中西文化差異情景案例分析

1、Culture Difference Case StudyUnit 1 Language and Culture in CommunicationTheoryCommunication is something we do every day. It takes place so naturally that we simply fail to no tice it un til it hiccups or breaks dow n. Though it is com mon place, it is no exaggerati on to say that com muni cati on

2、is life and life is com muni catio n.1. Whe n you join a social gatheri ng, you must be aware of rules and procedures that gover n the way things are going to proceed. There is a technical term for such rules and procedures schema.2. Face and polite ness are two other areas which are extremely value

3、- sen sitive. One of the dist in ctive features of Chin ese polite ness is sede ni grati on and otheelevati on.Case 1Litz is a professor of cross cultural com muni cati on in a uni versity in Finland. She in vited her Chin ese stude nts home for an eve ning party.The schema from Litz s point of view

4、 includes the following:1. Giving invitation: by phone / by mail2. Prepare everythi ng before the arrival of guests3. Receivi ng guests: ope n the door / express welcome / take their overcoats / in troduce guests/ offer them drinks / make them comfortable4. Serving food: set the table / soup first /

5、 main course / desert5. Post dinner activities: chat / play music / offer more drinks6. Seeing guests off: thank them for coming / good nightLitz evening party was not very successful, becauseshe was upset by one of her guests.Here was the initial conversation between Litz and Lin:Litz: (ope ns the

6、doo) Oh, Lin, how nice you could come!Lin: It s not difficult to find your house.Litz: Come on in.Lin: (comes ir)Litz: Can I take your coat?Lin: No, tha nks.Litz: Ok, this way please.Lin: (take off her coat and hangs i)Analysis Litz was hurt because Lin did not let her hang her coat. Litz s offering

7、 to hang Lin s coat is one of Litz s ways (it s on Litz s schema). On Lin s side, she thought that Li supervisor and that it was in appropriate to let her supervisor hang her coat. Here we have an in sta nee of one acti on attached with differe nt cultural values.Case 2Finding an In terested BuyerGe

8、orage Hall was in Beiji ng atte nding a trade fair and look ing for an opport unity to do bus in ess in China. He had bee n very successful in his bus in ess deali ngs in the US and prided himself on his ability “ to get things moving. ” His first day was going well .He looked around at the displays

9、 of sport ing equipme nt to get some idea of whom he might approach. He was sure that his products, tennis rackets with an unu sual new desig n, would arouse some in terests. On the sec ond day he approached the compa ny which he felt would be most resp on sive to his products. He introduced himself

10、 to the general, a Mr. Li. Since he had read that Chinese find gett ing dow n to bus in ess immediately too abrupt and rude, he bega n a casual conv ersati on, eventually leading up to the topic of his products and suggesting how Mr. Li company might ben efit from using them. George the n suggested

11、that he could arrange to get together with Mr. Li and provide more specifics and documentation on his products.Mr. Li responded in fairly good English,” That would be interesting.”Knowing that he had on ly a few days left in Beiji ng, George wan ted to n ail dow n a time, ” When can we meet? ” asked

12、 George.“Ah. This week is very busy, eplied IMrr Li.“It sure is, ” said George, ” How about 10 o clock? Meet you here. ”“Tomorrow at 10 o clock? ” asked Mr. Li thoughtfully.“Right, ” said George, “I ll see you then?”“ Hmm, yes; why don t you come by tomorrow, ” was the reply.“ OK,” resp on ded Georg

13、e, ” It was nice meet ing you. ”The next day at 10 o clock he approached Mr. Li s company s exhibit only to find that Mr. had some importa nt bus in ess and was not able to meet with George. He called back later in the day and was told that Mr. Li was not available.Analysis:英美人士做事情講究守時。而中國人不太重視這方面。本

14、案列中，李先生不 僅沒有準(zhǔn)時接見預(yù)約的客戶，甚至放了他鴿子”。Case 3Professor Liang has written a book on Chinese culture in Chinese. His book is put on display in Beiji ng Intern ati onal Book Fair 96. Professor Lia ng would like to have his book tran slatedinto English and submitted to Thompson Publishers. Professor Liang has a

15、sked Li Yan, whom he meets regularly in the English Corner, to help him to talk to Peter Allright, a Thompson represe ntative.Prof. Lia ng:奧萊特先生，這是鄙人的拙作。Li Tan: Mr. Allright, this a clumsy book written by your humble servant.Mr Allright: No, no, no, youre not my humble serva nt. We do not publish bo

16、oks in Chin ese.Li Yan (to Professor Liang):不，不，不，你不是我的仆人，我們不出中文書。Professor Lia ng:我要請李艷翻譯成英文。Li Yan (to Mr. Allright): Professor Liang will ask me to translate it into English.Mr. Allright: Mm that s interesting.Analysis: Chinese authors almost always belittle their works by describing them as clum

17、sy writings, and they use the same description when they present them to Chinese publishers.But this will be coun ter productive in En glish. In stead, authors should point out the merits of their works rather tha n“ clums in ess ”.Unit 2 Culture ShockTheory1. Culture shock can be described as the f

18、eeling of confusion and disorientation that one experiences when faced with a large number of new and unfamiliar people and situations.2. There is a desire for independenceand separatenessfound in foreigners needs for their own privacy and aut onomy3. Hospitality means the cordial and gen erous rece

19、pti on of or dispositi on toward guests.4. Politeness refers to the consideration for others, tact, and observanceof accepted social usage.5. Privacy could be un derstood as the right of an in dividual to self-determ in ati on as to the degree to which the in dividual is willi ng to share with other

20、s in formatio n about himself.Case 1Jane, an America n teacher in the US, had just started teach ing En glish to a group of Japa nese stude nts. She wan ted to get to know the stude nts more formally, so she in vited them to her house for party. The stude nts all arrived together at exactly 8:00 p.m

21、. They seemed to enjoy the party: they dan ced, sang, and ate most of the food. At about 10:00 p.m, one of the stude nts said to the teacher,“I think it s time for me to lauevelrhamuch for the party.”Then all the other stude nts got up to go, and all left at the same time. Jane decided she would n e

22、ver in vite them aga in!Analysis:在日本以及其他很多的亞洲國家里，年輕人通常成群結(jié)隊的一起去參加一些 社交聚會，然后一道離去。在他們看來這是很正常不過的事。然后Jane認(rèn)為這是一種侮 辱，因為他們在同一時間里一下子全部離開了。在美國以及其他一些英語國家，晚上10點離開一個聚會相對來說是比較早的。Case 2Four Secretaries and Their JobsFour classmates from a top Chin ese uni versity all took jobs as secretaries after graduati on.Five

23、 years later the four former classmates had a reunion and discussed their jobs.Chen Qi and Dai Yun both work as bilingual secretaries for a Finnish company in Beijing.Che n Qi is secretary to the Fi nn gen eral man ger, and Dai Yun is secretary to the Chin ese local man ger, a positi on only slightl

24、y lower tha n that of the Finn man ger.Zhang Ying is from a politically prominent family and was hired as the secretary to the leader of a small government bureau in the capital city of her home province. Lu Yan works for a state run enterprise in the same city where she was hired as the secretary t

25、o the new man ager for intern atio nal marketi ng. The compa ny has n ever marketed its products abroad before so this office and Lu Yan s position are new to the company.Five years later Che n Qi is satisfied with her job with the Finn ish compa ny but Dai Yun is not. The Finn manager receives orde

26、rs from the company s home office in Finland, and hegives orders to those below him in Chi na, i ncludi ng his secretary Che n Qi. He tells her how he wants his time scheduled and she then makes appointments for him according to his instructions. She translates memos and other documents and interpre

27、ts from Chinese to En glish to Chin ese. If the man ager does not think Chen Qi has done her work well, he tells her right away. He is very dema nding, but Chen Qi feels that she knows what her duties are and knows what her man ager expects. She is con fide nt that she is doing a good job.Dai Yun of

28、ten does not have as much work to do as Chen Qi does, because her boss schedules his own appo in tme nts and does a lot of the office paperwork himself. Whe n he is out of town she has time to study for the graduate entrance exam. However, she is not sure whether or not she is doing a good job. Her

29、man ager tells her what she is expected to do, but he does this day by day. Whe n people call or come to the office to see her boss, she greets them in En glish or Chin ese as n ecessary.She receives their memos and other messagesas well as their questi ons and requests and passes them on to her man

30、 ager. Dai Yun thi nks of her job as doing what her man ager wants her to do. She pays close atte ntio n to his moods and behavior, and sometimes she is able to anticipate what he would like without him telling her.Analysis:許多中國人在外企工作，不同國家的外企領(lǐng)導(dǎo)有不同的工作作風(fēng)和標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。本 案列中，戴云給不同的外國上司做秘書，在工作中出現(xiàn)由于不同的文化沖突而引起的各 種工作

31、以及溝通中的問題就很常見了。Case 3: One cold win ter day in a Chin ese city, Wang Lin on his way to the library met an America n professor who knew very little about Chi na. After greeti ng him, Wang said: rather cold. You dbetter put on more clothes. But the professor didn appear happy on heari ng this.An alysis

32、:美國人以及大部分西方國家的人們不喜歡被告知要怎么做怎么做，他們比較喜歡獨立，然而中國人則習(xí)慣關(guān)心別人，這個案例中王林的建議表達(dá)的就是一種對他人的 關(guān)心，可是美國教授卻不習(xí)慣這樣的表達(dá)。Case 4In a good restaura nt, fourtee n people are gathered to say goodbye to their professor, who is moving to ano ther uni versity.Steven: May I have your attention please? I d like to call upon Ben to say

33、a few words.Ben: Thank you, Steve n. Professor Shore, colleagues:Tonight is one of those paradoxes - it assad time and yet it ashappy time. Sad, because.We are losing one of our best professors; happy becausewe are pleased to see Professor Shore gain the recognition that he richly deserves m not sur

34、e who will be able to control us andkeep us in line. I think the new professor will have a difficult time. And surely no one will be able to tell jokes in the same way as you, Professor. Seriously, we all know that you will be difficult to replace. Your scholarly approach and your dedicati on will a

35、lways be remembered. I would therefore like to propose a toast. Colleagues, pelase charge your glasses. Professor Shore, may your future be filled will great success, and may you always remember us. We know we will n ever forget you.To Professor Shore!All: (Sta nding up) To Professor Shore! (Every o

36、ne drin ks. Professor Shore remai ns seated andsmiles at them all.)Analysis:就餐時總是要在各種緣由下向人敬酒：可以是非正式的，向朋友或同事敬酒； 也可以是正式的，向全體聚會的人敬酒。與中國式的敬酒大不相同的是，在西方正式的 敬酒時，受敬的人是不能喝酒的，而是正襟危坐，兩眼睜睜看別人喝酒。另一個不同是： 無論正式還是非正式，敬酒的人不必走過去敬酒，而是在自己的座位處站起來敬酒。敬 酒時開始的語言永遠(yuǎn)是：向”而其他隨敬酒的人重復(fù)敬酒人的第一句話(即向”，然后喝一口酒。敬酒時如果舉了杯，說了敬詞，而實際上沒有喝酒，就會被看做

37、十分不 恭的行為，在很久以前甚至于被認(rèn)為是一種侮辱，是不想加入敬酒的儀式。Case 5An America n went to Chin ese home. He was offered some tea. Just whe n the first cup was about to finish, more tea was added. The visitor drank the second cup. Then the cup was filled the third time. Then he drank it, then until the visitor was quite full.

38、 Why?Analysis:在中國的傳統(tǒng)文化習(xí)俗里，主人通常會不斷給客人倒水倒茶，或者不斷地給 客人的盤子里加食物以表示他的熱情好客。面對的這樣的情況，中國客人知道如何處理，在他們覺得吃飽喝足之后，就會隨它放在桌上。而美國客人就不懂了，在美國，在自己 的盤子里剩下食物是不禮貌的，于是他出于遵循美國文化理念可能會在這樣的招待中吃 的過多。Case 6Dinner with Frie ndJanice is a young America n engin eer work ing for a manu facturi ng joint ven ture n ear Nanjing. She and

39、 her husba nd George, who is teachi ng En glish at a uni versity, are lear ning Chin ese and enjoying their new life .They have been eager to get to know Chinese people better so they were pleased whe n Liu Li ngli ng , Janice-woskerui nvited them to her home fordinner.Whe n Janice and George arrive

40、dL in gli ng in troduced them to her husba nd Yang Feng , asked them to sit down at a table containing 8 plates of various cold dishes, served them tea and then disappeared with her husband into the kitchen. After a few minutes Lingling came back and added water to their tea. Janice offered to help

41、in the kitche n but Lin gli ng said she did n need help. She invited the couple to look at their new CD player and their colorful TV and the n disappeared aga in.A half-hour later she came back and sat dow n and the three bega n to eat. Yang Feng came in from time to time to put dish after hot dish

42、on the table. Most of the food was wonderful but n either George nor Janice could eat the fatty pork in pepper sauce or the ea cucumbers, and there was much more tha n they could eat. They kept wish ing Yang Feng would sit dow n so they could talk to him .Fin ally he did sit dow n to eat a bit ,but

43、quickly turned on the TV to show them all its high teching features. Soon it was time to go home.George and Janice felt slightly depressed by this experienee, but returned the invitation two weeks later. They decided to make a nice American meal and felt lucky to find olives, tomato juice, crackers

44、and as appetizers. For the main course they prepared spaghetti and a salad with dress ing made from oil, vin egar, and some spices they found in the market.Whe n Liu Lin gli ng and Yang Feng arrived they were impressed by the apartme nt and asked the price of the TV, video player, vacuum cleaner and

45、 other things. Janice politely refused to an swer their questi ons. They took small tastes of the appetizers and seemed surprised whe n both George and Janice sat down with them. They ate only a little spaghetti and did not finish the salad on their plates. George urged them to eat more but they ref

46、used and looked around expecta ntly. Junice and George talked about their families and jobs and asked the table and served coffee and pastries. Yang Feng and Lin gli ng each put four spo ons of sugars into their coffee but did not drink much of it and ate only a bite or two of pastry.After they left

47、, George said that at least they had a cha nee to talk, but Janice was upset.left their place so full that we couldn t walk and they re going to have to eat again whget home. What went wrong?Analysis:中西方飲食習(xí)慣大大的不同。中國人邀請客人會準(zhǔn)備一大桌子的菜，并在就 餐過程中使勁勸說客人多吃點，吃完之后，還有剩菜，就表明主人的盛情款待。而西方人一不勸吃，二就餐完畢后，盤子最好是空的。本案列中的兩對

48、中外夫婦不明這個文 化差異，發(fā)生誤解就是自然而然的事了。Case 7After the meal and after the table has bee n cleared. Liu is not sure what to do, but wants to help in some way. At least he wants to offer.Hele n: Thanks for your help, Hua ng.Liu: Pleasure. What can I do now?Helen: Nothing. It s fine. I ll rinse these dishes then

49、stack them. It ll only take aLiu: Does the family usually help?Helen: Well, at special times. Jack sometimes rinses the dishes but you can see he s really tired toni ght.Liu: Let me do it for you.Helen: No truly, it s okay.Liu: Maybe I can wipe the table the n.Hele n: That would be helpful. Than ks.

50、 You re really kind, Hua ng.Analysis:在西方人家中的就餐的時間里，大家都設(shè)法插手幫一下忙，即便是男士也不 例外，不要一點不動著開飯。所有家住者要能幫者擺擺餐具，或餐后收拾洗碗，把餐具 放進(jìn)洗碗機(jī)，倒垃圾，站在一邊幫著擦干洗好的餐具。雖然都是小忙，卻表明你對別人 的操勞非常在意，是個用心的人。Case 8Two stra ngers have bee n chatt ing.A: So you re been here for a year?B: Yes. One more year to go, then I ll go laack to chinA: Wh

51、at will you do back home?B: It s hard to know. There s a lot change at the moment.A: Yeah. Everything is changing, everywhere. Sometimes it s difficult to keep up.B: That s true. Maybe I II (A s mobile phone rings.)A: Excuse me, I d better answer this. It s probably work.B: Sure. Take your time.Anal

52、ysis:有時在與人交談中，難免要有什么原因要離開一會兒，或是去接一個電話， 或要去洗手間。禮貌再此被提出來。出于禮貌起見，要記住做一些恰當(dāng)解釋再離開。不 管理由是什么，即便是要接一個手機(jī)電話，在打開電話回話前，向?qū)Ψ秸f聲對不起。如果只離開幾分鐘，沒有必要找一個理由。你說了對不起，就表明你確實是有事要離開 一會兒。Case 9Liu Huang is call ing his friend Steve n at his home.Pers on: Hello. Joh n is speak ing.Liu:Hell o? I m looking for Steven.Pers on: Sorr

53、y, there s no one here called Steve n.Liu:Is that 6577 8868?Pers on: No. I think you ve got the wrong nu mber. This is 6578 8868.Liu:Oh, I m sorry.Pers on: No problem. Good luck.Liu:Than ks.Analysis:失手撥錯號碼是常有的事。如果在國外，即便有語言障礙，害怕說英語，也 還是要先與對方核對是不是撥錯了，然后再道歉。如果發(fā)現(xiàn)撥錯了號碼就馬上掛電話， 是不禮貌的行為。Case 10Lin: Thank yo

54、u so much for a wonderful night. I ve had a great time.Erica: It s been a pleasure having you. We hope you can come again, soon.Lin: I d like that. You botioW how to make me feel at home. Thanks for everything.Analysis:在動身離去的時候，找到主人，當(dāng)面說一聲謝謝，是有禮貌的行為。Case 11Off to a Bad StartDavid Hu had just started

55、working for the foreign owned company. He was sitting at his workstatio n but had not bee n give n any assig nment that he should be doing at this mome nt. He was relax ing and wait ing and the n thought he would take the opport unity to have a look around. He poked his head into several offices jus

56、t to see what there was to be see n.Sudde nly Mr. Parker came up to him and an grily asked him what he was doing. David Hu was embarrassed. He laughed and quickly started to move back toward his workstatio n. This did not seem to satisfy Mr. Parker who started to talk rapidly and angrily. Hoping to

57、calm him down, Mr.Hu smiled and apologized, trying to explain that he was trying to learn more about the departme nt. However, Mr. Parker got eve n an grier. Fin ally, ano ther worker came by and calmed him down, but Mr. Parker left, he still looked angry. Mr.Hu sighed; he knew he had madea bad star

58、t but still didn t understand why.Analysis:外國人很講究隱私權(quán)，一般不允許自己的私人空間受到打擾。而中國人比較 喜歡看熱鬧，想知道別人在做什么。所以在本案列中，吳先生未經(jīng)允許就在公司四處走 動，引起其他員工的強(qiáng)烈不滿。Case 12Shari ng the WealthAnna Bilow had been working for a Chinese-owned and operated company in Nanjing for about six mon ths. The divisio n she was worki ng in had a small collecti on of Chin ese-E nglish dictionaries, English Ianguage referenee books, and some videos in English including a couple of training films and several feature films th