The last couple of visits to the Ling Family have really gotten me thinking about how culture has the ability to influence an individual's perception of the world. As per usual, with each visit my partner and I worked with the Ling family on a variety of subjects that involve lots of intercultural communication. We again labeled things around the house, filled out practice applications, played around with money, tried out math problems and practiced reading. On our most recent visit we decided to watch a movie with the family. We chose "Finding Nemo" due to the fact that it has a simple storyline, has lots of English language references and of course is just an overall enjoyable film. It was such a great experience to watch this family whose native language is not English, laugh at and appreciate the jokes in the film. It really displayed the progress they are making in learning not only the English language but also some of the cultural behaviors of those native to the United States. We talked about the film after it was finished and everyone really seemed to enjoy the story. Even when there was confusion about the verbal language in the film, Ester and her husband were able to pick up on the nonverbal cues that advanced the plotline. While many cultural perceptions are language based, it seems that basic emotions are universal.
Since verbal language can sometimes be difficult with the Ling family as they are still learning conversational English; many nonverbal cues have been used to assist with translating a message. Repeating, substituting, complementing and accenting are the forms I most often observed when communicating with the family. Many things are said over and over again and lots of facial expressions and hand gestures are used to effectively get a thought across.
I have also observed some varying nonverbal codes that the Ling family use that are sometimes similar or dissimilar to those typically found in the Midwest. For instance I find that the Ling family has a similar relationship to kinesics, paralanguage, haptics and physical appearance as those in the Midwest. They use the same facial expressions as everyone else I know, as well as using the same types of tones to express emotion. However I have noticed that their relationships to chronemics and proxemics seems to differ a bit. They seem to not have as tight a schedule as many Americans do; they are usually in the middle of something when Liz and I arrive even though we show up at the same time every Sunday. I would perceive this as being less future-orientated than many typical Americans. I also noticed that they are very open with proxemics or personal space; they always invite us to sit with them on the floor and have no problem being in such a close space with us. This behavior actually gives off a warm and affectionate attitude and I do believe it is a behavior that many Americans lack.
I see and perceive the world through a lens, one that is crafted by the English language and various American cultural values and behaviors. As my visits with the Ling family near their end (if only for a while) I have learned that while cultural differences can sometimes seem extreme, there are always similarities to be found. There is always a way to communicate across cultures and the Linguistic Relativism theory holds much more weight than that of the Linguistic Determinism. In future interactions of intercultural communication I will be sure to keep this in mind as I try to see how others perceive the world.
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