1、二.Different cultural factors may result in cultural differences, and consequently,the acknowledgment of the factors that affect the cultural differences will facilitate the understanding of such differences, part of which will vie discuss inthe followings. Since it is impossible to cover all of the
2、factors in this thesis, the factors discussed here are some important ones.Factors affect cultural differences1. Cultural BackgroundOne of the cultural different reasons between China and western is cultural background. In Spring and Autumn and Warring s periods of China emerged Confucianism, Taoism
3、 and other ideologies .As different ideologies developed and combated each other, the basic framework of Chinese civilization was established. And thenConfucianism became the foundation stone of Chinese philosophy system. Confucianisms central doctrine is that of the virtue of Ren. What is Ren? Ren
4、is translated variously as goodness, benevolence, humanity and human-heartedness. In short, Ren means affection and love. For more than 2 thousand years it has molded and shaped the civilization of China and exerted a profound influence upon almost one fourth of human race. Just as DR. Sun-Yat-Sen s
5、aid:” Therefore the old morals of loyalty and piety, affection, and love, faithfulness and righteousness, are superior to those of the foreign countries Let alone that peace and harmony. These high standards of morals are our national spirit. “Different from China, Christianity plays an important ro
6、le in western. The English speaking countries are generally considered as Christian countries where manypeople believe in Christianity. Christianity is the region based on the life and teaching of Jesus Christ. He is the founder of Christianity. According to the doctrine of Christianity, the Trinity
7、 is the union of the three forms of God, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ the son of the God, and the holy book ofChristianity is the Bible, which consists of the Old Testament and the New Testament. However, the power of the church cannot compare with the past time, it still influence many
8、 aspects of people s daily life. For example, there are a fewimportant festivals in the western is concern with Jesus Christ. Christmas day is a festival in celebration of the birth of the Jesus Christ on Dec.25.Virgin Birth refers to the birth of Christ, which Christians believe to have been caused
9、by God rather than by ordinary sexual union. 2. Different valuesAnother cultural different reasons between China and western is different value The concept of Chinese values is often consciously or unconsciously placed in opposition with Western values. Therefore, it is necessary to determine how pe
10、opledefine Western values. Some have stated that the modern Western value system originated in Victorian England, and describe it as social norms and behaviors common in European people during that time. The core of Western values is individualism. David Hitchcock described Western values from a Chi
11、nese perspective. He said that, from the Chinese viewpoint, Western values have three levels: 1) physical level science, technology, business, public administration, and modern capitalist economics; 2) conceptual level equal opportunity, the role of law; and time management; and 3) core values open
12、debate, equality, balance of power; free speech, and democracy. The core of the Chinese value has some relationship with the Confucianism. The ethnic principle of Confucianism is its discovery of the ultimate in the moral character of human relationships in which Confucius offered the solution for t
13、he ills and evils of his days. That is the well-known Five Relationships: ruler-minister, father-son, husband-wife, elder-younger brother and friend-friend. This was explained as“There should be affection between father and son , righteous sense of duty between ruler and minister, division offunctio
14、n between man and wife, stratification between old and young, and good faith between friends.”During the more than two thousand years of the feudal period, the ruling class arrange every thing by this relationships, and then formed a class society. In this kind of society, a minister owes loyalty to
15、 his ruler, and a child filial respect to his parent. The result is the humanity is neglected and people have no equality. Different from China, in the Renaissance period of England, people began to emphasize the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their belie
16、fs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of their life, but also have the ability to perfect themselves and perform wonders.This is the rudiment of Humanism. People became respect the humanity from then on. And then develop into the ideas of what we always said freedom, democracy.
17、 Today, take Americans for instance; the top personal values were self-reliance, hard work, and a tie between achieving success in life, personal achievement, andhelping others. Hard work, respect for learning, honesty, and self-reliance were most valued among Chinese people. In terms of social valu
18、es, the top six for Americans were freedom of expression, personal freedom, rights of the individual,open debate; thinking for oneself, and official accountability. The top six social values for Asian people were maintenance of an orderly society, harmony, accountability of public officials, opennes
19、s to new ideas, freedom of expression, and respect for authority. This study finds that unlike Americans, East Asians are generally more respectful of authority and prize an orderly society, however in concurrence with the West, Asians honor new ideas, official accountability, and free expression.3.
20、Individualism and CollectivismIndividualism refers to the doctrine that the rights of the individual are themost important ones in a society. Most westerners believe that each person has his own separate identity and personality, which should be recognized and reinforced. Therefore, one cannot compr
21、ehensive western and its people without understanding individualism. Only with the cognition of individualism can we understandhow westerners conceptualize family, friendships, and privacy. The core of individualism is the pursuit of personal and achievements. It is highly valued, earnestly believes
22、 and well appreciated as a fundamental social virtue. In Christianity traditions, individuals are important not only to each other, but also to the society and God. Individualism has been handed down from their ancestors. Therefore, to westerners, individualism is not selfishness but rather virtue.
23、They emphasize individualism so much that they believe that there must be something wrong with someone who fails to demonstrate individualism. That likes the sentence“God helps those who help themselves.”However to Chinese people , the word“individualism”is related to the derogatory meaning as egois
24、m, with represents selfishness in quality and looseness in discipline. In traditional Chinese beliefs, esp. in Confucianism, collectivism is appreciated. It emphasizes cooperation among group members and individual success is due to the collective effort of the staff in a unit, an organization or a
25、community. The sacrifice of individual interest for that of the collective is a noble quality eulogized so much by Chinese people that being modest and thoughtful of others are highly praised.4. FamilyWestern families advocate equality. The husband and the wife usually have an equality voice in deci
26、sion-making, and on certain matters, the children, too, have a vote. Family members are regarded as friend and they should treated equality in daily life. In the western, most old people do not live with their children orrelatives. If they have enough money they will buy house or apartments in place
27、s where other old people live .If they do not healthy and strong enough to live alone, they would rather live in nursing houses for old people than be taken by their children. Therefore they want to stay young because youth stands for hope and energy, which can help them make some positive changes i
28、n life. Moreover, they do not like to grow old because they will not gain honor, respect or attention as old people. Case are different in China, where most Chinese family members tend to live together and the young are supposed to show respect and obedience to old people. Generally, old people rece
29、ive honor, privilege and satisfaction since people believe that an old person is a wise man full of experience. The typical example is that the oldest person is the most respected not only in the family but also in the neighborhood. Just as Confucianism shows in Five Relations, the young should fili
30、al love, obedience and duty to the old in a family, esp. in the relationship between children and parents. For example, the Chinese who havemoved abroad usually continue to send money back to their parents as a token oftheir filial piety. Moreover, many young people still try to live near their pare
31、nts whenever possible even after they are marriage. Westerners stress individualism in families while Chinese stress coalition, which makes the Chinese familyextremely cohesive. Family members depend on each other for support and they are required to show loyalty to the family and bring demonstrated
32、 virtuous behavior, then the whole family loses face. The meaning of “face” should view in relation to the gain or loss of the social status of the family, not just of the individual. That is to say that Chinese culture emphasizes the collective quality in the nature of individuals life and behavior
33、. Generally speaking, the Chinesehave a stronger sense of family honor than westerners.5.NationalismThe fifth reason is the nationalism. Since the ancient China, the nation form of China is based solely on the Han nationality. What we said social etiquette standards are also based solely on The Han
34、nationality. The Han nationality developed their privities in the language expression and social contact during the common life and work of their forefathers in the history. Just a subtle facial expression or a slight action can express some meanings. People can understand what you want to say when
35、you say half of you comment or just say a little things .Sopeople do not need to say all their intention when they express their own feelings. While in western, take the America for instance; America is a immigrant country which has more than 2 hundred years history. However, people in America still
36、 cannot reach privities. They must express clearly what they thought, want. Only by this way can the others understand very well. So their language must speakout what they have to say.三.How to Learn Western Culture1. Establish a right attitude toward cultural differencesAttitude is a manner of feeli
37、ng and behaving. It can form a part of ones perception of self, of others, and of the culture in which one is living. A foreign language learner should set up a right attitude toward different culture. i.e., to be open-minded to them. Prejudice should be avoided. Prejudice in culture refers to an in
38、tolerant, unfair or biased attitude toward another culture. Regardless of the existence of Prejudice, cross-cultural communication may become difficult because it stands in the way of acquired knowledge in it. When facing a new culture, people should be flexible and able to adapt themselves to the n
39、ew situation.“Do as the Romans do is an effective way for those who are experiencing cultural differences. Therefore., being open-minded to cultural difference is a prerequisite to a successful communication with native speakers. 2. Reading extensively for cultural informationHaving the successful c
40、ommunication is the main purpose of English. The culturalinformation that the students need in authentic communication greatly exceeds that covered in any courses. To developed peoples communication competence, people should read authentic materials such as foreign newspapers, advertisements, journa
41、ls, short stories, novels, plays and other types of literature works. Literary works are of great significance to foreign language learners. In many cultures, particularly those whose languages are widely taught, literature performs an important role in society. They can reflect a culture, help read
42、ers gain deeper insights into the target society, enable them to have a better understanding go the national character of the people who produce the literature, and of the values they cherish. If we regard literature as a treasures house, then paying a visit to it will enable us to absorb cultural i
43、nformation stored in it. Informative works relevant to national character studier are another source of cultural information. Historians, sociologists and anthropologists, who engage themselves in the study of the target society, usually write these books. Foreign language learners can benefit a lot
44、 from these books since the books provide them with a detailed explanation of the peoples character in the target culture. There aresome other reading materials, which are related closely to our daily life, suchas newspapers and magazines. Because most contents of these materials are authentic, they
45、 expose to us various cultural backgrounds, ranging from geography, history, customs, religion and philosophy, to entertainment, fashion and tourism. This kind of reading materials will help foreign learners get a better understanding of the target culture and keep a keen eye on it.3.Learn culture t
46、hrough TV and moviesIt is even more so for western culture learners because they come to know the truth of native speakers behaviors on the screen. Foreign language learners can get a vivid picture of what the peoples life is like in the target culture. With the popularity of TV, they can obtain new
47、s all over the world, watch and enjoy movies in original versions of the target language at home. Such movies help foreign language learners with their vocabulary, listening ability as well as their awareness of cultural differences. Form the observation through the media, the features of everyday s
48、ituations will impress them, such as, sightseeing, telephoning, shopping, or asking directions. What they have learned from books can beverified by the performance of the native speakers. While enjoying the attractive performance, language learners have to observe details of everyday situations, in
49、case of greeting, farewell, compliment, apology, requirement, etc. Though the media people can learn the polite behavior, etiquette, means to solve conflicts, techniques of negotiation, debates, ways of show love, dating and so on. Movies can also improve cross-cultural communication by conveying the important values, communication styles and so on. After watching movies, foreign language learners may take notes of their observations, and supplement the findings and talkwith those who have shared the same movies so that they can apply what they have learned to real cross-cultural
