跨文化交际.docx

跨文化交际.docx

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跨文化交际

Unit1

1.Isitstilloftenthecasethat“everyone’squicktoblamethealien”inthecontemporaryworld?

Thisisstillpowerfulintoday‘ssocialandpoliticalrhetoric.Forinstance,itisnotuncommonin

today‘ssocietytohearpeoplesaythatmost,ifnotall,ofthesocialandeconomicproblemsare

causedbyminoritiesandimmigrants.

2.What’sthedifferencebetweentoday’sinterculturalcontactandthatofanytimeinthepast?

Today‘sinterculturalencountersarefarmorenumerousandofgreaterimportancethaninany

timeinhistory.

3.Whathavemadeinterculturalcontactaverycommonphenomenoninourlifetoday?

Newtechnology,intheformoftransportationandcommunicationsystems,hasaccelerated

interculturalcontact;innovativecommunicationsystemshaveencouragedandfacilitatedcultural

interaction;globalizationoftheeconomyhasbroughtpeopletogether;changesinimmigration

patternshavealsocontributedtointerculturalencounter.

4.Howdoyouunderstandthesentence“cultureiseverythingandeverywhere”?

Culturesuppliesuswiththeanswerstoquestionsaboutwhattheworldlookslikeandhowwe

liveandcommunicatewithinthatworld.Cultureteachesushowtobehaveinourlifefromthe

instantofbirth.Itisomnipresent.

5.Whatarethemajorelementsthatdirectlyinfluenceourperceptionandcommunication?

Thethreemajorsocio-culturalelementsthatdirectlyinfluenceperceptionandcommunication

areculturalvalues,worldview（religion）,andsocialorganizations（familyandstate）.

6.Whatdoesone‟sfamilyteachhimorherwhileheorshegrowsupinit?

Thefamilyteachesthechildwhattheworldlookslikeandhisorherplaceinthatworld.

7.Whyisitimpossibletoseparateouruseoflanguagefromourculture?

Becauselanguageisnotonlyaformofpreservingculturebutalsoameansofsharingculture.

Languageisanorganized,generallyagreed-upon,learnedsymbolsystemthatisusedtorepresenttheexperienceswithinaculturalcommunity.

8.Whatarethenonverbalbehaviorsthatpeoplecanattachmeaningto?

Peoplecanattachmeaningtononverbalbehaviorssuchasgestures,postures,facialexpressions,

eyecontactandgaze,touch,etc.

9.Howcanafree,culturallydiversesocietyexist?

Afree,culturallydiversesocietycanexistonlyifdiversityispermittedtoflourishwithout

prejudiceanddiscrimination,bothofwhichharmallmembersofthesociety.

Speechbehavior

China

English-speakingcountries

Greeting

Whengreetingeachother,the

Chineseoftenbeginwith―Have

youeaten?

‖,―Whereareyou

going?

‖,―Whatareyoudoing?

‖,

―Longtimenosee.‖andsoon.

PeoplefromEnglish-speaking

countriesusuallysay―Hello.‖

―Goodmorning/afternoon

/evening‖―Nicetomeetyou.

/Gladtoseeyou.‖or―Howdo

youdo?

‖

Apologizing

ChinesepeopleseemtoapologizeLessoftenthanEnglish-speakingpeople.TheChineseapologizeonlywhentheythinkitisaboutsomethingthatreallymatters.

PeoplefromEnglish-speaking

countriesoftenapologizein

theirdailylifeevenforthemosttrivialthings.

Makingrequests

Chinesepeopletendtomake

requestsinindirectways,

especiallywhenthepeople

involvedarenotonintimate

termswithoneanother.

PeoplefromEnglish-speaking

countriestendtomakerequestsdirectlyandopenly.

Expressinggratitude

Chinesepeopleoftenexpress

theirgratitudenotjustbywhattheysay,butalsobywhattheydoandwhattheygivetootherswhohavedonethemafavor.

PeoplefromEnglish-speaking

countriestendtoshowtheir

gratitudemoreverballyto

otherswhohavehelpedthem.

Expressingdisapproval

Chinesepeoplearereluctanttoexpresstheirdisprovalopenlyforfearofmakingothersloseface.Iftheyhavetoexpressdisapproval,theyoftenprefertodoitinavery

indirectway.

PeoplefromEnglish-speaking

countriesaremorelikelyto

expresstheirdisapproval

freelyanddirectly.

Leave-taking

Chinesepeopletendtoexcuse

themselvesbyclaimingthattheothersmustbetiredorbusy,etc,usingtheexpressionsthatimputethemotiveoftirednessorbusinesstotheotherpartywhenparting.

PeoplefromEnglish-speaking

countrieswouldusuallyfind

reasonstopartrelatedto

themselvesratherthanto

others.

Translation

纵观历史，我们可以清楚地看到，人们由于彼此所处地域、意识形态、容貌服饰和行为

举止上存在的差异，而长久无法互相理解、无法和睦相处。

在这种情况下，跨文化交际作为

一个特定的研究领域得以形成和发展。

值得注意的是，人类文明在发展过程中所遭受的许多

挫折，既是个人的，又是全球性的；人类历史进程总是充满了个人间的直接冲突和民族间的

误解——从骂骂咧咧到孤立主义直至到武装冲突，大大小小争端不绝。

很显然，文化间以及亚文化间的交往比以前多了，这迫切要求我们共同努力，去理解有

着不同信仰和文化背景的人们，并与之和睦相处。

通过加深认识和理解，我们能够与生活方

式、价值观念不同的人们和平共处；这不但有益于我们周遭环境的安定，也是维护世界和平

的决定性因素。

CaseStudy

Case1

1Inthiscase,thereseemedtobeproblemsincommunicatingwithpeopleofdifferentculturesinspiteoftheeffortsmadetoachieveunderstanding.

WeshouldknowthatinEgyptasinmanycultures,thehumanrelationshipisvaluedsohighly

thatitisnotexpressedinanobjectiveandimpersonalway.WhileAmericanscertainlyvaluehumanrelationships,theyaremorelikelytospeakoftheminlesspersonal,moreobjectiveterms.Inthiscase,Richard‘smistakemightbethathechosetopraisethefooditselfratherthanthetotalevening,forwhichthefoodwassimplythesettingorexcuse.Forhishostandhostessitwasasifhehadattendedanartexhibitandcomplimentedtheartistbysaying,―Whatbeautifulframesyourpicturesarein.‖

2.InJapanthesituationmaybemorecomplicated.Japanesepeoplevalueorderandharmony

amongpersonsinagroup,andthattheorganizationitself－beitafamilyoravastcorporation－ismorevaluedthanthecharacteristicsofanyparticularmember.Incontrast,Americansstress

individualityasavalueandareapttoassertindividualdifferenceswhentheyseemjustifiablyin

conflictwiththegoalsorvaluesofthegroup.Inthiscase:

Richard‘smistakewasinmakinggreat

effortstodefendhimself.Lettheothersassumethattheerrorswerenotintentional,butitisnotrighttodefendyourself,evenwhenyourunstatedintentistoassistthegroupbywarningothersofsimilarmistakes.Asimpleapologyandacceptanceoftheblamewouldhavebeenappropriate.ButforpoorRichardtohavemerelyapologizedwouldhaveseemedtohimtobesubservient,unmanly.

3.WhenitcomestoEngland,weexpectfewerproblemsbetweenAmericansandEnglishmen

thanbetweenAmericansandalmostanyothergroup.Inthiscasewemightlookbeyondthegestureoftakingsugarorcreamtothevaluesexpressedinthisgesture:

forAmericans,―Helpyourself‖;fortheEnglishcounterpart,―Bemyguest.‖AmericanandEnglishpeopleequallyenjoyentertainingandbeingentertainedbuttheydiffersomewhatinthevalueofthedistinction.Typically,theidealguestatanAmericanpartyisonewho―makeshimselfathome,‖eventothepointofansweringthedoororfixinghisowndrink.Forpersonsinmanyothersocieties,includingatleastthishypotheticalEnglishhost,suchguestbehaviorispresumptuousorrude.

Case2

Acommonculturalmisunderstandinginclassesinvolvesconflictsbetweenwhatissaidtobe

directcommunicationstyleandindirectcommunicationstyle.InAmericanculture,peopletendtosaywhatisontheirmindsandtomeanwhattheysay.Therefore,studentsinclassareexpectedtoaskquestionswhentheyneedclarification.MexicanculturesharesthispreferenceofstylewithAmericancultureinsomesituations,andthat‘swhythestudentsfromMexicoreadilyadoptedthetechniquesofaskingquestionsinclass.However,Koreanpeoplegenerallypreferindirectcommunicationstyle,andthereforetheytendtonotsaywhatisontheirmindsandtorelymoreonimplicationsandinference,soastobepoliteandrespectfulandavoidlosingfacethroughanyimproperverbalbehavior.Asismentionedinthecase,tomanyKoreans,numerousquestionswouldshowadisrespectfortheteacher,andwouldalsoreflectthatthestudenthasnotstudiedhardenough.

Case3

Theconflicthereisadifferenceinculturalvaluesandbeliefs.Inthebeginning,Marydidn‘t

realizethatherDominicansistersawherasamemberofthefamily,literally.IntheDominicanview,familypossessionsaresharedbyeveryoneofthefamily.LuzwasactingasmostDominicansisterswoulddoinborrowingwithoutaskingeverytime.OnceMaryunderstoodthattherewasadifferentwayoflookingatthis,shewouldbecomemoreaccepting.However,shemightstillexperiencethesamefrustrationwhenthishappenedagain.Shehadtofindwaystocopewithherownemotionalculturalreactionaswellasherpracticalproblem（thebatteriesrunningout）.

Case4

Itmightbesimplyaquestionofdifferentrhythms.Americanshaveonerhythmintheirpersonal

andfamilyrelations,intheirfriendlinessandtheircharities.Peoplefromothercultureshave

differentrhythms.TheAmericanrhythmisfast.Itischaracterizedbyarapidacceptanceofothers.However,itisseldomthatAmericansengagethemselvesentirelyinafriendship.Theirfriendshipsarewarm,butcasual,andspecialized.Forexample,youhaveaneighborwhodropsbyinthemorningforcoffee.Youseeherfrequently,butyouneverinviteherfordinner---notbecauseyoudon‘tthinkshecouldhandleaforkandaknife,butbecauseyouhaveseenherthatmorning.Therefore,youreserveyourmoreformalinvitationtodinnerforsomeonewholivesinamoredistantpartofthecityandwhomyouwouldnotseeunlessyouextendedaninvitationforaspecialoccasion.Now,ifthefirstfriendmovesawayandthesecondonemovesnearby,youarelikelytoreversethis---seethesecondfriendinthemorningsforinformalcoffeemeetings,andthefirstoneyouwillinvitemoreformallytodinner.Americansare,inotherwords,guidedveryoftenbytheirownconvenience.Theytendtomakefriendseasily,andthey