unit 4 Language 跨文化交际 大学教学课件.ppt

Unit 4 Language A Chinese student had just arrived at the States. One day, when he was reading in his room, he heard someone shouting outside: “ Watch out!” So he went to the window and stretched out his head and tried to find out what’s going on outside. Just then, his head was right poured by the water from above… Question: Would you please analyze the saying “ Watch out” with the three meanings in communication? Key to the question: Utterance meaning: Be careful! Speaker’s meaning: Don’t pull out ! Hearer’s meaning: Something is happening! Look out! Language and Culture Word differences are obvious in various languages. The relation between word and its meaning is arbitrary. For example, in Chinese, we live in a 房子. In English, we live in a house. In Spanish, we live in a casa. In Thai, we live in a ban. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis linguistic determinist interpretationLanguage structure controls thoughts and cultural norms. linguistic relativity interpretationCulture is controlled by and controls language. Eg. In Arabic, the camel plays significant roles in people’s life, so there are more than 40 words for “camel”. Nothing is more important than rice to the Chinese, so we have expressions like “人是铁，饭是钢” and “铁饭碗”. Language as a Reflection of the Environment The environment influences the appropriate vocabulary. Language reflects the environment in which we live. Eg. In the Amazon area snow is not a part of the environment; therefore, people in that region do not have a word for snow. Most Americans use terms such as snow, powder snow, sleet, slush, blizzard, and ice. Language as a Reflection of Values One of the problems in dealing with people from other cultures is that we translate concepts from a foreign language and culture with words that fit our expectations. Eg. For Americans “tomorrow” means midnight to midnight, a very precise time period. To Mexicans, in contrast, ma?ana means in the