跨文化交际上课内容unit7.doc

Unit Seven Time and Space Across Cultures
I. Warm Up
1. Please read the story on page 156. What can we learn from the story?
2. Go to answer the questions on Group Work (p235-236) and find out your sense of time?
&Supplement: Additional materials
II. Chronemics
Chronemics is the study of how people perceive and use time.
(i) The sense of time:
1) Time is linear线形. Western cultures think time is linear — a flow from the past to the present to the future.
2)  Time is cyclical周期的. Life on earth evolved in response to the cycles of day and night and the ebb and flow潮涨潮落 of the tides.
(ii) Monochronic出现一次 and Polychronic Time (p256-257)
1. What is M-Time and P-Time? Which do you think is the dominating time system in our culture?
1) Monochronic time means paying attention to and doing only one thing at a time – events scheduled as separate items.
2) Polychronic time means being involved with many things at once.
2. What is the philosophy哲学 underlying each of the time system?
1) P-time stresses involvement of people and completion完成 of transactions事务 rather than adherence to遵守 present schedules. Appointments are not taken as seriously and, as a consequence, are frequently broken. P-time is treated as less tangible有形地 than M-time.
Weakness: Matters in a polychromic多彩的 culture seem in a constant state 恒定常态of flux. Appointments are frequently broken.
2) In M-time system, social and business life is commonly schedule-dominated. By scheduling, we compartmentalize划分; this makes it possible to concentrate on 集中注意one thing at a time, but it also reduces the context. M-time is also tangible. M-time scheduling is used as a classification system that orders life.
Weakness: Life in general is at times unpredictable. M-time reduces the context and alienate使疏远 people from themselves and from others.
(iii) The Heartbeat of Culture (p229-232)
1. What does the author want to tell us from his experience in Brazil and the questionnaire between students in Niteroi and those in Fresno?
Ø In Brazil, people seem to be very flexible in their concepts of time and punctuality. Brazilians are likely to attribute lateness for appointments to unforeseen circumstances 意外情况that the person couldn’t control. They seem less inclined to倾向于 feel personally responsible for being late. So they express less regret for their own lateness and blame others less when others are late.
Ø The Brazilian students believed that a person who is consistently late is probably more successful than one who is consistently on time. They seemed to accept the idea that someone of status is expected to arrive late. Lack of punctuality is a badge标记 of success.
2. There aren’t unanimous全体一致 perceptions of time时间知觉 among culturally different people. Even within one country, ideas of time and punctuality vary considerably from place to place. Different regions and even cities have their own distinct rhythms and rules.
3. Appreciating cultural differences in time sense becomes increasingly important as modern communications put more and more people in daily contact. If we are to avoid misreading issues that involve time perceptions, we need to understand better our own cultural biases偏见 and those of others.
※ American Concept of Time: (See Case 25)
III. Proxemics人际距离学
A fascinating area in the nonverbal world of body language is that of spatial relationships空间关系, or proxemics, the study of man's appreciation and use of space. As a species, man is highly territorial but we are rarely aware of it unless our space is somehow violated. Spatial relationships and territorial boundaries directly influence our daily encounters. Maintaining control over such space is a key factor in personal satisfaction; observing spatial interactions in everyday life is a key to personal awareness.
(i)The study of proxemics includes three aspects of space: (a) fixed features of space. (b) semifixed features of space, and (c) personal space
(a) fixed features of space
Fixed feature space is characterized by unmovable boundaries, like divisions within an office building. Architecture and spacing of buildings also belong to this aspect of space.
For example, a person in the United States can drive on a highway for miles and never see a sign of people or dwellings民居. Therefore, he may be amazed at the closeness of people in China.
Intercultural communicators need to realize that cultures have alternative approaches变换方法 to space and ways of using it.
(b) semifixed 半固定features of space
Semifixed features of space refer to spatial arrangements of movable objects within a room, such as furniture arrangement and seating.
1. furniture arrangement :
French space is a reflection of French culture. Everything is centralized集中的, and spatially the entire country is laid out around centers.
In Germany, where privacy is stressed, office furniture is spread throughout the office.
In Japan, where group participation is encouraged, many desks are arranged hierarchically分等级的 in the center of a large, common room absent of walls.
Chinese geomancy, feng shui, is the art of arranging the physical environment to establish harmony with the natural environment to achieve happiness, prosperity, and health.
2. seating
In the United States, they tend to talk with those opposite them rather than those seated or stand beside them.
The Chinese often experience uneasiness when they face someone directly or sit on opposite side of a desk or table from someone.
(c) personal space or private space (p239-241)
1. Behavioral study indicates that individuals perceive a distance that is appropriate for different types of messages; they also establish a comfortable distance for personal interaction and nonverbally define this as their personal space. Research supports the hypothesis 假设that the violation违反侵害 of this personal space can have serious adverse effects不利影响 on communication. Thus, if an individual is to be mutually 互相satisfied in a communication encounter his/her personal space must be respected. Should an intruder侵入者 invade侵略干扰 this personal space while also trespassing 擅自进入within territorial boundaries he placed himself in double jeopardy双重负担 and must compensate 弥补for the other's increased anxiety.
2. The differences among Americans, the India, the Japanese and the Arab
Ø In the United States, Hall reports that psychologists have identified four zones from which U.S. people interact: the intimate zone亲密区, the personal zone, the social zone, and the public zone. The study of spatial territory for the purpose of communication uses four categories for informal space: the intimate distance for embracing or whispering (6-18 inches), the personal distance for conversations among good friends (1.5-4 feet), social distance for conversations among acquaintances (4-12 feet), and public distance used for public speaking (12 feet or more).
intimate distance
ranging from direct contact to about 45cm, which applies to the closest relationships such as husband and wife
personal distance
ranging from 45 to 80cm, which is usually maintained for conversations between friends & relatives
social distance
ranging from 1.3to 2 meters, which covers people who work together or are meeting at social gatherings
public distance
such as that kept between a lecturer and his audience
Ø In India, there are elaborate rules about how closely members of each caste印度的社会等级 may approach other castes.
Ø In Japan, the private bubble and the personal space are more a creation of the mind than an actual existence真实存在. The Japanese connect privacy with mental space. In crowds each Japanese becomes an island and he is alone as long as he does not acknowledge any of the other people.
Ø In Arab, Arabs of the same sex do stand much closer than North Americans. An Arab entering an elevator may stand right next to another person and be touching even though no one else is in the elevator.
(ii) Territoriality
Territoriality refers to how space can be used to communicate messages.
Territorial claims differ from personal space in that the personal zone accompanies the individual while territoriality is relatively stationary固定的. Semi-fixed feature space is often the criteria标准 used to establish a territory within any environment; it becomes a man's safety zone where he rests from the rigors严格 of defending personal space from invasion, the dramatic or sudden entry into another's personal zone. Humans, like animals, indicate their ownership of this established territory and will consequently defend it against all invasions. Territoriality is established so rapidly that even the second session 会话in a series of lectures讲座 is sufficient to find most of the audience returning to their same seats. And if one has been sitting in a particular seat and someone else occupies it, one can notice a fleeting 短暂的irritation.
–Compare the differences among the cultures of the countries mentioned in “Home in Various Cultures” (p244-247).
America: showing visitors around home; people are not allowed to lock doors except the bathroom door; kitchen is the place for negotiation between the mother and the children; the parents’ bedroom is mostly off-limits.
Germany: requires a wide area of privacy, formal and regimented; doors are firmly shut between rooms; an entrance hall 门廊to lead visitors into the house without showing specific rooms and spoiling the family’s privacy.
Northern European countries: rude if not call in advance; not to expect the tour of the host’s home.
France: never drop in unannounced; no tour of the house; guests are usually received in the living room, with the doors to the other rooms closed.
Italy: you can drop in anytime without calling first, except for the resting hours of 2:00 to 4:00 pm.
Spain: call ahead; normal visiting hours are 4:00 to 6:00 pm.
Latin American countries: guests, even dropping in without warning, are greeted warmly, often with hugs and kisses; to communicate in the dining room.
The Middle Eastern countries: the layout of the salon;
IV. Case Study: Students are required to read the cases given carefully and try to analyse them from the viewpoint of IC.

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