In terms of their body language towards their teachers, Japanese students are more likely to sit in their seats, raise their hands, and even outside of the classroom are more likely to accept advice from teachers about personal matters, such as how to speak politely and even matter of hygiene. The greater deference and focus on passing exams, rather than engaging in contentious or individualistic debate is also evident in European education systems. In many European nations, in contrast to Japan, the family rather than the teachers are seen as have the ultimate authority in dictating their children's private lives; however, students are far more inclined when in school to observe a respectful distance between themselves and their teachers, and to defer to their teacher's authority.

Give examples of problems that may arise in a health care setting if a physician does not understand the cultural norms of his or her patient regarding family roles, self-disclosure or openness, and ways of speaking.

A physician must understand a patient's cultural views about gender roles, for example, when discussing birth control with a husband and wife. A wife may desire birth control, but be frightened to discuss the matter in front of her husband, because his religion or culture prohibits the use of the device, or sees birth control as usurping his authority in the home. An older individual may experience pain in his or her body, but be afraid to discuss the matter with a physician of a different gender. Also, some cultures may assign the authority of decision-making about an important health-related matter to the child's parents, even if the child...

At the end of life as well, some cultures may believe that an older individual should be spared the knowledge of the full extent of their illness.
A physician does not merely treat the human body -- he or she must cope with cultural assumptions about when life is worth living, and what it means to be a spouse or child, man or woman, within a specific cultural context. Although he or she does not have to accept the other person's culture as correct, the physician must accept it as valid, and while the healthcare professional must obey the law and the ethics of America, he or she must still act with sensitivity and understanding when disclosing information to a family from another culture, and try to understand how a different culture expresses health and illness.

Works Cited

Beer, Jennifer E. (2003). "Apologizing to your customer -- a Japanese perspective."

Culture at Work. Retrieved 4 Oct 2007 at http://www.culture-at-work.com/apology.html

Education in Japan." (2007). Last updated Oct 2007. Retrieved 4 Oct 2007 at http://www.education-in-japan.info/sub1.html

Samovar, Larry a., Porter, Richard, E. And McDaniel, Edward R. (2006).

Communication between Cultures. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2006a.

Samovar, Larry a., Porter, Richard, E. And McDaniel, Edward R. (2006).

Intercultural Communication: A Reader. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2006b.