跨文化交际case

The shipping agent is serving the customers in the way that is considered efficient in Venezuelan culture. To the Canadian, however this is unfocused activity that is not nearly as it would be---particularly from her point of her view ---if the agent simply dealt exclusively with her scheduled appointment. In Canada, businesspeople typically write appointments and activities into the day’s agenda every day. They then work sequentially through the agenda until they have completed each task or the day is over. In other words, Canadians prefer to do one thing at a time, while the South Americans, including Venezuelans, tend to do a few things simultaneously. Case2:

As a Westerner, the American visiting professor does not quite understand the collective ownership of information in some other cultural environments. What makes her annoyed is a different attitude toward information about people. In the US, it is generally assumed that personal matters are private. Teachers go through elaborate procedures to assure that students do not have access to each other other’s grades. In business, it is the same. Evaluation is confidential. Case3:

As a matter of fact, the American woman was not being disrespectful. However, it is clear that her way of showing respect and welcome was different from the ancient tradition of keeping physical distance from superiors, which is still widely observed, especially when royalty is involved.

Paul Keating, the Australian Prime Minister, may have intended to suggest by his gesture that Australia would no longer accept the Queen as head of state but just as one of their honored guests. Obviously, the British would not like it at all. Sometimes, such seemingly trivial things can influence relations between countries. That’s why protocol is taken seriously and people who are to hold diplomatic posts will be given detailed and careful instructions. Case7:

When the Canadian young man said, “who took my peanut butter?” what he rally meant was “where is my peanut butter? I can’t find it.” The Chinese doctor felt accused and upset because in Chinese culture, questions like this, especially expressed in the way the young Canadian did, often imply that someone is to blame. Chinese culture prohibits direct accusation unless a person has been targeted for shame. However, true to her learned cultural behavior of never showing anger in public, the Chinese doctor didn’t say anything, though she was deeply distressed.

Later, the physiotherapist was making a joke when she said the Chinese doctor had “three hands”. She wasn’t serious, of course, and expected the patient to be amused by her fanciful explanation for his pain: that the doctor on the other side of the room could have reached an imaginary third hand out to touch him. She didn’t know in Chinese a “three-hand person” is slang for a thief. Case8:

In American culture, people’s personal goals take priority over their allegiance to groups like the family or the employer. The loyalty of individualists to a given group is very weak; they feel they belong to many groups and are apt to change their membership as it suits them, switching churches, for example, or leaving one employer for another. And they are not likely to be emotionally dependent on organizations and institutions.

In Japanese society, the relationship between an employee and firm is much more interdependent, somewhat similar to a child-mother relationship where the mother (firm) is obliged to take care of her children (employees) and children (employees) have to obey and follow the commands of their mother (firm).

It is not surprising for an American to try to find another job before he or she leaves his or her present employer if he or she considers it necessary for him – or herself. However, this action was regarded by the Japanese firm as disloyal, undermining the trust between the two parties. In spite of this, the manager of the firm did not like the parting to be understood as Brent being fired, because the appearance of harmony and agreement with the group (the firm in this case) is important in Japanese society. Case9:

When they were being scolded by the trainers for being repeatedly late for afternoon sessions, the Chinese trainees felt bewildered because they thought it inappropriate for the Canadian trainers to become so angry about it. In their opinion, one should let him – or herself as emotionally like this. The appropriate way to deal with such a person would be become cooler toward and more distant from the person who behaved so irresponsibly. It was understandable that one would feel angry in this situation but it was not appropriate to show anger, for the other person would certainly lose face if anger directed toward him or her, and the angry person would look foolish and childish and therefore would also lose face.

Canadians see such situations in different way. They tend to explicitly express how they feel and openly criticize the person who they think has been wrong or irresponsible. It seems to them that this has little to do with face. Case16:

What went wrong in this case? Contrary to general American perception, it is considered proper behavior for Japanese to be silent. It is a discreet way to show respect if he listens to others speaking out. So the Japanese delegates did what they considered proper, i.e. listen quietly to what the Americans had to say. Silence often means that they are seriously thinking about the subject at issue. But many American will interpret silence in a conversation to mean disapproval, disagreement, or even arrogance. This is an example that illustrates the problem of the so-called “perception gap”. Participants in communication perceive each other’s behavior in very different ways, which often results in misunderstanding or conflict. Case17:

It is customary in China and many other Asian countries for hosts to ask guests again and again to take more. Tom didn’t have to eat extra food if he didn’t want any more.

In the US, a host will offer more food usually only once. And the Americans will take a “no” to mean “no”, whether it’s the first, second or third time. However, in many other parts of the world it is considered good manners for guests not to accept an offer at first. Sometimes one mustn’t accept food the second time it is offered. Therefore, hosts will try to repeat an offer until they are sure that their guests really want to decline. Case18:

Ted Washington, the marketing manager, rejected the sale proposals of both the American, Dale Peters, and the Japanese, Hideo Takahashi, without considering who made the proposal. While the direct and outright rejection is O.K. with peters, for he and the manager are from the same culture, to Hideo, it means something beyond the rejection of a proposal itself. Therefore, the two people responded to the rejection in quite different ways.

In this case, the American believes the root of the conflict lay in different goals and objectives, therefore, Peters entered into a heated discussion with Ted, trying to get his proposal accepted by producing facts, figures, and graphs to illustrate his case. But the Japanese believes the conflict

was not in the rejection of the proposal but rather in the way it was communicated, so he thinks of it as a personal attack or a sign of mistrust. In short, Americans tend to be more task-oriented while the Japanese are likely to focus on interpersonal relationship. Case22:

People from different cultures may consider their own communication style to be natural, and therefore tend to evaluate other styles negatively. In this case, both people are unaware of the American preference for a direct and explicit style in contrast to the more contextual African style. Both these communicators are likely to leave the situation less inclined to ask or answer question of each other again. Case23:

In France it is required that all calls begin with an apology for disturbing the answerer. They are also expected to begin the call by checking that they have reached the right number, identifying themselves, and then chatting with whoever has answered the phone, if the person is known to them. Only after some conversation may callers indicate their wish to speak with the person they have actually called to speak to.

In contrast, callers in the U.A.S apologize only when feel they have called at an inappropriate time; they often ask for the person they want without identifying themselves or conversing with the answerer, even when that person is known to them; and they have behave, in general, as though the person who has answered the phone is just an extension of the instrument itself. Case24:

The Japanese have a strong dislike of entering into direct confrontations and placing others in an embarrassing position. It is very difficult for a Japanese to respond to any suggestion or request with a definite “no”. What the Japanese will often do instead is resort to a vague sort of reply to the effect that the matter needs further study and consideration. They do this to save face for the person who has made the suggestion or request, but Americans may not properly understand it and may completely misinterpret the vagueness as compliance and assume that the proposition has been accepted, but this was apparently never made clear to Nixon. That is why he concluded that he had been double-crossed. This misunderstanding had serious adverse consequences for Japanese-U.S. relations. Case25:

Nonverbal behaviors such as smiles seem to cut across cultural lines. But in reality, they are often are found to be not universal. To most American, a smile is the most common nonverbal behavior to bridge gaps between strangers (including foreigners) and themselves. It is natural for them to be smiling and friendly when they came across strangers. But in eastern Asian countries like Japan, smiles are used differently. Japanese do not reality show emotion, especially to strangers. They are conditioned to use the face to conceal rather than reveal their feelings. In Japan, people do not usually smile at a stranger. Case26:

Chinese people seldom hug each other, particularly in public places. If they do, a romantic message is usually conveyed. Go to any airport or train station in China, and you will see senses of greeting and good-bye with all the feelings expressed in the eyes and face, but it is unlikely people will only younger ones an exception. In contrast, people of Latin American cultures touch each other in communication much more than people of some other cultures, especially Eastern Asian culture. At a time of meeting a friend or upon departing, hugging each other is very nature for

Latin American people. On such occasions, hugging has no romantic connotation; it is just like a handshake in China, but warmer and more enthusiastic. Women tend to hug each other than men hug women, but both are common. One’s discomfort at hugging in such situations may be interpreted by Latin American as unfriendliness. Case27:

As with smiling, laughing does not always serve the same function in different cultures. Interestingly, for us Chinese, laughing often had a special function during tense social occasions. People may laugh to release the tension or embarrassment, to express their concern for you, their intention to put you at ease or to help you shrug off embarrassment. In this case, the people there actually wished to laugh with the American rather than at him. Their laughing seemed to convey a number of messages: don’t take it so seriously; ·Laugh it off;

·It’s nothing: such things can happen to any of us, and so on.

Unfortunately, the American was unaware of this. He thought they were laughing at him, which made him feel more embarrassed and angry, for in his culture laughing on such an occasion would be interpreted as an insulting response, humiliating and negative.

Main and brief points of the cases: P 190 Case 22

----People from different cultures may consider their own communication style to be natural and normal and therefore tend to evaluate other styles negatively. ----compare the American style to African style in this case 2 P190 Case 24

----it is very difficult for a Japanese to respond to any suggestion or request with a definite “no”

----Americans may not properly understand or may misinterpret the vagueness as compliance. 3. P124—P128 textbook 中的举例作为案例要会分析

4. P140 Case 16

-----it is a discreet way to show respect if he listens to others speak rather than speaking out. So the Japanese delegates did what they considered proper.

-----Americans may interrupt the silence in the conversation to mean disapproval or arrogance. ------participants perceive each other’s behavior in very different ways, which often results in misunderstanding or even conflict. 5. P140 Case 18

-----the direct and outright rejection is alright with Peters, for he and Ted are from the same culture, to Hideo, it means something beyond the rejection of a proposal itself.

-----Americans tend to be more task-oriented while the Japanese are more likely to focus on interpersonal relationship.

6. P198—P201 textbook中的举例作为案例要会分析

题型：

1 reading ( 10x2=20) 课外 cloze test ( 20x0.5=10) 课外 t/f (30x1=30) 课内

blank-filling (10x1) 课内 case study (5x6=30) 课内