跨文化交际课件 L 11 V C Thought Patterns

1、Lecture 11Verbal CommunicationLearning ObjectivesTaboosSwearing Words EuphemismsThought PatternsSlangPart OneSlangI. Definition of slang Slangs refer to words and expressions, which are regarded as very informal and are not considered suitable for formal social situations or serious writing. One mar

2、k of an informal style of language is the frequent use of slangs. II. Characteristics of slang1. Slang draws numerous phrases from the shop talk.(行话).e.g. on the beam: (aerial, navigation) on the right track off-beat: (music) different from the usual, odd2. Slang expressions are borrowed from the st

3、andard vocabulary and are given different meanings. e.g. no sweat: easy a bad trip: a disturbing experience3. Metaphor is the most characteristic type of creation that slang admits. e.g. girl: heart-throb(情人) mad: a screw looseIII. The Functions of Slang1. One function of slang is to make speech viv

4、id, colorful and interesting.2. Slang is often new , which is invented in keeping with new ideas and customs.3. Slang is popular because it is often humorous, witty and sometimes picturesque. 4. One generations slang is often another generations standard vocabulary. IV. Rhyming SlangRhyming slang is

5、 a special form of slang developed by Londoners. It is formed by using a phrase the last word of which rhymes with the word you have in mind. e.g. stairs=apples and pears.I fell down the stairs= I fell down the apples and pears.1. dead duck - complete failure2. no dice - impossible3. dumdum - idiot4

6、. be the hottest - most popular5. go completely bananas - become angry6. be freaking out - losing control7. hit it off - have a good friendly relationship8. come it -behave rudelyV. PracticeVI. English slangs Some English slangs are with vivid images and rich association.1. cancer stick: a cigarette

7、2. the fifth wheel: the vice-president of the US3. lead balloon: a failure, no effects 4. vital statistics: a womans bust, waist and hip measurements5. waltz through: to finish something easily6. kick the bucket: to be deadVII. Chinese slangsChinese slangs can be found in some dialects, in jargon an

8、d vulgar expressions, which have gradually become standard speech. 乱弹琴：to act or talk like a fool有来头：to have influence backing亮相： to strike a pose on the stage; to state ones opinion开洋荤: to experience something exotic开小差: to be absent-minded磨洋工：to loaf on the job; to dawdle along老油条：a slippery perso

9、n揩油：to get petty advantage at the expense of other people.Part TwoTabooI. The Definition of taboo Taboos are words and expressions which are to be avoided because tradition or social custom strongly frowns on their use. Every language contains a special group of taboo words which people avoid using

10、because they find them embarrassing or offensive.II. The functions of taboos (1) It serves as an outlet for pent-up emotion, a substitute for hitting out. (2) It serves as important social function. Taboo is much more frequent in informal than formal situation.III. English and Chinese taboos(1) Engl

11、ish and Chinese have certain areas of agreement on taboos. e.g. excreta and acts of human excretion are to be avoidedIn English, they should be replaced by euphemisms.In Chinese, they are taboos, which are less strict than English.(2) Talking about sexual intercourse and certain parts of the body is

12、 taboo in both cultures. e.g. to make love, to have sex withPart ThreeSwearing WordsI. Definition of swearing words Swear words belong to taboo. They seem to be more offensive than others and using swear words in certain settings would be more unacceptable. When people want to express powerful emoti

13、ons by using strong language just like “four-letter word” as fuck, damn, shit, tits, etc.II. English and Chinese swearing words(1)In English, swear words like “Jesus Christ”, “Holy Mary” and “Son of a bitch” are most unacceptable. While “Damn!”, “Damn it!” and “Hell” are less ones. * Most English sw

14、ear words have to do with Christian religious terms or names. (2) In Chinese, “xxx”seems to be the most common swear words. III. English and Chinese responses to swearing words Peoples reactions to swear words may change with time. Some swear words become rather common and gradually lose their shock

15、 value; some are frequently heard in young peoples conversation. For nonnative speakers, it is better to be cautious. Part FourEuphemismI. Introduction about Euphemism 1. Definition of euphemism Euphemism is indirect expression that enables people to avoid talking directly about something which migh

16、t cause offence or embarrassment. 2. Characteristics of euphemism People always use pleasant, harmless-sounding or polite terms in the place of those considered embassassing, rude, or offensive language, like taboos and swears. II. English and Chinese Euphemism3. One term seeming to be universally a

17、voided is “death”(1) In English, people use euphemisms like, go, depart, depart from world forever, decease, pass away, breathe ones last, go the way of all flesh, pay ones debt to nature, go to a better world, be in (go to) heaven, be with God, push up daisies etc., meanwhile use the slangs like, K

18、ick the bucket, be done for to replace death.(2) In Chinese, people use euphemisms like, 去世， 逝世， 故去， 病故， 寿终，牺牲， 作古， 谢世， 弃世， 与世长辞，见马克思， meanwhile use the slangs like 毙命， 丧命， 一命呜呼， 呜呼哀哉，to replace death.III. Practice Euphemism(1) Physical shortcoming: plain-ugly, heavy set, on the heavy side- fat slen

19、der-bonny, skinny physical handicapped- crippled not all there - mentally subnormal(2) ages: senior citizens- elderly people advanced in age, elderly- oldIII. Euphemism(3) go to the toilet toiletgo to the mens (ladies) room, rest room, washroom, lavatory, the Johngo to the toiletwash one hands, to r

20、elieve oneself, to see a man about a horse, because nature calls, go to the toilet for lady powder her nose, to freshen upIII. Euphemism(4) unemployment: involuntarily leisured- unemploymentlaid out-temporary unemployedlet you go-dismiss“At first I was poor, then I became needy, later I was under-pr

21、ivileged. Now I am disadvantaged. I still dont have a cent to my name, but I am sure to have a great vocabulary. ” - written by unfortunate personIII. Euphemism(5) poor student: A. below average student - poor studentB. person doing better work with help - slow, stupid studentC. underachiever- lazy

22、studentD. depend on others to do his work- cheats in classE. be economical with the truthlieF. take something without permission-steal Part FiveDifferences in Cultural Thought Patterns Warm-up Case Having won Gambian scholarship to attend British university, A Chinese was confident to commence his p

23、ostgraduate. He studied hard and felt few difficulties with the course. However, when he received feedback on his first assignment, he was disconcerted to find that although his ideas were interesting, his professor thought he didnt keep to the topic, for he brought in many irrelevancies, and he did

24、nt present his argument in a logical manner. So he sought advice from a British classmate, Tony. To his confusion, Tonys work seemed insubstantial and dull. Case AnalysisThis case reflects the differences in cultural thought patterns and thought communication styles. The Chineses thought is of the a

25、ssociative uniting styles, i.e. expressing ideas with details by association. British thought pattern tends to be more abstract, i.e. illustrating the concrete argument step by step at distinct level, and the argument is unfolded with logic.Because Chinese finished the writing with his native though

26、t pattern. Evidently his habitual style is different from that of native British. II. Sequencing Differences by Culture The diagram represents five cultural thought patterns related to five language groups respectively. English Semitic Oriental Romance Russian 直线型 平行对仗型 螺旋型 迂回转折型 迂回转折型 英语 闪族语 汉语 拉丁语

27、系 俄语 （阿拉伯语） （东方语言） （法语，西班牙语） 1. English Language Group(1)The 1st, simplest diagram represents English language group. It is a vertical straight line with a downward-point arrow typifying the linear logical development of English writing that begins with a topic statement, then develop it with relate

28、d ideas to support, and at last makes a conclusion. (2)English writing is linear, direct, clarified, and logical.(3)English paragraph development is deductive pattern. It is a reasoning process in which general or major topic moves towards particular or minor points. A general statement or a topic i

29、s presented first followed by supporting specific statements.(4)They solve problems in a linear or direct way. 2. Semitic Language GroupThe 2nd diagram is the representation of Semitic language group(闪族语, 阿拉伯语), which is composed of a series of forward-moving, zigzagged lines signifying parallelisti

30、c movements(平行对仗型). Each individual parallel construction is as important as others and people can hardly or cant at all find out the focus of an essay. The Semitic individuals solve problems in a combination of tangential (external ) and semi-direct approaches. 3. Oriental Language Group(1)The 3rd

31、diagram is the representation of the Oriental language group including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and so on. This thought pattern is designed by a circular, spiral line suggesting “indirection”.(2)The organization of Oriental writing is “off the point”,“out of focus”, “indirect”.(3) Chinese par

32、agraph development is inductive pattern. It is a reasoning process in which particular or minor points move towards general or major topic. With inductive argument, specific or minor argument are placed first and then the general statement as a conclusion will be reached. (4) Asians employ a circula

33、r approach to solve problems. 4. Romance language groupThe 4th diagram is the representation of “Romance” language group which is characterized as a digressive, back-and-forth zigzag. This thought pattern shows much greater freedom to digress (depart from the topic) or to introduce extraneous (exter

34、nal) material that is unrelated to English natives eyes. Romance cultures use more consistently circuitous approach to solve the problems. 5.Russian language group The 5th diagram is the representation of Russian language group. It is similar to Roman languages. It allows for more digression from th

35、e topic than English does. Russian diagram consists of dotted lines instead of solid lines, which shows high tolerance for subordination in Russian paragraph development. Russians employ a combination of direct or circuitous ways to work out the problems. Part FiveCultural Differences Between Englis

36、h and Chinese on Discourse LevelI. Definition of Discourse Discourse is a piece of speech or writing. It may be as short as an exchange of greetings, a paragraph, or as long as a lecture or an essay. The study of discourse is the study of units of language and language use consisting of more than a

37、single sentence, but connected by some system of related topics. II. Different discourse between Chinese and English尊敬的领导： 您好！ 感谢您在百忙之中抽出时间阅读本人的求职信。 在本人即将完成学业踏入社会之际，有幸得到这么一个向贵公司展示自我的宝贵机会不胜感谢。我在XX大学主修通信工程，四年的大学生活让我学到很多知识， 我一直坚信“天道酬勤”的信念， 虽刚走出校门，经验不足，但是我会养成乐观进取的热情，使我有信心能够很快胜任本职工作。Dear Sir or Madam, I

38、wish to apply for the position, I received my B.A. from XX University with a major in communication. My major field has given me not only the broad intellectual background of a liberal arts curriculum, but also enoughexperience in research and report writing. In addition, I have gained practical exp

39、erience in publications. I appreciate your consideration and look forward to hearing from youI. Different Emphasis on Form People in different cultures show differences in their preference over the ways a spoken or written discourse is organized or delivered. (1) The parataxic(并列结构) feature of Chine

40、se and hypotactic（主从结构） feature of English are easily observed at the discourse level. Chinese Emphasis on Form (2)Chinese writing puts more emphasis on the connection of meaning between sentences and paragraphs; It places emphasis on meaning rather than linguistic forms. The formal connection could

41、 be overlooked if the meaning is well expressed. Chinese oral or written communication depends on a lot on the context. Its assumed that the reader and writer have shared knowledge of the context and the background information, so readers can take the responsibility of finding the connections betwee

42、n words and paragraphs himself. Thats why Chinese writing is called “Reader Responsible”.English Emphasis on Form ( 3)Coherence and cohesion are the basic principles in English writing, which requires the writer not only pay attention to the unity of meaning but also the unity of linguistic forms. C

43、oherence and cohesion are the natural or reasonable connections in thoughts and words that results from the showing of all parts in logical relations, whereas cohesion is the means to achieve coherence. In English writing, communication between the reader and the writer depends on the language used.

44、 Reader and writer dont share the context and relation. It is the writers duty to make clear the relations between words, sentences and paragraph. So it is called “Writer Responsible”.2. Different Style Preferences (1) The ornamental装饰性 style of Chinese writing and plain style of English are also seen at the discourse level. (2)Chinese use many descriptive words and phrases, idioms, quota