Classification of Intercultural Communication (1)International communication:

always take place between nations and government rather than individuals. quite formal.

E.g. if the Chinese Chairman communicate officially with the American president.

(2)Interracial communication:

occurs when the source and receivers exchange messages are from different races.

E.g. if an African American interacts with a white American. (3)Inter-ethnic communication:

refers to communication between people of the same race, but different ethnic background.

E.g. if a Tibetan communicates with a Han. (4)Inter-regional communication:

refer to the exchanges of message between members of the dominant culture within a country, but different regions. E.g. In China, if northerner interacts with a southerner.

What are the three factors that affect the study of intercultural communication? Social-cultural elements

Verbal elements Nonverbal elements

Unit 2

Case 1 P23

(1)What do you think of the Korean student’s behavior in class? A common cultural misunderstanding in classes involves conflicts between what is said to be direct communication style and indirect communication style. In American culture, people tend to say what is on their minds and mean what they say. Therefore, students in class are expected to ask questions when they need clarification.

(2)Why did the students from Mexico readily adopt the techniques of asking questions in class?

Mexican culture shares this preference of style with American culture in some situations, and that’s why the students from Mexico readily adopted the techniques of asking questions in class. However, Korean people generally prefer indirect communication style, and therefore they tend not to say what is on their minds and to rely more on implications and inference, so as to be polite and respectful and avoid losing face through any improper verbal behavior. As is mentioned in the case, to many Koreans, numerous questions would show a disrespect for the teacher, and would also reflect that the student has not studied hard enough.

1.Characteristics of Culture (1)Culture is learned. (2)Culture is dynamic.

(3)Culture guides people’s behavior. (4)A large part of culture is unconscious. 2.The Nature of Culture (1)Culture is Like an Iceberg (2)Culture is Our Software

(3)Culture is Like the Water a Fish Swim in (4)Culture is the Grammar of Our Behavior 3.The Functions of Communication

(1) Allow you to gather information about other people. (2)Help fulfill interpersonal needs. (3)Establish personal identities. (4)Influence others.

4.Classification of communication

(1)In terms of who communicates with whom, whether it is human beings, animals or machines Human Communication Animal Communication Human-animal Communication Human-machine Communication

Machine-to-machine Communication

(2)Depending on the number of person involved in communication Intrapersonal communication (内向传播) Interpersonal communication (人际传播) Organizational communication (组织传播) Mass communication (大众传播) (3)Two-way communication

Communicators can see each other and can monitor each other’s behavior.

Direct / Face-to-Face Communication (4)One-way communication

Communicators cannot see each other and cannot monitor each other’s behavior.

Indirect / Distance Communication 5.Elements of Communication

Context, Participants, Messages, Channels, Noise, Feedback

Unit 3

1. Why is one culture different from another? ? Perception (how we sense the world) ? Belief (what we believe as true)

? Value (a system of criteria known as rules and guideposts) 2. How to classify different cultures?

1). Hofstede’s Cultural Value System Cultural Dimensions ? Individualism-collectivism个人主义与集体主义 ? Uncertainty avoidance不确定性规避 ? Power distance权力距离

? Masculinity-femininity刚柔性/ 男性度和女性度 ? Time-orientation时间导向

Individualism-collectivism个人主义与集体主义 Case 1:

Richard is an engineer from the United States. In Japan he had an even less pleasant experience though he thought he had handled it well. A number of serious mistakes had occurred in a project he was supervising. While the fault did not lie with any one person, he was a supervisor and at least partly to blame. At a special meeting called to discuss the problem, poor Richard made an effort to explain in detail why he had done what he had done.

? He wanted to show that anybody in the same situation could have made the same mistake and to tacitly suggest that he should not be blamed unduly. He even went to the trouble of distributing materials which explained the situation rather clearly. And yet, even during his explanation, he sensed that something he was saying or doing was wrong.

? America—individualism