新编跨文化交际英语教程 参考答案(8)

Case 18

Even if the American knew Urdu, the language spoken in Pakistan, he would also have to

understand the culture of communication in that country to respond appropriately. In this case, he had to say ―No at least three times.

In some countries, for instance, the Ukraine, it may happen that a guest is pressed as many as seven or eight times to take more food, whereas in the UK it would be unusual to do so more than twice. For a Ukrainian, to do it the British way would suggest the person is not actually generous. Indeed, British recipients of such hospitality sometimes feel that their host is behaving impolitely by forcing them into a bind, since they run out of polite refusal strategies long before the Ukrainian

host has exhausted his/her repertoire of polite insistence strategies.

Case 19

Talking about what?s wrong is not easy for people in any culture, but people in high-context

countries like China put high priority on keeping harmony, preventing anyone from losing face, and nurturing the relationship. It seems that Ron Kelly had to learn a different way of sending message when he was in China. At home in Canada he would have gone directly to the point. But in China, going directly to the problem with someone may suggest that he or she has failed to live up to his or her responsibility and the honor of his or her organization is in question. In high-context cultures like China, such a message is serious and damaging. In low-context cultures, however, the tendency is just to ―spit it out, to get it into words and worry about the result later. Senders of unwelcome messages use objective facts, assuming, as with persuasion, that facts are neutral, instrumental, and impersonal. Indirectness is often the way members of high-context cultures choose to communicate about a problem.

Case 20

It seems that the letters of request written in English as well as in Chinese by Chinese people

are likely to preface the request with extended face-work. To Chinese people, the normal and polite way to form a request requires providing reasons that are usually placed before the requests. Of course, this is just the inverse of English conventions in which requests are fronted without much face-work. In the view of the English-speaking people, the opening lines of Chinese requests and some other speech acts do not usually provide a thesis or topic statement which will orient the listener to the overall direction of the communication. Worst of all, the lack of precision and the failure to address the point directly may lead to suspicions that the Chinese speakers are beating around the bush. To them, the presence of a clear and concise statement of what is to be talked about will make the speech more precise, more dramatic, and more eloquent.

However, the Chinese learning and using English in communication may find it difficult to come to terms with the common English tendency to begin with a topic statement. In the Chinese culture, stating one?s request or main point at the beginning would make the person seem immodest, pushy, and inconsiderate for wanting things. If your speech gives others the impression that you are demanding something, you would lose face for acting aggressively and not considering the others. Thus you?d be hurting people by claiming something for yourself.

In such a situation, it is usually considered a smart strategy if you carefully delineate the justifications that will naturally lead to your request or argument. Therefore, instead of stating their proposition somewhere in the beginning and then proceeding to build their case, Chinese people often first establish a shared context with which to judge their requests or arguments. Only after carefully prefacing them with an avalanche of relevant details, as if to nullify any opposition, will they present the requests or arguments.

Unit 6

Culture and Nonverbal Communication

Reading I

Comprehension questions

An Overview of Nonverbal Communication

1. Can you speak each of the following sentences in different ways to mean differently? 1) She is my best friend.

2) You?ve done really good job. 3) Come here, please. 4) That?s all right.

Speaking the same sentence with the stress on different words may mean different things. For instance, if the stress falls on ―she‖ in the first sentence, it means it is SHE, not you or somebody else, that is my best friend. But if the stress falls on ―my‖, it implies that she is MY, not your or somebody?s, best friend.

2. Speakers of British English use loudness only when they are angry, speakers of Indian English use it to get the floor, a chance to speak. So when an Indian speaker is trying to get the floor, what would the British speaker think of the Indian and what would the British behave in response? The British speaker may think that the Indian gets angry with him or behaves rudely towards him, so he may complain about the Indian?s rudeness or even return his rudeness as a response.

3. What differences in body language use have you noticed between your Chinese teachers and foreign teachers?

There are really some differences between Chinese teachers and foreign teachers in their use of body language. For instance, Chinese teachers in general do not use gestures as much as foreign teachers do, and their facial expressions often seem to be less varied than those of many foreign teachers.

4. Do you know any gestures we often use that might be misunderstood by people from other cultures?

For example, the way we Chinese motion to others to come over might be misunderstood by people from some Western countries to mean bye-bye.

5. How do we Chinese people use eye contact in communication?