跨文化交际上课内容(09-10下)03-04

Unit 3 Cultural Difference

I. Comparing and Contrasting Cultures Questions for discussion: 1. In what aspects do you think our culture is different from other cultures? 2. Do you sometimes compare one culture with another? If you do, how do you usually do that? Please read over the article on pages 87-92, answer the following questions: 1. How can we compare one culture with another? 2. What is Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck‟s value orientation?

The Kluckhohns and Strodtbeck, after examining hundreds of cultures, reached the conclusion that people turn to their culture for answers to the following questions. (1) What is the character of human nature? (2) What is the relation of humankind to nature? (3) What is the orientation toward time? (4)What is the value placed on activity? And (5) What is the relationship of people to each other? The answers to these crucial questions serve as the bases for the five value orientations that are at the heart of their approach. These five orientations might best be visualized as points on a continuum. It is talking about meaningful values found in all cultures.

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Human Nature Orientation: 1) evil, 2) evil and good, 3) good.

Man-nature Orientation: 1) human beings are subject to nature, 2) cooperation view, 3) conquer and direct the forces of nature.

Time Orientation: 1) past-orientated, 2) present-orientated, 3) future-orientated.

Activity Orientation: 1) being orientation, 2) Being-in-becoming orientation, 3) doing orientation.

Relational (social) Orientation: 1) authoritarian culture, 2) collective culture, 3) individual culture. 3. Try to describe the value system of average Americans from the five orientations

Human Nature: basically good (changeable) Man-nature: Man the master of nature Time: future-oriented Activity: action-oriented Social: individualistic 4. How about the oriental cultures, like Chinese culture and Japanese culture (P91)? 5. How is the mainstream American culture different from the oriental culture? ﹡Individual and Collectivist Culture Individualism Collectivism I culture WE culture open discussion of openly speaking one‟s disagreement are mind appears distasteful valued forms of talk 第 2 页 共 15 页

seek the notice of open expression risks others; affirm their face uniqueness guarding privacy; the right to privacy in the valuing freedom to do sense of freedom is not and think whatever recognized they choose live life guided only one‟s business is also the by principles such as business of the group; equality and friends should be noninterference concerned with each other‟s personal matters Advantages and disadvantages of both: ﹡﹡ Hofstede's five Cultural Dimensions (p107-113)

﹡﹡ Hall’s High-context and Low-context Cultures (p113-117) II. Cultural Differences 1. Name

Full name: surname + given name

Note the different sequences of English and Chinese names 1) Origins

(i) Origins of Chinese names: time, place of birth, family relationships, geographical terms, parents‟ expectation, plants and flowers, personal characteristics, historical events, natural phenomena, and others.

(ii) Origins of English given names: religious names, plant names, weapon names, names

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related to knowledge, authority or fame.

(iii) Roots of English surnames: place, occupation, family relationship identity, ethnic identity, parents‟ surnames, personal characteristics, legal status, and others. 2) Initials and short forms

(i) William Patrick Wills, John Peter Hill, Holly Rowan Hillman

(ii) Alec (Alexander), Mike (Michael), Bob (Robert), Tony (Anthony), Bill (William) 3) namesake 2. Addressing (p21-23)

1) Kinship addressing (informal)

The Chinese use kinship terms to address people not related to them. It is based on generation, familiarity, and situation.

kinship terms, like 大爷, 大妈, 大叔, 大哥. (to strangers: to be polite)

surname/ first name + kinship terms, like 王爷爷, 荣华大哥. (to acquaintance) 2) Titles (i) Chinese:

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a. To strangers: 先生, 女士, 小姐, 师傅, 阿姨, 伯母, 大哥, 小朋友 or simply请问. b. Chinese formality and respect: ①family name + occupation,

② family name + administrative rank, ③老+ family name or family name +老, (ii)English: “title + surname”

a. Mr, Mrs, Miss (can be used alone), Ms. b. sir & madam—knowing nothing of the other * Sir + name / given name: a title of honour placed before the name of a knight or baronet * Lady + surname: the female of nobility c. “Excuse me!”

* Americans & the British seldom call the other‟s occupation or rank, unless in the following:

1) Bishop Gray 2) Captain Simmods 3) Dr. Brown 4) Father White 5) General Clark

6) Judge Harley 7) President Clinton 8) Prince Charles 9) Queen Mary 10) Senator Smith

* Mr. President, Your/His/Her Majesty (国王/女

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王), Your Highness (亲王), Your Honor (法官) * 老师

* “老” and “old” 3. Friendship

Please read over the article on page 76-80. Who is a friend? What are the similarities and differences between the Chinese concept of friendship and the western ones? (1) The French:

(i)Friends generally are of the same sex, and friendship is seen as basically a relationship between men.

(ii) Friendship is a one-to-one relationship that demands a keen awareness of the other person‟s intellect, temperament, and particular interests.

(iii) Friendships are compartmentalized. They are not made part of family life. (2) The German:

(i)Friendship is much more articulately a matter of feeling.

(ii) Friends usually are brought into the family. (3) The English:

(i)The basis is shared activity.

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(ii) English friendships are formed outside the family circle, but they are not contrapuntal to the family nor are they separated from the family.

(4) The American: (p83-84)

Friendship is a very important part of an American‟s life. (i) However, the person‟s independent nature creates more self-reliance, and friends are not limited only to a person‟s “in-group”. (ii) Friendly relationships, whether casual acquaintances or dear, lifelong friendships, are voluntary relationships based on common interests.

* The dinner bill: Please be my guest.

Let‟s go to dinner Saturday night.

4. American Family

Please read over the article on page 94-96. What can you learn about American family values and the traditional Asian family vales?

(5) Dating: group dates, single dates, blind dates. (6) House:

(7) Raising children: independence, goal, discipline. 5. Social interaction (2) Greetings English Chinese Hi! / Hello! (among colleagues, 吃饭了classmates, friends and family 吗？ members) 去哪儿第 7 页 共 15 页

How do you do? (used by persons 呀？ just introduced) 上班啊？ How are you? (very common, but not 忙着呢？ really concerned) 你好！ How is everything? (= How are you?) Good morning/ Good afternoon/ Good evening. Long time no see. (3) Farewells English Chinese I‟m pleased to meet you. 再见！再会！ It‟s nice to meet /know you. 一会儿见！明天见！Good-bye /bye-bye. (God be 下星期一见！ with you.) 请走好！慢走！ So long. /See you 下次再来！有空再later/tomorrow /next 来！ Monday. (4) Thanks, compliments and responses (p2) (i)Whom to thank

English speakers thank others for many reasons and on many occasions. On the other hand, the Chinese people tend to thank the one who has

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done them a major favor several times.

(ii) Responses to thanks: The most common English replies are: Not at all; Don‟t mention it; You‟re welcome. It‟s my pleasure. It‟s OK. (iii) When to make compliments a. on family members

An English speaking woman may talk about how hard her husband works and how well he has achieved in his career, or how well her children do at school and how active they are in other activities. All these might be considered bad taste by the Chinese, who highly value modesty.

b. on females‟ good looks c. on homemade objects (iv) responses to compliments

a. One of the Chinese people‟s characteristics is showing modesty, or self-denigration and other elevation. Showing modesty is an expression of being polite to others in China, but in the west it may be awkward to the English speakers and sometimes even

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results in serious outcomes. (examples)

b. The English way of showing modesty is different:

① explicitly accepted:

② neither simply accepted or refused: ③return compliments: ④partly accepted: ⑤relate to other topics

(v) China is a vertical or hierarchical country, in which one is supposed to be polite and loyal to one‟s superior but not to subordinate. It also has something to do with Chinese collectivism and English individualism. One characteristic of the English humors is understatement (轻描淡写). For example, a tennis world champion, when praised, said, “I‟m not bad”, or “I think I‟m quite good”, or “Well, I‟m very keen on tennis.” Another is self-deprecation (自我讥笑), scoffing at one‟s own faults, mistakes, failure, difficulty or even ideals. (5) Hospitality

(i)Place of an invitation: home or hotel

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(ii) Gift giving (iii) Dishes

(6) Showing concern

eg. (in catching cough): You should drink more water. (Chinese way)

I hope you will be feeling better soon. Take good care of yourself. (English way)

(after work): You must have had a tiring job. (Chinese way)

How are we doing now? A little rest wouldn‟t do us any harm, would it? (English way) (7) Making good introduction A useful format:

(i)Always state the name of the most important person first;

(ii) Use words like “May I” or “I would like to” or “It is a pleasure to”;

(iii) Follow with words like “Introduce” or “Present” (“Present” is more formal);

(iv) Then state the name of the Lower ranking person;

(v) And always add a brief sentence about the

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lower ranking person, such as a job title or project he or she is working on, a recent success, or a common interest with the senior. This provides the senior with information to begin a comfortable conversation. Rankings

Business Rankings Higher Lower Official Non-Official (potential)Customer Not a Customer Senior Executive Junior Executive Older Person Younger Person Company Executive Friend or Family Member

Social Rankings Higher Lower Official Non-Official Female Male Older Person Younger Person Non-family Member Friend or Family Member 第 12 页 共 15 页

(Example)

Erica: Professor Honda, may I introduce my

classmate Steven Jacobs.

Steven, this is my professor of literature. Prof: Nice to meet you, Steven.

Steven: Thank you. It‟s a pleasure to meet you,

Professor Honda. Etica has talked a lot about you.

Porf: All good, I hope. (8) Conversation

(i)Conversational Topics: When you‟re among a group of acquaintances or business associates keep your conversational topics neutral. Good neutral topics include: the weather, travel, restaurants, movies and entertainment, etc. (ii) Asking someone‟s opinion is not only flattering, but can provide you with good information.

(iii) Topics to avoid: personal illnesses or operations, family or personal difficulties, etc. (iv) Avoiding Taboos: age, marriage, personal income, religious beliefs, political party,

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racism, sexism, etc. III. Case Study Case 1 (p81-82) Case 2 (p83) Case 3 (p96-97) Case 4 (p98)

Case 5

A famous Chinese actress married a German. One day when she was acting, her husband was there watching, saying again and again that she was the best actress. The actress‟ colleagues present asked her afterwards to tell her husband not to praise his own wife like that in public. On learning this, the German wondered what he did wrong.

Once the actress and her husband were talking with their Chinese friends at a party, her husband politely praised a Chinese lady on her beauty. The lady‟ husband said that his wife was moderately good looking when young, but now she was old and no longer so. The lady nodded in agreement with a smile. The actress‟ husband was surprised.

Case 6

An American went to Chinese home. He was

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offered some tea. Just when 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. Why?

Case 7

Jane, an American teacher in the US, had just started teaching English to a group of Japanese students. She wanted to get to know the students more formally, so she invited them to her house for party. The students all arrived together at exactly 8:00 p.m. They seemed to enjoy the party: they danced, sang, and ate most of the food. At about 10:00 p.m., one of the students said to the teacher, “I think it‟s time for me to leave. Thank you very much for the party.” Then all the other students got up to go, and all left at the same time. Jane decided she would never invite them again!

Case 8

A South Korean student in America wrote: “We went to visit an American friend. When we saw him, he opened the window and said to us: „I‟m sorry, I don‟t have time. I have to work at my studies.‟ Then he closed his window.”

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