1、Culture and CommunicationChapter 1An Introduction to the TopicCase AnalysisReadingBrainstormingMy Big ProjectAfter-class ReadingSection 1Section 2Section 3Section 4Section 5Section 6Culture and CommunicationChapter 1In modern society，different people communicate in different ways,as people do in dif
2、ferent societies around the world;and the way people communicate is the way they live.It is their culture.Who talks with whom?How?And about what?These are questions of communication and culture.When the elements of communication differ or change,the elements of culture differ or change.Communication
3、 and culture are inseparable.Culture and CommunicationChapter 1Learning ObjectivesBy the end of this chapter,you should be able to Get to know the modes of communication Have an idea of the main components of communication Be clear about what intercultual communication is Be aware of cultural barrie
4、rs to effective communication Distinguish the functions of culture in intercultural communicationAn Introduction to the TopicSection 1Lead inHave you ever realized that your life is greatly affected by the culture and communication youre living in?But what on earth is culture and communication?And w
5、hats the relationship between them?Please have a discussion with your neighbour and air your view to your classmates.An Introduction to the TopicSection 1Culture and CommunicationCulture and communication,although two different concepts,are directly linked.They are so inextricably bound that some an
6、thropologists believe the terms are virtually synonymous.Hall reminds us that“Culture is communication and communication is culture.”As A.G.Smith,Ed.noted,“Whenever people interact they communicate.To live in societies and to maintain their culture they have to communicate.”Culture is learned,acted
7、out,transmitted,and preserved through communication.Communication is complex and multi-dimensional,and is usually defined in the following way:“Communication is a dynamic,systematic process in which meanings are created and reflected in human interaction with symbols.”While culture is generally ackn
8、owledged as“the deposit of knowledge,experience,beliefs,values,actions,attitudes,meanings,hierarchies,religion,notions of time,roles,spatial relations,concepts of the universe,and artifacts acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving.”Case Analysi
9、sSection 2Case OneJapanese HotelAn American businessman who registered in a Japanese hotel,telling them he intended to stay for one month.After 10 days,without notice,he is moved to another room.He discovers this by accident and is surprised to find that all his personal items have been placed aroun
10、d the room in almost the identical position as that in his first room.Not wishing to make a fuss,he says nothing.To his surprise,he is moved two more times,each time without notification.Eventually,when he returned to the hotel instead of just asking for the key to his room,he would ask whether he w
11、as in the same room.During the last week,he was moved again,but this time into another hotel!Case AnalysisSection 2Case OneQuestions for Discussion:1.How do you understand the Japanese hospitality mentioned in Case 1?2.What would you feel if a similar occurrence happened on you?And how would you rea
12、ct to that?Case AnalysisSection 2Case OneComment:Two variables associated with culture are involved here.One is that in Western societies,moves are associated with statusthe lowest ranking individual is the one moved.Second is the significance of space.Being quite territorial,Westerners want to make
13、 sure that a move does not involve moving to a smaller space.Looking at the same situation from a Japanese cultural perspective,when a person enters a hotel he/she becomes part of a family.As a member of the family,the hotel feels they can quietly move you if the need arises.Taking such liberties wi
14、th your accommodation signals that you belong to and that you are a member of the family.However,the Japanese are also familiar with the reaction such moves have on Westerners.They are sensitive to the fact that other cultures react loudly to being moved and having their personal items touched witho
15、ut their permission.Many hotels who cater to Westerners abide by the rules of the visitors culture and would not think of moving the person.The familiarity displayed in the example above is more likely to occur in a hotel located well away from normal tourist territory.Case AnalysisSection 2Case One
16、All over the world,suitable environments have been created for tourists that shield them from the reality of the life of the people.Tourists seldom stick around for long,and they are happier if insulated from the full impact of the foreign culture.However,in the case quoted above,the forced move to
17、the second hotel turned out to be a blessing.The American businessman found the district around the new hotel much more interesting and authentic than that around the first hotel.Each culture has its own language of space which is as unique as the spoken language.In a Japanese hotel,all visitors are
18、 given the same kind of bath robe.This is not just the results of an opportunistic management using the guests to advertise the hotel.Rather it symbolizes that once you had registered in the hotel,you were no longer an outsider.You belonged.You became a member of a large,mobile family.As a family me
19、mber,you are afforded an environment which is relaxed and informal.But remember,no matter how informal or relaxed you may feel,meal-time is not appropriate for discussions of business.Case AnalysisSection 2Case TwoLife of the GermansGermany is not a melting pot society and Germans are not mobile.Man
20、y stay in their geographic region and even the same house for generations.The scale of everything is smaller in Germany than in the Western countries.They love the outdoors,open spaces and treasure forests.Hiking is a popular sport.To the German space is sacred.Homes are protected by a variety of ba
21、rriers(fences,walls,hedges solid doors,shutters and screening)to prevent visual or auditory intrusion.Germans seldom invite anyone who is not a close friend to their home.To be invited is considered an honor.If you bring a small bouquet for the hostess(not red roses which convey romantic attachment)
22、,flowers should be unwrapped before being presented.Positions in things are also importantfor example,the right side represents a place of respect.So,in seating arrangements or just walking from one place to another,the senior person or the group leader should be placed on the right.Case AnalysisSec
23、tion 2Case TwoThe German sense of privacy is very strong.Learn what is considered personal and do not ask questions that may be offensive.Americans feel that Germans do not interact with neighbors and perceive German behavior as unfriendly.German friends of many years continue to address each other
24、by their last names:“Herr Schmidt”not“Walter”.Germans are careful not to touch accidentally or to encourage signs of intimacy.On the other hand,they do maintain direct eye contact in conversations to show they are paying attention.However,the German who speaks most softly and to whom others defer is
25、 the one to pay attention to,not the one who makes the most noise.Order is a dominant theme in German culture.There is order in all things,including space they are very sensitive to spatial intrusions.One exception to orderliness is behavior in lines for service,in stores,at ticket counters,or in bo
26、arding planes,especially where there is no seat assignment.Germans do not form queues but instead crowd and push and can be very rough.They do not yield when someone says“Excuse me”.Their determination to be served overrides their usual need to avoid physical contact.However,these are exceptions.Gen
27、erally,Germans expect organization and order in all thingseverything should be carefully planned,researched thoroughly and carried out in an orderly manner.Case AnalysisSection 2Case TwoThey have a strong drive for conformity and object strenuously when people fail to obey signs and directions.Weste
28、rners feel that things are meant to be used;and if they serve no useful purpose,we dispose of them.The German attitude is that things have great intrinsic value.We feel remiss if we buy books and dont read them.But a German will feel that it is important to own a book even if one cant read it immedi
29、ately.Sales of hard-cover books exceed sales of paperback books in Germany.Associated with their demand for high-quality,long-lasting goods is the German abhorrence of waste.Waste is a sin,such as heating,cooling and lighting buildings when it is not necessary.Germans are value-conscious and always
30、insist on getting their moneys worth.Dont ever try to sell them goods that are less than high quality.They appreciate,in fact demand,fine workmanship,design and high-quality material.A television ad that is effective in the U.S.will have to be translated into print media to reach Germans.Germans are
31、 print-oriented,which explains in part why there is so little advertising on German TV.Also,Germans are always looking for what is“true”and to them numbers are a way of signaling that a product is exactly as it has been represented.Germans demand facts,facts and more facts.Case AnalysisSection 2Case
32、 TwoQuestions for Discussion:1.If youve got a German friend and intended to visit him,what would you do?And what should you be careful about in your conversation?2.If youre doing business with the Germans,what should you pay attention to?For example,if you are selling a TV set to the Germans,how wou
33、ld you design your promotion plan?Case AnalysisSection 2Case TwoComment:Get to know more about the Germans may effectively facilitate your communication or business with them.You should be clear that the Germans are not mobile;the German space is sacred;and they seldom invite anyone who is not a clo
34、se friend to their home.Also,positions in things are also importantfor example,the right side represents a place of respect.The German sense of privacy is very strong.Learn what is considered personal and do not ask questions that may be offensive.When conducting business with the Germans,you had be
35、tter keep in mind that“Order is a dominant theme in German culture”;“They have a strong drive for conformity and object strenuously when people fail to obey signs and directions”;“They have a demand for high-quality,long-lasting goods”.Case AnalysisSection 2Case ThreeOne day,when an American was par
36、king his bike which fell over accidentally.At the moment,a Chinese onlooker laughed,but the American felt embarrassed at his laughter,even angry.There are similar situations.A foreigner came cross to drop a plate on the ground in dining room.The foreigner felt bad when Chinese onlookers laughed.Case
37、 AnalysisSection 2Case ThreeQuestion for Discussion:In Case 3,why do you think the Chinese would laugh on the two occurrences mentioned above?And why were the two Americans so angry in those situations?Case AnalysisSection 2Case ThreeComment:Smiles and laughers usually imply friendliness,approval,sa
38、tisfaction,pleasure and so on.Generally speaking,it has the same meaning in China and in English-speaking countries.But in westerners eyes,some improper laughter will result in negative reaction.Case AnalysisSection 2Additional knowledgeuCross-cultural communication(also frequently referred to as in
39、tercultural communication,which is also used in a different sense,though)is a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds communicate,in similar and different ways among themselves,and how they endeavor to communicate across cultures.Case AnalysisSection 2Additional k
40、nowledgeuCulture(from the Latin cultura stemming from colere,meaning“to cultivate”)is a term that has various meanings.For example,in 1952,Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of“culture”in Culture:A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions.However,the word“cultur
41、e”is most commonly used in three basic senses:1.Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities,also known as high culture.2.An integrated pattern of human knowledge,belief,and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning.3.The set of shared attitudes,values,g
42、oals,and practices that characterizes an institution,organization or group.Case AnalysisSection 2Additional knowledgeuCommunicationCommunication may be defined as that which happens whenever someone responds to the behavior or the residue of the behavior of another person.Case AnalysisSection 2Addit
43、ional knowledgeuEight Ingredients of CommunicationBehavioral source,encoding,message,channel,responder,decoding,response,feedback.Circulatory Model by Charles Osgood and Wilbur Schramm in the 50EncoderDecoderEncoderDecoderMessageMessageCase AnalysisSection 2Additional knowledgeuEdward Hallis conside
44、red the father of cross-cultural communication with his publication of The Silent Language in 1959 and his many other works.Case AnalysisSection 2Additional knowledgeuThe Characteristics of CultureCulture is Not Innate,it is Learned.Culture is TransmissibleCulture is DynamicCulture is SelectiveFacet
45、s of Culture are InterrelatedCulture is EthnocentricCase AnalysisSection 2Additional knowledgeuStudy area of cross-cultural communication:Verbal Language(word,thought patterns.)Nonverbal language(body language,time concept,spatial language,paralanguage,environment.)Social perception(values,beliefs,a
46、ttitudes,world views.)ReadingSection 3Reading ICulture&CommunicationThere is not one aspect of human life that is not touched and altered by culture.This means personality,how people express themselves(including shows of emotion),the way they think,how they move,how problems are solved,how their cit
47、ies are planned and laid out,how transportation systems function and are organized,as well as how economic and government systems are put together and function.Some people in Korea and China put dogs in their ovens,but people in the United States put them on their couches and beds.Why?People in Tabr
48、iz or Tehran sit on the floor and pray five times each day,but people in Las Vegas stand up all night in front of slot machines.Why?Some people speak tagalong;others speak English.Why?Some people paint and decorate their entire bodies,but others spend millions of dollars painting and decorating only
49、 their faces.Why?Some people talk to God,but others have God talk to them.And still others say there is no God.Why?The general answer to these questions is the same.People learn to think,feel,believe,and act as they do because of the messages that have been communicated to them,and those messages al
50、l bear the stamp of culture.ReadingSection 3Reading IWhen we discuss communication and culture,we should be aware of the total spectrum of communication including language,non-verbal communication,customs,perceived values,and concepts of time and space.Do all tourists identify with Canadian traditio
