Inter-cultural communication

Warm-up cases

1. Hometown customs

2. Culture differences between Germany and China

3. Same language, different behavior (TB P.3)

Inter-cultural communication

What is culture?

What is communication?

What is Inter-cultural communication?

Where are they from?

muumuu jeans

Kimono Sari (Saree)

Understanding Culture

1.Differences and similarities between cultures

2.Ethnocentrism--the limitation of culture

3.cultures is not a static entity while it is difficult to be transformed completely

4.what we can see about cultures is just the tip of the iceberg

Generally speaking, Culture is the way of life.Thanks to culture, without it we can’t survive in society.

Culture can be seen as shared knowledge, what people need to know in order to act appropriately in a given culture.(TB P6)

Members of a particular culture have certain things in common.(TB P5)

1.Differences and similarities between cultures

When we are exposed to a new culture, it is the similarities between cultures that surprise us as much as the differences

examples•Spring Festival (video)•proverb : love me love my dog•12 zodiac animals

越南人有十二个生肖，与中国人的生肖基本相同。只是中国有“兔”无“猫”，越南则有“猫”无“兔”。

印度人有十二个生肖，与中国人的生肖基本相同。只是中国有“虎”无“狮”，印度则有“狮”无“虎”。

埃及人有十二个生肖，分别是：牡牛、山羊、猴子、驴、蟹、蛇、犬、猫、鳄、红鹤、狮子、鹰。

希腊人有十二个生肖，与埃及人的生肖基本相同，只是希腊人有“鼠”无“猫”，埃及人则有“猫”无“鼠”。

墨西哥人有十二个生肖，有虎、兔、龙、猴、狗、猪和其它六种墨西哥特有的动物组成十二生肖。

12 zodiac animals

2.Ethnocentrism--the limitation of culture

Q: What does this story tell about? A funny story (TB P.5)

Q:It has been said that without a culture we cannot see, but with a culture we are forever blind. How to explain this sentence?

We usually learn our own culture's way of doing, speaking, and thinking so well that it becomes difficult to think, feel, speak and act as people in other cultures do.

Our own native language and cultures are so much a part of us that we take them for granted. Using our own culture as the standard to judge other cultures.

People everywhere tend to be ethnocentric and are often not aware of cultural differences. Cross-cultural awareness is the ability to understand cultures by means of objective, non-judgemental comparisons. It is an appreciation for us to get rid of our ethnocentric tendencies and to accept another culture on its own terms. Many inter-cultural interactions go sour due to lack of such awareness.

3.cultures is not a static entity while it is difficult to be transformed completely

从“主旋律”到“我型我秀”——中国服饰变化 30 年 (video)

Culture is consistently changing and involving under the impact of and as a result of contact with other cultures.

Changes in certain aspects of cultures especially in the area of behavior and customs, can occur rapidly. Changes in the underlying values, e.g. in ways of looking at the world, tend to be much slower.

李安导演的电影 < 推手 >< 饮食男女 >< 喜宴 > 就说明了在文化冲击下 , 人们在中西 /新旧文化中的徘徊和坚守

4.what we can see about cultures is just the tip of the iceberg

What is communication?

Q: A wife has said to her husband: "Yes, George. I know you can talk, but I want you to communicate". What does she mean? What is the difference in meaning between "talk" and "communicate"?

The American sociolinguist D. Hymes pointed out that people with communicative competence should know when, where and what to speak to whom and how.

Culture gives meaning and provides the context for communication, and the ability to communicate allows us to act out our cultural values and to share our languages and our culture.

1) the context of the communication;2) the participants;3) the messages being communicated;4) the channels through which the communication occurs;5) the presence or absence of “noise”;6) the verbal and nonverbal responses known as feedback