how to avoid the difference between China and America.docx

1、how to avoid the difference between China and AmericaHow to Avoid Discrepancies Resulting from Culture DifferenceOutlineThesis statement: this statement is mainly talk about the conflicts in cross-cultural communication, and find out some effective ways to avoid these discrepancies result from cultu

2、re difference.1 Introduction.2 Conflicts in the Cross-Cultural Communication. 2.1 Conflicts of Privacy. 2.2 Conflicts of Time 2.3 Conflicts in Nonverbal Communication. 2.4 Conflicts of Complimentary Remarks.3 The Factors Resulting in Cultural Conflicts 3.1 Different Values. 3.2 Different Thinking pa

3、tterns 3.2.1 linear type vs spiral type 3.2.2 intuitive experience vs rational thought 4 Ways to Avoid Discrepancies4.1 Choice of Appropriate Topics of Conversation4.2 How to Open and Control Conversations4.3 Use of Euphemisms5 Conclusion. How to Avoid Discrepancies Resulting from Culture Difference

4、 Bu Dandan Schools of Foreign Languages, CWUN, Nanchong, China, 637002Abstract: In cross-cultural communication, Chinese and English people often encounter difficulties in communication . People are influenced by different cultures, social norms and values, so people often make some ridiculous jokes

5、 and meet with the circumstances which make them embarrassed. If people want to gain a deeper insight into the essence of cross-cultural communication, they should have some cross-culture knowledge and learn some skills.This paper tries to show some conflicts in cross-cultural communication related

6、to privacy, nonverbal communication, complimentary remarks, different values and different thinking backgrounds. It puts forward some suggestions to avoid the conflicts and finds the ways to help students to learn foreign cultures well. It also aims at helping the English learners to understand Engl

7、ish culture better and communicate in English more effectively.Key words: cross-cultural communication; cultural differences; cultural conflict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

8、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 1 Introduction In twenty-first century, human enter a society which economic integration and information has no national boundaries. English are used as an tool

9、 to convey international information, and its impact are more and more obvious. According to a survey, almost 3.2 billion people take English as mother tongue. Besides, nearly 3 billion learn it as second language. With Chinas opening to the outside and entry into WTO, cross-cultural economy and soc

10、ial activities have increased. In the cross-cultural communication between American and China, it is unavoidable to produce cultural misunderstanding and conflicts because of diverse think patterns and customary manners. When learn English, students are still just learn the words and grammar rules b

11、y heart, whats worse, they think that is enough. However, common sense are not general. They are diverse from country to country. Cross-cultural are not equal to reading, writing, listening and speaking. Language is the carrier of culture, and how to express an idea has close relationship with cultu

12、ral backgrounds. So if you want to learn English well, you must know its culture well, or you may have many conflicts in the cross-cultural communication.2 Conflicts in the Cross-cultural Communication. In cross-cultural communication, various of conflicts occurs. Such as conflicts of privacy, confl

13、icts of time, conflicts in nonverbal communication, and conflicts of complimentary and so on.The following are details.2.1 Conflicts of Privacy Privacy means laws and society acknowledge that everyone have the right to build a barrier around oneself, which makes others people do not know what are yo

14、u doing. Amitai Etzioni, a professor in Gorge Washington university, said in his book The range of privacy. People come from different countries hold different attitudes toward privacy. American people attach great importance to privacy, and they take effective actions to protect their own privacy:

15、such as refuse to tell others their age, salary, marriage and so forth. However, in China,the word privacy sometimes is depreciative, as if there are something disgrace which need to be hidden. Compared with American people, Chinese people always tell others their age, salary, marriage on their own

16、initiative. The following two examples are used to show conflicts of privacy between Chinese and American. Example one: people in China greet each other by asking such king of question: where are you going? Have you had your meal? How is it going between you and your lover? They think this kind of q

17、uestions can show their solicitude for friends. But if you ask American such questions, they may answer you like this: it is none of your business. Because American people regard those stuff as privacy. In stead of asking those questions, American people just say hi or hello to friends and sometimes

18、 give each other a hug to greet others. Example two: People often visit their friends house without giving their friends a call in advance in China, for Chinese people think that is a surprise which can make friends much more exciting. Besides, sometimes Chinese people can ask their neighbours or fr

19、iends to play mahjong regardless of their planed arrangement. To foreigners surprise, Chinese people always make sacrifices for the sake of keeping company with gentlemen.If you do not make appointment in advance, American people may refuse you to come in. That is totally different from China. In sh

20、ort, Chinese people always give priority to collective, even in privacy aspects. Individual is first for American people, including privacy. 2.2 Conflicts of Time At any communicative activities, no matter it is verbal or nonverbal communication, they are both have a close relationship with time. As

21、 vies of time lies in the deep-structure of culture, It is often be ignored. Therefore, another conflicts produce in cross-cultural communication. American and China have different time orientations in terms of intercultural communication. China is one of four ancient country with civilization over

22、five thousand years, so Chinese respect old and look old age as the symbol of wisdom. There is an old saying: if you do not do as the old told you, you would be in trouble soon. To sum up, Chinese culture are largely based on past-time, and Chinese highlight bear the past in mind. However, America i

23、s tend to chose future as their major culture. They do everything for the future.Influenced by the thought of Christianity, for them, there is on road in the back, what they can do is go ahead. Hall divides time into monochronic time and polychronic time. Chinese tends to take polychronic time, for

24、they allot time at random. To a great extent, Chinese are the master of time, they never make clear time to visit someone. But time is the master of American. They make clearly what should be done at any time. 2.3 Conflicts in Nonverbal Communication Nonverbal communication can express oneself as we

25、ll as verbal communication. In broad meaning, nonverbal communication contains various gestures, touch, voice suggestion, relationship distance, clothing and so on. As nonverbal communication has four features: university, subsidiarity, authenticity, otherness. it makes many difficulties in cross-cu

26、ltural communication. The same gesture has different meaning in different counties.and the different gestures may have the same meaning in different countries. The following are some examples. In China, giving a thumbs-up means good or smart, and stretch out little finger means bad. Different from C

27、hina, American people give a thumbs-up to ask for a lift, and give a thumb-down to show something is bad. Besides, making circles with one finger around the temple means using ones wits in China, but means mental problem in American and Brazil. Whats more, Chinese people show number eight with stret

28、ch out index finger and thumb. People in Britain and United states use it to express number two. When indicates walking close to someone, American usually with palms facing up and curling one hand into a fist, using index finger wiggling in the front. However, Chinese are inclined to flex hand sever

29、al times with palms facing down. As nonverbal communication are so complex, it is easy to mix them up. Therefore, having a better understanding of these gestures are necessary. 2.4 Conflicts of Complimentary Remarks Responses to complimentary are non-identical between Chinese and American, Chinese p

30、eople tend to a self-criticism to show modest and polite , because China also has been modest attention in communication with the people, emphasizes Belcher own statue, see this as a virtue, which is a rich Chinese cultural heritage, courtesy phenomenon. Nevertheless, American people always say than

31、k you to receipt complimentary. As a result of China and the West cultural difference, we think that the American are too self-confident, is immodest. While heard Chinese people deny themselves when they are highly spoken by others, American people are surprised and consider Chinese people are disho

32、nest. The cognition and response to complimentary are usually based on the sharing cultural value between communication participates. American people consider they have their own character and it should be recognized and accepted. Therefore, they receipt complimentary and regard it as their character is recognized. On the contrary, Chinese people attach more weight to group effort, so when be complimented, they tend to own their success to joint effort, not individual contribution. And lay stress on individual achievement is not accepted by society.