how to avoid the difference between China and America.docx

how to avoid the difference between China and America.docx

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howtoavoidthedifferencebetweenChinaandAmerica

HowtoAvoidDiscrepanciesResultingfromCultureDifference

Outline

Thesisstatement:

thisstatementismainlytalkabouttheconflictsincross-culturalcommunication,andfindoutsomeeffectivewaystoavoidthesediscrepanciesresultfromculturedifference.

1Introduction.

2ConflictsintheCross-CulturalCommunication.

2.1ConflictsofPrivacy.

2.2ConflictsofTime

2.3ConflictsinNonverbalCommunication.

2.4ConflictsofComplimentaryRemarks.

3TheFactorsResultinginCulturalConflicts

3.1DifferentValues.

3.2DifferentThinkingpatterns

3.2.1lineartypevsspiraltype

3.2.2intuitiveexperiencevsrationalthought

4WaystoAvoidDiscrepancies

4.1ChoiceofAppropriateTopicsofConversation

4.2HowtoOpenandControlConversations

4.3UseofEuphemisms

5Conclusion.

HowtoAvoidDiscrepanciesResultingfromCultureDifference

BuDandan

SchoolsofForeignLanguages,CWUN,Nanchong,China,637002

Abstract:

Incross-culturalcommunication,ChineseandEnglishpeopleoftenencounterdifficultiesincommunication.Peopleareinfluencedbydifferentcultures,socialnormsandvalues,sopeopleoftenmakesomeridiculousjokesandmeetwiththecircumstanceswhichmakethemembarrassed.Ifpeoplewanttogainadeeperinsightintotheessenceofcross-culturalcommunication,theyshouldhavesomecross-cultureknowledgeandlearnsomeskills.Thispapertriestoshowsomeconflictsincross-culturalcommunicationrelatedtoprivacy,nonverbalcommunication,complimentaryremarks,differentvaluesanddifferentthinkingbackgrounds.Itputsforwardsomesuggestionstoavoidtheconflictsandfindsthewaystohelpstudentstolearnforeigncultureswell.ItalsoaimsathelpingtheEnglishlearnerstounderstandEnglishculturebetterandcommunicateinEnglishmoreeffectively.

Keywords:

cross-culturalcommunication;culturaldifferences;culturalconflict

如何避免因文化差异而导致的歧义

摘要：

在跨文化交际中，由于不同的文化背景，来自中西方的人们常常会遇到语言不通和交流困难的问题。

因为受到不同文化，社会规范和价值观的影响，人们时常会闹出笑话，出现很多让人难堪的尴尬境地。

要深入理解跨文化交际的实质，就要懂得在什么场合下说些什么、该怎么做的原因以及方法。

本文对跨文化交流中常常涉及冲突的情况，如个人隐私、时间观、肢体语言、问候,以及不同的价值观和不同的思维背景进行分析，论述了冲突的原因，并指出了如何避免这些冲突的方法，如何帮助学生学习国外文化。

旨在帮助英语学习者更好的了解英美文化，能够用英语进行有效的交际。

关键词：

跨文化交际；文化差异；文化冲突

1Introduction

Intwenty-firstcentury,humanenterasocietywhicheconomicintegrationandinformationhasnonationalboundaries.Englishareusedasantooltoconveyinternationalinformation,anditsimpactaremoreandmoreobvious.Accordingtoasurvey,almost3.2billionpeopletakeEnglishasmothertongue.Besides,nearly3billionlearnitassecondlanguage.WithChina'sopeningtotheoutsideandentryintoWTO,cross-culturaleconomyandsocialactivitieshaveincreased.Inthecross-culturalcommunicationbetweenAmericanandChina,itisunavoidabletoproduceculturalmisunderstandingandconflictsbecauseofdiversethinkpatternsandcustomarymanners.

WhenlearnEnglish,studentsarestilljustlearnthewordsandgrammarrulesbyheart,what'sworse,theythinkthatisenough.However,commonsensearenotgeneral.Theyarediversefromcountrytocountry.Cross-culturalarenotequaltoreading,writing,listeningandspeaking.Languageisthecarrierofculture,andhowtoexpressanideahascloserelationshipwithculturalbackgrounds.SoifyouwanttolearnEnglishwell,youmustknowitsculturewell,oryoumayhavemanyconflictsinthecross-culturalcommunication.

2ConflictsintheCross-culturalCommunication.

Incross-culturalcommunication,variousofconflictsoccurs.Suchasconflictsofprivacy,conflictsoftime,conflictsinnonverbalcommunication,andconflictsofcomplimentaryandsoon.Thefollowingaredetails.

2.1ConflictsofPrivacy

Privacymeanslawsandsocietyacknowledgethateveryonehavetherighttobuilda"barrier"aroundoneself,whichmakesotherspeopledonotknowwhatareyoudoing.AmitaiEtzioni,aprofessorinGorgeWashingtonuniversity,saidinhisbook《Therangeofprivacy》.

Peoplecomefromdifferentcountriesholddifferentattitudestowardprivacy.Americanpeopleattachgreatimportancetoprivacy,andtheytakeeffectiveactionstoprotecttheirownprivacy:

suchasrefusetotellotherstheirage,salary,marriageandsoforth.However,inChina,theword"privacy"sometimesisdepreciative,asiftherearesomethingdisgracewhichneedtobehidden.ComparedwithAmericanpeople,Chinesepeoplealwaystellotherstheirage,salary,marriageontheirowninitiative.ThefollowingtwoexamplesareusedtoshowconflictsofprivacybetweenChineseandAmerican.

Exampleone:

peopleinChinagreeteachotherbyaskingsuchkingofquestion:

whereareyougoing?

Haveyouhadyourmeal?

Howisitgoingbetweenyouandyourlover?

Theythinkthiskindofquestionscanshowtheirsolicitudeforfriends.ButifyouaskAmericansuchquestions,theymayansweryoulikethis:

itisnoneofyourbusiness.BecauseAmericanpeopleregardthosestuffasprivacy.Insteadofaskingthosequestions,Americanpeoplejustsayhiorhellotofriendsandsometimesgiveeachotherahugtogreetothers.

Exampletwo:

Peopleoftenvisittheirfriends'housewithoutgivingtheirfriends'acallinadvanceinChina,forChinesepeoplethinkthatisasurprisewhichcanmakefriendsmuchmoreexciting.Besides,sometimesChinesepeoplecanasktheirneighboursorfriendstoplaymahjongregardlessoftheirplanedarrangement.Toforeigners'surprise,Chinesepeoplealwaysmakesacrificesforthesakeofkeepingcompanywithgentlemen.

Ifyoudonotmakeappointmentinadvance,Americanpeoplemayrefuseyoutocomein.ThatistotallydifferentfromChina.

Inshort,Chinesepeoplealwaysgiveprioritytocollective,eveninprivacyaspects.IndividualisfirstforAmericanpeople,includingprivacy.

2.2ConflictsofTime

Atanycommunicativeactivities,nomatteritisverbalornonverbalcommunication,theyarebothhaveacloserelationshipwithtime.Asviesoftimeliesinthedeep-structureofculture,Itisoftenbeignored.Therefore,anotherconflictsproduceincross-culturalcommunication.

AmericanandChinahavedifferenttimeorientationsintermsofinterculturalcommunication.Chinaisoneoffourancientcountrywithcivilizationoverfivethousandyears,soChineserespectoldandlookoldageasthesymbolofwisdom.Thereisanoldsaying:

ifyoudonotdoastheoldtoldyou,youwouldbeintroublesoon.Tosumup,Chineseculturearelargelybasedonpast-time,andChinesehighlightbearthepastinmind.However,Americaistendtochosefutureastheirmajorculture.Theydoeverythingforthefuture.InfluencedbythethoughtofChristianity,forthem,thereisonroadintheback,whattheycandoisgoahead.

Halldividestimeintomonochronictimeandpolychronictime.Chinesetendstotakepolychronictime,fortheyallottimeatrandom.Toagreatextent,Chinesearethemasteroftime,theynevermakecleartimetovisitsomeone.ButtimeisthemasterofAmerican.Theymakeclearlywhatshouldbedoneatanytime.

2.3ConflictsinNonverbalCommunication

Nonverbalcommunicationcanexpressoneselfaswellasverbalcommunication.Inbroadmeaning,nonverbalcommunicationcontainsvariousgestures,touch,voicesuggestion,relationshipdistance,clothingandsoon.Asnonverbalcommunicationhasfourfeatures:

university,subsidiarity,authenticity,otherness.itmakesmanydifficultiesincross-culturalcommunication.

Thesamegesturehasdifferentmeaningindifferentcounties.andthedifferentgesturesmayhavethesamemeaningindifferentcountries.Thefollowingaresomeexamples.

InChina,givingathumbs-upmeans"good"or"smart",andstretchoutlittlefingermeans"bad".DifferentfromChina,Americanpeoplegiveathumbs-uptoaskforalift,andgiveathumb-downtoshowsomethingisbad.Besides,makingcircleswithonefingeraroundthetemplemeansusingone'switsinChina,butmeansmentalprobleminAmericanandBrazil.What'smore,Chinesepeopleshownumbereightwithstretchoutindexfingerandthumb.PeopleinBritainandUnitedstatesuseittoexpressnumbertwo.Whenindicateswalkingclosetosomeone,Americanusuallywithpalmsfacingupandcurlingonehandintoafist,usingindexfingerwigglinginthefront.However,Chineseareinclinedtoflexhandseveraltimeswithpalmsfacingdown.

Asnonverbalcommunicationaresocomplex,itiseasytomixthemup.Therefore,havingabetterunderstandingofthesegesturesarenecessary.

2.4ConflictsofComplimentaryRemarks

Responsestocomplimentaryarenon-identicalbetweenChineseandAmerican,Chinesepeopletendtoaself-criticismtoshowmodestandpolite,becauseChinaalsohasbeenmodestattentionincommunicationwiththepeople,emphasizes"Belcherownstatue,"seethisasavirtue,whichisarichChineseculturalheritage,courtesyphenomenon.Nevertheless,Americanpeoplealwayssay"thankyou"toreceiptcomplimentary.

AsaresultofChinaandtheWestculturaldifference,wethinkthattheAmericanaretooself-confident,isimmodest.WhileheardChinesepeopledenythemselveswhentheyarehighlyspokenbyothers,AmericanpeoplearesurprisedandconsiderChinesepeoplearedishonest.Thecognitionandresponsetocomplimentaryareusuallybasedonthesharingculturalvaluebetweencommunicationparticipates.Americanpeopleconsidertheyhavetheirowncharacteranditshouldberecognizedandaccepted.Therefore,theyreceiptcomplimentaryandregarditastheircharacterisrecognized.Onthecontrary,Chinesepeopleattachmoreweighttogroupeffort,sowhenbecomplimented,theytendtoowntheirsuccesstojointeffort,notindividualcontribution.Andlaystressonindividualachievementisnotacceptedbysociety.