语言学Questions-for-preparation-for-the-FinalExam-663.doc

1. What are the four basic personality types, each of which experiences time in a unique way that affects their communication with others?
• The thinking types: planning, logically plotting issues out through time/ discovering principles and processes for a problem.
• The feeling types: viewing the present through past experiences/ and this strong association with the past makes change difficult.
• The sensation types: perceiving time mainly in terms of the present, more action-oriented/ they are particular competent in dealing with crises and making immediate decisions.
• The intuitive types谨慎: viewing time primarily in terms of the future/ they feel they must change the world to realize their visions of the future.

2. What is verbal communication? What is non-verbal communication?
Verbal communication: "Communication with the use of words."
Non-verbal communication: "Communication without the use of words."
Comparing verbal and nonverbal communication
Important differences between verbal and nonverbal communication:
• Verbal：structured, linguistic and clear
• Nonverbal：unstructured, nonlinguistic and ambiguous.
• Verbal: conscious, discontinuous, acquired and controllable
• Non-verbal: subconscious, continuous, natural and uncontrollable

3. What is the relationship between value and culture?

4. What is the importance of appropriate etiquette and protocol in intercultural business communication?
etiquette & protocol: quality of excellence, details, employment, quality of life, negotiation, company image and reputation, success, profit, career, manner. (to increase the quality of life in the workplace, to contribute to optimum employee morality, to establish the company image, to play a major role in generating profit.)

The "rules" of etiquette are based on: Consideration, Common sense, Recognition of the usual and the social customs and mores of the society in which we live or work.
Note: The recognition of particular customs is particularly troublesome in the intercultural communication. Actions based on goodwill alone can be misinterpreted as hostile or demeaning.

5. What is the relationship between language and culture?
1) The influence of culture on language
1. Language as a reflection of the environment
In Chinese, only one word for 骆驼.
In Arabic, over 400 words for a variety of 骆驼.
Eskimos use different words for "snow".
The Chinese and Japanese have a variety of words for "rice" and "tea".
Connotational meanings varies due to different geographical environment:
English word "zephyr" connotates the same meaning as "东风" in Chinese.
2. Language as a reflection of values
In Chinese, there is an elaborate system of kinship terms.
In Japan (high power distance culture), titles are always used.
Navajos do not have a word for "late" because they don't have a sense of time.
2) The influence of language on culture
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis — language tends to influence our perception, serve as a guide to social reality.
In Navaho, there is no distinction between horse and horses or between his/her/its/their
Note:
Learning a foreign language means more than just mastering the pronunciation, grammar, words, and idioms.It also means to learn to see the world as native speakers of that language, the ways in which their language reflect the ideas, cuatoms and behavior of their society, etc.
Therefore, culture has an impact on language at various level, phonetic. lexical, syntactic, pragmatic and discourse.

6. Are there any differences between grammatical rules and pragmatic rules? What are they?
pragmatic (sociolinguistic) rules
Social behavior ：social rules
Speech behavior：socialinguistic rules or rules of speaking
Socialinguistic or pragmatic transfer — Use of rules of speaking across speech community.
Pragmatic failure — Inability to understand what is meant by what is said and is caused by pragmatic transfer.
Pragmatic failure usually results in more serious problems than grammatical errors.

7. How does paralanguage affect the meanings we ascribe to a message? Use one example to support your answer.
It involves sounds but not words, lying between verbal and nonverbal communication. It is divided into 3 categories:
• Vocal qualifiers （语音修饰特征）
• Vocalization （元音化/浊音化）
• Silence
Vocal qualifiers （语音修饰特征）—— volume, pitch, rhythm, tempo, resonance, tone
Vocalization （元音化/浊音化）
• Non-word noises "un-huh, oooh, mmmh, etc."
• Language fillers "okay, you know".
• "Oops" — used to show recognition of a mistake or minor accident, often as part of an apology.
"Oops! I'm sorry. I just made you miss your bus!"
• Used as connectors of ideas, to indicate that sb. is ready to speak or that more time is needed to think things over.

Silence
• In low-context cultures, people usually view silence as communication gone wrong and generally are uncomfortable with silence
• In high-context cultures, people consider silence an integral part of business and social discourse, rather than a failure of communication

8. In gift-giving practices, what role does it play in intercultural relation?
Be aware whether gift-giving is culturally sensitive. The careful selection and wrapping of a gift and presenting it at the proper time with proper manners conveys to others your social sensitivity and good manners.
A well-intentioned gift might result in embarrassment or hatred among people of different cultures. Giving an inappropriate gift or one that is culturally insensitive can cause serious harm to a business relationship.
Where gift-giving matters: Japan (highly important), Middle East(Important but not fatal), Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe (more as a courtesy), Australia, Canada, US, Uk, Northern and Southern European countries (not important in B).

9. What are the potential problems that might arise in Intercultural Business Communication?
a. Avoidance of the unfamiliar (Birds of a feather flock together.)
b. Uncertainty of reduction (Reduce the uncertainty in every meeting with strangers from different cultures.)
c. Withdrawal (Withdrawal from the communication event)
d. Stereotyping (Mentally organize your experiences and guides your behavior toward a particular group og people.)
e. Prejudice (Rigid and irrational generalization about a group)
f. Racism (Superior because of color of skin.)
g. Misuse of power (Handle the power incorrectly to control people or things))
h. Cultural shock (Anxiety from losing all familiar signs.)
i. Ethnocentrism (Your own culture is correct.)

10. Why do we need to communicate with people?
Ø Survival
Ø Co-operation
Ø Personal needs
Ø Relationship
Ø Persuasion
Ø Power
Ø Social needs
Ø Information
Ø Making sense of the world
Ø Self-expression

11. What’s the definition of culture?
Dictionary: "the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively". Artifact, concepts, behavior
Anthropological perspective: "the customs, civilizations, and achievements of a
particular time or people".
Most widely accepted: "total accumulation of beliefs, customs, values, behaviors,
institutions and communication patterns that are shared, learned and
passed down through the generations in an identifiable group of people."

12. What’s the difference between protocol and etiquette?
Protocol: "the customs and regulations dealing with diplomatic formality, precedence and etiquette" (外交礼节）
Etiquette: "conventional requirements as to proper social behavior" （礼仪）
Chaney and Martin: Etiquette refers to manners and behavior considered acceptable in social and business situations. Protocol refers to customs and regulations dealing with diplomatic etiquette and courtesies expected in official dealings (such as negotiations) with persons in various cultures"
Nan Leaptrotte: Protocol is what to do in a given situation. Etiquette is how to do it gracefully
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