最新跨文化交際24篇case解析

1、第一單元Case 1n Just as Dr. Strenger notices that over the recent years people around the world have been suffering from an increasing fear of their own “insignificance”. As humans we naturally measure ourselves to those around us, but now we live in a global village and we are comparing ourselves with

2、the most significant people in the world and finding ourselves wanting. In the past being a lawyer or doctor was a very reputable profession. But today, even high achievers constantly fear that they are insignificant when they compare themselves to success stories in the media. The remedy, according

3、 to Dr. Strenger, is a process that he calls “active self-acceptance” through a sustained quest for self-knowledge through life. The fear for insignificance can only be overcome through strong individual and cultural identity over and above measurable achievement. He believes that people need to inv

4、est as much time in developing their worldview as their careers. n 正如Strenger博士注意到，近年來，世界各地的人們對自己“無關(guān)緊要”的恐懼越來越大。 作為人類，我們自然地測量自己對周圍的人，但現(xiàn)在我們住在一個地球村，我們正在比較我們自己與世界上最重要的人 - 和發(fā)現(xiàn)自己想要的。 在過去是一個律師或醫(yī)生是一個非常有信譽(yù)的職業(yè)。 但今天，即使是高成就者也不斷擔(dān)心，當(dāng)他們與媒體的成功故事相比時，他們是微不足道的。 根據(jù)Strenger博士的說法，這種補(bǔ)救辦法是一個過程，他通過對生命中的自我知識的持續(xù)追求，稱之為“積極的自我接受

5、”。 只有通過強(qiáng)烈的個人和文化認(rèn)同超越可衡量的成就才能克服對無關(guān)緊要的恐懼。 他認(rèn)為，人們需要投入更多的時間來發(fā)展他們的世界觀作為自己的事業(yè)。Case2n The Dutch manager was shocked because he thought he hadnt told the team to build it in a certain way, he simply had asked if it could be done! He had never questioned the way in which he communicated to the head of his tec

6、hnology group. In fact, he thought he had been asking simple questions, almost making idle conversation, and never considered that because he was the boss, his Indian employee would do as he asked. He expected that the technology design team would counter反駁 with another recommendation if his idea wa

7、s inappropriate. He never realized that in the Indian culture such a challenge rarely is forthcoming即將到來.n 荷蘭經(jīng)理感到震驚，因?yàn)樗J(rèn)為他沒有告訴團(tuán)隊(duì)以某種方式建造它，他只是問是否可以做到！ 他從來沒有質(zhì)疑過他與技術(shù)團(tuán)隊(duì)負(fù)責(zé)人溝通的方式。 事實(shí)上，他認(rèn)為他一直在問簡單的問題，幾乎閑暇的談話，從來沒有認(rèn)為，因?yàn)樗抢习澹挠《葐T工會做他的問。 他預(yù)計(jì)，如果技術(shù)設(shè)計(jì)團(tuán)隊(duì)的想法不恰當(dāng)，他會反駁另一個建議。 他從來沒有意識到，在印度文化這樣的挑戰(zhàn)很少是即將到來的n The misundersta

8、ndings took place because cultural barriers got in the way. To take full advantage of the opportunities that the global environment offered, both the Dutch and the Indian teams needed to have a better understanding of the culturally based expectations of each group. 由于文化障礙的阻礙，發(fā)生了誤解。 為了充分利用全球環(huán)境提供的機(jī)會，

9、荷蘭和印度團(tuán)隊(duì)需要更好地了解每個群體對文化的期望。n In this case, the Dutch manager would have been more successful if he had asked, “What kind of platform do you suggest?” Rather than risking that his Indian employee would disagree with the suggestion he made, this approach would have allowed for a respectful dialogue. The

10、 Dutch manager should have known that Indians rarely disagree or say no because their communication style is indirect, and risking disharmony is considered unpleasant and unseemly (不得體的，不合時宜的). They could have saved millions of dollars and prevented months of frustration if the Dutch manager had bee

11、n culturally astute (機(jī)敏的，精明的) enough to manage the multinational talent pool available to him. 在這種情況下，荷蘭經(jīng)理會更加成功，如果他問“你建議什么樣的平臺？”而不是冒著他的印度員工不同意他的建議的風(fēng)險，這種方法將允許一個 尊重對話。 荷蘭經(jīng)理應(yīng)該知道，印第安人很少不同意或不說，因?yàn)樗麄兊臏贤L(fēng)格是間接的，冒險的不和諧被認(rèn)為是不愉快和不合時宜的。 他們可以節(jié)省數(shù)百萬美元，并防止幾個月的沮喪，如果荷蘭經(jīng)理有文化上精明，足以管理他可用的跨國人才庫。n By the same token, if the

12、Indian senior manager had understood that a manager in an egalitarian (平等主義的) culture such as the Dutch (unlike Indias more hierarchal one) expects a collaborative effort from his employees, even if it requires disagreement, he would have avoided the problem as well. 同樣的道理，如果印度高級經(jīng)理理解一個平等主義的文化中的經(jīng)理，如荷

13、蘭人（不像印度的更多層次的）期望他的員工的協(xié)作努力，即使它需要分歧， 他也會避免這個問題。Case3n Advances in information technology are bringing about changes in contemporary society that pose new situations requiring intercultural communication expertise (專門知識或技能). Technology has enabled ordinary individuals to cheaply and quickly organize th

14、emselves around a common interest, ideology (思想意識； 意識形態(tài)), or social cause. Rather than moving the global community toward the single, homogenized (均勻分布的，均質(zhì)的) culture decried (公開反對，譴責(zé))by many globalization opponents, technology is actually providing a means to reaffirm and extend cultural awaren

15、ess, identity, and practices. Media technology plays an important role in modern society whether it is political, economical or cultural. 信息技術(shù)的進(jìn)步正在帶來當(dāng)代社會的變化，構(gòu)成新的情況，需要跨文化交流的專門知識（專門知識或技能）。 技術(shù)使普通人能夠廉價快速地組織自己圍繞著共同的興趣，思想意識，意識形態(tài)或社會事業(yè)。 許多全球化對手不再把全球化社會轉(zhuǎn)向單一的，均勻分布的，均質(zhì)的文化，而是提供一種重新確認(rèn)和擴(kuò)展文化意識，身份和實(shí)踐的手段 。 媒體技術(shù)在現(xiàn)代社會

16、中發(fā)揮著重要作用，無論是政治，經(jīng)濟(jì)還是文化。Case4n What Mrs. Nimos surprised is the young mans question of “how old are you”. In western countries where privacy is greatly valued, age is something that is considered rather private. Asking about the others age, especially in this case on their first meeting, is rather imp

17、olite. However, in Japan where hierarchy is strictly followed, age is an important factor in situating a person in the Japanese cultural hierarchy. For her Japanese business counterparts to feel comfortable that they knew the proper way to address and to relate to her, they needed to know her age. 尼

18、莫斯太太驚訝的是年輕人的“你多大了”的問題。 在西方國家，隱私被極大地珍視，年齡是一種被認(rèn)為相當(dāng)私密的東西。 詢問別人的年齡，特別是在這種情況下，在他們的第一次會議，是相當(dāng)不禮貌。 然而，在嚴(yán)格遵循等級制的日本，年齡是將一個人置于日本文化層次中的重要因素。 對于她的日本商業(yè)對手感到舒適，他們知道正確的方法來解決和與她相關(guān)，他們需要知道她的年齡。n In China, age is important for the same reason. However, when communicating with family members, generation becomes an import

19、ant factor that overrides (優(yōu)先于，壓倒) age. Even if they have the same age, the one belonging to the younger generation must address the other with the respect accorded to the older generation in the family. If they are the same generation, they can communicate as peers. 在中國，年齡同樣重要。 然而，當(dāng)與家庭成員溝通時，生成成為覆蓋（

20、優(yōu)先于，壓倒）年齡的重要因素。 即使他們有相同的年齡，屬于年輕一代的一個人必須解決另一個與家庭中的老一代的尊重。 如果它們是同一代，它們可以作為對等體進(jìn)行通信。Case5n The problem here is that Mr. Richardson doesnt mean what he says, which is rather different from being insincere or dishonest. To put it another way, what Mr. Richardson means is different from what the sentence t

21、hat he has uttered means. “We must get together and have lunch sometimes” is quite a common expression people use near the end of business interactions in North America, and for North Americans it means several different things. First of all, it signals that the person who says it thinks that the en

22、counter will (or should) be ending soon. So it can function as what conversation analysts call a “pre-closing.” It is also a way of creating a feeling of “involvement”, a way to tell someone that you have enjoyed spending time with them and you would not mind doing it again. While it does contain th

23、e vague idea that a subsequent meeting would be desirable, it does not in any way commit the speaker or the hearer to such an arrangement. However, to Mr. Wong, it sounds like an invitation.n Similarly, “See you later” does not commit someone to a later meeting. It would be very odd if, in response

24、to this utterance, the hearer were to take out his or her diary and attempt to set a date. Other examples are “How are you” in English and “Have you eaten?” in Chinese, both of them are typical greetings, which do not require the hearer to give specific answers. All of them just serve as lubricants

25、(潤滑劑) to move the conversation forward.Case6n Even people speak the same language, English, in this case, they might have quite a lot of differences, even in small things such as how to order a meal and speak humorously. These experiences described by Fiona should cause difficulties adjusting to lif

26、e in a new culture. Dealing with many small differences can cause exhaustion. When people come into a new culture, in this case, from Australia to America, they have to make many small adjustments in a short period of time. Each adjustment causes a little bit of difficulty, but the stress adds up to

27、 a point where people become frustrated and begin to complain about their life in the other culture. n From her description, it can be seen that her stress is adding up so much that she even thinks of going back to Australia. However, she should know that this is only a necessary period of culture s

28、hock （文化沖擊）, requiring her to make some adjustment. The culture shock is exacerbated（加重、惡化） because few or no cultural differences were expected given that people thought they would be using the same language. At his point she is likely to have experienced some cultural differences and will be more

29、willing to take them seriously. 第二單元Case7v There is a big difference between Chinese and American concerning who is the decision-maker of the work. The Chinese usually work to complete the task according to what their boss or supervisor requires, while Americans, on the contrary, finish their jobs a

30、ccording to what they suppose is right. In this case, Li Hua completed his report within 16 days, faster compared with the actually 20 days, but later than it was agreed on. So the American supervisor got angry, which caused Li Huas resignation. If I were Li Hua, I would tell the American supervisor

31、 the fact that I really had made great efforts to finish the report in 16 days though later than 15 days but faster than 20 days that is said earlier. Then, if the supervisor still felt angry and were not flexible, I would resign just as Li Hua had done.Case8v In Asia especially in Korea a high valu

32、e is placed on harmonious personal relationship, while conflicts are avoided and every effort is made to be polite and non-confrontational. However, Jim comes from American where personal competence in dealing with matters is emphasized in spite of high focus on teamwork. On the other hand, American

33、 people are highly practical and realistic, they would think the earlier the problem can be discovered the better solutions can be sought. Therefore, when a problem was finally brought to Jims attention, it was too late for there was no much time left to solve it. In the case, Jim felt exasperated b

34、ecause the problem discovered has left him no much time to solve it. For Jim, he is supposed to build a good intercultural communication, but what he should do first is to know Korean culture well. Koreans hold that Americans directness in dealing with problems, errors and even dishonesty is unaccep

35、table. So from Jim himself it is much better to know Korean culture especially their strategy of saving face and losing face. Problems exist really, but if they are discovered earlier people concerned with the problem will lose face in terms of Koreans viewpoint.Case9v Smiling in China means not onl

36、y that someone is happy but also that he or she is sorry. It is very desirable for Chen Jie to make an apology with a smile, which indicates his humbleness and embarrassment. For Chen Jie, the smile was an important part of the apology. He apologized with a smile to show respect for his manager and

37、by smiling he tried to be on friendly terms with him. But for Peter, this smile does not mean the same thing. He regarded the smile not as a sorry but as smirking, a sign of disrespect. Then it is understandable that Peter refused Chen Jies sorry. In fact, this story comes from cultural misunderstan

38、ding between Chen Jie and Peter. An American thinks that a westerner in Chen Jies situation would probably keep eyes lowered when making an apology. When promising to correct the situation and to avoid making the same mistake, a westerner would expect the employee to look at him or her in the eye an

39、d definitely not to smile. It can not be more usual for people who make a mistake to say sorry. But if this situation takes place in the process of intercultural communication, things change. Chen Jie is supposed to know that the sorry he made is not to his Chinese natives but to an American. What h

40、e should do is to lower his eyes while making the apology and look at Peter in the eye while assuring him, without wearing any smile on his face in both cases. By doing so Peter will truly believe that the sorry he made came from his honesty and sincerityCase10v Although Parisa had been coming to in

41、ternational conventions on food processing for several years, perhaps one big problem for her is that her colleagues failed to know about her culture, namely the Iranian culture. For historical reasons, the westerners develop a kind of stereotype which enables them to communicate unwillingly with pe

42、ople in Middle East including Iran. Therefore, the westerners know little about Iranian culture. As a result, when Parisa came to Europe, what she should do is to adjust herself to European culture, to become a member of them. By doing so, Parisa can learn to integrate herself with her colleagues qu

43、ickly. But the key is that Parisa, born an Iranian after all, can not isolate her from Iranian culture completely. So her behaviour of adjusting to European culture is blended with her Iranian culture to a larger extent. That is why Parisas European colleagues saw her in a particular way./Csae11v Th

44、e vice president of an American electronic manufacturer did not directly say the Chinese manager was wrong. This is because that the vice president took advantage of the Chinese face culture. When the American found the manager did not tell the truth possibly, he adopted the face-saving strategy in

45、Chinese culture so that he hoped that the Chinese could find the truth. He was unwilling to let the Chinese manager feel embarrassed if he told the truth directly, otherwise, the business negotiation with Chinese telecommunication enterprise would not succeed.v After the welcome banquet the Chinese

46、manager became very friendly and agreed to build a long standing partnership with the electronic manufacturer. As a matter of fact, he discovered that the vice president of the American electronic manufacturer knew Chinese face culture very well. And in the negotiation he made up a story in order to

47、 get upper hand over the American. When the American unclosed the story and did not embarrass him, he made a determination to build long standing partnership with the electronic manufacturer, which is the typical characteristic of Chinese culture.Case12v The misunderstandings between Sawada and Li X

48、ia are caused by their different cultures. Not only do different cultures speak unintelligible （費(fèi)解的） languages, but their body languages are often mutually incomprehensible as well. When people from different cultural backgrounds communicate, they may soon find that the same gesture may serve quite

49、different functions in different cultures. It is just because of these different implications that the French boy Sawada misunderstood the Chinese girls friendliness as love. When Li Xia turned her body toward Sawada during their talk, the body movement of Li Xia may just indicate that she was quite

50、 interested in and enjoyed their talk. The small distance Li Xia took when talking with Sawada is just a way to show her interest in the talk and her friendliness to the French boy. However, in French as well as in many other cultures, moving toward somebody and sitting and standing closer to him/he

51、r are ways to show ones favorable feelings toward him/her. This explains why Sawada later tried to putting his arm around her, and even tried to hug and kiss her. v As a Chinese girl, Li Xia is deeply influenced by Chinese culture which is characterized by modesty and reserve. In China, almost every

52、 girl will feel disgusted if a boy, especially the boy she meets for the first time, try to put an arm around her back, let alone trying to hug or kiss her, because such behaviors in Chinese culture are considered rude and vulgar. Thats why Li Xia became so angry when Sawada decided to approach her

53、intimately that she gave him a strong push and stopped him from doing that. v If I were their close friend, I would advise them to learn more about each others cultures. Only when both of them are aware of the cultural differences can they avoid such misunderstandings and promote a better understand

54、ing. 第三單元Case13v The Andersons includes the map and hotel information as a convenience for the out-of-towners. They believe that by doing so they are being considerate. But to the Sandoval family, hospitality meant more. From their point of view, the family of the bride should have welcomed the groo

55、ms family into their home, no matter how crowded they might have been. To the Sandovals, sharing worldly possessions would have expressed family closeness; hotel recommendations represented coldness and distance, translating into rejection. After all, the Sandovals believe they have demonstrated the

56、ir closeness by taking time off from work to drive five hundred miles to the ceremonyv Case14v Different cultures have different ways to show their hospitality. In this case, the Azerbaijani woman shows her hospitality towards the Americans by offering her bread. By rejecting the bread, the doctor r

57、ejects the woman and her culture. Azerbaijanis believe that if you share food, you expose your heart and soul to the other person and are forever linked in friendship. So by accepting the bread, the doctors companion accepts the villagers hospitality, thus keeping her pride and dignity and building

58、a bridge between the two cultures. As a matter of fact, in many cultures, rejecting another persons food is frequently interpreted as an insult. To avoid this, people should learn something about the culture of those with whom they are interacting. Case15v The color of flowers has different meanings

59、 for different cultures. Yellow in particular had negative connotations for many people, such as Iranians, Peruvians, and Mexicans. It would be safer not to give yellow flowers as a gift. In Iranian culture, yellow flowers represent the enemy, and giving someone yellow flowers means that you hate the person. It can even mean that you wish the person dead. It is just the color of flowers that makes Mrs. Golestani think that Anahid hates them. However, in American culture, the meaning to