Cultural Dimensions and Intercultural Communication: A Report

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CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 3
FINDINGS....................................................................................................................................... 4
LO1. DEFINE DIFFERENT CULTURAL FRAMEWORKS AND STRATEGIES USED IN
INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION..........................................................................................4
LO2. IDENTIFY AND DEFINE DIFFERENT VALUE AND BELIEF SYSTEMS PRESENT ACROSS
CULTURES THROUGH CULTURAL PROFILING AND SELF-CONSTRUAL........................................4
USE QUESTIONNAIRE AND CREATE YOUR CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY IDENTIFYING
MAJOR INFLUENCES ON YOUR OWN LIFE..............................................................................4
CREATE CULTURAL BIOGRAPHY OF A PERSON WHO BELONGS TO A DIFFERENT COUNTRY
AND CULTURE........................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................. 8
COMPARISON OF TWO DIFFERENT CULTURAL FRAMEWORKS..................................................8
APPENDIX.......................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Culture can be defined as the customs, beliefs, religion, habits which we learn from our
surroundings and family. The basic meaning of culture is to earth and grow (Fiske, 2010).
According to Vygotsky culture helps in learning new aspects and develops new qualities. This
assignment report will define the impact of culture on an individual (McLeod, 2014). For
studying the impact of cultures two different people who had been grown up in two different
cultures has been analysed. For this assignment purpose, an individual who has been grown up
Indian culture has been analysed and an individual who has been grown up in Romanian culture
will also be analysed to know the differences and similarities between the two.

FINDINGS
There is variation in different cultures all over the globe. To understand the differences in
culture, Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory will be very helpful. Hofstede’s cultural dimension
theory can be defined as the framework for cross-cultural communication. Cross-cultural or
intercultural communication can be defined as the process of communication which has been
carried out between different cultures and society. Theory of cultural dimension defines the
impact of the culture of a society on the values and norms of different people or the members
of the society (Hofstede, 2010.).
OWN CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY
This task is based on how my cultural upbringing and identities and how different cultures and
traditions have influenced my life. The communication is also influenced by the factor that the
person I am communicating belongs to my culture or some other culture. There are some
factors which will help me in identifying the major influences of culture on my life.
MY FAMILY
Over the years the definition of has changed a lot for me but my family will always have a
strong influence on me. I have been grown up in a middle-class Hindi speaking family. During
my childhood, I was always surrounded by my family. Festivals and occasions were always spent
with the family of my father. During that period family for me includes my parents,
grandparents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles. Whether it is a family function or a holiday,
birthday or any festival all were celebrated at my grandparents’ house (Chadda and Deb, 2013).
That was a very good time in my life. Fortunately, I had grown up at such a place where I could
enjoy my normal childhood activities such as playing outdoor sports and many other activities.
It was such a great thing to grow with our siblings at a place which is away from city pressures
that have not impacted your life negatively. But after the death of my grandmother, my huge
family divided into small pieces and my parents decided to move to a city which was quite far
from my grandparent's place. It was the time when my definition of the family started

diminished and after that, the concept of the family just includes my parent and my sibling
(Fieldhouse, 2013).
RELIGION
Being born in a Hindu Indian family is a great blessing of god for me. My family has taught me
the importance of prayer and treat God as a friend of mine. Therefore I become a strong
believer of God. I and my family used to follows all the religious rituals and customs which are
being followed in our culture during years. My religion has taught me many things and also
helped at many stages of life. All that I know is that God and my family are my strengths and
they have always supported me whenever I felt demotivated in my life (Grover et al., 2014).
ETHNICITY
My family loves travelling, therefore, I got to know about different cultures and learn various
new things. Due to the difference between the cultures being followed by my mother's family
and by my father's family I have experienced several traditions which have been followed in
both the families. Experiencing and learning about the diversity of cultures and traditions
supports at different points of time. Due to the differences in the culture, I used to face
problems with other peoples who follow the different culture. This may be because my
grandfather and uncles used to make some statements about the people of different cultures
which might have influenced me. My family might not have been perfect for the people of
other cultures but they have raised me with love and have always taught me to treat others
with love and respect (Bharati et al., 2010).
Impact of differences on culture affects my life
God has created mankind and all of them are different in terms of colour, gender, religious
values and cultures. Due to the differences in culture, I sometimes do not feel comfortable in
communicating with others. This might be due to the statements which have been made by my
family members related to the other community people. Similarly, my upbringing in such a
family where different cultures and tradition have been followed has made me judge those
people who do not use to follow any tradition or culture. Sometimes I wonder how the kids of
these families used to celebrate their festivals and occasions where they are all alone. Although

after the death of my grandmother my family is also separated from our huge family we used to
celebrate all the festivals and occasions as we do earlier. Therefore my upbringing has
influenced me very much (Samovar et al, 2015).
CULTURAL AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF COLLEAGUE
I asked one of my friends "do you know who you are?" who belongs to Romania born and
brought up there only. This task is focused on analysing the influence of different cultures on
the life of my friend.
FAMILY
My friend has been grown up in an English speaking family of Romania. Their family was a
Catholic, therefore drinking and cussing was not a big deal for them. They also used to spend
Christmas and New Year with their family and friends. According to him, his family has helped
him grown up in such a person who always helped others (Said, 2012).
RELIGION
Since my friend was born he has grown up seeing Christianity as his cultural identity. His
parents have taught him the teachings of Jesus and also teach me the value of worship. My
friend told me that due to his religion he has lost many of his friends. As their parents did not
want their children to play and involve with a Catholic child. Due to these situations, he used to
feel alone in life. This has increased his faith in God due to which he has sometimes being called
as “Jesus Freak” and “Heaven” by the people who do not believe much in God (Ančić and
Zrinščak, 2012.).
ETHNICITY
My friend’s family have their friends who used to live in different countries therefore whenever
they went to see them they experience different traditions. Originally they were Roberge but
later changed to Roberts because English men were not able to pronounce their name
correctly. Despite being discriminated based on religion his parents have always taught him to
help and support the needy persons (Hopkins et al., 2015).
INFLUENCE OF DIVERSITY OF CULTURE ON THE LIFE OF MY FRIEND

My friend has a great influence on his life. He has to face many problems due to the variety and
differences in various cultures. During childhood, he had to lose his friends and as he starts
believing in Jesus people have given him several names such as Heaven and others. The life of
my friend is an example of the negative impact of differences in culture.

CONCLUSION
COMPARISON OF TWO DIFFERENT CULTURAL FRAMEWORKS
After analysing the experiences of both the person it can be concluded that cultural difference
may positively as well as negatively affect the life of a person. While at one side I have learnt
many new things and gain lots of good experiences due to the diversity in cultures in my
country at the same time my friend who was born and brought up in Romania have to face
many challenges due to the diversity and non-acceptance of other culture in the society. In my
country, there are several cultures which have been followed and most of the people whom I
met have never discriminated me based on my religion or caste but my friend has faced this
issues due to discrimination based on his religion he had to lost his friends. In my culture
concept of joint family and celebrating things with others were prominent, this belief was also
followed in the culture of my friend. They also used to celebrate their festivals with their family
and friends. Similarly, the teaching which has been given to us by our parents is the same. Both
the families’ believe in teaching their children to love respect and care for others.

APPENDIX
Q1. What are the family structure and role of parents, grandparents and other family
members?
My answer: My family has played an important role in my life. Initially, we used to live in a
combined family but later my parents have shifted to another city. All the occasions and
functions have been celebrated with huge excitement and happiness by my family.
My friend’s answer: My family plays a major role in his upbringing. My parents have started
living separately from his grandparents a long time ago. But they used to celebrate their
festivals and occasion with them.
Q2. What are your nationality and your parents and grandparents?
My answer: I and my family’s nationality are Indian.
My friend’s answer: The nationality of me and my family is Romanian.
Q3. What are the rituals of daily life and on a special occasion?
My answer: When we were in a joint family our daily routine was almost the same as the
routine of festivals. The basic difference is that some extra friends and family members also
joined us during festival time. I had spent a very good time of my life when my parents used to
live with my grandparents but when we shift to a new country than also I have not faced any
such discrimination related to cultural differences.
My friend’s answer: In daily life, we had no such special rituals being catholic drinking and
cussing is very normal for us. So it cannot be considered special during the festival time. One
different thing was that I used to either visit my friends or my parents’ friends during the
festival time or we used to celebrate Christmas and New Year eve with our family.
Q4. How was your surrounding where you grow up?
My answer: I had a very friendly surrounding. I have several cousins and other friends with
whom I used to play during my childhood. There was no restriction from our family or any other
family to play with someone else’s child.

My friend’s answer: I do not experience good surrounding during my childhood. Parents of my
friends used to discriminate me based on my religion. So it can be said that I have brought up at
such a place where society was very much discriminative.
Q5. Individuals or institutions such as college or church which have a great influence on you?
My answer: learning given to me by my parents has a great influence on my life.
My friend’s answer: in my life church has a major impact on my thinking and perspective.
Q6. Have your family moved to any other country or city due to any cause?
My answer: yes my family has shifted from town to a city when they separate their house from
our joint family.
My friend’s answer: they have shifted once when they start living separately from my
grandparents.
Q7. From where have you taken your education?
My answer: I have taken my education from India.
My friend’s answer: I have pursued all the education from Romania.
Q8. Is there any important factor which is related to your life or due to which you remember
the cultural differences?
My answer: there is no such important aspect related to cultural differences which have
influenced my life. I have a very good experience with different cultures and traditions.
My friend’s answer: yes I have faced many problems due to cultural difference. One of them
which I want to share is that during childhood, I lost some of friends because their parents do
not allow them to play and talk with a Christian child. So this type of discrimination has been
faced by me. Apart from this, the people had started calling me by different names just because
I used to believe very much in God.

REFERENCES
Fiske, J., 2010. Understanding the popular culture. Routledge.
Hofstede, G., 2010. Geert Hofstede. National cultural dimensions.
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Fieldhouse, P., 2013. Food and nutrition: customs and culture. Springer.
Grover, S., Davuluri, T. and Chakrabarti, S., 2014. Religion, spirituality, and schizophrenia: a
review. Indian journal of psychological medicine, 36(2), p.119.
Bharati, S., Mukherji, D., Pal, M., Som, S., Kumar Adak, D., Vasulu, T.S. and Bharati, P., 2010.
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Samovar, L.A., McDaniel, E.R., Porter, R.E. and Roy, C.S., 2015. Communication between
cultures. Nelson Education.
Said, E.W., 2012. Culture and imperialism. Vintage.
Ančić, B. and Zrinščak, S., 2012. Religion in Central European societies: its social role and
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Hopkins, P., Botterill, K., Sanghera, G. and Arshad, R., 2015. Faith, Ethnicity, Place: Young
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