跨文化交际版

跨文化交际技巧参考答案

定义题

1、Intercultural communication跨文化交际P3

There are three kinds of things you need to learn if you want to be able to communicate effectively with Westerners. First, you need to learn a foreign language, usually English. Second, you should learn as much as possible about Western cultures. However, studying English language and Western culture is not enough. You should also learn something about what happens when people from different cultures try to communicate with each other — in other words, "intercultural communication."

2、Individualist个人主义

Individualist culture is one in which people tend to view themselves as individuals and emphasize the needs of individuals. In general, Western culture tends to be individualist. They view themselves as independent of collectives; are primarily motivated by their own preferences, needs, rights, and the contacts they have established with others; give priority to their personal goals over the goals of others; and emphasize rational analyses of the advantages and disadvantages to associating with others.

3、Collectivist集体主义

Collectivist culture is one in which people tend to view themselves as members of groups (families, work units, tribes, nations), and usually consider the needs of the group to be more important than the needs of individuals. Most Asian cultures, including China's, tend to be collectivist. People see themselves as parts of one or more collectives; are primarily motivated by the norms of, and duties imposed by, those collectives; are willing to give priority to the goals of these collectives over their own personal goals; and emphasize their connectedness to members of these cultures.

4、public behavior /private behavior

Public behavior is the behavior in public settings, such as in work places, shops and so on. Private behavior is the behavior in private life, such as when you are at home or with your family and so on. Both individualist and collectivist cultures make a distinction between public life and private life. However, individualist Western cultures tend to make an especially clear and firm distinction between the public and private, and generally feel that these two aspects of life should be kept separate from each other. In other words, Westerners tend to believe that having a personal relationship with someone should not affect how you treat that person in public, work-related situations.

5、Generalizations文化的笼统性P26

It’s a neutral word which is a general conclusion drawing from particular examples or evidence.( In any culture group there will be many different beliefs represented, but most of the members of the group will tend in a certain direction. It is this "preponderance of belief," —not uniform acceptance of a given belief —that gives a culture its nature and is the legitimate subject of generalization. People in the same culture share many things in common, such as shared knowledge, shared values, shared perspectives, shared beliefs, shared behavior.)

6、Stereotypes老套思路P26

It is a derogatory word. It means that image, idea, character that has become fixed or standardized in a conventional form without individuality and is therefore false and shallow.( A way of thinking that does not acknowledge internal difference within a group, and does not acknowledge exception to its general rules or principles. These stereotypes are often based on accurate information but the problem is that stereotypes blind us to other, equally important aspects of a person's character or behavior. Stereotypes may have been created by direct experience with only one or two people from a particular group. Others are probably based on the second-hand information and opinion, output from the mass media, and general habits of thinking; they may even have been formed without any direct

experience with individuals from the group. Yet many people are prepared to assume that stereotype is an accurate representation of all members of a specific group.)

7、Hierarchy不同的等级权利P33

Different in rank and power----equality

Every society has hierarchy to some degree. In other words, some people have higher rank and more power than others, perhaps because they are older, stronger, wealthier, or have some kind of official position. On the other hand, however, most modern societies also believe that equality is a virtue, at least to some extent. So each culture needs to find its own balance between hierarchy and equality.

1) Westerners generally have less respect for seniority — age, position and so forth — than would be the case in a collectivist culture.

2) Western societies often try to limit the power of government officials.

3) Westerners tend to have a somewhat suspicious and even negative view of power and authority.

8、Culture shock文化冲击 P36

9、Culture shock is a feeling of being confused and overwhelmed by life in another culture. People who experience culture shock often

feel fatigued, impatient and irritable. They may also begin trying to avoid interaction with foreigners, and even become increasingly critical and hostile toward them. Foreigners in China sometimes experience culture shock —and so do Chinese who go to live in other countries.

9、Projected cultural similarity P48

10、Projected cultural similarity is the tendency to assume that people from other cultures basically think and feel more the same way we do. In other words, we sometimes assume that while foreigners may look different, dress differently, and speak different languages, "inside we are all more or less the same". People from different culture assume they understand each other instead of asking each other what they think. Because they each expect the other person to react more or less the same way they would, they don't check to see whether or not the other person actually has the same feelings and reactions they would.

10、loose culture and tight culture

Loose culture doesn’t demand a high degree of conformity. In loose cultures, people have a relatively wide range of views as to what is considered normal behavior. They also tend to be relatively tolerant of behavior that does not conform to cultural norms. And there is less pressure on individuals within the same culture to

behave the same way most other people in the culture do.

Tight culture: expect a relatively high degree of conformity. There is a clear consensus as to what is and is not acceptable behavior and there is more pressure on people to conform to the norms of the culture.

Here is an example of how people deal with people who are born left-handed. In tight cultures, children who favor their left hand are encouraged or even forced to use their right hand instead, and the percentage of left-handed people in the adult population is much smaller.

11、Ethnocentrism 民族优越感P59

12、"Ethnocentrism" is the tendency to think of one’s own cu lture as being at the center of the world and identify with one’s in-group and to evaluate out-groups and their members according to its standards; in other words, to assume that one’s own culture's way of thinking and acting is more natural, normal, and correct than the way people from other cultures think and act, and tend to view one’s own cultural values and ways of doing things as more real, or as the ‘right’ and natural values and ways of doing things.

12、In-groups and out-groups P70

In-Groups: “In-groups” are the people we have the most in common with and identify most closely with, such as our family, classmates,

or co-workers. We also have larger in-groups such as people who are from our own region, religious group, ethnic group, or nation. In-groups are groups of people about whose welfare we are concerned, with whom we are willing to cooperate without demanding equitable returns, and separation from whom leads to discomfort or even pain. Out-groups: out groups are those groups of people who we do not identify with---people from other families, regions, ethnic groups, or nations. Out-groups are groups of people about whose welfare we are not concerned, and groups with whom we require an equitable return in order to cooperate.

13、war stories P80

The term “war stories” originally referred to the kinds of stories soldiers would tell after experiences in battle. Now “war stories” refers more generally to any stories people tell after strange or stressful experiences, including stories about unusual encounters with foreigners.

14 low context/ high context

1.Low context: the way westerners communicate tends to be relatively explicit and direct. In other words, Westerners tend to put most of their ideas and feelings into words, and then state their ideas and feelings plainly and openly. It’s generally considered a good thing to get to the point and say what you mean, and it’s

largely the speaker’s responsibility to ensure that his/her massage is stated in a way that is clear and easy to understand. --low context, people are expected to pay more attention to the words used in communication than to context in which things are said. They expect others to ‘take them at their words’-to believe that what they say is what they mean.

2.High context: in collectivist cultures, people tend to communicate in a way that is more indirect and subtle, and listeners are expected to take more responsibility for inerpreting messages correctly. -High context, people are expected to pay much attention to the context in which communication takes place- who the speaker is, where and why the conversation is taking place, body language, and so forth-and when people interpret what others mean, they often give more weight to the context than to the actual words said. People in high context often view direct, explicit communication as unsophisticated or even rude.

问答题

1、Why would intercultural communication be more difficult than the communication between people from the same culture

（Why is it hard to learn a foreign culture）

先定义intercultural communication

1)Some stumbling blocks

2)Assuming more cultural similarities leads to misunderstanding

3)Language difference

4)Misinterpreting verbal communication and body language from

other country

5)Stereotype and preconceptions

6)Evaluate before really understanding

7)Interact with foreigners stressfully and suffer from culture

shock

8)Tend to generalize or simplify

9)Tend to define groups by a few key characteristic

10)Assume everyone is similar

2、What are some differences between an individualist culture and

a collectivist one

Are all Westerners individual Are all Chinese collectivist 先定义individualist 和 collectivist

(1) Westerners tend to believe that people should rely on themselves as much as possible- and they usually expect other people to do the same. In contrast, people in collectivist cultures generally feel they have a right to expect help from other members of their groups(family, classmates, and so forth), and they also tend to feel they have an obligation to help other members of their groups.

(2) Westerners generally feel that the rights of individuals

should not be subordinated to the needs of a larger group, or at least that individuals should have to right to decide for themselves whether to sacrifice their benefit for the sake of the group.

(3) Westerners tend to believe that individuals should make decisions for themselves and that individuals should take credit and responsibility for what they have personally done.

(4) A final difference lies in the way people in difference cultures view the idea of “individualism”. Westerners tend to view individualism as a good thing. In English, the word “individualism”has no negative connotation. In fact, its connotation is somewhat positive. In contrast, the Chinese term for “individualism”, often has a somewhat negative connotation, and is sometimes used as a synonym for “selfishness”.

3、What are the different virtues Chinese and Americans emphasize most

先要定义一下virtue

Chinese: formality/ hierarchy/ industriousness/ being filial/ hard work/ modesty/ thrifty

Americans: activity-dominant/ equality/ motivation based on achievement/ the world is material rather than spiritual/ optimistic/ individualist/ materialism/ success/ humanitarianism 4、How do Western cultures view the relationship between public and

private life

先定义public: work, national duty; private: home, family, personal friendships

Western cultures tend to make an especially clear and firm distinction between the public and private, and generally feel that these two aspects of life should be kept separate from each other. In other words, westerners tend to believe that having a personal relationship with someone should not affect how you treat that person in public, work-related situations. (In fact, some westerners try to avoid mixing work and play completely, and keep their circle of work acquaintances quite separate from their circle of personal friends)

Of course, personal relationships do make a difference in how people in the west treat each other, even in public settings. However, the wall between public and private life tends to be somewhat higher in the individualist west than it is in collectivist cultures. 5、What are stereotypes Why are they a problem

It is a derogatory word. It means that image, idea, or chance that has become fixed or standardized in a conventional form without individuality and it is therefore false and shallow. A way of thinking that does not acknowledge internal difference within a group, exception to its general rules or principles. These

stereotypes are often based on accurate information but the problem is that stereotypes blind us to other equally important aspects of a person’s character or behavior.

Stereotypes may have been created by direct experience with only one or two people from a particular group. Others are probably based on the second hand information and opinion output from the mass media, and general habits of thinking; they may even have been formed without any direct experience with individuals from the group. Yet many people are prepared to assume that stereotype is an accurate representation of all members of a specific group.

6、Try to think of several more generalization that can be made about important characteristics of Chinese culture. Collectivism: emphasis on the doctrine of the mean

Large power distance--hierarchy

Intergroup harmony and avoidance of over conflict in interpersonal relations

Belief in the naturalness, necessity and inevitability of hierarchy Inequality based on achievement, especially academic, moral and finance achievement

Belief that “the judgment of wise people” is a better way to regulate life than rigid artificial laws.

People exist “in and through relationship with others”

Academic emphasis on memory, attention to details, and lengthy homework

Brain wash

The golden mean

Hypocritical

The judgment of wise people/law

8、What are the similarity and difference between Projected Cultural similarity and Ethnocentrism P48

两个定义Projected Cultural similarity and Ethnocentrism

The similarity: both of them can not be avoided or overcame in intercultural communication. These two phenomena show that every country or nation considers their own culture as the center. The difference: E is taking one’s own culture norms as the standard by which to judge people of other cultures. PCS is assuming that people of other cultures view things the same way you do.

PCS: People have the tendency to assume that other people from other cultural background basically think and feel more or less the same way as they do.

E: People have the tendency to think their culture has the superiority to others’ and assume that their own culture’s way of thinking and acting is more natural, normal and correct than the way people from other cultures’ thinking and act.

9、Comment on “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you. “P49

先定义Projected cultural similarity

The sentence means that it’s better not to do things to others what you don’t want others do to you. This behavior shows the phenomena”projected cultural similarity”. In our cultural system, if you don’t like thing done to you, you just don’t impose on others. It’s a kind of virtue. But from the aspect of PCS, people just assume people from other cultures view things the same way we do. What we think is right, we consider others will think it’s right, too. However, it just doesn’t work out like that. Because of different cultural background, we have different interpretations of everything happened. We can not expect others o think or act the same as we do.

10、Why would people project cultural similarity P49

定义Projected cultural similarity

It is hard for people to imagine a perspective different from their own. It is effected by human nature, people are accustomed to self-centered. When they communicate with foreigners, they usually assume that foreigners are similar to us. As we grow up and learn what is right and wrong, truth and false, normal and abnormal, and so forth, we naturally learn to view the world as our culture view

it. The only way to solve PCS is communication.

11、comment on conformity in western cultures p56

定义

Loose cultures do not demand a high degree of conformity. In loose cultures, people have a relatively wide range of views as to what is considered normal behavior.

Tight cultures, in contrast, expect a relatively high degree of conformity. There is a clear consensus as to what is and is not acceptable behavior, and there is more pressure on people to conform to the norms of the culture.

Chinese culture is tight culture, and western cultures are loose culture. So conformity in western cultures is less in Chinese culture.

Weak conformity

12、What factors lead to looseness or tightness in culture P54 定义

(1)The degree of change in the population--- the more people move, the looser and more individualist a society tends to be.

(2)The density of the population.: small dense societies tend to be collectivist, hence tighter. Large dense society tend to be more complex, hence not quite so tight---melting pot.

(3)The number of choices available in society--- the more choices

available, the more room there is for individualism.

(4)strict registration/registered permanent residence

13、why does ethnocentrism cause difficulty in intercultural communication P59

定义ethnocentrism

Because we naturally feel that the ways and ideas of our culture are more natural and correct than those of other cultures. So we tend to use the norms of our own culture---such as the idea of what is good/bad, right/wrong, normal/abnormal—as standards when we judge the behavior of people from other cultures. So when we encounter foreigners who behave or think in ways that differ from our cultural norms, we too quickly tend to judge these other ways as strange, wrong or bad.

14、Why are in/out-groups a problem in intercultural communicationP70

定义

We generally have more positive feelings toward members or our in-groups than we do toward outsiders. We trust insiders more. We tend to have a stronger sense of obligation to insiders. We feel it’s right to help insider more than we help outsiders. We tend to judge in-groups and out-groups by different standards. To insiders, more generous but to outsiders, more critical, suspicious,

more harsh judgments.

So the tie of goodwill and trust between in-groups and out-groups are often relatively weak, and they break easily when there is conflict or misunderstanding.

15、How do Chinese people treat in-group and out-group in line with culture back P77

定义

There is a difference between the inside and the outside. Chinese generally have a high sense of loyalty and obligation to their in-groups, and will often go to great lengths to help people they consider members of their in-groups; however, they feel less obligation to outsiders.

Chinese often view outsiders who come to china as guests., and give them much special treatment. In part, this is because Chinese view guests as a kind of in-group, and tend to treat in-group members very well.

16、Never a borrower or a lender be. P79

定义individualism

As it is firstly a famous American sentence means that ii is best to not lend money to other people and not to borrow from other people. When we lend or borrow something, we risk losing both things and the friendship with that person. To begin with, t is because

westerners are in individualist cultures. In such kind culture, individualists tend to view themselves as individuals and to emphasize the needs of individuals. Individualists feel less obligation to others, whether they are in-groups or out-groups. Secondly, because of their characteristics, their individualism, western people tend to be very independent and self-reliant. They will always solve their problems by themselves. So they don’t want others to rely on them. either.

17、Characteristics of war stories P82

The term “war stories”originally referred to the kinds of stories soldiers would tell after experiences in battle. Now, “war stories” refers more generally to any stories. People tell after strange or stressful experiences, including stories about unusual encounters with foreigners.

War stories about intercultural communication tend to share several characteristics:

(1)One reason we tell war stories is to get reassurance that our

interpretation of the encounter makes sense.

(2)In war stories, we generally portray ourselves as the hero

or victim, and we often paint the foreigner as the “bad guy”.

(3)We generally tell war stories to people who are likely to

sympathize with us, usually people from our own culture rather

than outsiders.

(4)As we tell war stories, we often generalize from one specific

experience to groups of foreigners as a whole.