Potential Prereading Activities

Option 2: Using a quotation from the text to connect what they will be reading with their own lives.

Take a look at the following quotation and answer the questions below.

Culture can account for misunderstood actions and miscommunication, she explains, citing the case of a Japanese man who landed a job at an international manufacturing company in Canada.

He would often sit too close to female co-workers, and fail to look them in the eye while talking to them, not realizing that they regarded his behaviour suspiciously. No one had briefed him on how to interact with co-workers here, nor were the workers taught anything about Japanese ways of communicating.

Potential questions:

• Do you agree that culture "can account for misunderstood actions and miscommunication?" Why or why not? Give examples to justify your answer.
  
  
• How close do you think the man would have to sit to female coworkers to be "too close?"
  
  
• Why would not looking female co-workers in the eye make his behaviour "suspicious?"
  
  
• Why were there communication difficulties? What would you do if you were the supervisor at this company?