Intercultural Comuncation

Corporate and Professional Discourse

Generational Discourse

Discourse Systems

Collection of inter-related elements Beliefs (from common experiences) Relationships Communication (symbols of membership) Learning/Membership

How they influence us Membership/Participation

Discourse Systems

Simultaneous membership in multiple discourse systems

Matter of ‘multiple identity’ UDS CDS National/Regional discourse systems Corporate and professional discourse systems Generational discourse systems

Discourse Systems

Voluntary Discourse Systems Involuntary Discourse Systems

Enculturation

‘Generation Gap’

Activities Family Tree Generation Gap

What is a Generation?

“A co-hort group whose length approximates the span of a phase of life and whose boundaries are fixed by peer personality.” Phase of life: dependence, activity, leadership,

stewardship Peer personality: persona determined by common

age, common beliefs and behavior, and perceived generational membership – most impacted by events that take place during dependence and activity phases

Generational Cycle

Idealist Generation Indulged youth following secular crisis, inspires

spiritual awakening, fragments into narcissistic adults, cultivates principle as midlifers

Reactive Generation Underprotected and criticized youths during

spiritual awakening, alienated adults, pragmatic midlife leaders

Generational Cycle

Civic Generation Increasingly protected youth, comes of age

overcoming secular crisis, unites into a heroic and achieving cadre

of adults, builds institutions as midlifers Adaptive Generation

Overprotected and suffocated youths, matures into risk-averse conformist adults, produces midlife arbitrator-leaders

Generations

Birthyears

Age on 12/31/04

Silent (adaptive) 1925-1942 62 to 79

Boom (idealist) 1943-1960 44 to 61

X (reactive) 1961-1981 23 to 43

Millennial (civic) 1982 – 2003 1 to 22

Four American Generations

Authoritarian 1914-1928 Depression/War 1929-1945 Baby Boom 1946-1964 Infochild 1965-1980

Authoritarian

View of world dominated by war Broken ties with home countries Prohibition Socialization > anti-self-expression Print media, movies, radio Hierarchical face systems GI Generation

Depression/War

Great Depression/WWII Changes in family life End of prohibition Self-reliance

‘I’ll never go hungry again!’ Socialization > self-regulation Type A personality News: Radio, Newsreels

More compressed sense of time Transition from hierarchical face systems to more egalitarian ones Struggle for dominance Silent Generation

Baby Boom

Born into wealth + shortages Cold war/ Nuclear age ‘Fractured time’ Vietnam War

Anti-war Movement Civil Rights Movement Hippies Assassinations Drugs

TELEVISION/MUSIC Socialization > self-expression Face systems > radical egalitarian/ ‘Relationships’ Anti-establishment/ Polemic individualism Boomers

Infochildren

‘Generation X’ Watergate ‘the postponed generation’ Socialization > Expertise ‘Atari’/Computers/Video games Single parent families ‘Smarter than their parents’ ‘Scary world’ Generation X

Millennial Generation

Born 1982 to 2003 Columbine

Post Cold War No clear enemies

Ecstasy Test tube babies/Cloning Sex and the president Mobile Communication Millennial Generation

Future

9/11 and the War on Terror American Hegemony ‘Wearable technology’/ ‘Cyborgs’ Future

Fashion

http://library.thinkquest.org/23440/generationlink.html G.I. Generation members looked for elegance, whilst Silent generation

members looked for practicality. Baby boomers were ones to cast off the shackles of the previous generations to take on a frivolity and enjoy clothing - going to the extreme of the punk rocker eighties. Generation Xers have mellow tastes in fashion when compared to their parents, for they have realized that money isn't everything and extravagant fashion can end up looking rather tacky - this is seen with the short lived popularity of Grunge. It's moved towards a sleek chic look for the Millennial generation as they prepare for a new Millennium. What the Futuristic generation' taste in style will be is left up to the events that have yet to come.

Generations in Hong Kong

Work in groups to determine the generations in Hong Kong, using the chart provided.

Discuss the kinds of difficulties people from these different generations might have communicating and why.

Time Magazine

Intergenerational miscommunication In family contexts In corporate contexts In political contexts In educational contexts

‘Aliens in the classroom’

Corporate contexts

Authoritarians Look to good of organization Hierarchy Sensitive to challenges

Depression/War Individual power and control Concern with time

Baby Boom Personal freedom Anti-authority

Infochild ‘Lifestyle’ Small teams Working from home