三CommunicationAcrossCultu完整

1、12Case 1Xiao Li is visiting a local museum, and there he meets an older American woman. Unfortunately the explanations of the exhibits are not translated into English and she cant read them, so Xiao Li offers to explain all the exhibits. However, as he begins he soon finds that it is very difficult

2、to explain about all of the ancient artifacts in English because there are many words he doesnt know how to say what he wants to in English. 3By the time they reach the end of the museum, Xiao Li feels very tired and discouraged because there are so many things he cant say in English. However, the w

3、oman smiles and thanks Xiao Li for his help, and then says “Your English is very good.” Xiao Li says: “Im sorry. My English is very poor.”4Question:What do you think the American really thought about Xiao Lis English? (or: Why do you think the American woman complimented Xiao Lis English?) List seve

4、ral possible reasons and then decide which seem most likely.5Some likely interpretations:The woman is just being polite; she really didnt think Xiao Lis English was very good.The woman was genuinely impressed by Xiao Lis ability to handle such a difficult topic, even though he made some errors.The w

5、oman could tell Xiao Li was having difficulty with his English, and she wanted to encourage him.The woman feels a little awkward because she put Xiao Li through so much trouble, and her compliment is really another way of saying thank you.6Case 2While visiting Egypt, Richard, an engineer from the Un

6、ited States, was invited to a spectacular dinner at the home of an Egyptian friend. And what a dinner it was! Clearly the host and hostess had gone out of their way to entertain him. Yet, as he was leaving their home he made a special effort to thank them for their dinner and sensed something he sai

7、d was wrong. Something about his sincere compliments was misunderstood.Question:Why were Richards sincere compliments misunderstood in the Egyptian family?7In Japan he had an even less pleasant experience though he thought he had handled it well. A number of serious mistakes had occurred in a projec

8、t he was supervising. While the fault did not lie with any one person, he was a supervisor and at least partly to blame. At a special meeting called to discuss the problem, poor Richard made an effort to explain in detail why he had done what he had done. 8He wanted to show that anybody in the same

9、situation could have made the same mistake and to tacitly suggest that he should not be blamed unduly. He even went to the trouble of distributing materials which explained the situation rather clearly. And yet, even during his explanation, he sensed that something he was saying or doing was wrong.Q

10、uestion:What was wrong in the way Richard dealt with the problem in Japan?9Even in England where he felt more at home, where he had no problems with language, this kind of misunderstanding occurred. He had been invited to take tea with one of his colleagues, a purely social, relaxed occasion. Tea wa

11、s served along with sugar and cream. As he helped himself to some sugar and cream, he again sensed he had done something wrong. But what went wrong?Question:Which behavior was considered improper in England when Richard was taking tea?10 in Egypt as in many cultures, the human relationship is valued

12、 so highly that it is not expressed in an objective and impersonal way. While Americans certainly value human relationships, they are more likely to speak of them in less personal, more objective terms. In this case, Richards mistake might be that he chose to praise the food itself rather than the t

13、otal evening . “What beautiful frames your pictures are in.”11 Japanese people value order and harmony among persons in a group, and that the organization itselfbe it a family or a vast corporationis more valued than the characteristics of any particular member. While this feeling is not alien to Am

14、ericansor to any societyAmericans stress individuality as a value and are apt to assert individual differences when they seem justifiably in conflict with the goals or values of the group. 12 In this case, Richards mistake was in making great efforts to defend himself. Let the others assume that the

15、 errors were not intentional, but it is not right to defend yourself, even when your unstated intent is to assist the group by warning others of similar mistakes. A simple apology and acceptance of the blame would have been appropriate. In contrast, for poor Richard to have merely apologized would h

16、ave seemed to him to be subservient, unmanly. Nothing in his experience had prepared him for the Japanese reactionin fact he had been taught to despise such behavior.13 In this case we might look beyond the gesture of taking sugar or cream to the values expressed in this gesture: for Americans, “Hel

17、p yourself”; for the English counterpart, “Be my guest.” Typically, the ideal guest at an American party is one who “makes himself at home,” even to the point of answering the door or fixing his own drink. For persons in many other societies, including at least this hypothetical English host, such g

18、uest behavior is presumptuous or rude. 14 In analyzing apparent problems of communication across cultures, it is all too tempting to look first for difficulties posed by language misinterpretation or assume some nonverbal indiscretion. But through these brief discussions of Richards problems that th

19、e misunderstanding or misbehavior more likely resides elsewhere, in the subtler but consistent cultural patterns of behavior which become understandable when we appreciate difference in cultural values. 15 Thus what we first need, in attempting to analyze any such situation, is not necessarily more

20、language skill or more information about the mores of a particular culture, but rather an openness to alternatives to our own conventional behavior. If we appreciate the logic of our own actions, we can more quickly imagine alternatives equally consistent with other values.16Form of address: kinship

21、 terms 父親father 爸爸dad 母親mother 媽媽mum 兒子son 女兒daughter 兒媳 daughter-in-law 女婿son-in-law17 叔叔伯伯舅舅姨夫 姑父 阿姨姑姑舅母嬸嬸 小姨子小叔子小舅子大嫂 妹夫 婆婆公公岳母岳父 表兄弟堂兄弟表姐妹堂姐妹 連襟妯娌 林黛玉的母親是賈寶玉的姑母，賈寶玉的母親是林黛玉的舅母，又是薛寶釵的姨母。18Questions: Can you make all of those terms above properly understood by the English-speaking people? Do you th

22、ink that it is sometimes very difficult to achieve intercultural understanding when such kinship terms are involved in our communication with people from other cultures?19 漢語的親屬稱謂語漢語的親屬稱謂語“講輩分講輩分, ,長幼有序長幼有序”、 “重性別重性別, ,男女有別男女有別”、“分血緣分血緣, ,內(nèi)外有內(nèi)外有別別”比較清晰、細(xì)致。比較清晰、細(xì)致。 英語的親屬稱謂語則比較籠統(tǒng)、含糊。英語的親屬稱謂語則比較籠統(tǒng)、含糊。

23、20 Decide whether the following statement is true of false. Both in China and in the US, if a 10-year-old child is introduced to an 80-year-old woman, he would address her as “grandma”. 一位德國老太太說：“我愛北京，但不喜歡被稱為奶奶。”21 日常交際中的禮俗性親屬稱謂：日常交際中的禮俗性親屬稱謂： “張大張大叔叔”、“李大媽李大媽”、“王大嫂王大嫂”、“小妹小妹”、“大姐大姐”、“大哥大哥”、“大爺大爺”；

24、“解放軍解放軍叔叔叔叔”、“警察阿姨警察阿姨”； “閨女閨女”、“孩子孩子”等等 。 家的外延衍推和家庭關(guān)系外延的擴(kuò)展：家的外延衍推和家庭關(guān)系外延的擴(kuò)展： “民民族大家庭族大家庭”、“家鄉(xiāng)家鄉(xiāng)”、“老鄉(xiāng)老鄉(xiāng)”、“父老父老鄉(xiāng)親鄉(xiāng)親”、“海外僑胞海外僑胞” 漢語文化中的親情泛化現(xiàn)象漢語文化中的親情泛化現(xiàn)象2223Discussion:Can you summarize the major differences between the Chinese and Americans in addressing?24Stranger In china:老大爺，老大媽，叔叔，阿姨，大哥，大姐，先生，同志，師傅 In English-speaking Countries: Excuse me; Pardon me; I