文化价值观差异对语言风格的影响

1、-作者xxxx-日期xxxx文化价值观差异对语言风格的影响【精品文档】文化价值观差异对语言风格的影响-以中美两国对比为例摘要随着经济全球化的发展，中美两国之间的联系日益密切。由于历史背景，地域，政治文化的不同，两国之间的价值观取向也有所差异。文化价值观的不同，也产生了具有本国特色的语言风格。本文主要从价值观的角度分析其对中美两国语言风格的影响。中美两国的价值观核心以美国的个人主义与中国的集体主义为主，分析在这种价值观差异影响下产生的直接式与间接式语言风格。本研究主要采用了参考文献法，举例法，引用法和归纳总结法。由于前人对该课题的研究尚未全面，因此本研究仍然有一定的现实意义：在国际交往日益频繁的

2、当代社会，深入了解中西方国家的文化差异是非常必要的。在此背景下，本研究有助于全面并深入地了解中美文化差异，期望可以帮助人们更好地加深中美两国的交流与合作。关键词：价值观，个人主义，集体主义，直接式语言风格，间接式语言风格The Influence of the Differences in Cultural Values on Language Styles-A Contrast between the Chinese and the AmericanAbstractWith the development of economic globalization, the contact betw

3、een China and the United States is increasingly close. Due to the historical background, geographical, political and cultural differences, the values of the two countries are also different. And different values also produced its own language style.This research mainly analyzes the impact of the dif

4、ferent values for Chinese and American language style. The core values of the two country is individualism of the United States and collectivism of China. In this different values impact, analyzing American direct language style and Chinese indirect language style.In the process of writing this thes

5、is, the concrete methods the author adopted include collecting materials from reference books, surfing on the internet to find helpful materials. Research method include using contrast, examples and analysis to support my thesis and inductive and summary method.Because of the previous research on th

6、is topic is not yet comprehensive, so this research still has certain practical significance. In contemporary society, the international communication is becoming more and more closely, it is necessary to understand the cultural differences between Chinese and Western countries. In this context, thi

7、s study will help to understand the cultural differences between China and the United States comprehensively and deeply, and the author hopes it can help us to deepen the exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States.Key Words：different value; individualism; collectivism; direct lang

8、uage style indirect language style【精品文档】Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Background of StudyDifferent countries have their own unique cultural value systems, and every cultural value system has its core values system. Different cultural values system has also formed a completely different language featu

9、res. As the carrier of the culture, language is also has their own characteristics in the different cultural value. The language style of the United States, which is the mainstream of Western, is more directly and openly. And as the representation of Eastern civilization, the language style of China

10、 is more indirect, subtle and tactful. An important reason of this is the different cultural value between the United States and China. That is the different core between Chinese and American cultural value 1.2 Significance of This Research With the development of economic globalization, the communi

11、cation between China and the United States is becoming more and more closely. Understanding of the language style differences between the two countries will contribute to the exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. So that people can have a more comprehensive and profound understanding

12、of Chinese and American cultural value and language style.However, the previous research is mostly about the differences between China and the United States cultural value or the differences between China and the United States language style, but for the influence of the differences in cultural valu

13、es on language styles is not yet comprehensive. So this subject still has room to do further research. The author hopes this research can make English language learning becoming more regular, so that people can get more interests in English learning. And it can also help people to deepen the exchang

14、es and cooperation between China and the United States. The prior theories and opinions provide the author with basic ideas from these respects: the conceptualizing of the cultural value and language style, characteristics, origin and performance of American and Chinese cultural values, the characte

15、ristics and performance of American and Chinese language style.1.3 Research MethodsIn the process of writing this thesis, the concrete methods the author adopted include collecting materials from reference books, surfing on the internet to find helpful materials. Research method include using contra

16、st, examples and analysis to support my thesis and inductive and summary method.Chapter Two Literature ReviewValue is the core of culture, and it dominates peoples beliefs, attitudes, and opinions and becomes the guide to peoples action. Under the impact of different values, its culture also showed

17、great differences. The obvious difference between American culture and Chinese culture is that the former emphasizes individual freedom, while the latter pays attention to the social relations. In this century, many scholars have studied and analyzed Chinese collectivism and individualism culture va

18、lues in many aspects. Chinese language style is very prominently different with the United States language style, one of the most obvious difference is Chinas indirect language style and American style direct language. And many people have also been analyzed and discussed about the differences betwe

19、en this.Conceptualizing Cultural Value and Language StyleThere have been many scholars have defined the cultural values and language style. Their views on these issues may not necessarily identical, but also have their own unique perspective.2.1.1. Conceptualizing Cultural ValueIn An Inter-cultural

20、Comparison between Sino-American Cultural Value, the writer Li Mingming thinks that “Value is the consideration and evaluation to what is center of culture. Values are the orienting consideration and evaluation to what is acceptable and what is not. Values influence peoples behavior and thinking pat

21、terns. It guides our behavior patterns in communication.”(Li Mingming, 2007). He believes that value and culture are closely related. Like the American anthropologists Nanda and Warms proposed that “Values are shared ideas about what is true, right and beautiful that underlies cultural patterns and

22、guide society in response to the physical and social environment” (Nanda and Warms 49). The value is the core of the culture, the formation of human value system cannot be separated from the culture, and values also reflects the characteristics of culture.In Sino-American Cultural ValueDifferences a

23、nd Mutual Understanding written by Li Qiao, the author is more inclined to think that value originates from social life. He quotes Williams words as a proof of his point of view“They prescribe which actions and ways of being are better than others; they are not descriptions of fact, but possess cont

24、ent and emotion and contribute to social reality. (Williams, 1970). He thinks that value is the rules of peoples behavior or the social life. “These rules and guideposts are normative and teach us what is useful, good, right, wrong, what to strive for, how to live our life, and even what to die for.

25、 (Samovar, Porter and Stefani, 2000). No matter what the values are, peoples thinking and behavior that in this society should be guided and influenced. 2.1.2. Conceptualizing Language StyleEvery nation in the world has its own language style, which is not separated from its historical culture, trad

26、itional ideas and life customs. Its formation is changing over time, but it spreads slowly until forever.In Comments on Chinese Mainland of the Definition and Essential Characteristics of “Language Style”, Zhang Demin and Gao Hang discussed that the definition of language style is not consistent, th

27、ere are many different definition about language style. And they summed up the works of linguistics, rhetoric and style in 20th Century to the definition of language style, there are eight versions of the follow: “Felicitous Theory”, “Unique Personality Theory”, “Integrated Features Theory”, “Style

28、Atmosphere Theory”, “Means of Expression System Theory”, “General Variation Theory”, “Personalized Speech Theory”, and “Aesthetic Taste or Aesthetic Appearance Theory”(“措辞巧妙论”，“独创个性论”，“综合特点论”，“格调气氛论”，“表达手段体系论”，“常规变异论”，“言语个性论”和“审美趣味论或美学面貌论”)(张德明，高航 2004). All of these versions are definitions of lang

29、uage style, but the emphasis on these definitions is different. At the end of the article, the author expresses his own opinion. “Language style is speech style, it is that people use language in a particular context, select the means of expression, to form a comprehensive performance features of th

30、e landscape style. In short, it is the speech characteristics of comprehensive performance of the style.”(语言风格即言语风格，是人们在特定的语境中运用语言，选择表达手段，形成综合特点所表现的风貌格调。简言之，即言语综合特点表现的风貌格调。)（张德明，高航 2004）The author Liu Zhenjiang in his thesis Some Questions about English Language Style summarized the definition of di

31、fferent linguists about English language style, thinks it can be summarized as “a manner of expressing ones thoughts or feelings” or “ the way in which language is used”(刘振江 1990). And besides, there are four different narrow definition of language style. The first is “the language habits of one per

32、son”, it mainly emphasizes persons personality and worldview. Like the Buffon (1753) said “Style, it is the man himself.” This word is always used for the definition of language style. The second definition for language style is “the language habits shared by a group of people at one time, or over a

33、 period of time”. These two statements are more focused on the language style described as a language habits. The third statement is “good, clear English”. It means that those who use more appropriate style is the so-called language style. Jonathan Swift (1704) said “Proper words in proper places ma

34、ke the true definition of a style.” That is to say that the third statement more emphasize the use of language. And the last definition is mainly used in the literature or aesthetic to describe the unique style of language. This statement can be also called literary style. From here we see that, sty

35、le is multi-faceted, it can be refer to different style by analyzing from different points of view. Language style can be different due to people, time, vary, and also can be different due to occupation, class, media and means of communication on the purpose.2.2 Individualism and Collectivism Indivi

36、dualism, advocates the individual as the most fundamental and true existence. It is a moral, political and social philosophy that individual interests should be the most important factor in determining behavior, it emphasizing the importance of individual freedom and individual rights. Collectivism,

37、 advocates that individual belonging to the community. It is a moral, political and social philosophy that individual interests should be subject to the interests of the group, nation, class and the state, it emphasizing the importance of collective and overall situation. In Historical Characteristi

38、cs of Collectivism and Its Vitality - From the Relationship between Collectivism and Individualism, the author Song Huichang mainly discussed the research production, development and advancement of individualism and collectivism from the relationship of individualism and collectivism. He thinks that

39、 the development of individualism is closely connected with the development of the capitalist society. “Because personal liberation is a necessary premise of the development of capitalism, so the individualistic values in the final analysis is a reflection of the capitalist society.” (个人的解放是资本主义发展的一

40、个必要的前提，所以，个人主义价值观归根到底是资本主义社会的反映。)(宋慧昌 2007). And individualism is the result that people against feudal slavery society and pursuit for personal liberation. It inspired the creation of people, thus promotes the development of the capitalist society. Individualism values got the theory of real practi

41、ce in British colonists found the new world events, therefore, individualism is very typical in the American values. But individualism also has its limitations and malpractice .Tocqueville, the first person to put forward the idea of individualism, in his work Democracy in America, he has written th

42、at “Democracy not only makes everyone forget their ancestors, but also to make everyone regardless of their descendants, and alienated with the same age. It makes everyone always failing to think only of themselves, and finally completely into the lonely heart.”(民主主义不但使每个人忘记了祖先，而且使每个人不顾后代，并与同时代人疏远。它

43、使每个人遇事总是只想到自己，而最后完全陷入内心的孤寂。)(托克维尔 1998:627). In this article, the author Song Huichang also discussed the collectivism. Collectivism, which is developed with the emergence and development of the socialist society. “As far as the basic trend of historical development, the socialist society is develop

44、ed through the capitalist society. Similarly, there are also critical inheritance relationship between value of collectivism and value of individualism.”(就历史发展的基本趋势而言，社会主义社会是经过资本主义社会发展而来的，同样地，集体主义价值观与个人主义价值观之间也存在着批判地继承的关系。)(宋慧昌 2007). Obviously, collectivism is the opposite of individualism. As prev

45、iously mentioned, individualism emphasizes human rights, emphasizes the individual interests and values. But collectivism, from the literal meaning we can see that it pays more attention to the collective interests and values. “Between the organization and individual, the collective and individual,

46、collectivism emphasizing the individuals obedience to the organization, the individual obedience to the collective and unity and discipline.”(在组织和个人之间、在集体和个人之间，强调个人对组织的服从、个人对集体的服从，强调统一和纪律。)(宋慧昌 2007). Compared with individualism, collectivism more emphasizes the equality between people, it also make

47、s collectivism better than individualism in some respects. Although the development of collectivism is very dynamic now, it is unattractive for a large part of people in the community, its influence is still not as good as individualism.Many scholars and researchers believe that in some ways, Chines

48、e and American values can be seen as the basic values of collectivism and individualism. In An Overview of Individualism and Collectivism in Cross-Cultural Psychology by Wu Lanhua, the author discussed “Individualism adapt to capitalist society, the United States is the most developed capitalist soc

49、iety, and so individualism is the most typical value for it. Collectivism adapt to socialist society, China is the typical representative of socialist society. Thus, China and the United States has become a hot spot in the study of value.”(个人主义与资本主义社会相适应，美国是最发达的资本主义社会，因而个人主义最典型;集体主义与社会主义相适应，中国则是它的典型

50、代表。于是，价值观的研究中，中国和美国的比较成为一大热点。)(吴兰花 2003). Therefore, there are many scholar study individualism and collectivism by analyzing the differences between American value and Chinese value. They analyzing American and Chinese peoples attitude, value trend and behavior rules, comparing their differences an

51、d found the rules of American and Chinese value.2.3 Direct and Indirect Language Style Direct and indirect language style is two completely different ways of language style. In Different Cultural Communication Styles, Belinda Tucker has describes her views on direct and indirect communication. In th

52、is article, she has describes her views on direct and indirect communication: “Cultures that value getting to the point quickly without mincing words are direct communicators. In this type of interaction, the truth is highly valued with a concern for peoples feelings taking a backseat to the conveya

53、nce of information. While indirect communicators value the idea of saving face and maintaining harmony, direct communicators are not afraid to use criticism and confrontational language.”(Belinda Tucker). And she also summarized said that African Americans, Nordic and European descent Americans lang

54、uage style is mostly direct language style. They dont like beat about the bush when they talking with others, they are more inclined to express their views directly. However, Most of the Native Americans and Asians think the direct language is too rude and impolite. These people prefer to use more e

55、uphemistic language and suggested to communicate, that is to say, their language styles are mostly indirect language style.Scollon and Kirkpatrick point out that “in spoken interactions and written discourse organization, the Chinese prefer the indirect convention while Anglo-Americans prefer the di

56、rect convention.” They also point out that “the Chinese indirect convention and Americans direct convention in speaking and writings are in general demonstrated in the semantic sequence or order of the information.” (Scollon & Kirkpatrick 2000). The authors point of view is that in the language styl

57、e, China is more inclined to the indirect language, while the United States is more direct language. This has also been recognized and studied by many scholars in China and the West. And for the reasons of this difference, He Zhaoxiong has point out that “the factors that influence the indirect and

58、direct way of communication between cultures include power relationship, social distance, the size of imposition, and societal right and obligation.” And he also assumes that “different cultures may have different assumptions about these factors. For example, societal right and obligation between fa

59、ther and son may be interpreted differently in Chinese and American cultures” (何兆熊2000: 253-256).Chapter Three Differences between Chinese and American Cultural Values and Language StylesWith the developments of science technology, economy, culture, and political pluralism, the contact between countries is increasingly close. However, due to the differenc