跨文化交际第一课材料

Unit 1 An Introduction to Intercultural CommunicationWarm UpCase Study OneProfessor Johnson was invited to give a guest lecture at a Chinese university in the early 1990s. He could tell that the students were very attentive. They applauded warmly when the lecture came to an end. However, Professor Johnson was disappointed when no one asked any questions, even after they were encouraged to do so. In fact, most students avoided eye contact with him as he tried to communicate with them.1. 1 Culture1.1.1 A Definition of CultureIn 1993, two anthropologists, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhorn examined 300 definitions of culture , and they found none of them are the same；Yet there are some fundamental properties about culture on which most people agree. Culture is the collective answer to questions as: Who am I? How should I live my life? Where do I fit in the world? In other words, culture is the set of values and beliefs, norms, and customs, and rules and codes that socially defines a group of people, binds them to one another, and gives a sense of commonality (Trenholm and Jenson, 2000)1.1.2 Characteristics of CultureDespite of the different opinion about the definition of culture, most people agree about the main characteristics of culture. Larry A. Samovar and Richard E. Porter summarized the characteristics of culture as followings:Culture is learned.If one can’t learn from those who live before, we would not have culture. Therefore, we say learning was the most important of all the characteristics of culture. If a baby was cut off from all adult care, training. He can still instinctively eat, drink, defecate, urinate and cry. But what and when would he eat, where would he defecate and urinate, it is most likely he would do all these things randomly.But where and how can we learn culture is hard to explain. We learn our culture through interactions with other people. It’s hard to name who are the “other people”, we receive instructions from family and friends and numerous other “teachers” without knowing it.Culture is transmitted from generation to generation.For culture to exist, endure, and perpetuate, they must make sure that their crucial “message” and elements get passed on. Brislin once said “ if there are values considered central to a soc iety that have existed for many years, they must be transmitted from one generation to another” (p. 6). Keesing said, “ any break in the learning chain would lead to a culture’s disappearance” (p. 28).Culture is based on symbols. Culture is learned and passed from generation to generation, but how to learn and pass? It is our symbol-making ability enables us to learn and pass on our culture from individual to individual, group to group, and generation to generation. The portability of symbols allows people to package and store them as well as transmit them. Culture is historical as well as preservable. Each new generation might “write”Culture is subject to change. Cultures are dynamic systems that do not exist in a vacuum and therefore are subject to change. Cultures are constantly being confronted with ideas and information for “outside” sources.When we talk about culture change, we should keep two points in mind. First, cultures are highly adaptive. In history, there are a lot of examples of how cultures have been forced to changetheir course because of natural disasters, wars, and etc. Second, although many aspects of culture are subject to change, the deep structure of a culture resists major alterations. Barnlund clearly make this point when he writes: “The spread of Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, and Confucianism did not homogenize the societies they enveloped. It was usually the other way around: Societies insisted on adapting the religions to their own cultural traditions” (p.192)Culture is ethnocentric. The important tie between ethnocentrism and communication can be seen in the definition of the term “ ethnocentrism”. Summer defined it as “ the technical name for the view of things in which one’s own group is the center of everything, and all othe rs are scaled and rated with reference to it” (p.13) Keesing summarized the power and impact of ethnocentrism “ Nearly always the folklore of a people includes myths of origin which give priority to themselves, and place the stamp of supernatural approval upon their particular customs” (p. 45).1.1.3 Cultural SyndromesSome cultures are relatively simple, and other cultures are relatively complex. The organizing theme of the syndrome is complexity. Harry C. Triandis classified culture syndromes according to the following categories.TightnessTight cultures have many rules, norms, and ideas about what is correct behaviour in each situation; loose cultures have fewer rules and norms. In tight cultures, people can not tolerate when others do not follow the norms of the society, and may even kill those who do not behave as is expected, but in loose cultures people are tolerant of many difference from normative behaviours.Thus, conformity is high in tight cultures. Eg. In Japan, which is a tight culture, people are sometimes criticized for minor deviations from norms. Most Japanese live in fear that they will not act properly. (Iwao, 1993).Tightness is more likely in the following situations:1. The culture is relatively isolated from other cultures, so that consensus about what is proper behaviour can develop.2.The culture is more likely to be tight where people are highly interdependent.3. Tightness is more likely to occur where there is a high population density.Individualism and CollectivismIndividualism stands for a society in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family only.”Collectivism “stands for a society in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong cohesive ingroups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.”Individualistic cultures like USA and France are more self-centred and emphasize mostly on their individual goals. People from individualistic cultures tend to think only of themselves as individuals and as "I" distinctive from other people. They make just a little different between ingroup and outgroup communication . They prefer clarity in their conversations to communicate more effectively and come in general directly to the point like the Finns and Americans are doing. Vertical and Horizontal CulturesVertical cultures take hierarchy as a natural state. In this culture, people are different from each other. The people who are at the top “naturally” have more power and privileges than those atthe bottom of the hierarchy. In horizontal culture, people are basically similar, equality is a given state.Active-Passive CulturesThis way of classifying culture is from the perspective of attitude towards nature. In active cultures people try to change the nature to fit them; in passive cultures people try to change themselves to fit into the nature. (Diaz-Guerrero, 1979). The active cultures are more competitive, and emphasize self-fulfillment; in passive cultures , people are more cooperative, emphasize the experience of living, and getting along with other people are their concerns.Universalism-ParticularismUniversalism and particularism are standards that may guide behavior of persons or of whole cultures. Universalism implies that correct behavior can be defined and always applies, while particularism suggests that relationships come ahead of abstract social codes. In universalist culture people try to treat others on the basis of universal criteria regardless of who they are in sex, age, race, etc.; in particularist cultures people treat others on the basis of who the other person is.In universalist cultures, people’s focus is more on rules than on relationships; while in particulist culture, people’s focus is more on relationships than on rules. A univeralist is preparing for “rational”, while a particulist is preparing for “personal”.Take the case of trying to cross the street at the red light. In a universalist culture, you will still be frowned at even if there is no traffic. In a particularist culture, it is likely to be OK with one if it is his/her brothers or friends that violate the traffic rule. These people are not "citizens", but their "friends" or "brothers".Diffuse-SpecificThis dimension measures how far people get involved with other's life space. Take a research group as an example. In specific-oriented cultures, the project leader would segregate out the task relationship he/she has with a subordinate, and insulates this "work relationship" from other dealings. Therefore, the leader's authority only reaches where his/her work relationship with the subordinate is defined, and each area in which the two persons encounter each other is considered apart from the other. Work and life are sharply separated in specific-oriented cultures life the U.S. In diffuse cultures, however, life space and every level of personality tends to permeate ALL others. For example, a teacher would be treated by the student not only as an instructor in the classroom, but also has certain influence on the student's home life. The boss-subordinate relationship usually does not stop only in the office; the boss is likely to have a say in other aspects of his/her employee's personal life.Affective - NeutralIn relationships between people, reason and emotion both play a role. Which of these dominates will depend upon whether we are affective, that is we show our emotions, in which case we probably get an emotional response in return, or whether we are emotionally neutral in our approach. Members of cultures which are affectively neutral do not express their feelings but keep them carefully controlled and subdued. In contrast, in cultures high in affectivity, people show their feelings plainly by laughing, smiling, grimacing, scowling and gesturing; they attempt to find immediate outlets for their feelings.Neutral cultures are not necessarily cold or unfeeling, nor are they emotionally constipated or repressed. In fact, the amount of emotion we show is often the result of convention. Achievement vs. AscriptionThis dimension is about how status is accorded to people in different cultures. The contrast between an achievement culture and an ascriptive culture is not difficult to understand. Achievement means that people are judged on what they have accomplished and on their record. Ascription means that status is attributed to you by things like birth, kinship, gender, age, interpersonal connections, or educational record. The former kind of status is called achieved status and the latter ascribed status. Achieved status refers to doing; ascribed status refers to being. Take a look at the difference from another angle. Achievement-oriented societies or organizations justify their hierarchies by claiming that senior people have "achieved more." Inascription-oriented cultures, however, hierarchies are justified by "power-to-get-things-done." Here are some examples.Let's assume that you are being interviewed by your potential boss and he/she is interested in knowing more about your educational background. In an achievement culture, the first question is likely to be "What did you study?" In contrast, this question will more likely be "Where did you study?" and only if it was a lousy university or one they do not recognize will this ascriptive interviewer asks what you studied.In addition to sampling different attributes, members of different cultures give different weights to the attributes that they sample. One can identify many more syndromes.1.2 Communication1.2.1 A Definition of CommunicationAlthough communication has been written for about 25 centuries, there is still disagreement about how to define it. In 1972, Frank Dance and Karl Larson surveyed the field for definition of communication. They found 126. And we can list some.Communication is the discriminatory response of an organism to a stimulus.Communication… is an “effort after meaning,” a creative act initiated by man in which he seeks to discriminate and organize cues so as to orient himself in his environment and satisfy his changing needs.Speech communication is a human process through which we make sense out of the world and share that sense with others.Communication: the transmission of information, ideas, emotions, skills, etc. by the use of symbols…Communication is a process by which a source transmits a message to a receiver through some channel.Communication is a transactional process and we develop a mutually dependent relationship by exchanging symbols. First, communication is a process. And it is symbolic, continuous, systematic, irreversible, and unrepeatable.1.2.2 The Prosperities of CommunicationIn last section, communication was defined. The definition reflects how we define communication. But there are numerous ways this word communication can be defined. Dance and Larson (1976) list over 125 definitions of this term. Yet despite these different definitions, most theorists agree on the properties of communication. Neuliep (2000) provides a summary of these, along with eight definitions of communication.1. Communication is a process. “Communication theory reflects a process point of view…you cannot talk about the beginning or the end of communication…”(Berlo)2. Communication is dynamic. “Communication is a transaction among symbol users in which meanings are dynamic, changing as a function of earlier usages and of changes in perceptions and metaperceptions. Common to both meanings is the notion that communication is time-bound and irreversible.” (Bowers and Bradac)3. Communication is interactive/ transactive. “Communication occurs when two or more people interact through the exchange of messages.” (Goss)4. Communication is symbolic. “… all the symbols of the mind, together with the means of conveying them through space and preserving them in time.” (Cooley)5. Communication is intentional. “…communication has as its central interest those behavioral situations in which source transmits a message to a receivers with conscious intent to affect the latter’s behavior.” (Miller)6. Communication is contextual. “Communication always and inevitably occurs within some context.” (Fisher)7. Communication is ubiquitous. “…communication is the discriminatory response of an organism to a stimulus.” (Stevens)8. Communication is cultural. “…culture is communication…communication is culture.”(Hall)Case Study TwoMing Li is a Chinese scholar in agriculture. He had been co-operating with Hank, an American professor on a project. And Hank had been to China twice for the project. And Ming Li arranged everything for him, including accommodation, having his students accompany him whenever he needed to do something. Frequently Ming Li invited him to home or restaurants for meals. And every meal was like a feast. Hank was very grateful, but told Ming Li several time that he could take care of himself.Eventually, Ming Li went to the United States to work with Hank for a period of time. Hank picked him up at the airport and took him directly to his temporary accommodations. Saying that he would take Ming Li out for dinner some day and went back home.Ming Li did not speak much English and he felt like a stranger in U.S. and he expected more from Hank. Hank did take him out for dinner in a nice restaurant one evening and invited him to his home once. But Ming Li had to arranged everything himself from shopping to traveling. Neither Hank nor his students accompanied him. He was very disappointed and hurt by Hank, thinking Hank should at least return the favor he had done to him.In fact, Ming Li was so upset that his working relationship with Hank suffered. Hank noticed the change but did not know where the tension came from.Questions:1.What is hospitality in Chinese perspective?2.Having Ming Li’s students accompany him everywhere, does Hank feel verycomfortable?3.Was Hank not very grateful and hospitable?1.3 Intercultural Communication1.3.1 What is Intercultural Communication?According to Neuliep (2003), intercultural communication occurs whenever a minimum of two persons from different cultures or microcultures come together and exchange verbal and nonverbal symbols. Microcultures are groups of people that exist within the broader rules andFood.dress.music. visual arts. Drama. craftsnguagecelebrations.gamescourtesy. Contextual conversational patterns. Concept of time. Personalspace. Rules of conduct. Facial expressions. Nonverbal communication.Body language. Touching. Eye contact. Patterns of handling emotions.Notions of modesty. Concept of beauty. Courtship practices.Relationships to animals. Notions of leadship. Tempo of work. Conceptsof food. Ideals of childrearing. Theory of disease. Social interaction rate.Nature of friendships. Tone of voice. Attitudes toward elders. Concept ofcleanliness. Notions of adolescence. Patterns of group decision-making.Definition of insanity. Preference for competition or cooperation.Tolerance … and so forthSurface CultureAbove sea levelEmotional Load:relatively low guidelines of the dominant culture, but are distinct in some way: racially, linguistically, occupation, age, or sexual orientation. Often microcultural groups have histories that differ from the dominant cultural group and are subordinate in some way.Intercultural communication, like all communication, is contextual. A context is a combination of factors--- situation, setting, circumstance, the people involved, the relationship of those people, and so on. In short, context is the overall framework within which communication takes place.1.3.2 A Narrative Approach to Intercultural CommunicationThere are numerous approaches to the study of intercultural communication--- all of which have their strengths and weaknesses. Based on our own intercultural living experiences, we are convinced that the most effective and insightful approach is the narrative approach.Scholars often discuss culture in terns of an iceberg metaphor. What we see in any culture is only the tip of the iceberg. Yet, effective communication occurs only when we begin to understand what is below the water level.The Iceberg Concept of CultureLike an iceberg, nine-tenths of culture is below the surface.Another metaphor compares culture to a theatrical production. You see what is on stage, but you don ’t see all the activity backage. It is the backstage activity that enables the action on stage to be effective.We suggest a narrative approach to the study of intercultural communication. We are the stories we tell. We make sense out of others and ourselves through story. As storytellers, our values, emotions, and aesthetic considerations ground our beliefs and behaviors.A key concept in the narrative approach is the concept of narrative itself. Fisher indicated “By ‘narration’, I mean symbolic actions---- words and/or deeds--- that have sequence and meaning for those who live, create, or interpret them”(p.58), he also states it “ There is no genre, including technical communication, that is not an episode in the story of life” (p. 347).Thus, listening to a class lecture, talking with your friends, listening to a political speech or the evening news, reading a book--- all consist of your hearing and shaping narratives. If story is a universal medium, then story is the key to our understanding of others from cultures unlike our own.Because our lives are experienced through narratives, some standard for determining which stories to believe and which to disregard is essential. This standard is narrative rationality. It is different from the traditional one in which most Westerners have been trained. Traditional standards of rationality ask questions such as:1. Are the claims supported by the facts?2. Have all relevant facts been considered?3. Are the arguments internally consistent?4. Does the reasoning used conform to the tests of formal and informal logic?In contrast, narrative rationality is concerned with the principle of coherence and fidelity. Coherence refers to the internal consistency of the narrative and asks such questions as:1.Do the elements of the story flow smoothly?2.Is the story congruent with the stories that seem related to it?3.Are the characters in the story believable?Fidelity, the second principle of narrative rationality, concerns truthfulness or reliability of the story. Stories with a high degree of fidelity “ring true” to the listener. When the elements of a story “represent accurate assertions about social reality” (Fisher, 1987, p.105), they have fidelity. Fisher proposes that we assess narrative fidelity through the logic of good reasons. If a narrative possesses fidelity, it constitutes good reasons for a person to hold a certain belief or act in a certain way. The logic of good reasons enables a person to judge the worth of stories by presenting the listener with a set of values that appeal to her or act in a certain way. The logic of good reasons enables a person to judge the worth of stories by presenting the listener with a set of values that appeal to her or him and form warrants for accepting or rejecting a certain story.The logic of good reasons consists of asking two sets of questions. The first set constitutes a logic of reasons:1. Are the statements that claim to be factual in the narrative really factual?2. Have any relevant facts been omitted from the narrative or distorted in its telling?3. What are the patterns of reasoning that exist in the narrative?4. How relevant are the arguments in the story to any decision the listener may make?5. How well does the narrative address the important and significant issues of this case? Assignment:Terms: culture , Individualism and Collectivism, communication, intercultural communication, Questions:1.What are characteristic of culture?2.What are properties of communication/3.How do Harry C. Triandis clarify Cultural Syndromes4. How do you understand The Iceberg Concept of Culture。