Interpersonal Communication: Reflection and Cultural Analysis

This essay delves into various aspects of interpersonal communication through personal anecdotes and theoretical applications. It begins with a reflection on early memories of cultural learning, highlighting the diversity of cultural practices. The essay then discusses navigating a multicultural society as a college student, emphasizing the importance of respect and formal communication. The author identifies as polychromic, valuing multitasking and long-term relationships, and shares an experience of helping classmates with assignments. A cross-cultural encounter involving assisting Vietnamese-speaking individuals is recounted, demonstrating the significance of linguistic awareness. Finally, the essay explores the communication accommodation theory, proposing strategies for effective communication with someone from a different culture, such as Korean, through convergence and avoiding over-accommodation to foster understanding and collaboration. Desklib provides access to similar essays and study tools for students.

Running head: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Interpersonal Communication
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
Answer 1
One of my earliest memories of learning culture for me can be described when I attended
a marriage ceremony of our family which was somehow different from the marriage which I use
to see in my cartoon series. Later I came to know that there are varieties of cultural group which
have their own different rituals of performing marriage functions. Yes, the event which I recalled
did help me to understand that culture is in variety in this world and with each culture there rises
their own significant difference.
Answer 2
Being a college student we live in a multicultural society and interact with as many
people from different backgrounds. There we respect each people coming from different
backgrounds and their views. With teachers we use formal speaking and we are well aware that
for any dishonesty we would be punished. On the other hand for any good effort we would be
praised. Each student has an unique identification number by which he needs to communicate to
his college staff as there are many students they need to handle. For example, college id, roll
number can be used to communicate that I am a student.
Answer 3
I have considered myself as a polychromic because polychromic people like to do many
things at a time (Lindquist, Lane & Kaufman, 2015). Similarly, I believe in building long term
relations with every one whom I meet. Even balancing all things at a time I take it as a challenge
to accomplish happily. I do not mind doing and completing several task at a time. Once my
nature of being polychromic helped some of my sister’s classmate, where I helped them to

2INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
complete each of their assignment in one night. It helped them to complete and submit their
different topics in the next day at school. It was wonderful helping them with different topics
and my ability to handle them all at a time.
Answer 4
Once while I was standing in a queue for booking metro tickets and suddenly two old
people grabbed my attention because they were continuously asking about an address to people
but none were able to help them. It seemed that they were not from our place but instead from
other country. Anyways I did not asked but they were speaking in Vietnamese language. I knew
because I had one of my friends who used to speak Vietnamese. I had some knowledge about the
specific language and then I tried helping them with the address for which they need to take the
same metro for which I was waiting.
Answer 5
The communication accommodation theory is a way to help others while interaction with
the process of convergence and divergence (Dragojevic, Gasiorek & Giles, 2015).
I consider Korean culture significantly different from my culture. I would first try to learn
what language he would be able to speak and understand, if not any then I will help him to
understand some of my basic language that he can understand and remember easily. Then I will
use the convergence strategy and try to learn his language so that our communication works
without much difficulty but will keep in mind that I do not over accommodate. This way our
project will be finished and with proper understanding between both of us. This will lead to

3INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
generate new idea from both the perspective and ability to understand by both of us. It will help
me to learn about his culture.
Reference
Dragojevic, M., Gasiorek, J., & Giles, H. (2015). Communication accommodation theory. The
international encyclopedia of interpersonal communication.
Lindquist, J. D., Lane, P. M., & Kaufman, C. J. (2015). Polychronic Behavior: Conceptually
Where are We and What are the Marketing and Consumer Behavior Implications.
In Proceedings of the 1991 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual
Conference (pp. 27-31). Springer, Cham.