跨文化交际英语思考题目(4)

Finally, Rosemary turns to her friend Dennis. Dennis listens to her story and says, ―Well, I don‘t love you … but I will marry you.‖ And that‘s all we know of story.

二、思考题

Can A Chinese Young Lady Become An American Woman?

Environments significantly influence one‘s cognition, effect, and behavior. One feels the impact of the different culture especially when one comes into a foreign country. Shen-Lan, who is from Taiwan, was satisfied for her first twenty-five years of life because she was surrounded by the people who have loved her and whom she

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has loved. Her friends used to ask her why she looked very happy all time. Even though her parents limited her behavior or activities because of social bias, she accepted those controls because she understood her parents really loved her. Also, her parents did everything for her, such as taking care of her, cooking for her and making decisions for her. She complied with what her parents expected. She had never left home before she came to America. When she came to America, culture shock obviously influenced her self-concept, self-esteem, and self-presentation.

In Chinese culture, she was taught to be interdependent. She had to care not only about herself but also about the people who were around her, for example parents, siblings, and friends, even neighbors. However, in American society, she noticed that everyone was very independent, and minded his or her own business, and nobody cared about one another. Because she did not want to get hurt, she knew that she had to make some changes. In her self-concept, she changed her interdependent view to an independent view.

Using a different language, the major reason for culture shock, really injured her self-esteem. Shen-Lan graduated from a well-known university in Taiwan, and she felt proud of that. When she came to America, she was supposed to be good at English, but she was not. After this realization, she tried to study hard in English to match her standards. However, she had studied English for one year, yet she did not improve greatly. She lacked self-confidence to speak English, so her self-esteem decreased.

The change in self-concept and self-esteem was reflected in her self-presentation. Because Shen-Lan wanted to become independent, and she was afraid that she disturbed others with her personal problems, so she began to isolate herself. For English, she did not give up because of her high goal to meet her own and the expectations of others. She tried to avoid talking to her friends who speak the same language though she felt lonesome. She recognized and learned the new cultural rules and expressed it through a different self-presentation.

The three social self-components of Shen-Lan: self-concept, self-esteem, and self-presentation were influenced by culture shock. Shen-Lan tried to be independent, became aware of her self-esteem, and learned American behavior. Right now, she starts to think about having a pet. Can she become an American woman?

(Source://www.umaine.edu/iei/student_life/1995_web_projects/shu-min_liu/essayshu-min.html)

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Part Five Modes of Thinking

讨论题

1．We know that Westerners tend to distinguish mind from body, people from nature, and God from humankind, while Chinese are used to looking at the world as a whole unit. Now compare the Western Medicine and the traditional Chinese Medicine. Are there any differences? Do the differences reflect to some extent different world views? If yes, try to name these two world views.

Part Six Interpersonal Relationship

一、 讨论题

1. Compare the following two cases about family relations and try to find out differences between them.

A. An Iranian student who had earned a doctorate in the United States returned home to teach in an Iranian university. He was offered positions at three universities, and had to decide which one to accept. An American friend who was visiting him in Iran noticed that the man‘s older bother had accompanied him to all the interviews at the universities, and she asked him about it. The man, who was nearly 40, explained that he would follow the advice of his brother in choosing the position. ―But why?‖ asked the American in amazement. ―Oh,‖ replied the Iranian, ―because he is the head of the family now, and I must do whatever he thinks will be best for the family.‖ B. John and Jane have two daughters. John works for a large corporation and his wife is an independent contractor. They own a big house and lead a comfortable upper middle-class life. By the time their elder daughter turned 21, John and Jane found an apartment and moved her out. This daughter now goes to college and works part-time as a waitress at a local restaurant. John told me that he didn‘t like his daughter‘s job but she assured him that it is temporary. She promised that once she finished her undergraduate courses, she would found a better job and support herself through graduate programs. Although she still depends on john and Jane for her college education, she says staying in her parent‘s house is impossible. She wants to be on her own. Having her own space with an income from her own work makes her feel independent. John and Jane are proud of what they did. They believe that all parents should let their children go out on their own once they are ready. As their second daughter is approaching her 17th birthday. John and his wife are preparing themselves to face it when the day comes for her to leave home.

When we talked about the empty nest, Jane said, ―It is something hard for me to think about the change and our future, but that‘s the way it is. They are both grown-ups now and they should be on their own.‖

―They probably also have had enough from our no-this-no-that kind of talks too, and can‘t wait to get out of the house, ‖ John sai …… 此处隐藏：4051字，全部文档内容请下载后查看。喜欢就下载吧 ……