Class questions/comments 02/01
The article talks about how there are many studies that show women are often interrupted
by men because of dominance. But what I wonder about is if this is not because of
dominance but instead because women just talk longer and faster. I would like to see a study
on that. Because I think that men probably interrupt more since it is more likely that they can
not get a word in since women will talk more and quicker and men need to attempt to talk
mid sentence. I also wonder in the studies taken, how long the conversation was before. I
think this helps determine how much the women has said in comparison to the man to see if
the men just could not get a word in.
 Attamante, Kelsey M.
In the article of the Korean immigrants and African American service encounters, I can
understand both sides. I worked in a grocery store over the summer and much rather prefer
the approach of the Korean immigrants; just simple greetings and what was required to carry
out the transaction. However, this is the South and small talk is very common so I had to hold
conversations with people while scanning their items. This did not bother me too much, but
it was a little forced as I preferred quietly doing my job. I do not think that anyone noticed
the fact that I was forcing myself to interact but if it is I know it would have been seen as
rude. I also find that the Tannen article, the assumption that men use interruptions as a sign
of dominance can be understandable as a woman. It can be thought that the interruption is
an act with the intention or thought that their point is more important than the woman’s
even if that is not the case.
 Atwood, Michelle M.
What I found interesting about this reading is that it brings to light that all minorities are not
together. People would think that all minorities would get along, but that is definitely not
the case. In places like Korea, black people are essentially non-existent, so there is a lack of
understanding on their end. Korean people are left to how other people have seen black
people to form their own opinion and that is not good. Especially in the United States, where
African Americans have been marginalized for centuries, the stereotypes that they steal and
what not are taken very seriously by the Korean people. There was not really a local context
to go on for them, and that is something that we should keep in mind. This applies to more
than just Koreans though, this can apply to anything. If a population does not exist in your
country; you are left to form opinions on them solely based on how others have treated
them, and that is frightening.

Bass, Jefferson R.
 Baxley, Morgan N.
Reading 1
The section on African-American and Korean immigrants reminded me of going into
the nail salon. The nail salon I go to has a full Vietnamese staff and whenever I am getting my
nails done the whole staff is conversing in Vietnamese. They will ask me a question or two
about myself and then go on with a conversation in their language. Their body language, eye
contact and vocal tones make it seem as though they are talking about me, but that might
not even be the case.
Reading 2
This section was entertaining to read because so much of it was so relatable. I’m not
always talkative, but when I do speak I tend to be very wordy and use (sometimes too much)
descriptive language. Many times I even have to think about a conversation before I have it
because I don’t want to say too much and overwhelm the other person/people with my
talking. I have a friend who LOVES to talk and whenever we are together it’s like the married
couple described in the first section of the reading because he ALWAYS talks and I find it so
difficult to ever get in one word because he’s so chatty. Often times I find myself spacing out
and not having the slightest clue as to what he is saying but give him a “yeah” and “uh huh”
so he thinks I’m mentally on board.

Bhonsle, Meera R.

Blakeney, Oliver P.
 Cahn, Natalie R.
African-American and Korean immigrants: Personally, I have never heard of what happened
in Los Angeles and did not know that there was some type of tension/drift between these
two groups of people. When reading about it, each group stated that they both feel as if they
had been shown no respect. From the perspective of African Americans, they believed that
the Korean immigrants in the stores did not show them the amount of involvement as other
customers among other things. From the perspective of the Korean immigrants, they felt as if
the way that the African American’s talked to them was a big issue. The amount of profanity
and high pitched voices was disrespectful to them. When reading more into this I did
understand more why these two groups would not really get along, each come from
drastically different customs and cultures. I wonder how the relationship between these two
groups are now?
When reading about interruption between the genders, I thought that it was surprising. Was
surprised to read that more men interrupt women than women do to men. Stereotypically,
women are talkers, they can talk about almost anything for a long period of time. On the
other hand, men are known to be less talkative, more forward. Wondering how men would
be interrupting more than women?
 Castaneda, Alison A.
In Tannen 1989, it mentions that “…the more comfortable the children reported feeling with
their friends, the more interruptions…” I think that is very true. It happens when I’m with my
family or best friends. If any of us have a thought while someone else is talking, we’ll say it
because we’re comfortable enough around each other that we know none of us will get
angry if we interrupt them. And I think that’s why most people will only interrupt somebody
if they’re close to them. You don’t want to interrupt somebody that you just met if you want
to maintain a relationship with them because you don’t want to come off as rude.
 Clark, Morgan L.
Questions
Fortune favors the bold and in all things you must have audacity, but what is the best way to
not make a faux pax by interrupting another person? How do you know whether or not
interrupting is impolite in another culture?
Is the reading generalizing when it says that it’s a common assumption about the world: that
most see interruption as a hostile act. The Spanish example in the comments below is an
example, how can you not interrupt if someone is speaking so fast in a long conversation?
Comments
Interruptions are definitely one of my worries in speaking Spanish. I’ve witnessed native
speakers speaking so fast that you cannot get a word in. I, however, was used to this,
because my mother would lecture me non-stop. If you didn’t butt in or tell her to stop, you
would never be able to speak or end the conversation. In the movie Pulp Fiction (in the
deleted scenes), Mia Wallace asks Vincent Vega what type a person he is: 1) A person that
listens or, 2) A person that can’t wait to talk. Vincent, who is still high from a shot of heroin,
says, “I try to listen, but I have to admit, I’m waiting to talk.” You get the sense from his
character in the movie that he is just very interested in the conversations he’s a part of; he
doesn’t want to be impolite, it’s just his nature to want to keep his train of thought
going. Also, when you are a talker and the other person is an introvert aren’t you going to
naturally outpace the other person when speaking. In movies, Americans are often
represented as pushy, rude, people; is that how we really are or is there some aspect of
manners that just doesn’t resonate in our culture? In my experience good conversation
doesn’t always mean one person talking at a time, sometimes it is people overlapping and
really being animated, and that doesn’t always mean dominance or anger.
I completely agree with the article on Korean and African American interaction in retail
situations. I travelled to Korea on a business trip and went into a guitar shop with some
white co-workers; I’m an experienced guitar player. I was anxious to see the difference of
the Schecter line of guitars because they were made in Korea. There was one other player in
the group, the rest did not play, but they all were picking up the guitars and playing
them. When I went to test a guitar; the vendor told me not to touch the
merchandise. Because everyone else had guitars, I took it as an insult—that he didn’t want
me touching the guitars because I was black. Language barriers may have prevented him
from saying something like, “store policy is only three people playing guitars at a time”, but
he never said that. As a result, I didn’t buy anything from his store, and I’ve boycotted
Schecter guitars ever since.
 Collins, Matthew
It is to my surprise that not all conversational overlap is bad. I did not realize it but I thought
it was interest that some cultures think silence is bad so they actually want to talk until
someone interrupts them. Why is this considered taboo in some cultures and not in other
cultures? Could the fact that interrupting is not seen as much of a detriment to men stem
from when men “owned” their wives? By “owned” I mean, men had legal control of their
wife and so it was seen as more favored if the men could “control” her.
 Feigh, Madison H.
While I do think interruption is a powerful tool in exercising dominance, I think silence is a bit
more effective a tool. I feel like people who often interrupt are more seen as an annoyance
or a know-it-all rather than powerful. By being silent you can keep someone's attention and
completely control the pace of the conversation. I am reminded of the episode of "The
Office," where Michael, the office manager, does intensive Wikipedia resource on how he
can better have control over his business meetings. Two of the tactics he discovered were
refusing to speak first and taking one's time to respond. Both of these involve the power of
silence. In Tanin's article she describes a mother who reveals that her children listen to her
husband more because he is consistently using the power of silence. Rather than nagging his
children all the time, he reprimands only when necessary and they take it far more seriously.
This is exactly the situation in my home. It's almost scary when my dad yells, because it
almost never happens. It far more effective than my mothers reprimanding, cause she always
going on about something.

Gabriele, Isabella R.
 Gawinski, Kyle T.
Tannen reading:
The data that states that men interrupt women more than the other way around is really
surprising to me. From experience, I know I have interrupted my boyfriend a lot more than
he has interrupted me but he takes more offense to it than I do. Moreover, I know the girls
that I hang out with, interrupt the guys more than the other way around. Considering how
Tannen’s article was published in 1989, I think things have definitely changed since
then. Nowadays, women are getting more control over the floor of the
conversation. Perhaps it has something to do with the feminist movement but women are
getting and requiring more attention than ever before.
 Gonzales, Paula B.
According to Tannen men talk more than women. In conversation the person who interrupts
is considered the aggressive one while the person who was interrupted is a victim. Research
shows that an interruption is sort of a means of social control. In my opinion that’s true in a
sense. When I'm having a conversation with someone and they just interrupt me I get the
feeling that they're either trying to silence me or they just don’t care about what I have to
say. However sometimes an interruption could be because someone doesn't have a clear
understanding of what's being discussed and wants to get a little clarification before the topic
is changed. So whether an interruption is considered aggressive or not is a matter of
perspective, and it also depends on the situation.
 Hunter, Khadijah J.
Why is there an assumption that women talk too much when the studies done by West and
Zimmerman conclude that men tend to interrupt conversations more frequently? When a
study was done in 1976 with a faculty meeting, they found that men were dominating the
meeting with a greater level of interruptions over women. Is there a reason why males
correlate with higher numbers of interruptions? Is it because interruptions can be to
“exercise power and control” which is typically associated with male (“macho”) personalities?
From personal experience, I haven’t noticed more males interjecting unless it was in a
structured debate at school (like a Socratic seminar), but in day to day conversations the
interruptions feel unintentional.
 Kibler, Jessica L.
This segment was the first time I had ever heard of there ever being conflict between
Koreans and African Americans. I had honestly never been told or even seen anything on the
news about it---although clearly it's a big deal in the LA area. I think it's especially interesting
that there's one specific event that set it off; the murder of an African-American by a Korean
immigrant. That's one instance; did that really set off all of the animosity? Obviously a
murder is no small thing, but I do feel as though there must have been some kind of tension
between the two before that event. I also am kind of alarmed at the lyrics from the Ice Cube
song about burning down the store. That's terrifying, and I feel as though it's kind of uncalled
for. However, I do think that the fact that this animosity between the two groups has evolved
due to language and how they interact with one another is intriguing: it really shows how
much affect a language, or even mannerisms, can have on a culture.

Kilgore, Linda K.
This article is talking about relationships and such between Koreans and African
Americans. When they were talking about and listing examples of when African Americans
said that they demanded respect from the Koreans, I questioned, why do these two ethnic
groups have an issue with each other? When did the African Americans and the Koreans
begin to hate each other? Personally, when they talked about Ice Cubes lyrics, I found that
particularly disrespectful. So how do these people think they are going to get respect from
the Koreans when they are being disrespectful to them as well? I think that when the 50year-old lady was explaining how Koreans don’t do things like look at you or they don’t smile
or do anything, shows that maybe African Americans are just not properly educated in the
Korean culture and their norms and expect to be treated the way African Americans are
treated anywhere they go.
For the article dealing with men and women and interruption, I somewhat began to
agree with some of the findings and the stats. Personally, I do see more men interrupting
women that the other way around, which is not always a bad thing or something that was
meant to happen, I think it just naturally happens. Men are usually seen as dominant and
stricter, so I think that women want to hear everything a man is saying, therefore not
interrupting him as much. But I do think that sometimes, men tend to speak without
thinking. During conversations I have with guys and with girls throughout the day, men do
interrupt more often, either to agree, disagree or just say something about the topic at hand.
I don’t think they ever mean for it to come off rude at all.
 Kostuchenko, Hannah F.
In the first article, I get the feeling that each party(Koreans and African Americans) are just
adhering to their own social norms. We talked in the last class about how Japanese people
think it is rude to talk to strangers, so is this derived from that as well? I could see if it was
not, as I have experienced it myself while in Nicaragua. I was on a mission trip and when we
got to go to the market one day I got certain looks from shopkeepers. Some would even
refuse to barter with me but they did not refuse when a member of our group who sounded
and looked like a local attempted to. In this case, I feel like the lack of respect it could be
influenced by a preconceived notion about the other party caused by past experiences.
 May, Wesley H.
Having worked as a cashier before, I immediately empathized with the black customers in the
transcribed exchanges and found the outlook of the Korean shopkeepers that small talk was
evidence of poor breeding insulting. There’s nothing more disheartening than directly
addressing someone in an attempt to be friendly and being either ignored or not responded
to with equal enthusiasm. Half of the time when I was working, I would say a simple greeting
and not be acknowledged, and out of those who didn’t bother to greet me, about half of
them griped about me being “unfriendly.” (These comments weren’t taken to heart by my
managers, as they say that oftentimes the customers that complained about unfriendly
cashiers were unfriendly themselves.) I was much more insulted by the Korean outlook on
interacting with customers than I should have been, and it’s somewhat embarrassing to say
that a PDF made me heated.
Despite having been to China, a Confucian-driven society perhaps moreso than Korea,
and learning not to take what we would perceive as coldness to heart very quickly, I can’t
help but feel indignant that people immigrate to this country and can’t even be bothered to
say anything beyond hello and goodbye given that it’s a huge part of the culture of business
here. Learning the nuances of another culture is in no way you conceding your own, and if
there’s a dominant culture than anyone of any race, ethnicity, or nationality should do their
best to take on the most essential aspects of the culture they live in. Personally, I think that
this case reveals an overall global disease of believing in their own cultural superiority, which
has proven to be dangerous many times over.
 McAllister, Sarah B.
In America, only one person speaks at a time and if another person interrupts the
conversation is considered rude. However, in the East, listeners are expected to interrupt to
contribute toward the conversation. Sitting silent and listen to one person the whole time
during conference is very awkward in most Asian countries.
The confusion from African-America versus Korean immigrant makes a good point. Korean is
well-known for making fun of African-American in their country. They have shown where
people have dark skin make up and do silly thing in front of the screen. In the mind of Korean
immigrant, African-American is a bad symbol due to the stereotype at the time.

Nguyen, Hieu C.
 Odom, Jalisa
It’s interesting the difference in interactions between Korean-Americans versus those in the
African American community. The interactions being quite quick and related to simply
business transactions is something I can relate to when I was in Korea. Although since I was a
foreigner, they may have treated me differently, it was still something I observed when my
Korean friends conducted these interactions too. It fits the style of the culture to have rigid
conversations toward the end goal, whereas in African American culture, it’s much more
open and social. Before reading this I had never realized how cultures may clash in a
multicultural setting like this.
 Patterson, Erik N.
While reading the Bailey reading on communicative conflicts between African Americans and
immigrant Korean retailers, it occurred to me that the dissonance between the two ethnic
groups was largely amplified primarily by the respective groups’ perceptions of how the rest
of western society perceives each minority. Also, I felt as though these tensions could be
identified (albeit to a much smaller, more hidden degree) with white Americans as well.
Further, although I am white, I found myself identifying much more with the African
Americans’ shop behavior, which leads me to believe that it is more characteristic of western,
more individualistic cultures. Thus, perhaps this conflict could be analyzed on a more
generalized level when simply comparing individualistic and collectivistic cultures.

Potter, Ansley D.
 Price, Alexander N.
How does an Athabaskan Indian become familiar with someone if they don't talk to them?
I think a lot of the barriers to communication and language or even new barriers can be
applied to texting. Whenever I text someone, I know how it would come out if I had verbally
said it, but over text, my intonation is completely different from the way the person receiving
the text could perceive it in their mind.
Something that I never realized was the concept of indirectness in relation to language. I’ve
always taken this for granted such as seeing passive aggressiveness in myself and others. I
have now noticed that I use a lot of indirectness when I do not want to say no to someone
like in the Greek woman asking her father example in the Tannen text.
The article about African-American customers and Korean immigrant retailers and their
barriers to communication makes me think of another point: I recently read an article that in
short said the reason new political ideas and intellectual ideologies can be spread is because
they use such an educated and elite form of language, the laypeople are not able to
comprehend it.
 Rhoney, Kevin R.
It seems to me that the capacity of ones interrupting had more to do with their personality
than if they are a man or a woman. I also feel that interrupting can be related to a power
stance; if I am speaking with a professor and he/she interrupts my sentence then I will not be
as agitated or say something about it because I feel as if they are able to interrupt my
thoughts with theirs due to their superiority.
Sometimes interruptions, when discussing with peers, can indeed be constructive and
supportive because they allow each participant to biuld on each others ideas and reach a
higher understanding.
Do interruptions happen less in conversations between a native speaker of a language and a
non-native speaker who is leanring the language? Because the non-native speaker does not
feel as confident in their communication ability and must pause to think of their replies and
questions.
If it is the natural manner of Korean's to be less sociable or talkative, then it seems unfair to
have African-Americans call them rude and complain when the Korean's are not intending
this percieved rude attitude.
After reading both point of views of Koreans and African-Americans, it seems that both
groups are a bit close-minded in their perception of different ethnicities or races. They see
the differeing person as someone who does not confine to their “guidelines or expectations”
about being a normal, respectful human being so that person is automatically labeled as rude
or not social.
 Rudisell, Laura H.
I found the example very interesting that Tannen used about the woman wanting to divorce
her husband because he hasn't talked to her because he didn't want to interrupt her. I think
that is funny because I have always believed it to be an issue the other way around- men
always interrupting women. Why do people in todays world and society always think of
interruption as a bad thing? I think that if it is done in a respectful and considerate manner, it
is okay to interrupt in order to get a point across in a specific moment in time. I also think an
interruption is becoming a more popular thing than it used to be in the past, I think among
older people it can be a very rude gesture and sometimes they can take it the wrong way,
even if something wasn't meant as an interruption.
 Sharifi, Layla J.
Benjamin Bailey and his research with the conflicts between Korean merchants and African
American shoppers can easily be justified. I have experience the same trauma as an African
American plenty of times in my life. Back in my hometown, there are many stores that are
ran and owned by Middle Eastern individuals. Some can come off as rude and others can
portray a sense of respect towards the customers. When I was younger, I experienced a
situation between one of them; where they threatened to kick me out of the store because I
they wouldn’t give me change back for five bucks and clearly there was change inside the
register. The man used aggressive, vulgar language towards me and I did not appreciate it.
 Shell, De-Juan T.
I think that the interactions African Americans like and expect are what Americans in general
like and expect. Why has it become such a Black-American versus Korean-American thing?
In reference to Tannen, I have noticed that men interrupt women much more often. I notice
it on interactions on the news and have at times wondered why no one corrects the guy. I
haven't experienced cultures and ethnicities where people see interruption as normal so I
thought it was considered rude by everyone. What is the limit on the high involvement
speaking? How interruptive does someone have to be before even they think it's rude?
 Stuyck, Renee
I agree with Bailey that these conflicts between African Americans and Koreans came from
pre-existing social conflicts. The reading says that even the most basic communicative
exchanges rely on sociocultural background knowledge and assumptions and I can see
exactly where it is coming from. I know that without even thinking about it, when I talk to
someone knew I already have an idea of how the person is going to be just based on what I
see and the knowledge that I have gained about that person’s background. Will this ever not
be an issue? The miscommunication of the two races has caused this rivalry that wouldn’t
have had to happen if the right communication was involved.
 Toney, Grace-Elizabeth
I find interesting that African-Americans and Korean Immigrants have their disputes on what
Bailey deems as a lack of respect. Koreans view respect as a hierarchy where you would only
"respect" those who believe have more power over you. African-Americans view respect as
treating others with kindness and equality. Korean immigrant store owners found it
disrespectful that their African-American customers would try to stir up a conversation
without them wanting to participate. Could an interruption in the process of a mutual
transaction like buying something a store be considered an attempt to dominate that
sphere? For example, when the 50 year old male African-American customer tried to get
himself to be "known" at a store owned by a Korean immigrant. In the Korean culture, one
would just enter the store, say hi, and buy what they are going to buy, and then leave.
Could having small talk in a transaction like this be considered by Korean culture an
interruption for the purpose of dominance?
 Tovar, Alex
This week's reading about the lack of understanding between Korean cashiers and AfricanAmerican shoppers left me feeling sad, particularly because they occurred in my home city of
Los Angeles. That these misunderstandings have erupted in violent ways is especially
disheartening. I wonder what means, if any, exist to educate the two groups
about their cultural and linguistic differences. All people need to be
aware that different cultures simply have different ways of showing friendliness and
respect. Cultural sensitivity could be possibly be part of a school curriculum, and taught at
an early age. I can't think of any other way to address this source of conflict.
 Yaffe, Carol
Why are people expected to talk the way they look? I feel like it should be based on where
you grew up instead. The sense of judgment is just buried into our genes. I also feel like
people are more comfortable talking or interacting with people who are like them rather
than those who are not like them. I feel it is this way because they basically grew up with the
same mindset and the same ideas about everything which makes them easier to talk to
rather than someone completely different. Conflicts usually rise because people have a
different mindset from each other and arguments occur. As I woman, I know I talk a lot, that
is a given fact. But, I do find it rude when people barge into conversations without being
initiated into it and if they don’t respond within a decent amount of time. I feel like it is good
to be a good speaker but it is even better to be a good listener.
 Yates, Asia N.
I am, obviously, neither Korean or African American nor know much about their history other
than what I have learned in grade school (a.k.a not much). Reading this, I was surprised that
there was tension between the two cultures. After reading about it I couldn’t personally
understand why there were problems but I see the frustration between the two
cultures. Especially regarding the storekeepers, it was interesting reading about how they
interacted with each other. Even though it is in separate parts of the world, I related to it in a
way how I had been raised to dislike Haitians. Yes, it is racist and gross that I was taught that
and automatically think that way about Haitians due to my Dominican ancestry, however, it
was relatively useful in this instance as I understood where both the African American and
Korean cultures were coming from. I really loved, though, tying in the other reading to this
one. Both, obviously, are in completely different context (with the husband and wife
scenario versus the culture scenario) but both basically relied on the same principle. It was
interesting delving into interruption and disrespect of another person and culture depending
on what is considered disrespectful. One-hundred and fifty years ago, it would have been
okay for a husband to interrupt his wife at any given time and the wife would need to be fine
with it (same with how a white person could interrupt a black person) however, now, it
would be taboo for someone to do the same.

Zeller, Katherine M.