Culture Shock.docx

Culture Shock.docx

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CultureShock

Unit1CultureShockandtheProblemofAdjustmentinNewCulturalEnvironments

KalveroOberg

1Cultureshockmightbecalledanoccupationaldiseaseofpeoplewhohavebeensuddenlytransplantedabroad.Likemostailments,ithasitsownsymptomsandcure.

2Cultureshockisprecipitatedbytheanxietythatresultsfromlosingallourfamiliarsignsandsymbolsofsocialintercourse.Thosesignsorcuesincludethethousandandonewaysinwhichweorientourselvestothesituationofdailylife:

whentoshakehandsandwhattosaywhenwemeetpeople,whenandhowtogivetips,howtomakepurchases,whentoacceptandwhentorefuseinvitations*whentotakestatementsseriouslyandwhennot.Thesecues,whichmaybewords,gestures,facialexpressions,customs,ornorms,areacquiredbyallofusinthecourseofgrowingupandareasmuchapartofourcultureasthelanguagewespeakorthebeliefsweaccept.Allofusdependforourpeaceofmindandourefficiencyonhundredsofthesecues,mostofwhichwedonotcarryonthelevelofconsciousawareness.

3Nowwhenanindividualentersastrangeculture,allormostofthesefamiliarcuesareremoved.Heorsheislikeafishoutofwater.Nomatterhowbroad-mindedorfullofgoodwillyoumaybe,aseriesofpropshavebeenknockedfromunderyou,followedbyafeelingoffrustrationandanxiety.Peoplereacttothefrustrationinmuchthesameway.Firsttheyrejecttheenvironmentwhichcausesthediscomfort.“Thewaysofthehostcountryarebadbecausetheymakeusfeelbad."Whenforeignersinastrangelandgettogethertogrouseaboutthehostcountryanditspeople,youcanbesuretheyaresufferingfromcultureshock.Anotherphaseofcultureshockisregression.Thehomeenvironmentsuddenlyassumesatremendousimportance.Tothefore18nereverythingbecomesirrationallyglorified.Allthedifficultiesandproblemsareforgottenandonlythegoodthingsbackhomeareremembered.Itusuallytakesatriphometobringonebacktoreality.

4Someofthesymptomsofcultureshockarcexcessivewashingofthehands,excessiveconcernoverdrinkingwater,fooddishes,andbedding;fearofphysicalcontactwithattendants,theabsent-mindedstare;afeelingofhelplessnessandadesirefordependenceonlongtermresidentsofone'sownnationality;fitsofangeroverminorfrustrations;greatconcernoverminorpainsanderuptionsoftheskin;

andfinally,thatterriblelongingtobebackhome.

5Individualsdiffergreatlyinthedegreesinwhichcultureshockaffectsthem.Althoughnotcommon,thereareindividualswhocannotliveinforeigncountries.However;thosewhohaveseenpeoplegothroughcultureshockandontoasatisfactoryadjustmentcandiscernstepsintheprocess.Duringthefirstfewweeksmostindividualsarefascinatedbythenew.Theystayinhotelsandassociatewithnationalswhospeaktheir1anguageandarepoliteandgracioustoforeigners.Thishoneymoonstagemaylastfromafewdaysorweekstosixmonths,dependingoncircumstances.Ifoneisveryimportant,heorshewillbeshowntheshowplaces,willbepampcredandpetted,andinapressinterviewwillspeakglowinglyaboutgoodwillandinternationalfriendship.

6Butthismentalitydoesnotnormallylastiftheforeignvisitorsremainsabroadandhasseriouslytocopewithrealconditionsoflife.Itisthenthatthesecondstagebegins,characterizedbyahostileandaggressiveattitudetowardthehostcountry.Thishostilityevidentlygrowsoutofthegenuinedifficultywhichthevisitorexperiencesintheprocessofadjustment.Therearehousetroubles,transportationtroubles,shoppingtroubles,andthefactthatpeopleinthehost

countryarelargelyindifferenttoallthesetroubles..Theyhelp,buttheydon'tunderstandyourgreatconcernoverthesedifficulties.Therefore,theymustbeinsensitiveandunsympathetictoyouandyourworries.Theresult,“Ijustdon'tlikethem.”Youbecomeaggressive,youbandtogetherwithothersfromyourcountryandcriticizethehostcountry,itsways,anditspeople.Butthiscriticismisnotanobjectiveappraisal.Insteadoftryingtoaccountfortheconditionsandthehistoricalcircumstanceswhichhavecreatedthem,youtalkasifthedifficultiesyouexperiencearemoreorlesscreatedbythepeopleofthehostcountryforyourspecialdiscomfort.

7Youtakerefugeinthecolonyofothersfromyourcountrywhichoftenbecomesthefountainheadofemotionallychargedlabelsknownasstereotypes.Thisisapeculiarkindofoffensiveshorthandwhichcaricaturesthehostcountryanditspeopleinanegativemanner.The“dollargraspingAmerican”andthe"indolentLatinAmericans"aresamplesofmildformsofstereotypes.Thesecondstageofcultureshockisinasenseacrisisinthedisease.Ifyoucomeoutofit,youstay;ifnot,you1eavebeforeyoureachthestageofanervousbreakdown.

8Ifvisitorssucceedingettingsomeknowledgeofthelanguageandbegintogetaroundbythemselves,theyarebeginningtoopenthewayintothenewculturalenvironment.Visitorsstillhavedifficultiesbuttheytakea“thisismyproblemandIhavetobearit”attitude.Usuallyinthisstagevisitorstakeasuperiorattitudetopeopleofthehostcountry.Theirsenseofhumorbeginstoexertitself.Insteadofcriticizing,theyjokeaboutthepeopleandevencrackjokesabouttheirowndifficulties.Theyarenowonthewaytorecovery.

9Inthefourthstage,youradjustmentisaboutascompleteasitcanbe.Thevisitornowacceptsthecustomsofthecountryasjustanotherwayofliving.Youoperatewithinthenewsurroundingswithoutafeelingofanxiety,althoughtherearemomentsofsocialstrain.Onlywithacompletegraspofallthecuesofsocialintercoursewillthisstraindisappear.Foralongtimetheindividualwillunderstandwhatthenationalissayingbutisnotalwayssurewhatthenationalmeans.Withacompleteadjustmentyounotonlyacceptthefood,drinks,habits,andcustoms,butactuallybegintoenjoythem:

Whenyougohomeonleave,youmayeventakethingsbackwithyou;andifyouleaveforgood,yougenerallymissthecountryandthepeopletowhomyoubecameaccustomed.

NewWords

1.1ailmentn．轻微的病，小病

1.2，symptomn．症状，病症

2.1．precipitate[pri‵sipiteit]vt.突然陷入，引起

2.2．intercoursen．交际，往来

2.3．cue[kju:

]n．提示，暗示，现象

2.4．orientvt.使……适应，调整

2.5．normn．标准，规范一

3.1．propn．支柱，支撑物

3.2．frustrationn．挫折，失意

3.3．grouse[graus]vi．发牢骚，抱怨

4.1．eruptionn．疹子

5.1．graciousadj.和蔼可亲的

5.2．pampervt.纵容，使……满足

6.1．mentalityn．精神，智力

6.2．hostileadj.敌视的，对……不友好的

6.3．aggressiveadj.过分的，攻击的‘

6.4．appraisaln．估价，评价

7.1．stereotypen．陈规老套，陈词滥调

7.2．caricaturevt.使……变得滑稽，歪曲

7.3．indolentadj.懒惰的，不积极的

Phrases

1.1．thousandandone许许多多的，很多的

6.1．indifferentto对……漠不关心，无所谓

7.1．takerefuge避难，躲避

Notes

1．pressinterview记者采访，新闻采访2．forgood永久，永远

Comprehension

Answerthefollowingquestionsaccordirt8:

toyourunderstandingofthearticle.Yourteachermaywantyoutoanswerthesequestionsorally,inwriting,orbyunderliningappropriatepartsofthetext.True/falseitemsareindicatedbyaT/Fprecedingastatement.

1.Whatprecipitatescultureshock?

2.Obergoutlinesfourstepsinadjustingtoanewculture:

Describeeachstageanditscharacteristics.

3;T/FCultureshockcanneverbecured.

4.T/FWeshouldtrytoavoidcultureshock.

Discussion/Composition

1.Haveyoueverexperiencedcultureshock?

Describeyoursymptoms.Whatadvicedoyouhaveforpeoplewhosufferfromcultureshock?

2.Usingexamples;describethebehaviorofvisitorstoyourhomeculturewhosufferfromcultureshock.I

3.Thisarticledealswiththeanxietyofvisitinganotherculture.Onceonehasadjustedtoaforeignculture,however,onemayexperience“reversecultureshock”uponreturninghome.Whatdoyouthinkarethesymptomsofthisrelated"disease"?

Vocabularyfromcontext

Boththeideasandthevocabularyintheexercisebelowaretakenfrom“CultureShockandtheProblemofAdjustmentinNewCulturalEnvironments."Usethecontextprovidedtodeterminethemeaningsoftheitalicizedwords.Writeadefinition,synonym,ordescriptionofeachoftheitalicizedvocabularyitemsinthespaceprovided.

Exercise1'

1._______________________Illnessesspecifictoworkersinaparticularoccupationareknownasoccupationaldiseases.CulturalShockisan2._________________________________occupationaldiseaseforpeoplewhotravel.Itisprecipitatedbytheanxietyoflivinginastrangeculture.

3._______________________________Suddenlyfindingyourselfinastrangecountrycanberatherfrightening.Youloseallofthepropsthatgenerally

4._______________________supportyou,allofthefamiliarcuesthatprovideinformation

5._________________________aboutwhattodo.Withoutfamiliarpropsandcuestoorient

6.___________________youinunfamiliarsituationsitbecomesdifficulttocopewithlifeinanewsetting.Everythingcanseemdifferent.Youdon't

7.______________________evenknowhowmuchtotipacabdriverorawaiterinarestaurant.Inthissituation,youcanloseasenseoflogic,

8._________________________developingirrationalfearofthelocalpeople.9.__________________________Peoplereactdifferentlytovisitingdifferentcultures.Peoplewhoareveryimportant,liketheleadersofacountry,willbetreatedverycarefully.Becausetheyarepamperedand

10._________________petted,theymaynotbecomeuncomfortable.Othersmayfeel

11.___________veryuncomfortableandspendtheirtimegrousingto

whomeverwilllistenabouthowunfriendlythenativesare.

12.__________________________Onesymptomofcultureshockistheinabilitytoseethehostnationalsasrealpeople.Insteadonetendstocreate

13._______