persuading across cultures 跨文化交流.docx

persuading across cultures 跨文化交流.docx

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persuadingacrosscultures跨文化交流

Directions:

Havethese10pagesprinted,readPersuadingacrossCultures,andfinishtheexercises.WewillgoovertheexercisesonNov.4（forWednesdayClass）orNov.14（forFridayClass）.

PersuadingacrossCultures

AsChinaincreasesitscontactwithpeoplearoundtheworld,Chineseorganizationsandindividualsarebusypreparingmessagestheyhopewillpersuadeaudiencesinothercountries.Oftenthepeopleinvolvedrealizetheyneedexperthelpincraftingtheirmessages.AsanativespeakerofEnglishIamsometimesaskedtogivethathelp.ThelocaltelevisionstationhasaskedmetoedittextsandreadtheEnglishnarrationfortelevisionprogramstheyplantosendabroad.StudentsaskmetoreadthepersonalstatementstheyplantosendtouniversitiesinUSorEurope.UsuallythepeoplewhoaskmeforhelpthinkthatwhattheyneedisanativespeakertoreadatexttranslatedfromChinese,orsomeonewithagreatfeelforEnglishgrammartomakesurethesentencestheyfirstcomposedinChineseandthentranslatedarecorrect.

HowtoimproveaChinesestudent’sessay

Astudentwritesashortessaythatispoorlyexpressedandgrammaticallyincorrect.PerhapssheistranslatingfromaChineseessay:

Manypeoplewouldliketofeedapetwhentheywereachild,itisbecausetheyarelovely,cuteandtheywouldnotcauseanyunfortunetopeople.Peoplecanspeakouttheirunhappinessandsecrettotheselittlecreatureandmakesurethosesecretwouldnotbeheardbythemselvesfromothersmouth.Forthisreason,animalbecomeagoodfriendofhumanbeing.Ifyouliketostartfeedingapet,thereareanumberofquestionsyoushouldfirstconsider,forexample:

Chooseasuitableanimalasapetforyourself,makesureyoucanprepareareasonableplaceforthemandcanspendtimeonthemetc.

CorrectingthelanguagedoesnotmakeitagoodessaybyWesternstandards:

Manypeopleliketokeeppetswhentheyarechildren.Thatisbecausepetsarelovelyandcuteanddonoharmtopeople.Peoplecanexpresstheirsadnessandrevealtheirsecretstothesecreaturesandknowthattheywon’thearthesesecretscomingoutofsomeelse’smouth.Forthisreason,animalsbecomegoodfriendsofhumans.Ifyouwanttokeepapet,thereareseveralissuesyoushouldconsider.First,chooseasuitablepet.Then,makesureyouareabletoprovideasuitableplaceforthepettolive.Finally,thinkaboutwhetherornotyouhaveenoughtimetospendwithyourpet.

TheChinesepeoplewhoaskmetohelpthempreparemessagesforreaders,listeners,orviewersabroadnearlyalwaysunderestimatetherequirementsofthesecommunicationsituations.Theymistakenlyassumethattheproblemisonlyamatterofusingthebasiclanguagecodeproperlyandcorrectly.Withfewexceptions,theyaretotallyunawareofculturesdifferencesinhowpeopleuselanguagetocommunicate.Theydonotrealizethatamessagethatcarriesaparticularmeaninginthesendingculturewillbeinterpretedashavingadifferentmeaninginthereceivingculture,evenwhenthewordsareperfectlygrammatical.Achievingaperfecttranslationdoesnotsolvetheproblemsofcommunicatingacrosscultures.

AWesternerwhoreadsthecorrectedversionoftheChinesestudent’sessaywillnotbesatisfied,andwillundoubtedlyconsidertheessayboringandmeaningless.Theessayisnotpersuasive,becauseitdoesnotincludeenoughinformationtoconvincethereaderthatthewriterknowswhatsheistalkingabout.Itdoesnotsoundauthenticorsincere.Itcarriesnoauthority,eventhoughthewriterisboldenoughtogivethereaderadvice.

TheproblemisthattheChinesestudentisfollowingtherulesofwritingfromherhomeculture.Thisincludesatendencytousewordsinwaysthatarecharacteristicofhigh-contextcultures.Inthestudent’smind,itisimportanttowriteaproperessay.Writinganessayisasocialsituationwithitsownrulesandsocialexpectations.TheWesternreaderalsohassomeconcernsabouttheformoftheessay,buttohimwordsareprimarilymeanttoconveyinformation.Iftheessayonlyfollowsaformanddoesnotincludeinformationthatisusefulorinteresting,thentheessayhasnomeaning.ThatiswhytheAmericanteacherstressesthecontentandmakescorrectingtheformofthelanguagecodethefinalconsiderationinhelpingthestudenttoimproveherwriting.

Awriterorfilmmakerfromoneculturewhothinkshehaspreparedamessagethatwillpersuadehisinternationalaudienceassurelyasitwouldpersuadehishomecultureaudience,isprobablymistaken.Itisoftendifficulttofindmeaninginapaintingfromanotherculture,becausethewaythatpeoplerepresentordepicttheworldvariesfromculturetoculture.Itisthesamewhentheworldisrepresentedinlanguage.Intranslatingmessagescreatedinonelanguageforlistenersorreadersinanotherculture,wecannotbecertainthatourmeaningwillbeunderstood.Furthermore,wecannotbesurethatevenifthemeaningisunderstood,thereceiverwillfindthemessageconvincingorevenappropriateforthesituation.

WhenIteachEnglishcomposition,whatIreadinstudentessaysoftenremindsmeofaChinesepainting.Forinstance,astudentmightusethephrase“naughtyboy”withoutfurtherdescription.OvertheyearsIhavecometounderstandthat“naughtyboy”isanimage,afixedphrase,thatrepresentsaperceptualobjectinthemindthatcarrieswithitdetailsthatitisnotnecessarytodescribefurther.WhenaChinesewriterusesthephrase“naughtyboy”or“lovelygirl”heexpectsthereadertohavemanyassociationswiththatphraseandtousethoseassociationstofillinthedetails.TheproblemisthataWesternreaderdoesmakethesameassociationswiththesephrasesthattheChinesewriterdoes.TheWesternreaderdoesnothavethesameperceptualobjectinhisorhermind.Westernreadersareaccustomedtohavingdetailsdescribedconcretelyandfully,sotheywillnotmakethoseassociationsorevenusetheirownassociationstofillinthedetails.Tothemthesephrasessoundvagueandempty.

NativeEnglishspeakersteachingwritinginChinaoftencommentthattheirstudents’writingisrichinvisualandothersensoryimages,butatthesametimetheyalsosaythatitistoosentimental.WhattheymeanisthatChinesestudentstendtoidealizewhattheyarewritingabout.Thewriterispresentingaperson,memory,orsituationasheorshethinksitshouldberatherthanhowitisobservedtobe.Thewritermaynotintendtoportrayarealisticpictureoftheworld.Foreignteacherscautiononeanother,“Don’taskthemtowriteanessayabouttheirmothersorgrandmothers.Allyouwillgetisstereotypesaboutdevotionandsacrifice.Theywillallsoundalike.”

Anotherproblemisthewayessaysareorganized.WesawthatinChinesepaintingtheeyeoftheviewerisassumedtomoveacrossthesurfaceofthepainting,whileintheWesternpaintingtherewasonefocalpoint,onespotfromwhichtheviewerlooksatthepainting.Againthisculturalfeaturefromartshowsupinwrittenlanguage.Chineseessaysfrequentlybeginwithverygeneralstatements.Theparagraphsoftencontaininformationthatseemstobeunrelatedtoinformationinotherpartsoftheessay.Thewriter’sopinionorrecommendationisoftennotexpresseddirectlyorisstatedinaweakform.AWesternessayhasafixedfocalpointandallthedetailsintheessayarearrangedinrelationtothatfocalpoint.Theopinionofthewriterisexpressedstronglynearthebeginningoftheessay.

BelowarethecontrastsIhavenoticedbetweenChineseandWesternwritinginEnglish:

Chinesewriting

Westernwriting

Style

Poetic

Presentanidealpicture

Objective

Presentarealpicture

Purpose

General

Makeagoodimpression

Specific

Persuadetheintendedaudience

MainIdea

Readerinfersthewriter’sintention

Mainideaisstatedatthebeginning

Introduction

Broadperspective

Opensclosetothespecifictopic

Language

Createanimpression

Sensoryimages

Generalstatements

Readerfillsindetails

Conveyconcreteinformation

Observablefacts

Specificstatements

Allrelevantdetailsincluded

Structure

Looselystructured

Pointsneednotberelatedtooneanother

Tightlystructured

Pointsarerelatedtothemaintheme

Argument

Presentallsidesandletthereaderdecide

Convincethereader

Statistics

Includedintext

Giveninseparatechart

Conclusion

Presentanoptimisticviewofthefuture

Urgereadertobehavewell

Restateandexpandmainidea

Urgereadertotakeaspecificaction

Chinesecolleaguesandfriendsinformmethatprecise,accuratelyobservedwritingisalsohighlyvaluedbyChinese.Thisisundoubtedlytrue.WhythendoesmuchoftheEnglishwritingIreadhavethecharacteristicsIhavedescribed?

PartoftheproblemmightbethewayEnglishistaught.Oftenteachersandstudentsarefocusingonmasteringtheformsofthelanguageandarenotemphasizingitscommunicativefunction.TheresultisthatstudentsdisplaytheirmasteryofEnglishratherthanlearningtouseEnglishtoconveymeaning.TheyarewritingbeautifulEnglishessaysratherthanwritinginformativeessaysforparticularreaders.Thisisnottheonlyproblem,however,astheseriousmiscommunicationsalsooccurwhentheoriginaltextiswritteninChinese.

OneproblemisthatwritersarefollowingprinciplesthatwesawinChineselandscapepainting.Theyarefollowingtheirhomeculturerulesabouthowtorepresenttheworldintheliteraryformoftheessay.

Otherculturalcharacteristicsalsocontributetotheproblem.Ioftenreadtextsthatseemtobeorientedtothewriterortogroupsthatareimportanttothewriterratherthantotheintendedaudience.Forinstance,