Course: Intercultural Communication—Case Studies
Textbook: Self-compiled handouts
Objectives: This curricular module prompts students with the salient issues related to intercultural communication (1CC). Its main focus is on discussions of major problems arising from ICC. During the course the students are exposed to a large variety of cases, taken from up-to-date documents. The goal is not only to build up students' knowledge of ICC, but more importantly to increase their cross-cultural awareness. The course intends to be instructive, practical and enjoyable. At the end of this course, the students will be able to
1. deepen their understanding of major ICC principles;
2. become familiar with differences in Chinese and American cultures;
3. experience conflicts and controversies in ICC;
4. enhance their abilities to analyze ICC phenomena;
5. improve their ICC competence.
Topic Areas:
Values: 1. Friendship 2. Ethics 3. Individualism & self-reliance
4. Privacy
5. Equality
6. Attributes
关于厉行节约反对食品浪费的意见7. Time & space 8. Competition & cooperation 9. Volunterism & philanthropy Daily life: 1. Lifestyle 2. Family & marriage 3. Entertainment
4. Holidays & travel
5. Art & architecture
6. Science & technology
Social life: I. Education 2. Religion 3. Political systems & law
4. Minorities
5. Prejudices &stereotyping
青春在风中飘着6. Building bridges
Assessment:
The students will have one assignment for this course. The assignment should center on one of the particular ICC issues covered in the course. They are supposed to address the topic on the basis of theoretical analysis applying the knowledge, principles, as well as strategies obtained during the course. The assignment should run approximately ten pages long, with an abstract, key words and a list of references in the APA format. It must be double-spaced, using Times New Roman (12).
Reference:
1. Larry A. Samovar. Communication Between Cultures Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2000
2. Dou, RQ, Qian DX, Li BX. Selected Readings in Intercultural Communication Xi’an Jiaotong University Press, 2004
3. Jia Yuxin. Intercultural Communication Shanghai Foreign languages Education Press, 2003
4. Yao Baorong. Han Qi, Wang Tao. Chinese Society and Culture Shaanxi people’s Publishing
House, 2002
dtmf5. Hu Wenzhong. Aspects of Intercultural Communication Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2004
6. Mei Renyi. American Studies Reader Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, 2002
7. Robert M. Crunden. A Brief History of American Culture Paragon House, New York, 1994
8. Bradford ‘J’ Hall. Among Cultures—The Challenge of Communication Wadsworth, 2005
Intercultural Communication
------Case Studies
Unit 1 General Introduction
We are now in a quite different world from before, which is sometimes referred to as “global village”. This globalization is mainly due to the amazingly rapid development of science and technology in the areas of transportation and communication systems. Today, trips once taking years, months, weeks, and then days are now measured in a matter of hours. And people in all corners of the world share information and ideas at the same time through sophisticated technology behind such communication means as television, telephone, fax, and the internet.
It naturally follows that intercultural contact has become more frequent, more abundant and, therefore, more significant than ever before. China has become an active member of the world community, and her entry into the WTO is bound to bring us into more contact with the outside world.
Now that we will conduct more and more intercultural communication, the problem we are facing is how to do it, and how to do it well. A good knowledge of a foreign language, mainly English---- the most widely used language in the world today, is of course indispensable. But language alone does not ensure successful communication, especially intercultural communication. Let’s look at some of the communication cases between people from Chinese and English cultures:
Case 1: One cold winter day in a Chinese city, Mr. Wang Lin, on his way to the library, met an Americ
an professor who knew very little about China. After greeting him, Mr. Wang said: “It’s rather cold. You’d better put on more clothes.”But the professor didn’t appear happy hearing this. Why?(Chinese people like to show concerns, but American people like indepedence and privacy)
Case 2: You are the only Chinese among some Americans. One of them is telling a joke.
You feel good because you understand every word. All of a sudden, everyone is laughing. Everyone except you. Why?
Case 3: There has been a very famous brand of battery in China: White Elephant. Suppose this product is to be exported to the UK or the USA. It’s very likely to fail without changing its brand name. Why?
In each of the above situations there is something “wrong”. But this “something” has nothing to do with the language, which is perfect. The problem lies within the culture in which the language is used. In the first case, for instance, Americans (and many Westerners too) don’t like to be told what to do as they tend to be independent; while Chinese are in the habit of showing and accepting concerns. The second case tells us that sometimes connotations (implied meanings) of words are key to understanding. In the third case a white elephant, arousing beautiful association in the minds
of Chinese, stands for something big but useless in the English culture. From these simple cases, it’s not difficult to see what an important role culture plays in communication and why language alone doesn’t guarantee successful intercultural communication.
What we are going to explore in this course are such aspects as mentioned above, since they tend to affect intercultural communication. The aim of the course is to help you develop cultural awareness, and improve your intercultural communication competence through case studies. We know that it’s impossible to expound all the details of a culture, as culture covers almost every aspect of a person’s life. But armed with this awareness, you can design your own strategies for dealing with problems arising in intercultural communication situations.
During the learning process you will see that all people exhibit culturally conditioned behaviors, approach the diversity of cultures, learn to appreciate similarities and respect differences between cultures, become aware of potential problems in intercultural communication and develop an ability to cope with them. Besides, you are going to have a better understanding of your own native culture—the Chinese culture, of which you may not be always aware just because you are in it.
The above aim is to be achieved through a thought-provoking, task-based interactive learning appro
ach. That is to say, in the process you are not just a listener or reader but also a participant in many activities, for instance, discussions about different cases. You are expected to discover a lot about culture for yourself.
Unit 2 Communication and Intercultural Communication
Communication is symbolic in which people create shared meanings. Symbols are central to the communication process because they represent the shared meanings that are communicated.
Intercultural communication occurs when large and important cultural differences create
dissimilar interpretations and expectations about how to communicate competently from two different cultures.
(Lusting, M.W. and Koester, J. Intercultural Competence. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 1999)
Reading 1 Communication
It doesn’t matter if this is your first communication course or not. You’ve probably heard many differe
nt definitions of the word “communication”. In this chapter you will learn how that communication itself is a cultural element by studying different models of communication. You’ll learn about the different ways communication and culture are studied and about the skills required to become more effective in intercultural communication.
Because communication is an element of culture, it has often been said that communication and culture are inseparable. As Afred G. Smith (1966: Communication and Culture: Readings in the Codes of Human Interaction.New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston) wrote in his preface to Communication and Culture, culture is a code we learn and share, and learning and sharing require communication. Communication requires coding and symbols that must be learned and shared. Godwin C. Chu (1977: Radical Change through Communication in Mao’s China. Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii) observed that every cultural pattern and every single act of social behavior involves communication. To be understood, the two must be studied together. Culture cannot be known with a stud of communication, and communication can only be understood with an understanding of the culture it supports.
Components of Communication
三吉卯You are better able to understand communication when you understand the components of the process. Ten components of communication are source, encoding, message, channel, noise, receiver, decoding, receiver response, feedback, and context.
Source. The source is the person with an idea he or she desires to communicate. Examples are CBS, the White House, your instructor, and your mother.
Encoding. In the television and movie version of “Star Trek”, you saw Mr. Spock touching alien beings for what was called “mind meld”. You assume Mr. Spock was able to access directly the thoughts of the alien creature. Unfortunately, we humans are not able to do that. Your communication is in the form of symbols representing the ideas you desire to communicate. Encoding is the process of putting ideas into symbols
The symbols into which you encode your thoughts vary. You can encode thoughts into words and you can also encode thoughts into non-spoken symbols. The oils and colors in a painting as well as your gestures and other forms of nonverbal communication can be symbols.
Traditionally, a clear distinction is made between symbols and the objects or thoughts they
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represent. The symbol is not the thing, yet we often act as if it were. When you bite into a lemon, the juice causes your mouth to water as salivary glands under your tongue secrete digestive enzymes. But if you visualize a lemon and say the symbol “lemon” to yourself several times your mouth waters as the same salivary enzymes are produced not by the thing but by its symbols! The symbols “glove”and “above”probably don’t cause reactions, but someone special saying “I love you” can trigger several reactions in your body.
Message. The term message identifies the encoded thought. Encoding is the process, the verb; the message is the resulting object.
Channel. The term channel is used technically to refer to the means by which the encoded message is transmitted. Today, you might feel more comfortable using the word “media”. The channel of medium, then, may be print, electronic, or the light and sound waves of face-to-face communication
郑国Noise. The term noise technically refers to anything that distorts the message the source encodes. Noise can be of many forms: External noise can be the sights, sounds, and other stimuli that draw your attention away from the message. Having a radio on while reading is external noise. Internal noise refers to your thoughts and feelings that can interfere with the message. Being tired or being h
ungry can be distractions from complete attention to the message. Finally, the phrase “semantic noise” refers to how alternative meanings of the source’s message symbols can be distracting. For example, a speaker’s use of uncalled-for profanity can cause us to wonder why the speaker used profanity and draw attention away from message itself.
Receiver. The receiver is the person who attends to the message. Receivers may be intentional; that is, they may be the people the source desired to communicate with, or they may be any person who comes upon and attends to the message.
Decoding. Decoding is the opposite process of encoding and just as much an active process. The receiver is actively involved in the communication process by assigning meaning to the symbols received.
Receiver response. Receiver response refers to anything the receiver does after having attended to and decoded the message. The response can range from doing nothing to taking some action or actions that may or may not be the action desired by the source.
Feedback. Feedback refers to that portion of the receiver response of which the source has knowledge and to which the source attends and assigns meaning. A reader of this text may have ma
ny responses, but when the reader responds to a survey or writes a letter to the author does feedback occur. When a radio talk show host receives enthusiastic telephone calls and invites a guest back, feedback has occurred.
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