Social Interaction

have a better understanding of the conventions and expectations of English-speakers in areas such as inviting family members, footing a bill, giving or receiving gifts, offering and accepting drink and food, complimenting and responding, disagreeing;

be more aware of your own behavior patterns and how they are shaped by Chinese culture;

know how to avoid or lessen misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication and be able to convey your ideas more successfully

Warming up

Students think of some conventions in China and compare with those counterparts in an English-speaking country by filling the blanks below.

Conventions China English speaking country

Task 1 Identifying Cultural Differences

Below is an excerpt from a letter written by Andy to his friend James. Read it and answer the questions which follow.

1. What is Andy's job? 2. What invitation did he receive? 3. Did he accept the invitation? 4. What did he complain about? 5. What did he think of Chinese

hospitality? 6.What word did he use? 7. Do you think his complaint fair or unfair?

Task 2 Listen to the tape and find the answers to the following questions

How does Michael greet Peter? What question does Michael ask before

giving the invitation? Why does he ask such a question?

How does Michael express his invitation?

How does Peter reply?

When are they going to have dinner together?

Is there anything that Jean doesn’t like to eat at present?

Why does Jean have a stomach problem?

What are Michael and his wife thinking of having for dinner?

A very formal written invitation:

Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Wells

request the pleasure of the company

of

Mr. Frederick Parsons

at Dinner

on Tuesday, 11 June

at 8.30 p.m.

RSVP

9 Mill Lane

LeedsRSVP = =repondezs’il vous plait(French)=please reply

Frederick Parsons thank Mr. and

Mrs. Anthony Wells for their kind invitation

for Tuesday, 11 June, which he

accepts with much pleasure/

very much regrets being unable to accept

due to a prior engagement

Dear Frederick, Jill and I are holding a party on Saturday, starting at about 8.00. Please come if you can. We look forward to seeing you very much. Best wishes Tony

Compare and draw a difference in the formal and

informal invitation letter wordings.

Step3

Footing the Bill

When someone suggests going for a meal at a restaurant, who is going to pay the bill? We Chinese may feel puzzled by this question: Why should you ask such a question? Of course the person who invites should pay; but this is not always so in some English-speaking countries.

China EnglandCommon way of settling the bill

Host pays 1.

To pay for oneself implies

Meanness 2.

Expectation 3. no need to return favor

We have been talking about cultural habits. Now let’s look at how tightly they are interwoven with language, In the text ‘Footing the Bill ’in Task 1 , you may find some vivid examples. Below is a flow chart which shows how customs affect language. Read the text and complete the chart.

1. Cultural custom 3. Idiom 2. Cultural custom

Hotel guests can pay meals by---- .

They sign the bill at the----or------- .

To foot the bill means --- .

1. signing the bill 3. to pay something 2. bottom, foot

Read the text 'Footing the Bill' once again and find the meanings of the following idioms. Write the meaning below each idiom. Don't use dictionary! Rely on the contexts and yourself!

1.go Dutch

2.pool their money

3.pick up the tab

4.buy his round

1.Share the cost of the meal equally between friends.2. Put together the right amount of money to pay the bill.3. Grab the bill to pay. ('Tab' in this idiom means 'bill'.)4. Ask everyone what they would like and then go to the bar to get the drinks.

Task 1 Listen and answer the following questions

What did Tony bring with him as a gift for his Chinese colleague?

What are in the tapes? Did Tony wrap up the tapes? When Tony gave his Chinese hosts

the gift, what did they do? What did Tony expect them to do?

Task 2 Listen and fill in the blanks on P152

Task 1 Listen and answer the following questions

What did Tony bring with him as a gift for his Chinese colleague?

What are in the tapes? Did Tony wrap up the tapes? When Tony gave his Chinese hosts the gift,

what did they do? What did Tony expect them to do?

Task 2 Listen and fill in the blanks on P152

Task1. Listen to the recording again and answer the following two questions.

What surprises Rod? What surprises the Chinese student? Who thinks no means no?

Task 2 Listen and answer the following two questions

1. Rod says that he cannot manage without something. What is it?

2. He also says one mustn't do something? What is it?

Task 3 Compare the differences in showing hospitality between China and western countries.

Responding to the compliments

China English way

Task 1 Identifying English ways of responding to compliments by finishing the dialogues in P159

Task2 Identifying Chinese ways of responding to compliments by finishing dialogues in P160

Task3 Compare the difference between the two by finishing the following table

Responding to the compliments

China English way

Who were involved in the dispute? What was the dispute about? What did the Australians want? What did the Chinese want? What did the Chinese point out to

support their initial refusal?

How did the Australians responding to the argument about the river?

What did the Chinese reply? Why did the Australians raise the matter

again? Why did the Chinese say that they

would look into the matter? Did the Australians understand the

Chinese intention? What did the Australians expect?

Task2.Read the passage in Task 1 again and give the meanings of the following words and expressions according to their contexts.

1. phrasing a polite refusal: 2. Sino: 3. chauffeur: 4. concede: 5. flatly: 6. at its face value:

Like the Chinese, people in the English-speaking countries also avoid losing one's face or hurting other people by using polite expressions when giving refusals. In Britain, in addition to polite expressions, people find or give excuses when refusing a request, and such excuses, if they are not genuine ones, are called 'white lies', lies told with good intentions.

Now you are going to listen to three dialogues which show how British people refuse requests politely. While you are hastening complete the table below, some of them have been done for you.

Request

Polite expression for refusal

Excuse

Dialogue

1.I'm so sorry

I'm going to use it myself; I've got a lot of things I need

Dialogue

give me a lift

2. 3.

Dialogue

4. 5. 6.

Case: Too modest?—When ‘No’ doesn’t mean ‘no’. Please read the case on P156 and write a letter to Rod to explain this phenomenon and give him some advice on such cross—cultural communication.

Analysis: we Chinese usually say ‘no’ when somebody offers something, because sometimes an offer is not a real offer but a polite remark. After we say ‘no’, we usually wait for the second or third offer before we accept it, but that never happens in a foreigner’s home.