Culture and Communication文化与交际.docx
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CultureandCommunication文化与交际
CultureandCommunication
Abstract
Asisknowntoall,Chinahasalreadyenteredaneraofrapiddevelopmentandcreatedamiracleineconomicfieldintheprocessofglobalization.FollowingthefrequentcommunicationbetweenChinaandotherforeigncountries,ournationisfurtherinvolvedintheinternationalaffairs,mainlyinbusinesspractice.Withtheexpansionoftheeconomicandcommercialcooperation,theculturalenvironmentoftheinterculturalcommunicationhasbeenmoreandmorecomplicated.Allthevaluesystems,thinkingpatterns,andevenbehaviormodeindifferentculturesvariesfrompersontoperson,whichhighlyaffectsbusinessactivities,and,what’smore,itdeterminestheconsequences.Thereforetheculturalfactorshavebeenemphasized.AlthoughtraditionalBusinessEnglishteachinghasbeenconcernedinthelanguageculturaldifferences,itisalwaysinclinedtofocusontheexplanationaboutbusinessknowledgeorlanguagetraining,whichfailstorealizeteachinggoalsduetotheneglectofpassingontheinterculturalknowledge.Asaresult,intheprocessofBusinessEnglishteaching,apartfromtheinitiatingbusinessskills,weshouldalsopaymoreattentiontothecultivationofinterculturalcommunicationcompetence.
Inthepast,interculturalcommunicationtheoriesweremoreappliedintoFLTteachingandlesscombinedwithBusinessEnglish.Asamatteroffact,theapplicationofcross-culturalcommunicationtotheteachingofBusinessEnglishinthecontextofChinesecollegesshouldbeoperatedinsuchawaythatstudentscouldbeabletolearntheculturaldifferencesbetweenChinaandwesterncountries.Atthesametime,studentswillunderstandthebasicideasgoverningtherespectiveculturalentities.Byanalysisandcomparison,businessculturaldifferencesarestudiedthehigherlevelofculturalthinking.AndthismustbethepremiergoalofBusinessEnglishteaching.
Generallyspeaking,thethesisconsistsofthefollowingquestions:
firstly,whyshouldweteachandlearnBusinessEnglishfromtheinterculturalcommunicationperspective?
Secondly,whatcouldweanalyzetherelationshipbetweeninterculturalcommunicationandBusinessEnglishteaching?
Thirdly,howshouldwedevelopculturalawarenessandimprovecommunicationability?
KeyWords:
valuesystems;culturalfactors;BusinessEnglishteaching;interculturalcommunication;culturaldifferences
摘要
众所周知的是,在经济全球化的浪潮中,中国已然步入了快速发展的时代,并在经济领域创造了一个奇迹。
伴随着频繁的国际商业交流,我国越来越多地融入到国际事务中,尤其在商务活动方面。
然而,随着国际经贸合作的不断扩展,跨文化交流也处在一个多文化,复杂的文化环境里。
不同的人有着不同的价值观、思维方式、行为模式,这些差异会极大地影响商务活动的各个环节,甚至决定商务活动的成败。
因此,商务活动中的文化因素越来越受到人们的重视。
传统的商务英语教学虽不断涉及到语言中文化差异,但往往注重了商务知识的讲解和语言训练而忽视了商务英语中文化知识的传授,造成了很多商务活动的失败。
因此在注重知识讲授的同时更要重视跨文化交际能力的培养。
跨文化交际理论传统上应用于外语教学,与商务英语结合相对较少。
而跨文化交际研究与商务英语教学的结合点应该落在让学生了解中西文化的差异,探究各自的基本思想和观念。
通过分析对比,从更深层次上理解商务中的文化差异。
这也必须是商务英语教学最重要的目标。
这一论文主要由以下几个问题构成:
第一,为什么要从跨文化角度分析商务英语教学?
第二,商务英语教学与跨文化交际有何联系?
第三,我们该如何培养跨文化意识并提高交际能力?
关键词:
价值观;文化因素;商务英语教学;跨文化交际;文化差异
Introduction
Withthedevelopmentofglobalization,thecontactwiththeworldhasbecomemoreandmorefrequent.Itiswell-knownthatEnglishhasbecomeanimportantinternationallanguageandhasagreatimpactonbusinessaffairs,soBusinessEnglishisanecessityandweattachgreatimportancetoitsteachingandlearningincorrespondencewiththesocialdevelopment.Forthesakeofsatisfyingtheneedforbusinesstalents,lotsofcoursesconcerningBusinessEnglishhavebeensetinmanyuniversities,evenmiddleschools.However,thepresentBusinessEnglishteachingmethodisfarfromsatisfactory.
1.1PurposeandScopeoftheThesis
Greatlyinfluencedbythetraditionalteaching,BusinessEnglishisstillinclinedtovaluelinguisticknowledgeratherthancommunicativecompetence.Admittedly,greatnumbersoflearnersstillputanemphasisonbusinessvocabularyandgrammaticalrules,leadingtotheconsequencethattheyfailtoexpressideasbymeansofEnglishinpractice,andcausingthemiscommunicationorfailureinthecommunication.Therefore,theurgentneedforthetimebeingistoimprovelearner’sculturalawarenessanddeveloptheirinterculturalcommunicationcompetenceinBusinessEnglishteaching,soastoachievethefinalgoalandrealpurposeofBusinessEnglishteaching.SothewriterchoosesBusinessEnglishteachingandlearningasthetopicofhisthesisinordertohelpstudentsimprovetheirinterculturalcommunicationabilityinbusinessEnglishlearning.
1.2TheoreticalFrameworkandMethodologyoftheThesis
InspiteofthefactthatvariousmethodshavebeenappliedinthecourseofBusinessEnglishteaching,theresultisstillfarfromexpectation.Therefore,theauthortriestoexploreanewperspective—InterculturalCommunicationtheoriesinanattempttohaveamoreeffectivelearningfeedback.
Itiswell-knownthatattitudehasagreatimpactoncommunicationcompetence,andaccordingtotheviewofSocialpsychologists,attitudeshouldbemadeupofcognitive,affectiveandconative.AsGudycunst,oneofthefamouscommunicationexperts,(1984)putit,anefficientinterculturalcommunicatorisexpectedtohavecomponentofcognitive,affectiveandbehavioralsimultaneously.OurscholarofInterculturalCommunication,JiaYuxin(1997)summarizedthetheoryofGudycunstandproposesthatthecommunicationsystemshouldincludestrategicabilityaswell.Basedonthesemodelsandtheories,thewriterwillanalyzetheconstituentofinterculturalcommunicationcompetenceandgiveaninstructioninBusinessEnglishteaching.
Thisthesisisprogressedbyaquantitativeapproachbymeansofcollectingandanalyzingconsiderableexamplestakeninbooksorthereallife.
LiteratureReview
Inthischapter,thestudyofBusinessEnglishanditsteachingwillbeoverviewed,andthestudyoninterculturalcommunicationwillbeintroducedindetail.
2.1CharacteristicsofBusinessEnglish
BusinessEnglishisregardedasa“mediatinglanguagebetweenthetechnicalitiesofparticularbusinesses…andthelanguageofthegeneralpublic”(Pickett,1989:
5).Pickett(1989)suggeststwoparticularaspectstobusinesscommunications:
communicationwiththepublicandcommunicationwithinacompanyorbetweencompanies.Communicationwiththepublicislikelytobeinthefirstlanguage.Non-nativespeakersuseBusinessEnglishmainlyforinter-company.Pickett’sdistinctionisusefulbutitfailstocovertheincreasinglywiderangeoftoday’sbusinessactivities,suchasfaxtransmission,complexL/Coperation,etc.Variouscommunicationchannels,differenttopicscoveredanddiverserelationshipswillallaffectthechoiceofBusinessEnglish.
BusinessEnglishisclassifiedintoEnglishforGeneralBusinessPurposes(EGBP)andEnglishforSpecificBusinessPurposes(ESBP)(Dudley-EvansandSt.John,1998).EGBPcoursesareusuallyforpre-experiencedstudentsorthoseatveryearlystagesoftheircareer.Studentstakethecourseeitheratuniversitiesoratlanguagetrainingschoolandthecoursearealwaysmassiveintopiccontentsandskillcultivations.ESBPcoursesarepreparedforthosejob-experiencedlearners,inwhichacertainaspectofbusinessorsomeparticularskillswillbefestered.
BusinessEnglishintheinternationaltradeplaysanincreasinglyimportantrole.BusinessEnglishlanguagehasitsowncharacteristics;toreallymasterthebusinessanditstranslationinEnglish,notonlyexperiencedinEnglishlanguageknowledge,butalsomustbefamiliarwithbusinessexpertise;inbusinessEnglishtranslationofthetranslationmustfollowcertainprinciples,useofanumberoftranslationstrategies.AfterChinajoinstheWTO,internationalbusinessactivitieshavebecomeincreasinglyfrequent.Manyofthesebusinessareas,suchastechnologytransfer,foreigntrade,investment,foreigncontractingandlaborservicecontracts,internationalfinance,foreigninsurance,internationaltravel,overseasinvestment,internationaltransport,etc,collectivelyknownastheEnglishusedinbusinessEnglish.BusinessEnglishhasbecomethelanguageofeconomicactivityinessentialcommunicationtool.BECtendstobepopularinChina.MoreandmorepeopleareinterestedinbusinessEnglishanditstranslation.
BusinessEnglishvocabularyusedinthemostremarkablefeatureisthepreciseuseoftechnicalvocabulary,whichcontainsalargenumberofspecializedvocabulary,withtheordinarymeaningofthewordcommercial,orcompoundwords,acronyms,andotherissuesinvolvingthebusinesstheoryandbusinesspracticeintermsofitslanguagehasaverystrongprofessional.
2.2UsersofBusinessEnglish
Aspreviouslymentioned,Englishhasbecomethemostavailablelanguagetoolinbusinessnegotiation.AFinnconductingbusinessinBangkokusesEnglish;aSudanesedoingbusinesswiththeDutchusesEnglish;theNorwegianinChinaoftenuseEnglish;anAmericanandaGermanprobablyalsoemployEnglish.
ThusmostEnglish-mediumcommunicationsinbusinessarenon-nativespeakertonon-nativespeaker(NNS-NNS),andtheEnglishtheyuseisInternationalEnglish,notthatofnativespeaker(NS)ofEnglish-mediumcountriessuchastheUKandAustralia.Forexample,GuyandMattock(1993)usetheterm“offshoreEnglish”fortheEnglishspokenbetweenEuropeanswhodonotsharefirstlanguagesandhavelearnedEnglishforpracticalratherthanacademicpurposes.
OneoftheconsequencesoftheroleofEnglishastheinternationallanguageisthat“non-BritishmanagersmaybeabletounderstandeachothermoreeasilywhenspeakingEnglishtogetherthantheycanunderstandanativespeaker”(BarhamandOater,1991)andthenon-nativespeakersmayunderstandeachothermoreeasilythanthenativespeaker(NS)understandsthem.People,whosharethefirstlanguage,mayshareacommonuseofEnglishw