Cross Cultural Communication

The intent in this paper is to look at two ethnographic explorations of disparate speech communities; one, the Mexican-American community of the late 1940s and one the modern African-American speech community. It also must be understood that there are variations within these communities, too. Nonetheless, it might be helpful to look at some of the characteristics of communication within these communities and consider some of the problems people within the communities might have in communicating with each other.

George Barker's focus was Tucson, Arizona in the mid-1940s. Barker chose that city because it had a large group of Mexican-Americans who were assimilated to varying degrees. The acculturation process, in some instances, had been virtually completed, while in other cases, individuals had just arrived from Mexico. Barker lived right in the middle of the barrio in the Spanish-speaking community, using three different kinds of language (1) standard Mexican Spanish, (2) the Sonoran dialect, and (3) the southern Arizona dialect. His field experience was ext

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of the adaptation of African people to the culture of the United States under the conditions of slavery and discrimination. It is a combination of language and style, according to her, that has its foundations in African philosophies about language and communication. Weber talked about some of the characteristics of black English noting, among other things, that it tends to be centered by imaginative and vivid speech. Black speech, according to her, is rhythmic, like African languages, accented, dynamic, and collaborative (Weber, 1994). There are also specific styles in black English. One of the more common contemporary styles is rapping, which is a rhythmic, and often sexual, means of communicating and relating. Running it down, Weber noted, is a form of rapping that involves minute description of a situation. On the other hand, the dozens is a secular style in which the participants exchange verbal insults, probably related to talking trash, as in basketball and other sports. Again, the focus is on creativity and playing to an audience of some sort. Finally, Weber indicated, proverbial sayings are the last important style in secular African-American communication. The more sacred styles of speech also use black English.
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1492
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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