跨文化作业7

跨文化作业7

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Chapter 7 Cultural Patterns

Text A

1.Why understanding differences in cultural patterns is extremely important for

effective intercultural communication?

2.

Because cultural patterns are the basis for interpreting the symbols used in

communication. If the cultural patterns between people are different, the

symbols used in communicating will be interpreted differently and may be

misunderstand.

3.How is cultural patterns defined?

4.

Cultural patterns can be defined as following: shared beliefs, values, norms, and social practices that are stable over time and that lead to roughly similar

behaviors across similar situations.

5.What are other factors besides culture that influence how we see the world

and communicate the world?

These are both influenced by factors, including age, gender, status, occupation, etc.

Case 40

1.What different views do Fua and Hettie hold on the issue of lending money,

especially to family members?

2.

Hettie became very upset. She never heard of parents asking children for money.

She thought it was children who were supposed to borrow from parents and parents borrow from banks. Hettie thought it was unreasonable to lend money to family member. But Fua thought to lend money family member is very

common, and it was also kind of honor.

3.What do you think causes the differences?

4.

It is caused by different cultural patterns. Different cultural patterns are provided people different ways of thinking. Cultural patterns provide the basic set of

standards that guide thought and action. Fua come from Laos ,and Hettie come from German, so they have different cultural patterns. So in this situation, they have different thoughts.

Text B

1.What are the components of cultural patterns

2.

3.

Beliefs, values, norms and social practices together constitute the components of cultural patterns.

4.And how is each of the components defined

5.Support with examples.

Beliefs: a belief is an idea that people assume to be true about the world. For example, a widely shared belief dates back to the time when Europeans believed that the earth was flat. That is ,people “knew” that the earth was flat. Most

people now “know” that the earth is basically round and would laugh at any

suggestion that it is flat.

Values: involve what a culture regards as good or bad, right or wrong, fair or

unfair, just or unjust, beautiful or ugly, clean or dirty, valuable or worthless,

appropriate or inappropriate, and kind or cruel. For example, Americans value youth rather than old age. In Korea, however, respect for elder is a positive value.

Norms: are the socially shared expectations of appropriate behaviors. For

example, the greeting behaviors of people within a culture are governed by

norms.

Social practices: are the predictable behavior patterns that members of a cultural typically follow. For example, in the United States, lunch is usually over by 1:30 pm. But in Italy, lunch hasn’t even begun by 1:30 pm.

6.What are the value types proposed by Schwartz

7.

8.

Schwartz’s value types: power, achievement, Hedonism, stimulation, self-

direction, universalism, security, benevolence, tradition and conformity.

9.What values do Chinese cultures stress

10.And what values do westerners stress?

Chinese cultures stress power, conformity, universalism, security, benevolence, and tradition. Westerners stress achievement, self- direction, hedonism,

stimulation.

Text C

1.What is context according to Hall?

2.

Hall defines context as the information that surrounds an event. It is inextricably bound up with the meaning of the event.

3.What are the main features of high-context cultures?

4.

In high-context cultures, people are very homogeneous with regard to

experiences, information networks and the like. Information is provided through gestures, the use of space, and even silence. It tend to be more aware of their