UCSD Saudi Arabia Historical Background Communication Styles & Beliefs Paper

1. You will provide a brief cultural write-up relating to his/her representative country (chosen for Making Acquaintances: Do’s and Don’ts): (20 points)

1. Historical background
2. Communication styles (language, both verbal and non-verbal)
3. Beliefs (religion, family, nature, etc.)
4. Society structure (gender equality, role of children, family, ethnic groups, leaders, government, political ideologies, hierarchies)

VERY IMPORTANT – your final score will greatly depend on this.

In the next sections, associations SHOULD be made with the value orientations addressed in the Values portion of this course:

• Human Nature (Universalism-Particularism, Good/Evil, High-Context/Low-Context, Uncertainty Avoidance)
• Relation to Nature (Subjugation, Harmony, Mastery, Inner-/Outer-Directed)
• Activity Orientation (Achievement/Ascription, Doing-Being-Being-Becoming)
• Human Relationships (Affectivity/Affective Neutrality, Instrumental/Expressive, Self (Individualistic)/Collective (Collateral)/Linear, Egalitarian/Hierarchical, Power Distance)
• Relation to Time (Past-Present-Future, Monochronic/Polychronic, Low-Context/High-Context

2. Each student will provide a list of ‘Reasons for Codes of Cultural Behavior’ for tourists visiting his/her representative country. This list will explain to tourists why it is important that they follow each of the Do’s and Don’ts (that you listed in your Making Acquaintances: Do’s and Don’t’s assignment), from the hosts’ cultural (values of the culture) perspective, and should include the following: (40 points)

1. Five major ‘Do’s’ for tourists
   1. At least one appropriate value orientation of the culture for each ‘Do’ (20 points) (Describe in detail one distinct value orientation for each Do. Do not repeat value orientations for the items on the list of Dos.)
2. Five major ‘Don’ts’ for tourists
   1. At least one appropriate value orientation of the culture for each ‘Don’t’ (20 points) (Describe in detail one distinct value orientation for each Don’t. Do not repeat value orientations for the items on the list of Don’t’s.)

3. Each student will provide APA-style citations within the text whenever applicable and compile a list of APA-style references (reference page) for all resources used in his/her write-up (5 points).

4. On the ‘Making Acquaintances Part 2’ discussion forum, each student will post his/her findings about the representative country in a thread by the due date.

5. Each student is required to read the findings of one other student and respond to the posting of the other student by identifying the following, on or before the response due date (10 points):

1. One major cultural value commonality between his/her country and the other country (5 points)
2. One major cultural value difference between his/her country and the other country (5 points)

Do’s and Don’t’s in Saudi Arabia Society

Do’s

1. Greeting

Make sure to greet everyone in the house once entered (enter by saying Al Salam Allakum). (“The Planet D” & Dec, 2019)

2. Shoes off

Taking your shoes off is a huge sign of respect when entering Saudi Arabian homes. (Harn & Nov, 2017)

3. Praying

Prayer in Saudi Arabia is integral to the spiritual connection with God, Muslim worshipers are called to prayer and regularly pray 5 times a day, every day. It contains two of the holiest sites in Islam. (Esposito & Sep, 2020)

4. Shake hands

In Saudi Arabia men shake hands among each other and women should wait until the men approach her to shake her hand. (Hopfner & Dec. 2019)

5. Friendship

In Saudi Arabia everyone treats each other as family even if you’re a foreigner or a tourist, and in the order to show gratitude towards each other they call each other brother or sisters and aunt or uncle. furthermore, they often offer food to show there appreciation (“The Planet D” & Dec, 2019)

Don’t’s

1. Pork

In Saudi Arabia Muslims don’t eat pork because it’s a dirty animal and causes various diseases. (Saloom & Dec, 2012)

2. Alcohol

Drinking alcohol is the most sinful thing to do in Saudi Arabia’s homes.

3. Apparel

Woman in the Saudi Arabia wears more modestly and some vail their entire bodies’ religion as a sign of respect for their bodies. (“The Planet D” & Dec, 2019 )

4. Relationships

In Saudi Arabia relationships cannot be shown in public if the couples are not married and affection in a public area is really disrespectful to the crowd and to your family’s names. (Lewis & Nov, 2015)

5. Politics

Since the middle east (Saudi Arabia) is run by dictators’ people cannot talk about politics in public areas it can make them vanish from the face of the earth. It is considered disrespectful to talk bad about your country or the country you are visiting.

Reference:

Betty Hopfner. “Middle East Etiquette – Dos and Don’ts.” Break Forth Journeys, 17 Feb. 2015,

Dating and Relationships in Saudi Arabia – A Teacher’s Perspective. (2015, November 04). Retrieved September 03, 2020, from https://www.esl101.com/blogs/dating-and-relationsh…

D, The Planet, et al. “Etiquette in the Middle East – Travel for Men and Women.” The Planet D: Adventure Travel Blog, 14 Dec. 2019,

Harn, J. (2017, November 13). Etiquette 101: The Do’s and Don’ts of Visiting an Arab Home. Retrieved September 03, 2020, from https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/united-arab…

(n.d.). Retrieved September 03, 2020, from https://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/97801…

Saloom, A. (2012, December 14). Ask Ali: Why pork is forbidden for Muslims. Retrieved September 03, 2020, from https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/ask-ali-wh…