基于霍尔理论的中美跨文化交际中语境文化差异研究(1)_图文

1、山东师范大学硕士学位论文基于霍尔理论的中美跨文化交际中语境文化差异研究 姓名:王莉莉申请学位级别:硕士专业:课程与教学论(英语指导教师:杨大平20090402摘要随着高科技和信息技术的大力发展,人们可以在任何时间,任何地点以最便捷、迅速 的方式进行交流。时空仿佛失去了存在的意义。地球上各种肤色的居民,无论身在何处, 说着何种语言,都有越来越多的机会相互交流,做生意,交朋友。但是,物理距离的拉近 并不能保证心灵的相互靠近。很多情况下,不同文化背景下的人们,虽然用同一种语言在 交流,却无法顺畅而愉快地交流思想。这是因为他们缺少必要的跨文化交际知识。正如霍 尔(1988:17所述:“文化即交际,交际

2、即文化。两者联系如此紧密,以致人们在交际 中会有意无意地反映出自己的背景文化。文化问的差异是导致跨文化交际冲突和失败的主 要原因。中西方文化最明显的差异之一是交流中语境使用的差异。美国人类学家霍尔在他1976年出版的超越文化一书中提出,从语境角度,交流可以分为两种,即高语境交流和低 语境交流。前者指主要依靠语境交流的模式,后者指主要依靠语言交流的模式。这两种模 式存在于所有、文化之中,但在社会长期发展过程中,不同文化会对不同的交流模式有所侧 重和偏好。因此,就相应地形成了高低语境文化。高低语境文化的概念也是由霍尔在1976年超越文化一书中提出的。本篇论文就是基于霍尔高低语境文化理论而写成。作者

3、在第一章和第二章分别作了简 要的背景介绍和历史文献回顾。第三章,基于高低语境文化对交流本质的不同理解,作者 分别以中国和美国作为这两种文化的代表,对高低语境文化中交流模式的差异作了详细的 分析。高语境文化的交流模式以其问接性,正式程度高,隐含程度高,集体主义意识强为 特点,与之成鲜明对比的是低语境文化的交流模式,以直接性,非J下式程度高,简洁明了, 个人主义意识强为特点。然后,作者指出了高低语境文化形成的影响因素,包括社会历史 因素,宗教哲学因素以及人的内在认知过程。为了加强读者对高低语境文化差异的理解, 作者在第四章对中美跨文化交际中的失败案例进行了详细分析。第五章中,作者讨论了如 何将前面

4、所作的理论分析应用于文化教学实践的问题。首先,作者结合两个调查报告,指 出了解语境文化差异的重要意义。其中一个调查报告是1985年北京外国语大学胡文仲教 授所作。作者以此为模式,对现今英语专业学生的高低语境文化差异的认识做了调查,结 果表明,文化教学中加强高低语境文化差异的意识培养势在必行。关于如何实施,作者建 议采用影像资料为主要教学手段,并分析了其优势,教学时应把握的主要原则,并给出了 两个完整的课堂案例。在第六章中,作者对论文作了结论并指出了其不足之处。关键词:高语境,低语境,交流模式,跨文化意识,影像资料 中图分类号:H319AbstractSince the beginning of

5、 21吼century,higll and information technologies have shown their magic power in shrinking the world.People on the earth,no matter where mey live,whatlanguages they speak and what their skin colorsare,arenow having more and moleopportunities to communicate with each other,doing business,making friends

6、 and solving problems.But the reduction of physical distance cannot make sure that the distance between the souls is getting closer.Most of the time,people of different cultural backgrounds,though speaking the same language,cmmot exchange ideas smoothly and happily for the lack of necessary knowledg

7、e in intercultural communication.One of the biggest differences between China and the western world lies in the cultural differences in the use of context in communication.According to E.T.Hall in his book Beyond Culture(1976,communication Call be divided into two kinds from the angle of context.The

8、 communication with the main reliance on context is called hi gh-context communication,vhile the communication relying mostly on language is called low-contextcommunication.The two kinds of communication exist in all cultures,but there does lie a preference of a communication style in the longtime s

9、ocial development.Therefore,accordingly,there have developedtwo kinds of cultures in terms of context differences.They are highcontext and low-context cultures, which is also put forward by Hall in his book Beyond Cultures in 1976.This thesis is developed on HallS theory of highcontext and low-conte

10、xt cultures,mainly dwelling on the comparison of communication stylesbetween highcontext and low-context cultures with China and the U.S.as the representatives respectively.After giving a brief background introduction and a literature review in the first two chapters,the author makes an analysis in

11、Chapter 3on the divergences of communication styles in the use of context,based on their different understandings of the nature of communication.The communication style in China is mainly characterized by indirectness,implicitness,formality and collective initiative, whereaS the communication style

12、in the U.S.is featured by directness,explicitness,informality and individual initiative.Then the author points out the influencing Actors in the development of the contextual differences,including social and historical factors,religious and philosophical factors and the influencing of internal cogni

13、tive process.In Chapter 4,in order to deepen readers understanding of the divergences between highcontext and low-context cultures,the author ;i山东师范人学硕卜位论文舀V鹤a detailed case study on miseommunication in the Sino-U.S.intercultural communication. Then in Chapter 5,the author discusses the issue of how

14、 to apply the above study in cultural teaching classes.The author first points out the significance of the awareness of the contextual differences in intercultural communication with the help of two surveys.One Was conducted by Hu Wenzhong to see the views of both teachers and students on questions

15、related to awareness of cultural traits.Using it as a model,the author did another survey on the current condition of English Major Studentsawareness of the differences between highcontext and low-context cultures.Both surveys indicate that English major studentsawareness of the contextual differenc

16、es needs improving pressingly in order to have successful intercultural communication between high-context and low-context cultures。Based on the above,the author suggests using videos as a teaching technique in the enhancement of studentsawareness of the contextual divergences in classrooms with the

17、 explanation of the advantages,the general principles andsamples of its implementation.In Chapter 6,the author gives a con,clusion and points out the limitation of the thesis.Key words:highcontext,low-context,communication styles,intercultulal awareness,video Categorynumber:H319独 创 声 明本人声明所呈交的学位论文是本

18、人在导师指导下进行的研究工作及取得的研究成果。 据我所知,除了文中特别加以标注和致谢的地方外,论文中不包含其他人已经发表或撰写 过的研究成果,也不包含为获得(注:如没有其他需要特别声明的,本 栏可空或其他教育机构的学位或证书使用过的材料。与我一同工作的同志对本研究所做 的任何贡献均已在论文中作了明确的说明并表示谢意。学位敝作者虢均韵 聊醇矽拟事 |学位论文版权使用授权书本学位论文作者完全了解堂撞有关保留、使用学位论文的规定,有权保留并向国 家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和磁盘,允许论文被查阅和借阅。本人授权堂撞可 以将学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检索,可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等

19、 复制手段保存、汇编学位论文。(保密的学位论文在解密后适用本授权书学位论文作者签名:三萄萄 签字日期:2007年歹月孑白导师签字:签字日期.2。/年乡月扩日III东师范人学硕|J学位论义 _ _ _- - _ _ 。 _-_ _- _ - - _- _ -_- _- -_ - _ - -_ _。 _ - _- - _ , _- _- -_ _-_- _ _- - _-_-_-_- _-H _一Chapter One Introduction1.1Need and Significance of the StudySince the beginning of 21n century,hi曲and

20、 information technologies have shown their magic power in shrinking the world.People on the earth,no matter where they live,what languages they speak and what their skin colors are,are now having more and more opportunities to communicate with each other,doing business,making friends and solving pro

21、blems,etc.China,with its thriving economyand glorious history of over five thousand years,has drawn increasingly more attention from the western world.And,a growing number of Chinese people have the opportunities to go and see what it is like outside China,by studying or working abroad.But the reduc

22、tion of physical distance cannot make sure that the distance between the souls、is getting closer.Most of the time,people of different cultural backgrounds,even though using the same language,cannot exchange ideas smoothly and happily for the lack of necessary knowledge in intercultural communication

23、.One of the biggest differences between China and the western world lies in the cultural differences in the use of context in communication.According to E.T.Hall(1976, communication can be divided into two kinds from the angle of context.They are lowcontext communication that occurs mostly through l

24、anguage and highcontext communication that OCCI.LrS in ways other than language.Davis(1999:56adds that“Chinese people tend to be lligh-context communicators as compared to people from western cultures.”LetS take a look at the following dialogue given by Davis(Ibid:104:Ji Bing,a Chinese student,is li

25、ving with Jefir,an authentic American boy,in his second yearat a small liberal arts college in the U.S.Onenight Jeff was working on a project that requiredsome artwork.Ji Bing was at his desk studying for a test.Jeffs scissors were just too dull to do the job,SO he asked Ji Bing,Jeff:Sorry to bother

26、 you while youre studying,but could I use your scissors for a while?Ji Bing:SureJeif:Thanks,thanks a lot山东师范大学硕Ij学位论之(Five minutes laterJeff:Sorry to bother you again,but these crayons make this look like kindergarten.You know those colored pencils you have?Would it be OK if l use them for my projec

27、t?Ji Bing:Help yourself.(After anotherfive minutesJeff:I must be driving you crazy,but have you got any glue or tape?Promise Ill buy you another roll.Ji Bing:Use it aS much as you want.I dont need it.Jeff:Appreciate it.Ji Bing went b口ck to reading.As Jeffwasftnishing his project he noticed Ji Bing w

28、as watching him.Then he heard Ji Bing popped out a surprising question in a plaintive toneJi Bing:Are you angry at me?Je仃.Of course not.What makes you think that?In the U.S.,people exchange meanings mainly through language channel,paying less attention to context.Even in the situation of asking a fa

29、VoL Americans would not expect a friend to recognizeand respond to their wishes without stating them.So,you can see that Jeff felt sorry for disturbance,but he had to state his meaning clearly every time when he wanted to borrow something from Ji Bing.This is not the same case in China.Chinese peopl

30、e are more sensitive to the surroundings.Most of the time,oneS behavior,instead of language,indicates his intent,and others would understand him through the context he has created.In Ji BingS eyes,his reading a book indicates that he didnt want to be disturbed.If Jeff wanted to borrow something from

31、 him, after he spoke out his mind for the first time,he could take what he needed later without asking Ji Bing again and Ji Bing could understand him through his behaviors.But,Jeff disturbed Ji Bing repeatedly,regardless of what he is doing,which is uncustomary tO Ji Bing.No wonder Ji Bing considere

32、d it as a sign of anger.Such problems硒mentioned above which take place mainly due tO the cultural difference in the use of context are arising increasingly in intercultural communication between China and the western world.Under this circumstance,勰an English major,the author decides to make a study

33、on the divergences between hilgh-context and low-context cultures based on the classification by E.T.Hall in this thesis,with China勰the representative of highcontext cultures and the U.S.as 2山东师范人学顺l:鲢论殳the representative of lowcontext cultures.Hopefully,it could offer some help to the readers, espe

34、cially to the would-be interculturalcommunicators.1.2Outline of the ThesisBefore dwelling on the divergences between high-context and lowcontext cultures in communication,the author firstly gives a brief literature review of the concemed studies in Chapter 2,including the basic definitions of commun

35、ication,context and highcontext and lowcontext communications,the relationship between communication and culture as well as a brief history of the study of high-context and low-context cultures.Chapter 3is the core of this thesis.In this chapter,the author tries to give a thorough and systematic ana

36、lysis on the divergences of contextual cultures in the SinoU.S.intercultural communication,based on the classification by E.T.Hall in 1976.This chapter is divided into three parts:the first part gives a brief analysis on what are the different understandings of communication between Chinese and the

37、Americans,which carl be considered aS the inside stimulus of the outside behaviors;the second part gives readers a systematic and detailed analysis on the divergences in the use of context in the intercultural communicationbetween China and the U.S.,which is illustrated respectively in the degree of

38、 directness,explicitness and formality硒well硒the individual or collective initiative in decisionmaking;the last part gives a detailed analysis on the possible infiuencing factors that have led to the development of Kgh-context and lowcontext cultures,including the social and historical factors,the re

39、ligious and philosophical factors,as well as the different internal cognitive processes.Chapter 4 demonstratesspecifically themiscommunications caused by the different use ofcontext with detailed case studies in Sino-US intercultural communication,in order to deepen readers understanding of the cont

40、extual differences.Chapter 5is the innovating part of this thesis.In relation to cultural teaching,this chapter mainly dwells on two parts:in the first part,the author gives a detailed analysis on the significance of the awareness of the divergences in contextual cultures in thecommunication between

41、 China and the U.S.,based on the fundamental understanding and discussion of intercultural communication competence and what to be included in cultural teaching with the aim of improving intercultural communication competence.In the enhancement of the significance,the author makes use of two surveys

42、.One was conducted by Hu Wenzhong tO see 3山东师范人学颂Ij学位论文the views of both teachers and students on questions related to awareness of cultural traits.Using it勰a model,the author did another survey on the current condition of English Major Students awareness of the differences be似,een hiIghcontext and

43、lowcontext cultures.Both surveys indicate that English major studentsawareness of the contextual differences needs improving pressingly in order to have successful interculturalcommunication between highcontext and lowcontext cultures.In the second part,the author puts forward videos as a cultural t

44、eaching technique for the sake of efficiency in the enhancement of studentsawareness of the divergences between high-context and low-context cultures in classrooms,which is demonstrated in three points,including the advantages,the general principles and the relevant samples of using videos as a teac

45、hing technique.In Chapter 6,the conclusion part,the author gives a conclusion and points out the limitations of the thesis and hopes for future study in the theory and application of highcontext and lOW.context cultures.4dl东师柚J:学顺l学伊论文Chapter Two A literature ReviewIt is no denying that communicatio

46、n,context and culture are three most fundamental elements in human interactions.They are closely interrelated with each other:communication is meant to convey a system of information;the correct understanding of information cannot be achieved without the help of context;the use of context is cultura

47、lly diverse,which leads to the two distinct communication styles of high-context and low-context cultures.In the following part, the author tries to conduct a brief review of the relevant studies on these fundamental definitions and their relationships.2.1Understanding Communication2.I.I Defining Co

48、mmunicationHumans interact with each other and keep the worldmoving on every day basically through communication.People communicm,e to finish tasks,to share inner emotions,to make friends and keep good relationships.It is the most vital activity of human life.Without communication, the world will no

49、t be what it is like nowadays.Communication is such important that DeVito (1976once said,“When I stop commutdcating,I shall be dead,in mind if not in body,in spirit if not in mind.What is communication,then?By Wilbur SchrammS definition,“communication comeS from the Latin communis,common.when we com

50、municate,we are trying to establish a conlmonnesswith someone.That is,we are trying to share information,an idea,or an attitude. At this moment I anl trying to communicate to you the idea that the essence of communication is getting thereceiver and the sendertunedtogether for a particular message.”(

51、Quoted by DeVito, 1976:174By Ruben and StewartS definition,human communication is the process through which individuals-in relationships,groups,organizations,and societies-respond to and create messages to adapt to the environment and one another.”(Rubin&Stewart,1998:16From the above definitions,we

52、Call see that communication means to share information between the communicators.So,in order to make SUlC of the success of communication,the message being conveyed and the context al e two of the most essential elements.In terms of context,Hall(1976points out that it is divided into internal contex

53、t and external context.So in order to have a deeper understanding of communication,it is necessary to make a clarification on 5I【I东|Ili他人学硕I:学位论文context and its relationship、撕th the message in communication.2.1.2Understanding ContextCommunication is meant to send and receive information or messages

54、between communicators.Then,what can make sure of the co删understanding of information on the receiverS side?Is it merely language?By its nature which is symbolic in relation with meaning and has numerous polysemantic or homonymous words,language alone may produce meaning ambiguity in communication. M

55、oreover,compared with the complexity of thought,language seems so inadequate that if working alone,itCan hardly finish the task of conveying all the messages rendered by the sender, for example,sometimes the true intention of the sender is conveyed even in disguise of the literal meaning whim may be

56、 just the opposite to the true meaning.What is the best assistant to language in achieving the correct understanding of information? The answer is co、ntext.According to Hall and Hall(1990:6,context can be defined as“the information that surrounds an event;it is inextricably bound up with the meaning

57、 of the event. Hall(1976:100points out,A universal feature of information system is that meaning (what the receiver is expected to dois made up of the communication,the background and the preprogrammed responses of the recipient,and the situation.(We call these last two the internal The internal con

58、texttakes place in the brain and is a function of either past experience or the structure of the nervous system,or both.(Ibid:95It serves as a filtering system that is used by the receiver to pick up the meaning most suitable to his past experience from the various possibilities ofmeaning included in the informationsent by the speaker.Anything a mall chooses can have an effect on his understanding of the world,and convert itself to be part of the ownerS experience,enabling him to make the next choice.At the same time,the receiver Can initiate his inte