Exercises for Practical session 2

Exercise 4A Choose the correct type of a culture A)Weak UncertaintyAvoidance cultureor B)Strong Uncertainty Avoidance cultureto complete the sentences.

Test 1

Key differences between Weak and Strong Uncertainty Avoidance (UA)

Societies (in different settings)

1. In … … uncertainty is a normal features of life, and each day is accepted as it comes.

2. In … … what is different is dangerous.

3. In … …. what is different is curious.

4. In … … uncertainty in life is a continuous threat that must be fought.

5. In … … students are comfortable in structured learning situation and concerned with the right answers.

6. People in …. …. have fewer worries about health and money.

7. In … … there is fast acceptance of new features such as mobile phones, e-mails and Internet.

8. In … … there is a hesitancy toward new products and technologies.

9. In … … students ate comfortable with open -ended learning situation and concerned with good discussions.

10. In … … there is an emotional need for rules, even if they will not work.

11. In … … time is a framework for orientation.

12. In … … time is money.

13. Citizens in … … trust politicians, civil servants and the legal system.

14. In … … there are negative attitudes toward young people.

15. In … … there is high participation in voluntary associations and movements.

16. Refugees should be admitted in … … .

1. In … … there is more religious, political and ideological intolerance and fundamentalism.

Exercise 4 B Choose the correct type of a culture A)Feminine cultureor B)Masculine cultureto complete the sentences.

Test 2

Key differences between Feminine and Masculine societies (in different

Settings)

1. In… … relationships and quality of life are important.

2. In … … challenge, earnings, recognition and advancement are important.

3. In … … women are supposed to be tender and to take care of relationships.

4. In … … both men and women can be tender and focus on relationships.

5. In … … women's liberation means that women are admitted to positions so far occupied by men.

6. In … … women's liberation means that men and women take equal shares both at home and at work.

7. In … … children are socialized to be non- aggresive.

8. In … … women shop for food, men for cars.

9. In … … resolution of conflicts let the strongest win.

10. In … … resolution of conflicts by compromise and negotiation.

11. People live in order to work in … …. .

12. People work in order to live in … … .

13. In … … international conflicts should be resolved by a show of strength or by fighting.

14. In … … politics are based on coalition with polite political manners.

15. In … … few women are in elected political positions.

Exercise 5 Read the fragment of a text about two approaches in resolving international conflicts (the Åland crisis and of the Falkland crisis.)

The Åland islands are a small archipelago halfway between Sweden and Finland; as part of Finland they belonged to the tsarist Russian Empire. When Finland declared itself independent from Russia in 1917, the thirty thousand inhabitants of the islands in majority wanted to join Sweden, which had ruled them before 1809. The Finns then arrested the leaders of the pro-Swedish movement. After emotional negotiations in which the newly created League of Nations participated, all parties in 1921 agreed with a solution in which the islands remained Finnish but with a large amount of regional autonomy. The Ålands have become a prosperous part of Finland, attracting many Swedish tourists.

The Falkland Islands are also a small archipelago disputed by two nations: Great Britain, which has occupied the islands since 1833, and nearby Argentina, which has claimed rights on them since 1767 and tried to get the United Nations to support its claim. The Falklands are about eight times as large as the Ålands but with less than one-fifteenth of the Ålands’ population: about 1,800 poor sheep farmers. The Argentinean military occupied the islands in April 1982, whereupon the British sent an expeditionary force that chased the occupants, at the cost of (officially) 725 Argentinean and 225 British lives and enormous financial expense. The economy of the islands, dependent on trade relations with Argentina, was severely jeopardized. The Falklands remain a disputed territory needing constant British subsidies and military presence.

Discuss the following:

What explains the difference in approach and in results between these two remarkably similar international disputes?

How are international conflicts resolved in famine and masculine societies? Give your own examples.

Exercise 6 Questions and Cases for discussion

Questions for discussion

1. Explain what is meant by the term truth-value.

2. Think of the last time you personally experienced a culture shock. (Culture shock occurs when somebody becomes painfully aware that a person or persons born and educated in another country think(s), feel(s) and /or act(s) differently from what was expected). What happened and which one of the six Hofstede dimensions explains best the reason for the shock?

3. How are attitudes toward tolerance, religion and ideas in the United States different from those in your native country?

Case study analyses.

Work in small groups. Read the situations below. Think about different cultural backgrounds of the participants. Discuss each story. What do you think happened? Why? How could misunderstanding have been prevented?

Case 1

In Jose's adult English class in Chicago, students are learning about different names for food. To make things more realistic, the teacher makes a plan to use the school's kitchen and have the students prepare some food. When the day comes for the kitchen assignment, Jose and other two men from Mexico do not go into the kitchen with the other students but remain outside in the hall. His teacher cannot understand why Jose and the other men do not want to participate.

Case 2

A U.S. American woman executive is sent to negotiate a contract with a corporation in Saudi Arabia. She dresses conservatively in a dark business suit and completes her makeup and hair as she would in the United States. She finds the Arabs to be very aloof. She is asked when her boss will be arriving and is basically feeling ignored. What mistakes have been made? What can be done to correct such a situation?

Case 3

Joe Anthony, a U.S. graduate student, was beginning a semester-long internship in Mexico City with an international health care products firm. After he had been there about a week, some male employees invited him out to a bar to sample the local specialty, bull's testicles. Joe had heard about this practice considered a sign of young Mexican machismo (male power). The idea didn't appeal to him since something he had eaten recently had made him queasy. What are Joe's options? What are the possible implications or consequences of each option? What would you do?

Exercise 7 Activity Respecting others