跨文化交际作业

1. Then try to explain why people in countries like Japan and China often refuse to say “ no” directly. In the English language,“yes”may mean very differently in different situations. Both Japan and China are regarded as cultures in which people tend to convey messagesin an implicit way. The most conspicuous case is the way they say —no II . People from Japan and China often refuse to say —no II directly. The reasons can be accounted in many ways. Firstly, Japan and China are humble cultures which teach their people to be modest and mild. They always keep off expressing strong emotions against the other party; instead, they prefer to issue disapprovals tactfully by implication. Besides, in Japanese and Chinese cultures, —face I is highly valued in the course of communication. People are bound to protect their own face from threatening; meanwhile, they feel obliged not to threaten the other party ‘fasce. Still, harmony has been attached great importance to in Japanese and Chinese cultures. People are expected to make every effort to keep a harmonious relationship with each other. They have to try their best to avoid being aggressive which may result in direct conflict.
2. Different meanings of the color terms in Chinese and English culture RED/ 红色
Chinese: ① festive, jubilant, celebrate e.g. 红娘，红火② advancing,
bright e.g. 红军，红色政权③ successful, smooth e.g. 红人，走红④beautiful, nice e.g.红颜，红妆
English:① violent, cruel e.g. red revenge; a red battle ② armed revoluti on e.g.: a red revolutio n; ③ dan ger, tension e.g. a red adventure story; red alert; a red flag ③ profligate, immoral e.g. a red waste of his youth; GREEN/绿色
Chin ese:①you ng, e.g.绿窗（指少女闺阁）;红男绿女②kni ghtly, chivalrous, feral e.g.绿林好汉；绿林大盗③ low-classified, shameful
e.g.:戴绿帽子
English:① young e.g. in the green; a green ole age ② fresh, new e.g. a gree n wound; gree n recollecti on; keep the memory gree n ③ lack of experience e.g.: a green hand; green recruits ④ wealth, money e.g.: In America n political electi ons the can didates that win are usually the ones who have green power backing them ⑤ jealous, envy e.g.: gree n-eyed
Y ELLOW/ 黄色
Chinese:① royalty, power e.g.黄袍，黄马褂，黄榜② erotic, base, sen sual e.g.黄色书干刊
English:① erotic, sensual, base e.g. yellow journalism; yellow back; yellow press ② funk, sneak, spiritless e.g. yellow lived; yellow dog; WHITE/白色
Chi nese:
WHITE/ 白色① funeral, sadness e.g.红白喜事② failure, unvalued, foolish e.g.白干，白旗，白搭，白痴③tricky, crafty e.g.白脸④ politically reacti onary e.g.:白专道路，白匪
English:① pure, bright, happy, cleanness e.g. whit soul; a white wedding ② faithful, honest e.g. a white spirit; white hand white man ③ good luck, fortune e.g. a white day; days marked with a white stone ④ legal, no harmful e.g. white market; white list a white lit
BLACK/黑色
Chi nese:
① sadness, funeral e.g.葬礼上所佩带的黑纱② serious, solemn e.g. “黑脸”包公③ secretly, tricky e.g.黑幕，黑名单④ illegal, crimes, evil e.g.黑手，黑店，黑市，黑货
English:① death, disaster, unfortunate e.g.: Black Mass; black world black death ② evil, crimes e.g. black deed; Black Man black guard; B-hands ③ angry, depressed e.g. black dog; a black look PURPLE/紫色
Chinese:① nobility, dignity e.g.紫气东来，紫禁城
English:① nobility, dignity e.g. be born in the purple; marry in the purple; be raised to the purple
PINK/粉红
Chinese①symbolized for girls e.g.六宫粉黛无颜色人面桃花相
映红② illegal or unu sual sen sual relati on ships e.g.桃色事件
English:① homosexual e.g. a product developed for the pink customer ② upper class e.g. pink lady pink tea
P 169.
(4). What does the author thi nk is the reas on able way to react to cultural differe nces? We should know that the way the other speaks may be differe nt from our way of speaki ng because he or she must have had a differe nt cultural upbringing. We shouldn j udge the other according to our own sta ndards of what is an acceptable com muni cati on style.
(8). How is “ Ping-Pong‘ conversational style different from “ Bowling” style?
In an American Ping-Pong' conversation, one person has the ball and then hits it to the other side of the table. The other player hits the ball back and the game continues. Each part of the conversation follows this patter n: the greet ing and the ope ning, the discussi on of a topic, and the closing and farewell. However, in a Japanese Bowling” conversation, each participant waits politely for a turn and knows exactly when the time is right to speak. That is, they know their place in line. In Japanese conv ersati on, long sile nces are tolerated. For America ns, eve n two or
three sec onds of sile nee can become un comfortable.
Dialogue 1
Questions 1. What does the Chinese employee mean by saying “I see ”Does it mean agreeme nt, accepta nee or promise?
By saying “see” th e Chinese employee means agreement which is “I
agree that there is need for keeping the production line running on
Saturday. ”
2. To the direct request “ Can you come in on Saturday ” , what should Chi nese employee say to avoid further mis un dersta ndi ng?
To avoid further misunderstanding that caused by saying “ see ” the
Chi nese employee should say: “1 ‘ d love to, but I
‘ ve promised my son t
celebrate his birthday with him on this Saturday. I ‘ m sorry I may not able to come in
3. Why does the American boss fail to understand what the Chinese employee implies by saying “lt?smy sons birthday ”Why does the Chinesefail to say “ no” ？
The American boss fails to understand what the Chinese employee actually means by saying ft ‘ s my son ‘ s birthday ”. because he is cultivated in a low-c on text culture in which meaning comes from the words being exchanged and messages are expected to be detailed, clear-cut, and definite. However, the Chinese employee fails to say no” because he comes from a high-c on text culture in which meaning depends very upon the setting and any speech act that may threaten other people 'face is usually avoided as much as one can. In gen eral, the Chi nese mode of com muni cati on is ofte n in direct and implicit while the Western mode of com muni catio n tends to be direct and
explicit.。