Writing Assignment 4

Q1.

Values are standards that influence behavior or guide people on way of life and decisions.  Also, values are formed from long-lasting beliefs that a particular behavior is important.

Attitudes are feelings and beliefs tendencies toward something.  Attitudes are demonstrated by behavior, and they are formed during socialization.  The good or bad thing with attitudes is that it is not possible to change them and they may have both positive and negative impact (Sims, 2002).

Beliefs are assumptions that people make about something through experience or through engaging in cultural and social norms. Beliefs influences people in creating a belief system which defines their identity.

Behaviors are ways in which people conduct themselves toward other people, groups or environment. Attitudes impact behaviors, and it is possible to change behaviors by changing the attitudes, beliefs, and values (Sims, 2002).

Example of potential topics in my persuasive speech would be; the food industry has contributed to the obesity epidemic in America. Second, social media is negatively affecting the young generation. Third, the death penalty should abolish. These topics would serve an important role as they make a call for action and encourages to think about the issues to have them.

 

Q2

 

 For a person to be a compelling speaker, he or she must use ethos- this has to do with credibility and trustworthiness or in other words you as speaker should let the audiences trust you. Second is pathos which means that the speaker should stir up emotions in the audience for them to develop an emotional response and understand what the speaker is talking about (Morreale, 2010).  The third is logos which means that the speaker is expected to offer a logical argument or in other words, he should prove an argument through sound reasoning.

 

Q3

 A speaker can establish ethos through trustworthiness- being respectful, honest, showing commitment and fulfilling the promises, be fair and unbiased and ensure that the data and information you are giving to the audiences are from credible sources. The second method of achieving ethos is language and style- the speaker should use a vivid language so that the audience can understand the concepts, use stories and visual examples to illustrate the concepts. It is also important to use a shared experience by referencing people or earlier events (Morreale, 2010).  When it comes to pathos, a speaker can archive pathos by using emotional themes or a topic that has emotional power. On the same note, the speaker should use an emotional tone and connect the emotions to analogies and metaphors (Morreale, 2010).

Q4

A speaker can establish logos by making the persuasive speech appear logical by using photographs, case studies, personal stories, vivid details, facts and statistics and citing the resources.

 Upward communication is a communication between subordinates and superiors where subordinates use verbal and written messages to communicate to the top-level management.  An example includes employees expressing their suggestions and ideas to employers.   In contrast, downward communication is communication between superiors and subordinates where the high-level managers communicate information to subordinates. An example includes the employers communicating goals, policies, operational decisions and instructions to employees.  Horizontal communication is different from upward and downward communication since this involves organizational units at the same level.  Example include the communication in the healthcare institutions where nursing staff communicates to the food service department on the appropriate nutrition (Zhu, 2005).

 

Q5

 The first obstacle to effective intercultural communication is ethnocentrism- this means that some cultures judge other cultures concerning their standards and values.  In this case, ethnocentric people believe that their culture is superior to other cultures and their behaviors and values are correct.  For example, Americans believe that their country, as well as cultures, are superior and thus, the African Americans are inferior (Schmidt, 2007). This lead to misunderstandings and miscommunication between the two. Second, the stereotype is an obstacle to intercultural communication, and this occurs when some cultures use perception and beliefs to generalize particular social group. Stereotype leads to errors in interpretations and inaccurate labels which hinders effective intercultural communication. For example, Americans believe that Latinos are poor, they are prone to violence and commit more crime.  The third barrier to intercultural communication is discrimination (Schmidt, 2007).  This means that in-group members treat the out-group members disadvantageously. For example, Americans believe that African Americans are poor and lack education and for this reason, they are denied employment opportunities, housing and access to resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

 

Schmidt, W. V. (2007). Communicating globally: Intercultural communication and international business.

Los Angeles [u.a.: Sage Publ.

 

Morreale, S. P. (2010). The competent public speaker. New York: Peter Lang.

 

Zhu, Y. (2005). Written communication across cultures: : a sociocognitive perspective on business

genres. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

 

Sims, R. R. (2002). Managing organizational behavior. Westport CT: Greenwood Press.