Midterm Exam
Select two of the four essay questions below and provide a one-page response to each of the two questions. Your answers should make APA style references to our course texts and should include your own original analysis and/or examples beyond those used in our course texts.
Essay Item A
Identify and discuss four potential barriers to intercultural communication. Give your own examples for each of the four barriers you discuss and suggest ways to overcome these barriers.
Essay Item B
What is the relationship between communication and identity? How do individuals form an identity, and what role does communication play in creating that identity? What challenges does identity pose when communicating across cultural boundaries?
Essay Item C
Explain the importance of language in the human communication process and how it may be described in terms of a tool, a prism, and a display. Give your own examples of how language communicates culture as a display and explain how language as a display impacts diversity issues such as sexism, stereotyping, or labels.
Essay Item D
What are the potential challenges posed by differences in nonverbal communication when communicating across cultures or communicating interracially? Provide two examples of specific types of nonverbal communication and describe the challenges they pose. What potential solutions can you suggest for overcoming these challenges?