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Critical incidents
The final sample activity to be considered here suggests more ‘realistic’
incidences of problems that can arise from differences in communication
patterns. Various cultural training textbooks use ‘critical incidents’ in
different ways (e.g. Barnak, 1979: 134; Bosher, 1997; Damen, 1987: 282–3;
Roberts
et al
., 1992; Tomalin and Stempleski, 1993: 84–8). In general,
however, learners are invited to consider an incident (fabricated or from
personal experience) in which (1) a conflict about values, goals or meaning
arises; (2) the solution to the conflict is not immediately apparent, or it is
controversial; and (3) the cultural context of the conflict is clearly and
concisely presented. Learners are invited to discuss possible reasons for the
conflict. A similar technique, the ‘cultural assimilator’ (Damen, 1987: 283–
5), offers different interpretations of the cause of the conflict and invites
learners to choose from among them. Examples of critical incidents, based
on the literature cited, include the following:
(1) A female English supervisor works in a factory alongside a multicul-
tural workforce. Last week, a male Bangladeshi employee came to ask
her if he could have extended unpaid leave to visit his family in Ban-
gladesh. You told him you were doubtful but you would see what you
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could do. Later, after checking the work schedules, you decided that
you cannot afford anyone to be absent for a long time. You made your
decision known to your employee. Yesterday, you discovered that
the employee has gone over your head to ask your line manager
directly for unpaid leave. Your manager has passed the request back
to you, since this is supposed to be your responsibility. You call the
employee to your office to explain why he is challenging your deci-
sion.
(2) An American teacher on a short multicultural summer course decided
to give a party to her students, so she invited them to her house. The
Japanese arrived at 8 pm and ate much of the food; however, they left at
10 pm just as the Italians were arriving. At around midnight the Latin
Americans arrived, by which time the food was finished, but they
stayed, singing and dancing, until about four. The Saudis did not turn
up at all. Should she ever hold a party again?
Critical incidents are simple, but often effective, ways of investigating
cultural differences which cause communicational misfires. There is a
danger that they encourage stereotyping by making unwarranted generali-
sations about cultural behaviour (such as all Latin Americans sing and
dance). Given that qualification, they are useful in dealing with some fairly
general patterns of cultural behaviour and expectation. In the first
example, the critical incident arises probably from the different concep-
tions of a supervisor by the Englishwoman and the Bangladeshi. The
supervisor regards it as her responsibility to make decisions, and she
expects those decisions to be respected. She does not like her decisions to be
ignored, or to lose face with her own line manager. The Bangladeshi, on the
other hand, might see the supervisor’s position as a mediator between him
and higher authorities. When she fails ‘to see what she can do’, he feels it is
legitimate to approach someone who can grant his request. Neither indi-
vidual in this situation is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ – each has a culturally
influenced way of perceiving the obligations of the other. An intercultural
mediator would attempt to resolve the situation by making each aware of
the other’s position.
The second situation is based on the slightly different cultural expecta-
tions of ‘partying’. Cultural differences can arise regarding the time parties
occur, and what happens during them (eating, drinking, dancing). The
Japanese tend to function in groups, and the Saudis would probably avoid
attending anything which might involve alcohol and non-halal food. If the
Latin Americans had not been told a specific time, they would not have
arrived either: in Brazil, the utterance, ‘You must come round sometime’
often functions as a simple indicator of friendship, unless it is accompanied
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by a date and time. An American, however, might regard this expression as
a more definite invitation.
Like the other activities described in this section, ‘Critical Incidents’
should be understood as a way of training learners to think ethno-
graphically, to ‘decentre’ from their everyday habits of thought, and to
realise that the ordinary is culturally constructed. This kind of activity can
therefore lead up to fuller ethnographic projects as described in the
following section.
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