Cross-cultural communication

Brainstorming: Asking the students some questions to encourage them to participate in the lesson:

1. How important to you is it to be on time?

2. If you could tell a foreigner only one thing about your culture, what would it be?

3. Have you ever experienced a cultural misunderstanding based on time? What happened?

Match each word with the correct definition.

1. evidence a. absolutely necessary

2. interact b. inflexibly

3. socialize c. touchable

4. tangible d. to talk informally

5. rigidly e. to work together

6. indispensable f. indication or proof

A Mark each statement as either true (T) or false (F) according to the reading.

1. ____ It is thought that culture can help create minds and emotions.

2. ____ Evidence shows that we are born with a sense of time.

3. ____ Polychronic time is typical of southern cultures.

4. ____ Monochronic people seldom feel that time is wasted or lacking.

B Choose the best answer according to the reading.

1. What is true of temporal culture?

a. It forms the basis for physical appearances.

b. Children adapt to it by the age of three months.

c. It has negligible impact on our everyday lives.

d. Anthropologists disagree whether it exists.

2. What is true about polychronic people?

a. They follow a preset schedule.

b. They rarely, if ever, arrive late.

c. They value privacy highly.

d. They do many things at once.

3. What is true about monochronic people?

a. They don’t stick to schedules.

b. They can be easily distracted.

c. They separate work and social time.

d. They pursue lifetime relationships.

C For the next two questions, look for the answers in the book and write them on the lines provided.

1. Why do monochronic people tend to sequence conversations as well as tasks?

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2. What have temporal culture researchers noted about international business dealings?

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