Peru Do's

Learn to pronounce names correctly. Good.
Attempt to learn Spanish. Ok.
Work hard without complaint. Context? and without technically makes this a don't rather than a do.
Put family and personal relationships first. Probably critical, but what does that mean? We need something concrete. Give us examples. Give us contexts. What is putting them first?
Maintain control of emotions (especially men). This is interesting to me since we Americans (tech. estado unidenzos, Peru is part of the Americas after all) tend to think of Latinos as being fiery and effusive in their emotion. Which emotions, which contexts, which relationships? What constitutes control? Is a tear a tresspass? Watery eyes? Dancing for glee?
Show generous hospitality. Ok, what is general hospitality? And where did you get these do's?

Do's for Malaysia

Dress modestly. See entry for Zambia below. You have to define modest culture by culture.
Use the thumb or whole hand to indicate something (wave down a taxi).
To indicate something? Like it's A-Ok, I approve, or to point out an item on a menu, as well as flag down a taxi? We really need more specificity here.
Learn to distinguish between Western handshake and Malay salams (a simple palm-to-palm touch).
Bargain when shopping. See Zambia entry.
Be extra careful about punctuality, as it is highly valued.
Use indirect eye contact. Grammars of gaze are very complex. Ask your informant to demonstrate this for you. Try a little role play or see if they can show you some Malay film or TV that demonstrates this norm. And/or show them a clip of American film etc. and ask them to critique the gaze behavior according to Malay standards.

Hold your hands close to your sides in crowded areas. As opposed to what? We need some visual assistance here.
Make excuses instead of direct refusal. Ok. What kinds of excuses are acceptable and how should they be made? We need to know about paralinguistics and extralinguistics here. Facial expressions? Is there an authenticity test?
Keep criticism private. We need to know what is considered criticism. This is very relative, even in our own culture. Try to get some anecdotes or demonstrations to help us understand this better. I'm sure a whole book could be written about norms for criticizing in Malaysia (as in any culture).

Some Do's for Cote d'Ivoire, Africa

Show proper respect for people older and those in authority.
What constitutes proper respect? We need a script. How do you determine who is "older" enough to be treated differently? How do you know who is in authority and what kind of script would help you fulfill this expectation to everyone's satisfaction?
Dress modestly. Women should at least cover their knees. The image of soccer knee pads comes to mind. We need more specifics. Refer to the entry below for Zambia. Pictures might be very helpful.
Accept invitations to visit and dine at someone's house. Eat what is put before you, no questions asked. I'm assuming that if you have allergies or keep kosher you have informed everyone ahead of time.

Bring a present to give the host/ess. What kind of present? Wine? Chocolate? A chicken? Flowers? T-shirts from America? (That's often extremely welcome). What is the norm?

Arrive punctually for all social occasions. What is punctual?? 5 minutes before the stated time, 5 minutes after, 30 minutes after, exactly on the minute? Punctual is a relative term.

Ask people for permission before you take their picture! In some cultures people may feel that their soul is being sucked out of them when their picture is taken, find out if that is so for your target culture. Others might just be having bad hair days. How would you feel about a stranger taking your picture without asking? Here in the U.S., I mean. Would it be weird?

Speak French, or at least bring a basic phrase book. I'm assuming you don't mean just so you can wave it around inf ront of people but you really do make an effort to speak in a language your host culture is comfortable with, obviously French in this case.

Shank hands when you meet/greet someone. Is there anything different about their handshake? Firmer, lighter? Do they hold your hand for five minutes? If so, what do you do while they are holding your hand hostage? Is there any difference with gender? Do you shake the women's hands too? Can men shake women's hands or only other women? Since they are French speakers, is there no perfunctory double kiss on the cheek (but really into the air)?

Drink the coffee (they're the fifth largest producer in the world).

A Good Rule of Thumb

If it doesn't have anything to do with positive and negative face needs, it probably doesn't belong in your group project.

Some Do's for Chinese Culture from Class Submissions

So here's a list of some of the do's for China that one of the groups submitted last semester. I'll put some selected points in gold, and then in italics I'll add my comments (in the default color I can't remember).

When invited to someone's house, explain at length if you cannot go.
This is a very useful guideline, but now we could use some guidance about what 'at length' means and what kinds of explanations are acceptable.

Always take your shoes off when entering a Chinese home.
Good. Now we need to know what kinds of little micro-ettiquette is involved here. Must you wear socks? What if your feet stink? Are slippers provided? If so, is it rude to decline the guest slippers? How do you get out of your shoes and what do you do with them? In Japan there is a step up from the doorway, called the genkan. You can slip out of your shoes (and this is why it is not a good idea to wear laced shoes pretty much anywhere ever) and leave them pointing in and then the host/ess will later point them out for you so they're easy to get back into. I'm getting a little rusty on this, but the point is that there are details you need to know about. Is it ok to put your bare feet on their floor?

Always use an acquaintance's title and surname until invited to do otherwise.
Several questions. How do you know when an invitation is authentic and when it is a test? This makes me sound more cynical than I am (maybe) but new acquaintances from another culture are going to be trying to figure you out by your interactions. If they invite you to use first name and you just jump on that invitation without any reservation, you may be demonstrating that you do not understand the subtle and indirect nuances that are probably very important to them.

If the Chinese are trying to be polite to you by deferring to your custom of using first name, and you take that at face value (ironic pun acknowledged), you are demonstrating that you are willing to have them accommodate you without accommodating them in return. You may not get far in that relationship. You'll gain trust and respect if you defer, in most cases, to the other's culture as long and as often as possible. Better relationships, better business. But you need to have your informant consider these things very carefully and give his opinion of declining an offer to circumvent a Chinese interactional norm. Basically, given the general arrogance of Americans at large, every little bit that you offer in the way of acknowledging the preferences and the values of your Chinese interactants will be greatly appreciated and you'll get on swimmingly. (: You probably cannot go overboard in trying to accommodate their customs rather than assuming they will accommodate yours. Even if you're a jerk and don't care about respecting the other person, you should do this for the sake of good business.

When meeting the Chinese, greet the eldest person first as a sign of respect.
1) How do you know who is the eldest? 2) What if the eldest is a woman? 3) What kind of greeting are we talking about? Is there a bow? A formulaic phrase? Eye contact norms? 4) Do you then need to go around the room and greet each of the other participants in order of their age? I'm not trying to be goofy here, this is a real possibility.

Beckon someone or summon attention by turning your palm down and waving your fingers towards yourself. Excellent and very important.

Some Do's for Zambia

Small talk is very important. Visitors who greet Zambians with a handshake and a how-do-you-do are considered extremely polite.
What constitutes small talk in Zambia? Can you talk about the weather? In some African countries the weather rarely changes and is not the stock conversation filler that it is in the U.S. Can you ask about family members? What kinds of inquiries are standard and what might be offensive? How long should small talk go on? Who initiates? Who brings it to a close?

Women should avoid wearing shorts or mini-skirts, as showing one's thighs can be considered extremely provocative (I wonder how many American women consider their thighs provocative, but I digress). What is a mini skirt? Anything above the ankle? We need to know. Pictures would help. If you showed your informant a series of pictures of women dressed in different ways and got them to respond and say how each woman would likely be viewed if dressed like that, you'd probably get something really useful for us. (: What is a low cut shirt? We need specifics-go after them.
Bartering with vendors and taxi drivers is an accepted (and often expected) part of the culture.
Ok, so you DO barter. How and when? Everywhere? In an air conditioned department store? See if you can get a script for this. How does the bartering begin? What's your first line? What's a reasonable alternate offer in the local currency? Is there a preference for paying in USD?
Visitors should never refuse gifts offered by Zambians, but (and) should accept the gift with both hands. This is interesting because most of Asia has the same custom, accepting with both hands. Africa is often considered part of the Orient and you will find lots of similarities in many customs.
What if you feel the offerer cannot afford the gift? Do you simply make sure that you give them a heftier gift later? How do you discern if a gift is a bribe? Is this not a problem? If it is, how would you respond? What exactly do you say when you receive a gift (Thank you, you shouldn't have. Oh, I couldn't. . . )

Harvey Sacks was a student of Garfinkel's

Harvey Sacks, the founding father of Conversation Analysis, of the school of ethnomethodology within Sociology, was only 31 when he died, but left a huge impact on our understanding of face-to-face interaction and methodologies for investigating it.

Garfinkel and Goffman were both on Harvey Sacks' dissertation committee, but it is my understanding that Goffman could not agree on some parts and Sacks finally had to get someone else to replace Goffman on the committee. Harvey Sacks brought you the adjacency pair, which we'll talk about in more detail later in the semester.

He also wrote an article called, Everyone Has to Lie, and we talked about the variability and subjectivity of what is considered dishonest in social relations and what is just a required form that shouldn't be viewed at the surface level (how are you as a probing question about the details of your well being) but at the metamessage level (I'm greeting you because we are still on good terms, or whatever terms the tone of my greeting suggests, and not because we are so close that I think it would be appropriate for us to just let our hair down and tell each other all the gory details of our lives).

Harold Garfinkel

Garfinkel, ethnomethodologist from UCLA, who brought you the back channel, phatic communion, and the breaching experiment.

Phatic Communion refers to the kind of communication that does not involve the actual exchange of information, at least propositional information. We talk about the weather because it is a way of showing our goodwill to the other person. You know, you're in the elevator, and you're kind of saying, I'm not planning to stab you or anything so thank you for not stabbing me either. The critical information that is being exchanged is about interactional goals and social intention (is that totally redundant? maybe). We are thus also debunking the mythical assumption that the purpose of language is to convey information, at least propositional information. We are using it to convey critical social information.

Garfinkel was always doing breaching experiments and getting his students to do them, whereby they would set out to find out whether a social norm was really a norm or not by breaking it. This is where the expression "the exception proves the rule" is very literally borne out. For example, he apparently went to work one day and determined that he would not say anything at all that was not about the business that needed to be done (in his office). Please do this, etc. It is reported that he had pretty much started WWIII by the end of the day. Phatic communion is really a vehicle for communicating to the other person: everything is ok with us.

"Back channels" is what Garfinkel calls the sounds we make to show that we are listening to someone. Uh huh. I see. Shut up! She did not! right, yeah, mm hm. . .

After thoughts (and aforethoughts) 9-2-08

We talked about schema today and its role in figuring out how best to accommodate another person in interaction, esp. when that person comes from another culture with a very different PEG, Pragmatic Expectancy Grammar, which comes from John Oller (1979). If a Korean asks you if you have eaten, an American is likely to think they are suggesting that you go together to eat. In fact they just want to know if you've eaten. (: It is a way of saying that you are healthy and taken care of. Japanese often translate 'genki desuka' directly in English: are you fine? Sometimes I use that wording in English with a twist of humor, but sometimes I think I really forget that it's not a normal greeting in the U.S.

When a Japanese person offers you a refreshment at their home, you should generally decline the first two times and accept the third time. This provides a buffer, because just like in the U.S., sometimes you offer someone something because you feel obligated to but you'd really rather they didn't take you up on it. Eventually the social consequences of accepting an offer can be overwhelming to the adjusting westerner and she may no longer know What she wants! And when she comes back to the states and politely declines an offer, she is just out of luck if she really did want the drink, etc. So the assumption about how honest to be about what you want is a sliding scale with different norms for different situations in different cultures. And the returning American is likely to be hungry and thirsty for most of the first year back. (:

We also talked about the polite fiction in Japanese culture that the other person is higher on the food chain than we are until proven otherwise (in contrast to the pretense that you and I are equals in the U.S.). This gives rise to the significance of the business card, the meishi, which informs the other what your company and position are thus establishing your social status. You then need to worry about bowing lower and perhaps a little longer than the person who is more statusful (a challenge for your peripheral vision I assure you)
(:

Keigo, as you wrote down, is the whole set of language used for extra politeness in Japanese. It's extensive and fairly complicated and quite a memory load for the western student. However, because of the positively evaluated role of formulaicity in Japanese, once you learn the system the decision about exactly what to say in various contexts will be very straightforward. You'll know exactly what each other's relative status is and exactly what corresponding language and behavior are called for. When Japanese learn English and find there are no translations for this huge body of Japanese and there are no grammatical endings that acknowledge relative status of speaker and hearer in English, they understandably often conclude, English is not a polite language, therefore it clearly does not matter how I say whatever I need to say. Which is of course a really dangerous conclusion to make and wholey inaccurate.

The American system of politeness is far more subtle and graduated. The combinations of linguistic, paralinguistic and extralinguistic cues that are drawn upon for the perfect balance of friendliness and respect in a given situation require far more individual stress and scrutiny than does the Japanese system. Consequently a lot more people, I believe, are a lot poorer in their social skills and therefore their integration to their larger communities in the U.S. than in Japanese culture. So the stress for learning polite Japanese occurs at the study/ preparation stage, but for English at the execution in the specific situation that must be assessed and addressed.

Fred Erikson

Erikson is the dude who says conversation is like climbing a tree that's climbing you back. It's something you have to make constant changes to as the other person makes moves you cannot anticipate and you respond, like dancing. I'm told. (: He was a musicologist and transcribes conversation in a kind of musical notation, finding that people very literally get out of rhythm with others sometimes at points where you find misunderstandings occurring. And they move their forks at the dinner table according to the conversational rhythm that their words are following too. Erikson went into educational anthropology very deliberately, feeling that it would be the best avenue to actually making a difference in the world in the lives of children. The term 'turn shark' comes from Erikson and work he has done on how some children learn the unwritten rules of turn taking and get more than their fair share of turns while those who don't quite get it, don't. He teaches at UCLA.

Group Specifications

There must be 3 or 4 people in your group, not 2 and not 5. For illustrative purposes you may wish to consult the following instructional video about the exact number. . . (hint: john cleese was involved in its production)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOrgLj9lOwk&feature=related