跨文化交际复习资料Unit 1&2
Reviewing Papers for Intercultural Communication
Unit 1&2
I. Keywords
(1) Sender/Source: A sender/source is the person who transmits a message.（信息发出者/信息源：信息发出者/信息源指传递信息的人。
）
(2) Message: A message is any signal that triggers the response of a receiver.（信息：信息指引起信息接受者反应的任何信号。
）
(3) Encoding: It refers to the activity during which the sender must choose certain words or nonverbal methods to send an intentional message. （编码：编码指信息发出者选择言语或用非言语的方式发出有目的的信息的行为。
）
(4) Channel/Medium：It is the method used to deliver a message. （渠道/媒介：渠道/媒介指发送信息的方法。
）
(5) Receiver: A receiver is any person who notices and gives some meaning to a message. (信息接受者：信息接受者指信息接收者是指注意到信息并且赋予信息某些含义的人。
)
(6) Decoding: It is the activity during which the receiver attaches meaning to the words or symbols he/she has received.（解码：解码指信息接受者赋予其收到的言语或符号信息意义的行为。
）
(7) Feedback: The response of a receiver to a sender’s message is called feedback.（反馈：反馈指信息接收者对信息源信息所做出的反应。
）
(8) Noise: It is a term used for factors that interfere with the exchange of messages, including external noise physiological noise, psychological noise and semantic noise.（干扰：干扰指妨碍信息交流的各种因素。
包括外界干扰，生理干扰，心理干扰和语义干扰。
）
(9) Context: A context is the setting or situation within which communication takes place , including physical context, social context and interpersonal context.（语境：语境指交际发生的环境，包括自然语境，社会语境和人际语境。
）
II. Definition of some terms
1. Culture: From intercultural perspective, culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with the world and with one another that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning.
2 Intercultural communication: It refers to the communication between or among people from different cultures. More precisely, it is the communication between people
whose cultural perception and symbol system are distinct enough to alter the communication event.( 跨文化交际：跨文化交际指的是那些在文化认知和符号系统上存在差异的人们之间的交际。
这些差异足以改变整个交际事件。
)
3. International communication: it takes place between nations and governments rather than
- 1individuals; it is quite formal and ritualized. (国际交流：国际交流是指发生在国家和政府之间而非发生在个人之间的交际；此种交际非常正式和仪式化。
)
4. Interracial communication: It occurs when the sender and the receiver exchanging messages are from different races. (跨种族交际：跨种族交际是指交流信息的信息源和信息接受者来自不同的种族的交际。
)
5. Interethnic communication: It is the communication between or among people from different ethnic groups in a country or culture.（跨民族交际：跨民族交际是指来自一个国家或文化内部的不同民族群体的人们之间的交际。
）
6. Intracultural communication: it is defined as communication between or among members
of the same culture.（文化内交际：文化内交际是指同一文化内部的成员之间的交际。
）
III. Key Points
(1) The 3 characteristics of culture
●Culture is coherent
●Culture is learned
●Culture is the view of a group of people
3 things culture does
●Culture ranks what is important
●Culture furnished attitudes
●Culture dictate how to behave
(2) The nine components of communication.
(3) The definition of intercultural communication.
(4) The forms of intercultural communication.
International communication, Interracial communication, Interethnic communication, Intracultural communication.
IV. Difficult Points
(1) Distinct perspective definition of Culture
(2) The characteristics of Communication.
(3) How to understand Communication
(4) Relationship between culture and communication
References:
1)Culture is a powerful human tool for survival, but it is a fragile phenomenon. It can be defined from distinct perspectives；
●From Intellectual Perspective
●From Anthropologic Perspective
●From Psychological Perspective
●From Social Perspective
●From Intercultural Communication Perspective
2）The following are some of the most distinctive features listed in the literature on communication.
Communication is dynamic
Communication is an on-going activity. In any communication event, the sender and the receiver of messages constantly shift from being encoders to decoders and the messages also change in each turn of interaction.
Communication is interactive
Communication is always done in two ways: the source sends messages to the receiver and
the receiver responds to the message received and sends his message or response to the source. Thus the source and receiver are in a reciprocal situation attempting to influence one another in the process. What the influences are and how the influences function are among the major concerns of intercultural communicators.
Communication is both verbal and non-verbal
Speech is only one of the channels that messages are transmitted. We do not have to say everything we intend to communicate in words. We use our body, signs, and even clothing to show
others what we have in our minds. According to statistics most part of our communication is done by non-verbal means.
Communication can be either intentional and unintentional
Intention is not a necessary condition for communication to take place. A sigh of frown accompanying speech, if noticed by the receiver, may also carry unintended messages to the receiver. For the two parties involved in the communication process, any behavior of one interlocutor, intentional or unintentional, can produce certain effects and generate certain meanings to the other. To complicate the matter, very often we are unconscious of the message sent and the effect it has produced. Therefore, unexpected results may arise.
Communication is rule-governed
Though communication is a complex process, there are still rules for speakers to follow as to
how messages are constructed and interpreted. The patterns, however, are crucially defined. To study communication and intercultural communication in particular is , to a large extent, to discover the patterns that regulate communicative behavior of the interlocutors. If the patterns are shared and understood, any communication will become easy and effective.
Communication depends on the use of symbols
Symbols or codes are the basic ingredients of communication. Symbols may take the form of written or spoken words, body signs, Braille, an object like a picture or a dress, color, and many other symbols that represent certain meanings to whoever recognize them and make sense of them.
All cultures use symbols, but they usually attribute different meanings to the same symbol and may use different symbols to mean the same. Competent intercultural communications, therefore, must learn t o “read” the symbols used by their interlocutors and understand the exact messages.
Communication is irreversible
Communication can not be retrieved---- the message delivered and interpreted by the receiver
can never be taken back. Though we can modify our message, the effect produced by the original message still remains. The implication is that improper communicative behavior may have serious consequences.
Communication takes place in both a physical and a social context
Communication does not take place in a vacuum. We interact with other people within
specific physical surroundings and under a set of specific social factors. The physical surroundings
serve t to be communicated, as the background of our interaction and, to a large extent, define what we communicate and how we do it. In addition, the symbolic meaning of the physical setting may contribute to the meanings intended. The social context sets the interlocutors in various social relationships. How people relate to one another will determine both the form and content of communication. Physical and social context together define the actual practice of communication: what to be communicated, where, when, with whom and how it is realized.
3) Communication: the Process of Understanding and Sharing Meaning
The word communication is used in a variety of ways. Before we use the term any further, we should establish a common understanding of its definition. Communication comes from the Latin communicare, which means to make common. This original definition of the word is consistentwith the definition of communication used in this text.
In this text, communication is defined as the process of understanding and sharing meaning. Communication is considered a process because it is an activity, exchange, of set of behaviors—not an unchanging, static product, in which we participate. David Berlo, a well-known communication figure, probably provides the clearest statement about communication as a process.
Berlo wrote: If we accept the concept of process, we view events and relationships as dynamic, ongoing, ever-changing, and continuous. When we label something as a process, we also mean that it does not have a beginning, an end, a fixed sequence of events. It is not static, at rest. It is moving. The ingredients within a process interact, each affects all of the others.
What is an example of how a process operates in everyday communication? Picture two students passing on the sidewalk between classes and exchanging a few sentences.
last long after the words stop.
Communication is a process that requires understanding. Your professor asks, what is the ontogeny of your misogeny? You hear the words, but you may not be able to understand or interpret them, An Asian student who has to struggle with English as a second language may have the same trouble with words that most Americans regard as easy to understand. Understanding, or grasping, the meaning of another person’s message does not occur unless the two communicators can elicit common meanings for words, phrases, and nonverbal codes. The importance of this kind of understanding was emphasized by humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers in his book On Becoming a Person., He wrote, I have found it of enormous value when I can permit myself to understand another person.
In addition to understanding, communication involves sharing. Consider the popular use of the word sharing. We share a meal, we share an event, we share a sunset. Sharing is a gift that people exchange. We can also share with ourselves when we allow ourselves time to relax and daydream, time to consider who we are and what our goals are. We share with others when we talk to them alone or in larger groups. Regardless of the context, communication involves sharing.
What exactly is understood and shared in the communication process? When you use language for expression, meaning is the shared understanding of your feelings. When you use language for pragmatic purposes, meaning is the appropriate response that indicates the message was understood. For example, you ask for a drink, and the other person gives you one. Meaning is the message you construct in your mind as you interpret the message sent.
4) Culture and Communication
Understanding the intertwined relationship between culture and communication is crucial to intercultural communication. On the other hand, culture conditions communication. First of all culture is the foundation of communication. Without the sharing and understanding between speakers, no communication is possible. Secondly, culture dictates every stage of the communication process. We communicate the way we do because we are raised in a particular culture and learn its language, rules and norms. What we say, what gestures we use, with whom we talk, when and how to talk are all determined by our culture. On the other hand, communication had made the development of human culture possible and it is through communication that culture is transmitted from one generation to another. At the same time, culture is learned through communication. We acquire our membership of culture mainly through socialization with other members of our culture and this socialization is realized by interacting with different social groups: families, friends, neighbors, teachers, colleagues, etc. without socialization through communication, the learning of culture is totally impossible.
Culture and communication are said to be like Siamese twins, one is inseparable from the other; the understanding of one demands the understanding of the other and the changes to one will cause changes in the other. If the culture is different, the communicative patterns in that culture will different too. The major task of intercultural communicators is to find out how culture and communication condition and transform one another so that real understanding can be achieved among intercultural interactions.。
