...Cross-cultural Study of Daily Communication between Chinese and American -- From the Perspective of High Context and Low Context Jianeng Wang Foreign Languages College, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou 310018, China E-mail: jianeng101@163.com Abstract In cross-cultural communication, ignorance of contexts usually leads to misunderstanding and conflicts. Based on Edward. T. Hall’s notion of high-context and low-context, this paper aims to generalize the basic distinctive characteristics of the two contexts by analyzing the actual cases in daily communication between American and Chinese. This paper also tries to conclude some tips for communication crossing the two contexts in accordance with the case analysis. Keywords: High-context, Low-context, Communicatio, Culture 1. About Hall’s high-context and low-context Context is important in all communication, but it is relatively more important in some situations than in others. There are also significant differences across cultures in the ways and the extent to which people communicate through context. One of the main distinctions between cultures has been the notion of high and low context cultures, proposed by the American anthropologies Edward. T. Hall in his 1976 classic, Beyond Culture (Hall, 2000). 1.1 What is high/low-context? Edward T. Hall has described cultural differences in the use of language and context in communication. He calls communication that occurs mostly through language low context and communication that...
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...Introduction to Cross-Cultural Psychology Paper Yekaterina Tarkovsky PSY/450 Diversity and Cultural Factors in Psychology Stephen Northam / Professor November 23, 2015 The author of this paper would like to share the results of the study performed on the effects of cognitive appraisals of communication competence in conflict interactions. This study involves both Chinese and Western cultures. The researchers were investigating how differently people from both of these cultures perceive competence, appropriateness, and effectiveness of another party’s communication during conflict. At first, there was a pilot study which had thirty employees in Singapore. They were examining appraisals of communication competence in recalled intercultural conflict incidents. The competence of others was judged by western expatriates. They were determining whether the style of communication itself was direct as well as engaged. This was deemed to be judgements of effectiveness. The competence on interactional skills as well as knowledge on culture was judged by host-nationals. This was deemed to be judgments of appropriateness. The quasi-experimental study followed the pilot study. In this study, two parties comprising of university students. One party had one hundred twenty eight Australian students and the other one had on hundred eight Chinese students. The results of this study had showed that students from Australia discriminated between four different types of conflict styles more...
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...Different Meanings of Body Language in China and West Abstract： There’s language in her eye, her cheek, her lip. Nobody and dignity, self-abasement and servility, prudence and understanding, insolence and vulgarity, are reflected in the face and in the attitudes of the body whether still or in motion. While we speak with our vocal organs we converse with our whole bodies. Body language plays a very important role in both communication of daily lives and intercultural communication. However, in the past time, the attention paid to body language is not enough. Due to the cultural differences between China and west, differences in the meaning of body language exist. The importance of body language is reviewed and stressed, the features of body language in Sino-West cultural communication are analyzed, and some advices for body language using in intercultural communication is provided. Key words：intercultural communication, body language, china and western countries. What is the significance of American dating? Often dating means no more than getting to know one another and having some fun. It is often the beginning of a friendship with someone whom you may like but not necessarily marry. Dating is not as serious in America as it is in some countries, but it is important because every person has the freedom to choose his own marriage partner, one with whom he hopes to spend the rest of his life. Dating is one way to accomplish that goal. Where do most Americans go...
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... The cultural views between the two differ when it comes to intelligence, identity development, morality, gender, time orientation, communication, and health and wellness. The United States of America is an individualistic society. In an individualistic society, it is “every man for himself”. An individual’s success is more important than that of the entire society. China is a collectivistic society. The people value the success of the entire society over that of an individual. In order to maintain a sense of harmony, they behave with decorum at all times and will not do anything to cause someone else public embarrassment. The Chinese benefit from being a collectivistic society. Confrontation is avoided and harmony is maintained. Furthermore, when the society as a whole works together everyone benefits from the labor. For example, rice agriculture is extremely labor intensive. It takes between 1,000 and 2,000 man hours to raise a crop on 2.5 acres of land (Hays 2010). As rice is important for the economic growth of China, everyone in the community works to grow the rice, everyone also benefits from its growth. On the other hand, there are downfalls to being part of a collectivistic society. For example, the “leader” of the society makes all the major judgments or decisions for that society. Unfortunately, the society is only as strong as its leader’s greatest weakness. Communism is linked directly to collectivism (“Collectivism” 2012). China has been...
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...Aly Parker 5/28/13 SOC1001 People of different culture universally have different values and customs, not counting different perspectives on life and different techniques of learning. “Because all humans face the same basic needs (such as for food, clothing, and shelter), we engage in similar activities that contribute to our survival” (Kendall, 2012, p.64). There are many differences that separate the United States and Chinese cultures. Because these two diverse countries do not have similar history or geographic location there are both typical and general cultures differences. Even though these countries have very different cultures, they do have some similarities along with a lot of dissimilarities. Both China and the United States have their own distinctive past, which initiated with their diverse cultures and lifestyles. China is a very traditional country, and it was first established more the five thousand years ago. China has a long history of famine and wars, and this is why the Chinese find such enjoyment in food whenever they receive the chance. Food is a very important heritage of China, and every year during the spring they have a Spring Festival. This festival is one of the most important times of the year for the Chinese, and it was created as a celebration of food and family, and it includes colorful and indulgent foods. The Chinese believe that it is a form of disrespect if you do not celebrate this time of the year with a variety of bright and scrumptious...
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...anthropologists have vacillated between material and nonmaterial definitions of culture, today most would agree with a more inclusive definition of culture: the thoughts, behaviors, languages, customs, the things we produce and the methods we use to produce them. It is this, the human ability to create and transmit culture, that differentiates us as humans from the rest of the animal world. The essential feature of culture, that it is learned and transmitted from one generation to the next, rests on the human capacity to think symbolically. Language, perhaps the most important feature, is a symbolic form of communication. The word table, for example, is nothing other than a symbol for the actual thing, a table. Language is a form of communication. Without language, culture could not be transmitted, people could not learn from one another across generations, and there would be no cultural continuity. Simply because culture is transmitted through symbols whose meanings remain more or less constant doesn't mean that cultures are static and don't change. On the contrary, cultures are never truly static. Which of us does not remember a grandparent comparing life today with the one s/he grew up in? The changes that took place between his/her lifetime and ours represent subtle cultural shifts in values, the things we use, and the way we use language. What causes cultural change? Outside influences, through a process known as cultural diffusion, may stimulate cultural change. An example of...
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...CROSS CULTURE COMMUNICATION Sondra Pham University of Memphis Abstract This paper explores cross culture communication by dissecting the term. Cross-cultural communication is a newly studies and researchable topic due to the businesses going global and the interaction between different cultures. In this paper, it will define communication and culture along with helpful tips and strategies to better understand how to communicate between different cultures. This paper examines the do’s and don’ts during cultural interaction in the business world as well as the tools for communicating with different cultures. Cross Culture Communication The importance of effective communication is immeasurable in the world of business and in personal life. Communication and cultures have always existed, but with the global market growing, it has been more common for business to do business with people from different cultures. The way of communicating will not be the same in all countries. Cross- cultural communication is essential in order to have a successful business and relationship with companies around the world. There are many aspects that go into consideration when communicating with people from a different background. Before fully understanding cross culture communication, one must first understand communication. Understanding Communication Communication is our ability to share our ideas and feelings. Whether people live in Hanoi, Vietnam, a city in Brazil, the mountains of North...
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...List the problems when east meet west may encounter and tell the way work out With the rapidly challging word, people throughout the world have found it increasingly necessary to minimize the rate of misunderstanding due to miscommunication in their contacts with another. In the oast most human beings were born, lived, and died within a limited geoographical area, never encountering people of other cultural backgrounds. It might be said that technological advances have been most effective in creating the borderless word, the global community. As our world shrinks and its inhabitants become interdependent, people from remot cultures increasingly come into contact on a daily basis. It is no longer hard to find situations in which membes of ince isolared groups of people. Now these people may live thousands of miles away or right next door to each other. So all the people are faced with the challenge of understand this world. So when the east meet west, there are many problems. Some problems are listed as follows. First of all, the way of eating. All huaman beings have certain basic needs. Our fundamental needs for things that keep us alive. This is the physioligical need. All individuals must eat in order to survive. But what people eat, when they eat, and the manners in which they eat are all patterned by culture. No society views everything in its environment that is edible and might provide nurishment as food. Americans eat oysters but not snail. The French eat snails but...
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...The Differences of Family Values in Chinese and American Cultures ABSTRACT This paper aims to make a contrastive study on family values in Chinese and American cultures from the three parts: the attitude to the family members and their relationships, marriage and family education. As the pace of the global economy integration accelerates, cross-cultural communication between China and America is becoming more and more frequent and important，and the research can undoubtedly help Chinese people and American people to further understand with each other and their family values and to avoid the unnecessary conflict caused by the misunderstanding and mistakes in cross-cultural communication. Key words: the differences of family values, filial piety, marriage, family education Table of Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Literature Review 2 3 The Definitions of Family, Values and Family Values 3 3.1 The Definition of Family 3 3.2 The Definition of Values 3 3.2.1 The Decisive Values in Chinese Culture: Collectivism 3 3.2.2 The Decisive Values in American Culture: Individualism 4 3.3 The Definition of Family Values 4 3.4 The Meaning of Family to Chinese and Americans 5 4 Differences Between Chinese and Americans Family Values 5 4.1 The Attitude to the Family Members and Their Relationships 6 4.1.1 The Attitude to the Family Members and...
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...Cross Cultural Implications for doing Business in Emerging Markets International business is the act of investment and trade activities by firms across national borders. Small, Medium, and Multinational companies who have the resources tend to be attracted at doing business abroad. There are nine reasons why firms choose to internationalize which are (1) to gain market share, (2) earn higher profits and margins, (3) acquire new ideas about products, service, and business method, (4) to follow and better serve key customers that have relocated abroad, (5) to be closer to their supply chain, (6) have access to lower-cost or better value factors of production, (7) to develop economies of scale in production, sourcing, research and development, and marketing, (8) to challenge international competitors more effectively, (9) invest in a potentially rewarding relationship with a foreign partner. There are different ways companies can engage in international business. Companies can be involved in international trade, exporting, importing, international investment, international portfolio investment, and foreign direct investment. Depending on the type of risk the company decides to take, for example if the company wants the lowest risk possible for doing business abroad then exporting would be one of the safest ways to get their products or service abroad. Foreign Direct Investment is considered high risk due to the structure of each country’s culture, government, laws, rules...
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...Difference Culture In International Business Report between Saudi Arabia & U.S.A Culture in International Business Culture Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experiences, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religions, nation of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. Culture is a fuzzy set of basic assumption and value, orientations to life, beliefs, policies, procedures and behavior and his/her interpretations of the ‘meaning’ of other people’s behavior. (Spencer- Oatey 2008:3) ‘Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiment in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may. On the other hand, be considered as products of action, on the other. As conditional elements of future action.’ (Kroeber and Kluckhohn 1952: 181; cited by Adler 1997: 14) Culture differences in International Business Doing business with others countries, the difference culture is a point that a business man should aware of. A key to being successful in business internationally is to understand the role of culture in international...
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...around the term “globalization”, which is even today a continuous issue. Before exploring the concept, we should take a look over the different definitions of the phenomenon. Globalization can be defined as “closely interrelated integration of market in terms of goods, services and capital”. It can also be defined as “gradual erosion of boundaries between states through increased economic interdependence and interlinkages can be termed as globalization. From the above mentioned definitions, we can assume that globalization is the mutual sharing of goods, services and capital between or among states. It is also gradually making states closer and integrated. There are different theories about the beginning of the concept of globalization. Some are of the view that it started from the mid of 20th century with woods conference 1944. While the others are of the view that this concept was properly started with the establishment of W.T.O in 1995. Whatever the reality is, it is true that the pace of globalization was accelerated with World trading Organization. the main agenda of this organization was to end border and fasten the trade between the states. World bank also came in this battle of evolution of globalization and identifies three waves of globalization focusing on economic integration. 1. First...
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...ISSN 1798-4769 Journal of Language Teaching and Research, Vol. 1, No. 5, pp. 682-684, September 2010 © 2010 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/jltr.1.5.682-684 Interlanguage Pragmatics Theory and Its Implications for Foreign Language Qian Huang Foreign Language Teaching Department, Dezhou University, Dezhou 253023, China Email:qqh@dzu.edu.cn Abstract—The major purpose of college English teaching is to cultivate and develop student’s pragmatic competence. Interlanguage pragmatics is a new interdisciplinary branch of study based on the theories of pragmatics and second language acquisition which has direct guide significance for foreign language teaching. This paper firstly introduces the theoretical models of the two theories and then focuses on the implications for foreign language teaching. Index Terms— interlanguage pragmatics, pragmatics theory, SLA theory, implications I. INTRODUCTION In 1969, the psychological linguists Selinker in his paper "Language Transfer" pointed out that when people in different countries and regions have communicate in second Language, language often appears with some native Language and relevant, and with this two kinds of pragmatic styles of Interlanguage totally different, this is "the Interlanguage" (Interlanguage). In Selinker view, the former study of interlanguage study was just the grammar system study. Therefore, the study of interlanguage was only limited from speech phonemes, lexical, syntactic to semantic etc...
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...Phoenix MMPBL 560 Managing in a Cross-Cultural Environment November 9, 2009 Managing across cultures is no easy task for any organization regardless of its economies of scale or long standing reputation in the market; the challenges are many, including coping with the flux of change, managing diverse groups of employees, communicating, and negotiating agreements with host countries. This paper illustrates how Johnson and Johnson, Allstate, Starbucks, Bank of America, Coca-Cola, Shell, Whataburger, and Sony USA address their cultural diversity. Thus, the authors of this paper analyze, evaluate, and assess the various successful best practices of these organizations to help Riordan Manufacturing’s situation. Riordan Manufacturing’s decision to open a new production facility in China has created some challenges involving the scarcity of Chinese skilled employees. Whereas leadership attempts alternative solutions to synergize the company’s strategies to address the situation, Riordan recognizes that the integration of a diverse workforce has the potential to alter the company’s performance (University of Phoenix, 2009). Accordingly, in analyzing cultural synergy strategies to help mitigate undesirable outcomes takes extra consideration, yet it is a necessary task (Hodgetts, Luthans, Doh, 2005). When reviewing Johnson and Johnson, it is evident that the company struggled with managing diversity and cultural differences. However, Johnson and Johnson stepped up...
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...Intercultural Communication (Spring 2015) Moodle Title: BA3H HM302 Date: 22nd May, 2015 Words Count: 3982 Table of Content Table of Content 2 Introduction 3 Comparison between dimensions of American and Japanese culture 4 Background of cultures 4 Power Distance 7 Individualism v.s. Collectivism 9 Masculinity v.s. Femininity 11 Uncertainty Avoidance 13 Long-Term Orientation 15 Important issues during business negotiations in Japan 16 Greetings 16 Time 17 Appropriate attires 17 Business cards 18 Gifts 18 Meetings 19 Seating 19 During the negotiations 20 Role of language negotiation 20 Exchange of favors 21 Japanese Etiquette of non-verbal expressions 22 Leaving 22 Follow-up of the negotiation 23 Relationship building 23 Conclusions 24 References 25 Introduction Dear Ms. Johnson, Regarding globalization brings culture diversity into organizations all over the world, while there are managers and staff from different cultural backgrounds, potential conflicts may arise in organizations if we are not sensitive to the inherent differences. As a manager in hospitality which is a people-orientated industry, it is relatively important for you to understand well intercultural differences in working places, whenever dealing with guests or fellow staff, because of same behaviors under different cultural backgrounds can greatly affects the comfort and harmony atmosphere within an organization...
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