三Communication Across Cultures__ 2

单击此处编辑母版标题样式,单击此处编辑母版文本样式,第二级,第三级,第四级,第五级,*,Communication Across Cultures,1,Case 1,Xiao Li is visiting a local museum, and there,he meets an older American woman. Unfortunately,the explanations of the exhibits are not,translated into English and she cant read them,so Xiao Li offers to explain all the exhibits.,However, as he begins he soon finds that it,is very difficult to explain about all of the ancient,artifacts in English because there are many words,he doesnt know how to say what he wants to in,English.,2,By the time they reach the end of the museum, Xiao Li feels very tired and discouraged because there are so many things he cant say in English.,However, the woman smiles and thanks Xiao Li for his help, and then says “Your English is very good.” Xiao Li says: “Im sorry. My English is very poor.”,3,Question:,What do you think the American really thought about Xiao Lis English?,(or: Why do you think the American woman complimented Xiao Lis English?) List several possible reasons and then decide which seem most likely.,4,Some likely interpretations:,The woman is just being polite; she really didnt think Xiao Lis English was very good.,The woman was genuinely impressed by Xiao Lis ability to handle such a difficult topic, even though he made some errors.,The woman could tell Xiao Li was having difficulty with his English, and she wanted to encourage him.,The woman feels a little awkward because she put Xiao Li through so much trouble, and her compliment is really another way of saying thank you.,5,Case 2,While visiting Egypt, Richard, an engineer,from the United States, was invited to a,spectacular dinner at the home of an Egyptian,friend. And what a dinner it was! Clearly the host,and hostess had gone out of their way to entertain,him. Yet, as he was leaving their home he made a,special effort to thank them for their dinner and,sensed something he said was wrong. Something,about his sincere compliments was misunderstood.,Question:,Why were Richards sincere compliments misunderstood in the,Egyptian family?,6,In Japan he had an even less pleasant,experience though he thought he had handled,it well. A number of serious mistakes had,occurred in a project he was supervising. While,the fault did not lie with any one person, he,was a supervisor and at least partly to blame.,At a special meeting called to discuss the,problem, poor Richard made an effort to,explain in detail why he had done what he had,done.,7,He wanted to show that anybody in the,same situation could have made the same,mistake and to tacitly suggest that he,should not be blamed unduly. He even went,to the trouble of distributing materials which,explained the situation rather clearly.,And yet, even during his explanation, he,sensed that something he was saying or doing,was wrong.,Question:,What was wrong in the way Richard dealt with the problem in Japan?,8,Even in England where he felt more at home,where he had no problems with language, this,kind of misunderstanding occurred. He had been,invited to take tea with one of his colleagues, a,purely social, relaxed occasion. Tea was served,along with sugar and cream. As he helped,himself to some sugar and cream, he again,sensed he had done something wrong. But what,went wrong?,Question:,Which behavior was considered improper in England when Richard was taking tea?,9,in Egypt as in many cultures, the human relationship is valued so highly that it is not expressed in an objective and impersonal way.,While Americans certainly value human relationships, they are more likely to speak of them in less personal, more objective terms.,In this case, Richards mistake might be that he chose to praise the food itself rather than the total evening .,“What beautiful frames your pictures are in.”,10,Japanese people value order and harmony among persons in a group, and that the organization itselfbe it a family or a vast corporationis more valued than the characteristics of any particular member.,While this feeling is not alien to Americansor to any societyAmericans stress individuality as a value and are apt to assert individual differences when they seem justifiably in conflict with the goals or values of the group.,11,In this case, Richards mistake was in making great efforts to defend himself. Let the others assume that the errors were not intentional, but it is not right to defend yourself, even when your unstated intent is to assist the group by warning others of similar mistakes.,A simple apology and acceptance of the blame would have been appropriate.,In contrast, for poor Richard to have merely apologized would have seemed to him to be subservient, unmanly. Nothing in his experience had prepared him for the Japanese reactionin fact he had been taught to despise such behavior.,12,In this case we might look beyond the gesture of taking sugar or cream to the values expressed in this gesture: for Americans, “Help yourself”; for the English counterpart, “Be my guest.”,Typically, the ideal guest at an American party is one who “makes himself at home,” even to the point of answering the door or fixing his own drink. For persons in many other societies, including at least this hypothetical English host, such guest behavior is presumptuous or rude.,13,In analyzing apparent problems of communication across cultures, it is all,too tempting to look first for difficulties posed by language misinterpretation or assume some nonverbal indiscretion.,But through these brief discussions of Richards problems that the misunderstanding or misbehavior more likely resides elsewhere, in the subtler but consistent cultural patterns of behavior which become understandable when we appreciate difference in cultural values.,14,Thus what we first need, in attempting to analyze any such situation, is not necessarily more language skill or more information about the mores of a particular culture, but rather an openness to alternatives to our own conventional behavior.,If we appreciate the logic of our own actions, we can more quickly imagine alternatives equally consistent with other values.,15,Form of address: kinship terms,父亲father,爸爸dad,母亲mother,妈妈mum,儿子son,女儿daughter,儿媳 daughter-in-law,女婿son-in-law,16,叔叔伯伯舅舅姨夫 姑父,阿姨姑姑舅母婶婶,小姨子小叔子小舅子大嫂 妹夫,婆婆公公岳母岳父,表兄弟堂兄弟表姐妹堂姐妹,连襟妯娌,林黛玉的母亲是贾宝玉的姑母，贾宝玉的母亲是林黛玉的舅母，又是薛宝钗的姨母。,17,Questions:,Can you make all of those terms above properly understood by the English-speaking people?,Do you think that it is sometimes very difficult to achieve intercultural understanding when such kinship terms are involved in our communication with people from other cultures?,18,汉语的亲属称谓语“讲辈分,长幼有序”、 “重性别,男女有别”、“分血缘,内外有别”比较清晰、细致。,英语的亲属称谓语则比较笼统、含糊。,19,Decide whether the following statement is true of false.,Both in China and in the US, if a 10-year-old child is introduced to an 80-year-old woman, he would address her as “grandma”.,一位德国老太太说：“我爱北京，但不喜欢被称为奶奶。”,20,日常交际中的礼俗性亲属称谓： “张大叔”、“李大妈”、“王大嫂”、“小妹”、“大姐”、“大哥”、“大爷”； “解放军叔叔”、“警察阿姨”； “闺女”、“孩子”等 。,家的外延衍推和家庭关系外延的扩展： “民族大家庭”、“家乡”、“老乡”、“父老乡亲”、“海外侨胞”,汉语文化中的亲情泛化现象,21,22,Discussion:,Can you summarize the major differences between the Chinese and Americans in addressing?,23,Stranger,In china:,老大爷，老大妈，叔叔，阿姨，大哥，大姐，先生，同志，师傅,In English-speaking Countries:,Excuse me; Pardon me; I say there; Hey, you; you, there; Hey,24,Acquaintance,In China :,姓,+,职业： 黄老师，李医生,姓,+,行政职务：赵局长，王科长,老,+,姓或姓,+,老： 老李或李老,/,小,+,姓：小李,姓名或名,In English-speaking Countries:,Name,Mr. Mrs. Miss. Ms. +surname,25,在英美两国，“职业+姓” “职务+姓”的叫法不多，但对从事某种专业或处于某种位置的人，可以有特殊的叫法：,Bishop Gray格雷主教,Captain Simmonds西蒙兹船长,Dr. Brown布朗大夫， 布朗博士，学衔,Father White怀特神父,General Clark克拉克将军,Judge Harley哈利法官,President Roosevelt罗斯福总统,Prince Charles 查尔斯亲王,Queen Mary玛丽女王,Senator Smith史密斯参议员,Sir , Lady，一般不与姓也不与名连用，如Sir Frederick，指英国的骑士(knight)或爵士(baronet)，Sir, Lady在历史上是由女王或者首相册封的,Sir+name, Lady+surname,26,Case 3,If a woman named Jane Smith marry a man whose name is Peter Austin, how shall we address her in social occasions.,Mrs. Austin,Mrs. Austin-Smith,Mrs. Smith Ms. Smith,27,