跨文化交际全部答案
参考资料
Unit 1 Communication Across Cultures
Reading I
Intercultural Communication：An Introduction
Comprehension questions
1. Is it still often the case that “everyone?s quick to blame the alien” in the contemporary world?
This is still powerful in today‘s social and political rhetoric. For instance,
it is not uncommon in
today‘s society to hear people say that most, if not all, of the social and economic problems are
caused by minorities and immigrants.
2. What?s the difference between today?s intercultural contact and that of any time in the past?
Today‘s intercultural encounters are far more numerous and of greater importance
than in any
time in history.
3. What have made intercultural contact a very common phenomenon in our life today?
New technology, in the form of transportation and communication systems, has accelerated intercultural contact; innovative communication systems have encouraged and facilitated cultural interaction; globalization of the economy has brought people together; changes in immigration patterns have also contributed to intercultural encounter.
4. How do you understand the sentence “culture is everything and everywhere”?
Culture supplies us with the answers to questions about what the world looks like and how we live and communicate within that world. Culture teaches us how to behave
in our life from the instant of birth. It is omnipresent.
5. What are the major elements that directly influence our perception and communication?
The three major socio-cultural elements that directly influence perception and communication are cultural values, worldview (religion), and social organizations (family and state).
6. What does one?s family teach him or her while he or she grows up in it?
The family teaches the child what the world looks like and his or her place in that world.
7. Why is it impossible to separate our use of language from our culture?
Because language is not only a form of preserving culture but also a means of
sharing culture. Language is an organized, generally agreed-upon, learned symbol system that is used to represent the experiences within a cultural community.
8. What are the nonverbal behaviors that people can attach meaning to?
People can attach meaning to nonverbal behaviors such as gestures, postures, facial expressions, eye contact and gaze, touch, etc.
9. How can a free, culturally diverse society exist?
A free, culturally diverse society can exist only if diversity is permitted to flourish without prejudice and discrimination, both of which harm all members of the society.
Reading II
The Challenge of Globalization
Comprehension questions
1. Why does the author say that our understanding of the world has changed?
Many things, such as political changes and technological advances, have changed the world very rapidly. In the past most human beings were born, lived, and died within a limited geographical area, never encountering people of other cultural backgrounds. Such an existence, however, no longer prevails in the world. Thus, all people are faced with the challenge of understanding this changed and still fast changing world in which we live.
2. What a “global village” is like?
As our world shrinks and its inhabitants become interdependent, people from remote cultures increasingly come into contact on a daily basis. In a ―global village‖, members of once isolated groups of people have to communicate with members of other cultural groups. Those people may
live thousands of miles away or right next door to each other.
3. What is considered as the major driving force of the post-1945 globalization?
Technology, particularly telecommunications and computers are considered to be the major driving force.
4. What does the author mean by saying that “the …global?may be more local than the …local?”?
The increasing global mobility of people and the impact of new electronic media on human communications make the world seem smaller. We may communicate more with people of other countries than with our neighbors, and we may be more informed of the international events than of the local events. In this sense, ―the ?global‘may be more local than the ?local‘‖.
5. Why is it important for businesspeople to know diverse cultures in the world?
Effective communication may be the most important competitive advantage that firms have to meet diverse customer needs on a global basis. Succeeding in the global market today requires the ability to communicate sensitively with people from other cultures,
a sensitivity that is based on an understanding of cross-cultural differences.
6. What are the serious problems that countries throughout the world are confronted with?
Countries throughout the world are confronted with serious problems such as volatile international economy, shrinking resources, mounting environmental contamination, and epidemics that know no boundaries.
7. What implications can we draw from the case of Michael
Fay?
This case shows that in a world of international interdependence, the ability to understand and communicate effectively with people from other cultures takes on extreme urgency. If we are unaware of the significant role culture plays in communication, we may place the blame for communication failure on people of other cultures.
8. What attitudes are favored by the author towards
globalization?
Globalization, for better or for worse, has changed the world greatly. Whether we like it or not, globalization is all but unstoppable. It is already here to stay. It is both a fact and an opportunity. The challenges are not insurmountable. Solutions exist, and are waiting to be identified and implemented. From a globalistic point of view, there is hope and faith in humanity.
Translation
纵观历史，我们可以清楚地看到，人们由于彼此所处地域、意识形态、容貌服饰和行为举止上存在的差异，而长久无法互相理解、无法和睦相处。在这种情况下，跨文化交际作为一个特定的研究领域得以形成和发展。值得注意的是，人类文明在发展过程中所遭受的许多挫折，既是个人的，又是全球性的；人类历史进程总是充满了个人间的直接冲突和民族间的误解——从骂骂咧咧到孤立主义直至到武装冲突，大大小小争端不绝。
很显然，文化间以及亚文化间的交往比以前多了，这迫切要求我们共同努力，去理解有着不同信仰和文化背景的人们，并与之和睦相处。通过加深认识和理解，我们能够与生活方式、价值观念不同的人们和平共处；这不但有益于我们周遭环境的安定，也是维护世界和平的决定性因素。
Unit 2 Culture and Communication
Reading I
What Is Culture
Comprehension questions
1. Which of the definitions given above do you prefer? Why?
Some may prefer a short definition, such as the one given by E. Sapir or R. Benedict, for it is highly generalized and easy to remember. Some may prefer a longer one, such as Edward T. Hall‘s definition of culture, because it provides us with a more comprehensive understanding of culture and
points out the all-pervasive impact of culture on human life in different dimensions. 2．What have you learned from those definitions about culture?
Many things can be learned from those definitions, for each definition, though not
without its limitations, tells us something very important about culture or certain aspect(s) of culture.
3. Do you agree that our lower needs always have to be satisfied before we can try to satisfy the higher needs?
Even though this is generally the case, there will still be some exceptions. Sometimes people might prefer to satisfy higher needs, for instance, esteem needs, before their lower needs, such as certain physiological needs or safety needs, are satisfied.
4. What examples can you give about how people of different cultures achieve the same ends by taking different roads?
For example, everyone has to eat in order to live and this is universally true. However, to satisfy this basic need, people of various cultures may do it in very different ways: what to eat and how to eat it vary from culture to culture.
5. What behaviors of ours are born with and what are learned in the cultural environment?
Instinctive behaviors are behaviors that we are born with and ways of doing things in daily life, such as ways of eating, drinking, dressing, finding shelter, making friends, marrying, and dealing with death are learned in the cultural environment.
6. What other cultural differences do you know in the way people do things in their everyday life?
We can also find cultural differences in ways of bringing up children, treating the elderly, greeting each other, saving and spending money, and many other things people do in everyday life.
7. In what ways are the Chinese eating habits different from those of the English-speaking countries?
We Chinese may enjoy something that is not usually considered as edible by the English-speaking people. Generally we prefer to have things hot and lay much emphasis on tastes. We tend to share things with each other when we are eating with others.
Fill-in Task
Fill in the following blanks with at least five things in our life that you think are above and five that are below the “w at e r”, the level of our consciousness.
Those that are above the ―water‖ are _what to eat and how to eat it ;
_how to keep healthy_ ;
_how to raise children ;
_how to participate in ceremonies ;
_how to introduce and greet people.
Those that are below the ―water‖ are _what is good or bad ;
_what is right or wrong _;
_what is beautiful or ugly ;
_what is clean or dirty ;
_how is an individual related to others.
Then compare your fill-in items with those of your classmate, and try to decide which of the things are more likely to cause problems in intercultural communication.
Generally speaking, differences in those things that are usually outside of our conscious awareness, i.e. the so-called ―deep culture‖, are more likely to cause problems in intercultural communication. The reason is that this part of culture is internalized in people‘s mind and thus is hard to be perceived. For example, in intercultural communication, it is easy to find out what and how people from another culture eat. Just have a look at their dining table, and we will know it. However, it is much more difficult to find out or understand the values that underlie the phenomena.
To enhance the possibility of success in intercultural communication, it is crucial for us to know not only the hows but also the whys. The Muslims do not eat pork because they worship pigs; the Hindus do not pass dishes with left hand because they think it is impolite since the left hand is used to touch dirty things; the Masai people from Kenya like drinking fresh blood of cattle because they believe that cattle is the cleanest creature in the world. Unaware of the whys, we may regard other people‘s eating habits as strange or unreasonable or even ridiculous, which may prevent us from truly understanding people of other cultures.
Sharing Knowledge: More about Culture
Exploration
Try to find more examples in our life to show the characteristics of culture and what culture does.
Culture is what we share with some but not with all other people; it is common to people belonging to a certain group or category, but different from people belonging to other groups or categories. In our life, culture is everywhere and determines how we usually behave. It includes the language in which we express ourselves, the way we raise our children, the deference we show to our elders, the physical distance from other people we maintain in order to feel comfortable, and the way we perceive general human activities such as eating, making love, having a conversation, forming a friendship with someone, etc. and the ceremonials surrounding them.
Reading II
Elements of Communication
Comprehension questions
1. What are the aspects of context mentioned above?
One aspect of context is the physical setting, including location, time, light, temperature, distance between communicators, and any seating arrangements.
A second aspect of context is historical. A third aspect of context is psychological.
A fourth aspect of context is culture.
2. In what ways would your posture, manner of speaking or attire change if you move from one physical setting to another, for example, from your home to a park, to a classroom, to a restaurant, to a funeral house, etc?
One‘s posture, manner of speaking or attire change from being casual to formal gradually from
home to a park, to a classroom, to a restaurant, to a funeral house, etc, according to different formalness and seriousness of these situations.
3. How do people acquire communication norms in their life?
People acquire communication norms from their experiences in life.
4. What examples can you give to describe some Chinese norms in our everyday communication?
For example, it seems to be a norm in China to address one‘s boss by his or her title and never to express one‘s disapproval directly to him or her.
.
5. How can we play both the roles of sender and receiver in communication?
As senders, we form messages and attempt to communicate them to others through verbal and
nonverbal symbols. As receivers, we process the messages sent to us and react to them both verbally and nonverbally.
6. Does the sender plays a more important role than the receiver in communication?
No, they are equally important for both of them are essential in the process of communication.
7. In what ways do the differences between participants make communication more or less difficult?
Three especially important variables affecting participants which are relationship, gender, and culture make communication more or less difficult.
8. What is a symbol and what is a meaning?
The pure ideas and feelings that exist in a p er s on‘s mind represent meanings. The words, sounds, and actions that communicate meaning are known as symbols because they stand for the meanings intended by the person using them.
9. How can meanings be transferred from one person to another? What problems may arise in this process?
A message from one person is encoded into symbols and then decoded into ideas and feelings to another person. In this process of transforming include nonverbal cues, which significantly affect the meaning created between the participants in a communication transaction.
10. When are unintended or conflicted meanings likely to be
created?
Unintended meanings are created when the decoding person receives a meaning unrelated to what the encoder thought he or she was communicating. Conflicting meanings are created when the verbal symbols are contradicted by the nonverbal cues.
11. Which channels do you usually prefer in communication?
Why?
Of the five channels, some may prefer sight. As the old saying goes, ―words are but wind, but seeing is believing.‖
12. What examples can you find to show that one channel is more effective than others for transmitting certain messages?
For example, when asking a lady for a date, a young man may wear an immaculate suit and spray some perfume to show that he highly values this date with her. In this case, sight and smell are definitely more effective than words for conveying that particular message.
13. What are the things that can create noises in the process of communication?
Sights, sounds, and other stimuli in the environment that draw p eop l e‘s attention away f r om intended meaning are known as external noise. Thoughts and feelings that interfere with the communication process are known as internal noise. Unintended meanings aroused by certain verbal symbols can inhibit the accuracy of decoding. This is known as semantic noise.
14. What should we do to reduce the interference of noise in
communication?
When communicating with others, we should pay undivided attention to communication itself,
avoiding being distracted by any external or internal noise. Besides, we should make sure that what we say is correctly understood by others and vice versa to prevent semantic
noise from generating.
15. Why is feedback a very important element of
communication?
Feedback is very important because it serves useful functions for both senders and receivers: it provides senders with the opportunity to measure how they are coming across, and it provides receivers with the opportunity to exert some influence over the communication process.
16. What will you usually do when you receive negative feedback in communication?
Open.
Matching Task
In communication, the sentence meaning and the speaker?s meaning may not be exactly the same. What is important to successful communication is not just knowing the sentence meaning but knowing what the speaker actually means by the sentence said.
In the following there should be ten short dialogues. Try to make a proper match between each of what the first speaker says on the left and what the second speaker says on the right to form a dialogue that will make sense, and then decide what is possibly meant by the second speaker in the dialogue.
1: Let‘s go to the
movies.
j: I‘ll bring the Kleenex.
(I suppose the film is a tear-jerker)
2: Good morning. Do you have anything to treat complete loss of voice?
f: Good morning sir. What can I do for you today?
(We don‘t have anything to treat complete loss of voice)
3: I do think Mrs. Jenkins is an old windbag, don‘t you?
a: Huh, lovely weather for March, isn‘t it?
(I don‘t want to talk about it)
4: What on earth has happened to my roast beef?
g: The dog is looking happy.
(Perhaps the dog has eaten the roast beef)
5. Would you like a cocktail? It‘s my invention.
i: Well, mmm uh it‘s not that we don‘t not drink.
(I‘m a bit dubious about drinking that cocktail)
6. Are you going to Steve‘s barbecue?
h: It is an outdoor
party. (I‘m not
going to it)
7: Did you buy her a rose?
b: I bought her a flower.
(I didn‘t buy her a rose)
8: We went to see ―The Omen‖ last night but it wasn‘t very scary?
c: It would keep me awake all
night. (I think ―The Omen‖ is
scary)
9: Would you like something to drink?
d: Well, I‘ve been on whiskey all day.
(Whiskey, please / Something other than whiskey, please)
10: Is John a good cook
e: He‘s English.
(No, he isn‘t, for the English are generally not good cooks)
More examples:
1. A: Can you tell me the time?
B: Well, the milkman has come.
(No, I don‘t know the exact time, but I can tell you that the milkman has come so that you may
be able to tell what the approximate time it is now.)
2. A: Do you like your new
dress?
B: It‘s pink.
(No, I don‘t like it, for it‘s not my favorite color.)
3. A: Did finish your
homework?
B: I started it.
(No, I didn‘t finish my homework.)
4. A: I really like the
dinner.
B: I‘m a vegetarian.
(I didn‘t like the dinner because meat had been the main course.)
5. A: Has the machine been
fixed?
B: Tom is away but he will be back
soon. (No, but it will be fixed soon.)
Translation
文
化
有
时
候
被称为我们的心智程序，我们
“头
脑的
。但是，我们可以进一步引申 这个用电脑所做的类比，把文化看作是支持运行的操作环境。文化就像电脑使用的 D OS 或者 Unix 或者
“视窗”（Windows ）等操作系统一样，使我们能在各种各样的实际应用中处理信 息。 用“视窗”这个比喻来描述文化似乎也很有吸引力。文化就是我们心灵的视窗，透过它 我们审视生活的方方面面。一个社会中不同个体的视窗是不大一样的，但都有着一些重要的 共同特征。 文化就好像是鱼畅游于其中的水一般，人们想当然地把文化看成是客观存在的事实，因 而很少去研究它。文化存在于我们所呼吸的空气之中，文化对于我们了解我们自身之为何物 是必不可少的，就正如生命离不开空气一样。文化是特定群体的共有财产，而不单是个体的 特征。社会按照文化设定的程序运作，这种程序来自于相似的生活体验以及对这种生活体验 之含义的相似阐释。
如果文化是一种心智程序，那么它也是现实的心灵地图。从我们很小的时候开始，文化 就告诉我们应该看重什么、偏好什么、规避什么和做些什么，文化还告诉我们事物应该是什 么样。文化为我们提供超越个体经验可能的理想典范，帮助我们决定应该优先考虑的人或事。 文化为我们建立起行为准则，并视遵守这些准则的行为为正当、合法。
Unit 3 C ultural Diversity
Reading I Different Lands, Different Friendships
Comprehension questions 1. Why is it comparatively easy to make friends in the United States? Because few Americans stay put for a lifetime. With each move, forming new friendship becomes a necessity and part of their new life.
2. Do people from different countries usually have different expectations about what
constitutes friendship and how it comes into being?
Yes. The difficulty when strangers from two countries meet is their different expectations about what constitutes friendship and how it comes into being.
3. How is friendship in America different from friendship in West Europe?
In West Europe, friendship is quite sharply distinguished from other, more casual relationships, is usually more particularized and carries a heavier burden of commitment, while in America the word ―friend ‖ can be applied to a wide range of relationship and a friendship may be superficial,
casual, situational or deep and enduring.
4. In what country does friendship have much to do with one ?s family? And in what country
does it not?
In Germany, friendship has much to do with one ‘s family as friends are usually b
rought into the family, while in France it doesn‘t as, for instance, two men may have been friends for a long time without knowing each other ‘s personal life.
5. What is friendship like when it is compartmentalized?
For instance, a man may play chess with a friend for thirty years without knowing his political opinions, or he may talk politics with him for as long a time without knowing about his personal life. Different friends fill different niches in each person‘s
li f e.
6. What are friendships usually based on in England?
English friendships are based on shared activity. Activities at different stages of life may be of very different kinds. In the midst of the activity, whatever it may be, people fall into steps and find that they participate in the activity with the same easy anticipation of what each will do day by day or in some critical situation.
7. Do you think friendship shares some common elements in different cultures? If you
do, what are they?
Yes. There is the recognition that friendship, in contrast with kinship, invokes freedom of choice. A friend is someone who chooses and is chosen. Related to this is the sense each friend gives the other of being a special individual, on whatever grounds this recognition is based. And between friends there is inevitably a kind of equality of give-and-take.
8. What do you think is the typical Chinese concept of friendship? Is it similar to
or different from any of the Western friendships?
It seems that the typical Chinese concept of friendship lays great emphasis on personal loyalty and also has much to do with family. It may be similar to Germany friendship to some extent and quite different from other Western friendships.
Reading II
Comparing and Contrasting Cultures
Comprehension questions
1. How is the mainstream American culture different from the Japanese
culture?
Americans believe that human nature is basically good and man is the master of nature. They are future-oriented and ―being‖-oriented. Their social orientation is toward the importance of the individual and the equality of all people. However, the Japanese believe that human nature is a
mixture of good and evil. Man is in harmony with nature. They are both past-oriented and future-oriented. And they are both ―growing-‖and ―doing-‖oriented. They give emphasis to authorities and the group.
2. Can you find examples to support the author?s view of traditional cultures in
different value orientations?
For example, the traditional Indian culture believes that man is subjugated by nature and it is being-oriented (which can be exemplified by its caste system). Also, traditional Chinese culture is past-oriented, for emphasis has long been given to learning from the old and past.
3. Why do Americans tend to equate “change”with “improvement”and regard rapid
change as normal?
Concerning orientation toward time, Americans are dominated by a belief in progress. They are future-oriented. They believe that ―t i m e is money‖and have an optimistic faith in the future and what the future will bring. So they tend to equate ―c hange‖with ―i m p r ove m en t‖and consider a ra p i d rate of change as normal.
4. What does “Electric Englishman”mean when it is used to describe the
American?
As for activity, Americans are so action-oriented that they tend to be hyperactive.
That‘s why
that they have been described as ―Electric Englishmen‖, who always keep themselves busy.
5. How would you explain the fact that contradictory values may exist in the
same culture?
As time changes faster and faster and there is more contact between cultures, it is more likely to find contradictory values existing in the same culture. This is especially the case in a society that is being transformed from a traditional one into a modern one. For example, in the Japanese culture, some people may still be very past-oriented and some are rather future-oriented, and even the same people may be sometimes past-oriented in certain situations and sometime future-oriented in other situations.
6. What can we get from models of this kind about cultural
differences?
Models of this kind are quite useful in giving rough pictures of striking contrasts and differences of different cultures. However, such a model only compares cultures on some basic orientations. It does not tell us everything about every conceivable culture. We have to recognize that models of this kind are over-simplifications and can only give approximations of reality.
7. Do cultural values change as time
changes?
Yes, the values may be in the process of marked change due to rapid modernization and globalization. However, they have a way of persisting in spite of change. The evolution of values is a slow process, since they are rooted in survival needs and passed
on from generation to generation.
8. How is communication influenced by differing cultural
values?
Putting people from one culture into another culture with radically different value orientations could cause stress, disorientation, and breakdowns in communication.
Translation
虽然，我们每个人都有各自一套独特的价值观，但在每一文化里，总有弥漫于整个文化之中的普遍的价值观。这些被称作文化价值观
文化价值观通常是规范性的，它使文化的成员知道什么是好的和坏的、什么是正确的和错误的、什么是真的和假的、什么是积极的和消极的，等等。文化价值规定了什么是值得为
之献身的，什么是值得维护的，什么会危及人们及其社会制度，什么是学习的恰当内容，什么是可讽刺嘲笑的，什么是形成群体团结的途径。文化价值观也指明了文化中的什么行为是举足轻重的，哪些是应当尽力避免的。价值观是人们在做出抉择和解决争端时作为依据的一种习得的规则体系。
跨文化交际的参与者所具有的价值观是十分重要的，因为价值观产生出决定何为正当或
不正当社会行为的标准。换言之，价值观有助于人们决定他们的行为方式，以符合他们的价值系统所期望的行为准则。由于文化价值系统之间存在差异，我们可以预见，在相似的情境中，跨文化交际的参与者会表现出并期待着不同的行为。
Unit 4 Language and Culture
Reading I
How Is Language Related to Culture
Comprehension questions
1. What can we do to avoid attributing a very different meaning to the phrase or interpret it much more literally?
We have to be aware of the cultural implications of the phrase.
2. What are the other functions of using question forms apart from asking for information?
It serves as a lubricant to move the conversation forward. A question that has this function can be called a ―social question‖.
3. Why are those Germans getting stiffer and more reserved all the time when visiting Ingrid Zerbe?
They are confused about how to address her, for she introduces herself by first and last name rather than by last name and professional title.
4. How does the environment influence the use of language?
Language reflects the environment in which we live. We use language to label the things that are around us.