跨文化交际视听说案例分析

Case1

XiaoLIandXiaoWangwerecolleagues.XiaoLIgavealotofhelptoXiaoWangfinanciallyandsocially.RecentlyXiaoLIwouldgetmarried.ButheforgotinvitingXiaoWangattendhiswedding.LaterXiaoWanggotinformationaboutXiaoLI'weddingandsentRMB500YuantoXiaoLI.

Question:Whatculturalphenomenoncanbereflected?Why?

InChinesecultureinflueneedbyConfucianism,ifsomeonedoesafavorforyou,youshouldreturnthefavortothem.ThisisverycommonforChinesepeople..InthephilosophyofConfucianismReciprocityarethebaseofrelationships.GratitudeandindebtednessareimportantpartsofChineseculture.Ifapersonfeelsuneasytobeindebtedofsomeone,paybackisnecessarytoachievebalaneeintherelationship.

Case2

AnEnglishguest:Eachtimeanewdisharrivedhisparentswouldleanoverandloadmyplatewithtastymorsels.AstheyhadtakenallthetroubletocookitIjusthadtopolishitoff.Assoonasmyplatewasemptytheywouldputmoreon.Ofcourse,Ifeltduty-boundtoeatthattoo.

AChineseguest:CanyouimaginehowmanydishesIhad?Onlyone-astewwithmeatandvegetables.Themeatwasoverdoneandtoohardtoeat;greenvegetableswerenoIongergreen.Theyneverputfoodonyourplatebutjustaskyoutohelpyourself.Ifyou,asaguest,areshyormodest,waitingforthefoodtobeputonyourplate,youwillremainhalf-starved.

Question:ArethereanydifferencesinhospitalitybetweenaChineseandEnglish?Whatarethereasons?

Yes.TheChinesestudentfeltdisappointedatBritishhospitalitybecausesheusedtheChinesewayofshowinghospitalitytojudgetheBritishone.InthestorytakingplaceinChina,thewesternercouldn'timaginethatthereshouldbesixteendishespreparedforher.Whensheatefromtheeightcolddishes,shecouldn'teatanymore.ItisbecauseaWesternmealnormallyseversone

maincourseplusastarterandsweetsordesserts.Thefactisthatdifferentpeopleintheworldshowtheirdifferenthospitalityindifferentways.

Case3

LiLanhadanAmericanfriendSusan.TheyusuallyhadlunchtogetherandLiLanoftenaskedSusanforadviceonproblemsshefacedadjustingtoAmericansociety.SusangaveLiLanalotofadviceandhelpedhertoimproveherEnglish.OnceLiLanneededurgentlyabigsumofmoneytopayhertuitionfee.SinceshehasnootherfriendsintheStates,sheturnedtoSusanforhelpandpromisedthatshewouldreturnthemoneysoon.

ToLiLan'greatdisappointment,thistimeSusan didn'stemhappytole

ndthemoneytoher.ThoughLiLanreturnedthemoneyasshepromised,theydidn'getalongwellfromthenon.

Question:WhydidLiLanfeelunpleasant?

LiLanaskedtoborrowmoneyfromherAmericanfriendSusan,whichisrarelypartofWesternfriendship.LiLanandSusanhavedifferentexpectationsoffriendship.

IntheWest,peopleprefertobeindependentandequalratherthandependent,sotheydon'tfeelcomfortableinarelationshipinwhichonepersongivesmoreandtheotherpersonisdependentonwhatisgiven.Amongfriendstheymostlyprovideemotionalsupporttoeachotherandspendtimetogether,sotheyrarelyborroworlendmoneytoeachother.Theywouldaskforaloanfromthebankratherthanfromtheirfriends.

WhileinChina,peopleexpecttheirfriendstobeloyaltoeachother,andtheyeventakerisksfortheirfriends.Sotheywouldgivenotonlyemotionalsupporttoeachotherbutalsoconcretehelptoeachother,suchashelpingtofindajob,solvingaproblem,orevengivingmoneytohelponeoutoveraIongperiodoftime.Sowhenafriendisinneed,thefirstpersonheorshewantstoaskforhelpisnaturallyhis/herfriend.

In1997,aDanishwomanfromCopenhagenlefther14-month-oldbabygirlinastrolleroutsideaManhattanrestaurantwhileshewasinside.OtherdinersattherestaurantbecameconcernedandcalledNewYorkCityPolice.Thewomanwaschargedwithendangeringachildandwasjailedfortwonights.Herchildwasplacedinfostercare.ThewomanandtheDanishconsulateexplainedthatleavingchildrenunattendedoutsidecafesiscommoninDenmark.Pictureswerewiredtothepoliceshowingnumerousstrollersparkedoutsidecafeswhileparentswereeatinginside.

Question:Whatculturalphenomenoncanbereflected?

Thiscasereflectsoneofthebarrierstotheeffectiveinterculturalcommunication—assumingsimilarityinsteadofdifferenee.InAmericanculture,itisillegalforparentstoleavetheirbabyalone.WhereasitiscommonplaceforparentstoleavetheirbabyaloneinDanishculture.TheDanishwomanhadassumedthatCopenhagenissimilartoNewYork,thatwhatiscommonlydoneinCopenhagenisalsocommonlydoneinNewYork.

Case5

DescribingthedifferencesofverbalcommunicationStylesbetweenChinesepeopleandAmericanpeople.Takeexamplestoexplainit.

TheChineseshoutbeloudwhentalkingabouteverything.Directeye-contactisrarewhenspeakingpersontoperson.Countingonyourfingersisdifferent.InsteadofjustholdingoutthenumberoffingersontwohandsasinAmerica,theChinesehavespecificfingersignsfornumbersonetoten.

Toindicateyourself,Americanstendtousetheirthumborforefingerandpointatortouchtheirchest.Chinesepeopleusuallypointattheirnosewiththeirindexfingertodoso.Chinesepeoplefeelnocompunctionagainststaringatotherpeopleforlongperiodsoftime.Youngpeople,bothboysandgirlsuptotheageof21,engagesinallmannerofrough-housing,oftenhittingeachother.Womenoftenwalkarmandarmdownthestreets.Menandmenholdhandsorembraceshouldersastheywalkoutside.Nothingiswrongwiththatiftheyarefriends.

XieLiandTomhavebeenworkingonascientificexperimentataBritishu

niversityforsomemonths.Ithasnotbeentotallysuccessful.Theyarediscus

singthesituationinthelaboratory.

XieLi:Idon'knowwhereitwentwrong!

Tom:Don'tfeelsobad.Cheerup; you'veloneyourjob.

XieLi:Butourexperimenthasturnedouttobeafailure.

Tom:Relaxforacoupleofdays. I'facethemusic.

XieLi:Tom,wearenotplaying children 'gameshere.Thisisascientific

experiment.

Tom:I'veevertakentheexperimentas child 'plsyand I'mplayingthe

game.

XieLi:Yousayyou'r^layingthegame!It'asratherimportantexperime

nt!

XieLiwalksoutofthelaboratoryangrily.Tomispuzzled.

Question: What'stheprobleminthiscase?

Idiomaticphrasesareoftenmisinterpreted.lnEnglish, facethemusicmea

ns:facerealityandtaketheconsequeneeand playthegamemeans:abideco

mpetitionrules.HereXieLimisinterpretedtwoidiomaticphrasesTomused.F

irsthethoughtthatTom didn'takethefailureoftheexperimentseriouslyan

dwantedtoescapefromit,becausehewould “facethemusic”;econdly,he

misinterpreted Tom's“playingthegame”asthathehadn'donetheexperime

ntseriously,whichmightleadtoitsfailure.

Case7

AyoungChineseofficer,togetherwithhiswife,wasmeetinganAmericanconsultant

atanairport.Afterphaticcommunication,theconsultantcomplimentedhimonhis

wifeoutofpoliteness, “Yourwifeisbeautiful! ”Theofficerfetsambarrasseda

Where!Where!"（哪里！哪里！） “Where!Where!"theconsultantwaspuzzled

andhadtosay,“Fromheadtofoot.”

Question:WhatwentwronginthecaseandWhy?

Inthiscase,thewordsoftheChineseconveyedamessagequitedifferentfromwhat

wasintended.TheChineseofficerwouldbesuspectedof “fishingforcompliments”

eventhoughtheremarksmighthavebeenquitesincerebecausetheconsultantwas

almostforcedtosay “Yourwifeisbeautifulfromheadtofoot. ”Forcedcompliments

likethiscanleaveabadtasteinthemouth.Becauseasfarastheresponsestopraiseandcomplimentsisconcerned,therearegreatdifferencebetweenChinesepeopleandnativeEnglishspeakers.NativeEnglishspeakers,especiallyAmericanstendtoverbalizetheircomplimentsandacceptthem,whereastheChinesetendtoeffacethemselvestoshowmodest.Incontrast,nativeEnglishspeakers,inthesamesituation,willsayThankyouorThankyouforsayingsoorThanksalot,etc.toacknowledgeandacceptthethanksasakindofrecognitionoftheirindividualefforts.

Case8

AyoungChinesewomaninU.SwascomplimentedbyanAmericanwomanforthelovelydressshewaswearing:"It'sexquisite.Thecolorsaresobeautiful!"shewaspleasedbutsomewhatembarrassed.IntypicalChinesefashion,shereplied,"Oh,it'sjustanordinarydressIboughtinChina."

Question:WhatwentwronginthecaseandWhy?

Case9

Amarriedcouplearegoingtovisitafriend.Theyhavebeendrivingaroundforsometimelookingforthestreet.BisangrybecauseArefusestostopandaskdirectionofsomeone.

Question:Whatculturalphenomenoncanbereflected?

Thiscasereflectsthemasculineemphasisonmaintainingautonomyandnotappearingweakorincompetent.Menarelesslikelythanwomentoseekdirectionsfromothers.Partofthereasonforthismaywelllieinsensitivityofmentoissuesofstatus.Fromtheperspectivetoaskforinformationandhelpfromothersimpliesthatthepersonaskingisinferior.Fromawoman'spointofview,however,sharinginformationisawayofcementingbonds.

DedrickandMelitahavebeendatingfortwoyearsandareveryserious.TocelebratetheiranniversaryMelitawantstospendaquieteveninginherapartmentwheretheycantalkabouttherelationshipandbealonewitheachother.WhenDedrickarrives,he'splannedtodineoutandgotoaconcert.Melitafeelshurtthathedoesn'twanttotalkandspendtheeveningalonewithher.

Question:couldyouexplainthedifferencesincommunicationbetweenmenandwomen?

Case11

AFilipinocouplewasvacationinginEngland.WhiletheywerestrollingalongoneofthemainstreetsofLondonwithaBritishacquaintance,theymetanotherFilipinowhohadbeenresidingthereforsometime.Hewasagoodfriendfromthepast,whohasnotseenforseveralyears.Theygreetedeachotherwarmlyandcontinuedtheirconversationinaloudandanimatedfashionusingtheirnativelanguage.Afterawhi