跨文化交际学知识点(唐德根版)

Chapter One Introduction to Intercultural Communication

Human being draw close to one another by their common culture, but habits and customs keep them apart.

---Confucian Saying 1. Definition ：Intercultural Communication is communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol

systems are distinct enough to alter the communication event.

2. A short history of intercultural communication

2.1 The Burgeoning Period

The term “Intercultural communication” itself did not appear until Hall’s The silent language was published in 1959.

2.2 From 1960 to 1970

a. Two preventative books reflect the continuous efforts made by scholars in the field in the 1960’s:

b. Olive’s Culture and Communication (1962) and Smith’s Communication and Culture (1966)

c. The first college class in this field taught in 1966 at the University of Pittsburgh.

2.3 From 1971 to 1980

a. The 1970s witnessed rapid development in the field of intercultural communication.

b. In 1973, Samovar and Porter published Intercultural Communication: A reader

c. Indiana University awarded the first doctoral degree in intercultural communication.

d. Condon and Yousef’s Introduction to Intercultural Communication (1975)

2.4 From 1981 to the Present Time

a. Condon and Yousef’s stress on cultural value orientations and communication behavior parallels

b. Hofstede’s (1984) later work on cultural values

c .Hall’s writing on high-context an

d low-context cultures in Beyond Cultur

e (1977).

d. Scholars in the early 1970s began to make their contributions in research and teaching by the 1980s.

3. Importance of Intercultural Communication

Three developments

3.1 The new technology

3.2 The new Population

3.3 The new Economic Arena

4. Studying Intercultural Communication

We have met the enemy, and he is us. ---Pogo

Three main obstacles:

First, Culture lacks a distinct crystalline structure; it is often riddled with contradictions and paradoxes.

Second, Culture cannot be manipulated or held in check; therefore, it is difficult to conduct certain kinds of research on this topic.

Third, we study other cultures from the perspective of our own culture, so our observations and our conclusions are tainted by our orientation.

5. Intercultural Communication

The main conceptions in intercultural communication:

Intercultural communication: Face-to-face communication between people from differing cultural backgrounds. Intercultural communication is defined as the extent to which there is shared interpersonal communication between members of the same culture.

5.1 Host and Minority Culture

The host culture is the mainstream culture of any one particular country.

Minority cultures: cultural groups that are smaller in numerical terms in relation to the host culture.

5.2 Subcultures (Co-cultures)

Subculture: a smaller, possibly nonconformist, subgroup within the host culture.

E.G. : Black American; Native American; Hispanic- American, Chinese-American, etc.

5.3 Multiculturalism