跨文化交际课程期末考试资料

跨文化交际课程期末考试资料

1. privacy

privacy: It could be understood as the right of an individual to self-determination as to the degree to which the individual is willing to share with others information about himself that may be compromised by unauthorized exchange of such information among other individuals or organizations.

2.collectivist culture

Collectivist cultures place little value on individual identity and great value on group identity. They have been labeled as “we” cultures because basic unit is the

in-group or collective.

3. culture shock

culture shock：It is a psychological phenomenon that is experienced most often by those who, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, in the process of adjusting themselves to a new culture. Culture shock refers to the traumatic experience that an individual may encounter when entering a different culture

4.Non-verbal communication

It refers to communication through a whole variety of different types of signal come into play, including the way we more, the gestures we employ, the posture we adopt, the facial expression we wear, the direction of our gaze, to the extent to which we touch and the distance we stand from each other.

5. Individualism

Individualism refers to the doctrine that the interests of the individual are or ought to be paramount, and that all values, right, and duties originate in individuals. It emphasizes individual initiative, independence，individual expression, and even privacy.

6.Assimilation is the degree to which an individual relinquishes an original culture for another .when individuals are assimilated into a mainstream culture,they lose their previous culture.

7. Norms

Norms are culturally ingrained principles of correct and incorrect behaviors which, if broken carry a form of overt or covert penalty.

8身势语行为Kinesics：is the term used for communicating through various types of body movements including facial expressions,gestures,posture and stance ,and other mannerisms that may accompany or replace oral messages.

9.Subculture are formed by groups of people possessing characteristic traits that set apart and distinguish them from others within a larger society or dominant culture.

10. Paralanguage

Paralanguage refers to the rate ,pitch and volume qualities of the voice,which interrupt or temporarily take the place of speech and affect the meaning of a message

11.proxemics refers to the perception and use of space including territoriality and personal space.

12.跨文化能力intercultural competence:refers to the ability to understand and adapt to the target culture;in another word,it refers to the sensitivity to cultural diversity,i.e,the ablity to behave

in an appropriate way and to regulate one’s communication and interaction according to the context

13.uncertainty avoidance deals with a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity ;it ultimately refers to man’s search for truth.是关于一个社会对不确定性和模棱两可的容忍程度。

14.Anxiety occurs because of not knowing what one is expected to do, and focusing on that feeling and not be totally present in the communication transaction.在新环境下人们不知如何应对，过多关注自己的情绪，不能全身心投入到交际中。

16 interracial communication:

occurs when the sender and the receiver exchanging messages are from different races that pertain to different physical characteristics.

简答题

2. Why do we need to study intercultural communication?

(1). Technological development

The development of new transportation and information technologies has connected all nations in ways that were possible before this century only in the imagination.

(2). Widespread population Migrations

(3). The changes in the international business community have compelled China to reexamine her business.

(4). Development of Multiculturalism. Cultural diversity or multiculturalism will become the norm; not the exception. The public must acknowledge and adjust to difference but build on commonality.

3. What are the differences on receiving gifts between Chinese and westerner?

In the West, it is regarded as polite to open gifts as soon as they are given to express appreciation. In China, the situation is quite the reverse. Normally we Chinese feel that if you open the gift as soon as it is given, you might embarrass the person who gives the gift and you might be thought greedy. Therefore, Chinese people tend to open the gifts after the visitors have left.

In China, many people send gifts without wrapping them, and if they wrap them, they usually tell the receiver what is inside, and the receiver will thank the sender and put the gift aside without unwrapping them since they already know what is inside. English receivers open the gifts in front of the senders of the gifts.

4.What are the differences between Chinese and English Kin Terms?

In Chinese culture, people refer to people strictly according to the kin terms. It is completely unacceptable to refer to one's parents by using the names. When children address relatives, Chinese kin terms tell whether they are older or younger than their father or mother. Chinese kin terms tell whether the relatives are from the mother' or father's side and whether one's brother, sister or cousin is older or younger than he/she.

Chinese kin terms are also to other people who are not one's relatives; kin terms are widely used to address known or unknown people

While in English culture, in some families in Western countries, some children address their parents directly by their first names. In Britain, children are expected to address the parents' brother and sisters with the title of Uncle or Aunt plus their names and sometimes simply address them by first name without a title. English kin terms don’t tell whether the relatives are from the mother' or father's side ,and there are not distinct kin terms for elder brother or younger brother. Kin terms are not as frequently used as in Chinese. In all kinds of social situations, either formally or informally, people won't use kin terms to address each other if they are not relatives.

5.Noise (external noise, internal noise, semantic noise)

7.How do people from different cultures understand “silence”?

The use of silence in communication is different from culture to culture. Silence can communicate agreement, apathy, awe, confusion, contemplation, disagreement, embarrassment, obligation, regret, repressed hostility, respect, sadness, thoughtfulness, or any number of meanings. In eastern cultures, silence has long been regarded as a virtue. While in western cultures, silence has generally been considered socially disagreeable. To most people in the United States, silence means lack of attention and lack of initiative. To the Chinese, silence means agreement.

9和12.Explain the term “intercultural communication competence”and its three components.

The intercultural competence refers to the ability to understand and adapt the target culture. Intercultural communicative competence involves cognitive, affective and operational aspects, which are inseparable in reality. The interrelatedness of cognitive, affective, and operational components is very important in the improvement of the communicator’s intercultural communication competence. There are also three aspects in terms of affective components: adaptation motivation, Identity flexibility and esthetic co-orientation, The cognitive aspects of intercultural communication competence are the mental capacities of comprehension and ability to understand the meanings of various verbal and nonverbal codes. Operational components are that Individuals’ capacity to express cognitive and affective experiences outwardly is shown through specific behaviors.

17.Describe the U.S. cultural patterns with the five value orientation categories.

People in the United States generally believe in a supreme God or universal spirit and believe that they can control nature. They have a lot of faith in science and technology and are materialistic. They get a sense of identity from work and generally separate work from play. People, in the United States are efficient, practical, and see progress and change as a good thing. They place a high value on time and have a future time orientation, although they often divide it into short-term goals.

People in the United States do not agree about whether humans are naturally good, bad, or a mixture of both. However, two beliefs related to human nature—rationality and mutability--- are still believed by many in the United States. One of the most

fundamental beliefs of people is individualism. Associated with this belief are the ideas of self-motivation, competition, and responsibility for one’s own actions. People in the United States also have an unshakable belief in equality. They do not believe that everyone is the same, but they do believe that everyone does or should have the same opportunities as everyone else. Last, people in the United States are conformist—it is important to stay in touch with the latest fashion in hair, clothing, and so forth.

案例

2. Question: Why did the American get quite full?

The culture for treating visitors varys from country to country.

In China, the Chinese host often constantly puts foot on the visitors' plate, which is an expression of hospitality. The visitors refusals are usually ignored. Westerners, on the other hand, usually leave the guest to help himself/herself and do not keep urging him/her to eat more. in China it is acceptable to leave unwanted food on the plate, whereas according to Western custom, it is impolite to do so. As result, misunderstandings occur. In this case, the American kept finishing all the tea in his cup to show his politeness. Therefore, the American got quite full.

3.Question: Why did Li Lan feel unpleasant?

Li Lan asked to borrow money from her American friend Susan, which is rarely part of Western friendship. Li Lan and Susan have different expectations of friendship.

In the West, people prefer to be independent and equal rather than dependent, so they don't feel comfortable in a relationship in which one person gives more and the other person is dependent on what is given. Among friends they mostly provide emotional support to each other and spend time together, so they rarely borrow or lend money to each other. They would ask for a loan from the bank rather than from their friends.

While in China, people expect their friends to be loyal to each other, and they even take risks for their friends. So they would give not only emotional support to each other but also concrete help to each other, such as helping to find a job, solving a

problem, or even giving money to help one out over a long period of time. So when a friend is in need, the first person he or she wants to ask for help is naturally his/her friend.

4.Question: What’s the problem in this case?

Idiomatic phrases are often misinterpreted.In English, face the music means: face reality and take the consequence and play the game means: abide competition rules. Here Xie Li misinterpreted two idiomatic phrases Tom used. First he thought that Tom didn’t take the failure of the experiment seriously and wanted to escape from it, because he would “face the music”; secondly, he misinterpreted Tom’s “playing the game” as that he hadn’t done the experiment seriously, which might l ead to its failure.

5.Question: What went wrong in the case and Why?

Both of them have taken each other's given name for the surname, since the order of the surnames of Chinese and English names are just the opposite. As in both cultures a title is usually used with the surname, they feel unnatural when their given names are used with the titles. According to British custom it's quite normal for persons who first meet to address each other by their given names alone, whereas here, when people first meet, they usually address each other by their full names and never by their given names alone.

8.Question: Are there any differences in hospitality between a Chinese and English? What are the reasons?

Yes. The Chinese student felt disappointed at British hospitality because she used the Chinese way of showing hospitality to judge the British one. In the story taking place in China, the westerner couldn't imagine that there should be sixteen dishes prepared for her. When she ate from the eight cold dishes, she couldn't eat anymore. It is because a Western meal normally severs one main course plus a starter and sweets or desserts. The fact is that different people in the world show their different hospitality in different ways.

9 .Question: What cultural phenomenon can be reflected?

This case can reflect one nonverbal communication category ---Proxemics. How much space we each want between ourselves and others depends on our cultural learning, our upbringing in our families, the specific situation, and our relationship with the people to whom we're talking. The physical distance we want between ourselves and others does vary from culture to culture. In regard to body distance, anthropolodists distinguish two broad categories of culture: touch culture and nontouch culture. Touch culture thrives on body touch. Nontouch culture is not rich in body touch. Cultures of Arabs, Southern and Western Europeans, Jews and Latins fall

into touch culture,and Cultures of Americans, Northern Europeans and Orientals belong to nontouch cultures

10.Questions: What makes Lee puzzled and why? Is the interpreter's reply appropriate in the English context?

1) A Chinese student would always thank his/her teacher for the latter's help, but would seldom do so to his/her parents because Chinese people don't usually say "Thank you" to those who are very close. They would rather choose some implicit ways to show their gratitude and concern, such as saying something like "leile ba?"(累了吧) "Xingku le."( 辛苦了) "kuai xiexie ba," (快歇歇吧)etc. But one traditional Chinese concept holds that it is the duty of the young and the junior to do something for the elderly and the senior, and so the latter don't have to say thanks.

2) Saying "Thank you" is very common in America, even between parents and children, husband and wife for very small and ordinary things. So they thank all day long. They use words like "Please", "Excuse me", "Thank you" in daily conversation, whether between intimates or between strangers.

3) Both English and Chinese cultures require their members to respond to thanks. But they have different expressions. The interpreter's reply was far from the message he/she actually intended to convey.