The past couple of times that my group has visited
the refugee family that we are working with, we have spent much of our time reading
with them. My mom is a first grade teacher and my sister is a kindergarten
teacher, so I am able to bring a wide variety of books to read with the family.
I, personally, spend a lot of time working with the father of the family. He is
generally able to read the words that he sees by sounding them out, but he
often comes across words which he does not know the meaning of. After spending
a fair amount of time with him, I have come to find it is easy to tell when he
needs clarification by the nonverbal messages that he sends. At the end of our
last visit, while reading with the father, he began to tell and show me that he
and his daughter needed new city bus passes in order to get to and from school.
His daughter had only one punch left on her pass and he had none left. I could
tell that he was anxious about this. The nearest place to purchase bus passes
was much too far to walk. His concern was so evident; I found that empathy for
his situation was crucial to how the rest of the interaction would proceed. I
responded with enough concern for both he and his daughter that he felt
comfortable asking me to purchase bus passes for them, which I did the next
morning with money that he gave me.
Because
there is such a language barrier when it comes to communication with the
refugee family, nonverbal communication has become absolutely vital in our
interactions. The family’s kinesics are especially telling and extremely
helpful in determining the messages that they are trying to send. When I read
with the father, for example, he makes a certain face when he comes across a
word which he doesn’t know the meaning of. Sometimes, he also pauses after reading
these words. His facial expressions and his silence indicate to me that he
would appreciate an explanation and definition of the word. He never explicitly
asks for the definitions of the words he doesn’t know, but I know that he wants
to know them. Therefore, it is extremely important for me to interpret the
nonverbal messages that he is sending. Being rather universal, nonverbal
communication seems to be even more important in intercultural communication.
The
ability to display empathy was really important when we discussed the bus
passes. If I would not have shown my concern—through nonverbal messages such as
my facial expression and gestures—I do not think that he would have asked me to
pick up the passes and drop them off. Because I showed genuine interest in the
situation and concern for him and his daughter, he was willing to ask for this
favor, and I was happy to help. Empathy, which I conveyed, in this case,
through nonverbal communication, furthered our conversation and enabled
competent communication with a favorable outcome.
I
learned a lot over the past two visits to our World Relief family. The primary
lesson to emerge was the importance of nonverbal communication in an
intercultural context. I also learned the importance of empathy in
intercultural communication. In future interactions with the family, I will pay
close attention to the nonverbal messages of each family member, as they often
tell more than words. I will also be sure to display empathy when appropriate as
a way to ensure that the family feels comfortable in our interpersonal
interactions. The application of both of these lessons will promote competent
communication in the future.
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