中西跨文化交際課程情景案例分析

1、中西跨文化交際課程情景案例 分析Unit 1 Language and Culture in CommunicationTheory Communication is something we do every day. It takes place so naturally that we simply fail to notice it until it hiccups or breaks down. Though it is commonplace, it is no exaggeration to say that communication is life and life is c

2、ommunication.1 .When you join a social gathering, you must be aware of rules and procedures that govern the way things are going to proceed. There is a technical term for such rules and procedures schema.2 . Face and politeness are two other areas which are extremely value sensitive. One of the dist

3、inctive features of Chinese politeness is self denigration and otherelevation.Case 1: Litz is a professor of cross cultural communication in a university in Finland. She invited her Chinese students home for an evening party.The schema from Litz ' s point of view includes the following:1. Giving

4、 invitation: by phone / by mail2. Prepare everything before the arrival of guests3. Receiving guests: open the door / express welcome / take their overcoats / introduce guests / offer them drinks / make them comfortable4. Serving food: set the table / soup first / main course / desert5. Post dinner

5、activities: chat / play music / offer more drinks6. Seeing guests off: thank them for coming / good nightLitz ' s evening party was not very successful, because she was upset by one of herguests. Here was the initial conversation between Litz and Lin:Litz: ( opens the dooi) Oh, Lin, how nice you

6、 could come!Lin: It ' s not difficult to find your house.Litz: Come on in.Lin: ( comes in)Litz: Can I take your coat?Lin: No, thanks.Litz: Ok, this way please.Lin: (take off her coat and hangs it)Analysis: Litz was hurt because Lin did not let h er hang her coat. Litz ' s offeringto hang Lin

7、 ' s coat is one of Litz ' s ways (it ' s on Litz ' s schema). On Lin ' s s thought that Litz was her supervisor and that it was inappropriate to let her supervisor hang her coat. Here we have an instance of one action attached with different cultural values.Case 2Finding an Inte

8、rested BuyerGeorage Hall was in Beijing attending a trade fair and looking for an opportunity to do business in China. He had been very successful in his business dealings in the US an d prided himself on his ability“to get things moving. " His first day was going well .He looked around at the

9、displays of sporting equipment to get some idea of whom he might approach. He was sure that his products, tennis rackets with an unusual new design, would arouse some interests. On the second day he approached the company which he felt would be most responsive to his products. He introduced himself

10、to the general, a Mr. Li. Since he had read that Chinese find getting down to business immediately too abrupt and rude, he began a casual conversation, eventually leading up to the topic of his products and suggesting how Mr. Li ' sompany might benefit from using them. George then suggested that

11、 he could arrange to get together with Mr. Li and provide more specifics and documentation on his products.Mr. Li responded in fairly good English," That would be interesting. Knowing that he had only a few days left in Beijing, George wanted to nail down a time, " When can we meet? asked

12、George.“Ah. This week is very busy, “ replied Mr. Li.“It sure is, " said George, " How about 10 o ' clock? Meet you here. “Tomorrow at 10 o ' clock? asked Mr. Li thoughtfully.“Right, " said George, “I' ll see you then? “Hmm, yes; why don ' t you come by tomorrow, "

13、; was the repy. “OK," responded George, " It was nice meeting you. The next day at 10 o' cloclhe approached Mr. Li ' sompany' sexhibit only to find that Mr. Li had some important business and was not able to meet with George. He called back later in the day and was told that Mr

14、. Li was not available.Analysis:英美人士做事情講究守時(shí).而中國(guó)人不太重視這方面.本案列中,李 先生不僅沒(méi)有準(zhǔn)時(shí)接見(jiàn)預(yù)約的客戶,甚至放了他鴿子.Case3 Professor Liang has written a book on Chinese culture in Chinese. His book is put on display in Beijing International Book Fair '96. Professor Liang would like to have his book translated into English an

15、d submitted to Thompson Publishers. Professor Liang has asked Li Yan, whom he meets regularly in the English Corner, to help him to talk to Peter Allright, a Thompson representative. Prof. Liang:奧萊特先生,這是鄙人的拙作.Li Tan: Mr. Allright, this a clumsy book written by your humble servant.Mr Allright: No, no

16、, no, you're not my humble servant. We do not publish books in Chinese.Li Yan (to Professor Liang): 不,不,不,你不是我的仆人,我們不出中文書. Professor Liang:我要請(qǐng)李艷譯成英文.Li Yan (to Mr. Allright): Professor Liang will ask me to translate it into English.Mr. Allright: Mm that ' s interesting.Analysis: Chinese auth

17、ors almost always belittle their works by describing them as clumsy writings, and they use the same description when they present them to Chinese publishers. But this will be counter productive in English. Instead, authors should point out the merits of their works rather than“ clumsinessUnit 2 Cult

18、ure ShockTheory: 1. Culture shock can be described as the feeling of confusion and disorientation that one experiences when faced with a large number of new and unfamiliar people and situations.2. There is a desire for independence and separateness, found in foreigners' needs for their own priva

19、cy and autonomy3. Hospitality means the cordial and generous reception of or disposition toward guests.4. Politeness refers to the consideration for others, tact, and observance of accepted social usage.5. Privacy could be understood as the right of an individual to self-determination as to the degr

20、ee to which the individual is willing to share with others information about himself.Case 1: Jane, an American teacher in the US, had just started teaching English to a group of Japanese students. She wanted to get to know the students more formally, so she invited them to her house for party. The s

21、tudents all arrived together at exactly 8:00 p.m. They seemed to enjoy the party: they danced, sang, and ate most of the food. At about 10:00 p.m, one of the students said to the teacher, “I think it ' s time for me to leave. Thank you very much for the party. Then all the other students got up

22、to go, and all left at the same time. Jane decided she would never invite them again!JaneAnalysis:在日本以及其他很多的亞洲國(guó)家里,年輕人通常成群結(jié)隊(duì)的一起去參 加一些社交聚會(huì),然后一道離去.在他們看來(lái)這是很正常不過(guò)的事.然后 認(rèn)為這是一種侮辱,由于他們?cè)谕粫r(shí)間里一下子全部離開(kāi)了.在美國(guó)以及其 他一些英語(yǔ)國(guó)家,晚上10點(diǎn)離開(kāi)一個(gè)聚會(huì)相對(duì)來(lái)說(shuō)是比擬早的.Case 2Four Secretaries and Their JobsFour classmates from a top Chinese un

23、iversity all took jobs as secretaries after graduation. Five years later the four former classmates had a reunion and discussed their jobs.Chen Qi and Dai Yun both work as bilingual secretaries for a Finnish company in Beijing. Chen Qi is secretary to the Finn general manger, and Dai Yun is secretar

24、y to the Chinese local manger, a position only slightly lower than that of the Finn manger.Zhang Ying is from a politically prominent family and was hired as the secretary to the leader of a small government bureau in the capital city of her home province. Lu Yan works for a state run enterprise in

25、the same city where she was hired as the secretary to the new manager for international marketing. The company has never marketed its products abroad before so this office and Lu Yan ' s position are new to he company.Five years later Chen Qi is satisfied with her job with the Finnish company bu

26、t Dai Yun is not. The Finn manager receives orders from the company' s homeoffice in Finland, and he gives orders to those below him in China, including his secretary Chen Qi. He tells her how he wants his time scheduled and she then makes appointments for him according to his instructions. She

27、translates memos and other documents and interprets from Chinese to English to Chinese. If the manager does not think Chen Qi has done her work well, he tells her right away. He is very demanding, but Chen Qi feels that she knows what her duties are and knows what her manager expects. She is confide

28、nt that she is doing a good job.Dai Yun often does not have as much work to do as Chen Qi does, because her boss schedules his own appointments and does a lot of the office paperwork himself. When he is out of town she has time to study for the graduate entrance exam. However, she is not sure whethe

29、r or not she is doing a good job. Her manager tells her what she is expected to do, but he does this day by day. When people call or come to the office to see her boss, she greets them in English or Chinese as necessary. She receives their memos and other messagesas well as their questions and reque

30、sts and passes them on to her manager. Dai Yun thinks of her job as doing what her manager wants her to do. She pays close attention to his moods and behavior, and sometimes she is able to anticipate what he would like without him telling her.Analysis:許多中國(guó)人在外企工作,不同國(guó)家的外企領(lǐng)導(dǎo)有不同的工作作風(fēng)和標(biāo) 準(zhǔn).本案列中,戴云給不同的外國(guó)上司

31、做秘書,在工作中出現(xiàn)由于不同的文化 沖突而引起的各種工作以及溝通中的問(wèn)題就很常見(jiàn)了.Case 3: One cold winter library met an American greeting him, Wan g said: But the professor didnday in a Chinese city, Wang Lin on his way to the professor who knew very little about China. Afterclothes.“It ' s rather cold. You ' d better put on more

32、 't appear happy on hearing this.Analysis:美國(guó)人以及大局部西方國(guó)家的人們不喜歡被告知要怎么做怎么做,他 們比擬喜歡獨(dú)立,然而中國(guó)人那么習(xí)慣關(guān)心別人,這個(gè)案例中王林的建議表達(dá)的 就是一種對(duì)他人的關(guān)心,可是美國(guó)教授卻不習(xí)慣這樣的表達(dá).Case 4 In a good restaurant, fourteen people are gathered to say goodbye to'd like to call upon Ben to say a fewtheir professor, who is moving to another un

33、iversity. Steven: May I have your attention please? I words.happy time.Ben: Thank you, Steven. Professor Shore, colleagues:Tonight is one of those paradoxes - it ' s a sad time and yet itSad, because.We are losing one of our best professors; happy because we are pleased to see Professor Shoregai

34、n the recognition that he richly deserves.I ' nmt sure who will be able to control us and keep usin line. I think the new professor will have a difficult time. And surely no one willbe able to telljokes in the same way as you, Professor. Seriously, we all know that you will be difficult to repla

35、ce. Your scholarly approach and your dedication will always be remembered. I would therefore like to propose a toast. Colleagues, pelase charge your glasses. Professor Shore, mayyour future be filled will great success, and may you always remember us. We know we will neverforget you.To Professor Sho

36、re!All: (Standing up) To Professor Shore! (Everyone drinks. Professor Shore remains seated and smiles at them all.)Analysis:就餐時(shí)總是要在各種緣由下向人敬酒：可以是非正式的,向朋友或同 事敬酒；也可以是正式的,向全體聚會(huì)的人敬酒.與中國(guó)式的敬酒大不相同的 是,在西方正式的敬酒時(shí),受敬的人是不能喝酒的,而是正襟危坐,兩眼睜睜 看別人喝酒.另一個(gè)不同是：無(wú)論正式還是非正式,敬酒的人不必走過(guò)去敬酒, 而是在自己的座位處站起來(lái)敬酒.敬酒時(shí)開(kāi)始的語(yǔ)言永遠(yuǎn)是：向,而其他隨敬酒的人重復(fù)

37、敬酒人的第一句話(即 向),然后喝一口酒.敬酒時(shí)如果 舉了杯,說(shuō)了敬詞,而實(shí)際上沒(méi)有喝酒,就會(huì)被看做十分不恭的行為,在很久 以前甚至于被認(rèn)為是一種侮辱,是不想?yún)⒓泳淳频膬x式.untilCase 5 An American went to Chinese home. He was offered some tea. Just when the first cup was about to finish, more tea was added. The visitor drank the second cup. Then the cup was filled the third time. The

38、n he drank it, then the visitor was quite full. Why?Analysis:在中國(guó)的傳統(tǒng)文化習(xí)俗里,主任通常會(huì)不斷給客人倒水倒茶,或者不 斷地給客人的盤子里加食物以表示他的熱情好客.面對(duì)的這樣的情況,中國(guó)客 人知道如何處理,在他們覺(jué)得吃飽喝足之后,就會(huì)隨它放在桌上.而美國(guó)客人 就不懂了,在美國(guó),在自己的盤子里剩下食物是不禮貌的,于是他出于遵循美 國(guó)文化理念可能會(huì)在這樣的招待中吃的過(guò)多.Case 6Dinner with FriendJanice is a young American engineer working for a manufactu

39、ring joint venture near Nanjing. She and her husband George, who is teaching English at a university, are learning Chinese and enjoying their new life .They have been eager to get to know Chinese people better so they were pleased when Liu Lingling , Janice ' s yoi-worter invited them to her hom

40、e for dinner.When Janice and George arrived , Lingling introduced them to her husbandYang Feng , asked them to sit down at a table containing 8 plates of various cold dishes, served them tea and then disappeared with her husband into the kitchen. After a few minutes Lingling came back and added wate

41、r to their tea. Janice offered to help in the kitchen but Lingling said she didn' t need help. She invited the couple to look at their new CD player and their colorful TV and then disappeared again.A half-hour later she came back and sat down and the three began to eat. Yang Feng came in from ti

42、me to time to put dish after hot dish on the table. Most of the food was wonderful but neither George nor Janice could eat the fatty pork in pepper sauce or the ea cucumbers, and there was much more than they could eat. They kept wishing Yang Feng would sit down so they could talk to him .Finally he

43、 did sit down to eat a bit ,but quickly turned on the TV to show them all its high teching features. Soon it was time to go home.George and Janice felt slightly depressed by this experience, but returned the invitation two weeks later. They decided to make a nice American meal and felt lucky to find

44、 olives, tomato juice, crackers and as appetizers. For the main course they prepared spaghetti and a salad with dressing made from oil, vinegar, and some spices they found in the market.When Liu Lingling and Yang Feng arrived they were impressed by the apartment and asked the price of the TV, video

45、player, vacuum cleaner and other things. Janice politely refused to answer their questions. They took small tastes of the appetizers and seemed surprised when both George and Janice sat down with them. They ate only a little spaghetti and did not finish the salad on their plates. George urged them t

46、o eat more but they refused and looked around expectantly. Junice and George talked about their families and jobs and asked the table and served coffee and pastries. Yang Feng and Lingling each put four spoons of sugars into their coffee but did not drink much of it and ate only a bite or two of pas

47、try.After they left, George said that at least they had a chance to talk, but Janice was upset. “We left their place so full that we couldn' t walk and they ' re going to hto eat again when they get home. What went wrong?Analysis:中西方飲食習(xí)慣大大的不同.中國(guó)人邀請(qǐng)客人會(huì)準(zhǔn)備一大桌子的菜, 并在就餐過(guò)程中使勁勸說(shuō)客人多吃點(diǎn),吃完之后, 還有剩菜,就說(shuō)明

48、主人的盛 情款待.而西方人一不勸吃,二就餐完畢后,盤子最好是空的.本案列中的兩 對(duì)中外夫婦不明這個(gè)文化差異,發(fā)生誤解就是自然而然的事了.Case 7 After the meal and after the table has been cleared. Liu is not sure what to do, but wants to help in some way. At least he wants to offer.Helen: Thanks for your help, Huang. Liu: Pleasure. What can I do now? Helen: Nothing.

49、It ' s fine. I ' ll rinse these dishes then stack them. It' ll only taminute.Liu: Does the family usually help?Helen: Well, at special times. Jack sometimes rinses the dishes but you can see he' s really tired tonight.Liu: Let me do it for you.Helen: No truly, it ' s okay.Liu: Ma

50、ybe I can wipe the table then.Helen: That would be helpful. Thanks. You're really kind, Huang.Case 8 Two strangers have been chatting.A: So you ' re been here for a year?B: Yes. One more year to go, then IA: What will you do back home?'ll go biback to chB: It ' s hard to know. There

51、' s a lot change at the moment.A: Yeah. Everything is changing, everywhere. Sometimes it's difficu t to keep up.B: That ' s true. Maybe I ' ll (A' s mobile phone rings.)A: Excuse me, I ' d better answer this. It's probably work.B: Sure. Take your time.Analysis:有時(shí)在與人交談中,難免

52、要有什么原因要離開(kāi)一會(huì)兒,或是去接一個(gè) ,或要去洗手間.禮貌再此被提出來(lái).出于禮貌起見(jiàn),要記住做一些恰當(dāng) 解釋再離開(kāi).不治理由是什么,即便是要接一個(gè) ,在翻開(kāi) 回話前, 向?qū)Ψ秸f(shuō)聲對(duì)不起.如果只離開(kāi)幾分鐘,沒(méi)有必要找一個(gè)理由.你說(shuō)了對(duì)不起,就說(shuō)明你確實(shí)是有 事要離開(kāi)一會(huì)兒.Case 9 Liu Huang is calling his friend Steven at his home.Person: Hello. John is speaking.Liu:Hello? I ' m looking for Steven.Person: Sorry, there ' s no o

53、ne here called Steven.Liu:Is that 6577 8868?Person: No. I think you ' ve got the wrong number. This is 6578 8868.Liu:Oh, I ' m sorry.Person: No problem. Good luck.Liu:Thanks.Analysis:失手撥錯(cuò)號(hào)是常有的事.如果在國(guó)外,即便有語(yǔ)言障礙,害怕說(shuō)英 語(yǔ),也還是要先與對(duì)方核對(duì)是不是撥錯(cuò)了,然后再抱歉.如果發(fā)現(xiàn)撥錯(cuò)了號(hào) 就馬上掛 ,是不禮貌的行為.Case 10 Lin: Thank you so much

54、for a wonderful night. I've had a great time.Analysis:在西方人家中的就餐的時(shí)間里,大家都設(shè)法插手幫一下忙,即便是男 士也不例外,不要一點(diǎn)不動(dòng)著開(kāi)飯.所有家住者要能幫者擺擺餐具,或餐后收 拾洗碗,把餐具放進(jìn)洗碗機(jī),倒垃圾,站在一邊幫著擦干洗好的餐具.雖然都 是小忙,卻說(shuō)明你對(duì)別人的操勞非常在意,是個(gè)用心的人.Erica: It ' s been a pleasure having you. We hope you can come again, soon. Lin: I ' dke that. You both kno

55、w how to make me feel at home. Thanks for everything.Analysis:在動(dòng)身離去的時(shí)候,找到主人,當(dāng)面說(shuō)一聲謝謝,是有禮貌的行為.Case 11Off to a Bad StartDavid Hu had just started working for the foreign owned company. He was sitting at his workstation but had not been given any assignment that he should be doing at this moment. He was

56、 relaxing and waiting and then thought he would take the opportunity to have a look around. He poked his head into several offices just to see what there was to be seen.Suddenly Mr. Parker came up to him and angrily asked him what he was doing. David Hu was embarrassed. He laughed and quickly starte

57、d to move back toward his workstation. This did not seem to satisfy Mr. Parker who started to talk rapidly and angrily. Hoping to calm him down, Mr.Hu smiled and apologized, trying to explain that he was trying to learn more about the department. However, Mr. Parker got even angrier. Finally, anothe

58、r worker came by and calmed him down, but Mr. Parker left, he still looked angry. Mr.Hu sighed; he knew he had made a bad start but still didn' t understand why.Analysis:外國(guó)人很講究隱私權(quán),一般不允許自己的私人空間受到打攪.而中國(guó) 人比擬喜歡看熱鬧,想知道別人在做什么.所以在本案列中,吳先生未經(jīng)允許 就在公司四處走動(dòng),引起其他員工的強(qiáng)烈不滿.Case 12Sharing the WealthAnna Bilow had

59、 been working for a Chinese-owned and operated company in Nanjing for about six months. The division she was working in had a smal collection of Chinese-English dictionaries, English language reference books, and some videos in English including a couple of training films and several feature films that Anna had brought at her new employer' s request when she came fromEurope. Anna knew that some of the other sections had similar collections. She had sometimes used her friendship with one of the women in another department, Gu