Tài liệu Intercultural communication

HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH & MORDERN LANGUAGES *** Communication Hanoi 2012 According to Brown (1980), “second language learning is often second culture learning. In order to understand just what second culture learning is, one needs to understand the nature of acculturation, culture shock, and social distance.” This course book is designed to provide you, the learner of English as a foreign language, with basic information about the cultural features of major English speaking countries, especially the United Kingdom and the United States. It is hoped to enable you to have opportunities: - to discuss important aspects of culture; - to learn about life in the major English-speaking countries; - to recognize the relationship between language and culture; - to improve your conversational ability through intercultural communication. 1 Key terms • Culture: shared background (e.g., national, ethnic, religious) reflecting a common language and communication style, shared customs, beliefs, attitudes, and values. Culture mentioned here does not refer to art, music, literature, food, clothing styles… Culture refers to the informal and often hidden patterns of human interactions, expressions, and viewpoints that people in one culture share. The hidden nature of culture has been compared to an iceberg, most of which is hidden under water! Like the iceberg, most of the influence of culture on an individual cannot be seen. The hidden aspects of culture have significant effects on behaviour and on interactions with others. • Communication: the process of sharing meaning through verbal and nonverbal communication. • Intercultural communication: communication between people from different cultures; communication which is influenced by cultural values, attitudes, and behavior; the influence of culture on people’s reactions and responses to each other. Principles • Culture, unlike language, is not comprised of fixed rules that applied to all members of one culture. • There are no absolute “right” and “wrong” implied, only cultural differences. What is appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another culture. • All cultures have values and ideals that their members say are true. • People’s behaviour may not always reflect those values. 2 CONTENTS Unit 1: Introduction to culture and inter-cultural communication Unit 2: Some concepts of cultural patterns Unit 3: Introductions Unit 4: Verbal Patterns Unit 5: Nonverbal Communication Unit 6: Personal Relationships Unit 7: Family Values Unit 8: Educational Attitudes Unit 9: Cultural Conflict Unit 10: Cultural Adjustment 3 Unit 1 Introduction to culture and inter-cultural communication OBJECTIVES In this unit we will learn 1 . generalization of culture 2 . meanings of the word ‘culture’ 3 . definitions of culture in any fields 4 . definitions of intercultural communication 5 . intercultural communication in the social life 1. Generalization of culture Culture (Latin: cultura, lit. "cultivation") is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions. However, the word "culture" is most commonly used in three basic senses: • Excellence of taste in the fine arts and humanities, also known as high culture • An integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for symbolic thought and social learning • The set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization, or group When the concept first emerged in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe, it connoted a process of cultivation or improvement, as in agriculture or horticulture. In the nineteenth century, it came to refer first to the betterment or refinement of the individual, especially through education, and then to the fulfillment of national aspirations or ideals. In the mid-nineteenth century, some scientists used the term "culture" to refer to a universal human capacity. For the German nonpositivist sociologist Georg Simmel, culture referred to "the cultivation of individuals through the agency of external forms which have been objectified in the course of history". 4 In the twentieth century, "culture" emerged as a concept central to anthropology, encompassing all human phenomena that are not purely results of human genetics. Specifically, the term "culture" in American anthropology had two meanings: (1) the evolved human capacity to classify and represent experiences with symbols, and to act imaginatively and creatively; and (2) the distinct ways that people living in different parts of the world classified and represented their experiences, and acted creatively. Following World War II, the term became important, albeit with different meanings, in other disciplines such as cultural studies, organizational psychology, the sociology of culture and management studies. 2. Definition of culture • Culture refers to the cumulative deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving. • Culture is the systems of knowledge shared by a relatively large group of people. • Culture is communication, communication is culture. • Culture in its broadest sense is cultivated behavior; that is the totality of a person's learned, accumulated experience which is socially transmitted, or more briefly, behavior through social learning. •A culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next. • Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbols include a group's skills, knowledge, attitudes, values, and motives. The meanings of the symbols are learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institutions. • Culture consists of patterns, explicit and implicit, of and for behavior acquired and transmitted by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievement 5 of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional ideas and especially their attached values; culture systems may, on the one hand, be considered as products of action, on the other hand, as conditioning influences upon further action. 3 . Definition of inter-cultural communication What is intercultural communication? Intercultural communication in its most basic form refers to an academic field of study and research. It seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures behave, communicate and perceive the world around them. The findings of such academic research are then applied to 'real life' situations such as how to create cultural synergy between people from different cultures within a business or how psychologists understand their patients. The definition of intercultural communication must also include strands of the field that contribute to it such as anthropology, cultural studies, psychology and communication. There are many researchers and academics of note within the intercultural field, who naturally all have different definitions of 'intercultural communication'. For example Karlfried Knapp defines it as "'Intercultural communication,' can...be defined as the interpersonal interaction between members of different groups, which differ from each other in respect of the knowledge shared by their members and in respect of their linguistic forms of symbolic behaviour." For those wanting to dig a bit deeper it may be a good idea to look into the works of Edward T. Hall, Geert Hofstede, Harry C. Triandis, Fons Trompenaars, Clifford Geertz and Shalom Schwartz. The theories developed by the researchers and academics can and has been applied to many fields such as business, management, marketing, advertising and website design. As business becomes more and more international, many companies need to know how best to structure their companies, manage staff and communicate with customers. Intercultural 6 communication gives them an insight into the areas they need to address or understand. Intercultural communication theories are now also used within the education, health care and other public services due to growing multicultural populations. References 1. Levine, D. R. & Adelman, M. B. (1982). Beyond Language. Intercultural Communication for English as a Second Language. Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 07632 2. Valdes, J. M. (1986). Culture Bound. Bridging the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press. 3. Nguyen Quang (Com. & Ed.). Intercultural Communication. Vietnam National University. Hanoi. 4. Oxford Guide to British and American Culture. Oxford University Press(UK) 5. Tracy Novinger (2001). Intercultural communication- A Practical Guide. University of Texas Press. 7 Unit 2 Some concepts of cultural patterns OBJECTIVES In this unit we will learn 1. general characteristics of cultures 2. Hofstede’s view about characteristics of cultures 3. Edward T. Hall’s classification of cultures 4. Vietnamese cultural characteristics 1. Hofstede’s view Characteristics of Cultures (in general) Brown (2000) While most learners can indeed find positive benefits in cross-cultural living or learning experiences, a number of people experience psychological blocks and other inhibiting effects of the second culture. Teachers who follow an experiential or process model (Robinson-Stuart & Nocon 1996) of culture learning in the classroom can help students turn such an experience into one of increased cultural- and self-awareness. Stevick (1976b) cautioned that learners can feel alienation in the process of learning a second language, alienation from people in their home culture, the target culture, and from themselves- In teaching an “alien” language, we need to be sensitive to the fragility of students by using techniques that promote cultural understanding. Donahue and Parsons (1982) examined the use of role-play in ESL classrooms as a means of helping students to overcome cultural “fatigue”; role-play promotes the process of crosscultural dialog while providing opportunities for oral communication. Numerous other materials and techniques-readings, films simulation games, culture assimilators, “culture capsules,” and “cultur-grams”—are available to language teachers to assist them in the process o acculturation in the classroom (Fantini 1997; Ramirez 1995; Levine et al 1987; McGroarty & Galvan 1985; Kohls 1984). 8 Perhaps the best model of the combination of second language and second culture learning is found among students who learn a second language in a country where that language is spoken natively. In many countries, thousands of foreign students are enrolled in institutions of high education and must study the language of the country in order to pursue their academic objectives. Or one might simply consider the multitude of immigrants who enter the educational stream of their new country after having received their early schooling in their previous country. They bring with them the cultural mores and patterns of “good” behavior learned in their home culture, and tend to apply those expectations to their new situation. What is the nature of those students’ expectations of behavior in their new educational system? Consider Kenji, a university student from Japan who is studying preuniversity language institute in the United States. During his previous twelve years of schooling, he was taught some very specific behaviorswas taught to give the utmost “respect” to his teacher, which means number of things: never to contradict the teacher; never to speak in class unless spoken to—always let the teacher initiate communication; let teacher’s wisdom be “poured into” him; never call a teacher by a first name; respect older teachers even more than younger teachers. But in his new U.S. language school, his youngish teachers are friendly and encourage first-name basis, they ask students to participate in group work, they try to get students to come up with answers to problems, rather than just giving the answer, and so on. Kenji is confused. Why? Some means of conceptualizing such mismatches in expectations were outlined in a thought-provoking article by Geert Hofstede (1986), who used four different conceptual categories to study the cultural norms of fifty different countries. Each category was described as follows: 1. Individualism as a characteristic of a culture opposes collectivism (the word is used here in an anthropological, not a political, sense). Individualist cultures assume that any person looks primarily after his/her 9 own interest and the interest of his/her immediate family (husband, wife and children). Collectivist cultures assume that any person through birth and possible later events belongs to one or more tight “in-groups,” from which he/she cannot detach him/herself. The “in-group” (whether extended family, clan, or organization) protects the interest of its members, but in turn expects their permanent loyalty. A collectivist society is tightly integrated; an individualist society is loosely integrated. 2. Power Distance as a characteristic of a culture defines the extent to which the less powerful persons in a society accept inequality in power and consider it as normal. Inequality exists within any culture, but the degree of it that is tolerated varies between one culture and another. “All societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others” (Hofstede 1980: 136). 3. Uncertainty Avoidance as a characteristic of a culture defines the extent to which people within a culture are made nervous by situations they perceive as unstructured, unclear; or unpredictable, situations which they therefore try to avoid by maintaining strict codes of behavior and a belief in absolute truths. Cultures with a strong uncertainty avoidance are active, aggressive, emotional, compulsive, security-seeking, and intolerant; cultures with a weak uncertainty avoidance are contemplative, less aggressive, unemotional, relaxed, accepting of personal risks, and relatively tolerant. 4. Masculinity as a characteristic of a culture opposes femininity. The two differ in the social roles associated with the biological fact of the existence of two sexes, and in particular in the social roles attributed to men. The cultures which I labeled as “masculine” strive for maximal distinction between what men are expected to do and what women are expected to do. They expect men to be assertive, ambitious and competitive, to strive for material success, and to respect whatever is big, strong, and fast. They expect women to serve and to care for the non-material quality of life, for children, and for the weak. Feminine cultures, on the other hand, define relatively overlapping social roles for the sexes, in which men need not be 10 ambitious or competitive, but may go for a different quality of life than material success; men may respect whatever is small, weak, and slow. So, in masculine cultures these political/organizational values stress material success and assertiveness; in feminine cultures they stress other types of quality of life, interpersonal relationships, and concern for the weak (Brown, 2000). Cross-cultural Questions 1. What are the differences between collective and individual cultures? 2. Which sets out how individualism and collectivism are demonstrated in education. Look at the examples listed. Is Vietnamese culture collectivist or individualist? 3. What would you say about power distance in education in Vietnam? How does this influence the process of teaching and learning a foreign language? 4. What would you say about uncertainty avoidance in education in Vietnam? 5. To what degree is Vietnamese culture masculine or feminine? Another view of culture: Edward T. Hall’s Classification of Culture (1983) Hall’s model concerns 3 concepts: Context, Space, and Time. Context: High context or low context refers to the amount of information that is in a given communication as a function of the context in which it occurs. A highly contexted communication is one in which most of the meaning is in the context while very little is in the transmitted message. A low context communication is similar to interacting with a computer — if the information is not explicitly stated; and the program followed religiously the meaning is distorted. 11 In the Western world, the law is the context, in comparison with daily transactions of an informal nature. People who know each other over a long period of years will tend to use high context communication. (Hall, 1983) Thus a culture where most things are explicitly stated is a low context culture. Hall gives the American societies as an example of this type of culture. He contrasts American culture with the Japanese and French culture which are high context, that is, where a lot of the information is in the context, in the untold”, in what everybody knows.! These cultures tend to be harder to understand and to penetrate than low context cultures. Space: All cultures have “invisible boundaries,” which are part of what a French anthropologist (Raymonde Carroll) calls “Evidences invisibles”. These boundaries are expressed in the following ways: Territoriality: The term relates to ownership and power. Some places are reserved for people in power. For example, in the US, those in power usually live on the upper floors and have the largest offices. This is not the case in some other cultures where people in power will be at the center, with other people “gravitating” around them. Personal space: In most Western cultures, people do not touch each other unless they have a fairly intimate relationship. This is not the case in other cultures where taps on the shoulder or physical accolades may be fairly common during first encounters. Reactions to spatial differences (Proxemics): This relates directly to the previous point. The distance one keeps with the other person may influence the response one will get. Indeed, if you are too close to a person who is used to keeping a certain physical distance in conversation, this person may feel threatened. Conversely, if you keep the same distance with a person who is used to physically closer interaction, physical distance may be interpreted as psychological distance. 12 Multisensory space: Spatial boundaries extend to the five senses. In some cultures, speaking loud is interpreted as violating other people’s space; in other cultures, loud conversations are expected to take place; therefore, they are not interpreted as infringing on others. Time: Hall distinguishes two types of time: Polychronic and Monochronic. Monochronic time (M-time) refers to a sequential and linear organization of time. It is a “one-thing-at-a-time” organization. Polychronic time (P-time) is “many –things- at -once.” Things are done concurrently and simultaneously. This concept is sometimes referred to as “rubber-time”. Hall contrasts monochronic and polychronic people in the following way: Monochronic people Polychronic people do thing at a time do many things at once concentrate on the job are highly distractible and subject to view time commitments as critical are interruptions low context and need information are view time commitments as objectives committed to the job are high context and already have adhere religiously to plans information emphasize promptness are committed to people and human are accustomed to short-term relationships relationships change plans often and easily base promptness on the importance of and significance of the relationship have a strong tendency to build lifetime relationships 13 Edward T. Hall’s Classification of Culture (1983) According to Hall, Northern European cultures tend to include monochromic people while people from Mediterranean and Latin American cultures tend to be polychromic. It should be noted, however, that cultures are not always exclusively monochronic or polychromic. The Japanese for example are polychronic in their dealings with other people on a daily basis, but monochronic in their approach to official business. Cross-cultural Questions 1 . What is high context? 2 .What is low context? 3 . What is the essential difference between low context cultures and high context cultures? 4 . Is it more or less high or low context in Vietnamese culture? 5 . What can you say about ‘personal space’ in Vietnam? 6 . Is Vietnamese culture more or less monochromic or polychromic? References 1. Brown H., (2000). Culture in the Classroom. In Principles of Language Learning and Teaching. White Plain N.Y. Longman 2. Hall, E. T. (1983) The Dance of Life. New York NY: Anchor Books 3. Levine, D. R. & Adelman, M. B. (1982). Beyond Language. Intercultural Communication for English as a Second Language. Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 07632 4. Nguyen Quang (Com. & Ed.). Intercultural Communication. Vietnam National University. Hanoi. 5. Oxford Guide to British and American Culture. Oxford University Press(UK) 6. Tracy Novinger (2001). Intercultural communication- A Practical Guide. University of Texas Press. 7. Valdes, J. M. (1986). Culture Bound. Bridging the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching. Cambridge University Press. 14 UNIT 3 Introductions OBJECTIVES In this unit we will learn 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Varieties of Introductions What is in a Name? Use of Titles in Introductions Eye Contact and Handshaking in Introductions Small Talk after Introductions Cultural Variations in Introductions Cultural Notes 15 PROFESSOR: MR. LUSTIG: DR. JOHNS: Mr. . . Lustig, I would like to introduce you to Dr. Johns, director of the language institute. Dr. Johns, this is Mr. Lustig, the academic adviser from Bamum College. How do you do, Dr. Johns? It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Lustig. I'm glad that we finally have the occasion to meet. NANCY: JACK: *** I'd like you to meet my friend, Nancy Pipkin. Nancy, this is my brother, Jack. Hi, Jack. Nice to meet you. Hi, Nancy. FRIEND: *** Hi,George, have you met Bill? FRIEND: 16 GEORGE: BILL: No, I haven't. Hi, Bill. Hi! How ya doing? *** Varieties of Introductions What do you notice about the above three introductions? Why is the style of language in all three different? These introductions which range from formal to informal exemplify typical introductions made by English speakers. Although they tend to use informal language as illustrated in the second and third introductions, there are situations where formal introductions are appropriate. When meeting a president of a university, it is advisable to say, "How do you do?" rather than "How ya doing?" Likewise, someone, who is your age or younger would probably say, "It's nice to meet you" rather than "How do you do?" In the first introduction the speakers use longer sentences, titles (Dr., Mr.), and formal words and phrases ("I would like to introduce you...,” "How do you do?" and "It's a pleasure to meet you"). The relationship between the speakers in the first introduction is a formal one. The next two introductions, which are more informal, use reduced words and sentences and simpler language. "It's nice to meet you" becomes "Nice to meet you.” "How are you doing?" becomes "How ya doing?” A very informal introduction does not use titles or last names. What is in a Name? The names of people in most English-speaking countries appear and are pronounced in reverse order to names in Vietnam. In Vietnam, the family name is said first. In English the family name is referred to as the "last name" because it is the last name that appears in a name. One's personal or "given" name appears first in English and last in Vietnamese. A given name is the personal name given at birth. Middle names are used by both cultures and appear between the given and family names. 17 Vietnamese Family Middle Given fem. Nguyen Phuong Lan masc. Pham English Quoc Minh Given Middle Family fem. Mary Jane Smith masc. John Edward Jackson It is traditional for American women to take their husband's family name when they marry. The family name they were born with is known as the "maiden" name. If Mary Jane Smith marries John Edward Jackson, she becomes Mary Jane Jackson and her maiden name is Smith. Though most follow tradition today, some women choose to keep their maiden names. Others hyphenate their last names with their husband's last name, for example, Mary Jane Smith-Jackson. Sometimes the husband may also use the hyphenated name (John Edward Smith-Jackson). In Vietnam, officially, the name of a woman does not change when she gets married. Regionally, however, her name may change according to various customs throughout the country. In parts of the Mekong Delta, for example, she may be called Mrs. Minh - her husband's given name. Or she may be called by a number that signifies her husband's sibling status, like Sister Five meaning the fifth son's wife. These regional customs of naming usually describe a relationship. In some mountainous villages in the north, names of the eldest child are used as parents' name such as Mr. and Mrs. Ha - Ha being the name of their eldest daughter. The names of children combined with the word "mother" may form a name in some areas of the south. What is in a name? Names are families, relationships, status, and traditions. By understanding names, we get a glimpse into those things that are important to us and to the cultures to which we belong. A name can identify who we are in family, community and country. 18 Use of Titles in Introductions Often when there is a difference in status or age between two individuals, formal titles and last names are used unless the person of lower status is told to use the first name. For example: ACCOUNTANT (age 50): Hello, my name is Bob Thomas STUDENT (age 20): It's nice to meet you, Mr. Thomas. ACCOUNTANT: Please, just call me Bob. In informal introductions there is a tendency to reduce status differences by using first names. In more formal situations, the title along with the last name is appropriate. For example, when a student introduces herself to a university professor, she might say: SUSAN (student): Hello, Dr. McCarrick. My name is Susan Hall and I would like to ask you about your course. Susan used her professor's title (Dr.) and his last name, whereas when she introduced herself, she used her first name and last name and no title. In many parts of the world, students must show their politeness and respect to teachers. One way of doing this is not to use the teacher’s first name. Some teachers in the English-speaking countries do not think it is rude if their students call them by their first name. This may be their way of having a close informal relationship with students. Eye Contact and Handshaking in Introductions Direct eye contact and firm handshakes during introductions are customary in the English-speaking countries. In introductions as well as in general 19