跨文化交际补充阅读.docx

跨文化交际补充阅读.docx

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跨文化交际补充阅读

跨文化交际补充阅读

Whenyoufinishthefollowingreading,youshouldbeableto:

1.FindouthowVSOstartedandwhatitdoes.

2.AnalysetheeffectofVSOonvolunteersthemselves.

Focusquestionsfortext

1.WhostartedVSOandwhen?

2.Whomakeupthethree-waypartnership?

3.WhatistheeffectoftheexperienceontheVSOsthemselves?

Text

Norman

Thenorth-westernuniversityofxi'an,hostingtheannualVSOtrainingconferenceforthe144volunteersinChinawhomakeupthelargestsingleVSOprojectintheworld.It'satimetomeetupwithothervolunteers…toattendlecturesandworkshops…andtopresenttheresultsoftheirownexperienceinChina.

Dingbaoqing（officemanager）

VSObegantoermsendteachersofEnglishtoChinainer1981…inthatyearVSOsent6EnglishteacherstoerteacherscollegesinerremoteareasinChina…erinthepastmorethantwentyyearserVSO'sprojectsinChinahavebeenincreasing.Nowwehavealtogetherabout144volunteersworkinginChina.

Paulturner（chiefrepresentativeVSOChina）

WellVSOwasreallythebrainchildofermalecandmoradixonermwhowereworkinginthecolonialservicein…overseasforBritainforanumberofyearsbeforeandafterthewarerandtheyjoinedforceswithlauncelotflemingwhowasthebishopofportsmouthermandtheydecidedtotryandsetupaschemewheretheycouldsendBritishyouthoverseastoassistinthedevelopmentprocessandmorespecificallytoassistin…peopleinordinarylives,helpingthemintermsofbeingteachersandtechniciansandassistantsermitwasverymuchanestablishmentset-upwhichwasestablishedby'thegreatandthegood'erwehadthebishopofportsmouthandalechimselfcamefromrugbywhichisaveryerimportantBritishschoolerandindeedthevolunteerswhowentouterbackin1958thatwastheyearwhenitallstartederandthefirstvolunteerwentfromermarlboroughcollegeerwhichisalsoaveryimportantestablishmentinBritainandreallyertherewassomethingofapublicschoolideaandethos…attheverybeginningbecausethepeoplethemselves,thevolunteers,erwouldhavegoneoutbetweenthetimethattheyleftschoolateighteenandgotouniversity…Inthosedaysmanypeoplehadtowaitfor…erm…ayearortwobeforetheygoontouniversityandthiswasseenastheidealtimebyalecforyoungpeopletogoandservebutalsotolearnatthesametime.Therewasaverystrongaccenteronlearningaswellasgivingerandthat'showVSOreallystarted,byaveryenergeticmanermlinkingupwiththeestablishmentandgettingtheseschoolleaversleaving-theysentabout4or5peopleinthefirstyearIbelieve,andthefirstonewastosarawakinborneoandalsotoghana.

VSOpreparingforchange

AndywhalleyisavolunteerforestryspecialistwithVSO.He'sjustarrivedinlindionthesoutherntanzaniancoastandthisishiswelcomeintothecommunity.Adesiretosharetheirskillswiththoseinpoorercountriesandatasteforadventureiswhatdrivesmostvolunteers.However,andyhasbroughtmuchmorethanhisspecialskillswithhim.Fortyyearsexperiencehaveshownthatthebestvolunteersarrivewithminimalexpectationsandmaximumopenness.Andpreparingforthatstartslongbeforeyouarrivehere.

ThesemenandwomenarepreparingfortheiroverseasplacementswithVSO.Atthisstagetheydon'tknowanyone.TheonlythingstheyshareisthefactthattheyaregoingsomewherewithVSO…andthattheyallhavefearsandanxieties.

WillIhaveagoodsociallife,willIbeabletomakegoodfriends…

ItworriesmeamIuptothejobbecauseI'maprimaryteachernowandI'mactuallygoingtobetrainingteachers…

I'mjustconcernedthatIwon'tbeabletofitintothecommunitywhenIgetoutthere…

OnethingthatreallyconcernsmeiswhetherIcanadapttothelivingconditionsoverthere…

AmIuptothejob,howamIgoingtocopewiththeweather?

Itcouldbequiteaconcernnottohavetherightsortofequipment,thesort…thetools…

AlthoughVSOcan'tanswerallthequestions,itisabletopassonsomegoodadvice.Intheendmuchofthepreparationisdowntoyou,thevolunteer,withVSOprovidingadditionalworkshopsandresources.However,therearecertainareaswhereVSOdeliverscomprehensivesupport.

Wellformeit'sdifficultbecauseI'mgoingtocambodiasothere'sasecurityissue…

Securityandmedicalissuesreceivethehighestpriority.Bothprovidesomecomfortasyoupreparetoarriveinanunfamiliarculture.

NowI'veactuallyarrived,itstillseemsabitofashockthatI…I'mhere…it'sbeenaboutayearofplanningtoactuallygethere…erm…it'ssuddenlycomeaboutandi'minthemiddleofafrica…

WhenyouarriveincountryaVSOorientationprogrammewillincludesomebasiclanguagetraining.Progressafterthatislargelyuptoyou.

Youwillalsobeintroducedtolocalconditionsandculture,ofteninaverypracticalway.Afterfourweeks'initialtraining,andyarrivesinlindi,somedaysawayfromanydirectVSOsupport.PartnershipliesattheheartofVSO'ssuccess.Placementsareathree-waypartnership:

thevolunteer,theoverseasemployer,andVSO.Forthevolunteer,comingtotermswiththerealityofthesituationisamajorstep.It'saprocessthatisfundamentaltothesuccessofallplacements.

SinceI'vebeenhereit'sbeenquitefrustratingtryingtogetthingsmovingandIthinkthat'softentheproblemwithvolunteersbecause…becausetheyarriveattheprojectsiteandoftentheydon't…thereisn'toftenaprojectforthemtodoandtheyhavetoreallyget…erm…toworkhardtotryandseewheretheycanfitin,wheretheirqualificationsorexperiencecanhelpworkingwiththecolleaguesandgettingthingsdone…

Alackoffacilitiesisnotuncommonindevelopingcountries.SuefraseristeachingEnglishinLao.

Photocopyingisaproblem-thereisn'tone…well,sorry,thereisonebutitbrokedowntwoweeksafteritarrivedandit'snotlikelytobemendedsoIdowithoutphotocopies.We'veonlyhadelectricityforthelastfewmonthssoevenrunningatape-recorderhadtobeonbatteries-noIthinki'veadaptedmyteachingstyletothefactthattherearenoresources.OtherthanthefewbooksthatIbroughtwithmethathavebeenveryusefulit'sliterallychalkandtalk.

TheessentialelementintheVSOpartnershipistheoverseasemployer.Theymaketherequestforvolunteers,andknowthekindofpersonthey'relookingfor.

Priest

Erasadevelopingcountryweneedsuchpeoplewhoerdon'tmakeabignoiseaboutitortheydon'tcomeandsitontopofusandtrytotellthisisthewaythisistheway.Theycomeandtrytoworkwithusandtrytoimprovethings.NowIthinkadevelopingcountryneedssuchpeople…

IappreciatetheproblemtheVSOofficemayhavehereinsometimestryingtoidentifytherightpersonfortherightjobbecauseyouaredealingwithtwoyouknowverydistantcountriessosometimesthereisadifficultythere…whatwelookforinmostcasesispeoplewithdifferentskillsandinyoursituationhere…er…Imeanpeoplearesospecialisedinmostcasesinonethingandthatcreatesadifficultyinmostcasesbutifyouhaveapersonwithanopenmindandwhoadaptsveryquickly,sometimestheproblemisdoneawaywith.

TheneedforadaptabilityonbothsidesisrecognisedbyVSO,thethirdelementinthepartnership.VSOwillnormallylaydownbroadguidelinesforeachplacement.

Whatwedoiswejustmakethejobdes…descriptionjustalittlebitwidersothatoncethevolunteerarrivesinthecountryheorshecangoanddiscusswiththeemployerinwhatareathevolunteercancover...Thatwayerthevolunteerwillalsofeelalittlebitercomfortabletosharetheskillthatheorshehas.

DeborahbicklerisaVSOprogrammeofficerinlao.She'sflyingupfromherofficeinthecapitaltovisitsuefraserinsekong.

Idon'tfeelwe'reinthebusinessofholdingvolunteers'hands.Idon'tthinkvolunteerscomeouttohavetheirhandsheld,they…theyoftenhaveasenseofadventure,theyoftenyouknowtheyoftenwanttogiveitago…er…we…weshouldbethereinanemergency.Imeanthatisavitalpartofourjobbutitisn'titisn'tallthatourjobisabout.Ourjobisreallytomakesurethattheplacementworksandalotofourworkisdonebeforethevolunteerarrivesincountry,alotofourworkisdoneintermsoftryingtogetthejobright.

Hellodeborahit'snicetoseeyouagain-yes,how'sitgoing?

-ohnottoobadly,nottoobadly-ermwe'vegotanewblackboard…andenoughchairssoer…

Paul

OvertheyearserVSOvolunteersincreasedinnumbersoverseaserin58/59thetotalthatwassentwereer18ermby19…64/65therewere731VSOvolunteersoverseasandbytheendofthe60s,early70s,ertherewere1,483volunteersoverseas,ermbutaswellasthevolunteersthemselvesermintermsofnumberschangingermsomethingelsefundamentallyhappenedwasthatvolunteerschangingtheirprofilefrombeingschoolleaverstopeoplewhohadermgraduatequalificationsandoftenhadareasonableamountofworkexperienceaswell.Sotherewasquiteasignificantshiftfromtheschool-leavervolunteerwhowasthereasmuchforadventureasforanythingelseertothemorequalifiedandprofessionallyfocussedvolunteerwhoisthereverymuchtodoajobindevelopmentaswellastolearnskillsandtoshareskills,ersothisisquitea…significanterchangeoverthatertimeperiod…Ermin1998erVSOoverallhadonethousand…almosttwothousandpeopleoverseas…1,939people…ermanditactuallycostVSOabout25millionpoundsermtohavethosevolunteersoverseassoquiteabigoperationcomparedtotheermtheeronepersoninanofficeop