Language, Culture and Communication.doc

language, culture and communication 1. introductionwith the development of politics, economics and scientific technology, the world is quite different from before. the earth, where the human beings are living in, seems take shrinking. today, trips once taking years, months, weeks, and then days are now measured in a matter of hours. in effect, the planet earth is not shrinking, but time and space is. in the global village, nations are like families and countries are like neighborhoods. time and space no longer isolate or protect nations and groups from each other. it naturally follows that intercultural contact has become more frequent, direct and, therefore, more significant than ever before.when people of different cultural backgrounds communicate with each other, misunderstandings as well as conflicts come up. china has become an active member of the world community, and her entry into the wto, is bound to bring us into more contact with the outside world. at the same time, the english language has become the most wide spread medium of international communication. more and more chinese people use english as their second language, even some chinese students go abroad to further their education.the following is a report from a british magazine- the economist (2003:31&51): chinese students are flooding into british universities. seen from close to, britains universities are in a sorry state: overcrowded, cash-strapped, and demoralized. but from far away they can look very attractive. their marketing to foreign students is excellent, especially in china, where educating children abroad is increasingly fashionable. the latest firm fingers, from 2001, show around 18,000 chinese students in british higher education. that makes then the largest group out of a total of 143,000 foreigners. and it is a 71% increase on 2000 preliminary figure for 2002 shows a further increase of 67%, taking the likely total over 25,000.some questions will arise in ones brains: are they compatible with the western culture? does the english language they have learned in china enable them to communicate with british people? can their cultural awareness about british culture help them to overcome culture shock at the early stage?to solve these questions, the present thesis probes into the english language teaching in china. the aim is to increase significance in promoting the cultural awareness for the language teachers, and to advocate a conscious and systematic treatment of cultural input in efl (english as a foreign language) education.an important strategy for one to pinpoint is self-identify, i.e., who i am. this strategy is to practice seeing your home culture the way others who are not a part of it see it, and to give your home culture. they are able to see things that the natives take for granted. so, it is very necessary to learn to approach your own culture more analytically and to be cautious when interpreting another culture. by looking at ones own culture in comparison with other cultures she/he gets some idea of how it may appear to others.to begin with, the present research tries to identify what actual relationship between culture and language, and the concentrates on the communication and culture. this part comes up with the following questions:(1) whats the relationship between language and culture?(2) how do you think culture and communicate is related?chapter 3 focuses on the specified interpretations of the different cultural systems between china and the west. this part copes with the following topics:(1) the hidden core of culture(2) movements of relationships(3) interpersonal relationships(4) social interaction customs(5) cultural influences on education contextthe above two chapters are preparations for my research. this chapter discusses the necessity and possibility of making sociocultural competence, a pedagogical objective, and offers suggestions for curriculum design and teaching methods.the last part summarizes the essence of the thesis and offers recommendations for future research, and describes its limitations.2. language, culture and communication2.1 language and culture do you know what zhongshen dashi means? in a cctv quiz program hosted by wang xiaoya, an american guest who could speak some chinese was to choose its proper meaning from the following four choices: gongzuo, shiye, hunyin, shensi. although he fully understood the literary meaning of this term (the most important thing in ones life), he didnt work out the meaning we chinese attach to it until the host gave him some hint.the problem the american met is that he know the terms denotation（the primary, surface meaning, or explicit meaning）, but not its primary meaning. for many words there are both denotations and connotations. another example is the english term politician, whose denotation is “a person whose business is politics” but its connotation is “a person who doesnt usually keep his promises, often cheats for his own selfish purpose”, which is derogative. what determines the connotations of words? culture does. language is part of culture and plays a very important role in it. some social scientists consider it the keystone of culture. without language, they maintain, culture would not be possible. on the other hand, language is influenced and shaped by culture; it reflects culture. in the broadest sense, language is the symbolic representation of a people, and it comprises their historical and cultural backgrounds as well as their approach to life and their ways of living and thinking.language is a part of the culture; language is not only the product and result of the entire culture, but also the media of the communication between cultures. so language has the characteristics of culture. culture includes two aspects materialistic wealth and spiritual wealth, while language is the spiritual wealth created in the process of human evolution, which is a part of the culture. they exclusively belong to human society; they depend on each other, coexist and disappear simultaneously.language is like a mirror reflecting all the culture of a nation; people can understand the customs and habits of nation as well as their pattern of thinking. for example, chinese students always say “hello, teacher!” when they meet their teacher, but in english “teacher” cannot be used to greet the teachers. students should use “professor x”, “mrs. x”, “miss x” or directly use their name. without the knowledge of the differences between english and chinese, people will have misunderstanding in their communication, which thus leads to the confusion of communication.language and culture influence and restrict each other. because of language is a tool of thinking. while the component of culture definitely include thinking. as the tool of thinking, language to some extent influences and restricts the pattern of thinking scope, and depth. however, when the forms of language can not satisfy the need of thinking development, people will consciously or unconsciously improve the tool of thinking to foster the prosperity of language. from this sense, thinking also influences and restricts language. 2.2 communicate and culture what is communication? what does it have to do with us? in facts, communication, the basis of all human contact occurs anywhere there are human beings. when a baby is just born, it usually cries. does the crying communicate anything? when you graduate, your friends usually say “congratulations!” to you. when a driver sees the red light, he/she will stop. all these are cases of communication, a very common phenomenon. communication is the basis of all human contact, but its difficult to find a single definition due to its complexity. up to now there are as many as over 100 definitions of communication. in its most general sense, communication refers to the share or exchange of information, ideas, feelings and so on. put simply, it means getting across our ideas views, feelings, emotion, etc.today, culture is a word that we often hear, read and even talk of, such as chinese culture, english culture, campus culture, and so on. but when it comes to the meaning of culture, it may not be easy to give it a satisfactory definition.due to extreme complexity, there are over 100 definitions of culture, too. for example, culture is an “integrated system of a society and which not the results of the biological inheritance are”. another example is a descriptive definition: “culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.” still one more goes like this: “culture is the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, action, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, course of generation through individual and group striving.”(samovar, et al, 1998:17) all the above is done from the point of view of anthropology. but another way of looking at culture may help us have a clearer idea. it classifies culture into big c (achievement culture) and small c (behavior culture). the former in most western countries usually refers to such things as education, history, geography, institutions, literature, arts, music, and so on. the latter, similar to above definitions, means the way of life of a people, and it has now been broadened to include values, beliefs and perceptions. it is this “small c” that plays an essential part in intercultural communication.how do you think culture and communication are related? in fact, almost every aspect of human life is affected by the seemingly omnipresent culture. so communication cannot but be connected, and very closely, with culture. cultures do not communicate; individuals do. everyone has a unique style of communication, but cultures determine a general style for their members, we are not always aware of the subtle influences of for their members. we are not always aware of the subtle influenced by their cultures as well. 3. a comparison of different culture systems between china and the west3.1 the hidden core of cultureif we are to better understand how people from different cultures communicate, we have to find, in addition to being aware of the different in verbal/nonverbal communications, customs, habits and so on, answers to philosophical, ideological, and metaphysical questions such as “why do some cultures frantically cling to youth, whereas others welcome old age and even death?” “why do some cultures worship the earth, whereas others molest it?” the answers lie in the deep structure of a culture. each group of people has, from the very beginning of civilization, seen the need to evolve a world view. a cultures world view can be taken as its core, for it influences all aspects of our perception and consequently affects our belief and value systems as well as how we think and act. in short, it produces effects on the social, economic, and political life of a nation. we know that westerners tend to distinguish mind from body, people from nature, and god from humankind, while chinese are used to looking at the world as a whole unit. this difference lies, it is believed, and at least in part, in the distinct world view, we can find a new way to enjoy this world. for example, this kind of world view makes a sharp distinction between religion and science as alternative ways of discovering truth. it separates mind and body. for them, americans in particular, facts are more reliable and dependable than subjective evaluations based on “feelings” and “intuition”. while, the eastern view of the world is profoundly holistic. it sees the world as a whole unit, not as separate pieces. so, the oriental peoples tend to look at humanity and nature in total harmony and in eternal inseparability.values are the general ideas that individuals share about what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable.during our english learning, we have learned thousands of proverbs; they are the examples of folk wisdom, and the best expression of theory values.examples: (1) blood is thicker than water. (value: family) (origin: scotland) (2) god helps those who help themselves. (value: self-help) (origin: greece) (3) the early bird catches the worm. (value: action) (origin: american)(4) haste makes waste. (value: efficiency) (origin: american)(5) think three times before you take action. (value: caution) (origin: chinese)(6) modesty makes you progress, conceitedness makes you lag behind. (value: modesty) (origin: chinese)all of these proverbs remind people of the values that are important in the culture, such as the above listed. values teach people how to act, what is right, and what is wrong, because the value of another culture helps explain how people think and act. understanding our own cultural values is important, too. if we can accept that people from other cultures act according to their values, not ours, getting along with them will be much easier.3.2 movements of our bodies.gestures can be particularly troublesome, for a slight difference in making the gesture intended. some scientists believe that no single gesture has the same meaning everywhere in the world. take “lets keep our fingers crossed” as an example. in the united states, england, and sweden it means that the person is hoping for good luck. but in greece and turkey it means the breaking of a friendship, and in parts of italy it means “o.k”. postures and sitting habits, too. offer insight into a cultures deep structure. in japan, for example, the bow is much more than a greeting. it signifies that cultures concern with status and rank. in the us, where being caused and friendly is valued, people often fall into chairs or slouch when they stand. in the office, an american sometimes put his feet on his desk, signifying a relaxed informal attitude. in the classroom, the teacher sometimes sits on the desk while speaking to the students.in a sense, all body language should be interpreted. within a given context, to ignore the overall situation could be misleading. when one communicates in a certain language, it is generally advisable to use the nonverbal behavior that goes with that particular language. this makes communication easier and better.3.3 interpersonal relationshipsfamily is important to all peoples in the world. but they may have different ideas as to what people compose their family members. szalay and fisher conducted a survey on the concepts of family members and relatives in different cultures. the subjects were americans and koreans. adopting the associated group analysis, they asked the subjects to give the words associated with family and relatives respectively. the result showed the difference: koreans tend to include grandparents as family members, while americans take them as relatives.therefore, married american adults very often name their husband or wife and their children, if they have any, as their “immediate family.” if they mention their father, mother, sisters, or brothers, they will define them as separate units, usually living in separate households. aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents are considered “extended family.”from our experiences, we know that in this respect we chinese are more like the koreans. in some other cultures family often extends to include not only grandparents, but also cousins, second cousins, third cousins, aunts, uncles, great aunts, great uncles, and even godparents.the differences lie in different cultures. and it is these cultures that create different families, and breed different attitudes toward individuals and families.in china and western countries friendship is highly valued, but somewhat differently. in the united states, a close friend is a person that one feels free to ask for help, recognizing, however, that the friend may say hi, if he/she gives you a reason. on the other hand, the duties and obligations of chinese friendship are virtually unlimited for all practical purposes. chinese friends give each other much more concrete help and assistance than western friends do. in times of trouble, both american and chinese friends give each other emotional support, but they do it differently. a westerner will respond to a friends trouble by asking, “what do you want to do?” a chinese friend is more likely to give specific advice to a friend.there is another interesting point regarding how friends communicate with each other in these tow cultures. chinese people often communicate indirectly while westerners tend to be more inconveniences such as telephoning late. even in close friendships americans use polite forms such as “could you ”and “would you mind” but chinese never do that as they are good friends.3. 4 social interaction customs.the most common forms of greeting among the english-speaking people are “good morning!” “good afternoon!” “good evening!” “how are you?” “how do you do?” “hello” “hi” “hows everything going?” in todays china more and more people, especially those in urban areas, tend to use “ ni hao ” which is close to “how are you?” or “hi”. but some traditional ways of greeting in china differ a lot from english greetings. this typical chinese greeting is literarily “where are you going?” or “what are you going to do?” in fact, it is not a genuine question for chinese, but only a form of greeting.this seems we may say, that chinese tend to show more concern for the matters in personal life of others, which are usually taken as privacy by americans and other westerners.compliments and praises are of important social functions. they help establish good relationship which contributes to the smooth process of communication. when i