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communication. The issue of intentionality and unintentionality (one of the reason difficult to locate a single definition of communication).

? Culture is everything and everywhere. Culture governs and defines the conditions and circumstances under which various messages may or may not be sent ,noticed or interpreted.

All those who share a common culture can be expected to behave correctly, automatically, and predictably. Hence, culture shields people from the unknown by offering them a blueprint for all of life’s activities.

? The world is a confusing place until we can make some sense of it, so the basic function of culture is to explain the world to each new member of the culture. By telling us what to expect, culture reduces confusion and helps us predict the future.

? Seven characteristics of culture that most directly affect communication are that it is (1) learned, (2) transmitted from generation to generation, (3) based on symbols, (4) dynamic, (5) integrated, (6) ethnocentric, and (7)

adaptive.

Intercultural communication

? Intercultural communication is a communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol system are distinct enough to alter the communication event.

? Interracial communication occurs when source and receiver are from different races.

? Interethnic communication refers situations in the parties are of the same race but of different ethnic origins.

? Intracultural communication is a communication between members of the same culture, including racial, ethnic, and other co-cultures.

Elements of Intercultural communication

? One element of Intercultural communication is perception, “the process by which an individual selects, evaluates, and organizes stimuli from the external world.”Cultural perceptions are based on beliefs, values, and attitude systems.

? Another intercultural element is verbal processes: how we talk to each other and think.

? Nonverbal verbal processes, the third element, involve the use of actions to communicate. The meanings of these actions shift from culture to culture.

? The context of the communication events is influenced by culture. Activities

In small groups, find out as much as you can about the history of

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Chinese culture. Try to isolate examples of how our cultural values have been determined by historical events.

Discussion

Give additional examples, from recent history, of cultures that have changed as a result of invention, diffusion, and calamity

教学时数： 2学时

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Part Two The Influence of Culture

Chapter Three: Cultural Diversity in Perception: Alternative Views of Reality

教学要点：

Understanding perception

? Although the physical process of perception is almost the same in everyone, culture influences the final step of interpretation and evaluation.

Culture and perception

? Culturally determined beliefs are the main influence on how we behave and relate to our environment.

? Beliefs are our convictions in the truth of something—with or without proof.

? Values are enduring attitudes about the preferability of one belief over another.

? Dominant American cultural patterns include individualism, equality, materialism, science and technology, progress and change, work and leisure, and competition.

? Cultures difer in their attitudes towards (1) individualism and collectivism, (2) uncertainty avoidance, (3) power distance, (4) masculinity and femininity, (5) human nature, (6) the perception of nature, (7) time, (8) activity, (9) relationships, (10) context, (11) formality and informality, and (12) assertiveness and interpersonal harmony.

Activities

Ask your foreign teachers or foreign friends for English translations of sayings and proverbs from his or her culture that reflect important values in that culture. Alternative, you show the sayings and proverbs in this chapter to them and see if he or she has corresponding sayings.

Discusion ideas

Does cultural perceptions of color have particular associations in American culture?

教学时数： 2学时

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Chapter Four The Deep Structure of Culture: Roots of reality 教学要点：

? World view is a culture’s orientation toward God, humanity, nature, the universe, life, death, sickness, and other philosophical issues concerning existence. Although world view is communicated in a variety of ways, religion is the predominant element of culture that gives us our world view.

? The family, because it is the child’s first introduction to culture, influences both perception and communication.

?History, by passing on stories of the past, influences perception and teaches group identity, loyalty, and what to strive for.

Activities:

Find out as much as you can about the history of your informant’s culture. Try to isolate examples of how your informant's cultural values have been determined by historical events.

教学时数： 2学时

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Part Three From Theory to Practice

Chapter Five The Importance of Language

Language and Culture

? Language is the achieves of history .

? Not only the symbols (words) and sounds for those symbols different, but so are rules (phonology, syntax, and innotation ) for using those symbols and sounds.

? Language is a reflection of the culture and culture is a reflection of language.

? We simply have many more ideas, feeling and things to represent than we have words to represent them. But when communication is between people from distinct cultures, different experiences are involved and the process is more troublesome. Cultures with this orientation tend to be concerned more with the overall emotional quality of the interaction than with the meaning of particular words and sentences.

? Language is inseparable from culture. Culture influences language symbols and rules for using those symbols. As we have also seen, meaning is culturally determined.

Culture and Meaning

? The meanings we have for words is determined by the culture in which we have been raised.

? Word usage and meaning are learned, and all cultures and co-cultures have special experiences that frame usage and meaning.

Culture and the Use of Language

? Each of us learns and uses language as we do because of our cultural background.

Foreign Languages and Translation

? Translators build bridges not only between languages but also between the differences of two cultures. Languages are not this simple, and direct translations in many cases are difficult if not impossible because (1)words have more than one meaning (2)many words are culture-bound and have no direct equivalents(3)cultural orientations can render a direct translation nonsensical ,and (4)a culture may not have the background and understanding to translate experience specific to other cultures. A translator must be able to translate a message so that others hear it as though it were the original message .This means that the interpreter must be skilled in more than vocabulary. He or she must also know the word’s emotive aspects, as well as the culture’s

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