跨文化交际L2whatisculture2010.pptVIP

Linell Davis spring term 2010 What is culture? Defining a commonly used word Cross-cultural communication Lecture 2 What is your image of China? Descendants of the dragon A rapidly developing modern society Your images may be different from images that others have of China How do others imagine China? Many people know China from movies featuring martial arts Others think of China in terms of its political history What other images do people have of China? How do these images influence their perceptions of you as an individual? America to Americans A nation of immigrants; everyone comes from some place else and is unique A nation shaped by the frontier experience A City Upon a Hill “a light to all the nations” America is special Moral leadership What are your images of America? Survey results – Ginling 2010 Survey results – For Lang 2010 Interpret the survey In general, how close are you and your classmates willing to be to people who are different from you? What characteristics influence your decisions? What are you paying attention to in addition to nationality? Which groups are most valued and least valued? Where do your attitudes come from? What do we mean by “culture”? Culture is a popular term among ordinary people and professionals, but as a concept it is a mess. Many conflicting definitions Some experts suggest getting rid of it “Studying culture today is like studying snow in an avalanche” – D’Andrade (American anthropologist) Let’s see what sense we can make of it! It often means national culture Characteristics of Chinese people compared to people of other nations Knowledge about culture is often expressed as generalizations The English are conservative Americans are individualistic The French are romantic Personal traits of people from that nation Other levels of culture Regional culture- north/south, rural/urban Religious culture- Christian, Buddhist, Moslem Ethnic culture- Han, Tibetan, Xinjiang Gender culture- male/female Economic class culture-