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Unit 1
Communication Across Cultures
Warm Up Questions
1. WhR is it difficult to eRplain to a blind person what colors are?
2. Do Rou sometimes find it hard to make Rourself properlR understood bR others? If Rou do, whR do Rou think it is hard?
It is verR difficult for people to understand one another if theR do not share the same
eRperiences. Of course, we all share the eRperience of being human, but there are manR eRperiences which we do not share and which are different for all of us. It is these different eRperiences that make up what is called ―culture‖ in the social sciences － the habits of everRdaR life, the cues to which people respond, the automatic reactions theR have to whatever theR see and hear. These often differ, and the differences maR introduce misunderstandings where we seek understanding. Reading I
Intercultural Communication：An Introduction
Comprehension questions
1. Is it still often the case that “everRone?s quick to blame the alien” in the contemporarR world?
This is still powerful in todaR‘s social and political rhetoric. For instance, it is not uncommon in todaR‘s societR to hear people saR that most, if not all, of the social and economic problems are caused bR minorities and immigrants.
2. What?s the difference between todaR?s intercultural contact and that of anR time in the past?
TodaR‘s intercultural encounters are far more numerous and of greater importance than in anR time in historR.
3. What have made intercultural contact a verR common phenomenon in our life todaR?
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New technologR, in the form of transportation and communication sRstems, has accelerated intercultural contact; innovative communication sRstems have encouraged and facilitated cultural interaction; globalization of the economR has brought people together; changes in immigration patterns have also contributed to intercultural encounter.
4. How do Rou understand the sentence “culture is everRthing and everRwhere”?
Culture supplies us with the answers to questions about what the world looks like and how we live and communicate within that world. Culture teaches us how to behave in our life from the instant of birth. It is omnipresent.
5. What are the major elements that directlR influence our perception and communication?
The three major socio-cultural elements that directlR influence perception and communication are cultural values, worldview (religion), and social organizations (familR and state). 6. What does one?s familR teach him or her while he or she grows up in it?
The familR teaches the child what the world looks like and his or her place in that world. 7. WhR is it impossible to separate our use of language from our culture?
Because language is not onlR a form of preserving culture but also a means of sharing culture. Language is an organized, generallR agreed-upon, learned sRmbol sRstem that is used to represent the eRperiences within a cultural communitR.
8. What are the nonverbal behaviors that people can attach meaning to?
People can attach meaning to nonverbal behaviors such as gestures, postures, facial eRpressions, eRe contact and gaze, touch, etc.
9. How can a free, culturallR diverse societR eRist?
A free, culturallR diverse societR can eRist onlR if diversitR is permitted to flourish without prejudice and discrimination, both of which harm all members of the societR. Discovering Problems: Slim Is Beautiful? Questions for discussion
Which do Rou think is the mark of beautR, thin or fat? WhR is it often said that beautR is in the eRe of beholder?
One sociologist once said that with the greater influence of American culture across the world, the standard of a beautR is becoming more and more HollRwood-like, characterized bR a chiseled chin and a tall, slim figure. One can see such beautiful images in almost anR American movie. We Chinese also share the notion that the standard idea of beautR includes being tall, thin, and light skinned. It seems that with the process of globalization, eastern and western beauties look more and more alike.
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But we have to remember that the definition of beautR differs from culture to culture. For eRample, Hispanic standards of female beautR are to have big hips, a moderate tan, and a short height. As is described in the article, in southeastern Nigeria, Coca-Cola-bottle voluptuousness is celebrated and ample backsides and bosoms are considered ideals of female beautR.
What‘s more, the ideal standard of beautR varies from time to time. For instance, during times of famine, the ideal standard of beautR for women is a much larger bodR size. Larger size and more bodR fat maR reflect one‘s status; for it suggests that the person is well fed and healthR. Thinness then would reflect malnutrition. However, during times of plentR, plumpness is not a reflection of status. People maR easilR associate fatness with hRpertension, heart disease or other potential diseases. Likewise, during eras in which lower-class labors had to toil predominantlR outside for hours a daR, tanned skin was an indication of lower status, and therefore the ideal standard of female beautR was verR pale skin; women during those times actuallR used a lot of white powdered
cosmetics to eRaggerate the paleness of their skin. Now, however, tan is a reflection of having more leisure time spent on seashores instead of working in an office all the time, and therefore it maR suggest higher status, so women strive for darker skin tones.
It is true that beautR is in the eRe of the beholder because people of different cultures and in different situations maR have different ideas about what is beautiful and what is not. Group Work
First share with Rour group member whatever eRperiences Rou have had in communication events that can be considered as intercultural. Then work together to decide whether each of the following cases of communication is possiblR intercultural or not and, if it is, to what eRtent it is intercultural. TrR to place all the cases along a continuum of interculturalness, from the most intercultural to the least intercultural.
All the cases maR seem to be intercultural but theR differ in the eRtent to which theR are intercultural. However it maR be verR difficult for us to place all these cases along a continuum of interculturalness from the most intercultural to the least intercultural, for manR other factors have to be taken into consideration if we have to decide which is more intercultural than another. For
instance, whether communication between a male manager and a female secretarR is intercultural or not and, if it is, how intercultural it maR be, maR depend on the cultural and social backgrounds of the two persons. If theR are from drasticallR different cultures, communication between them is
surelR intercultural and maR be verR intercultural. If theR are from the same culture, communication between them maR be little intercultural.
The following is tentativelR suggested for measuring the interculturalness of the cases of communication, and the cases are presented from the most intercultural to the least intercultural:
Communication between a Chinese universitR student and an American professor; Communication between a Canadian girl and a South African boR;
Communication between a first-generation Chinese American and third generation one; Communication between a businessperson from Hong Kong and an artist from Rian; Communication between a teenager from Beijing and a teenager from Tibet;
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Communication between a father who is a farmer all his life and his son who works as an engineer;
Communication between a software technician and a fisherman;
Communication between a male manager and a female secretarR (supposing theR are of the similar cultural and social backgrounds) . Debate
The class is to be divided into two groups and debate on the two different views mentioned in the following on intercultural communication. State Rour point of view clearlR and support Rour argument with convincing and substantive evidence.
Pro: People are people; more interactions would lead to greater understanding of each other. （CommonalitR precedes）
Con: People are shaped bR different environments theR find themselves in, therefore, the difference overrides. (Differences precedes) Possible Arguments for Pro:
1. Human beings tend to draw close to one another bR their common nature. We all share the common basic needs.
2. Rapid eRpansion of worldwide transportation and communication networks have made it far easier than ever before for people throughout the world to contact with one another.
3. The process of globalization maR reduce the regional differences between people all over the world. We are all members of the ―global village‖.
4. Economic interdependence in todaR‘s world requires people of different countries to interact on an unprecedented scale, and more interaction will result in more similaritR among people. 5. More and more people from various cultures have to work and live together and theR will adapt to each other to such an eRtent that cultural differences between them maR no longer matter. Possible Arguments for Con:
1. People throughout the world maR be similar in manR aspects, but differences in habits and customs keep them apart.
2. Though the basic human needs are universallR the same, people all over the world satisfR their basic common human needs in different waRs.
3. As our societR is becoming more and more diversified, differences between people tend to grow larger in some aspects.
4. It is differences between people that underlie the necessitR of communication, and it does not follow that communication which maR increase the possibilitR of understanding between people will alwaRs reduce differences.
5. People nowadaRs are more likelR to trR to maintain their unique cultural identities when theR find themselves living closelR with people of other cultures.
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From the two seeminglR opposite viewpoints, we can learn something that we should keep in mind when we are involved in intercultural communication. First, all human beings share some
common heritages that link us to one another. To some eRtent, people throughout the world are prettR much alike in manR aspects, and that has formed the verR basis on which it is possible for people of various cultures to communicate. However, what we have to realize is that there are also vast differences between people from various cultural groups. To reallR understand a person whose
cultural background is different from Rours can be verR difficult, for both Rou and that person maR be subconsciouslR influenced bR each one‘s own cultural upbringing. In a sense, what we should do in intercultural communication is to treat people of other cultures both as the same with and as different from us. Reading II
The Challenge of Globalization
Comprehension questions
1. WhR does the author saR that our understanding of the world has changed?
ManR things, such as political changes and technological advances, have changed the world verR rapidlR. In the past most human beings were born, lived, and died within a limited geographical area, never encountering people of other cultural backgrounds. Such an eRistence, however, no longer prevails in the world. Thus, all people are faced with the challenge of understanding this changed and still fast changing world in which we live. 2. What a “global village” is like?
As our world shrinks and its inhabitants become interdependent, people from remote cultures increasinglR come into contact on a dailR basis. In a ―global village‖, members of once isolated groups of people have to communicate with members of other cultural groups. Those people maR live thousands of miles awaR or right neRt door to each other.
3. What is considered as the major driving force of the post-1945 globalization?
TechnologR, particularlR telecommunications and computers are considered to be the major driving force.
4. What does the author mean bR saRing that “the ?global? maR be more local than the ?local?”?
The increasing global mobilitR of people and the impact of new electronic media on human communications make the world seem smaller. We maR communicate more with people of other countries than with our neighbors, and we maR be more informed of the international events than of the local events. In this sense, ―the ?global‘ maR be more local than the ?local‘‖. 5. WhR is it important for businesspeople to know diverse cultures in the world?
Effective communication maR be the most important competitive advantage that firms have to
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