跨文化交流英语intercultural communication

Intercultural communications are essential in the era ofglobalizationHUKai-jun,NO.M060113103(Shanghai University Of Engineering Science,Automotive engineering,Shanghai201620)With the rapid development of our modern society,more and more people come to attach a great importance to intercultural communication,especially in the era of globalization.It is not only in china but also all over the world.But what is the definition of intercultural communication?It refers to the communication between different cultural backgrounds.If you talk with your American teacher,intercultural communication takes place.Culture is notoriously difficult to define. In1952,the American anthropologists,Kroeber and Kluckhohn,critically reviewed concepts and definitions of culture,and compiled a list of164different definitions.Apte(1994:2001), writing in the ten-volume Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics,summarizes the problem as follows:‗Despite a century of efforts to define culture adequately,there was in the early1990s no agreement among anthropologists regarding its nature.‘Despite these problems,I propose the following definition:Culture is a fuzzy set of attitudes, beliefs,behavioral conventions,and basic assumptions and values that are shared by a group of people,and that influence each member‘s behavior and each member‘s interpretations of the‗meaning‘of other people‘s behavior.This definition draws attention to a number of issues.Firstly,culture is manifested at different layers of depth, ranging from inner core basic assumptions and values,through outer core attitudes,beliefs and social conventions,to surface-level behavioral manifestations.Personally I thingk Culture is what we share with some but not with all other people;it is common to people belonging to a certain group or category,but different from people belonging to other groups or categories.In our life,culture is everywhere and determines how we usually behave.It includes the language in which we express ourselves,the way we raise our children,the deference we show to our elders,the physical distance from other people we maintain in order to feel comfortable,and the way we perceive general human activities such as eating,making love,having a conversation,forming a friendship with someone,etc.and the ceremonials surrounding them.I ntercultural communication is not new.It has existed as long as people from different cultures have been encountering one another. As intercultural contacts have increased both here and abroad,people have accepted that cultural diversity has become a fact of life. Only during the last30years,however,have people begun a serious and systematic study of exactly what happens during intercultural contacts.They now want to know how cultural diversity is reflected when people come together,when the communication process involves people from different cultures.Perhaps the initial impetus for the study of intercultural communication was the recognition that technology has produced the means for humankind‘s self-destruction.Historically, intercultural communication,more often than not,has employed a rhetoric of force ratherthan reason.But with agents of change sweeping the world,perhaps people are now seeking interaction through communication rather than traditional force.The reason for this new study is also pragmatic.Our mobility, increased contact among cultures,a global marketplace,and the emergence of multicultural organizations and workforces require the development of communication skills and abilities that are appropriate to a multicultural society and to life in a global village.Traditionally,intercultural communication took place only among an extremely small portion of the world‘s populace.Ministers of state and government,certain merchants, missionaries,explorers,and a few tourists were the primary travelers and visitors to foreign lands.Until rather recently,as Americans you had little contact with other cultures,even within your own country.Members of nonwhite races were segregated.Only in recent years have laws changed to foster integrated schools,workforces,and,to some extent, neighborhoods.In addition,those who made up the vast,white,middle Euro-America remained at home,rarely leaving their own county.This situation,of course,has changed markedly; America is now a mobile society among other increasingly mobile societies.This increased contact with other cultures and domestic co-cultures makes it imperative that you make a concerted effort to understand and get along with people who may be significantly different from you.Your ability,through increased awareness and understanding,to coexist peacefully with people who do not necessarily share your backgrounds,views,beliefs, values,customs,habits,or lifestyles can benefit you in your own neighborhoods and can be a decisive factor in forestalling international conflict.But do you know Intercultural communications are essential in the era of globalization.The following factors and reasons may account for it.Above all.culture is prevalence and has a profound effect on humans.Culture is also invisible yet pervasive. As we go about our daily lives,we do not have a great sense of our culture’s influence.Culture exist everywhere around us between different nations even different countries.Culture has a direct influence on the physical,relational and perceptual environment.Yet most of our thoughts,emotions,and behaviors are profoundly affected by different cultures.In addition to the rapid growth of modern society,People have more and more exchanges, the importance of intercultural communication is becoming more important.Intercultural communication occurs whenever a minimum of two persons from different cultures or countries come together and exchange verbal and nonverbal symbols.It can occurs everywhere. For example,When we do business with people from different cultures or different countries, we need to communicate with them,we need exchange different views about the business on the matter of information.A main theme throughout this text is that intercultural communication is indispensable.But why intercultural communications are so common in our globalization?The following factors an reasons may account for it.Above all, mobile means of transport.Now jet planes fly everywhere.It used to take months to travel from Shanghai to Los Angeles,but now it takes only12hours.It is now much easier for people to move from one country to another.People of different countries and races get together much oftener than before.moreover,people get in touch with each other in various ways, including the internet,the telephone,the satellite,etc.So sophisticated communication systems have also helped to increase intercultural communication.Besides,there is globalization of world economy.This means multi-national companies now operate in many countries in the world.They employ people of different ethnic groups and of differentcountries.Actually,some multi-national companies make a point of employing people of different countries.They don’t use people from just one country.Because their company is the multi-national company and they want to use people from different countries.And finally there is mass lions of people now move across national borders every year.So all these contributes to the fact that intercultural communication is now a daily occurrence and are essential in the era of globalization.Its importance now is being recognized by an increasing number of people.。