Cultural Differences in Everyday Life 英语毕业论文.doc

cultural differences in everyday lifeabstract: language is a system of arbitrary vocal symbols used for human communication. culture can be briefly defined as the totality of beliefs and practices in a society. language is a part of culture and plays a decisive role in it. we exchange our ideas and emotions through languages in different cultures, thus we can communicate with people who own another culture. but because of the differences between cultures, we may cause some troubles when we exchange information. this paper investigates the cultural differences between different cultures in our everyday life. by some examples we will know the problems and the solutions to these problems.key words: cross-cultural communication; cultural differences; verbal communication; nonverbal communicationi. introductioncommunication is commonly defined as the imparting or interchange of thoughts, opinions, and information by speech, writing or signs . cross-cultural communication is communication between different cultures.carl rogers states that real communication takes place when we listen with understanding. by analogy, we may equally say that communication collapses when we listen with misunderstanding. when globalization becomes a fact, the significance of cross-cultural communication is further highlighted. failures in communication from different backgrounds of cultures will lead to cultural stereotypes and conflicts. learning a foreign language well means more than merely mastering the pronunciation, grammar, words and idioms. it means learning also to see it, learning the ways in which their language reflects the ideas, customs, and behavior of their society, learning to understand their language of mind .learning a language, in fact, is inseparable from learning its culture. for proper understandings in cross-cultural communication, some suggestive principles are provided as basic guidelines to this difficult work.1. successful communication occurs when the hearer can see, feel, and understand issues from the speakers point of view.2. successful communication occurs when the speaker and hearer know each others intention.3. successful communication occurs when the two parties adopt a dynamic dialogue pattern.occasionally, non-native speakers with a good command of the foreign language may also make mistakes in using the right words. for example, an american professor mentioned how surprised she was when the slang word bucks ,meaning dollars, was used when discussing her salaryby one of the best english speakers at the chinese university where she was teaching. this was liking a chinese professor 您每个月挣几张大团结？totally inappropriate.although we may not realize it, when we converse with others we communicate by much more than words. by our expressions, gestures and other body movements we send message to those around us. a smile and an outstretched hand show welcome. a frown is a sign of displeasure. this body language, like our verbal language, is also a part of our culture. but not all body language means the same thing in different cultures. if two young friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each other or hold hand, would this be regarded by english-speaking people as proper？the answer is no .if they are in their childhood, this will be ok. in america, if two young of the same sex behave intimately, they will be thought to be homosexual. but in china, it does not matter; this merely shows the two people are good friends. different beliefs are the causes of the differences of body language， peoples behavior, the way of thinking and so on are affected by their believes. eye language can express complicated feelings and it is an important way to judge the intimacy of communicators. people from english speaking countries have more eye contact when they are in conversation. americans pay great attention to the time and the way of eye contact. in common conversation, they will look at each other about one minute and then they will look away. if two americans gaze at each other, which indicate they are intimate. in north america, the children there have learned to look at the other communicator directly. if they dont, they are regarded lack of enthusiasm or confidence. they believe the saying “never trust a person who cant look you in the eyes.” “gesture means we communicate and express by the movement and manners of our hands and fingers.” in our daily life, every one makes gestures, but many gestures have distinct regional and cultural features. “dont assume that every one in the world understands one gesture in the same way.”this purpose of this paper is to examine the cultural differences reflected in our daily life, so we can have a concept of cross-cultural communication when we need to communicate with english-speaking people.ii. discussionwhen in rome, do as the romans do.1. greetings and farewellsan american studying 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 meal time and the american merely nodded with a smile, waved goodbye and went off. he realizes that his friends remark was nothing more than a chinese way of saying hello or hi. if the greeting had been put literally into english have you eaten yet? or have you had your lunch? it would have sounded rather unusual. this american knows the chinese way to greetings by this way. in fact, for this greeting, if you are hurry you need to say 吃了to finish the greeting; if your answer is 没呢,你呢？it means you want to keep that persons attention. or if you want to tell them something but not necessarily about food, then you could go on “why not?”“wei shen me?”westerners do not understand why food and health have become such a popular topic in chinese daily life. this comes down to more than 5,000 years of chinese history. as far as i understand, you need to go back to historical records from about 1300 bc, when chinese rulers started to tell people what you could or could not say or do. but for the americans who do not know this ,the greeting might mean this:“i have not either. come on, lets 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.another similar chinese greeting 上哪儿去啊？到哪儿去啦？which if translated literally, would be where are you going ? or where have you been? the natural reaction of most english-speaking people to this greeting would most likely be its 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 indicate the time of day, there may be inconsistencies within a language. english has good morning, good afternoon and good evening but not good noon. and good night is not a greeting at all (to most english-speaking people), but an expression of farewell. when people meet for the first time, for chinese, theres no special expression for the occasion; for english-speaking people they will say im pleased to meet you. and say its nice to have met you. when they apart.when people apart they usually say good-bye, bye-bye, this is similar in almost languages. as for chinese the host will see the guest to the door or gateway, and the guest will say请留步。the final words of the hosts are usually 慢走，走好。none of these should be translated directly. stay here would sound strange; go slowly, walk slowly would be equally so. a smile and a gesture of farewell would be enough.2. ways of addressfor english-speaking people, its ok to call their first name, no matter the relation between students and teachers, or fathers and sons. but for chinese, if a kid calls his/her fathers name, or a student to do the same in calling a teacher, a quick reprimand, and possibly even a spanking for the child, would be sure to follow. chinese custom of addressing members of ones family, relatives or close neighbors as 二哥，三婶,should not be carried over into english. in english, people like to call each other by their given name whether it be for man or woman, would ordinary be enough. if someone is called sister mary would commonly be understood as referring to persons belonging to a catholic group or some religious or professional society.to get the attention of a stranger, or a person whose name we may not know, we have 同志 or 师傅.but theres no general term in english, usually they simply clear their throat loudly, or make some noise or gesture to attract the persons attention for pardon me is too polite and hey is not polite.3. compliments and praisechinese people tend to be modest and prudent while westerners usually accept the compliments for them. cultural differences also exist in who can be complimented. it would not unusual to hear an american woman talking about how hard her husband works and how well he has done, about all the promotions and honors that he has received. she might do the same about a son or daughter of hershow bright he/she is, what good marks he/she makes in school, how active the child is in his/her stamp-collecting group, when and where he/she performed in concert, ect. in chinese, this would be considered bad taste; one simply does not praise members of ones own family in front of others.4. miscellaneous social amenitiesboth chinese and english have expressions for gratitude, apologies, remarks preceding a request, they are quite similar and present no problem.thank you, and pleaseboth of these are used more widely than the chinese 谢谢，请for minor favors like borrowing a pencil, asking directions, requesting someone to pass on a message, calling a person to the telephone, ect., such polite expressions often omitted by chinese, especially among close friends and members of the family. for chinese these seem tiresome and unnecessary but westerners think that not express these will be rude or lack of consideration.nonverbal communication, like verbal communication is also a part of culture and the carrier of a certain culture.“nonverbal communication is a process in which communicators use the natural features of their bodies to deliver information and express specific meaning instinctively to the other communicator.” the function of nonverbal communication in the whole communication cant be overlooked. “in the daily communication, we can see people cant communicate efficiently by verbal language alone. and nonverbal communication will express clear meanings in a certain context. and a certain nonverbal communication should be connected with verbal communication or the other nonverbal communication to provide correct information.” so in communicative activities, nonverbal communication also plays a great role. of course, we should pay close attention to the functions of nonverbal communication. “in any case, when verbal communication conflicts with nonverbal communication, people are willing to accept the information nonverbal communication delivers. because nonverbal communication sounds more natural, more instinctive and it is hard to pretend.” obviously, we should make full use of nonverbal communication to achieve efficient communication.1. gesturesif two arabians are in conversation, they will look at each other warmly. because they think eyes are the key of their existence. but in american eyes, they think this behavior is unsuitable or a homosexual behavior. the educated englishmen believe direct eye contact with our communicators is gentlemanly. americans often touch their temples to express somebodys cleverness. but this action means there is something wrong with ones mind or one is stupid to chinese. chinese are often surprised to see americans lay their hands on their necks when they are full. because it is a suicide action to chinese, who used to express fullness by patting their stomachs. in western culture, people stretch out ones fore finger and swing it left and right, which signals to warn somebody not to do something. the phrase “cross ones fingers” means blessing somebodys good luck. the gesture of thumbing a ride signifies asking for a free ride in motor vehicle by stretching up ones thumb. in america, people hold their thumbs and fore fingers into a circle and stretch up the other fingers, which means “ok” in america, but it means somebody is fired by boss in japan. in china, holding up ones thumb means good, and raising ones litter finger means bad. but japanese will hold up their little fingers to express one is their lover. in america, waving ones hand means goodbye. but south americans will not leave when they see this gesture, in turns, they will run towards you. people from english-speaking countries turn around their rings constantly to show nervousness or uneasiness. now people from taiwan and hong kong also have this gesture. but if people in the mainland of china act like this, they will be regarded they are showing off richness. it is clear to see the same gesture with different meanings in different cultures, and people from different cultures will express same meaning by different gestures. so it is necessary for us to know the cultural difference to avoid misunderstanding. 2. touchtouch refers to the way people exchange information by touching ones body. the most common touch behavior is hands shaking and hugs. chinese belong to low-contractual cultures. in china, people greet with each other with head nodding, smile, hand shaking and so on. even good friends just hold hands for a short time or hammer softly on the other friends shoulder. as for hand shaking, people in north america shake hands when they greet with each other. as children, they have learnt to hold other peoples hands tightly. east asian people often shake hands slightly; because they think tight hand shaking means challenge. nowadays, hand shaking has become a custom to show hospitality and f