. The overall understanding can make
clear the representative thinking mode of foreign culture in a
macro sense. From this point of departure, we can reduce the
occurrence of more serious problems in cross-cultural

communication. Although this method takes a long time, the
problems of communication will be reduced gradually through
the accumulation of experience. No matter the details or the
whole, information is the key. We can use materials such as
newspapers, magazines, novels and current affairs reviews to
clearly understand the specific social situation, draw cultural
knowledge from them, increase cultural literacy and broaden the
different cultural perspectives to cultivate and improve the
ability of cross-cultural communication. Finally, if we have the
opportunity, we should provide ourselves more opportunities to
communicating. If we have the conditions, we should have more
communicate with foreigners. At the beginning, some problems
may arise. With continuous communication, we will gradually
adapt to the differences in cultural concepts between the two
sides. In cross-cultural communication, we have various
problems, and we need to continue to understand and learn from
each other, so as to gradually reduce conflicts and avoid them
Free from problems, we have achieved really friendly and
barrier free communication.
Peer Evaluation
The object of this assignment is for you to carefully
read two papers written by other groups, and to offer criticisms
and suggestions for improving the paper.
You will be graded on the basis of
1. how well your critique demonstrates a careful reading of the
paper,
2. your ability to offer concrete suggestions for improvement,
and
3. your ability to draw from the literature of the course in
making those suggestions.
What should you say?
Your critique should have six parts:
· Begin with a summary of what you understand to be the key
point(s) of the essay.
· Second, include a statement of (at least one or two) things you

particularly liked about the paper.
· Third, offer a constructive criticism of the essay. You should
ask yourself the following questions, but you are not limited to
these.
1. Do the authors clearly establish the problem the paper will
address?
2. Is there a clear, proactive thesis?
0. Pay special attention to this. (“In this paper I will explore the
many meanings of veiling in the Muslim world” is NOT a
thesis. “Today veiling is more a way to express a particular kind
of identity than it is a religious practice” is a thesis).
3. Is there a clear argument that defends the thesis?
4. Is the argument at any point weak or unconvincing?
5. What questions does the paper raise without answering?
6. Is the methodology clearly described?
· Is it adequate to make the argument the authors want to make?
· Are any problems spelled out and discussed?
7. Do the writers sufficiently establish the setting/context of the
study?
8. Are all the peoples described treated respectfully/fairly?
9. Is there anything you don't understand?
10. Are there unsupported claims made that need to be
supported by reference to some literature or an example from
the data?
11. Are there tangential issues the authors get caught up in?
NOTE: The above is not meant to be a checklist to which you
answer yes or no. It is a set of questions to help you evaluate
the paper. If the answer to any question suggests a problem,
then you should explain in as much detail as possible what is
wrong. If the answer to any of these questions is that there is no
problem in this area, move on.
· Fourth, offer specific and concrete suggestions for
improvement.
3. The emphasis here is on specific changes that might benefit
the paper. That is, try to focus not only on what is wrong but
on what might be done to fix it.

3. The more precise your suggestions are the better – and the
better grade you will get. References to papers we’ve read in
the class (or other literatures you know) are especially useful.
· Fifth, list any specific and concrete problems you see: typos,
errors of grammar or syntax, errors of fact.
3. Give page and paragraph numbers wherever possible to help
the author find the problems you are pointing out.

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