Chad Emmett and Dr. Jill Jenkins, Geography
The goal of this project is to improve interaction between Arabs and Americans by determining which aspects of American culture are hard for some Arabs to tolerate and why. The survey instrument consists of personal information which includes each participant’s age, gender, country, the extent of his/her interaction with Americans, length of residence in the U.S.,and English language and American culture training. Twenty experiences taken from the lives of Arab students at BYU comprise the body of the survey. The participants were asked if they “Strongly agree”, “Agree”, “Disagree”, or “Strongly disagree” with the feelings of the Arab in each true life situation. This survey was administered via E-mail, fax, and personal invitation to one hundred twenty-nine Arabs. Mohammad Abu-Mallouh personally administered the survey in Gaza and Inas Kotby administered the survey in Cairo. The information was then entered into a SPSS (Statistics Package for the Social Sciences) computer program, and analyzed according to the personal information given by each participant. I will display the twenty situations presented in the survey, share some of the statistical data, discuss problems encountered in analyzing the personal information, and give possible conclusions suggested by the data.
1. The students in Dana’s university class found out she was from Jordan. They asked her if she lived in a tent, had a TV or a camel, and what language she spoke. She was extremely offended.
2. Fida saw a male and female student standing in the hallway of the dormitory kissing. She was shocked.
3. Lara saw teenagers shouting at their parents. She felt bad because she missed her parents and appreciated them.
4. Nader asked a friend to do something for him and the friend said,” No.” He was shocked.
5. Shafik was in a room with other graduate students and a professor. One of the students had his feet up on the desk facing the professor. He felt very bad.
6. Samer was sitting on a city bus that was full. An old woman got on the bus and no one got up to offer her their seat. He was surprised. Samer gave her his seat.
7. It makes Reem feel strange when no one offers her a ride late at night and she has to ask.
8. Rawan made some Arab food for her American friends. They did not like the food and were not polite when they told her. It made her feel homesick.
9. Fadi has several roommates and also friends at school who eat food in front of him and don’t ask if he wants any. It makes him feel strange.
10. Sheda says that Americans speak loudly. She is annoyed by this.
11. Rami saw a teenage son smoking in front of his father. He was very upset.
12.Nader was in a crowded department store and bumped into a man. The man got very angry with him. Nader was very surprised.
13. Samer says that people often sit with their legs crossed and the bottom of their foot facing him. He is very offended.
14. Rana can’t kiss women on the cheek because Americans stare and she feels different.
15. In Dana’s university classes some of the students disagree with the professors. The professors then try to explain why their ideas are different from the student’s ideas. Dana was confused at first because she doesn’t verbally disagree with professors.
16. While visiting a large American city Lara saw men and women with rings in their eyebrows and cheeks, and men with rings in their chests. She was disgusted.
17. Fadi visited a large American city and enjoyed the differences in the way people were dressed. Some people wore jeans with holes in them, others high heels and dresses or suits and ties. Many wore bright colors and some dyed their hair unusual colors like green, purple, or orange.
18. Shafik went to a dance and was shocked to see some of the girls with both arms around the boys’ necks, and the boys with their hands on the girls’ lower backs while they were dancing.
19. Rami was invited out to eat lunch with some friends. The friend who invited him paid for his lunch and would not let Rami pay him back. Rami was embarrassed.
20. Fadi was using the public restroom when a friend walked in and started talking to him. He was embarrassed.
The Arabs surveyed were represented by 73 males and 56 females, 88 Palestinians, 30 Egyptians, and 8 Arabs who represent 7 other Middle Eastern countries, 63 between the ages of 18-29, 52 between the ages of 30-39, and 12 between the ages of 40-62. The most significant data is the frequency of the participants’ responses to the twenty situations. The sum of “Strongly agree” and “Agree” is represented by the following percentages: situation 1: 61%, 2: 72%, 3: 65%, 4: 50%, 5: 64%, 6: 60%, 7: 51%, 8: 68%, 9: 72%, 10: 70%, 11: 60%, 12: 69%, 13: 70%, 14: 62%, 15: 70%, 16: 69%, 17: 67%, 18: 79%, 19: 71%, 20: 65%. The totals for “Agree” verses “Disagree” are almost equal in situations 4 and 7. The rest of the situations appear to be more important to Arabs because 60% or more agreed with the feelings expressed by the Arab students at BYU. Arab men had a higher percentage of agreement than Arab women on 16 of the situations. In 12 of the 20 situations, the 40- 62 age group had the highest percentage of disagreement of the three age groups. Those who had lived in the U.S. 6-9 years and 10+ years had 75%-100% disagreement on 8 and 9 total situations respectively. Responses from those who have lived in the U.S. clearly indicates the influence of living in another culture.
More than half of the participants answered the remaining personal questions about English language and American culture training with a check mark instead of putting a specific number for years, classes, and hours. These questions should have asked for a more detailed response such as “less than 1 year”, “1-5 years”, etc.. In this way the participants could have used a check mark and specific data could be obtained. Another problem within the survey was the strength of such phrases as “shocked” and “extremely offended” used in some situations. If an Arab disagrees with these feelings he/she could still agree that the situation could cause some offense or surprise. I asked for comments within the survey to solve some of these problems, but only a few people responded.
Situations 1-20 are not always typical of every American. The significance of these situations is in the strength of the reactions of Arabs, not with whom the experience was shared. The value of this survey lies in knowing what situations are particularly hard for Arabs. People of different cultures who work or visit with Arabs, can cultivate a better relationship by being tolerant of Arabs’ feelings and trying to avoid these situations.