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.
Members of a particular culture have certain things
in common.(TB P5)
Culture can be seen as shared knowledge, what
people need to know in order to act
appropriately in a given culture.(TB P6)
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
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。
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
Culture is consistently changing and involving
under the impact of and as a result of contact
with other cultures.
从“主旋律”到“我型我秀”——中国服饰变化30年 (video)
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