Chapter VII Intercultural Communication BarriersⅠTeaching Objectives1.To understand the intercultural communication barriers2.To understand the translation problems3.To understand how to overcome intercultural communication barriersⅡLeading inⅢTeaching ProceduresStep1Lead-in case:Mr. Wang, the Chairman of Board of Directors of a Chinese firm, told a story on CCTV program "Dialogue" of how he once almost lost a valuable Canadian employee working for him in Vancouver. He emailed every day to the Canadian, inquiring for the index number he was most concerned about. To his great astonishment, his Canadian employee turned in his resignation after a week. Mr. Wang was puzzled how he could do that to him as he gave such great attention to his job. A Chinese employee would have been more than happy if his or her boss had showed such great concern for him or her. He then found out that, unlike Chinese employees, the Canadian took what meant great concern to Chinese as distrust. But Mr. Wang assumed unconsciously that the Canadian was more similar to his Chinese employees than he actually was and treated him just as he treated any Chinese employee.Ask students warming-up questions:●Why does the Canadian employee turn in his resignation?●What kind of response will a Chinese employee have if a boss showed great concern for himor her?●What are the reasons of this communication barrier?Step27.1 Common problems and barriers in intercultural communicationAnxietyPresent the film The Year of the Yao, which shows Yao’s anxiety about new environment, language and cooperation with the team.Anxiety occurs because of not knowing what one is expected to do, and focusing on that feeling and not be totally present in the communication transaction.Case Analysis: Unnecessary Anxiety or Not?Sugawara (1993) surveyed 168 Japanese employees of Japanese companies working in the United States and 135 of their U.S coworkers. Only 8% of the U.S. coworkers felt impatient with the Japanese coworkers’ English. While 19% of the Japanese employees felt their spoken English was poor or very poor and 20% reported feeling nervous when speaking English with U.S. coworkers, 30% of the Japanese employees felt that the U.S. coworkers were impatient with their accent, and almost 60% believed that language was the problem in communicating with the U.S. coworkers. For some Japanese workers, anxiety over speaking English properly contributed to avoiding interactions with the U.S. coworkers and limiting interactions both on and off the job to other Japanese only.Assuming similarity instead of differenceA case about the experience of a Danish woman (in the textbook: P96)Present a film to the students: The Guasha TreatmentBeijingers in New York (TV seriers which shows that Wang Qiming assumes their friends will take good care of his wife and himself and offer good accommodation when they first come to New York, but on the contrary the friend went away after welcoming them at the airport and left themalone in a totally strange street.)EthnocentrismLet students see part of the film The King and I (or the new version Anna and the King) in which the King, prince and the concubines of Siam think their country is superior than other countries even the very strongest country England in the seventeenth century.Ethnocentrism means, by the definition of the Webster’s Third New International Dictionary: (1) a habitual disposition to judge foreign peoples or groups by the standards and practices of one’s own culture(2) a tendency toward viewing alien cultures with disfavor and a resulting sense of inherent superiorityCase Analysis: You Are Well BlessedOr Role-Play: we can let three students role-play in the class: one Chinese host, an American lady, and an interpreterYang GuifeiVarious forms of ethnocentric attitude:My culture should be the role model for other cultures.I have little respect for the values and customs of other cultures.Most people would be happier if they lived like people in my culture.People in my culture have just about the best lifestyles of anywhere.I do not cooperate with people who are different.I do not trust people who are different.I dislike interacting with people from different cultures.Stereotypes and prejudicea.StereotypesStereotypes are the perceptions or beliefs we hold about groups or individuals based on previously formed opinions and attitudes.PARISIN THETHE SPRINGThe conservative and gentlemen-like EnglishThe demonstrative and talkative ItaliansThe music-loving, masculine LatinosCulture ImageEnglish conservative, reserved, polite, proper, formal French arrogant （傲慢的, 自大的）, rude, chauvinistic （沙文主义的）, romantics,gourmets （能精选品评美食、美酒的人）, cultural, artisticItalians demonstrative, talkative, emotional, romantics, bold, artistic Latin Americans manana attitude, macho （男子气的）, music lovers, touchersCase Analysis: StereotypingCase Analysis: A Tragedy in U.S Historyb. PrejudiceShow the following pictures to the students and let them discuss the communication barriers involved.Stereotyped Chinese northernersPrejudice refers to the irrational dislike, suspicion, or hatred of a particular group, race, religion, or sexual orientation.Case Analysis: An Interesting ExperimentShow the film Pride and Prejudice which shows the prejudice Elizabeth holds toward Darcyc.RacismRacism is any policy, practice, belief, or attitude that attributes characteristics or status to individuals based on their race.d.The role of communicationWhat are the reasons for the persistence of prejudice, ethnocentrism, stereotypes and racism? SocializationSocial benefitsEconomic benefitsPsychological benefitsHate SpeechHate speech refers to hostile words or actions that people say or do against a certain group because that group is different.7.1.5 Language problemsa. Sapir-Whorf hypothesisLinguistic determinist is that language structure controls thought and cultural norms.Linguistic relativity is more scientific. It holds that culture is controlled by and controls language.b. Translation problemsAxtell (1991) identifies a number of U.S. translation problems:1) General Motors automobile "Nova" in Spanish means "doesn't go";2) Pepsi-Cola's "Come Alive with Pepsi" when translated in Taiwanese is "Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the grave";3) Electrolux, a Swedish manufacturer, used "Nothing sucks like an Elecrolux," which failed because of the slang meaning of suck in the United States;4) Bich pens were originally named Bich by their French manufacturer.What led to translation problems?The lack ofa.V ocabulary equivalencemokusatsu:b. Idiomatic equivalenceThe old man kicked the bucket.???c. Grammatical-syntactical equivalenceAsk students the different meanings of “book a place” and “place a book” by changing the verb and noun of the phased. Experiential equivalenceTell students the meanings of department store, shopping mall, and plaza.e. Conceptual equivalence.Corruption in Singapore is an anti-law behavior while in Thailand it is only morally wrong which led to the corruption of the whole society, from the president to the common taxi-driver.7.2 Overcoming Intercultural Communication Barriers7.2.1 Raise awarenessa.Self-awarenessb.Consciousness of one’s values and biases and their effectc.Necessity of becoming comfortable with differencesd.Sensitivity to circumstances7.2.2 Obtain knowledgeWe can obtain knowledge by reading books, surfing on the internet and communicating with people from different cultures.7.2.3 Enhance motivation7.2.4 Master skillsCultural-general skillsCultural-specific skillsStep3Raising Intercultural Awareness:文化定势：通过描述对不同群体或个人的印象，了解文化定势现象，学习文化定势产生的原因、优点和缺点。
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