跨文化交际

河南师范大学外国语学院考查课程答卷年级类别：2011级学科专业：学科教学（英语）学号：1105280400姓名：龙裴课程名称：跨文化交际授课教师：陈运香考试时间：考试分数：2011级教育硕士、翻译硕士“跨文化交际”测试题I.Explain the following terms.（20 points）1.Cross-cultural communication:Answer: Cross-cultural communication refers to communication between the native speakers and non-native speakers of communication, also refers to the communication among any people in different language and the background. Cross-cultural communication is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate, in similar and different ways among themselves, and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures.2.Enculturation:Answer: Enculturation is the process by which a person learns the requirements of the culture by which he or she is surrounded, and acquires values and behaviors that are appropriate or necessary in that culture. As part of this process, the influences which limit, direct, or shape the individual (whether deliberately or not) include parents, other adults, and peers. If successful, enculturation results in competence in the language, values and rituals of the culture. The process of enculturation is related to socialization. In some academic fields, socialization refers to the deliberate shaping of the individual, in others; the word may be used to cover both deliberate and informal enculturation.3.Perception:Answer:Perception is the means by which we make sense of our physical and social world. Our perceptions give meaning to all those external forces. Perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of the environment by organizing and interpreting sensory information. All perception involves signals in the nervous system, which in turn result from physical stimulation of the sense organs. For example, vision involves light striking the retinas of the eyes, smell is mediated by odor molecules and hearing involves pressure waves. Perception is not the passive receipt of these signals, but can be shaped by learning, memory and expectation. In contemporary psychology, perception is defined as the brain‟s interpretation of sensory information so as to give it meaning. Cognitive sciences make the understanding of perception more detailed: Perception is the process of acquiring, interpreting, selecting, and organizing sensory information.4.Behavioral residue:Answer: Behavioral residue refers to those things that remain as a record of our action. It implies the way we perceive people around us by the behaviors that we observe; just like the saying “The deed proves the man”. Many behaviors leave some kind of discernible residue in their wake. Given that large quantities of behavior are performed in personal environments, it makes sense that these places might accumulate a fairamount of residue.II. Answer the following questions briefly. (40 points)1.How can you understand “intercultural communication is a dynamic rather than static process”?Answer:Intercultural communication is a dynamic course during which various contextual aspects interact. To make the communication run smoothly, mutterer and interpreter should adapt their linguistic choice to the communicative context consisting of language users, psychological, linguistic, social and physical worlds. Only when the language choice adapts to linguistic and social contexts can successful communication be achieved. And, to avoid communication failures, one should know the saying- "when in Rome, do as the Romans do."Intercultural communication, in its final analysis, is a semiotic activity, dealing with sign exchanges through sign transmission in a much more complicated dynamic manner than interpersonal communication in an Intraocular. Many semiotic theories given by classic demolitions or contemporary semiotic scholars can explain intercultural communication phenomena better than those borrowed from other disciplines, at least more theoretically acceptable.2.In what ways are high-context cultures different from low-context culture?Answer: Context is the most important cultural dimension and alsoimmensely difficult to define. The idea of context in culture was an idea put forth by an anthropologist by the name of Edward T Hall. Hall breaks up culture into two main groups: High and Low context cultures. He refers to context as the stimuli, environment or ambiance surrounding the environment. Depending on how a culture relies on the three points to communicate their meaning, will place them in either High or Low context cultures. For example, Hall goes on to explain that low-context cultures assume that the individuals know very little about what they are being told, and therefore must be given a lot of background information. High-Context cultures assume the individual is knowledgeable about the subject and has to be given very little background information.3.What are collectivism and individualism? What features do they have respectively?Answer:Collectivism is defined as the theory and practice that makes some sort of group rather than the individual the fundamental unit of political, social, and economic concern. In theory, collectivists insist that the claims of groups, associations, or the state must normally supersede the claims of individuals.Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology, or social outlook that stresses "the moral worth of the individual". Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing most externalinterference upon one's own interests, whether by society, family or any other group or institution.Individualism makes the individual its focus and so starts "with the fundamental premise that the human individual is of primary importance in the struggle for liberation.Features of Individualism:(1)Emphasizes independence and individual achievement(2)Promotes self-expression, individual thinking and personal choice(3)Associated with private property and individual ownership(4)Stresses competition as a means of achieving collective goals Features of Collectivism:(1)Emphasizes interdependence and group success(2)Promotes adherence to group norms, respect for authority and creating consensus(3)Associated with shared property and group ownership(4)Stresses cooperation as a means of maximizing individual achievement4.What do you think are the important factors for intercultural communication?Answer：(1) StereotypeStereotyping due to generalizing may be inevitable among those who lack frequent contact with another culture. But if you rely on the stereotypes, you will likely put yourself into an awkward and embarrassing situationand offend others.(2)EthnocentrismA consequence of this limited experience within one particular society, most people feel that their particular way of life is superior, right, and natural and that all other cultures are inferior and often wrong and unnatural. This feeling is called ethnocentrism. People everywhere develop customs and values, not to make their life more difficult or complicated, but to make life simpler and easier in their own society. We should attempt to look at other societies "within the framework of that society", instead of looking at it from the perspective of our own society.(3)Pragmatic transferTransfer is borrowed from educational psychology which is used to describe the human tendency to generalize what has been learnt in one situation to other situations.Positive transfer can help and enhance our foreign language learning while negative transfer (interference) may hinder the learning and cause breakdowns in communication.III. Please show your understanding of the following statement.(40 points)Differences exist between Chinese culture and western cultures in terms of the cultural patterns including human nature, relationship of mankind to nature, sense of time, activity and social relationship.Answer:(a)Human nature orientationChinese culture: Innately good.The orientation of being goodness is found typically in the Buddhist tradition. Buddhism maintains that we are born pure and are closest to what is called “loving kindness” when we enter this world. Chinese culture believes that people are innately good.Western culture: Innately evilWestern culture believes that people are intrinsically evil and therefore cannot be trusted seek to control the actions of their members with institutions ranging from the religious to the political. The orientation in western is based on the concept of original sin. By following some rules people can change, improve, and “be saved”.(b) Relationship of humankind to natureChinese culture:OnenessOn viewing the relationship between humankind and nature, the Chinese tend to fuse the human and 'heaven' as one part.Western culture: dividednessWestern culture is based on science, which attempts to resolve people and nature's relationship. The westerners believe that the relationship of humankind to nature is dividedness.(c) Sense of timeChinese culture: past-orientatedPast-orientated cultures believe strongly in the significance of prior events. History, established religions, and tradition are extremely important to these cultures, so there is a strong belief that the past should be the guide for making decisions and determining truth. One typical past orientation is in China.Western culture: future-orientationFuture-orientation cultures emphasize the future and expect it to be grander and nicer than the present. What is coming next holds the greatest attraction for them. The United States is considered to be such kind. Most Americans are believed to be always planning for the future instead of experiencing the moment. In fact, American‟s vi ew of the future makes them optimistic, which is reflected in the proverb: “If at first you don‟t succeed, try, try, and try again.”(d) ActivityChinese culture: BeingBeing orientation refers to spontaneous activity. Such cultures hold the view that the current activity is the one that matters most and believe that the act of …being‟ is one of the main goals and joys of life.Western culture: DoingDoing orientation describes activity in which accomplishments are measurable by standards external to the acting agent, that is, thisorientation thrives on action. E.g. “No sooner said than done—so acts your man of worth”, “Idle hands are the devil‟s workshop.”(e) Social relationshipChinese culture: Collectivism and Group-orientedCollectivism is characterized by a rigid social framework that distinguishes between in-groups and out-groups. People count on their in-group (relatives, clans, organizations) to look after them, and in exchange for that they believe they owe absolute loyalty to the group. A culture based on masses. People placed country and family above your own self. Chinese uses ethics and tolerance to resolve people and people's relationship,Western culture: Individualism and Ego-centrismWestern culture is based on individualism rather than on mass (collectivism). For instance, in the US, you always talk about individual rights, instead of placing the whole society above your own self. This is clearly different in China where a country, society or families are placed above your own self.。