跨文化交际期末

定义题 1. What is “intercultural communication”? P6 refer to communication between people whose cultural backgrounds are distinct enough to alter their communication event. There are three kinds of things you need to learn if you want to be able to communicate effectively with Westerners. First, you need to learn a foreign language, usually English. Second, you should learn as much as possible about Western cultures. However, studying English language and Western culture is not enough. You should also learn something about what happens when people from different cultures try to communicate with each other — in other words, "intercultural communication." 2. What is a culture? P13 A culture is essentially a group of people who carry many of the same ideas in their heads. Culture: can been seen as shared knowledge, what people need to know in order to act appropriately in a given culture. Culture: a learned set of shared interpretations about beliefs, values, and norms, which affect the behavior of a relatively large group of people 3. What are stereotypes?P13 Stereotypes means very broad generalizations such as “British people are polite,” “Americans are friendly”, and so forth. It is a derogatory word. It means that image, idea, character that has become fixed or standardized in a conventional form without individuality and is therefore false and shallow. Stereotypes may have a basis in fact, but they are too broad and shallow, and they give us the mistaken idea that a people’s culture can be summed up easily in a few short , simple statements. Stereotypes are also dangerous because they may trick us into believing that knowing a few stereotypes is the same thing as understanding another culture. 4. What does “interpretation” means?P24 A very important aspect of intercultural communication is “interpretation”, the

process of deciding what foreigners’ words and actions mean and why they do what they do. For example, when Xiao Li tries to understand why the taxi driver asked for so much money, she is “interpreting” his behavior. 5. Individualist p32 Individualist culture is one in which people tend to view themselves as individuals and emphasize the needs of individuals. In general, Western culture tends to be individualist. They view themselves as independent of collectives; are primarily motivated by their own preferences, needs, rights, and the contacts they have established with others; give priority to their personal goals over the goals of others; and emphasize rational analyses of the advantages and disadvantages to associating with others. 6. Collectivist P32 Collectivist culture is one in which people tend to view themselves as members of groups (families, work units, tribes, nations), and usually consider the needs of the group to be more important than the needs of individuals. Most Asian cultures, including China's, tend to be collectivist. People see themselves as parts of one or more collectives; are primarily motivated by the norms of, and duties imposed by, those collectives; are willing to give priority to the goals of these collectives over their own personal goals; and emphasize their connectedness to members of these cultures. 7. What is “hierarchy”?P50 Hierarchy is differences in rank and power. Every society has hierarchy to some degree. In other words, some people have higher rank and more power than others, perhaps because they are older, stronger, wealthier, or have some kind of official position. 8. What is “culture shock”?P58 “Culture shock” is often used to describe what happens whenever a person encounters a culture different from his or her own. The term culture shock describes what happens when a sojourner from culture A goes to live in culture B, and needs to adapt to life there. The constant effort and uncertainty of dealing with a foreign language and culture can lead to a condition called “culture shock”. It is a feeling of being confused and overwhelmed by life in another culture. People who experience culture shock often feel fatigued, impatient and irritable. They may also begin trying to avoid interaction with foreigners, and even become increasingly critical and hostile toward them. Foreigners in China sometimes experience culture shock — and so do Chinese who go to live in other countries. 9. Low context P66 The way to communicate tends to be relatively explicit and direct. In other words, people tend to put most of heir ideas and feelings plainly and openly. It’s generally considered a good thing to “get the point” and “say what you mean”, and it is largely the speaker’s responsibility to ensure that his/her message is stated in a way that is clear and easy to understand. 10. High context P66 High context is more indirect and subtle and listeners are expected to take more responsibility for interpreting messages correctly. People are expected to pay much attention to the context in which communication takes place and when people interpret what others mean, they often give more weight to the context than to the actual words said. In fact, people in high context cultures often view direct, explicit communication as unsophisticated or even rude. 11. What is “projected cultural similarity”? P74 Projected cultural similarity is a phenomenon which is the tendency to assume that people from other cultures basically think and feel more the same way we do. In other words, we sometimes assume that while foreigners may look different, dress differently, and speak different languages, "inside we are all more or less the same". 12. “Loose” cultures P83 “Loose” culture do not demand a high degree of conformity. In loose cultures, people have a relatively wide range of views as to what is considered normal behavior. Of course, such cultures have some consensus on what is and is not considered appropriate behavior, but the consensus is not very strong and there is often much disagreement. People in loose cultures also tend to be relatively tolerant of behavior that does not conform to cultural norms. 13. “Tight” cultures P83 Tight cultures expect a relatively high degree of conformity. There is a clear consensus as to what is and is not acceptable behavior, and there is more pressure on people to conform to the norms of the culture. 14. What is “ethnocentrism”? P93