A Study on the Differences of SinoEnglish Thinking Modes in Crosscultural Communication.docx

A Study on the Differences of SinoEnglish Thinking Modes in Crosscultural Communication.docx

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AStudyontheDifferencesofSinoEnglishThinkingModesinCrossculturalCommunication

摘要

英汉思维差异的形成是由其语言本身以及其使用的文化背景和主体产生的。

忽视这种差异会导致跨文化交际的失误，从而加深文化冲突，因此，有必要了解这种差异性并找到处理跨文化交际差异性的方法，从而避免交际中的语用失误和文化冲突。

所谓跨文化交际即指“同一主流文化中不同亚文化群体或个人之间的交际”，也指“东西方这样文化差异极大的人之间的交际。

”（贾玉新，1974）。

跨文化交际学是美国20世纪60年代中期兴起的一门边缘学科，它着重研究了文化与交际的关系以及文化对交际过程的影响。

然而，面对来自陌生的文化背景和国家、思维方式，生活习惯和行为方式与我们迥然不同的人，在与之交往的过程中，由于文化的明显差异，不可避免地会出现交往冲突。

由此，在全球化背景下，探求中西文化差异及其深层原因，寻求差异中的有效沟通途径，对加强国际文化交流意义重大。

关键词：

思维模式;跨文化交际；文化；语言

Abstract

Thedifferencesofthinkingmodesarecausedbythelanguagesthemselvesandtheusagesinparticularculturalbackgroundandmainsocialbody.Ignoringthesedifferenceswouldleadtocross-culturalcommunicationalfaultsanddeepenculturalconflicts.Weoughttoknowthesedifferencesandlookforawaytoeliminatethemtoavoidlinguisticerrorsandculturalconflicts.Cross-culturalcommunicationisaninterdisciplinarysubjectwhichgrewupintheUnitedStatesduringthemid-60sof20thcentury.Theso-calledcross-culturalcommunicationrefersto"thecommunicationbetweendifferentsubculturegroupsorindividualsinthesamedominantculture”;italsomeans“communicationbetweenpeoplefromEast-Westcultural"（JiaYuxin,1974）.Itfocusesonstudiesoftherelationshipbetweencultureandcommunication,andtheinfluencethatcultureexertsontheprocessofcommunication.However,whenfacingthosewhohaveanunfamiliarculturalbackgroundorcomefromdifferentcountries,whosemodesofthinking,livinghabitsandbehaviorpatternsarecompletelydifferentfromus.Conflictsareinevitableduringcommunicationduetotheobviousculturaldifferences.Forthisreason,inthecontextofglobalization,itissignificanttoexploreculturaldifferencesstrengthentheinternationalculturalexchanges,underlycausesforthedifferences,andlookforaneffectivemethodofcommunicationindiversity.

Keywords：

modesofthinking;cross-culture;communication;culture;language

TableofContents

Outline1

Introduction3

Chapter

ThinkingModes4

1.1.DeterminantofThinkingModes4

1.2.ReasonsoftheDifferences4

1.3.ThinkingModesandCross-culturalCommunication5

1.3.1.PragmaticFailure5

1.3.2.CulturalCollision6

Chapter

AspectsoftheDifferences7

2.1DailyCommunication7

2.1.1AddressTerms7

2.1.2Greetings8

2.2TabooWords9

2.3AMatterofFace10

2.3.1ChineseViewofFace11

2.3.2Westerners’ViewofFace12

2.4InternationalCorporateEvents13

2.4.1ViewofTime13

2.4.2ViewofSpace15

ChapterⅢMethodstoEliminateDifferences17

4.1.ForeignLanguageTeachingandLearningSystem17

4.2.TheLearningLaw18

4.3.CulturalCultivation18

4.4.WesternCulturalMaterials19

4.5.NonverbalCommunicationAbility20

Conclusion22

Bibliography23

Acknowledgements25

Outline

Thesisstatement:

Thinkingmodesaffectthecross-culturalcommunicationastheyareproducedbythelivingenvironmentsandculturalbackgroundsofthelanguagespeakers.

.Introduction

.Whatisthinkingmode?

A.Whatdeterminemodesofthinking?

B.Whythinkingmodesaredifferent?

C.Thereareconnectionbetweenthinkingmodesandcross-culturalcommunication.

.Someaspectsofthedifferencesofthinkingmodesthatarecommon.

A.Thinkingmodesinfluencesocialcontact..

1.Addresstermshaveanimportantsocialfunction.

2.DifferentgreetingsareusedinChinaandEnglishspeakingcountries.

B.TherearemanytaboosinbothChineseandwesternculture.

C.FacetheoriesexistinChinaandEnglish-speakingcountries.

1.ViewoffaceinChina.

2.ViewoffaceinWesterncountries.

D.Factorsaffectinternationalcorporateevents.

1.DifferentviewsoftimeexistinChinaandEnglish-speakingcountries.

2.DifferentviewsofspaceexistinChinaandEnglish-speakingcountries.

.Itismeaningfultounderstandthethinkingmodes.

A.Itunveilsthedifferencesofthoughtsupplement.

B.Itenhancesculturalcommunicationbyunderstandingthelearninglaw.

C.Knowingtheculturalcultivationishelpful

D.MakingfulluseofWesternculturalmaterials.

E.Thenonverbalcommunicationabilityisalsoimportant.

.Conclusion:

Thinkingmodescaneasilyaffectourcommunicationwithforeignersintheaspectsofsocialcontact,taboos,facetheories,anddifferentviewsoftimeandspaceinChinaandEnglish-speakingcountries.Weshouldusesomeeffectivewaystodecreasethosedifferences.Itisdifficulttoeliminatethosefaultsuntilwerealizethem.Timeisneededtoadapttothosedifferences,analyzethereasons,andsolvethem.Languageisthebasicmethodininternationalcommunication,whatweshoulddowhenlearningforeignlanguagesistostudythenativespeakers’thinkingmodesandculturetomaketheworldtrulyclose.

Introduction

Thinkingisabstract,untouchableandinvisible,andinternationalthroughsomeforms.Andlanguageisanimportantcarrierofthoughtwhichiscalledthinkingmode.Theydifferbecauseoftheculturalbackgroundsanddisplaysomeculturalconflicts,suchastheaddresstermsindailylife,greetingwords,taboowords,faceproblemsetc.Itisalsoshownininternationalcorporationsasdifferentpeoplefromdifferentcultureshavedifferentviewsintimeandspace.Forexample,EnglishbelongstotheWesternlanguagesystem,whichhasadistinctivefeatureofanalysiswithintheusers;ChinesebelongstoEasternlanguagesystem,whichhasthegreatestcharacteristicofholismandstronglogicality.Theusersholddifferentworldviews,valuesviewsandculturalbackgrounds,andtheirmethodsandveracityofexpressionwillbedifferent.Whendealingwiththeseproblems,peoplearenotrequiredtochangetheirexistingmodesofthinking,valueviews,worldviews,butthroughthemasteryofthelanguagesavoidnegativetransferwhichconstructanothersetofthinkingmode.Inthispaper,theauthoralsogivessomeeffectivemethodstosolvethoseconflicts.Bothlearningsystemandteachingsystemshouldbeimproved.Wealsoshowourattentiontononverbalcommunicationabilitywhichwouldinfluenceourhabits.

Chapter

.ThinkingModes

Thoughtisthethingthathumanbrainreflectscognitiveactivityoutsideofthings.Aparticularmodeofthinkinghassomesocialfeatures,suchas,stability,structure,stylizedinaparticularfiled.Therefore,theso-calledmodesofthinkingistheuniversalandstablestructureandprogramofthinkingwithinthecognitiveprocessofhumanbeings,whichisthelawandmeansofthinkingcombinedbyaunifiedway.Differenceofthinkingmodeisoneimportantreasonthatresultsinculturaldifference.Understandingculturaldifferencesandmodesofthinkingcanhelpustocrosstheresultingbarriers,andeffectivelycommunicateandcooperateintheinternationalculturalenvironments.

1.1.DeterminantofThinkingModes

Culturalmodeldeterminesthemodesofthinking.Eachnationlivesinaspecificnaturalandgeographicalenvironmentandhasformeditsownhistoricalbackground,culturaltraditions,anditsownthinkingmodes,whichresultsintheculturaldifferences.Modesofthinkingvarywithdifferentculturalbackgrounds.Peopleareusedtothinkingproblemsintheirownculturalunderstanding.Forexample,whenwewritetheaddress,theordermustbe:

thecountryname-provincename-townnames-streetnames-residentialhousenumber–recipient,buttheAmericansdoitjustthereverse.Thisshowsdifferencesbetweentwothinkingmodes.

1.2.ReasonsoftheDifferences

Peopleofdifferentcultureshavedifferentcognitivemodelstotheoutsideworld,andthethinkingmodesmustbedifferent,too,especiallybetweenEastandWestcultures.Westerncultureischaracterizedbylogicalthinkingandanalysiswhiletheorientalisintuitivelyholisticthinking,atypicalChineseculture.Livinginthisculture,Chinesepeopleattachgreatimportancetothingswithintuitivefeeling,whichresultincognition,perceptionandexperience.Andfollowingthisexperienceandfeeling,Chinesepeopleoften“measureanotherman'sfootbyone'sownlast."Suchmodeofthinking,whichconstitutestheircoreofknowledgeandcommunication,hasanobviousgeneralityandvagueness.Thisthinkingmode,intime,developsamentalsetwhichcanbeinterpretedastheprocessofperceptionandidentificationofthingsoutside.Inessence,thementalsetistoogeneralized.Weusuallyignoretheindividualdifferencesandexaggeratethecognitiveadditionofasocialgroup.Frequentlythissetisemotionallyaccompaniedbyafixedcreed.Itwillaffectthecross-culturalcommunicationdirectlyandresultincommunicationfailurebecauseourpredictionofthebehaviorisbasedonafixedviewoftheirculture.

1.3.ThinkingModesandCross-culturalCommunication

SincetheexistenceofdifferencesbetweenChineseandWesternthinkingmodes,barriersincross-culturalcommunicationoftenoccur.Thisinvolvesnotonlyspelling,grammar,vocabularyandsoonbutalsopragmaticfailureandculturalcollision.

1.3.1.Pragmaticfailure

Pragmaticfailuredoesnotmeanthemisapplicationthatappearsinthegeneralwordingofsentences,butmalaproposmistakeofspeaking,orwrongwayofexpressionandunidiomaticexpressions.Theerrorswillmakecommunicationcannotachievetheexpectantresults.Thomas（1983）dividedcross-culturalcommunicationfailuresintopragmaticfailureandsocialusagefailure.Pragmaticlanguageexpressionincludesidiomsmistakes,errorsintheformsofaddress,greetingblunders;socialpragmaticfailureincludesdifferencesincustoms,differencesofsenseofworthandmistakeswhichresultfromuniqueculturalfactors.

1.3.2.Culturalcollision

Culturalcollisionspeciallyreferstopeoplefromacultureinteractwithotherpeople