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Questions for discussion for Unit 1 on P.2 of Formative Exercises Book The similarities of these two diagrams are that both of them show clearly the pattern of communication which is basically the transfer of a message from one person to another and that there are at least three components involved in communication: the message itself, then the sender who encodes the message and finally the receiver who decodes the message. The differences lie in the fact that diagram 1 fails to illustrate clearly what are involved in the course of the transferring of the message, which is shown in Diagram 2. Diagram 1 does not give us any clue to indicate that in normal everyday communication, the message does not always transfer from the sender to the receiver, which is called communication breakdown, while Diagram 2 illustrates such reasons as “age difference”, “boring message”, “emotional state”, “”verbal message differ from non verbal” and so on and so forth as reasons causing the communication breakdown. For example, if a fellow student speaks too fast, I may not catch what he is saying. Or if somebody talks to me about Einsteins Theory of Relativity which is Creek to me, then I will miss all the message in his speech. Anyway, we can see from these two diagrams that even when two people speak a common language and share a common culture, that is to say, in the mono-cultural communication, communication breakdown is likely to occur for many reasons as listed in Diagram 2. When we add the extra dimension of cultural difference, the process becomes even more complex. Thats why we often say that cross-cultural communication is a risky business, for in cross-cultural communication, there is not only the language problem, but also the cultural differences. Questions for discussion for Unit 2 on P.4 of Formative Exercises BookWe know that there are two definitions of a social situation. One is the official definition given by the community. The other is the participants definition given by a certain participant. The two types of definition may coincide or differ. Clearly, the American secretary at the Foreign Student Affairs Office smiles at every foreign student who visits the office. She understands this social situation with the official definition. To her, the Foreign Student Affairs Office is the public place where she works. It is her duty to deal with affairs concerning foreign students so she smiles at them to show her willingness to offer help and also to show her friendliness and good manners. Yet the young man from the Middle East mistakes her smile for her being in love with him. This is his participants definition given to the situation. Perhaps in his culture, a girl never smiles at a man unless she is in love with him. So he thinks that the American secretary loves him. He is not aware of the office definition given by the American society. His participants definition obviously runs count to the office definition. I think to solve his problem, his roommate should tell him the office definition of this social situation given by the American society and his own definition of the situation, pointing out that his participants definition fail to match the official definition. Thats why he was angry with the American lady. Yet he must adjust himself to the new culture and get used to the new society so as to have successful cross-cultural communication. Key to Items for self-test, Unit 1&2 Part 1 1.A2.C3.B4.D5.B6.D7.B8.D9.A10.CPart 2 11.B12.B13.A14.A15.AQuestions for discussion for Unit 3 on P.8 of Formative Exercises Book The reason lies in the different use of kin terms in China, where kin terms are widely used to address known or unknown people. In Chinese culture, the appropriate use of kin terms is considered to reflect a persons politeness, respectfulness and friendliness. Thats why the 5-year old Chinese girl addresses Linda “granny” to show her politeness and respectfulness, for in China young people are taught to respect the old and show their respectfulness by using the right kin term to address them. This is also why the little girl thinks it was impolite to call Linda by her first name. Yet this polite addressing term causes embarrassment on the side of Linda, in whose culture, kin terms are mainly confined to family members, never extended to outsiders. And foreigners tend to view age as a relatively private thing, especially among females and they dont want to be regarded as old and dont feel comfortable with the kin term “granny”. If I were the mother, I would explain to Linda the extended use of kin terms among Chinese and the Chinese way to treat the old as respectful. Then I would explain to my daughter how to address a person properly the western way and the differences involved in the use of kin terms in the two cultures. Questions for discussion for Unit 4 on P.10 of Formative Exercises BookQuestions for you to answer: How does Chinese understanding of the host-guest relationship influence Liu Ling and Yang Fengs way of entertaining Janice and George? How dose Janice and Georges understanding of the host-guest relationship influence their way of treating Liu Ling and Yang Feng? What advice could you give to both couples to help them further their relationship? Answer: In China, it is traditional that hosts entertain guests by offering many course of dishes to show how their hospitality, and the number of courses served usually has the connotation of good luck, e.g. the number 8 sounds like “发”, which means getting rich. It is quite common, especially in cities, that the husband helps a lot in cooking and serving the food if the guests are friends of his wifes. Hosts treat, especially distinguished guests, very politely by offering delicious and expensive dishes as many as possible. Guests offer of help is normally politely turned down, as it is only considered a way the guests show their politeness and observation of the decorum. Besides, TV programs often play an important role in providing entertainment at a family dinner parties. These Chinese conventions help explain the way Liu Ling and Yang Feng entertained Janice and George. In the West, hosts hospitality is not shown by the quality and quantity of the food, but by offering their own specialty. They hope their guests would like the food and enjoy their efforts. The hospitality is also shown by the hosts accompanying the guests and having a conversation with them. So both the host and hostess would accompany the guests to have dinner and have a talk together. Guests would not ask any private questions such as the price of the furniture, etc. These western conventions help explain the way Janice and George treated Liu Ling and Yang Feng. Liu Ling and Yang Feng followed the Chinese convention habit, thats why they asked about the prices, and often Chinese guests want to show their cultivation and manners by eating limited amount of food, and this may explain why Liu Ling and Yang Feng ate only a little food. It is advisable for both couples to learn each others culture through experience, chatting, observing and reading. On suitable occasions, e.g. at parties, friendly and interesting conversations about their respective cultures, such as ways of entertaining guests, normal conversation topics and taboos etc, can be an effective way of understanding each other. Through such interactions, their friendship will surely be enhanced. Key to Items for self-test, Unit 3&4Part 1 1. surname, family name 2. sign3. characteristics 4. Ms.5. guys6. Dutchmen/Dutchwomen; Dutch; go Dutch7. birth order8. syllables9. Female1110. BritonPart 2 11. People shares the cost 12. meanness 13. being greedy14. modesty15. as white liesQuestions for discussion for Unit 5 on P.12 of Formative Exercises Book1) Li Lan asked to borrow money from her American friend Susan, which is rarely part of Western friendship. Li Lan and Susan have different expectations of friendship2) In the West, people prefer to be independent and equal rather than dependent, so they dont feel comfortable in a relationship in which one person gives more and the other is dependent on what is given. Among friends they mostly provide emotional support to each other and spend time together, so they rarely borrow or lend money to each other. They would ask for a loan from the bank rather than from their friends. While in China, people expect their friends to be loyal to each other, and they even take risks for their friends. So they would give not only emotional support to each other but also concrete help to each other., such as helping a friend to find a job, solving a problem, or even giving money to help out a friend in need over a long period of time. So, when a man is in a difficult condition, the first person he turns for help is usually and naturally his friend.3) As an American, Susan would like to help her Chinese friend Li Lan. But she didnt expect Li Lan would ask for money, which goes against the principle of independence and equality. While as a Chinese, Li Yan regarded Susan as her good friend, and she considered it natural to ask to borrow money from Susan when she needed the money urgently.4) Li Lan should try to get to know American culture as much as possible. She may also need to have a discussion with Susan about the different ways of friendship in both cultures. If possible, she could try to ask for a loan from a bank. 5) Susan should also try to learn to understand Chinese culture. She could also have a discussion with Li Lan about the different expectation of friendship in both cultures. If she could understand the Chinese ways, she might help Li Lan out financially by lending her the money.Questions for discussion for Unit 6 on P.18 of Formative Exercises BookMr. Blake beckoned Sun Yan to come to his office, which made her suddenly changed her opinions about him. Because Mr. Blake beckoned her in a western way, that is he extended his left hand with his palms up and used his index finger to beckon her. This gesture is thought quite normal in America and therefore well accepted in America. Yet in China a normal gesture to ask someone to come is to extend ones hand with his/her palm open facing downward and all the fingers crooking in a beckoning position. Many Chinese would regard Mr. Blakes gesture as impolite and improper, especially to a lady. If I were SunYan, I would first of all try not to jump to the conclusion, or make a quick judgment. Then I would observe carefully to see whether Mr. Blake uses the same gesture to beckon other people in the company too and talk to some American colleagues to know something about American gestures of beckoning. Then finally I would go to talk to Mr. Blake and have a talk with him and explain the difference in the beckoning gestures between Americans and Chinese, trying to make him be aware of the possible negative impression left on Chinese staff if he keeps on using the American gesture. Key to Items for self-test, Unit 5&6 Part 1 1.B2.B3.C4.D5.A6.D7.A8.A9.C10.DPart 2 11.A12.B13.A14.B15.AUnit7 Situation：Li Feng and Tom have been working on a scientific experiment at a British university for some months. It has not been totally successful/ They are discussing the situation in the laboratory/ Li Feng: I dont know where it went wrong. Tom: Dont feel so bad. Cheer up, youve done your job. Li Feng: But our experiment has turned out to be a failure. Tom: Relax for a couple of days. Ill face the music. Li Feng: Tom, we are not playing childrens games here, This is a scientific experiment. Tom: Ive never taken the experiment as a childs play, and Im playing the game. Li Feng: You say youre playing the game! Its rather an important experiment. (Li Feng walks out of the laboratory angrily. Tom is puzzled. Question: Why does Li Feng get angry? And why does Tom feel puzzled?This is a verbal communication between Li Feng, who is a Chinese overseas student in Britain, and Tom, a native English speaker, a fellow student of Li Fengs. Li Feng has learnt English language and culture. This shared knowledge makes their communication possible. Yet Li Feng fails to interpret Toms speech correctly in two places. The first place is when Tom says, “ Ill face the music” he misunderstood what Tom says “To face the music” is an idiom in the English language, which means to take the responsibility or to accept the unpleasant consequences, for example, the criticism from their boss or their supervisor and so on. But Li Feng takes what Tom says here as Toms relief from the failure of their experiment. He thinks that Tom is going to enjoy himself by listening to the music. The second mistake Li Feng makes is when Tom uses another idiom as a reply to his criticism on Tom playing a childs game. Tom says “Im playing the game”, which means “I am fair and honorable”. Yet To Li Feng, he interprets it as showing Toms playful attitude to the experiment. He thinks that Tom does not take it seriously. So we can see, here obviously, Li Fengs lack of a good understanding of the English idioms that Tom uses in his speech leads to the failure of their communication, turning their conversation to become a unilaterally cross-cultural language communication. This case also tells us the importance of learning the idioms of the English language to a language learner. Questions for discussion for Unit 8 on P.24 of Formative Exercises BookObviously Shen-lan are in the second period of culture shock, which was shown in her loss of self-concept, self esteem and self presentation. Shen was brought up in Taiwan and in a collectivist culture, where she was taught to be interdependent and listened all the time to her parents even though her parents limited he