Ethno-specific communication patterns: Implications for nutrition education

Abstract

The literature on cross-cultural nutrition education suggests that to enhance the efficacy of nutrition education counseling or program planning practitioners need to understand the culture with which they work. DeGarine (1), Hertzler et al. (2), Nichter and Nichter (3), and Wilson (4) suggested that to speak of food within the framework of a culture, nutrition educators must know more than the culture's food habits and eating practices. They must also understand the symbolic meaning of food within the culture. However, if nutrition educators focus only on the symbolism and meanings of food within a culture without attending to specific communication patterns of that culture, misunderstandings may result. Researchers in the field of sociolinguistics have noted that if participants in an interaction have different communication patterns communication will be impeded (5,6). Therefore, to understand a culture and to provide effective cross-cultural nutrition education counseling it is important that nutrition educators attend to the use and meaning of verbal and nonverbal language in that culture. This article uses the sociolinguistic technique of the study of ethnography of communication to illustrate how the differences between the communication patterns of a client and a nutrition educator of different ethnic backgrounds can influence a nutrition education interaction. Sociolinguistic factors cited in this study include a consideration of the event itself, the meaning and use of verbal and nonverbal communication, the presentation of self, the distribution of talk, and questioning-and-answering etiquette. These represent only a few of the many factors involved in an ethnography of communication study. The ethnic groups considered in this work are Native Canadian clients who are members of the Ojibwa and Cree tribes (Note 1) and nutrition educators who are non-Native Euro-Canadians (Note 2). Although both the clients and the nutrition educators speak English, for many Native Canadians English is a second language. However, since the purpose of this report is limited to illustrating how differences in communication patterns can influence a nutrition education interaction, factors such as proficiency in the use of English, comprehension of nutrition terminology, and