University
of Rome III, School of Humanities -- Degree Course in Languages and
International Communication
Year 2004-05 - - First Year English
Module: Seeing and Saying Things in English - - Convener:
Patrick Boylan
Task
6 - Ethnographic Interview: April 11, 2005 - Instructions
Your
name:____________________________ Your group: ___ Partner's
name:_____________________________ Partner's group: ___
You
will conduct it as a simple experiment to test Trompenaars' cultural
dimensions. Do the Trinity College students confirm or disprove the
position that Trompenaars assigns to "typical" U.S.
businessmen? Do you confirm or disprove the positions that he
assigns to Italians (see the handout from our March 30th lesson)?
We can compare Trinity College students to the businessmen that Trompenaars describes because many of the students will probably become businessmen. And, in any case, they share a similar linguistic-cultural background. See: F. Trompenaars, Riding the waves of culture, New York, 1988.
_____________ |
0...............................25....................................50...................................75........................100 |
Value
polarity |
|
|
|
|
|
Groups
A, B |
Universalism |
<————————————-?-————————————> |
Particularism |
*plus
the students who work independently. These students should work in
couples (or alone, but only if no other students are free). To find
speakers of English in Rome, click on the orange button the end of
the Task 6 instructions.
What do these terms mean? See the
Recap of our March 16th lesson and click on: "cultural
dimensions".
Each
dimension will be studied by the students in each of two groups
assigned to it. (Example: the members of groups A and B will study
the dimension Universalism/Particularism.) Students will form
couples: in our example, a group can be composed of two students from
Group A or one A student and one B student -- it makes no difference.
If, after forming couples, there is an extra
student, that student will form a trio with one of the
couples. Only ONE trio is possible for both groups together
(ex. A, B).
Before
going to Trinity College, you must indicate above the two
values of the dimension assigned to your group and, in your opinion,
the position on that line of: the teacher (use his initials: "PB"
), you (use an "X"), your family/community (use a
circle: ""),
Italy in general (use a triangle: "∆"), and,
finally, where you think Trinity College students should be
positioned (use the
initials "TC"). This is your experimental
hypothesis. Then prepare DESCRIPTIVE,
STRUCTURAL
and CONTRAST
questions as well as ANECDOTES,
to test your hypotheses this evening at Trinity College. (See
details on the back.)
ATTENTION: The first time we did this exercise, people positioned themselves, their families and Italy along the ENTIRE dimension. This is improbable. The differences between you and your family may be great from your viewpoint, but not in comparison with Koreans or Saudis. You may be relatively very different, but still you are most proabably in the same general area on the Cultural Dimension Lines above.
At Trinity, you will take turns with your partner in speaking to your American informants. You will engage them in conversation and attempt to discover how they position themselves on the dimension line being studied. Your partner will observe the interaction and make mental notes to discuss after the conversation. The notes should clarify what the informants really mean by describing the overall dynamic of the conversation, plus the non-verbal cues: body language, speech rhythm and pauses -- the things that you (in charge of conducting the conversation) may not have noticed since you were concentrating on the words.
After each conversation, you will go to a quiet corner with your partner for a moment to hear her/his notes and decide if you have interpreted the conversation the same way. If not, you must go back, find the same American student, and have another conversation to discover if you were right (or wrong).
Then you will change roles: from "conversationalist" you will become "observer" and notice the dynamics of your partner's conversations. If the American students try to talk to you while you are the "observer", answer them briefly and "relay" the question to your partner: "Good question! What do you think, Caia?".
The next day, you will write a report. You will explain your cultural dimension and give the DESCRIPTIVE, STRUCTURAL and CONTRAST questions as well as ANECDOTES that you prepared. You will say why you hypothesized that those questions/anecdotes could determine a Trinity student's position on your cultural dimension line. Then you will describe your informants, say whether your prediction held true and how effective your eliciting strategies were. Give your report to your Group Leader for evaluation. NOTE: Before writing, read the form and note the criteria that your Group Leader use. This will help you write.
QUESTIONS
TO PREPARE BEFORE THIS EVENING, TO TEST YOUR HYPOTHESES ABOUT
THE
POSITION OF TRINITY STUDENTS ON YOUR CULTURAL DIMENSION LINE
(adapted from James Spradley, The Ethnographic Interview, New York: Holt Rinehart & Wnston, 1979)
DESCRIPTIVE
QUESTIONS
Grand Tour questions: Let your informant
talk freely about a subject that is NOT the Dimension you are
interested in, but leads to it. Example: If you are
interested in the Meritocratic-Cooptation
dimension, talk about getting
a job in Italy: what you must do, etc. and only then
by what criteria it is decided. In other words, take a Grand Tour
before arriving at the specific question that interests
you.
Language questions, Example/Anecdote
questions: If your informant says a word that is not clear to
you, get her/him to explain it. IF s/he says something general, ask
for an example. For instance, if s/he says: "Yeah, I applied
to a lot of computer companies for a summer job, but the usual
people got in", ask her/him what s/he means by "usual
people" and then ask her/him to give an example, so
you can check your understanding. Or tell an anecdote
and see the reaction: "I saw a story on TV (in reality, you've
invented it): Jeb Bush in Florida gives out summer jobs to students
who campaign for him!"
STRUCTURAL
QUESTIONS
Cover term and Included term questions:
If you want your informant to express a position, ask a
naive question about the general ("cover") meaning
of a term or about whether the term belongs in a certain category.
Example: If you want to see if you and your informant both mean the
same thing by "letter of recommendation", you can ask:
"So in the general category of 'acceptable ways to get a job',
you would include letters of recommendation, right?" ("Yes!")
"But I'm not sure what you call a 'letter of recommendation'.
For example, in Italy a Prelate or a politician can write a letter
asking a state agency to hire you. And it often works, because the
agency wants to keep good relations with the Vatican and with
Parliament. Is this what you mean by a 'letter of recommendation?'"
If your American informant says "No, in America that's a
crime!", you can then go back to (1.) and ask an example
question: "Well, what would be an example of an acceptable
letter recommending you?" Your informant will probably say:
"It will just say I've worked for X and that X is satisfied
with my work."
CONTRAST QUESTIONS
Contrast
verification questions: When you think you have understood your
informant, make a summary of what you think he has said and ask him
if you have understood correctly. But alter 20% of the questions
to test if is really verifying what you are saying. For example, you
could say: "So, in conclusion, you are in favor of 'letters of
recommendation' to help people get a job, but only certain kinds,
right?" ("Yeah, that's right!") "So let me
recap... Tell me if you are in favor of: letters attesting work done,
letters certifying studies, letters of character reference, letters
putting political pressure on the employer, letters invoking mutual
friendship between sender and employer." Your informant will
probably answer: "Yes - yes - yes - no - perhaps."