跨文化交际中的主要障碍及对策

跨文化交际中的主要障碍及对策摘要：随着经济全球化的发展，中国与外界的交往日益频繁，跨文化交际问题受到了外语界乃至整个社会前所未有的重视。

不同的民族有着不同的文化，不同的文化必然存在有文化的差异，因此可能会导致种种的交际失误。

所以，研究跨文化交际中的障碍问题，以及如何有效地解决，清除这种障碍对于中国的外语教学和社会经济文化生活具有极为重要的现实意义。

本文从跨文化交际的内涵和意义入手，分析和探讨了跨文化交际中存在的主要障碍，并通过对跨文化交际实例的分析，阐述了障碍产生的原因和消极影响，最后提出了如何克服这些障碍，实现有效的跨文化沟通的基本策略。

通过掌握这些策略，可以逐步提高我们的跨文化意识，成功地进行跨文化交际。

关键词：跨文化交际；障碍；策略CONTENTSIntroduction: (1)1.Intercultural Communication (1)1.1 Communication (1)1.1.1 Definition of Communication (1)1.1.2 Components of Communication (1)1.1.3 Characteristics of Communication (2)1.2 Culture (3)1.2.1 Definition of Culture (3)1.2.2 Components of Culture (3)1.2.3 Characteristics of Culture (3)1.3 Intercultural Communication (4)1.3.1 Definition of Intercultural Communication (4)1.3.2 The Development of Intercultural Communication (5)1.3.3 The Study of Intercultural Communication (5)2. Obstacles to Intercultural Communication (6)2.1 Assuming Similarity (7)2.1.1 Definition of Assuming Similarity (7)2.1.2 The Performance of Assuming Similarity (7)2.1.3 The Forming Reason of Assuming Similarity (8)2.2 Stereotypes (9)2.2.1 Definition of Stereotypes (9)2.2.2 The Performance of Stereotypes (9)2.2.3 The Impact of Stereotypes (10)2.3 Ethnocentrism (11)2.3.1 Definition of Ethnocentrism (11)2.3.2 The Performance of Ethnocentrism (11)2.3.3 The Impact of Ethnocentrism (13)3. Strategies for Coping With The Obstacles (14)3.1 Knowing Yourself (14)3.1.1 Know Your Culture (14)3.1.2 Know Your Personal Attitudes (15)3.1.3 Know Your Communication Style (15)3.2 Knowing the Cultural Settings (16)3.2.1 Timing (16)3.2.2 Physical Setting (17)3.2.3 Customs (17)3.3 Developing Empathy (18)3.3.1 Definition of Empathy (18)3.3.2 Hindrances to Empathy (18)3.3.3 Improving Empathy (19)4. Conclusion (20)Bibliography (22)IntroductionWe are now in a world, which is sometimes referred to as a “global village”. With the rapid development of international trade, improved technologies of communication and the tendency of globalization，more and more exchanges are taking place internationally in almost every line, which may call for a better study on intercultural communication in order to help those intercultural activities result in better effects.I. Intercultural Communicationmunication1.1.1. Definition of CommunicationIt is difficult to find a single definition of human communication. Being concerned with the intercultural dimensions of communication, we assent to the definition advanced by Rubin and Stewart:”Human communication is the process through which individuals—in relationships, groups, organizations, and societies—respond to and create messages to adapt to the environment and one another （Rubin and Stewart 1998）.”Communication—our ability to share our ideas and feelings—is the basis of all human contacts. Whether we live in a city in the USA, a village in India, a commune in Israel, we all participate in the same activity when we communicate. The results and the methods might be different, but the process is the same.1.1.2. Components of CommunicationAll communication contains six basic components. First is the source. A source is a sender of information. He or she could send a message with or without knowing his or her actions were communication.The second component is encoding, which describes the producing of a symbolic message. Encoding is an internal activity in which verbal and nonverbal symbols are selected and arranged. It is the process of translating an already conceived idea into a message appropriate for transmission to a receiver.The third component, a message, is the production of encoding. The message is aset of verbal and nonverbal symbols that represents the feelings and ideas of the sender. It also includes symbolic messages that the sender is totally unaware of having sent.Channel is the fourth communication component. The channel provides that necessary connection between the communication participants. The primary channels are sound and sight. The degree to which an individual relies on one channel or another is often a product of culture.Receiver is the fifth component. The receiver is the person or persons who come into contact with the message. Receivers may be those for whom the sender intended or they may be others who, for whatever reasons, come into contact with the message.Decoding is the sixth component. In the decoding process, the receiver interprets what he or she believes the source meant by the message transmitted. This operation is akin to the source’s act of encoding since it is also an internal activity—an activity often referred to as information processing.1.1.3. Characteristics of CommunicationCommunication is a dynamic process. It means that communication is an ongoing activity. It is like a motion picture, not a single snapshot. A single word or action does not stay frozen when we communicate; it is immediately replaced with yet another word or action. Once a word or an action is employed, it cannot be retracted. What is said cannot be unsaid. And what is done cannot be undone.Communication is symbolic. Humans are symbol-making creatures. We are able to generate, receive, store, and manipulate symbols. We employ symbols to share our internal states. Our words and actions are other sets of symbols through which we convey our messages, ideas and feelings to other people.Communication has a consequence. This characteristic implies that when we receive a message, something happens to us. It also means that all of our messages, in one degree or another does something to someone else. We cannot send messages without influencing other people. This is not a philosophical or metaphysical theory but a biological fact. It is impossible not to respond to the sounds and actions of others.1.2.Culture1.2.1.Definition of CultureThere are more than one hundred definitions of the English word culture offered by researchers from different perspectives. Samovar and Porter evolved a definition from the perspective of intercultural communication:Culture is the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notion of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving （Samovar and Porter 1991）.Culture is mental programming, it tells us from early childhood what matters, what to prefer, what to avoid, and what to do. It gives us assumptions about the ideal beyond what individuals may experience. It establishes codes for behavior and provides justification and legitimization for that behavior.ponents of CultureIn spite of the lack of agreement on one definition on culture, most scholars, Chinese and foreign, seem to agree that culture includes three major aspects. Almaney and Alwan submitted three categories of culture elements:Cultures may be classified by three large categories of elements: artifacts (which include items ranging from arrowheads to hydrogen bombs, magic charms to antibiotic, torches to electric lights, and chariots to jet planes); concepts (which include such beliefs or value systems as right or wrong, God and man, ethics, and the general meaning of life); and behaviors (which refer to the actual practice of concepts or beliefs) （Rogers and Steinfatt 1999）.There is an excellent example of how these three aspects might be reflected within a culture. Whereas money is considered an artifact, the value placed upon it is a concept, but the actual spending and saving of money is behavior.1.2.3.Characteristics of CultureCulture is learned. Culture is not something we are born with. From infancy on, members of a culture learn their patterns of behavior and ways of thinking until they have become internalized. People learn to think, act, feel and believe what their culture considers proper. For instance, humans need food. But what to eat, when, where and how to eat is learned. That’s why we use chopsticks while westerners prefer knife and fork, and why we like rice while Americans prefer bread.Culture is subject to change. Cultures, once formed, are stable, but are at the same time changing with the development of human society. It seldom remains constant. It is not difficult at all for us to think of examples of how social and historical events bring changes in our culture. The founding of new China, the implementation of the policy of opening to the outside world and China’s WTO entry, are all good examples.Culture is interrelated. It means that culture is composed of interrelated facets. When you touch one place of a culture, everything else is affected. The outbreak of SARS in spring 2003 in China is an illustrative example. It made its effects felt in medical systems, tourism, lifestyle, family life, government policies, environment protection and many others.Culture is invisible. Most of culture is hidden, like the part of the iceberg under water. Culture exists in the subconscious mind of people. People not only learn the cultural behaviors below the level of consciousness but also perform them almost habitually. Therefore they aren’t aware of the fact that their actions are governed by their own culture, or cultural rules.1.3.Intercultural Communication1.3.1. Definition of Intercultural CommunicationIn general terms, intercultural communication occurs when a member of one culture produces a message for consumption by a member of another culture. The formal definition given by Rogers and Steinfatt is that intercultural communication is the exchange of information between individuals who are unalike culturally（Rogers and Steinfatt 1999）.This is a very broad definition, involving any type of cultural differences betweencommunication participants. They may differ in nationality, region, race, religion, status, occupation, gender, age, and many others. However, my priority of this paper is given to communication across different national cultures.1.3.2. The Development of Intercultural CommunicationIntercultural communication studies arose in the United States around the corner of the late 1950s. As an interdisciplinary subject, it has been significantly influenced by anthropology, linguistics, communication, psychology and other disciplines. In recent years, it has extended its study range from writing to thinking, from family to society, from myth to religion, from behaviors to values.In China, intercultural communication began to be seen as an independent discipline for study in the early 1980s. It was first introduced into China by some English teachers and has made remarkable progress over the years. The main reason for the university English teachers’enthusiasm in the study of intercultural communication is the shift from traditional methodology to the communicative approach in EFL in China in the late 1970s and early 1980s.As a matter of fact, intercultural communication is not a new thing, but something that has always taken place. A typical example is the famous “Silk Road” in Chinese history through which peoples of Asia, Africa and Europe interacted with each other.Nowadays, we don’t have to go abroad to interact with people of other cultures. Even at home, we can watch overseas movies, attract overseas tourists, and employ overseas teachers, and so on. Intercultural communication has become more frequent, more abundant and, therefore, more significant than ever before.1.3.3. The Study of Intercultural CommunicationIntercultural communication is becoming an important part of our daily work and life. We will conduct more and more intercultural communication, the problem we are facing is how to do it, and how to do it well. A good knowledge of a foreign language, mainly English—the most widely used language in the world today, is of course indispensable. But only the language does not ensure successful interculturalcommunication. Therefore, intercultural communication competence has become an important quality for successful individuals in today’s China.In the process of studying intercultural communication, we can understand Chinese culture better from new perspectives and learn to be aware of many cultural differences of other countries.If we are better intercultural communicators, we might do things cross culture more confidently. If each of us can better understand others who are culturally different, it will be more productive under circumstances concerned. If individuals can attain a higher degree of intercultural communication competence, they will presumably become better government officials, entrepreneurs, teachers and so forth when they are having intercultural communication activities.We study intercultural communication to communicate effectively with people from different cultures. Through the study of intercultural communication we can gain insight into different cultures. Meanwhile, it can broaden our horizons and open our minds to different perspectives and experiences. The study of intercultural communication can also awaken our cultural sensitivity and help the cultivation of an open attitude and the development of a healthy personality.II.Obstacles To Intercultural CommunicationAs we mentioned in Part One, communication is the exchange of information. The understanding of the message, verbal or nonverbal, is largely based on the communication participant’s cultural background and varies accordingly for each person.However, due to different social backgrounds, social systems, ways of thinking, norms of behaviors and customs, people may have difficulties and obstacles in communicating successfully with each other. Identification of these problems will help us to avoid or to reduce obstacles in intercultural communication. Here in this part some major obstacles to successful intercultural communication are to be discussed.There are many obstacles to intercultural communication indeed. From HuWenzhong’s point of view, who is a famous scholar in intercultural communication, the following three seem to be the most outstanding ones. They are assuming similarity, stereotypes and ethnocentrism. We are going to discuss about them in the following writing.2.1 Assuming Similarity2.1.1. Definition of Assuming SimilarityThe assumption of similarity is one of the biggest barriers in intercultural communication. It refers to the assumption that people are more similar to you than they actually are or that another person’s situation is more similar to your own situation than it in fact is （Alder 1996）. For instance, a Chinese assumes his or her Japanese colleagues are more like Chinese than they actually are. Based on this assumed similarity, people often act inappropriately and ineffectively in intercultural communication.When you assume similarity between cultures you can be caught unaware of important differences. When you have no information about a different culture, you might assume there are no differences so you behave as you would in your own culture. However, each culture is different and unique to some degree.2.1.2. The Performance of Assuming SimilarityIn The Art of Crossing Cultures，Craig Storti (1990)thinks that in the process of intercultural communication, people generally experience several stages:1) Expecting others the same as themselves2) Facing gap between reality and expectation, thus resulting in cultural conflicts3) Feeling anger and fear4) Deciding to turn backThe following is an example to illustrate it. Li Ying, a Chinese student who went abroad for the first time was invited to attend a party by his American friends. He arrived on time, only to find that many people were late and dressed in a very casual way. At the party, there was only some drink and simple food, but no decent dishes.Few people there knew him, and he at last found Mark, his friend, and began to talk with him. They talked about only ten minutes before Mark said that he had to talk with another friend and left. Li Ying was very disappointed. Then, the host introduced him to a couple of people and left too. Two hours later, Li Ying left the party. When he was back at home, he was still hungry, so he had to cook some noodles himself. He decided not to take part in this kind of party again.This party was an unsuccessful intercultural communication for Li Ying. Why did he fail? It has something to do with his original ideas. In his opinion, people should arrive on time at party and should wear formal clothes, the host should prepare a lot of food and make a good arrangement for him, and Mark should talk with him all the time. Li Ying had a typical Chinese expectation for a western party. At a western party, the friends and the host, have their own things to do. Li Ying thought it was the same situation as in China and did not see the difference between Chinese and American styles in social intercourses. The lack of intercultural communication awareness and experience resulted in the failure.2.1.3. The Forming Reason of Assuming SimilarityWhen communicating with people from other cultures, the individual, assuming similarity when differences exist, is likely to treat them as” my people” and assume there is only way of doing things: that is “my” way.It is understandable that people would think the others should have roughly the same ideas as they have. As a matter of fact, each member of a society is culture bound and culture specific. Everyone in a society is unconsciously socialized into his or her society, influenced unconsciously by his or her own cultural values, world views and norms. We think the way we do, we behave the way we do, we feel the way we do. However, we must accept the facts that as cultures differ, we are unalike, and being unalike, we seldom know how people of different cultures think, behave, and feel.As we naively assume that people of other cultures are like us, we tend to automatically use the norms or rules underlying our thinking, behaving and feeling as standards to judge, evaluate and interpret the behavior or message, both verbal andnonverbal, of people of different cultures, and in doing so, misunderstanding is inevitable.People should constantly remind themselves of different cultural backgrounds and different customs. We must learn to observe the different cultures and compare the new culture with our own; only by doing so, we can gradually improve our intercultural awareness.2.2 Stereotypes2.2.1. Definition of StereotypesStereotypes are also one of the major obstacles to effective intercultural communication. The word “stereotyping” was first used by journalist Walter Lippman in 1922 to describe judgments made about others on the basis of their ethnic group membership. Today, the term is more broadly used to refer to judgments made on the basis of any group membership.Stereotypes are the perceptions or beliefs we hold about groups or individuals based on previously formed opinions and attitudes. Rapport and Overing underscore this point when they note that “stereotypes allow simplistic and fantastic claims to be made about a group’s manifold memberships, claims which are all more ambiguous and gross the higher the societal level to which the collective label is applied（Rapport and Overing 2000）.”2.2.2. The Performance of StereotypesThe world we confront is too big, too complex, and too transitory to know it in all its detail. Therefore, human beings have a psychological need to categorize and classify. Stereotypes, because they tend to be convenient and expeditious, help us with classification.In stereotyping people, it is believed that all the people of a given group share the same characteristics. They simplify perception of people from different cultures. Therefore, differences existing between or among people of that group is minimized or ignored.We often meet people from different cultures, about whom we have very little knowledge. It is easy to take the short cut and employ stereotypes. For instance, if we perceive all the Chinese as polite, Americans as generous, British as cold and standoffish, or blacks as athletic, sportsmen as dimwits, blondes as empty-headed and Japanese women as best caretakers, we are stereotyping.In this manner，people tend to say, “A ll Chinese are…” or “He is an English man; therefore he must…” Such conclusions take little energy, and are free from any further serious thinking about that specific character. That may lead people to ignore the specific characteristics of an individual with a different cultural background. This is a kind of communication trap we should avoid.A tragedy in US history resulted from the stereotypes. During World War II , anti-Japanese propaganda convinced many people in the United States that the Japanese were cunning, tricky and willing to fight to the death to win. The negative stereotype was mainly formed by news accounts carried by the media about the war. However, it created an atmosphere in 1942 in which the US federal government put 110,000 citizens of Japanese ancestry into internment camps. Japanese-Americans were forced to leave their homes, with their businesses, and their possessions behind because the stereotype portrayed them as threats to their own country（Rogers and Steinfatt 1999）.2.2.2. The Impact of StereotypesAdler reminds us of the harmful effect that stereotypes have on intercultural communication when she notes:”Stereotypes become counterproductive when we place people in the wrong groups, when we incorrectly describe the group norm, when we inappropriately evaluate the group or category, when we confuse the stereotype with the description of a particular individual, and when we fail to modify the stereotype based on our actual observations and experience （Alder 1996）.”Stereotypes are harmful because they impede intercultural communication in at least four ways:First, stereotypes fail to specify individual characteristics. That is to say,stereotypes assume that all members of a group have exactly the same traits. As Atkinson, Morten, and Sue note,” They are rigid preconceptions which are applied to all members of a group or to an individual over a period of time, regardless of individual variations（Atkinson，Morten and Wing Su 1982）.”In other words, they don’t recognize internal differences within a group, and do not recognize exceptions to its general rules or principles.Second, stereotypes also keep us from being successful as communicators because they are over-simplified, over-generalized, and exaggerated. They are based on half-truths, distortions, and often untrue premises. Therefore, they create inaccurate pictures of the people with whom we are interacting. As Guirdham posits,” Stereotype distort intercultural communication because they lead people to base their messages, their way of transmitting them, and their reception of them on false assumptions （Guirdham 1999）.”Third, stereotypes tend to impede intercultural communication in that they repeat and reinforce beliefs until they often become taken for “truth.”The stereotype of women as “homemakers”often keeps women from advancing in the workplace. Women were stereotypes as a rather one dimensional group for many years.Finally, stereotypes can serve as “self-fulfilling prophecies.” Gudykunst reiterates this idea when he notes,” Stereotype can create self-fulfilling prophecies. Individuals tend to see behavior that confirms their expectations, even when it is absent （Gudykunst 2001）.”Once the stereotype is in place, there is a tendency to perceive the stereotyped person engaging in behavior that corroborates your stereotype—even when the behavior is not present.2.3 Ethnocentrism2.3.1. Definition of EthnocentrismThe third major obstacle to effective intercultural communication to be discussed here is ethnocentrism. The word “ethnocentrism”is derived from two Greek words: ethnos, or “nation”; and kentron, or “center.”Sumner，used to be credited with introducing the term to the study of culture, defined ethnocentrism as “the technicalname for the view of things in which ones own group is the center of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it （Sumner 1940）.”In other words, ethnocentrism refers to understanding and measuring other culture according to its own cultural concepts and standards, including people’s behavior, communication, social customs, values and other management models. Because of ethnocentrism, we tend to view our own cultural values and ways of doing things as more real, or as the “right”.2.3.2. The Performance of EthnocentrismPeople communicate to have an effect on others. They want people to believe as they believe, to look at the world as they do, to know things as they want others to know. Many of these communication objectives involve intent to influence the behaviors of others, to persuade them to a certain point of view. When some members of a culture negatively judge another culture by using standards of their own culture, believing that their own culture is superior, the members are thought to be ethnocentric.The existence of ethnocentrism is not limited to recent historic times. The early Greeks used the term barbarians to refer to those people living around them who did not speak Greek. Because they did not speak Greek, the ancient Persians and Egyptians were considered by the Greeks to be inferior.In today’s world, people will not openly claim that their own culture is superior to other cultures. But people unconsciously tend to make judgments based on their own value systems. All cultures seem to have a tendency to be superior. For instance, ethnocentrism is often expressed in the way people draw their maps. The Chinese were convinced that China was the center of the world. The British drew the Prime Meridian of longitude to run through Greenwich, near London. Europeans drew maps of the world with Europe at the center, and North Americans with the New World at the center.As a major obstacle to intercultural communication, ethnocentrism may take one form or another. “The Generalized Ethnocentrism Scale” by Neuliep and McCroskeyin Intercultural Communication by Rogers and Steinfatt lists twelve forms of ethnocentrism:1)Most other cultures are backward compared to my culture.2)My culture should be the role model for other cultures.3)Other cultures should try to be more like my culture.4)Most people from other cultures just don’t know what’s good for them.5)I have little respect for the values and customs of other cultures.6)Most people would be happier if they lived like people in my culture.7)People in my culture have just about the best lifestyles of anywhere.8)Lifestyles in other cultures are not as valid as those in my culture.9)I do not cooperate with people who are different.10)I do not trust people who are different.11)I dislike interacting with people from different cultures.12)Other cultures are smart to look up to my culture（Rogers and Steinfatt 1999）2.3.3. The Impact of EthnocentrismOne culture teaches its members, in a variety of ways, how to judge others and what to use as criteria for those judgments. The danger of such evaluation is that they are often false, misleading, and arbitrary. It is truly a naive view of the world to believe and behave as if the members of the culture and the very culture have discovered the true and only set of norms.It is natural to look at things from one’s own point of view and to read an event as if it were the same everywhere in the word. And it is easy to feel proud of one’s own culture, country, organization or group. But many problems arise if one simply thinks one’s way is the best way, or the only way in intercultural communication. Because of its habitual nature, ethnocentrism is hard to overcome and often causes miscommunication in intercultural contacts.The more ethnocentric the communicators are, the less they are able to realize and accept the cultural variables. Extreme ethnocentrism leads to rejection of the richness。