国际商务英语谈判Chapter 11Intercultural Awareness in Business Activities.ppt

 Chapter 11 Intercultural Awareness in Business Activities Leading in Story: 1. Why did Li Hong-zhang feel so embarrassed? Because the English version of Li’s words was an insult to the restaurant where he entertained the foreign guests. Li’s words damaged the reputation of the restaurant. All the fuss made Li rather embarrassed. Leading in Story: 2. Could the Westerners understand Chinese over-modesty? No. Leading in Story: 3. What do you learn from this story? What Li said is just some formulaic polite expression common in type；almost all Chinese people know this and could hear that nearly everywhere．As far as the literary meaning is concerned．Li’s words are inappropriate，but they do convey the meaning of respect．Here，the language form is different from its content，a phenomenon only found in the Eastern culture．However，this case happened in America，and the audience was American．America is a country with highly valued individualism and they express themselves rather directly．They could not understand the Easterners’ over—modesty，for they tend to comprehend what they hear literally, and a clash was inevitable．If one day，you entered an American company，and said，”My ability is limited(我的能力有限)”．Then，most likely you would be refused．A common response may be，“If you have limited ability, why should I hire you?”On the contrary，if you said how capable you were，he may hire you．So the reaction of the restaurant boss was nothing unusual．If Li Hong-zhang’s words were changed into：”The cuisine of your country is really great．It is my great honor to have a chance to entertain you with them…(贵国的菜肴真是好极了．今天能有机会借花献佛，不胜荣幸之至……”)，then everyone would have been happy． Section I What are the typical features of each stream of culture? In the Occidental culture，one’s self consciousness is emphasized whereas in the Oriental culture group consciousness is stressed． Section I 2. What limits one’s understanding of foreign culture? And why?