英語畢業(yè)論文-論影響跨文化交際的主要因素

1、<p><b>　　X X X X</b></p><p><b>　　畢業(yè)論文</b></p><p>　　題目：論影響跨文化交際的主要因素</p><p>　　The Major Factors of Influencing Cross-cultural Communication</p>&l

2、t;p>　　Li Shuxian</p><p>　　A thesis submitted</p><p><b>　　to</b></p><p>　　the Foreign Language Department</p><p>　　in partial fulfillment of the requireme

3、nts</p><p>　　for the degree of</p><p>　　Bachelor of Arts</p><p>　　in English language and literature</p><p>　　Supervised by</p><p>　　Mrs. Huang Huiya</p

4、><p>　　Hunan Institute of Science and Technology</p><p>　　Yueyang, Hunan</p><p>　　June, 2009</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　The economic global

5、ization has become an irreversible historical trend. This thesis starts with an analysis of the definition and importance of cross-cultural communication. Then it discusses the major factors of influencing cross-cultural

6、 communication. By respectively expounding the relationship between language and culture, the relationship between non-verbal communication and culture, pragmatic failures in verbal communication and common approaches of

7、 non-verbal communication, it puts forwar</p><p>　　Key Words: cross-cultural communication; cultural differences; verbal factors; non-verbal factors </p><p><b>　　摘 要</b></p>

8、;<p>　　世界經濟全球化的發(fā)展趨勢已經成為不可抗拒的歷史潮流。本論文從研究跨文化交際的定義和重要性出發(fā)，而后分析了影響跨文化交際的主要因素。在論文中分別闡明了語言及非語言交際與文化的關系，語言交際中的語用失誤，非語言交際的常用方式，并提出培養(yǎng)人們的文化意識及尊重彼此的文化差異，共同合作的建議，以期提高跨文化交際能力，克服交際障礙。</p><p>　　關鍵詞: 跨文化交際、文化差異、語言因素、非

9、語言因素</p><p><b>　　Contents</b></p><p>　　Introduction1</p><p>　　1 Definition and importance of cross-cultural communication1</p><p>　　1.1 Definition of cros

10、s-cultural communication2</p><p>　　1.2 Importance of cross-cultural communication3</p><p>　　2 Verbal factors in cross-cultural communication5</p><p>　　2.1 Definition of verbal co

11、mmunication5</p><p>　　2.2 Relationship between language and culture6</p><p>　　2.3 Pragmatic failures in verbal communication7</p><p>　　3 Non-verbal factors in cross-cultural comm

12、unication9</p><p>　　3.1 Definition of non-verbal communication9</p><p>　　3.2 Relationship between non-verbal communication and culture9</p><p>　　3.3 Common approaches of non-verb

13、al communication10</p><p>　　4 Suggestions for improving cross-cultural communication12</p><p>　　4.1 Developing people’s cultural awareness12</p><p>　　4.2 Respecting culture diffe

14、rences and cooperating together13</p><p>　　Conclusion15</p><p>　　Works Cited16</p><p>　　Acknowledgments17</p><p>　　Introduction</p><p>　　Today, as the

15、economic globalization continues, cross-cultural communication has become a common social behavior. However, culture differences cause many unexpected difficulties. People realize that their different cultural background

16、s influence cross-cultural communication by subtle and profound means. These differences usually become rather conspicuous in verbal and non-verbal communication and are likely to cause clashes in the process of cross-cu

17、ltural communication. </p><p>　　Cui Changliang from Heilongjiang University pointed out in his article of The Verbal and Non-verbal Language in Intercultural Business Communication that in order to carry out

18、 cross-cultural communication effectively, we should take proper communicate ways, overcome the disadvantage factors and make rational use of verbal and non-verbal factors (Cui 127). Larry A. Samovar suggested that peopl

19、e came to realize that culture has a profound effect on communicate. Our awareness of culture and experie</p><p>　　Only by acknowledging the major factors of influencing cross-cultural communication can peop

20、le find apt and specific ways to solve problems. People need to try to improve language competence and . 展開《新漢英大辭典》cultural literacy, so that they can enhance cultural exchange and fulfil the purpose of cross-cultural c

21、ommunication.</p><p>　　1 Definition and importance of cross-cultural communication </p><p>　　With the global economic integration flood tide, the internationalization of China strengthens day by

22、 day. China and other countries are becoming closer and closer in politics, economy and cultures. It is undoubted that cross-cultural communication will play an important role in this process. So it is necessary for us t

23、o study the importance of cross-cultural communication.</p><p>　　1.1 Definition of cross-cultural communication</p><p>　　Culture is the foundation of communication. There are more than one hundr

24、ed definitions of the English word culture offered by researchers from perspectives. The following definitions are just some of the well-known ones. “Culture may be defined as what a society does and thinks.” “What reall

25、y binds men together is their culture—ideas and the standards they have in common” (qtd. in Xu 40). The reason why so many definitions have been suggested is that culture is complex, multi-dimensional, and a</p>&

26、lt;p>　　Communication is the basis of all human contact. It is difficult to find a single definition of human communication, for example, over twenty years ago, Dance and Larson reviewed the literature on communication

27、 and found 126 definitions of communication; since then, countless others have been added to their list (Samovar 22). Two reasons why it is difficult to locate a single definition of communication are the complex nature

28、of communication and the issue of intentionality and unintentionality.</p><p>　　Cross-cultural communication is communication between members of different cultures. This definition is simple, but the process

29、 is complex. Cross-cultural communication involves differing perceptions, attitudes, and interpretation. Even two people from the same culture can have communication problems. Cross-cultural communication is about how pe

30、ople from different cultural backgrounds endeavor to communicate. The core of cross-cultural communication is to establish and understand how people from</p><p>　　1.2 Importance of cross-cultural commun

31、ication</p><p>　　With the development of the communications between people from different cultural backgrounds, more and more scholars or laymen have realized the importance of cross-cultural communication.

32、Cross-cultural communication, as you might suspect, is not new. Wandering nomads, religious missionaries, and conquering warriors have encountered people differrent from themselves since the beginning of time. Those meet

33、ings were frequently confusing and quite often hostile. In ancient times, the recognition </p><p>　　Despite the persistence of this notion, today’s cross-cultural encounters differ from early meetings. They

34、are more abundant, and because of the interconnectedness of the world, more significant. We can now board a plane and fly anywhere in the world in a matter of hours, and the reality of a global economy makes today’s cont

35、acts far more commonplace than in any other period of the world’s history. In just a single year, 1994 to 1995, multinational companies boosted their international investmen</p><p>　　Communication is an impo

36、rtant mean of expressing yourself because it exists different ways of expression and so different kind of communication depending on the culture you belong to. The way of communicating will not be the same as other count

37、ries and it is important to know some values of other cultures and so of other ways of communicating for, first of all, avoiding some misunderstandings and then knowing better some aspects of different cultures. That is

38、why cross-cultural communication is </p><p>　　Cross-cultural communication is more important today than in any other period of human history. One major consequence of this trend is that future success in mos

39、t careers will increasingly depend upon an individual’s ability to communicate effectively and appropriately across cultural boundaries. Cross-cultural communication is not limited to learning other languages, but also i

40、ncludes understanding how cultural patterns and core values impact the communication process, even when everyone is spe</p><p>　　2 Verbal factors in cross-cultural communication </p><p>　　Verbal

41、 factors are considered as one of the major factors of influencing cross-cultural communication. And pragmatic failures are one of the key factors which influence the success of cross-cultural communication. For the soci

42、al and cultual diversity, there are typical differences among different languages in pragmatic principles, which will inevitably lead to pragmatic failures and communication breakdowns.</p><p>　　2.1 Definiti

43、on of verbal communication</p><p>　　The basis of communication is the interaction between people. Verbal communication is one way for people to communicate face-to-face. Some of the key components

44、of verbal communication are sound, words, speaking, and language. Through speaking we try to eliminate this misunderstanding, but sometimes this is a very hard thing to do. Many problems can arise is speaking and the onl

45、y way to solve these problems is through experience. Speaking can be looked at in two major areas: interpersonal and pu</p><p>　　2. 2 Relationship between language and culture</p><p>　　The relat

46、ionship between language and culture is deeply rooted. Language is used to maintain and convey culture and cultural ties. Different ideas stem from using different language within one’s culture and the whole intertwining

47、 of these relationships start at one’s birth. When an infant is born, it is not unlike any other infant born, in fact, quite similar. It is not until the child is exposed to their surroundings that they become individual

48、s in and of their cultural group. This idea, which </p><p>　　Language is the principal means whereby people conduct their social lives. When it is used in contexts of communication, it is bound up with cultu

49、re in multiple and complex ways. Firstly, language expresses cultural reality. The words people utter refer to common experience. They express facts, ideas or events that are communicable because they refer to a stock of

50、 knowledge about the world that other people share. Words also reflect their author’s attitudes and beliefs, their point of view, that</p><p>　　2.3 Pragmatic failures in verbal communication</p><p

51、>　　Pragmatic failure is an important source of cross-cultural communication breakdown. It occurs whenever the communicator could not use language appropriately or interpret language correctly. In verbal communication,

52、 linguistic errors resulted from violation against grammatical rules are easily recognized. Pragmatic failure belongs to the field of cross-cultural pragmatics, a new branch of pragmatics which has developed rapidly in t

53、he past twenty years. There are two principal types of pragmatic f</p><p>　　Pragmalinguistic failure is the wrong use of language itself. It contains inappropriate transfer of expressions and speech act stra

54、tegies. Departing from linguistic stipulations, some people might translate an utterance from their first language into the target language. At the lexical level, they might take it for granted that the Chinese words are

55、 equivalent to those of English in cultural connotation and then transfer the habit of Chinese language use into cross-cultural communication texts. </p><p>　　Sociopragmatic failure is resulted from differen

56、t cultural norms and pragmatic principles that govern linguistic behaviors in different cultures. Sociopragmatic failure can find its way in many aspects of daily communication, such as ways of greeting and addressing pe

57、ople; ways of expressing modesty and apology, inquiring or offering, bidding farewell or making introduction; and view of value system as privacy, etc. The inappropriateness discussed before mostly fall into the scope of

58、 sociopragma</p><p>　　As has been shown above, inadequate pragmatic knowledge can lead to miscommunication. </p><p>　　3 Non-verbal factors in cross-cultural communication</p><p>　　P

59、eople can communicate with each other through not only verbal communication but also non-verbal communication. Non-verbal factors are another major factors of influencing cross-cultural communication. Understanding the r

60、elationship between non-verbal communication and culture, and the common approaches of non-verbal communication, people will communicate more effectively.</p><p>　　3.1 Definition of non-verbal communication&

61、lt;/p><p>　　Non-verbal communication is usually understood as the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages. Non-verbal communication has been defined as communication without wor

62、ds. It includes apparent behaviors such as facial expressions, eyes, touching, and tone of voice, as well as less obvious messages such as dress, posture and spatial distance between two or more people. Everything commun

63、icates, including material objects, physical space, and time systems. Although ver</p><p>　　Commonly, non-verbal communication is learned shortly after birth and practiced and refined throughout a person’s l

64、ifetime. Children first learn non-verbal expressions by watching and imitating, much as they learn verbal skills. As children develop verbal skills, non-verbal channels of communication do not cease to exist although bec

65、ome entwined in the total communication process. It is important to be aware of the dominance of the non-verbal factors.</p><p>　　3.2 Relationship between non-verbal communication and culture</p><

66、p>　　Non-verbal communication and culture are similar, both of them are learned, passed on from generation to generation, and involve shared understandings. It should be obvious that the study of non-verbal factors is

67、an important component to the study of cross-cultural communication. Much of our difficulty with people in other countries stems from the fact that so little is known about cross-cultural communication. </p><p

68、>　　Culture is all-pervasive, multidimensional, and boundless, it is everywhere and in everything. The same is true of non-verbal behaviors. Our clothes and jewelry, the countless experssions we can reflect with our fa

69、ce, the hundreds of movements we can make with our bodies, where and how we touch people, our gaze and eye contact, vocal behaviors such as laughter, and our use of time, space and silence are just some of the behaviors

70、in which we engage that serve as messages. As with culture, the ex</p><p>　　Research supports the view that because people are all from one species, a general and common genetic inheritance produces universa

71、l facial expressions for most of their basic emotions, for example, fear, happiness, anger, surprise, disgust, and sadness. However, most scholars would agree that cultures formulate display rules that dictate when, how

72、and with what consequences non-verbal expressions will be exhibited. Put in slightly terms, people are born with capacity to cry, yet what makes them</p><p>　　3.3 Common approaches of non-verbal communicatio

73、n</p><p>　　Non-verbal communication has many approaches, and the common approaches are body language, space, distance, silence and time. </p><p>　　Body language is an important part of non-verba

74、l communication and connected with culture. In order to make successful exchange in cross-cultural communication, people should know the body language from different cultures. It contains eye language, gestures and postu

75、res. People’s minds can be read through their eyes. The French especially like to look attentively at the other communicators with admiration. Japanese often look at the other communicator’s neck when they are in co

76、nversation. They b</p><p>　　People often refer to their need for “personal space”, which is also an important type of non-verbal communication. The amount of distance people need and the amount of space peop

77、le perceive as belonging to them is influenced by a number of factors including social norms, situational factors, personality characteristics, and level of familiarity. The amount of personal space needed when having a

78、casual conversation with another person usually varies between 18 inches to 4 feet. On the other hand</p><p>　　Silence can be a positive or negative influence in the communication process. Suppose a manager

79、finds a couple of his staff members resting. If he believes these staff members are basically lazy, the idleness conveys to him that they are “goofing off” and should be given additional assignments. If he believes these

80、 staff members are self-motivated and good workers, the idleness conveys to him that they are taking a well-deserved “break”. If he is personally insecure, the idleness conveys to him </p><p>　　4 Suggestions

81、 for improving cross-cultural communication</p><p>　　After entering the 21st century, economic globalization make people in different societies and cultures create a desire for intercommunication. People fro

82、m different cultures have their own cultural perceptions, beliefs, values, and social customs which greatly determine their communicative ways. Therefore, people should raise awareness of the other culture to built bridg

83、es across misunderstanding among different cultures.</p><p>　　4.1 Developing people’s cultural awareness </p><p>　　Cultural Awareness is the foundation of communication and it involves the abili

84、ty of standing back from ourselves and becoming aware of our cultural values, beliefs and perceptions. Why do we do things in that way? How do we see the world? Why do we react in that particular way? Cultural awareness

85、becomes central when we have to interact with people from other cultures. People see, interpret and evaluate things in a different ways. What is considered an appropriate behavior in one culture is fre</p><p&g

86、t;　　Nowadays cultural differences often cause the obstacles in the international economic and cultural exchanges, so people should strengthen the analysis to cultures. It seems very essential to gasp the ability of cross

87、-cultural communication, and prevent from the cultural conflicts. For many of people in the 21st century, the map of their business and social networks has radically changed. Once local or regional, those networks have b

88、ecome global, thanks to digital technology, which has transforme</p><p>　　To communicate internationally inevitably involves communicating interculturally as well, which probably leads us to encounter factor

89、s of cultural differences. Such kind of differences exist in every language. In a global economy cultural awareness becomes more and more important.</p><p>　　4.2 Respecting culture differences and cooperatin

90、g together</p><p>　　The main principle in communication is when in Rome, do as the Romans do. This principle refers that communicators should respect and understand the culture of the other nations and elimi

91、nate the interference of their own cultures.</p><p>　　According to this principle, people should know the differences of others’ customs, believes and their connotations of body language. In China, people wi

92、ll give chrysanthemum to the patient. But French people never do this. Because they think chrysanthemum is used in funerals. But people should pay attention to two points, when they apply this principle. On the one hand,

93、 they should not worship and imitate the whole body language blindly. On the other hand, they should not be trapped in the fixe</p><p>　　Respect for cultural differences does not have to divide people from e

94、ach other. It does not have to paralyze them either, for fear of not saying the “right thing”. In fact becoming more aware of cultural differences, as well as exploring our similarities, can help people communicate with

95、each other more effctively. Recognizing where cultural differences are at work is the first step toward understanding and respecting each other. Learning about different ways that people communicate can enrich </p>

96、<p>　　If people are open to learning about persons from other cultures, they become less lonely. Prejudice and stereotypes separate them from whole groups of who could be friends and partners in working for changi

97、ng. Many of them long for real contact. Talking with people different from themselves gives them hope and energizes them to take on the challenge of improving their communities and world.</p><p>　　Conclusion

98、</p><p>　　People’s culture differences affect their cross-cultural communication and mainly embodied in verbal and non-verbal factors. The challenge is that even with all the good will in the world, miscommu

99、nication is likely to happen, especially when there are significant cultural differences between communicators. Miscommunication may lead to conflict, or aggravate conflict that already exists. People should be aware of