COMU1002:
Communicating Across Cultures:
Theory and Practice
Group membership and
social identity
WEEK 7 , 3 APR IL
AM IR SHEIK HAN, M ICHAEL AT HER INOS, HOJJAT R ASSAEI M OQADAM
What’s on today?
PART 1:
Ø Concepts;
Ø Social identity;
Ø Group membership.
PART 2:
Ø Activities;
Ø Mid-semester feedback;
Ø Workshop information.
Week 7 concepts
With what concepts are we working this week?
Code 2069 0335
Social identity
I am…
Continue the phrase: ‘I am…’
5433 5884
Identity as the social and the collective
Identity as a social phenomenon
“One cannot be a self on one’s own” (Taylor, 1989, p. 36)
“The ‘recognition’ process which is crucial to identity […] arises
through participation in social life: ‘[A]n individual’s self-
consciousness never exists in isolation… it always exists in
relationship to an ‘other’ or ‘others’ who serve to validate its
existence’ (Hall, 2004, p. 51).
Benwell & Stokoe, 2012, pp. 24-29
Social conformity
How we adjust our behaviour or ways of thinking in order to follow
behaviour or rules of the group we (feel we) belong in or identify
with
Group membership
In-group vs out-group (1)
Sumner’s (1906, pp. 12-13) discussion of ethnocentrism:
Group
membership
Group membership: features
Discuss the features of in-groups/out-groups in relation to
communicative behaviours.
Provide examples to illustrate the features.
In-group vs out-group (2)
Mere self-identification as an in-group member generates
in-group behaviours (Turner, 1982).
What group membership?
To what group do the following people belong?
You can write up to 3 memberships for each image.
1
2
3
4
What makes someone an in-group
member?
How did you identify their
membership?
What made you group them the way
you did?
1 2
3
4
Group identity markers
Physical appearance;
Dress codes;
Values, opinions;
Distinctive language and speech styles;
Traditions, festivals, rituals, etc.
https://sp.depositphotos.com/49282101/stock-illustration-time-for-a-break.html
In-group favouritism
Group
membership
Example
Jasmine was one of the “popular girls” at school that were bullying and mean to
everyone else.
I lived really close to Jasmine, so I would see her all the time outside of school,
and she would be completely different, nice person whom I got along with really
well.
However, we would never hang out together at school, because around her
popular friends, she would agree with them if they made a snide comment on my
looks or laugh at their jokes at my expense.
How can you explain this?
Jasmine was one of the “popular girls” at school
that were bullying and mean to everyone else.
I lived really close to Jasmine, so I would see her all
the time outside of school, and she would be
completely different, nice person whom I got along
with really well.
However, we would never hang out together at
school, because around her popular friends, she
would agree with them if they made a snide
comment on my looks or laugh at their jokes at my
expense.
“Popular girls” group membership
“Popular girls” group
membership markers
Neighbourhood group membership
Differentiation
In-group members
Differentiation from the neighbourhood group
Assimilation with the “popular girls” group
Group memberships
Membership in some groups (ethnic, occupation, gender, age, socio-
economic) – more salient
Can we be in-group members with those who are not part of our
salient groups?
Group project: components
Each group member will receive
• an individual mark for the poster (out of10 marks);
• the same mark for the workshop (out of 20 marks);
• an individual mark for post-workshop reflections (out of
10 marks)
Workshop (20%)*
Research
Choose a topic that will reflect the theme 'Diversity within cultures’, i.e. focus on
the microcultural level, NOT national cultures:
◦ Find relevant literature to define your topic;
◦ You are encouraged to have contact with the members of your chosen cultural
context, e.g. by interviewing them to gain first-hand knowledge.
* You must participate in the workshop to pass this course.
Workshop (20%)*
Duration: 8-10 minutes
Key components:
1) Introduce the microcultural context + why it is important to know about it;
2) Introduce and explain 2 concepts that are crucial to that microculture;
3) Explain the relevance of the concepts through specific examples from that
microculture.
◦ a role-play, short interview, a film segment, or an exercise you developed: be creative.
4) Conclude: why your chosen cultural context and concepts are essential.
Workshop topics examples
Your title should include two concepts and the microculture.
Stereotypes and discrimination in the primary education classroom;
Enthnocentrism and emic and etic perspectives in business meetings;
High-context communication and collectivism among Harry Potter fans;
Kinesics and culture shock in LA Mexican communities;
In-group membership and prejudice in nursing homes.
*A list of the course concepts is available in the Assessment folder.
Group project: Key dates
Week 8 (Monday 17 April, 9 am): workshop tentative title and workshop
sign-up (choose whether to present in Week 12 or 13)
[link will be made available in assessment folder, Group Project, workshop;
workshop sign-on]
Week 9: poster to be submitted (17:00 28 April);
Weeks 12 & 13: workshops take place during the seminars;
Weeks 12 & 13: post-workshop reflection to be submitted (17:00 19 May -
17:00 26 May 22).
Questions?
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK