中西文化差异对英语学习的启示

中西文化差异对英语学习的启示Implications of Cultural Differences between China and the West on English TeachingAbstracts: Language is one underlying part of culture which reflects the characteristics of a certain ethnic group. No languages can survive without attaching to its culture in that a certain language is a combination of its ethnic history and cultural background, embodying the worldview, personal concept, lifestyle, and modes of thinking. The correct use of a foreign language is largely depended on awareness of the foreign language that is being learnt. This article is dedicated to clarify the differences that exist between Chinese culture and the western culture in view of Hofstede index and philosophical diversity and what influence those differences impose on the acquisition of foreign languages in terms of lexicon, reading comprehension and translation, and calls for a larger proportion of culture being taught in English class. Key words: cultural differences, Chinese culture and western culture, foreign language teaching摘 要：语言是文化非常重要的一部分。它反映了一个特定族群的特点。没有了文化，语言就无法存活。原因在于语言是这个特定族群的历史与文化的综合体，是该民族的世界观，生活方式和思维方式的综合体现。外语使用的正确性很大程度上取决于对所学外语的文化认识。本文将在霍夫斯得文化指数和哲学分歧等方面阐述中西方文化的差异及诸差异在英语词汇、阅读理解和翻译等方面对外语学习的影响并呼吁加强文化在英语教学中的比重。关键词：文化差异，中西文化，外语教学contentsI. Introduction.1 A. The definition of culture.1B. The necessity of culture being taught in foreign language class.1. The cultural difference between Chinese and the west.2A. Hofstedes model of cultural differences.2B. Inspections on philosophical views.41. Differences on worldviews.42. Differences on modes of thinking. 5 . Impact of cultural differences on foreign language learning.8A. Impact of cultural differences on Lexicon.8B. Impact of cultural difference on reading comprehension.9C. Impact of cultural difference on translation.11. Conclusion.12Works Cited.12Implications of Cultural Differences Between China and the West on English Teaching. IntroductionA. The definition of cultureWhat is culture? Professor Xiaoping Cheng of Washington University defined it as “substantial and spiritual properties that are created by human and had deposited through the test of time.” Professor Nancy J. Adler of McGgrill university, Montreal, Canada, in her International Dimensions of Organizational Behavior (fourth edition), gives us an another definition: “an attribute, possessed by all or at least most of members in a certain community, and passed on from generation to generation, that influences people in a certain group in terms of ethics, morality and customs and so on and shapes the worldview and ways of behavior in that certain group.” Because of cultural difference, people in different culture may respond to the same thing in a totally converse way; Because of cultural differences, misunderstanding may arise, although the language used in communication may be faultless; Because of cultural differences, a serious problem may cause displeasure or anger. Because of cultural difference, jokes by a foreign speaker may be received with blank faces and stony silence. Yet the same stories in the speakers own country would leave audiences holding their sides with laughter (邓炎昌 3). As the result of the cultural differences which causes misunderstandings or even irritations, weight should be put on the cultural differences when foreign language is taught.B. The necessity of culture being taught in foreign language classLanguages and ideas are inseparable. The Aristotelian definition of manthat man is the animal that logos, as H.G. Gadamer argues, though traditionally understood as animal rationale or a rational being, should first and foremost be understood as “the living being that has language”. The Greek word logos and, by an uncanny coincidence, the Chinese word dao all have the dual meanings of speech and that of which is spoken, ortio and ratio, language and thinking (孙有中 185). The separate language from culture substance is therefore as wrong as pedagogically as to teach students the notes and musical scale without teaching them a song. The result is predictable: they know how to sing, but they do not know what to sing; they know how to speak, but they have nothing to say. The purpose of our foreign language teaching is to expose student as much information as possible and enable them to be the bridge that minimize the cultural and linguistic gaps between China and the west. Without foreign culture being taught in school and college, students learning foreign language are no better than the students learning music, only being taught with notes, but never a real song, who will end up knowing how to sing but having nothing to sing. Similarly, a foreign language learner without proper culture awareness would end up in, as Chinese put it, “dumb English”, knowing all the grammatical notes, but never correct when he is speaking. Additionally, language is one underlying part of culture that reflects the characteristics of a certain ethnic group, no languages can survive without attaching to its culture in that a certain language is a combined body of its ethnic history and cultural background and embodied with the worldview, personal concept, lifestyle, and modes of thinking. Being bereaved from the culture that it attaches to, a language is but a dead one (Goodenough 134). It is unique and distinctive for every language. Neither can students absorb the genuine pith of English nor can they properly use English learnt in classroom if the cultural differences between China and the west were ignore.Yet before we go down to what influences of the Sino-western cultural differences on the languages and what mistake a student may probably make when speaking a foreign language it is necessary and significant as well to investigate into what kinds of differences exist between Chinese and the western culture, for only if the differences are clearly stated, it is possible to find a solution to those problems.The cultural difference between Chinese and the westA. Hofstedes model of cultural differencesAs the most famous and convincible model related to cultural differences, it would be unwise not to refer to it when cultural differences become the topic. Being quite practical, the Hofstede index has become very popular among people who, most of the time, may turn to the index for aid when they confront culture collision and try to find out the main sources that lead to those culture collision (Hofstede 50-55). Hofstede Geert was an employee in IBM between the year of 1967 and 1973. During those years as a consultant he launched a research on the employees of IBMs subsidiaries in forty different countries, collecting data of over one hundred thousand workers. With those data he began to study how cultural differences influence on peoples behavior and value system in a certain group of members. After long and painstaking analysis he brought up the first model of cultural differences in the world, in which five standards, which are Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism (IDV), Masculinity (MAS), Uncertainty Avoidance Index (UAT) and Long-Term Orientation (LTO), were introduced to distinct cultural differences. We may find an indexing variation between Chinese cultural and the western one according to the Hofstede index. The chart below distinctly illustrates how the culture of Chinese and that of the west vary from each other. From those three charts, we can clearly see the staggering differences between China and the west, which are mainly in terms of Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism (IDV) and Long-term Orientation (LTO). Hofstede gives a definition about PDI: the degree of recognition in any group or organization towards the unequal distribution of power (Hofstede 12), China, for instance, is the country of obviously high PDI for sure. The higher the PDI is, the more possible that people in a certain group accept the distance of power distribution naturally, as a result of which the hierarchical system may stricter than others who enjoy a lower PDI. China, for example, holds a much higher PDI than the western countries. Chinese hierarchical system can be traced back to Xia dynasty or even earlier when slavery system was established and people gave up the relatively equal primitive commune. When China headed into feudalism, the hierarchical system picked up speed and became stronger and insuperable. Even now after Chinas open-up and modernization, most people, if not all, still hold the idea that men are born unequal. Conversely, western countries, especially America whose history is as short as three hundred years, hold a much lower PDI compared to China, which means people in their community are theoretically equal even when they are in the different classes, they still regard themselves as equal as others who may be in a higher-classed community.Another index of the Individualism (IDV) illustrates a conversely staggering feature compared to PDI. Western countries individualism is higher than that of China. People in most of the western countries, if not all, have less tight relationship between each other and care more about self and self-independence whereas Chinas IDV is much lower than that of the west, which mostly engenders from Confucianism that have influenced Chinese culture and Chinese peoples mind for thousands of years, and the collectivism espoused by Chinese Communist Party. In socialism countries of collectivism like China people stress more on the relationship between each other and put the loyalty to the collectivity in the first place, in another words, they need to “leave behind the small selves (individuals) to realize the big selves (collectivity)”. Having a basic knowledge of Hofstede index, we can have a distinct picture of what may happen in the English classroom of China and provides solutions to that matter (陈晓萍 5).B. Inspections on philosophical views In addition to what we have discussed above about the Hofstede index, which influences the way how students learn English as well as how the teacher teach in the classroom, and also provides us a channel to speculate what may happen in a English classroom in China and what we can do about the problem that arises, there are some philosophical differences that need to be concerned, in that they have considerable influences on the language itself.1. Differences on worldviews In traditional Chinese concept, human and nature are integrally and harmoniously united. Zhang Zhai, a Chinese philosopher in Song Dynasty put it this way: human, being objective, and the nature, being objective, together unite as one.He applied eight Characters to present this concept:Qian Kun Fu Mu,Ming Bao Wu Yu.Which means: heaven and earth, being parents of everything, gave birth to human being. And he continued: parents here I am talking about is just a figure of speech. People are all my fellowmen and every creature is all my companions and friends. He suggested that fathered and mothered by nature, human being coexist with all creatures such as plants and animals, which should be loved by human being. Traditional western concept towards nature, on the contrary, emphasizes on conquering and defeating nature with knowledge obtained. Influenced by Darwins Evolutionism, westerns tend to hold the idea that human, being on the top of the pyramid of the food chain and the most beloved descendents of God should be the king of the world, taking control of everything that God had made. This concept has made a remarkable contribution to the scientific, technological and economic booming in Europe since Francis Bacon, who, being the representative and pusher of this concept, put forward the famous remark: knowledge is power. Despite the contribution the concept has made, it is also responsible for the environmental issues which have brought up considerable concerns recently, mostly caused by human behaviors (王菊泉 129).2. Difference on modes of thinkingThinking as a mental product, is the process that subject reflects on object. Different thinking embraces different modes that co-relate with it, for instance, logical thinking is generally based on concept, judging and deducting; non-logical thinking on intuition, inspiration and imagination.It is hard to claim that either the modes of thinking are one part of culture or culture is one part of the modes of thinking. But what is certain is that there must be some strong connection between them. Modes of thinking have been shown in every segment of culture, including value system, spirit, and communication, not to mention philosophy, economy, language, science, politics, military and daily life. The diverged modes of thinking are the underlying causes of gaps between different cultures when intercultural communication happens (张恩宏 30). And on the differences of modes of thinking between China and the West, we may see two totally different modes. Chinese took one way while the western took another. On the subject of the differences of the modes of thinking, an American professor of philosophy Ph. Bahm once drew a set of pictures to illustrate how the Chinese modes of thinking differs from the western ones. Here below goes the pictures drawn by Ph. Bahm. China the West (Inter-Complementary) (Be A, can not be -A) (Be A, can not be A)Just like what has been shown in the second picture, in the western ways of thinking, if A is affirmed, A is denied; if A is affirmed, A is denied. A and A can not be co-existed. Contrarily, in the Chinese ways of thinking, shown in the first picture, it is just like a traditional Chinese Taiji chart, inter-complementary on the two ends, and there are no distinct lines between two objects (王菊泉 467). The overall characteristic of western ways of thinking is that dialetic plays a very important role. From ancient Greek to contemporary period, analysis was popular. One overall feature of dialetic is precise, which greatly influences western language. As a result, western modes of thinking pay attention to science, rationalism and emphasizes on analysis and evidence. With the help of logic, during the process of proving and deducting, the western have gotten to know the essence and rules that keep the world running. Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle put forward the Three Elements of proving: concept, judging and deducting and two ways of thinking: induction and deductive method. Those several theories shaped the features of western thinking, which include rationalism, analysis, demonstration, and precision. On the contrary, Chinese traditional modes of thinking pay much attention on intuition and experience, that is to say intuitive thinking obtains the rules and essences through a generally vague and direct cognition toward the target cognitive subject. It is an innermost intuitive method beyond geist and sense. Savvy which shall be realized through sense, experience, appreciation, meditation, and speculation, is the core of intuitive thinking. Chinese traditional thinking has some defects. It is concise but lack of deduction, based on inspiration not proving, intuitive but not logical, linguistically vivid but lack of precise structure and consecutive proving, opinions usually being expressed by ana, comments, or sketches, which are generally speaking improvisational.As to what impacts the modes of thinking have on language, the studies put forward by some philosopher and linguists provide something we can refer to. In ancient Greek Plato said that when heart was thinking, it was no more than talking to itself, interrogating or replying so thinking was talking and judging or the discourse that was made(Roberson 29). A little extreme though, it still shows the undeniable connection between language and thinking. Some linguists argue that thinking is the inner core of a language, which in return, provides the jacket of thinking (顾佳祖 20). The existence of a language is based on thinking while language is a tool of thinking (陈原 63). More over, according to B.L. Whorfs linguistic relativity, the structures of human concept, modes of thinking and even thinking itself are acquired through the process of mother tongue acquisition as well as its culture, and in return influence the language.A little comparison between the languages can help clear up a little ground for this matter.Western languages, such as English, French, Russia and German, are something like a prosperous tree attached with numerous branches. Layers and layers of modifiers can be added upon it and balanced together. Chinese, on the contrary, is no less than an undulate river. Fowler describes it precisely as: “A highly rhymed language or wordage pushing forward like waves, circles around circles, seemingly together, resembling to each other, but all various from one to another; there seems to be some rules but it is too complicated to be perceived, analyzed, or described; those rules regulate the connections between waves, waves and seas, phrases, phrases and passages” (Fowler 60).Western languages as well as value system and the rest of its culture are more like a perfect line, extending from both sides to infinity, accurate, well-balanced, and keeping on moving, while compared to western cultures linear property, Chinese culture is no less than circles, rounds after rounds, circling around one certain point, and rolling incessantly (邓炎昌45). Impact of cultural differences on foreign language learningThe cultural differences have been discussed above in Hofstedes index and philosophical views. Now we can draw a distinct picture about where the cultural gap happens. What influences the differences have on the languages will be presented here below. A. Impact of cultural differences on LexiconLexicon is the one of the major elements evolved in linguistic communication. For a foreign language learner, it is hard to communicate with native speakers if without considerable lexical accumulation no matter how fluent the pronunciation is. Efficient and meaningful communication is based on how many words you master. Wilkings pointed out that lexical accumulation were related to the relationship between word and the world outside and the relationship between words. Lexicon is used to express concept that is the result of the sensibility and theoretical cognition. When a word makes a contact with human eyes, it reflects an image on the human mind that is related to the word. The understanding and recognition of a word is a process of cognition and association (陆国强 20). Here two kinds of meanings of a word should be introduced. A words meaning falls in two categories: denotation, which also called designative meaning or lexical meaning, and connotation. Denotation means whatever a word stands for out side itself such as subject while connotation means that all of the associations that have built up through previous experience of what that word denotes in real life. Since language is one of the most vigorous and active part of a culture, the connotation of its words reflects the specialty within a culture. Take Chinese and English for example, the color white in English associates with more a positive emotion than a negative one: it symbolizes purity and flawlessness. Thats the reason why in western weddings bride are usually dressed in white, which, in Chinese traditional concept, is only be put on w