中西文化差异情景案例分析.docx

中西文化差异情景案例分析.docx

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中西文化差异情景案例分析

CultureDifferenceCaseStudy

Unit1LanguageandCultureinCommunication

Theory

Communicationissomethingwedoeveryday.Ittakesplacesonaturallythatwesimplyfailtonoticeituntilithiccupsorbreaksdown.Thoughitiscommonplace,itisnoexaggerationtosaythatcommunicationislifeandlifeiscommunication.

youjoinasocialgathering,youmustbeawareofrulesandproceduresthatgovernthewaythingsaregoingtoproceed.Thereisatechnicaltermforsuchrulesandprocedures—schema.

2.Faceandpolitenessaretwootherareaswhichareextremelyvalue—sensitive.OneofthedistinctivefeaturesofChinesepolitenessisself—denigrationandother—elevation.

Case1

Litzisaprofessorofcross—culturalcommunicationinauniversityinFinland.SheinvitedherChinesestudentshomeforaneveningparty.

TheschemafromLitz’spointofviewincludesthefollowing:

1. Givinginvitation:

byphone/bymail

2. Prepareeverythingbeforethearrivalofguests

3. Receivingguests:

openthedoor/expresswelcome/taketheirovercoats/introduceguests/offerthemdrinks/makethemcomfortable

4. Servingfood:

setthetable/soupfirst/maincourse/desert

5. Postdinneractivities:

chat/playmusic/offermoredrinks

6. Seeingguestsoff:

thankthemforcoming/goodnight

Litz’seveningpartywasnotverysuccessful,becauseshewasupsetbyoneofherguests.HerewastheinitialconversationbetweenLitzandLin:

Litz:

（opensthedoor）Oh,Lin,howniceyoucouldcome!

Lin:

It’snotdifficulttofindyourhouse.

Litz:

Comeonin.

Lin:

（comesin）

Litz:

CanItakeyourcoat

Lin:

No,thanks.

Litz:

Ok,thiswayplease.

Lin:

（takeoffhercoatandhangsit）

Analysis:

LitzwashurtbecauseLindidnotletherhanghercoat.Litz’sofferingtohangLin’scoatisoneofLitz’sways（it’sonLitz’sschema）.OnLin’sside,shethoughtthatLitzwashersupervisorandthatitwasinappropriatetolethersupervisorhanghercoat.Herewehaveaninstanceofoneactionattachedwithdifferentculturalvalues.

Case2

FindinganInterestedBuyer

GeorageHallwasinBeijingattendingatradefairandlookingforanopportunitytodobusinessinChina.HehadbeenverysuccessfulinhisbusinessdealingsintheUSandpridedhimselfonhisability“togetthingsmoving.”Hisfirstdaywasgoingwell.Helookedaroundatthedisplaysofsportingequipmenttogetsomeideaofwhomhemightapproach.Hewassurethathisproducts,tennisracketswithanunusualnewdesign,wouldarousesomeinterests.Ontheseconddayheapproachedthecompanywhichhefeltwouldbemostresponsivetohisproducts.Heintroducedhimselftothegeneral,aMr.Li.SincehehadreadthatChinesefindgettingdowntobusinessimmediatelytooabruptandrude,hebeganacasualconversation,eventuallyleadinguptothetopicofhisproductsandsuggestinghowMr.Li’scompanymightbenefitfromusingthem.GeorgethensuggestedthathecouldarrangetogettogetherwithMr.Liandprovidemorespecificsanddocumentationonhisproducts.

Mr.LirespondedinfairlygoodEnglish,”Thatwouldbeinteresting.”

KnowingthathehadonlyafewdaysleftinBeijing,Georgewantedtonaildownatime,”Whencanwemeet”askedGeorge.

“Ah.Thisweekisverybusy,”repliedMr.Li.

“Itsureis,”saidGeorge,”Howabout10o’clockMeetyouhere.”

“Tomorrowat10o’clock”askedMr.Lithoughtfully.

“Right,”saidGeorge,“I’llseeyouthen”

“Hmm,yes;whydon’tyoucomebytomorrow,”wasthereply.

“OK,”respondedGeorge,”Itwasnicemeetingyou.”

Thenextdayat10o’clockheapproachedMr.Li’scompany’sexhibitonlytofindthatMr.LihadsomeimportantbusinessandwasnotabletomeetwithGeorge.HecalledbacklaterinthedayandwastoldthatMr.Liwasnotavailable.

Analysis:

英美人士做事情讲究守时。

而中国人不太重视这方面。

本案列中，李先生不仅没有准时接见预约的客户，甚至放了他“鸽子”。

Case3

ProfessorLianghaswrittenabookonChinesecultureinChinese.HisbookisputondisplayinBeijingInternationalBookFair’96.ProfessorLiangwouldliketohavehisbooktranslatedintoEnglishandsubmittedtoThompsonPublishers.ProfessorLianghasaskedLiYan,whomhemeetsregularlyintheEnglishCorner,tohelphimtotalktoPeterAllright,aThompsonrepresentative.

Prof.Liang:

奥莱特先生，这是鄙人的拙作。

LiTan:

Mr.Allright,thisaclumsybookwrittenbyyourhumbleservant.

MrAllright:

No,no,no,you'renotmyhumbleservant.WedonotpublishbooksinChinese.

LiYan（toProfessorLiang）:

不，不，不，你不是我的仆人，我们不出中文书。

ProfessorLiang:

我要请李艳翻译成英文。

LiYan（toMr.Allright）:

ProfessorLiangwillaskmetotranslateitintoEnglish.

Mr.Allright:

Mmthat’sinteresting.

Analysis:

Chineseauthorsalmostalwaysbelittletheirworksbydescribingthemasclumsywritings,andtheyusethesamedescriptionwhentheypresentthemtoChinesepublishers.Butthiswillbecounter—productiveinEnglish.Instead,authorsshouldpointoutthemeritsoftheirworksratherthan“clumsiness”.

Unit2CultureShock

Theory

1.Cultureshockcanbedescribedasthefeelingofconfusionanddisorientationthatoneexperienceswhenfacedwithalargenumberofnewandunfamiliarpeopleandsituations.

2.Thereisadesireforindependenceandseparateness,foundinforeigners'needsfortheirownprivacyandautonomy

3.Hospitalitymeansthecordialandgenerousreceptionofordispositiontowardguests.

4.Politenessreferstotheconsiderationforothers,tact,andobservanceofacceptedsocialusage.

5.Privacycouldbeunderstoodastherightofanindividualtoself-determinationastothedegreetowhichtheindividualiswillingtosharewithothersinformationabouthimself.

Case1

Jane,anAmericanteacherintheUS,hadjuststartedteachingEnglishtoagroupofJapanesestudents.Shewantedtogettoknowthestudentsmoreformally,sosheinvitedthemtoherhouseforparty.Thestudentsallarrivedtogetheratexactly8:

00.Theyseemedtoenjoytheparty:

theydanced,sang,andatemostofthefood.Atabout10:

00,oneofthestudentssaidtotheteacher,“Ithinkit’stimeformetoleave.Thankyouverymuchfortheparty.”Thenalltheotherstudentsgotuptogo,andallleftatthesametime.Janedecidedshewouldneverinvitethemagain!

Analysis:

在日本以及其他很多的亚洲国家里，年轻人通常成群结队的一起去参加一些社交聚会，然后一道离去。

在他们看来这是很正常不过的事。

然后Jane认为这是一种侮辱，因为他们在同一时间里一下子全部离开了。

在美国以及其他一些英语国家，晚上10点离开一个聚会相对来说是比较早的。

Case2

FourSecretariesandTheirJobs

FourclassmatesfromatopChineseuniversityalltookjobsassecretariesaftergraduation.Fiveyearslaterthefourformerclassmateshadareunionanddiscussedtheirjobs.

ChenQiandDaiYunbothworkasbilingualsecretariesforaFinnishcompanyinBeijing.ChenQiissecretarytotheFinngeneralmanger,andDaiYunissecretarytotheChineselocalmanger,apositiononlyslightlylowerthanthatoftheFinnmanger.

ZhangYingisfromapoliticallyprominentfamilyandwashiredasthesecretarytotheleaderofasmallgovernmentbureauinthecapitalcityofherhomeprovince.LuYanworksforastaterunenterpriseinthesamecitywhereshewashiredasthesecretarytothenewmanagerforinternationalmarketing.ThecompanyhasnevermarketeditsproductsabroadbeforesothisofficeandLuYan’spositionarenewtothecompany.

FiveyearslaterChenQiissatisfiedwithherjobwiththeFinnishcompanybutDaiYunisnot.TheFinnmanagerreceivesordersfromthecompany’shomeofficeinFinland,andhegivesorderstothosebelowhiminChina,includinghissecretaryChenQi.Hetellsherhowhewantshistimescheduledandshethenmakesappointmentsforhimaccordingtohisinstructions.ShetranslatesmemosandotherdocumentsandinterpretsfromChinesetoEnglishtoChinese.IfthemanagerdoesnotthinkChenQihasdoneherworkwell,hetellsherrightaway.Heisverydemanding,butChenQifeelsthatsheknowswhatherdutiesareandknowswhathermanagerexpects.Sheisconfidentthatsheisdoingagoodjob.

DaiYunoftendoesnothaveasmuchworktodoasChenQidoes,becauseherbossscheduleshisownappointmentsanddoesalotoftheofficepaperworkhimself.Whenheisoutoftownshehastimetostudyforthegraduateentranceexam.However,sheisnotsurewhetherornotsheisdoingagoodjob.Hermanagertellsherwhatsheisexpectedtodo,buthedoesthisdaybyday.Whenpeoplecallorcometotheofficetoseeherboss,shegreetstheminEnglishorChineseasnecessary.Shereceivestheirmemosandothermessagesaswellastheirquestionsandrequestsandpassesthemontohermanager.DaiYunthinksofherjobasdoingwhathermanagerwantshertodo.Shepayscloseattentiontohismoodsandbehavior,andsometimessheisabletoanticipatewhathewouldlikewithouthimtellingher.

Analysis:

许多中国人在外企工作，不同国家的外企领导有不同的工作作风和标准。

本案列中，戴云给不同的外国上司做秘书，在工作中出现由于不同的文化冲突而引起的各种工作以及沟通中的问题就很常见了。

Case3:

OnecoldwinterdayinaChinesecity,WangLinonhiswaytothelibrarymetanAmericanprofessorwhoknewverylittleaboutChina.Aftergreetinghim,Wangsaid:

“It’srathercold.You’dbetterputonmoreclothes.”Buttheprofessordidn’tappearhappyonhearingthis.

Analysis:

美国人以及大部分西方国家的人们不喜欢被告知要怎么做怎么做，他们比较喜欢独立，然而中国人则习惯关心别人，这个案例中王林的建议表达的就是一种对他人的关心，可是美国教授却不习惯这样的表达。

Case4

Inagoodrestaurant,fourteenpeoplearegatheredtosaygoodbyetotheirprofessor,whoismovingtoanotheruniversity.

Steven:

MayIhaveyourattentionpleaseI’dliketocalluponBentosayafewwords.

Ben:

Thankyou,Steven.ProfessorShore,colleagues:

Tonightisoneofthoseparadoxes---it’sasadtimeandyetit’sahappytime.Sad,because.

Wearelosingoneofourbestprofessors;happybecausewearepleasedtoseeProfessorShore

gaintherecognitionthatherichly’mnotsurewhowillbeabletocontrolusandkeepus

inline.Ithinkthenewpro