北邮跨文化交际实用技能期末复习资料.pdf

Unit 1 An Introduction 1. Culture is not a static entity. It is constantly changing and evolving. Changes in certain aspects of culture, especially in the area of behavior and customs, can occur rapidly. Changes in the underlying values, e.g. in ways of looking at the world, tend to be much slower. 2. To large extent, our identity as both individual and cultural being is shaped through communication. 3. There are three basic aspects to communication: our individual personality, the culture we operate in, and the physical environment that surrounds us. 4. Communication is transactional. ( encode-send-receive-decode) 5. Generally speaking, intercultural communication refers to communication between people whose cultural backgrounds are distinct enough to alter their communication. 6. As a phenomenon, intercultural communication has existed for thousands of years. However, as a discipline, its history is only about fifty years. 7. Intercultural Communication as a discipline first started in U.S. 8. Culture can be seen as shared knowledge, what people need to know in order to act appropriately in a given culture. 9. Although cultural stereotype（文化定视）has its limitations (over-generalization), it still contributes to a persons cultural cognition. 10. Cultural mistakes are more serious than linguistic mistakes. The linguistic mistake means that someone is not fully expressing his or her idea while cultural mistakes can lead to serious misunderstanding and even ill-feeling between individuals. 11. Although two cultures may share the same ideas, their meaning and significance may not be the same. 12. FALSE Culture is innate as soon as a person is born. Scholars prefer the term subculture to co-culture in describing a culture which exists within a dominant culture. Intracultural communication occurs when the sender and the receiver from different races exchange messages. Unit 2 Daily Verbal Communication (I) 1. In recent years, many English-speaking people tend to address others by their given names, even when meeting for the first time. 2. In English, only a few occupations or titles are used such as Doctor, Judge, Governor, Mayor, Professor, Nurse and ranks in the armed forces like Captain, Colonel. These can be used either singly or with the persons surname. 3. Unacceptable topics: Age, Money, Health, Family (1) It is regarded as impolite in Western culture to ask a person his or her age. This is particularly true of woman when she is over thirty. (2) Ones salary is regarded as extremely personal and private in the West. Even within families, people often do not know the exact salary of other family members. 4. If a visit is business rather than socially related, the Westerners prefer to arrange the time in advance, and they expect the visitor to come straight to the point, rather than go through lengthy preliminary chatting. If a visit is socially rather than business related, the situation is more flexible, and depends on individual preferences. 5. In Western culture, it is common for the guest to indulge in a couple of minutes small talk while preparing for leaving, 6. All cultures require and value politeness, but the ways in which politeness is achieved may vary significantly/ 7. Dont take offence- getting the form of address “wrong” is rarely intended to be offensive. 8. Addressing forms like “Miss Mary”, “Brown” by the Chinese may be a form of cultural compromise. 9. “Im sorry to have wasted your time” or “Im sorry to have taken up so much of your time” are usually appropriate for the business visit. 10. Americans use the word “friend” in a very general way. They can call both casual acquaintances and close companions “friends”. 11. Taking care of aged parents is often viewed as tremendous burden in the United States, where aging and family support are not honored highly. 12. Family structure and their inherent relationships and obligations are a major source of cultural difference. 13. Traditional Chinese, among many other Asians, respect their elders and feel a deep sense of duty toward them. Children repay their parents sacrifices by being successful and supporting them in old age. 14. Americans tend to regard titles as trivial unless they give a clear idea of what kind of work a person does, what his or her responsibilities are. 15. FALSE American friendliness is always an offer of true friendship, which means a strong life-long bond between two people. In English-speaking world, bosses are addressed by their title and surname, or by their surname plus part of the name of their organization. Unit 3 Daily Verbal Communication (II) 1. Sometimes the Chinese way of showing modesty may be considered as fishing for compliments. 2 Compliments have a series of social functions: creating or reinforcing solidarity, greeting people, expressing thanks or congratulations, encouraging people, softening criticism, starting a conversation, or even overcoming embarrassment. 3. In formal situations, many compliments in English are used to reinforce solidary, and are often connected with the appreciation of something that has been done to speaker. 4. In informal situations, while solidarity can still be achieved through compliments, a large number of compliments are used to make people feel comfortable. 5. In America, although many women do not take the initiative in complimenting men, it is common for a man to informally give a woman compliments on her looks or clothing. 6. On the whole, the Chinese compliment each other much less frequently than Americans do. People are cautious about drawing a line between compliment and flattery-an act which is considered very low and mean among the Chinese people. 7. Many Americans are conscious of weight, whereas many Chinese consider rosy cheeks a sign of good health. In Chinese, losing weight may mean that someone has become sick without noticing. Instead, “Youve put on weight” can be a compliment in Chinese. 8. Many Chinese often regard the frequent use of “Thank you” and “Please” by Westerners as unnecessary and even tiresome. On the other hand, Westerners sometimes take the Chinese attitude that appreciation is understood and need not to be expressed for rudeness or lack of sincerity. 9. The social functions of Chinese and English compliments are roughly the same. 10. Adjectives and verbs are often used to convey compliment message in English, while adjectives, adverbs and verbs are often used in Chinese. 11. English compliments often begin with the word “you” while Chinese compliments often start with the word “I”. 12. Chinese tend to be self-effacing in their compliment responses. 13. If a guest compliments something in another persons home, the Chinese host or hostess will probably give that thing to the guest. 14. Americans view friendship more tentatively subject to changes in intensity as people move, change their jobs, marry or discover new interest. 15. In France, friends generally are of the same sex, and French people doubt the possibility of a friendship between a man and a woman. 16. For a Frenchman, a German or an Englishman friendship is usually more particularized and carries a heavier burden of commitment. 17. The basis of English friendships is shared activity, such as serving together in the armed forces, taking part in a foreign mission, etc. 18. The Vietnamese family consists of people currently alive as well as the spirits of the dead and of the as-yet unborn. Any decisions or actions are done from family considerations, not individual desires. 19. Latin Americans believe that family members must help each other, because the family is the number one priority. 20. If a North American really feels a compliment is unjustified or cannot be accepted, often he/she will thank the person offering the compliment, but without actually accepting it ,using a sentence like “Its nice of you to say so” or “Thats very kind of you”. 21. FALSE Compliments on others belongings are sometimes an indirect way of request in American culture. Appropriately, in France friends usually are brought into family. German friendships are compartmentalized, and different friends fill different niches in each persons life. English friendships are formed outside the family circle, and they are separated from the family as in France. Mothers in traditional Japanese families are typically stern and aloof. The emotional and communication barrier between children and mothers in Japan appears very strong after children have reached a certain age. Unit 4 Verbal Communication 1. In Chinese culture, “龙” is a totem with many royal association. However, the association of “dragon” to Westerners are horrible, disgusting monsters. 2. In China, the term “知识分子” generally refers to those people including college teachers, college students, middle school teachers, and such people as medical doctors, engineers, interpreters who have had a college education. However, in the U.S. and Europe, “intellectual” includes only people of high academic status such as college professors, not ordinary college students. 3. The Chinese expression “干部” is most commonly mistaken to mean “cadre” in English. No wander various other terms have been suggested as substitutes: official, functionary, administrator, etc. But none of these is exactly the same as “干部”. 4. If we go by contemporary Chinese usage, “社会科学” covers all the fields except the ones in the natural sciences and applied sciences. It would be the same to “the humanities” in English: language, literature, philosophy, etc., i.e. the branches of learning dealing mainly with the cultural aspects of civilization. The English term “social sciences” covers political science, economics, history and sociology. 5. “副” vice- vice-chairman, vice-president associate associate professor, associate director assistant assistant manager, assistant secretary deputy deputy director, deputy chief-of-staff lieutenant lieutenant governor, lieutenant general under undersecretary (of, U.S.) 6. A term in one language does not necessarily have a counterpart in the other language. 7. Words or terms in both languages appear to refer to the same object or concept only on the surface, but actually refer to quite different things. 8. Things or concepts are represented by one or perhaps two terms in one language, but by many more terms in the other language, i.e. finer distinctions exist in the other language. 9. Terms have more or less the same primary meaning, but have secondary or additional meanings that may differ considerably from each other. 10. Just as violating a cultural taboo can be quite offensive, so can verbal taboo. 11. Talking about sexual intercourse and certain parts of the body is taboo in both cultures. 12. In many languages, swear words are taboo. This is generally true of both English and Chinese. In English, expressions like “Jesus Christ!”, “Holy Mary!” and “Son of a bitch!” would be most unacceptable, whereas “Damn!”, “Damn it!” and “Hell!” would be so. Another qualification would be the age, sex and occupation of the people involved. 13. British thought pattern tends to be more abstract. English native speakers express their thoughts with facts concerning the main topic. 14. A basis for identifying the problem-solving approach is to study the cultures paragraph format. The key to a successful learning of a particular language is in mastering its logical system. 15. Patterns of thought vary with culture. 16. Particular thought patterns predominate in each culture, e.g. American culture is predominantly factual-inductive（适时归纳）, Russian culture is predominantly axiomatic- deductive（演绎）, and Arab cultures are predominantly intuitive-affective. 17. The status-oriented verbal style is a role-centered verbal mode that emphasizes formality and large power distance. 18. English is a person-oriented language. Americans tend to treat others with informality and casualness. 19. Many people from cultures that prefer “high involvement” styles tend to speak more, interrupt more, expect to be interrupted, talk more loudly at times, and talk more quickly than those from cultures favoring “high-considerateness” styles. 17. FALSE The self-effacement verbal style emphasizes the importance of boasting about ones accomplishments and abilities. High-context communication pattern is based on sender-responsible value. 18. as busy as a bee as slow as a snail as stubborn as a mule as timid as a hare 兔子 as strong as a horse as poor as a church mouse Unit 5 Nonverbal Communication 1. In some types of communication people express more nonverbally than verbally. 2. Communication theorists assert that in face-to-face communication less than 30% of the information is communicated through speaking, and over 70% of the message is sent by nonverbal means. 3. In broad terms. nonverbal communication covers four areas: time language, space language, body language, and paralanguage. 4. Culture is invisible, omnipresent, and learned. Nonverbal communication also has these qualities. 5. Some cultures tend to look back because they have a long history of which they can boost. They are past oriented. Cultures that concentrate on the present and dont worry too much about tomorrow are present oriented. Most post-industrial cultures are future oriented because they place a lot of emphasis on the future, striving to ensure that the future will be better than the present. Americans tend to be future oriented. 6. Monochronic Time(M-Time) M-Time is noted for its emphasis on schedules, segmentation and promptness. It features one event at a time. Northern American, Western and Northern European cultures are typical M-Time cultures. Two striking features of M-Time are punctuality and promptness. Polychronic Time(P-Time) People from P-Time cultures schedule several activities at the same time, and time for them is more flexible and more human-centered. Latin American, African, Arab and most Asian cultures are P-Time cultures. 7. The amount of space changes depending on the interpersonal relationship. Personality also determines the amount of personal space. Introverts（内向性格者）often prefer to interact with others at a greater distance than extroverts (外向性格者). 8. short distance medium distance long distance Latins Americans Japanese Mediterranean Arabs Northern Europeans Mediterranean Europeans 9. Cultures of Arabs, Southern and Western Europeans, Jews and Latins fall into the former (touch culture), and cultures of Americans, Northern Europeans and Orientals belong to the latter (nontouch culture). 10. When Arabs talk, they virtually envelop each other in their breath. They dont seem to feel comfortable unless they can smell each other. 11. In English-speaking countries, physical contact is generally avoided in conversation among ordinary friends or acquaintances. Touching someone casually may cause unpleasant reactions. 12. With Chinese and other Asian cultures there is little body touching in public, not even among intimate friends or family members, with the exception to babies and children. In China, Western mothers often complain that the Chinese like fondling their babies or small children. 13. Americans tend to talk with those opposite them rather than those seated or standing beside them. In China, meetings often take place with people sitting next to each other. 14. Body language means more than just hand or arm gestures; it refers to any little movement of any part of the body. 15. Ones distinctive posture can give away his cultural background. 16. In the United States, people point to objects and even people with the index finger. Germans point with the little finger, and the Japanese point with the entire hand, palms up. In much of Asia, pointing with the index finger is considered rude. 17. In Argentina, one twists an imaginary mustache to signify that everything is okay. In the U.S., making a circle with ones thumb and index finger while extending the others is emblematic of the word “OK”; in Japan and Korea it signifies “money”. 18. Chinese motion people to come by shaking the hand with the palm turned downward. To the American this may be the gesture to wave goodbye. 19. The Chinese way of counting with fingers is contrary to the American way. The former is by bending the fingers from a skretched palm. The later is by stretching the fingers from a clenched fist. 20. Direct eye contact is not a custom throughout the world. In Japan, for example, prolonged eye contact is considered rude, threatening and disrespectful. People from Latin American and Caribbean cultures also avoid eye contact as a sign of respect. 21. Arabs, on the other hand, look directly into the eyes of their communication partners. 22. Much of our nonverbal behavior, like culture, tends to be elusive, spontaneous and frequently goes beyond our awareness. 23. In some cultures, eye contact should be avoided in order to show respect or obedience. 24. The appropriateness of physical contact varies with different cultures. 25. Japanese do not normally evince any significant emotion through public facial display. 26. Paralanguage may imply the connotation of actual words. 27. In Japanese culture, prolonged eye contact is considered rude, threatening, and disrespectful. 28. In Japan, mutual bowing is largely determined by rank: the social inferior bows first, lowest and longest, and the superior decides when to stop bowing. 29. People in many cultures, including many countries in Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, are expected to sit erect. 30. FALSE In the United States, crossing legs is a sign of bad etiquette. Personal space is a little bit smaller in Netherlands and Germany, but larger in France. 31. In Muslim countries, you should avoid putting the ankle on the knee because when you do so, one foot or the sole of the shoe is usually pointing at someone, which is a very severe insult. 32. Within the houses in the Mi