Concept Application Blog

Fun Fact: Korean Actor Ken Jeong is a certified physician

For my cultural reporter blog I choose to go more in depth and learn about the Korean culture. My main route of doing this was to interview my friend from back home to get and better understanding of her culture. I did not, However know how I would go about doing this and I am glad this blog was assigned to help me get a better focus on where to begin with my report.

            The concept I would like to apply to my research is how culture influences communication. I understand this is a broad topic to cover however I choose it because I would like to cover more than a simple concept. I want to go in depth and learn more about social norms of the Korean culture. One major area of this concept I plan to focus on is the Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck Value orientations. This perspective asks five questions of the cultural group and each question can be broken down into even more specific components. The five questions are; “What is human nature? What is the relationship between humans and nature? What is the relationship between humans? What is the preferred personality? and What is the orientation toward time?” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p.101). Preferred personality and orientation toward time are the two areas that can be furthered expanded to learn more about a culture.

A preferred form of activity is one question that influences culture. I am curious to know what most Koreans here in the states and especially in Korea do for fun and what is considered socially acceptable activities to the majority or the country.

Another serious area to address is the orientation to time. In some contexts countries value time very greatly and spend it fast at work. While other countries find it more important to conserve goods and do not value spending extended periods of time working. I have heard that in Korea and other Asian countries that they have much longer work days and weeks in comparison to the United States. I would like to find out firsthand what they consider the most important use of their time.

Lastly, Hofstede Value Orientations is an in depth concept I would like to address. This goes beyond the surface of learning a new culture and gets more into how people of a culture communicate depending on situations. Hofstede value Orientations analyzes “power distance, femininity versus masculinity, ways of dealing with uncertainty, and long term versus short-term orientation to life” (Martin & Nakayama, 2012, p.108). From these perspectives, I feel that I would get a more interpretive view of the Korean culture.

References:

Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T. (2013). Intercultural communication in contexts. (6 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.

[Ken Jeong]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lp1ejfKCyy1qjmquzo1_500.jpg