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1、第 1 页共 19 页中 美 文化 差 异 对 交际 的 影 响The Different Cultures Between China and America in Communication Styles in Pragmatics Contents A bst ract . . . 1 1. Int roduct ion . . 2 2Culture and communication . .22.1 The definition of culture .2 2.2 Communication and its characteristics .4 3. General character
2、istics of communication styles .5 3.1 Greeting and f arew el l s5 3.2 Response to compliments and praise.6 3.3 Time is money 7 3.4 Different views toward privacy 8 3.5 An ordinary home-cooked meal .9 3.6 Study of politeness in Chinese and English culture. 10 3.7 Chinese virtue .12 3.8 Addressing .13
3、 4. Comparative study between two different aspects of communication styles in the U.S and China . 14 4.1 Speaker-centered vs. listener- centered . 14 4.2 Directness vs. indirectness.15 4.3 High context communication vs. low-context communication . .16 5. Conclusion . . 17 Reference 18 第 2 页共 19 页Th
4、e Different Cultures Between China and America in Communication Styles in Pragmatics 摘要：随着中美关系的发展，以及英语学习的需要，越来越多的人渴望了解更多关于美国人的生活和文化，以便很好的与其进行交流。本论文运用对比研究的方法，通过具体实例来阐述中美两国的人民在交际中存在的相似性与不同之处。并分析了产生差异的根本原因是由于两国人民所处的文化背景不同所造成的。交际的范围十分广泛，本论文只是从语用学的角度分析了两国人民在日常生活交际中所反映出来的差异。例如，两国人民对于恭维的不同反映；如何打招呼；如何称呼对方；对
5、时间和隐私的不同认识等等。最后，总结出了两国人们在交际中所表现出来的特点和原因。即，在两国人民的对话中，中国人是以听为主，美国人是以说为主。在表达自己的想法时，中国人比较间接，美国人是很直接；中国人的交际是高语境的，而美国人的交际是低语境的。通过这些对比研究，使人们更多了解中美文化的差异，更好的处理在交际中出现的问题，从而更有利于减少误解，增进中美两国人民的交往。关键词： 中美交际方式；中美文化差异；跨文化交际；跨文化研究Abstract:The purpose of this paper is to discuss the nature of differences and similari
6、ties between Americans and Chinese so as to show how they communicate with each other, and indicates notable differences between the two countries in pragmatic aspects of communication style. For example, the manners to compliments, addressing, greeting, and so on. The analyses of the two countries
7、shows some significant differences between the two countries in process and flows aspects of communication style, namely, manners in which they consider their privacy; the different attitudes towards time and privacy ; and also the different politeness in Chinese and American cultures. Based on the
8、cases of the relevant contrasts between two countries, we assert that identification of communication styles of two cultures is a significant step toward better understanding of intercultural communication and misunderstandings between Chinese and American. Key words: communication styles of China a
9、nd America ；Chinese and American cultures ；intercultural communication； intercultural study 第 3 页共 19 页The Different Cultures Between China and America in Communication Styles in Pragmatics1. Introduction This paper is to discuss the nature of differences and similarities between Americans and Chine
10、se in their communication styles. Communication style in this study refers to the way people use different strategies to communicate, for example, manners of reacting to compliments, addressing, greeting, and so on. More specifically; it refers to the manners of talking and listening in daily commun
11、ication. People s communication in this study is defined as communication that takes place in a face -to-face situation in a conversation or daily life. A qualitative analysis of the two countries shows some significant differences between the two countries in process and flows aspects of communicat
12、ion style, namely, manners in which they consider their privacy; the different attitudes towards time and virtue; and also the different politeness in Chinese and American cultures. In other words, this study is designed to examine how people talk and listen, how they exchange ideas, express agreeme
13、nt and disagreement, and moreover, how they respond to compliments. Based on the cases of the relevant contrasts between two countries, this paper asserts that identification of communication styles of two cultures is a significant step toward better understanding of intercultural communication and
14、misunderstandings between Chinese and American. While there are quite a number of cross-cultural studies done on communication like the ones between Americans and Chinese, it is difficult to make a valid assessment of differences and similarities between the two groups mainly because of lack of an o
15、bjective criterion for comparison. Thus, the paper decides to embark on the comparative studies of two nationalities, because this will enable us to examine the nature of such similarities and differences more objectively. The selection of two cultures is made for this study, on the assumption that
16、intercultural communication between them will take place very frequently in the future, thus presenting considerable amount of potential problems in communication. Through this comparison of the difference between Chinese and American, we know the different culture can make us know how to communicat
17、e with Americans. And also we may understand their life better. This would promote better communication with Americans. 2 Culture and communication2.1 The definition of culture 第 4 页共 19 页What does the word culture means? It may have many answers. For different people, the word has different meaning
18、s. The Modern technical definition of culture, as socially patterned human thought and behavior, was originally proposed by the nineteenth-century British anthropologist, Edward Tylor. This definition is an open-ended list, which has been extended considerably since Tylor first proposed it. There ha
19、s been considerable theoretical debate by anthropologists since Tylor over the most useful attributes that a technical concept of culture should be stressed. For example, in 1952 Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn, American anthropologists, published a list of 160 different definitions of culture. A
20、lthough simplified in the brief table below, their list indicates the diversity of the anthropological concept of culture. Topical:Culture consists of everything on a list of topics, or categories, such as social organization, religion, or economy Historical:Culture is social heritage, or tradition,
21、 that is passed on to future generations Behavioral:Culture is shared, learned human behavior, a way of life Normative:Culture is ideals, values, or rules for living Functional:Culture is the way humans solve problems of adapting to the environment or living together Mental:Culture is a complex of i
22、deas, or learned habits, that inhibit impulses and distinguish people from animals Structural:Culture consists of patterned and interrelated ideas, symbols, or behaviors Symbolic:Culture is based on arbitrarily assigned meanings that are shared by a society Culture involves at least three components
23、: what people think, what they do, and the material products they produce. Thus, mental processes, beliefs, knowledge, and values are parts of culture. Some anthropologists would define culture entirely as mental rules guiding behavior, although often wide divergence exists between the acknowledged
24、rules for correct behavior and what people actually do. Consequently, some researchers pay most attention to human behavior and its material products. Culture also has several properties: it is shared, learned, symbolic, transmitted 第 5 页共 19 页cross-generational, adaptive, and integrated. The shared
25、 aspect of culture means that it is a social phenomenon; idiosyncratic behavior is not cultural. Culture is learned, not biologically inherited, and involves arbitrarily assigned, symbolic meanings. For example, Americans are not born knowing that the color white means purity, and indeed this is not
26、 a universal cultural symbol. The human ability to assign arbitrary meaning to any object, behavior or condition makes people enormously creative and readily distinguishes culture from animal behavior. People can teach animals to respond to cultural symbols, but animals do not create their own symbo
27、ls. Furthermore, animals have the capability of limiting the tool manufacture and use, but human tools using is extensive enough to rank as qualitatively different and human tools often carry heavy symbolic meanings. The symbolic element of human language, especially speech, is again a vast qualitat
28、ive expansion over animal communication systems. Speech is infinitely more productive and allows people to communicate about things that are remote in time and space. Some researchers believe that such an extreme super organic interpretation of culture is a dehumanizing denial of free will. Human ha
29、ve the ability to create and change culture. They would argue that culture is merely an abstraction, not a real entity. This is a serious issue because treating culture as an abstraction may lead one to deny the basic human rights of small-scale societies and ethnic minorities to maintain their cult
30、ural heritage in the face of threats from dominant societies. This paper treats culture as an objective reality and departs from the super organic approach in that it insists that culture includes its human carriers. At the same time, people can be deprived of their culture against their will. Many
31、humanistic anthropologists would agree that culture is an observable phenomenon, and a peoples unique possession.2.2 Communication and its characteristics Here communication is defined that meaning is attributed to behavior or to the residue of behavior. So it has the following characteristics. Firs
32、t, communication is dynamic. This means it is an on-going, ever-changing activity. As participants in communication we constantly are affected by other people messages and, as a consequence, we undergo continual change. Second, characteristic is interactive nature. Communication must take place betw
33、een a source and receiver. Usually this implies two or more people. In this situation communication is characterized by the fact that both parties bring to a communication event their own unique backgrounds and experiences, which serve as a backdrop for communication interaction. Third, communicatio
34、n is irreversible. Once we have said something and someone else has received and decoded the message, we can t retrieve the message. Fourth, communication takes place in a social context. When we interact with someone it is not in isolation but within a special physical surrounding. The physical sur
35、rounding includes coverings, lighting, noise levels, acoustics, vegetation, as well as competing messages. Many aspects 第 6 页共 19 页of the physical environment can affect communication. We begin with a basic assumption that communication has something to do with human behavior and the satisfaction of
36、 a need to interact with other human beings. The last aspect is known as communication hunger. Almost everyone needs social contact with other people, and this need is met through the exchange of messages that serve as bridges to unite otherwise isolated individuals. Messages come into being through
37、 human behavior. When we talk, we obviously are behaving; when we wave, smile, frown, walk, shake our heads, or gesture, we also are behaving. Frequently these actions are messages; they are often used to communicate something to someone else. Before these behaviors can be called messages, they must
38、 meet two requirements. First, someone must observe them and second they must elicit meaning. Another way to say this is that any behavior to which meaning is attributed is a message. This definition of communication tells that when someone observes our behavior or its residue and attributes meaning
39、 to it, communication has taken place regardless of whether our behavior has been conscious or unconscious, intentional or unintentional. If we think about it for a moment, we must realize that it is impossible for us not to behave. Just the very act of being is a form of behavior. And if behavior h
40、as communication potential, then it is also impossible for us not to communicate; in other words, we can t communicate. 3. General characteristics of communication styles The paper would discuss the characteristics of communication styles of Americans and Chinese based on the cases through the follo
41、wing aspects: 3.1 Greeting an d farewells An American who studied in China had an appointment at noon. As he was getting on his bicycle, a Chinese friend passed by,“吃了吗？ ”the young Chinese asked. This, of course, is a common Chinese greeting around mealtime and the American merely nodded with a smil
42、e, waved goodbye and went off. He realized that his friends remark was nothing more than a American way of saying Hello or Hi. If the greeting had been put literally into English Have you eaten yet?OrHave you had your lunch? It would have sounded rather unusual. To Americans, this greeting might mea
43、n this: I havent either. Come on, let s go together and get something to eat. or If you havent, I was just going to invite you to my place. In other words, it could indicate an invitation to a meal. Actually , another American student who had not been long in China once complained in broken Chinese“
44、 你们为什么老问我吃了饭没有？我有钱！” .To his way of thinking, people were concerned that he was not getting his meals properly because of lack of money. Clearly, he was offended. There is a similar Chinese greeting, such as “ 上哪儿去啊 ” “ 到哪儿去啦 ?” .Which if 第 7 页共 19 页translated literally, would beWhere are yon going?
45、OrWhere have you been? The natural reaction of most English- speaking people to this greeting would most likely be It s none of your business!Fortunately, not all greetings sound strange or arouse displeasure. Many are similar; some are merely different. While greetings in many languages often indic
46、ate the time of day, there may be inconsistencies within a language. There areGood morning,Good afternoonandGood eveningin English but notGood noon . AndGood nightis not a greeting at all, but an expression of farewell. When Chinese meet for the first time, there is no special expression for the occ
47、asion, but when most English-speaking people meet for the first time, they often say something likeI m pleased to meet you. And when they part, they are expected to remark It s nice meeting you orIt s nice to have met youor something similar When people part, they usually sayGood-bye, orBye-bye. Sim
48、ilar expressions are found in almost all languages. But in the more or less fixed conversational formulas precedeGood-bye, there may be interesting differences, as in Chinese when distinguished guest drops in for a visit, or if the visitor is one with whom the hosts are not very familiar. As Chinese
49、 custom, when a guest is leaving, the hosts actually are to see the visitor to the door or gateway. It is customary for the guests to say to his hosts “ 请留步 ” . He final words of the hosts are usually “ 慢走，走好，慢点骑 ” . None of these should be translated directly. Stay here would sound stranger; Go slo
50、wly, Walk slowly or Ride slowly would be equally so. A smile and a gesture of farewell would be enough. All in all, in many cultures it is extremely important to greet a person every time when they meet each other, and especially the first time each day. Through these cases above, we know that as to
51、 the different cultures between China and America, they may make misunderstanding in greeting. Some of the Chinese habits in greeting may make American confuse. And if some of the Chinese phrases of greeting or farewell are translated into English, they don t have meaning at all. 3.2 Response to com
52、pliments and praiseThere are some differences in replying to compliments between Chinese and American. Americans tend to accept the compliment while Chinese generally murmur some reply about not being worthy of the praise. Here a few more words might be said about this difference. Consider the follo
53、wing examples: A young Chinese woman in the U.S. was complimented for the lovely dress that she was wearing,It s exquisite. The colors are so beautiful! She was pleased but somewhat embarrassed. In typical Chinese fashion, she replied, Oh, it s just an ordinary dress that I bought in China. 第 8 页共 1
54、9 页At a reception in an American college, a newly arrived Chinese scholar was chatting with the hostess, who was an old friend. As an acquaintance of hers came up she said, Ron, let me introduce Mr. Chen, an outstanding physicist and one of the nicest people I know. Mr. Chen offered his hand to the
55、newcomer but looked at his hostess and said with a smile, Should I blush, or should I tell him you don t really mean it? In both cases, the words of the Chinese conveyed a message quite different from what was intended. In the case of the Chinese woman, the reply could have meant that the one paying
56、 the compliment did not know what a really good dress was; otherwise, how could she get so excited about an ordinary dress? The implic ation was that the American woman s taste in clothing was questionable. In the second case, if Chen had not been smiling, his words could have been interpreted as me
57、aning You re just saying that to be polite; you don t really mean that. So in one case, the person had poor judgment. In the other, the latter case, the hostess was not sincere quite a gap between intention and message! These cases above can reflect the different characteristics of American and Chin
58、ese about how to response to compliments and praise. American people more like respecting the fact. If otherscompliments or praise is true, they would accept them happily. In contrast, Chinese like denigrating themselves when someone make a compliments or praise to them. 3.3 Time is money Time is on
59、e of the most central differences that separate cultures and cultural ways of doing things. In the U.S, time tends to be seen as quantitative, measured with units that reflect the march of progress. It is logical, sequential, and present-focused, moving with incremental certainty toward a future the
60、 ago cannot touch and a past that is not a part of the present. There is such reverence for efficiency and the success of economic endeavors that the expression time is money is frequently heard. This approach to time is called monochromic it is an approach that favors linear structure and focus on
61、one event or interaction at a time. Roberts Rules of Order, observed in many Western meetings, enforce a monochromic idea of time.America is a society on a schedule. Whether its a personal appointment or a public conference, the starting time should be exact. Those who are late are often considered
62、lazy and inconsiderate and they would lose the trust of others. In personal relationships, a friend may be lost, in business, an opportunity. The reason why Americans are so concerned about the time is that it is connected to efficiency. In the fast pace of America, people fill their schedules to th
63、e limit. Nobody can patiently wait for half an hour beyond the designated time, because the next item on the timetable would be affected. Being late means losing opportunities and diminishing efficiency. A Chinese visited in the United States, his American friends planned his schedule as they would
64、第 9 页共 19 页be an Americans. One day, there would be two meetings in the morning and two meetings in the afternoon. And these meetings were not at the same place; there were considerable distances between appointments. After one meeting, he had to get to the next one within half an hour. Once he got
65、there, they would exchange hellos and then plunge right into the topic at hand without much additional greeting. During the talk, they all looked at their watches now and then in order to determine what other subjects they would discuss in the remaining time. When they finished, the host allowed the
66、m to leave without attempting to persuade them to stay longer. They all had other things to do. They depended on their map to reach the next appointment location within half an hour. Generally, the destination can be reached within half an hour. But one time in New York, an accident occurred on the
67、subway; the train didnt come at all. His friend and he were forced to take a taxi. I hope were not going to be late, his friend said anxiously. As soon as they got out of the taxi, his friend pulled him up the stairs in a run. In the end, they werent late. He thought Chinese should get the chance to
68、 experience the rapid rhythm of American life and the U. S. Concept of time thats the real America. In China, time feels like it has unlimited continuity, an unraveling rather than a strict boundary. Birth and death are not such absolute ends because the universe and human continue as part of it. Pe
69、ople may attend to many things happening at once in this approach to time. This may mean many conversations in a moment (such as a meeting in which people speak simultaneously, talking over each other as they discuss their subjects), or many times and peoples during one process (such as a ceremony i
70、n which those family members who have died are felt to be present as well as those yet to be born into the family). Differences over time can play out in painful and dramatic ways in negotiation or conflict-resolution processes. An example of differences over time comes from a negotiation process re
71、lated to a land claim that took place in American. The first nation s people met with representatives from local, regional, and national governments to introduce themselves and begin their work. During this first meeting, the first nation s people took time to tell the stories of their people and th
72、eir relationships to the land over the past seven generations. They spoke of the spirit of the land, the kinds of things their people have traditionally done on the land and their sacred connection to it. They spoke in circular ways, weaving themes, feelings, ideas, and experiences together as they
73、remembered seven generations into the past and projected seven generations forward. 3.4 Different views toward privacyPrivacy is translated as yin si in Chinese. Traditionally, in the Chinese mind, yin si is associated with that which is closed or covered. If someone is said to have yin si, meddlers
74、 will be 第 10 页共 19 页attracted to pry into his or her affairs. So people always state that they dont have yin si. On the contrary, Americans often declare their intention to protect their privacy. Their understanding of privacy is that others have no right to pry into things, which belong to themsel
75、ves alone and have nothing to do with others. One who is too nosey and who spreads rumors is said to violate the right to privacy. Let look at the following cases.In one evening, Sonia and his Chinese friend went to a bar for dinner. In China, when people mention bars, debauchery usually comes to mi
76、nd. But here, the bar was a quiet and tastefully laid out place. People spoke quite softly, afraid of interrupting their neighbors, and sat face to face as they drank, sometimes three or five persons sit together. This sort of atmosphere was totally different from the Chinese preconception, so he wa
77、nted to take a picture. Sonia stopped him: Dont you see these people are pouring out their hearts? Maybe they are colleagues, friends, and secret lovers. They came here looking for a peaceful place free from interruption by others. They wouldnt want to leave any trace of their having come here. So t
78、aking their pictures would be a serious violation of their right to privacy. Is there privacy between husband and wife? One of Sonias friends married a talented Chinese man, but recently she became so angry that she wanted a divorce. The reason was that her husband had opened one of her letters and
79、looked through her purse. The husband didnt realize that this is not tolerated in the U.S. He thought being a couple was like being one person; why couldnt he see the letter or the contents of the purse? Truly, everyone, even those living as a couple, needs room - not only in three-dimensional space
80、, but also in the heart. The American views towards the privacy makes the Chinese people very surprised. But it s true. This is the difference between Chinese and American toward privacy. American people are more serious than Chinese people in privacy. They think that the privacy is inviolately, eve
81、n the closest person as well. But Chinese people like asking or talking the privacy someone else. 3.5 An ordinary home-cooked mealBoth Americans and Chinese are warm and gracious hosts; Americans and Chinese tend to show their warmth in very different ways. If a Chinese host prepare a good dish for
82、their guest, they would say Unfortunately, theres not very much here, this is just an ordinary dinner.But in the United States, if someone had put this type of effort into a meal, they would have proudly said something like These dishes are my specialties. I spent just about all day working on them
83、so you could taste the real thing! I hope you enjoy the meal. An American remembered having the opportunity to eat dinner at the home of a Chinese friend and her family shortly after he arrived in China as a student. The family had invited him to their home for an ordinary home-cooked meal. He was p
84、leased to accept the invitation and thought that 第 11页共 19 页it wouldnt be a very formal affair. His friend s family greeted him very warmly when he arrived at their home. After talking for about twenty minutes, they suggested that they move to the dinner table. Only then did he realize the magnitude
85、 of their effort: there were so many dishes on the table that he couldnt see the table itself. For this ordinary home-cooked meal, the family had prepared about fifteen separate dishes! As they sat down to eat, his friends mother said, Unfortunately, theres not very much here; this is just an ordina
86、ry dinner. Even having spent little time in China, it was clear that the family had gone to considerable effort in preparing this feast. He doubted that this would truly be considered an ordinary home-cooked meal in any country. He thought, in the United States, if someone had put this type of effor
87、t into a meal, they would have proudly said something like These dishes are my specialties; my mother taught me how to make them. I spent just about all day working on them so you could taste the real thing! I sure hope you enjoy the meal. For Americans, this kind of pride shows that the host takes
88、the guest seriously and put his or her best effort into the meal; its their way of showing respect for the guest. In China, this type of attitude would generally be considered boastful and improper. As he began to eat, members of the family all said to him, Just have what you like; help yourself. At
89、 the same time, however, they continued to give him some of every dish. Everything was delicious, to be sure. But there were three or four dishes he particularly liked. He tended to eat more of those. For the other dishes, he finished whatever the family had given to him, even when he didnt want any
90、 more. Each time he did, though, the family would give him more, thinking that by eating all of a dish, he was indicating that he wanted to continue eating that dish. Moreover, every time they had nearly finished a dish, they replenished it from the kitchen. He explained that in the United States, s
91、eeing the bottom of all the plates is the ideal ending to a meal; it means that the guest has thoroughly enjoyed the meal. Clearly, in China seeing the bottom of a dish is a sign that the hosts have not prepared enough. This case of meal left a deep impression not only on him but also on a lot of Am
92、erican people. Chinese people have the unique elements of Chinese hospitality at the dinner table. This paper realized that while both Americans and Chinese are warm and gracious hosts, Americans and Chinese tend to show their warmth in very different ways. Chinese people like making request and sel
93、f-denigration to show their hospitality, but American people like giving his guest freer at the dinner table. 3.6 Study of politeness in Chinese and English cultureWhat is politeness? This sounds like a simple question. In our daily life, we often make judgments about what is polite and what is not
94、polite. For example, to offer your seat to the elderly 第 12 页共 19 页on a bus is considered polite behavior, and to interrupt when someone is talking is considered impolite; to greet someone the first time you meet him in the morning is polite and to stand up to reach for the dish you want at a dinner
95、 table is impolite. So politeness can first of all be conceived as a phenomenon, an observable social phenomenon. What this paper would like to propose is that as an observable social phenomenon politeness is something superficial, but to account for what is perceived at the surface we should delve
96、into the depth where different cultural values are rooted. When being complimented, American person would readily accept the compliment by saying something like Thank you to show his appreciation of the praise, but a Chinese speaker would try to deny the truth of the compliment. They both think they
97、 are behaving properly. Yet neither of them would think the other is being polite. The English speaker is being polite to the extent that by accepting and showing appreciation of the compliment, he avoids hurting the positive face of the person who makes it. The Chinese speaker is showing modesty by
98、 denigrating himself, ignoring the factuality of the compliment paid to him. As this has been mentioned, self-denigration has been at the core of the Chinese notion of politeness for over two thousand years. The Chinese in order to show modesty will go to such lengths as to underrate what he himself
99、 has achieved and deny the truth of a complimentary remark.Chen (1993) brings a focus on Chinese and American subjects to her study of politeness. She found Brown and Levinson s theory to be insufficient for explaining certain findings in her research and argued that in Brown and Levinson s theory i
100、ndividuals always respond to compliments by accepting them since the compliment is a form of positive politeness and failing to accept threatens the complimenter s positive face. However, both American and Chinese speakers were found to engage in deflection responses (e.g. “ Did I really do that wel
101、l?” ), and Chinese speakers frequently responded to compliments with rejection followed by self-denigration. Given certain difficulties analyzing these actions according to Brown and Levinson s theory, Chen proposed the use of Leech s Politeness Maxim, as described previously. The summary from her f
102、indings is as follows.Differences in American English Speakers (AESs) and Chinese Speakers (CSs): American Chinese Accepting the Compliment Yes (39.3%) Yes (1.0%) Returning the Compliment Yes (18.5%) No Thanking and Denigrating No Yes (3.4%) Deflecting Yes (29.5%) No Rejecting the Compliment Yes (12
103、.7%) Yes (95.7%) It was found that the AESs are primarily motivated by Leech s Agreement Maxim (compliment acceptance) while the CSs are motivated by his Modesty Maxim (compliment rejection and 第 13 页共 19 页self-denigration). This difference appears to be related to differences of social values betwe
104、en the two cultures, particularly in their respective beliefs regarding what constitutes self-image. 3.7 Chinese virtueI have always found the Chinese to be a very gracious people. In particular, Chinese frequently compliment foreign friends on their language skills, knowledge of Chinese culture, pr
105、ofessional accomplishments, and personal health. Curiously, however, Chinese are as loathe accepting a compliment, as they are eager to give one. As many of Chinese have explained, this is a manifestation of the Chinese virtue of modesty. I have noticed a difference, though, in the degree to which m
106、odesty is emphasized in the United States and China. In the U.S., the people tend to place more emphasis on seeking the truth from facts; thus, Americans tend to accept a compliment with gratitude. Chinese, on the other hand, tend to reject the compliment, even when they know they deserve the credit
107、 or recognition, which has been awarded them. We can imagine a Chinese basketball fan meeting Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls. He might say, Mr. Jordan, I am so happy to meet you. I just want to tell you, you are the best basketball player in the world; youre the greatest! to which Jordan would
108、probably respond, Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! I just do try to do my best every time I step on the court. If an American met Deng Yaping, Chinas premier ping pong player, he might say much the same thing: Ms. Deng, youre the best! but as a Chinese, Deng would probably say, No, I reall
109、y dont play all that well, youre much too kind. Plainly, Americans and Chinese have different ways of responding to praise. Ironically, many Americans might consider Ms. Dengs hypothetical response the less modest, because it is less truthful and therefore less sincere. Americans generally place sin
110、cerity above etiquette; genuine gratitude for the praise serves as a substitute for protestations of modesty. After all, the Chinese people think modesty is arrogance. Chinese and English are pragmatically and culturally very different. There are two reasons why complimenting in English may be diffi
111、cult for Chinese. First, compliments occur in a much wider variety of situations for Americans than for Chinese; thus Americans give praise in some situations where complimenting is considered inappropriate or impolite by Chinese (Yang, 1987). Second, Chinese traditionally encourage a social convent
112、ion of modesty; in many situations where they respond to praise, they prefer reutilized denials. From the Western view, such reutilized denials might be considered impolite or even rude (Yang, 1987; Chen, 1993). Since there appears to be great divergence between Chinese and American rules of speakin
113、g and social conventions and since speech act behavior is closely related to speakers. Linguistic and cultural norms (e.g., Blum-Kulka, House, & Kasper, 1989), the compliment performance of native 第 14 页共 19 页Chinese speakers should show substantial differences from that of native English speakers.
114、Almost all-linguistic research views politeness as a universal feature of civilized societies, regardless of their background culture, or their language. Politeness is thus seen as an important social or urbane value, inherent to successful communication, although its realization may vary across the
115、 different speech communities. Politeness offers a good way of emotional control of the individual (House and Kasper, 1981: 158), and is typically means of preserving and maintaining good social relationship between the speakers of one or more cultures. Polite behavior generally protects the individ
116、ual, and often becomes subject matter of self-help books on etiquette, especially in cases when people belong to a specific hierarchy (royal court, Business Company etc). In any case, being polite is essential to maintaining healthy social relations within a specific culture. Cross-cultural communic
117、ation offers a wide field for research, as the socio-pragmatic failure of one speaker of a certain community tends to be stereotyped for the whole community (Knapp-Potthoff 1992: 203), consequently labeling a nation as rude, over-polite, insincere etc. In my paper I will compare politeness practices
118、 of the Chinese and American speech communities, looking at all-native communication in the respective language, as well as a cross-cultural one, trying to account for the major differences or similarities of the spoken discourse. 3.8 AddressingIn every language and society, every time one person sp
119、eaks to another, there is a host of options concerning around how people will be addressed and named. Usually the people have to choose what is considered as the most appropriate to the occasion. I have noticed that in restaurants the Chinese hail waitresses by calling out xiao jie (miss) and, for w
120、aiters, xian sheng (mister) orshi fu (master). In the US, it is possible to address a waiter or waitress with his or her job title, but generally the more polite Excuse me!is used to draw their attention.Excuse me!is a very useful phrase. Whenever you are interrupting a person s activities or asking
121、 for his attention, you should preface your question or remark with Excuse me. This is unlike China, where people commonly use expressions such as， lao daye (aged uncle),lao dama(aged aunt) orlao shifu (aged master-in theory a master craftsman) to draw a stranger s sympathetic attention. This paper
122、thinks that the forms if address used in China are rather complicated, but also quite interesting. For instance, I am amused by the recent Chinese tendency to call Mr. Li, if he happens to be the leader of a ju (a bureau), Li ju ( Li bureau orbureau Li ), or Ms Wang, if she happened to head of a ke
123、(a department, more or less), Wang ke. If somebody is a chief engineer or a chief editor, he will be called something likeLi chief orchief Li . There is no equivalent practice in English-speaking world. Bosses are not addressed by their title and surname, much less by their surname plus part of the
124、name of their organization. In informal conversation in 第 15 页共 19 页relatively friendly environments it is common to call one s director Boss, but remember that the boss is not a title. If you are an American addressing your immediate supervisor, in most cases you will call him by his given name jus
125、t as you address colleagues on the same level as yourself. If the superior is several degrees above you in the organization hierarchy, you are expected to call the person Mr. Schmidt or Ms O Brien. There is, by the way, significant difference in how Chinese and Americans view titles. Americans, in c
126、ontrast to Chinese, they give a clear idea of what kind of work a person does, what his responsibility is. Chinese people always seem expected to let you know they are, for example,senior engineera title that says nothing about what a person s functions are. For American it s what you actually do th
127、at counts, not where you fit on organizational chart. Your professional role defines you. The Americans treat titles like vice president for marketing andsales manger as meaningful. Nonetheless they will not use them to address a person, even reduces tomangerorvice president. Americans dontlike exce
128、ssive formality, and to some Americans any formality can seem excessive. Young employees are free to call order, co-workers by their given names. This may sound intimate to non-Americans, but it s so commonplace in the US that it connotes nothing at all about their relations. I am intrigued by the t
129、endency of younger staff in some Chinese units that are not schools to call older employees “ lao shi” (teacher). In the US primary schools children will sometimes address an instructor as teacher (more often, though, they will use Ms or Ms plus the surname), but the term not otherwise used to hail
130、anyone. University students address their instructors asprofessor orProfessor Lindkrist or Mr. Lindkrist , if the instructor prefers to be in a first-name basis with students. If an instructor has a PhD, he may also be called Dr Lindkrist . All in all, we can see a significant difference between Chi
131、na and American in addressing through above cases. Chinese people always address others with their titles, and pay more attention to their positions and statuses. In contrast, American people pay more the relation with themselves. This also reflects the characteristic of individualism of American. 4
132、. Comparative study between two different aspects of communication styles in the U.S and China4.1 Speaker-centered vs. listener-centeredTexts of communication for the U.S. universities (Verderber & Verderber,) seldom fail to point out the importance of self-concept and self-esteem of an individual.
133、Many communication models developed in the U.S. (Berlo) depict themselves as an essential, independent, as well as a unique entity in the process of communication. Stewart (1991) argues that English is perhaps the only language in the world that uses 第 16 页共 19 页the first pronoun I with a capital le
134、tter. This illustrates how a speaker is important in their process of communication. It can safely be said, therefore, that an American s major concern in communication is how one s view is transmitted to the other person .In this sense, American communication style is largely speaker -centered. In
135、a sharp contrast to Americans, there is very little reference to the first pronoun in Chinese daily conversation. I is often omitted in sentences. It is considered very important for the Chinese to consider situational appropriateness so as to promote harmony in interpersonal relationship (Lebra, 19
136、76, Okabe, 1983) .When someone wants to do something, one should be very careful not to show one s desire too clearly. Only when people in an organization get to know someone s talent or ability, can he be promoted to a higher position .The expression the nail that sticks up is hammered down clearly
137、 illustrates how one should be careful not to communicate one s true feelings. From this discussion, you can say that the Chinese communication style is largely listener - oriented. As for the Chinese, Gao and Toomy (1998) describes that they were listener - centered by nature. They argue that the p
138、osition one occupies in his/ her hierarchical structure often determines how much and how one speaks, and people express their opinions only when they are recognized. Smith (1991) reported that the eldest man in the family engaged in most of the talking whereas the children listened and supported th
139、eir elders by occasional comments at the dinner table in China. Gao and Toomy also pointed out the importance of learning to listen to others with full attention in most of the work situations, indicating that Chinese communication is listener -centered. 4.2 Directness vs . indirectnessAmericans are
140、 often expected to communicate their ideas clearly and directly to the others. This indicates that Americans are used to be direct in communication, presenting their ideas openly and straightforwardly. Arguing that Chinese basically use indirect style, Chinese has this expressionpang qiao ce ji ( be
141、ating around the bush ),which implies a skill that nurtures a sense of an implicit understanding. Chinese are very implicit and talk in around about way and never get to the point. For example, the Chinese might not say, I am hungry,even if they are really hungry .The most desirable communication pr
142、actice in China is to let things speak for themselves ( bu yan er yu ) . Most cultures have both direct and indirect features of communication. Metaphor, insinuations, innuendos, hints, and irony are only a few examples of the kinds of indirect communication that can be found in most linguistic comm
143、unicates. Even though the indirect mode of communication seems to be universal, however, the degree to which is elaborated varies from culture to culture. The Confucian legacy of consideration for others and concern for proper human relationships has the development of communication patterns that pr
144、eserve one another s face. Indirect communication helps to prevent the embarrassment of rejection by the person or disagreement among partners, leaving the 第 17 页共 19 页relationships and each other s face intact. It has been suggested that defending faceis one of the main factors influencing Chinese
145、behavior. There are a number of the concrete mechanisms for defending face, such as mediated communication (asking someone else to transmit the message), refracted communication (talking to a third person in presence of the hearer), and acting as a delegate (conveying one s message as being from som
146、eone else), which are all indirect forms of communication. It has also been suggested that there is a significant difference in the level of indirectness between American and Chinese communication patterns. An American might sayThe door is open as an indirect way of asking the hearer to shut the doo
147、r, which in China, instead of sayingThe door is open, one often says It is somewhat cold today. This is even more indirect because no words refer to the door. Operating at a still higher level of indirection, one Chinese wife communicates to her husband her discord with her mother-in- low by slight
148、irregularities in her flower arrangements. 4.3 High context communication vs. low-context communicationWhen two communicators share much information and the context in which they are talking about, their communication can be called high context communication .The opposite of this style is low contex
149、t communicationwhich means two communicators do not share much information and must rely on words to communicate with each other. The U. S. is a relative low context culture. In America, expressions like togive one s word or tell it like it isshow an emphasis on the use of words themselves to carry
150、the bulk of the meaning. In China such expression as yan bu jin yi (Not say all that is felt) and yan wai zhi yi (More is meant than meets the ear), indicating that the high context communication is one of the major features of Chinese communication. This also implies that nonverbal communication of
151、ten provides importance of verbal messages. A high-context communication or message is one in which most of the information is either in the physical context or internalized in the person while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message. A low-context communication is jus
152、t the opposite; i.e., the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code. Twins who have grown up together can do communicate more economically than two lawyers in a courtroom during a trial or a child trying to explain to his mother why he or she got into a fight. He categorizes cultures as
153、 being either high or low context, depending on the degree to which meaning comes from the setting or from the words being exchanged. In high-context cultures, people are very homogeneous with regard to experiences, information networks, and the like. High-context cultures, because of tradition and
154、history, change very little overtime. These are cultures in which consistent messages have produced consistent responses to the environment. As a result, for most normal transactions in daily life they do not require, nor do they expect, much in-depth background information. Meaning, therefore, is n
155、ot necessarily contained in words. In high-context cultures, 第 18 页共 19 页information is provided through gestures, the use of space, and even silence. Meaning is also conveyed through status (age, education, family background, and title) and through an individual s informal friends and associates. I
156、n low-context cultures, the population is less homogeneous and therefore tends to compartmentalized interpersonal contacts. The Hall says this lack of a large poor of common experiences means that each time they interact with others they need detailed background information . In low-context cultures
157、, the verbal message contains most of the information and very little is embedded in the context or the participants. This characteristic manifests itself in a host of ways. For example, the Chinese mode of communication is often indirect and implicit, whereas American communication tends to be dire
158、ct and explicit that is, everything needs to be stated. Americans more like to make very explicit statements and have little capability with nonverbal forms of expression. High-context cultures tends to be more aware of their surroundings and their environment and dontrely on verbal communication as
159、 their main information channel. In high-context cultures, so much information is available in the environment that it is unnecessary to verbalize everything. For instance, statements of affection, such as I love you. are rare because the message is conveyed by the context. 5. ConclusionThis paper d
160、iscusses the different characteristics of the communication styles between Americans and Chinese in addressing, compliment response, greeting, and privacy. It mentions the attitude toward time, virtue and politeness. Also, it analyses the four characteristics in communication between American and Ch
161、inese. That is, speaker-centered vs. listener-centered, directness vs. indirectness, high-context communication vs. low-context communication. This comparison is a significant step in understanding problems and issues in intercultural communication. It hopes that this comparative study of American a
162、nd Chinese in communication style can make people know better about the cultural differences between two countries. Intercultural communication is an interdisciplinary field of study, which incorporates research from disciplines such as social psychology, sociology, cultural anthropology, and sociol
163、inguistics. And one of the most important areas of research addressed by intercultural scholars is how misunderstandings can be minimized when people communicate with others from different cultures. It points out that context is very important to understanding intercultural communication. There is t
164、wo ways individuals use context in communication: one is low-context and the other is high-context. If Chinese do not understand the low-context system used in the United States or Americans do not understand the high-context system used in China, misunderstandings will occur. 第 19 页共 19 页Understand
165、ing cultural norms and rules between China and the U.S, such as the way we are expected to greet others, the way we are expected to dress, the way we are expected to eat, and the way we are expected to answer questions also are important in improving communication with people from other cultures. Th
166、ese examples do illustrate the importance of studying the influence of culture in communication if we are to overcome culture barriers to effective communication. By doing so, we might be able to build hypotheses about factors that may contribute to miscommunication, conflict, or gaps of understandi
167、ng among people from different cultural backgrounds. Reference:1Conze, Edward. Buddhism: Its Essence and Development. New York: HarperCollins, 1951. 2Kume,T.,A.Tokui, &Y.Xu ( 2 0 0 0 ) , A Comparative Study of Communication Style s , Grant -in -Aid fo r COE Rese arch Re po rt ( 4 ) ( No . 08 CE100 1
168、) 62 5-670. 3Koudansha. Miyahara, A. (1 9 92)Introduction t o Communication Theory . Tokyo. 4Michelle. Bridging Cultural Conflicts. A New Approach for a Changing World. San Francisco: Jossey Bass, 2003. 5Mitsu t a , A. ( 19 9 3 ) Ways of Thinking of China and Japanese. Tokyo. 6Murray, D.P.( 1 9 8 3 ) Face t o Face : American and Chinese Interactions . Chicago. Intercultural Press. 7Novinger, Tracy. Intercultural Communication. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2001. 8 邓炎昌，刘润清语言与文化外语教学与研究出版社9 贾玉新跨文化交际学上海外语教育出版社10许力生跨文化交际英语教程上海外语教育出版社
