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Activity 18
Missing the Point

Adapted from "Missing the Point," in Myself and Others.  New York: Global Perspectives in Education, 1979. pp 60-63.

Grade Level

Secondary

Introduction

This series of activities can be undertaken at any time, but it is probably most valuable when used in connection with the study of other cultures.  After the class has learned about at least one other culture, talk about what seemed strange or odd in their ways of living and then proceed with these episodes.

Part of successful communication is understanding failures in communication and their consequences.  Common barriers to the clear sending and clear receiving of messages are: misinterpretation, prejudice, ethnocentrism and cultural differences.  In this series of activities, the class will encounter some of these barriers and explore the consequences.  The experience, especially if amplified and reinforced in later grades, will help develop the capacity to view the world with a less ethnocentric bias.

Teacher/Student Objective

The major goal of these activities to help students to recognize that judgments of other cultures are often based on misunderstanding or misinterpreting messages.  Students should come to understand the importance of viewing other cultures without judging forms of behavior that seem strange.

Gauging Student Understanding

The progress indicators cited reflect desirable end goals. Teachers should be prepared to use a wide variety of observational, testing and authentic achievement evaluation measures in judging the progress of students.

By experiencing three examples of miscommunication, students will be able to identify at least two different perceptions of situations.  By responding to each, they will show their realization that other cultural values are as important as their own.

Suggested Materials

• Copies of Handout 18A, Communicating Across Cultures.

Initial Data for Consideration and/or Process

The Game of Rumor is an excellent way to introduce this lesson and develop awareness of how easily messages are distorted-either in the sending or the receiving.  Bring one student to the front of the class after instructing the rest of the class that each is to pass on a message as clearly and accurately as possible, without leaving out any details.  Whisper the message to the first student.  It should be simple but detailed, for example:

Jack Walsh was a carpenter.  He and his friend Bill Smith, a plumber, had an argument.  They always argued over which team was better, the Bears or the Giants.  When the Bears beat the Giants 37-6, Jack felt that he had won the victory himself.

Whisper the message to the first student.  He or she then calls someone's name, the person comes to the front of the room, and Student I whispers the message.  Student II passes it onto someone else.  Allow no talking, no repeating and no writing.  Continue to the last student, who then writes down the message as he or she heard it.

Compare the written message with your original version.  (It may be useful to have both written on the chalkboard.)  Ask the class to point out errors and distortions.  In some cases, you'll find that the whole meaning has been lost.  You might also want to spend some time exploring if they can locate where particular distortions occurred to see if they were in the giving or receiving.

Distribute Handout 18A, Communicating Across Cultures, for two case studies adapted from, The Silent Language by Edward T. Hall (Greenwich, CT: Fawcett, 1959).

When studying other cultures, texts will often give examples of misunderstanding, usually based on ethnocentrisms, even if the word isn't defined.  Outsiders sometimes judge people whose behavior seems odd or bizarre.  A great deal can be gained by exploring some of these incidents and considering the possible consequences of such misunderstanding.  This is also a good way to demonstrate that action or behavior communicates just as speech and "silent language" do.

These brief episodes help to teach students to understand the meaning of ethnocentrism and to identify it when it occurs in their personal lives.

Other Possible Activities

• As an assignment, have the class watch a situation comedy on TV.  (The "situation" almost invariably involves a fouled-up message.)  Check the TV listings and assign a number of different programs.  Their task is to find out what missed message occurred, and how this led to trouble.  The next day ask for reports.  There should be plenty of material for discussion and they will recognize the parallels with the game of rumor.

• Consult the book The Silent Language by anthropologist Edward T. Hall.  The book contains numerous other similar examples that you could easily write up into episodes for the class to consider.  You might deal with Hall's title-what he means by "the silent language."  They should be able to give other examples of how behavior or actions send messages which also may not be easily understood by other people.

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