Ann mainbody.docx

Ann mainbody.docx

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Annmainbody

TableofContents

★Tableofcontents----------------------------------------------------------------------P1

☆Introcuction-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------P2

☆Mainbody

ⅠDeterminantsinCulturalvalues

1.1DefinationofCoreCulturalValues-----------------------------------------------P2

1.2Briefintroductionofculturalidentity---------------------------------------------P2

ⅡTheimpactsonpeople’ssociallife

2.1Communication------------------------------------------------------------------------P3

△（Contextincommunication）

2.2Workingingroups---------------------------------------------------------------------P4

Membership

Leadership

△Power-distance

2.3Competition&cooperation-----------------------------------------------------------P5

2.4Friendshippatterns-------------------------------------------------------------------P5

2.5Cultureintegration--------------------------------------------------------------------P6

2.5-AAttitudestowardsnewcomers

2.5-BCompetencetoadapttonewcircumstance

☆Conclusion--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------P8

★References-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------P9

★Appendices--------------------------------------------------------------------------------P10

Introduction

Theworldisbecomingameltingpotbyvirtueofthewidespreadeffectsofglobalization.Thereforeitposeswonderfulopportunitiesaswellasgreatchallengesoflivinginsuchaglobalvillageandsharingthemulti-culture.AfterlearningtheBritishculturecoursethisterm,Iacquiredmuchvaluableinformation,andofequallyimportance,someculturalstudystrategiesandmethods.

First,Iwouldliketostatemymajorobjectivesofexploringculturalvaluesandtheirimpactsonsociallife:

1ToincreasetheawarenessofcorevaluesofmydomesticcultureandBritishculture;

2Tofacilitatethecross-culturecommunication;

3Bracemyselfforthepossiblefutureteamworkwithcolleaguesfromdifferentculturesortheworklifeabroad;

ThispaperwillcomparethecoreculturalvaluesintheBritishandChinesecivilizationsandanalysetheirmajorimpactsonpeople’ssociallifeesp.onthecommunicationandrelationshippatterns,valuesingroupworkingandculturalintegration.

DeterminantsinCulturalvalues

Inthefirstplace,it’snecessaryforustounderstandthedefinitionof“culturalvalues”:

1Commonlyheldstandardsofwhatisacceptableorunacceptable,importantorunimportant,rightorwrong,workableorunworkable,etc.,inacommunityorsociety.（Thedefinationisprovidedbythebusinessdictionarywebsite）

2…anabsoluteorrelativeethicalvalue,theassumptionofwhichcanbethebasisforethicalaction.（Source:

Wikipedia）

Fromthedefinitionsabove,wecandrawaconclusionthatculturalvaluesareasetofassumptionsandmeasuresthatinvisiblycontrolanddirectpeopleinacertaincommunitytojudgeandadjustactionsofthemselvesandtheothers.Inthisarticle,Iwanttomakeacontrastofthemajorculturalvaluesinwesternandeasterncountries---individualismvscollectivism.

Asforculturalidentity,thisistheidentityofagrouporculture,orofanindividualasfarasoneisinfluencedbyone’sbelongingtoagrouporculture（Source:

Wikipedia）.

AsthemainresearchobjectsareUKandChina,Iintendtodwellonthefollowingtwoculturalidentities,namely,theindividual-orientedidentityandthenetwork-basedidentity,andthetypicalimpactsofthemonpeople’ssociallife.

ImpactsonPeople’sSocialLife

2.1Communication

Thereisnodoubtthattheaimofcommunicationistogetone’smessageacrossorexchangethemeaningsofbothsides.Peopleseldomsensethecomplexitieswhencommunicatewithintheirhomecultures.However,cross-culturecommunicationcanbeagreatchallengesometimesevenforthosewhohavelivedinanothercultureforyears.HereIwouldliketoelabrateonadetailedtopic---contextincommunication.

AccordingtoAmericananthropologistEdwardT.Hall’sclassification:

communicationthatoccursmostlythroughlanguageislowcontext（LC）,whilethoseoccurinchannelsotherthansolelylanguageishighcontext（HC）.MyresearchshowsthatthecommunicationpatternofUK,asoneofthemosthighlydevelopedcountriesintheWest,iscommonlyperceivedasoneoftheLC,whileChinaoftheopposite.HereIthinkthedifferenceofthemainchannelsifinformationacquiringinthetwoculturesandtheirinfluencecanbeimportantdeterminants.

AsforChina,whichhasalonghistoryofperson-to-personcommunication,peoplearemoredependentonpersonalorrelativelyhighcontextoriginsofinformation,whichisatypicalfeatureofnetwork-orientedcollectivistculture.Onthecontrary,inUK,whichisbetterinfluencedbyscientificmethodsofthinking,peopledependmoreonobjectivesourcessuchasnewspaperorbooksinsteadofwordsofothers.

2.2Workingingroups

Individualism,aspartofthecorevalueinUK,affectstherelationshippatternswithinpeople’sworklifetoagreatextent.Affectedbythesharedrecognitionofequalityandsef-awareness,Britishpeoplealsoworkinthecommunitywithequalmembership.Leadershipismerelysomethingthatguidesthesubordinatestowardsasharedgoal,butnotauthorityorspecificorders.InBritishindividualisticvalues,eachmemberisseenasseparateandautonomous.Theirdecisionmakingsystemisbasedonconsensus.

InChinaandothercollectivisticsocieties,hierarchicalsocialorganisationissomethingcommonlyaccepted.Eachpersonhasapositionwithinthehierarchyandthispositiondictateshowoneshouldbehavetowardsothers.SowecansaythatChinesepeoplehavestrongerawarenessoftheirpositioninrelationwithothers.Consequently,thedecision-makingsysteminChinaisnotbalanced.

Herewecanintroducetheconceptofpowerdistance--anattempttomeasureculturalattitudesaboutinequalityinsocialrelationships.TheBritishcultureistypicallyoneofsmallpowerdistancewhileChinawithalargeone.AndsomeSoutheastAsian,LatinAmericanandArabcountrieshaveevenlargerpowerdistance.ThefigurebelowshowsthePDI（powerdistanceindex）forselectedregions:

Countryorregion

PDI

Countryorregion

PDI

Malaysia

Phillippines

Mexico

Arabcountries

India

Singapore

France

SouthKorea

Taiwan

104

94

81

80

77

74

68

60

58

China

Japan

Italy

USA

Germany

UK

Swizerland

Sweden

Isreal

59

54

50

40

35

35

34

31

13

2.3Competition&Cooperation

InUK,competitionoccursbothwithingroupsaswellasbetweengroups.Similarly,Englishmencooperatewiththeirgroupmembersandthoseoutoftheirgroups.IthinkthereasonisthatinUK,aswellasotherindividual-basedcultures,theinfluenceofgroupisrelativelyslightlyonthebehaviourofgroupmembers.Thusthereislittledifferenceontheirattitudestowardsingroupandoutgroupmembers.

InChina,however,peoplearemoreintimatewithingroupsandmorehostiletooutgroups.Asaresult,competitionsoccurnotoftenwithingroupswhilecompetitionsmainlywithpeopleoutoftheirgroup.

Butonethingisironicallytrueinthefieldofsports.Chinesedomuchbetterinpingpong,divingandsomeotherindividualcompetitionsthaninfootballandbasketball.

2.4FriendshipPatterns

ImadeacomparisonaboutfriendshippatternsbetweentheUnitedKingdomandChinafromthefollowingaspects:

expectedrateofdepenenceoneachother;expectedtimespanoftherelation;thedegreeofcloseness;usageofpoliteterms;friendshipobligations;waysofhelpingeachotherandthepersonalspacewithinfriendship.TheChineserelationshippatterndistinguishsfromthoseofthewestern（hereBritish）innearlyallthepoints.

UKChina

AfriendisexpectedtobeIndependentDependenceoneachothertoacertainextentisanessentialpartoffriendship

Short-termLong-term

Casual;FriendshipformedandchangedIntense;andexpectedtherelationship

easilytiedtospecificcircumstancesremainunchangedlife-long

oractivities

PoliteformsusedoftenevenbetweenUsageofpoliteformsisregardedas

closefriendsnon-intimate

Seldomacceptfriendship-relatedobligationsAcceptobligationsevenattheexpenseoftheirownschedule

Dohelpeachother,butinawaythatGiveeachothermoreconcretehelpor

encouragehimtofindasolutionandtheneventackletheproblemforhim

supportit

Beingtooclose（physically）makepeople‘Asthickasthieves’isneveranegative

uncomfortable;seldomtoucheachotherterm,asverycloseinsitanceisaccepted;

intimatebehaviourslikegoinghandinhand

iscommon

2.5CulturalIntegration

A.Attitudestowardsnewcomers

BoththeBritishandChineseculturessharethefollowingaffectingfactorsmore

orlessinthisrespect:

globaltendency;thedistanceofthenewculturetowardstheirhomeculture;stereotypeandprejudice.

Chinesepeople,affectedbyarootedsenseofgroup,tendtobemorehostile

towardsforeignersthantheiringroupsesp.beforethe1980s.Theemphasisoninvasioninhistoryeducationcanbeareasoninmyopinion.Bycontrast,peopleinUKseemtobemoreflexible.Butpeopleofboththetwocultureshavepreferenceforthefamiliarculture.Iconductedasurvey（thequestionnaireissubjoinedontheappendicepage）ontheattitudestopeoplefromcultureswhichareatdifferentdistancestowardstheirhomecultureandtheresultsconfirmedmyassumption---thecloserandfamiliar,theeasiertogetmergedwith.

B.Competencetoadapttonewcultures

Talkingaboutadaptingtoanewculture,Imanagedtodrawtheroughcurve

chartbelowtodemons