课堂上体现的中英文化差异及其影响.docx

课堂上体现的中英文化差异及其影响.docx

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课堂上体现的中英文化差异及其影响

课堂上体现的中英文化差异及其影响:

《英语散文赏析》和《英语戏剧赏析》

摘要

近年来，中国与世界的交流愈加频繁，越来越多的外国学者走进中国、走进中国的大学校园，大学课堂上体现的中外文化差异逐渐成为热点。

因此本文以中华女子学院外语系开设的《英语散文赏析》和《英语戏剧赏析》为研究对象，结合霍夫斯泰德的文化维度理论，分析课堂上所体现的中英文化差异及其影响。

上述两门课的受众均为中华女子学院外语系2013级学生，但《英语散文赏析》的授课教师是一位英国外教，而《英语戏剧赏析》的授课教师是一位中国教师。

据调查显示，课堂上文化差异并不明显，不足以影响教学效果；反而是授课老师的教学方式、性格特点等对教学效果影响明显。

关键词：

文化维度,文化差异,英语散文赏析,英语戏剧赏析

Sino-BritishCulturalDifferencesandtheirEffectsinTwoCourses:

EnglishAssayAppreciationandEnglishDramaAppreciation

Abstract

Inrecentyears,exchangesbetweenChinaandtheworldbecomeincreasinglyfrequentsothatagrowingnumberofforeignscholarscomeintoChinaaswellasChineseuniversities.In-classculturaldifferencesinuniversitiesbecomeahottopic.Therefore,thispaperstudiestwoclasses-EnglishAssayAppreciationandEnglishDramaAppreciation,designedbytheForeignLanguageDepartmentatChinaWomen’sUniversity,basedonGeertHofstede’sCulturalDimensionsTheorytoanalyzesSino-Britishculturaldifferencesandtheireffects.Audiencesofthoseclassesarestudentsintheclassof2013,whileEnglishAssayAppreciationisgivenbyaBritishteacher,andEnglishDramaAppreciationgivenbyaChineseteacher.Accordingtothesurvey,culturesdifferencesinclassarenotobviousenoughtoinfluenceteachingeffectiveness;instead,teachingmethods,theteacher’spersonalityandsoonmatteralot.

KeyWords:

CulturalDimensions,CulturalDifferences,EnglishEssayAppreciation,

EnglishDramaAppreciation

Introduction

Withfrequentculturalexchanges,culturaldifferencesinvariousformsareattractingmoreattention.Universityclassprovidesauniqueplatformforculturalexchangessincelotsoflocalandforeignstudentsandteachersexchangeideasandthoughtsheresothatculturaldifferencesareremarkablewhich,meanwhile,impactteachingactivitiesinclasses.Therefore,thispaperisabouttoanalyzeSino-BritishculturaldifferencesreflectedintwoclassesintheForeignLanguagesDepartmentofChinaWomen’sUniversity.Oneisthe“EnglishDramaAppreciation”givenbyaChineseteacher,whiletheotheris“EnglishEssayAppreciation”givenbyaBritishteacher,otherthingsbeingequal.Thispaperaimstoexploretheculturaldifferencesandtheireffectsonclasseffectivenessonwhichbasisitputsforwardsomesuggestionsthathelptoovercometheteachingbarriersinclasscausedbyculturaldifferences,becauseculturaldifferencesareimportantfactorsofcommunication,inotherwords,culturaldifferencesalwaysleadtoineffectivecommunicationintermsofverbalornonverbalaspects.In-classteachingattachesgreatimportancetocommunication,especiallythecommunicationbetweentheteacherandstudentswhichexertsinfluenceonthequalityofteaching.Asaresult,itisnecessarytoanalyzeifculturaldifferencesmanifestedinclassaffectteachingactivitiespositivelyornegatively.

Thispapercanbedividedintofiveparts.Thefirstpartisthe“Introduction”givingthepreliminaryinformationofthispaper.ThesecondpartelaboratesrelativetheoriesadoptedinthepaperincludingGeertHofstede’sCulturalDimensionstheoryandtheoriesaboutcultureandlanguage.Specifically,thispaperwillanalyzeSino-Britishculturaldifferencesbasedonthreedimensions:

“powerdistance”,“individualismversuscollectivism”,and“masculinityversusfemininity”.Also,itanalyzestherelationsbetweenlanguageandculture.Inthethirdpart,methods,processandresultsofthissurveyarestatedindetail.Themainmethodsofthesurveyareobservationandinterview.Theauthorofthispaperobservedeachclassfor10timesandinterviewed5studentsofeachclass.Thefourthpartistheanalysisofthesurveybasedonthetheoriesmentionedabove.Forexample,whatkindofculturaldifferencesisreflectedin“Q﹠A”section.Inthefifthpart,thispaperarrivesataconclusionandprovidessomesuggestionswhichhopetohelptoavoidnegativeeffectscausedbyculturaldifferences.

2.LiteratureReview

2.1CulturalDimensionsTheory

GeertHofstedeisaworldrenownedmasterinManagement,whostudiedculturaldifferencesinvalueorientationofferinganewapproachtounderstandingtherangeofculturaldifferences.Withregardtoculturalvaluesacrossnationsandcultures,Hofstededidaworld-widesurveyofemployeesofIBMwhocomefromseventy-onecountriesbetween1967and1973.SubsequenttohisoriginalresearchinIBM,HofstedeextendedtheresearchtosomeadditionalcountriesthatwerenotincludedintheIBMsurvey.Afterthesesurveys,heanalyzedandcomparedthe117,000answersoftheseinvestigationsthroughtheoreticalreasoningandstatistics[1]XuLisheng.InterculturalCommunicationinEnglish（RevisedEdition）.Shanghai:

ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress.2013.

.

Theinitialanalysisidentifiesfivesystematicdimensionsalongwhichdominantpatternsofaculturecanbeordered:

“powerdistance,individualismversuscollectivism,uncertaintyavoidance,masculinityversusfemininity”[2]Hofstede,Geert&Hofstede,GeertJan&Minkov,Michael.CulturesAndOganizations:

SoftwareoftheMind（3rdEdition）.London:

McGraw-Hill.2010.

.In2010,thescopeoftheresearchisextendedto93countries.FurtherresearchmakesitpossibleforHofstedetoupdatehisculturaldimensionswithasixthonewhichisindulgenceversusrestraint.

Inconclusion,Hofstede’sculturaldimensionstheoryprovidesawaytounderstandingculturaldifferencesandprovidesasummaryoftherelationshipbetweenculturalvaluesandsocialbehaviors[3]XuLisheng.InterculturalCommunicationinEnglish（RevisedEdition）.Shanghai:

ShanghaiForeignLanguageEducationPress.2013.

.

2.1.1PowerDistance

Oneconcernofallcultures,andanissueforwhichtheymustfindasolutionistheinequalityinhumansociety.Somepeoplemightberegardedassuperiortoothersbecauseoftheirwealth,age,gender,education,personalachievements,familybackground,occupationandavarietyofotherscharacteristics[4]Hofstede,Geert&Hofstede,GeertJan&Minkov,Michael.CulturesAndOganizations:

SoftwareoftheMind（3rdEdition）.London:

McGraw-Hill.2010.

.Culturesaredifferentintheextenttowhichtheyviewthosestatusinequalities.Inotherwords,cultureshavedifferentvalueconcernsabouttheappropriatenessorimportanceofstatusdifferencesandsocialhierarchies.Hofstedereferstothesevariationsasthepowerdistance,whichreflectsthedegreetowhichtheculturebelievesthatinstitutionalandorganizationalpowershouldbedistributedunequallyandthedecisionsmadebythepowerholdersshouldbechallengedoraccepted.[5]杜怡.中外英语教师课堂交际权力距离研究.《湖北工业大学硕士学位论文》,2015.

Hofstedehascreatedapowerdistanceindex（PDI）toassessaculture’srelativelocationonthepowerdistancedimension[6]Hofstede,Geert.Culture'sConsequences:

comparingvalues,behaviors,institutions,andorganizationsacrossnations.SagePublications,Inc:

GeertHofstede.2001.

.ItisapparentthatcultureswithlowerPDIsorthepowerdistanceissmallbelieveintheimportanceofminimizingsocialorclassinequalities,questioningandchallengingauthorityfigures,reducinghierarchicalorganizationalstructureandsoon.Inthecontrast,cultureswithhigherPDIsorthepowerdistanceislarge,believethateachpersonhasarightfulandprotectedplaceinthesocietyorinagroup,thattheauthoritiesshouldnotbechallenged,thathierarchyandinequalityareappropriateandmaybebeneficialandetc[7]李文娟.霍夫斯泰德文化维度与跨文化研究.《社会科学》，2009（12）：

126-129.

.

2.1.2IndividualismversusCollectivism

Anotherbasicissueofallculturesisthathowpeoplerelatetothelargersocialgroupsofwhichoneisapart.Peopleliveinacommunityandinteractwithothersmoreorless.Thus,itisnecessarytodevelopawayofrelatingthatstrikesabalancebetweenshowingconcernforoneselfandforothers.However,culturesdifferintheextenttowhichindividualautonomyisregardedfavorablyorunfavorably.Hofstededefinesthesevariationsastheindividualismversuscollectivism,thedegreetowhichaculturereliesonandhasallegiancetotheindividualorthegroup[8]Samoval,LarryA.Cross-CulturalCommunication（7thEdition）.Beijing:

PekingUniversityPress.2012-11-01.

.Itisusedtomeasurehowculturesvarywithregardtoencouragingordiscouragingpeopletobeunique,independentorinterdependent.

Similartopowerdistance,Hofstedehascreatedanindividualismindex（IDV）toassessdifferentculture’srelativelocationontheindividualism-collectivismdimension.SuchcultureswithrelativelyhighIDVsarehighlyindividualistic，andpeopleintheseculturesaresupposedtotakecareofthemselvesratherthanthegroup[9]Lustig,W.Myron&Koester,Jolene.InterculturalCompetence:

InterpersonalCommunicationAcrossCultures（5thEdition）.Boston:

Allyn&Bacon;InternationalEd.2009.

.Inindividualisticcultures,therightofautonomyofindividualisparamountandunalienable,orthefreedomofeverysinglemanismoreimportantthananythingelse.Keywordsusedtodescribetheseculturesareindependence,privacy,self,freedomanddemocracy.Decisionsaremadebasedonwhatisgoodfortheindividual,notforthegroup.Andthejudgmentaboutwhatisrightandwrongcanbemadefromthepointofviewofeachindividual[10]Samoval,LarryA.&Porter,RichardE.CommunicationbetweenCultures（3rdEdition）.Beijing:

ForeignLanguageTeachingandResearchPress.2004.

.

Onthecontrary,cultureswithrelativelylowIDVsareregardedascollectivisticvalueorientation.Thesecultures,generally,requireanabsoluteloyaltytothegroup.Thegroupissovariousthatitcanbeafamily,organization,community,region,orevencountry.Incollectivistcultures,anydecisions