Cultural Rules of Communication

The rules of communication are related to using eye contact properly, listening to details, and being relevant to the point.  For instance, when a man is communicating to a woman coworker, he should always keep close eye contact.  However, too much glare should not be encouraged, because it tends to scare a woman from freely engaging in the communication. On the other hand, men should be attentive to all the instructions, especially when receiving directives from his boss. This situation requires a lot of listening skills so as to avoid making mistakes and errors in the assigned duty. Finally, a tutor should be relevant, especially when explaining a point to his/her students since this will facilitate understanding of information and concepts that are communicated (Gerry, 1992). Indeed, these three elements constitute cultural rules of communication because they concern people’s ways of life and how they should interact with other members of the society. Moreover, communication is an essential component of life that controls people’s daily behavior and their modes of socialization. In many cases, people express their thoughts through either verbal or written communication, and since this is something that takes place more often in people’s lives, the cultural rules of communication are relevant to several situations of socio-cultural interactions (Gerry, 1992).

Focusing on the reading of “Hunger of Memory”, it is evident that Richard Rodriquez’ father’s friends have used the rule of listening and paying attention to criticize him. It can be argued that these people thought that Richard’s poor performance in class could come as a result of poor listening skills in class. Moreover, Richard had not mastered the art of communicating in English, and this made him fail in his class examinations (Rodriquez, 1982). Initially, Richard was so much inclined to the Spanish culture, and this made him perceive those who were speaking English as strangers. Instead of paying keen attention and listening to the way people spoke in English, Richard ignored them, and this contributed to his failure in the language. In fact, due to Richard’s poor listening skills, he could barely learn more than fifty words in English (Rodriquez, 1982). Focusing on this statement, it can be considered as a cultural rule of communication, because Richard should have been fully assimilated in the English culture, listened carefully and learnt to speak the language, which could enable him to pass his examinations in school. However, the situation was much different, because he focused deeply on his Spanish culture. Even at home, Richard’s parents were not speaking English, but Spanish, a situation that prompted his teachers to visit and advise the parents that they should communicate more in English than in Spanish at home (Rodriquez, 1982).

Interview Exercise

In conducting this interview, the following questionnaire will be used to get answers from four known people who are co-workers, namely: persons A, B, C, and D.

1. How often do you interact and communicate with your co-workers?

1. Once a week
2. Twice a week
3. Thrice a week
4. More than thrice a week

Answer gathered:

Person A: more than thrice a week

Person B:  more than thrice a week

Person C: thrice a week

Person D: more than thrice a week

2. Which rule guides you in making judgment when communicating to your co-workers?

1. Eye contact rule
2. Listening rule
3. Being relevant rule

Answer to the Questionnaire:

Person A: Listening rule

Person B: Eye contact rule

Person C: Listening rule

Person D: Being relevant rule

3. Do you believe that the cultural rules of communication are effective?

1. Yes
2. No

Answers gathered from the above question:

Person A: yes

Person B: yes

Person C: yes

Person D: no

4. Can you advise someone to apply the three cultural rules of communication when making judgment?

I. Yes

II. No

Answers for the above question:

Person A: no

Person B: yes

Person C: yes

Person D: yes

Comment for the above Questionnaire Interview

It is evident from this report that listening rule is shared by two interviewees: A and C.  These two individuals believe that properly listening skills should be used during communication. However, the rules on eye contact and being relevant are not shared since they were held by both interviewees, B and C respectively. These two interviewees held a different opinion from that of A and C.

Interview Report

It is clear from this interview that several people support the rule that proper listening should be used during communication with co-workers. On the contrary, poor listening skill should not be embraced, because it impedes an individual’s understanding.  Moreover, co-workers engage in interaction and communication with each other, at least three times a week. This shows that communication is very essential in people’s daily activities, socialization, and lifestyle. Therefore, there is a need to enhance the cultural rules of communication to facilitate more interactions, especially among the co-workers.  This is so important that it cannot be ignored. Indeed, it has been gathered from this interview exercise that cultural rules of communication are very effective because they have been widely supported by several interviewees.  Moreover, people should advise one another to use the cultural rules on communication when making judgments. This has also been supported by several interviewees as witnessed from the questionnaire interview answers. Even though many interviewees supported that people should properly use their listening skills during communication with the co-workers, it is important to note that the other cultural rules of communication are also essential. For example, one should not ignore the fact the proper use of one’s eye contact draws a co-worker’s attention closer during the communication process. Moreover, a manager should be relevant to his/her co-workers while giving them instructions, and the same applies to the instructor who teaches/lectures his/her students. Finally, due to the effectiveness of the outlined three cultural rules of communication, they should be embraced in any communication forum.