浅析跨文化交际障碍.docx

浅析跨文化交际障碍.docx

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浅析跨文化交际障碍

Abstract

Cross-culturalCommunication（InternationalCommunicationorcrossculturalcommunications）referstothecommunicationofpeoplefromdifferentculturalbackgrounds.Incross-culturalcommunication,incorrectpronunciation,grammarorvocabularymistakesarelikelytoleadtomutualmisunderstandingandcommunicationbarriers.However,whenthepronunciationandthegrammararecorrect,theobstacleswillbecontinuetooccurduetothefactthatonesidecannotexpresstheirideasaccurately,orlackofresponsetotheothersideofthetopic,orsomewordsseemtoodomineering,etc.Atpresent,cross-culturalcommunicationhasbeenregardedasancomprehensivedisciplinecombiningofanthropology,linguistics,psychology,communicationstudies,sociologyandotherdisciplinesbyinternationalscholars.Today’sworldisaneraofglobalization,peoplefromdifferentculturalbackgroundshavingmoreandmorecommunication,interculturalcommunicationisbecomingmoreandmoreimportant.Inthispaper,twotypesoftheunderstandingobstaclesininterculturalcommunication,failuresincross-culturalcommunicationprocessbecauseofthelanguagedifference,orbecauseoftheculturaldifferencebarriers,generalreactionstotheproblemandsomeeffectivesolutionswerediscussed.

KeyWords:

interculturalcommunication;understandingobstacles;culturaldifferences

中文摘要

跨文化交际（国际交流或跨文化交际）是指不同的文化背景的人们之间的沟通。

跨文化沟通，即跨文化交际，不正确发音，语法和词汇的错误可能导致相互误解和沟通障碍。

但是，当语音和语法是正确的，障碍会继续产生由于一方不能准确表达自己的思想；要么对对方的话题缺乏反应；要么说话口气过于肯定或是显得盛气凌人等。

目前，跨文化交际学已发展成为一门被国际学者们充分重视的集人类学、语言学、心理学、传播学、社会学等为一体的综合性学科。

今天的世界是一个全球化的时代，有越来越多的来自不同文化背景的人沟通，跨文化的沟通变得越来越重要。

本文就跨文化交际过程中，对交际双方由于文化间的差异而造成交际障碍，导致交际失败的原因及一些有效的解决办法进行了探讨。

关键词：

跨文化交际；理解的障碍；文化差异

1.Introduction

Theso-calledcross-culturalcommunication,thatis,differentculturalbackgroundscometogethertoshareideas,feelingsandinformation.ThestudyofinterculturalcommunicationfirstriseintheUnitedStates.TheUnitedStatesisacountryofimmigrants,acountrywhereculturalcollisionsoccurred.Immigrantsfromallaroundtheworldhaveemphasizedandmaintaintheirownculture,thusformingUnitedStates’multi-culturalpatterns.Sincethenoncross-culturalcommunicationcausedconcernofscholarsandallwalksoflivesintheU.S.Japan,whodonotwanttobeleftbehind,tooktheleadinconveningthefirstsessionoftheInterculturalCommunicationInternationalSymposiumin1972inTokyo,whichwasattendedbyover2000people.Then，in1974,theInterculturalEducationTrainingandResearchInstitute（SIETAR,SocietyforInterculturalEducation,TrainingandResearch）intheUnitedStateswasofficiallylaunched.Ourresearchincross-culturalcommunicationstartedrelativelylate.FamouslinguisticprofessorHuWenzhongfromBeijingForeignStudiesUniversity,begantoengageincross-culturalcommunicationstudiesintheearly80s.Hehascompiledthepublicationof"InterculturalCommunicationStudies,""Cross-culturalandLinguisticCommunication,"andmanyotherbooks.Atpresent,cross-culturalcommunicationhasbeenregardedasancomprehensivedisciplinecombiningofanthropology,linguistics,psychology,communicationstudies,sociologyandotherdisciplinesbyinternationalscholars.（GuoTaotao,2004:

118）

Incross-culturalcommunication,theincorrectpronunciation,syntaxerrorsorinsufficientvocabularyarelikelytoleadtomisunderstandingorcommunicationbarriers.However,whenthepronunciationiscorrect,theexchangeamongnon-nativespeakersandnativespeakerswillcontinuetocreateanobstacle:

eitherbecauseoftheirinabilityonexpressingtheirownideasaccurately;orbecauseofanycommunicatingpartywhoislackofresponsetothetopic;orbecauseofthetoneofvoicewhichistoostrongortooarrogant,etc,.Theseactsareoftenberegardedasuneducatedperformancebynativespeakersorberegardedasanaffrontingandinsultingperformance,whichleadtomisunderstandingandevenhatred,eventuallyleadtocommunicationfailure.Thisobstacleincross-culturalcommunicationprocess,linguistscallitcross-culturalPragmaticFailure.（LiuJinfang:

2005:

88）ThisconceptwasintroducedbyaculturalanthropologistObergintheUnitedStatesasearlyasthe20thcentury,andbecomepopularafter50years.Throughallaccesstodifferentculturalenvironments,peoplewillexperiencecultureshockthatcausedbyobstacles,butthedegreevaries.InLayman'sterms,apersonfromoneplacemigratetoanother,theoriginalfamiliarsetofsymbols,customs,behaviorpatterns,socialrelationsandvaluesisreplacedbyanothernewsetofunfamiliarsymbols,customs,behaviorpatterns,socialrelations,valuesreplaced,thusleadtothepsychologicalanxiety,emotionalinstability,andevendepressed.Inseverecases,avarietyofpsychologicalandphysicaldiseases,andevenmentaldisordersandsuicideswillbeproduced.Thisiscalledthecultureshock.（GuoTaotao,2004:

188）

Languageisnotonlytheproductofculturalenvironment,butalsothecarrierofculture.Asarecordofhumanhistoryandhumanthought,eachlanguagehasitsownuniqueculturalcharacteristics.ChineseandEnglish,producedindifferentculturalenvironments,thebearerofthesetwoculturesisnotthesame.Therefore,thetwolanguageshavemanydifferencesinexpression.

2.TwoTypesofUnderstandingObstaclesinInterculturalCommunication

2.1Non-understanding

Non-understandingmeansthelistenercouldunderstandthewordslimitedlyorcompletelydidnotunderstand,orduetoasuddenencounterofthetopicswitch.Thiscouldcausedisasterinsomeoccasion,takePolandPresidentAirplaneCrashaccidentasanexample,someexpertsaidthisdisasterwasbecauseofPolandpilot’snon-understandingofRussianwhentheRussianairplaneplatformdirectorsendingthewarningsignal.

2.2Misunderstanding

Whenthespeakershavepartialorcomplete,temporaryorlong-termunderstandingillusions,misunderstandingsareproduced.Misunderstandingmeansnativelanguageusersandthenon-nativelistenersgiveadifferentmeaningtothesamelanguageunit.Inthiscase,thelistenerthoughtthatwhatheheardwaswhathethought,butasamatteroffactitisnotwhatthespeakerwantedtoexpress.

2.3Conclusion

Theproblemofnon-understandingsormisunderstandingsininterculturalcommunicationmayhavedifferentresults.Whentheprobleminthecommunicationarefoundbyoneorbothparties,oneorbothpartiesmayaddresstheissueandresolveditfurhter,theexchangemaycontinuetobecarriedout.Insomecases,whentheunderstandingproblemcannotbesolved,suchasaforeignlanguagespeakerdidnotunderstandthewordsoftheirmothertonguespeaker,communicationwasinterrupted.Thereisalsoapossiblescenariointheexchangeofdialogue,bothsidesdonotrealizethattheexistenceofmisunderstanding,theexchangeofideasisnotinterruptedbutcontinuesevenfurther.Forexample,intheFrench-speakingChileanslaundryBertaaskedcurtaincleaningproblems,andaFrenchmothertongueistheowneransweredherbedspreadprices.Theydonotrealizetheexistenceofmisunderstanding,thuscommunicationcontinued.

Whetheritisnon-understandingormisunderstanding,thedistinctionbetweentwosituationsisnoteasytodiscover,andthereisnoabsoluteboundariesbetweenthetwo.Misunderstanding,inparticular,isoftenthesituationthatthespeakerwhospeakaforeignlanguagedidnotunderstandthecontentbutjustmaketheirownhypothetical,subjectiveassumptions.

3.TheCauseoftheProblem

3.1Fromlanguageaspect

Theunderstandingobstacleininterculturalcommunicationcanbeattributedtolanguage,conversationprinciplesandculturaldifferences.

Firstofall,theunderstandingobstaclemayappearinthelanguagelevel,suchasthevocabularylevel.Iftherearenobasicvocabularyforthecommunication,theconversationwillabsolutelybeblocked,ofcoursethen,understandingproblemoccurs.Thecommunicationcanbecontinuedwhentheunderstandingobstaclewascausedbysomeindividualwords.Forexample,TurksMahmutAppliedajobinabakeryinNetherlands,thedialoguehasbeenverysuccessful,butwhentheownertoldhimthat"youmustfirstundergoamedicalexamination"（moetnoggekeurdworden）,butMahmutdonotknowthemeaningof"gekeurd"（check）,thecommunicationwastemporarilyinterrupted.Whentheownerhimselfasannativespeakergiventhephrase"Checkthatyouwanttoseeadoctortoseeaphysician,"asanexplanation,theinterpretationwasfixed,andthecommunicationwenton.

3.2Fromculturalaspect

First,Mis-listentoanintegralpartofthevocabularyleadtomisunderstandings.Mis-listencanberegardedasasituationofmisunderstanding.Suchissueshavethecommoncharacteristic:

Theknowledgeofthelistenertothetopicisbiased.Forexample,AngelinawhoisanItalianintheinterview,shemis-listenedtheGermanzuerst（firstthing）aszuessen（eat）.Thisisherownhypotheticalguess.Whenthehearerthinkitisthecontinuationofthecontentofthecommunication,say,thehearerspeakmorefluentthanthespeakerhimselfwouldleadtothemis-listen,andthenthehearerwillcontinuetoansweraccordingtowhathethinkisright（asamatteroffact,itisonlyhisownhypotheticalassumption）.Ingeneral,mis-listenhasmanyincentives,forexample,whenthecontentofthemother-tonguespeakerwasassociatedwiththepreviouscontentthatthelistenerdidnottakepartin（duetothetimeorspace,etc.）,thuscouldgeneratemis-listentothelistener.Theseelementswillbringthesenseofmis-listentothetheforeignlanguagespeaker,astheywerenotabletofullyunderstandthecontent,sotheirunderstandingwerebasedontheassumptionthatconnected