Unit 1 Culture and Communication

Unit1CultureandCommunication WESHAREAWORLD Forallourdifferences weshareoneworld Tobetolerantistowelcomethedifferencesanddelightinthesharing Case1ShowingConcern InChina XiaoLi aninterpreter Youmustbeverytired You reold Catherine anelderlyAmericanlady Oh I mNOTold andI mNOTtired IntheWest A Howareyoudoingnow Wouldyouliketohavearest B No notabit Question WhatdoyouknowaboutChinesecultureandAmericanculture Comment WhattheinterpretersaidisquitecourteousinChina Itmeans Ifyouaretired wecantakealittlerest sinceyouaregettingoninyears Unfortunately histranslationistooliteralandmisleading Theinterpretergavetheelderlyladytheimpressionthathethoughtshewouldcollapseanyminuteifshedoesn trestimmediately Inthewest thereisavalueplacedinbeingyoungthatmanypeopleconsciously orunconsciously arenotwillingtoacceptthattheyaregrowingold Inaddition thewestwayofshowingconcerningisgenerallydifferentfromtheChineseway Theformerismainlydisplayedwithquestionswhilethelatterisusuallyexpressedbystatement Forthesereasonstheforeignladyfeltoffended Thisclearlyshowsthattranslationisaninterculturalcommunication whichrequiresthetranslator interpretertopossessbothEnglishculturalknowledgeandlanguagecompetence Case2Whynotbuyaticketforme LiGangisanewChinesestudentinanAmericanuniversity Heisverygladthatoneofhisclassmates Peter inviteshimtoseeafilmoneday LiGanggoestothecinemaontime Whenhegetsthere Peteriswaitingforhim Petersays Ihaveboughtmine Yougoquicklytobuyyourticket LiGanggetssurprised Question WhydoesLiGanggetsurprised WhatdoyouknowaboutChinesecultureandAmericanculture Answer 1 InChina ifsomebodyinvitesyoutoseeafilm hewillbuytheticketforyou 2 InAmerica invitationisverycommon Andpeopleareusedtopayingindividually 3 LiGanghasn tgotusedtothisyet HethoughtthatPeterwouldbuytheticketforhim Case3 SameLanguage DifferentBehavior AnAmericantraveledtoEnglandandwasstayingwithafriend Duringhisstay theAmericandecidedtotalktotheEnglishmanaboutsomethingsthatwerebotheringhim American Ifeeluncomfortablewithmanyofthepeoplehere butI mnotsurewhy Ispeakthesamelanguage sothereshouldn tbeanyproblem Backhome Iusuallygetalongwithpeople YouknowthatI mveryfriendly Englishman Yes that strue butyou refriendlyinthewaythatAmericansarefriendly American I mnotsureIunderstand Englishman Well forexample atthemeetingtheothernight youimmediatelycalledpeoplebytheirfirstnames Wedothathere butnotwhenwefirstmeetsomeone American That showwemakepeoplefeelcomfortable Peoplefeelfriendliertowardeachotherwhentheyusefirstnames Englishman It sdifferenthere Forexample whenyoumetmybossyoushouldhaveusedhislastname Alsothere ssomethingelsethatyoudothatEnglishpeopledon toftendo American What sthat Englishman Youtouchpeopleontheshoulderquiteabit especiallywhenyoucomplimentthem American IguessI veneverthoughtaboutthatbefore IsupposethatiswhatIdoathome Comment ThisisanimportantlessonfortheAmericanthatthoughtheyspeakthesamelanguageproblemsmaystillexistwhencommunicatingwithEnglishpeople Hedoesn tstoptothinkthathemayhavetodothingsdifferently Luckily hehassomeonewhocanhelphimunderstandandquicklylearnsthatinEnglandheneedstobeabletodomorethanjustspeakEnglish Conclusion Fromthesesimplecases it snotdifficulttoseewhatanimportantrolecultureplaysincommunicationandwhylanguagealonedoesn tguaranteesuccessfulinterculturalcommunication Whenyoucommunicatewithpeoplefromanotherculture apolitegreetingmayturntoanimpolitegreeting asentenceoutofgoodwillmayturntoaninsult atalkwithagoodintentionmayturntohostilityifyoudon tknowtheirculturewell Culture Discussion 1 Whenyouthinkoftheword culture whatentersyourmind 2 WhatbestrepresentsChineseculture DefiningCulture Whenyouthinkoftheword culture whatentersyourmind Perhapsmusic architecture thearts Manypeopleassociatetheseareaswithculture Othersmaythinkofphilosophy history andliterature Stillothersmaythinkofbeliefs customs values andworldview Perhapstheearliestformaldefinitionofculture putforwardbyE BTylorin1871 isalsooneofthebestknown Heconceivedofcultureas thatcomplexwholewhichincludesknowledge beliefs arts morals law custom andanyothercapabilitiesandhabitsacquiredbymanasamembersociety Tylor 1871 文化是一种复合的整体 它包括知识 信仰 艺术 道德 法律 习俗以及人们作为社会成员而获得的能力与习惯 SinceTylor sdefinition morethan500differentversionshaveemerged butstillnoconsensushasbeenreacheduptothepresent Definingcultureisdifficultmainlybecausescholarshavedifferentunderstandingsofit Onedefinition forexample treatscultureaseverythingthatishuman made Anotherscholar however hasproposedthat cultureiscommunicationandcommunicationisculture Hall 1976 Culturereferstothetotalwayoflivingofparticulargroupsofpeople Itincludeseverythingthatagroupofpeoplethink say do andmake TraditionalChinesemedicine ChineseGongfu PekingOperaandChineseCuisinesareamongthemostfrequentlymentionedsymbolsofChineseculture Besides examplesofculturecanbefoundineveryaspectofourlife Theseincludethecustomsweobservefornamingourchildren thewayweaddressourfamilymembers ourmodeofentertainingourguests thewaywespendourmoney howwetakeourvacation thewayweraiseourchildren aswellasthetablemannersweexpect theclotheswewear thevehicleswedrive theutensilsweuseformeals andsoon Inaword cultureisawholecollectionofourlivingpatternsandbehaviors MetaphorsofCulture Asalargeandpervasive 普遍的 concept cultureisoftencomparedtoaniceberg suggestingthatonlyasmallpartofitisvisiblewhilemostofitliesconcealed Ourcustoms habitsandtheartifacts 人工制品 madeandusedbyhumanslieatoptheiceberg easytodiscover Thehiddendimension however ismainlycomposedoftheunderlyingworldview valuesystems waysofthinking nationalcharacterandanyotherdeepconceptsofourmindthatserveasthefoundationofthevisiblepartandthataccountforcustoms habitsandartifacts InChina forinstance weoftengreeteachotherbyasking Whereareyougoing andgiveageneralanswertoitwhengreeted ThestrongemphasisonsocialrelationshipandtheheavyinterdependencebetweenChinesepeoplearesomeunderlyingreasonsthataccountforthishabit ToanAmerican thissamesentencemaybeinterpretedasanintrusionintoone sprivacy Theunderlyingindividual orientedrelationshipistheinvisiblepartoftheiceberg Cultureislikeaniceberg Cultureisalsocomparedtothe softwareofourmind Hofstede 1991 andthegrammarofourbehavior LeviStraussoncesaid Allsocietiesconstructtheirownrealitiesinaccordancewithmentalorpsychologicalprinciples Wethusinventtheworldweinhabit Hawkes 2003 Thesocietyaroundusisnotanentirelyobjectivereality foreveryoneofushelpstoconstructourworld Cultureisthissharedsetofmentalandpsychologicalprinciplesthatexistinpeople sminds Thiscollectiveagreementthengovernspeople sbehaviorandgivespeopleguidelinesaboutwhatthingsmean whatisimportant andwhatshouldorshouldnotbedone Chinesepeoplearewellknownfortheirmodesty Confucianteachings whichoriginatedinthegroup orientedcultures aretheguidelinesthathelpshapetheirbehavior Anotherpopularmetaphorforcultureistocompareittotherulesofthegameeverybodyisplayinginanyparticularsocietyalthoughwegenerallyarenothighlyawareoftherulesatanygivenmoment Thesesharedrulesofthegametellushowtocommunicatewithothershowtointerpretthebehaviorofthosearoundus Egyptians forinstance tendtousemoresimilesandmetaphorsintheircomplimentsthanAmericans Heislikeabrothertome isoftenheardintheirconversation Besides MayGodprotecthim isoftenaddressedtoapregnantwomanorachildtoprotecttheindividualfrombadluck Americans ontheotherhand seemtocomplimentmorefrequentlythanEgyptiansthoughtheircomplimentsareoftenshorterandincludefewermetaphorsandsimiles Thus cultureiseverythinganindividualneedstoacquireinordertobewellacceptedintoasociety CharacteristicsofCulture However onedoesnotbecomeamemberofaculturebybirth Cultureislearned Welearnourculturefromthosepeoplewithwhomweinteractinourprocessofsocialization ourparents teachers friends andevenstrangers Ahumaninfantwilllearnwolfcultureifheliveswithwolvessincehisbirth Wealsolearntheexpectationsothersmayhaveforourbehaviorthroughourreligiousinstitutionsandthemassmedia Television forexample notonlyprovidesuswithviewsofrealitybutalsoteachesusmanyoftheday to daynormsofourculture Anothercharacteristicofcultureisthatitistransmittedfromonegenerationtoanother Cultureispasseddownfromparentsorotheradultstochildren whointurngrowupandteachtheirchildrentheculture scustomsandexpectations Parentsoftenteachusthenormsandrulesofourculturebymodelinghowtobehaveandcorrectinguswhenweviolatethem IntheUS forexample mostchildrenareaskedfromaveryearlyagetomaketheirowndecisions Inmanyothercultures aparentseldomorneverasksachildwhatheorshewantstodo Instead theysimplytellthechildwhattodo Culturecanalsoemergeingroups asisthecaseoftenwithyoungerpeople whoformtheircultureapartfromtheirparentsorotheradults Cultureisalsoadynamicsystemthatischangingconstantly Theonlythingthatremainsunchangedisthefactof change itself Therearealotofreasonstoexplainthechangingnatureofculture forexample economicdevelopment shiftsinpoliticalsystems andtechnologicalinnovations ConsidertheexampleofChina TremendouschangeshavetakenplaceinChinasincetheintroductionofpoliciesofreformandeconomicandsocialopening TogetherwiththesechangesaresometraditionalChinesevalues Forexample theideaofsavingandthriftwasonceconsideredaveryimportantConfucianprinciple NowitisaprincipleseldomobservedamongtheyoungergenerationsofChina whoaremoreconcernedaboutenjoyinglifeinthepresent DominantCulture SubcultureandCoculture Itisnottruetosaythateachcountryhasonlyoneculture IntheUS thereisnotonlytheso called WhiteAnglo SaxonProtestant WASP butalsoAfrican Americanculture Arab Americanculture Asian Americanculture Hispanic Americanculture 拉美文化 andmanyothers whicharelabeledassubcultures 亚文化 withintheUS Thisterm however hasconnotations 内涵 thatsuggestsubordination 从属 tothelargerEuro Americanculture Thustheterm co culture 共有文化 isoccasionallyemployedinanefforttoavoidthehierarchicalimplicationofsubculture Forcommunicationpurposes however weusuallyfocusonthedominantculturalpatterns Forinstance whenwesaydifferencesbetweenChineseandAmericancultures wemeandifferencesbetweenthedominantHancultureandthedominantAnglo SaxonAmericanculture Thiswillprobablychangealot asminoritygroupstogetherbecomethemajorityintheUS Forexample muchofAmericanmusic suchasJazz isinfluencedbyAfrican Americanculture Inaddition wehavetorememberthatindividualdifferencesalwaysexist Withinadominantculturalpatterntherearealwayssomepeoplewhodeviate 背离 tovaryingdegreesfromthepattern Communication Communicationisthebasisofallhumancontact butit sdifficulttofindasingledefinitionduetoitscomplexity Uptonowthereareasmanyasover100definitionsofcommunication Initsmostgeneralsensecommunicationreferstotheshareorexchangeofinformation ideas views feelings emotions etc Therearethreebasicaspectstocommunicate ourindividualpersonality thecultureweoperatein andthephysicalenvironmentthatsurroundsus Eachoftheseaspectshasinfluenceonwhatandhowwecommunicate Communication Communicationistransactional Eachpersonencodesandsendsmessages andinturnreceivesanddecodesmessages Thecodinganddecodingprocessisprimarilyculture basedandinvolvesadiversesetofelements includingwords gestures symbols etc Whetheracommunicationissuccessfulornotdependsgreatlyonthecircumstances Thekeyiswhethertheparticipantshavesomesimilarculturalbackgrounds knowledge andexperiences InterculturalCommunication Generallyspeaking interculturalcommunicationreferstocommunicationbetweenpeoplewhoseculturalbackgroundsaredistinctenoughtoaltertheircommunication Case4 HereistheconversationbetweenLitz aFinnishandherChinesehusband Litz Dick howlongisyourmumgoingtostay Dick Idon tknow Ihaven taskedher Litz Whynotaskher Dick Whatdoyoumeanbyaskingher Litz ImeanwhatIsaid Justaskherhowlongshe sgoingtostay CanyoudiagnoseLitz problem Litz encoding Howlongisyourmumgoingtostay Mother sdecoding Youcan ttoleratelivingwithme Case5CleanUptheBathroom LiMing amaleChinesegraduatestudent studiedintheUnitedStates HesharedaroomwithhisAmericanclassmateTonyinaresidencehall 学生宿舍 Attheverybeginning LiMingfounditeasyandenjoyabletogetalongwithTony forhewasanopen mindedpersonandsometimeshecouldgiveLiMingquitealotofhelpfuladvice Butlater LiMingfeltitreallyhardtodotherealeffectivecommunication Forexample OnedayTonywentintothebathroomandcompletelyshavedhishead LiMingeasilydiscoveredthisfactwhenhehimselfvisitedthebathroomandsawthehaireverywhere HereturnedtohisroomandsaidtoTony You veshavedyourhead Tonyreplied Yeah Idid LiMingwaitedawhile andthensaid Idiscoveredyou dshavedyourheadwhenIwentintothebathroomandsawthehair Yeah Tonyconfirmed LiMingwasataloss HebelievedhehadcommunicatedinthestrongestpossiblelanguagehiswishthattheAmericanwouldcleanthemesshe dmadeinthebathroom ButLiMing