Intercultural communication 1 0909.ppt

Intercultural Communication Zeng Xiangmin September, 2009 1. Intercultural communication: an introduction 1.1 Defining communication, culture, and intercultural communication 1.2 Significance of studying intercultural communication 1.3 What intercultural communication discusses 1.4 How intercultural communication discussion is conducted 1.1 Defining communication, culture and intercultural communication 1.1.1 Communication 1.1.2 Culture 1.1.3 Intercultural communication 1.1.1 Communication Difficulty in defining communication: (1) complex nature of communication saying “hello”: thousands of components are in operation. Communication becomes even more complex when we add cultural dimensions. Scholars have to focus on one aspect of communication. (2) controversy: intentional or unintentional behavior? Definition: Communication is our ability to share our ideas and feelings. Communication refers to the share or exchange of information, ideas, feelings and so on. Communication is the process in which one party gives the message that is received by the other party. Some characteristics: (1) dynamic process (2) systemic in a specific setting or context The system include: place, occasion, time, the number of participants (3) symbolic Symbols include words, actions, other sounds, light, mark, statue, or even a painting. (4) consequence (后果) When we receive a message, something happens to us. 1.1.2 Culture Omnipresent nature of culture : “There is not one aspect of human life that is not touched and altered by culture.” (E.T. Hall, The Silent Language) “People learn to think, feel, believe, and act as they do because of the messages that have been communicated to them, and those messages all bear the stamp of culture.” (Samovar et al. 2000: 34) 对文化作广义的理解，我们把文化看作社会成员共同创造并拥有的所有事物现象。文化具有两个最基本的特征：超自然性和超个人性。从外延来看，文化可分为物质文化、智能文化、制度文化和精神文化。物质文化是指人类创造的各种物质产品，如各种生产和生活物品。智能文化是人们拥有的各种科学技术知识，包括各门学科的理论知识和生产技术等。制度文化是制约人们的社会行为的各种制度规范