Cultural Diversity
•Human beings draw close to one another by their common nature, but habits and customs keep them apart.
---- Confucian saying
•God gave to every people a cup, cup of clay, and from this cup they drank life… They all dipped in the water, but their cups were different.
---- R. Benedict
Joke appreciation for cultural diversity
•A young lady’s miniskirt was accidentally torn open by a young man. Please decide where they come from according to their responses to this incident.
Joke appreciation for cultural diversity
•1. Before the man saying sorry, the woman bowed down and said in a tender voice: sorry, it is all my fault. It is all the bad quality of my skirt. I am sorry for the trouble I have brought to you.
Joke appreciation for cultural diversity
•2. Before the man saying sorry, the woman gave him a name-card and said: “This is my lawyer’s phone number. He will talk with you about your sex harassment. See you in the court.”
Joke appreciation for cultural diversity
•3. Before the man saying sorry, the woman covered the torn part of the skirt with a newspaper in hand and shyly said: “Sir, can you send me home? It is not very far from here.” Then the young man put his coat on the girl and called a taxi to send her home.
Joke appreciation for cultural diversity
•4. Before the man saying sorry, the woman gurgled and put her hand on the man’s shoulder: “Sir, if you do not mind, you can buy me a red rose to show your apology.” Then the man bought her a rose and they went to a hotel together to study more about the skirt.
Joke appreciation for cultural diversity
•5. Before the man saying sorry, the woman flew into rage and gave the man a box on the face: “ni ge shao, xiang qi lao niang doufu, lao zi da si ni.” Then she took out a mobile phone and dialed number and a gang of people came. The whole thing developed into a riot.
Joke appreciation for cultural diversity
•6. The man felt very embarrassed and made a sincere apology to the girl. But the beautiful girl smiled and said:
Why is one culture different from another?
On the surface
•Perception (how we sense the world)
•Belief (what we believe as true)
•Value (a system of criteria known as
rules and guideposts)
Why is one culture different from another?
More deeply
•World view (religion)
- Spiritual and psychological needs of people
- Social aspects of a culture
●Family
●History
Right attitude in this global village
Appreciate similarities,
Accept differences.
What does cultural diversity mean?
●Cultural patterns
- conditions that contribute to the way in which a people perceive and think about the world
- the manner in which they live in that world
Significance of studying cultural diversities
•When we study cultural differences, we mainly refer to the deep structure of culture (below the iceberg)
•Although culture is subject to change, the deep structure of a culture is resistant to change.
•The comparison and contrast of different cultures help understand one’s own culture and other cultures, which will ultimately enhance the effect of intercultural communication.
How to classify different cultures?
Edward T. Hall's Model
•Human communication is dependent on the context in which it occurs.
•Communicative contexts include the physical, sociological, and psychological environments.
•High- and Low-context cultures
High-context Culture:
•High context refers to societies or groups where people have close connections over a long period of time. Many aspects of cultural behavior are not made explicit because most members know what to do and what to think from years of interaction with each other.
High-context Culture:
High-context Culture:
Low-context Culture
•Low context refers to societies where people tend to have many connections but of shorter duration or for some specific reason. In these societies, cultural behavior and beliefs may need to be spelled out explicitly so that those coming into the cultural environment know how to behave.
Low-context Culture
Symptoms:
•Rule oriented, people play by external rules
•More knowledge is codified, public, external, and accessible.
•Sequencing, separation--of time, of space, of activities, of relationships
Low-context Culture
Symptoms:
•More interpersonal connections of shorter duration
•Knowledge is more often transferable
•Task-centered. Decisions and activities focus around what needs to be done, division of responsibilities
•High-Context Cultures
Japanese
Chinese
Korean
African American
Native American
Arab
Greek
Latin
Italian
English
French
American
Scandinavian
German
German-Swiss
•Low-Context Cultures
Case：
一个德国人，一个美国人，一个日本人到同一家餐厅，都点了一个汉堡，结果由于厨师的疏忽把三个汉堡中的肉都烤糊了，问，三个人会对此说什么？
A female neurologist from Beijing was working an a research project in a Toronto hospital. She shared a small office with a young Canadian man from a large family, she loved peanut butter. He was so fond of butter that he kept a jar in the office. One day he came into the office and exclaimed, “Who took my peanut butter?” But the Chinese woman immediately felt accused. after all, there were only two of them in the office.
She was deeply distressed, but due to her learned cultural behavior of never showing anger in public, she said nothing. Later that day she was working in a room there the Canadian, a physiotherapist, was treating an
High to Low:
•A high context individual is more likely to ask questions rather than attempt to work out a solution independently.
•The high context person may be frustrated by people appearing to not want to develop a relationship or continue to help them on an ongoing basis.
Low to High :
•be difficult to get support outside of your group and feel uncomfortable with the vagueness and ambiguity and will ask very blunt, unappropriate questions
•A lower context individual may be more likely to try to work things out on their own and feel there is a lack of self-service support or information, rather than ask questions and take time to develop the relationships needed to accomplish the things that need to be done.
Reading
•What made the author feel learning to converse in Mexico City was easier for him/her in one way, more difficult in another?
•What did the American businessman feel about the Mexican’s way of conversation?
•What problems are likely to occur if an American talks with a Swede?
•In what way are Chinese similar to or different from the Americans, Mexicans and Swedes?
Discussion
An American university student Tom is active in a foreign student club at his university and has several good friends from different countries. One of them tells Tom his parents and sister will be visiting, and he asks Tom if he would like to meet them.
Tom invites all of them to visit his home one afternoon. They arrive and present him with a nicely wrapped gift. Tom tells them they shouldn’t have brought anything, but thanks them and proceeds to open the gift, which turns out be very pretty vase from their country. He thanks them again. He sense some awkwardness and realizes that he has not offered them anything to drink. “Would you like coffee or tea or a soft drink?” he asks. They all refuse. Things seem more awkward now. But he talks a little of their country, about studies at the university, about the cost of living, and everything the father whispers something to his son. “I think we must be leaving to return to the hotel,” he says. Everybody stands up, shake hands, and they start to leave. “Please come and visit again,” Tom says as he stands and watches the family walk to the door, open it and disappear down the hall.
Two days later, in a very indirect way, Tom learns from another friend that the visitors thought he was a rude host.
Questions:
♦Why was Tom considered a rude host by his visitors? Try to figure out what Tom did that were regarded to be impolite.
♦How can you explain the fact that Tom is misunderstood when he actually wants to be kind and friendly to the visitors? 下载本文
