1、What is culture?,Culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors, and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another.,Characteristics of culture,Culture is learned, dynamic, pervasive, integrated and adaptive.,Culture is dynamic. (constant
2、ly changing over time),Four major factors account for the change of cultures. 1. technological inventions2. disasters (natural and human calamities)3. cultural contact4. environmental factors,4. Intercultural communication,It refers to the communication between people from different cultures.,Forms
3、of intercultural communication,1. a Japanese Prime Minister communicates with an American president 2. Afro-American interacts with a White American 3. A Tibetan communicates with a Han Chinese 4. A northerner interacts with a southerner 5. mother talks with daughter,Forms of intercultural communica
4、tion,International Interracial Inter-ethnic Inter-regional Inter-generational,intercultural communication competence (ICC),The ability to accomplish effective and appropriate and systematic communication between communicators of different cultures. Cultural fluency +linguistic fluency,Significance o
5、f competent intercultural communication,Economic imperative: Technological imperative Demographic imperative (cross-border movements) Social justice and world peace imperative (we need to understand other cultures and avoid prejudice, otherwise we might have a lot ot misunderstandings, conflicts, qu
6、arrels, fights and even bloody wars.),Components of intercultural competence,Motivation Knowledge Attitudes: 1.tolerance for ambiguity2. empathy: 3. non-judgmentalness Behaviors and skills (be respectful, show interest, act friendly, and be polite),The Knowledge dimension,Other peoples dominant cult
7、ural values and beliefs Individualistic or collectivistic High-context or low-context High power distance or low PD High uncertainty avoidance or low-uncertainty avoidance Verbal and nonverbal communication,Individualism vs. collectivism,Question: Whose interests to be first? Individuals or the grou
8、ps?Individualism: personal interests more important than the group Collectivism: just the opposite,High- & low-context orientation,High-context culture: much information is contained in the context, such as 言外之意，弦外之音，Japanese, Chinese, Korean， Arab， etc. Low-context culture: information is mainly in
9、 the language, German, North America, Europeans, etc.,High context /low context,1. emphasize meaning beyond words 2. beat around the bush绕圈子 3. mild in speaking/writing tone 4. listener/reader responsible to decode meaning 5. Wording: fancy, glorious adjectives, but not carry much information,1. emp
10、hasize meaning in words 2. get to the point directly 3. sharp in tone 4. speaker/writer responsible to encode meaning 5. Wording: simple, but informative, expressive, often supported by data, graphics 6. business first 7. negotiation efficient,Verbal communication,Culture and word meanings : How cul
11、ture affects language,Denotation and Connotation外延、内涵,Denotation (the primary, surface meaning, explicit meaning) Connotation (social-cultural association, implicit meaning) Politician,奥巴马对胡总书记说：“我终于明白了中国文化其实就是吃的文化：岗位叫饭碗,谋生叫糊口；受雇叫混饭，混得好叫吃得开，受人欢迎叫吃香；受到照顾叫吃小灶，花积蓄叫吃老本；占女人便宜叫吃豆腐；男人老是用女人的钱叫吃软饭；干活多了叫吃不消，受
12、人伤害叫吃亏，男女嫉妒叫吃醋；犹豫不决叫吃不准，办事不力叫吃干饭, 负不起责任叫吃不了兜着走”。 胡总书记听后很生气，说：“要你总结中美关系，你却总结中国文化，是不是吃饱了撑的 ！”,Colors and meanings,red，yellow, white, blue, green, black have some different connotations in Chinese and English cultures respectively.,2. Words & connotation,animals Animals such as dragon, owl, dog, phoeni
13、x, magpie, etc. have some different connotations in Chinese and English cultures respectively.,Plants （flowers, fruits, trees, etc.),What plants do you know have special meaning in Chinese culture?,Taboo and euphemism,Taboo is socially or culturally prohibited, unacceptable, or religion sacred and p
14、rohibited 2. Euphemism:委婉语The substitution of a mild, indirect, or vague expression for one thought to be offensive, harsh, or blunt.,Communication barriers,Emotional problems:anxiety, uncertainty, assuming similarity instead of difference Attitudinal problems:ethnocentrism, stereotyping, prejudice,
15、 racism Translation problems: lack of vocabulary, idiomatic, grammatical-syntactical, experiential, and conceptual equivalence,Culture shock and reverse culture shock,Physical and psychological symptoms of culture shock Forms of culture shock Positive and negative effects of culture shock,Intercultural adaptation,U-curve patternhoneymoon period (initial euphoria)crisis period (hostility or frustration)adjustment period (recovery)biculturalism period (mastery),
