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Cross-cultural Understanding and Appreciation

Cross-cultural Understanding and Appreciation . Catherine Hua Xiang Centre for East Asian Studies. Session Outline . Part 1 Cross-cultural Understanding and Intercultural Communication Part 2 Research Methods in Cross-cultural and comparative Studies

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Cross-cultural Understanding and Appreciation

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  1. Cross-cultural Understanding and Appreciation Catherine Hua Xiang Centre for East Asian Studies

  2. Session Outline • Part 1 Cross-cultural Understanding and Intercultural Communication • Part 2 Research Methods in Cross-cultural and comparative Studies • Part 3 Cultural Change and Cross-cultural Adaptation

  3. Part 1 Cross-cultural Understanding and Intercultural Communication • Introduction • The growing need of cross-cultural interactions • Culture defines value and behaviour • Language as a way of speaking the culture • Challenges in cross-cultural understanding • Cultural patterns and intercultural communication competence

  4. Videos: Apology behaviour across Chinese and British cultures • Situation 1: A student didn’t turn up to the tutorial as previously arranged. • Situation 2: A student’s mobile phone rang in a one-to-one tutorial • Discussion: • Do you notice any differences? • Why and how do you think these differences occur? • Based on your won experience, have you noticed any cross-cultural differences or mis-understanding due to cultural differences?

  5. Native speakers’ perception • ‘Face-losing’ and Apology British: If I was apologizing, I would never consider I might lose face if I apologize. Chinese: Daoqian kending hui juede ziji diu mianzi, xinli shang bu neng jieshou, daoqian shi chengren ziji zuole cuoshi, hui gei ren liuxia huai de yinxiang, ziran hui yingxiang mianzi, suoyi aiyu mianzi, yiban bu hui daoqian. (Apologizing is definitely face-losing and it is hard to accept because apologizing equals acknowledgement of one’s mistakes. Those mistakes might leave others a bad impression of you. So, for the sake of ‘face’, you’d better not apologize.)

  6. Native speakers’ perception • British students didn’t think it is face-threatening to challenge the tutor B: To decide whether to apologize or not in this situation, face is not a concern. I think the driver in that situation is to do with whose fault it is and what the consequence of that action is to the person. So, I thought his response was reasonably appropriate, although he wasn’t apologizing necessarily. He said if and it’s conditional. Fair enough. I think it’s unjust if it’s automatically the student’s fault. There should be some negotiation.

  7. Native speakers’ perception • Chinese students felt strong necessity to save the face for their tutor especially when they believed they were right C: Wo juede jibian shi laoshi zuo le, ye mei you biyou zhichu. Yingwei, zheme zuo yiding hui rang laoshi diu mianzi. Yueshi juede shi laoshi cuo le, yueshi yao daoqian. Zhe yang ni jiu neng tixian dui laoshi de zunzhong. Yexu, yihou ta faxian shi ta cuole, ta jiu hui dui ni lingyan xiangdai, juede ni gei le ta mianzi. Suoyi zhe he shui dui shui cuo mieyou guanxi, guanjian zaiyu xiang laoshi biaoming ni dui ta de zunzhong. (I think even though it was the teacher’s fault, it wasn’t necessary to point it out, because if you do so, you will make the teacher feel losing her face. The more you are sure it is the teacher’s fault, the more important it is toapologize. Therefore, it demonstrates your respect to the teacher. Perhaps, one day, if she discovers that it was her fault, she would have a good impression of you because she realized you saved her face. Thus, it is nothing to do with whose mistake it was really. The key issue here is to show your respect to the teacher. )

  8. Basic Concept: Culture Kluckhohn (cited in Kroeber and Kluckhohn, p. 86) is widely quoted: Culture consists in patterned ways of thinking, feeling and reacting, acquired and transmitted mainly by symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups, including their embodiments in artifacts; the essential core of culture consists of traditional (i.e. historically derived and selected) ideas and especially their attached values. Spencer-Oatey (2000:04) defines culture in terms of ethnolinguistic identity: Culture is a fuzzy set of attitudes, beliefs, behavioural conventions, and basic assumptions and values that are shared by a group of people, and that influence each member’s behaviour and each member’s interpretations of the ‘meaning’ of other people’s behaviour.

  9. Basic Concept: Cross-cultural Communication v.s. Intercultural Communication Gudykunst (2003:01) Cross cultural communication involves comparisons of communication across cultures. Intercultural communication involves communication between people from different cultures.

  10. Basic Theory: Individualism and Collectivism • Hofstede (1991:51) defines individualism and collectivism as: Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his other immediate family. Collectivism as its opposite pertains to societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in groups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty.

  11. Individualism Consider individual Distinguish forms of discourse less Pay attention to context less Express explicitly and directly People infer less Collectivism Consider group Distinguish forms of discourse more Pay attention to context more Express inexplicitly and indirectly People infer more (Fukushima 2000:134) Basic Theory: Communicative Styles

  12. Basic Theory: Hofstede’s Dimensions of Cultural Variability • Individualism-Collectivism • Uncertainty Avoidance • Power Distance • Masculinity-Femininity Chinese culture: Confucianism dynasims e.g. ordering relationships by status and observing this order; having a sense of shame

  13. Basic Theory: Politeness Theory • Brown and Levinson’s ‘face’ (1978,1987) ‘the public self-image that everybody wants to claim for himself) (1987:06) Positive face/Negative face • The feature of Chinese face The distinction between ‘lian’ and ‘mianzi’ Criticism on ‘negative face’ (Gu, 1990; Mao, 1994, Ide,1989) Other-oriented face (Hu, 1944; Mao, 1994)

  14. Part 2 Research Methods in Cross-cultural and Comparative Studies • Theoretical Dimensions • Methodological Features • Theoretical Background • Methods and Design • Analysis • Practical Dimensions • Case Studies • Design a Small Scale Cross-Cultural Study

  15. Methodological Features of Cross-cultural Studies • Comparative Nature • Cross-Cultural Studies as Quasi-Experiments • Interpretability of Cultural Differences e.g. Stevenson et al, 1986 – significant cultural differences between first and fifth graders in Japan and USA in test on math, reading and cognitive abilities Genetic (e.g. Lynn 1994); Parental influence (Sigel 1988); School policy (Stigler& Perry 1988) • Bias as the Major Threat e.g. Being a good son or daughter has different connotation and involves different behaviors in Chinese and an American context (Ho, 1996)

  16. Theoretical Background

  17. Theoretical Background • Establishing Equivalence “If comparisons are to be legitimately made across cultural boundaries, it is first necessary to establish equivalent bases upon which to make comparisons” (Lonner, 1979, p.27) • Functional equivalence (e.g. communication apprehension; USA v.s. Japan/Korea) • Conceptual equivalence (e.g. guanxi, hanxu in China v.s. assertiveness in UK) • Linguistic equivalence (e.g. native language v.s. non-native language) • Metric equivalence (e.g. response tendencies, Asians v.s. USA) • Sample equivalence (e.g. demographic information; representation)

  18. Theoretical Background Overview of types of bias and their most common causes (van de Vijver & Poortinga, 1997, p.26)

  19. Methods and Design • Selecting Cultures, Subjects, and Procedures 1. Sampling of Cultures Convenience sampling; systematic sampling; random sampling 2. Sampling of Subjects Strategies to use: matching; statistical control 3. Procedure Tester/interviewer; testee/interviewee; interaction between these two; response procedures and stimulus materials

  20. Methods and Design • Validity Enhancement • Ensure the level of equivalence • Reduce bias • Enhance validity of cross-cultural assessment

  21. Analysis • Qualitative data • Content analysis: main theme • Descriptive analysis: categorisation and classification • Associate analysis: linkages between phenomena • Developing explanations: making sense of patterns and associations • Quantitative data • Descriptive statistics • T-test • ANOVA • Multivariate analysis of covariance

  22. Case Studies • Study 1: Apologies in Japanese, British and Canadian English • Study 2: Refusal strategies in Mandarin Chinese and American English • Study 3: Adolescent decision making and decision styles with Chinese and Anglos • Study 4: Television commercials from the U.S., Japan, China, and Korea • Study 5: The concepts of individual, self, and group in Japanese, Japanese American and European American

  23. Tasks • How did the study ensure equivalence? • Did the study adopt etic or emic approach? • Was the study biased in anyway? If so, what can be improved and how? • What instruments were used? How was the result analyzed? • How was the sampling procedure? • Could you summarize the strength and weakness of the research design?

  24. Summary • Cross-cultural differences in scores on social and behavioural measures tend to be open to multiple interpretations • Cross-cultural studies should assess in each group the appropriateness of construct bias, method bias, item bias • A wide variety of measures can be taken to enhance the validity of cross-cultural comparisons • The decomposition of culture into context variables is a methodologically powerful means to corroborate interpretations of cross-cultural differences and to reduce the number of alternative interpretations

  25. Summary • Equivalence should be established and cannot be assumed • Higher levels of equivalence are more difficult to establish • The interpretability of cross-cultural research is optimized by a combination of substantive, methodological, and statistical considerations • Cross-cultural research is essential in establishing the generalizability of theories and empirical results

  26. Part 3 Cultural Change and Cross-cultural adaptation Existing theories • Expectancy Violations Theory • Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory • Communication Accommodation Theory

  27. Expectancy Violations Theory • Categorization and differentiation e.g. Role of teachers in China and Britain A Chinese graduate student coming to Britain indicated: You know, for me, I found it very difficult. I came here with the expectation to be very friendly, to develop a very friendly and open relationship with my tutors, only to find that I’m only an outsider of their life, no one would like to invite me into themselves or into their life. And I only come here, it seems to me, to take advantage of their, you know, academic superiority, or whatever. It seems to me, so impersonal. It makes me feel uncomfortable. • Ambiguity

  28. Anxiety/Uncertainty Management Theory • Dealing with anxiety e.g. Many international students are uncomfortable in dealing with anxiety as they see them as ‘losing face’ and instead of dealing with the real concerns, seek medical attention or academic assistance. • Discomfirmed expectations • Setting more realistic expectations • Considering cross-cultural experience as a learning opportunity • Learn more and experience more beyond the class • In-Group versus Out-Group e.g. understanding the host country students will already have in-group ties with their own family and friends; mutual efforts

  29. Communication Accommodation Theory • Sensitivity towards different cultural values • Understanding of equality and freedom • Acceptance and flexibility • Active listening for different perspectives • Awareness of one’s own cultural identity • Active learning from various cross-cultural and intercultural communication

  30. Cross-cultural Adjustment from an education perspective: Suggested Readings • Chinese Students’ Psychological and Sociocultural Adjustment to Britain • Learning and Teaching: A Cross-Cultural differences

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