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CAFIC & IAICS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE DIVERSITY, HARMONY
AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION JUNE 2224, 2007 HARBIN·CHINA
Abstracts Accepted for Presentation in English Abstracts for Keynote Speeches…………………….1 Abstracts for Panels & Workshops………………….9 Abstracts for Individual Presentations………………39 Note: 1) Late submissions may not be included in the conference program. 2) The first two sections are listed in time order as they appear in the program and individual presentations are listed in the alphabetical order of the authors’ names. Submissions not included in the first two are all put in the third section. The OrganizingCommittee Harbin Instituteof Technology
CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Abstracts for Keynote Speeches English across Cultures and Intercultural Awareness Nobuyuki Honna Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan n[email protected] Abstract In order to enrich English as a language of multicultural communication and to ensure intercultural communicability among speakers of its different varieties, it is important that we develop internationally collaborated and coordinated educational programs. Most effective is the introduction of language awareness into school curriculums. Teaching awareness of language aims at our clear understanding of how language is designed and how people use language. Thus, it can be useful for students to become conscious of the function of language in multilingual and multicultural settings. In this presentation, the study of metaphor will be emphasized as a means of enhancing intercultural literacy, which is needed for improved mutual communicability among different varieties of English. Biosketch Professor Nobuyuki Honna teaches sociolinguistics, language policy, and international communication at Aoyama Gakuin University. With his current interest in English as an Asian language, he works as chief editor for Asian Englishes, a tenyear old international journal of the sociolinguistics of English in Asia/Pacific published in Tokyo. Professor Honna currently serves on the Foreign Language Committee within the Central Council of Education, an advisory organ to Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The Body in Chinese Characters and Philosophy Yuxin Jia Harbin Institute of Technology, China [email protected] Abstract Human conceptual system we use in thinking, experiencing and understanding about the world is metaphorical The metaphorical meanings arise from conceptual metaphorical mappings, which in turn are grounded primarily in correlations to our bodily experience and activities in our interaction with the natural, social and cultural environment. This update philosophical understanding of the embodied mind has reopened our eyes and made us rethink about the
1 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China fundamental philosophical and cultural issues. The update philosophical understanding of the embodied mind has also made us revisit the traditional Chinese philosophy as it had the same view of these fundamental and cultural issues about two thousand and five hundred years ago. The traditional Chinese philosophy, represented by Confucius, Lao Zi, and others will certainly give us the most original and insightful ideas about the nature of our thinking, our experience, our understanding, and the nature of our everyday activities. As an integral part of world cultural resources, we believe that the embodied Chinese philosophy will still make contributions to the reconstruction of the world civilization. The paper, following the update cognitive approach and based on the etymological and philological study of the Chinese characters that characterize the key philosophical and cultural concepts of the person and the self and relating them to critical interpretation of classics of Confucius and ancient texts and classical works, argues that the Chinese character system is a matter of conceptual metaphors. It is embodied in nature. As a uniquely based on conceptual system that we use in thinking and acting, the composition and structure of the Chinese characters are an important source of evidence for what the conceptual system is like. The conceptual system is a matter of metaphor and it is grounded in our physical or bodily experience and activities. In this light, philosophy which endeavors to explain the world and human life is largely embodied and metaphorical in nature. Biosketch: Yuxin Jia is Professor of sociolinguistics and intercultural communication at Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China. He is concurrently president of China Association for Intercultural Communication Studies and member of Board of Directors of China Association for English Education Study. He has acted as VicePresident and President of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies and now is member of Board of Directors of the International Association for Intercultural Studies and member of the Editorial Board. Professor Jia graduated from Heilongjiang University in 1964, and then studied at Beijing Foreign Studies University and then at Illinois State University at Springfield, USA. His scholarship includes several books (some are forthcoming) including English textbooks, monographs, and over forty articles, chapters in books and reviews and quite a number of them have been published not only in China，but also in America，Japan，Germany, etc. Some of his articles have been selected for referencing in important academic journals including Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts and/or Sociological Abstracts. Professor Jia has been invited to work as guest professor by some universities in China, Japan, the U.S.A., and Canada. He taught
2 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China intercultural communication at Illinois State University at Springfield in the U.S.A from 1987 to 1989. Professor Jia has for years been dedicating his conscientious efforts to the building and development of the Intercultural Communication as an independent discipline both at home and abroad and his efforts in collaboration with his colleagues in both China and the International Association have indeed produced fruitful results, for which he has been awarded Achievement Award by the International Association for the Study of Intercultural Communication. Intercultural Mass Communication: A New Frontier for Intercultural Communication Research Sun Youzhong Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] Abstract Communication takes place at various levels of social organization, i.e. intrapersonal, interpersonal, intragroup, institutional/organizational and societywide (mass communication). Traditionally, intercultural communication research focuses on the interpersonal communication between individuals of differenct cultures. With the rapid expansion of mass media within national boundaries and across sovereign borders, mass communication has become a more and more important channel of interaction between different cultures. The author argues that intercultural communication research, which literally means the study of communication between cultures, should readily accept intercultural mass commnication as its legitmate domain. Intercultural mass communication research is the study of massmediated communication between two or more cultures. Its primary unit of analysis is the interaction of two or more cultures that are linked by mass media communication. This paper attempts to define the potential research areas, including the texts, institutions, audience, policy, strategy, and ethics of intercultural mass communication. It also aims to lay the theoretical and methodological foundations for this highly promising new frontier of intercultural communication research. The author believes that the study of intercultural mass communication will not only reinforce the study of intercultural interpersonal communication, extend the sphere of intercultural communication research, but also promote the mutual understanding and cooperation between the multiple cultures of the world in the age of information and globalization. Biosketch Professor Sun Youzhong (孙有中) is the dean of the School of English and International Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University. He received his Ph.D. in World Civilizations from Fudan University in 1998. He has been a visiting scholar in the Department of Philosophy at
3 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Pennsylvania State University and a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Journalism at Fudan University. His research interests span American philosophy, American media and cultural studies, and Western Civilization. He is the author of four booksJohn Dewey’s Social Thought, Modern American Popular Culture, Approaching America, and American Cultural Industry—and the cotranslator of Individualism Old and New: Selected Works of John Dewey. His forthcoming books include Covering China: A Comparative Study of The New York Times and The Times, 19932002, and Classics of Western Thought. He has published numerous essays and reviews in a number of journals at home and abroad. Classical Greek and Confucian Views of Values: a Prologue to Contemporary Values Studies Michael Prosser SISU, Intercultural Institute Shanghai International Studies University Abstract Great debates engaged the classical Greek scholars such as Socrates, Isocrates, Plato and Aristotle about the nature of values for the Greek society, particularly in ancient Athens. Through the Socratic Dialogues, Plato expounded the real world values as expressed by justice, truth, goodness and wisdom. He argued that monological rhetoric, then a dominant art for young male citizens, along with their roles in public debate in the market place, theatrical, judicial, and sports activities, was less admirable than dialectic, or reasoned discussion among educated citizens unless it could lead to these values. In Plato's ideal republic, he would ban poets because they dealt only in illusion, rather than the truth. Aristotle accepted Plato's arguments in favor of justice and truth, but added that rhetoric as a counterpart of dialectics and of politics also had the major goal to lead people toward happiness through both deductive and inductive logic. Aristotle believed that three kinds of artistic proofs, ethos, logos, and pathos were the methods by which rhetors could lead their audiences to the acceptance of justice, truth, and happiness. In the Anelects, Confucius (Kang), articulated such value concepts as ren (benevolence and kindness), li (correct ritual), and de (moral propriety) would lead rulers, husbands, fathers, elder brothers, and friends to develop lian (an internalized moral dimension and mianzi (harmony).Although during the 19661976 period, there were attacks against Confucius (and by implication Deng Xiaoping), Arthur Whaley, translator of The Analects into English reminds us that for Confucius the core of benevolence is humanity, which leads toward a harmonious society, and that The Analects provides the core of contemporary Chinese society, both in the mainland and in the Chinese disapora. Today, we can combine the classical Greek values, justice, truth, goodness, wisdom, and happiness and the Confucian views of benevolence, appropriate ritual, moral propriety and
4 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China internalized moral dimensions and harmony as basic values along with such values as filial piety, friendship, and tolerence of differences for such important international documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Our goal as intercultural theorists, researcgers and practioners is to promote a truly harmonious society in China, Asia, and the world. In this way we can become and lead others to become, in Socrates' words, "Citizens of the World." Biosketch Michael Prosser, Ph.D., has received the "Citizen of the World" award in 1986 from the International Society for Intercultural Education, Training, and Research (SIETAR International) and is listed in Who's Who in America annually since 1996; is listed in the 2007 inaugural edition of Who's Who in Asia, and will be listed in the 2008 edition of 2000 Outstanding Scholars in the Twentyfirst Century. He was featured in China Talent Semimonthly in 2005 (in Chinese). A founder of the field of intercultural communication in the 1970's, he was President of SIETAR International in 198486. An Emeritus Professor at the University of Virginia (19722001), former Distinguished Professor at the Rochester (19942001), Professor at Yangzhou University (20012002); Distinguished Professor at the Beijing Language and Culture University (20022005) and is currently Distinguished Professor at the Shanghai International Studies University. He has taught more than 1800 Chinese students. Editor or author of 12 books, his most recent ones are Diplomatic Discourse: International Conflict at the United Nations (1997), Civic Discourse: Multiculturalism, Cultural Diversity, and Global Communication (1998), Civic Discourse: Intercultural, International and Global Media (1999), SinoAmerican Compositions of Shared Topics (2003), and as coeditor with Steve J. Kulich, Intercultural Perspectives on Chinese Communication (2007). Kulich, he, and Zhang Hongling are presently coediting two volumes in the SISU Intercultural Institute "Intercultural Research" series on values studies to be published in 2008. He has also been the series editior in the US for 18 books published in his "Civic Discourse for the Third Millennium" series, two of which were about China. He has been a columnist for New Oriental Magazine and was interviewed 12 times for CCTV International "Dialogue" program. Presently he is a regular interviewee for "People in the Know" for China Radio International. Besides giving lecture series in China, India, and Russia, he has served as keynoter for a number of Chinese communication conferences, including the 2001, 2003, 2005, and 2007 International China Symposia on Intercultural Communication. Among his major current academic interests are civic or public discourse, China's youth, intercultural international and global culture, media, and society, and the United Nations. War or Peace of Languages and Cultures?
5 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Svetlana G. TerMinasova Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies Moscow State University, Russia [email protected] Abstract The future of mankind depends largely on its ability to communicate. Technical progress provides mankind with an everincreasing variety of more and more powerful devices and forms of communication: teleconferences, multimedia bridges, His or Her Majesty – the Internet! However, “the human factor” presents a number of problems hampering the idea of international communication. Generally speaking it is a basic inherent contradiction of equality versus diversity (individuality). People are created equal, they want to enjoy equal rights but they also want to keep their individuality. The most formidable obstacles on the way to intercultural communication are: language and culture closely intertwined in constant interaction. The paradox is that language as well as culture, stored in it, reflected and formed by it, are at the same time a barrier, a fence, separating peoples, and a shield protecting their national identity. Consequently, every language and every culture guard their subjects against all the “aliens”, trying to intrude their domains. The paper deals with linguocultural issues hampering intercultural communication viewed as forms of “weapons” used in these wars. Biosketch Professor Svetlana TerMinasova, Dean and founder of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University since 1988, founding President of National Association of Applied Linguistics since 1990, President of National Association of Teachers of English in Russia since its foundation in 1996, holds a doctorate in Philology. She has published more than 150 books and papers both in Russian and English on Foreign Language Teaching, Linguistics and Cultural Studies, she has lectured across the USSR, Russia and many other countries. In 1995 – the Fulbright 50 th Anniversary Distinguished Fellow Award In 1996 – Lomonosov Prize, MSU In 1998 – a degree of Honorary professor of Lomonosov Moscow State University In 1999 – The Order of Friendship, State Award from the government of Russian Federation In 2002 – an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Birmingham (UK) In 2005 – The Order of Honour, State Award from the government of Russian Federation In 2007 – The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, State University of NewYork Reconsidering Values Studies: China as a Classroom Case for Multimethod emic to etic Comparisons Steve J. Kulich, Executive Director SISU Intercultural Institute Shanghai International Studies University
6 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China [email protected]; [email protected] Abstract This paper will build on the author's 14 years of intercultural teaching and training in China and will seek to integrate three major facets of Intercultural Communications: 1) the historical and theoretical foundations of values studies, from which much other comparative work arose, 2) specific pedagogical applications of values clarification exercises as part of the "own culture awareness" process, and 3) considering various related research paradigms of values measurement. Each domain will be analyzed for its contribution to our understanding of values studies in general and specifically for its benefits toward helping Chinese learners develop their "own contextual" awareness, as well as helping scholars and instructors understand Chinese values development and shifts in the reform, opening and change period since 1994. A pedagogical framework will be put forward toward multiperspective approaches toward the use of values clarification exercises specifically in China as well as suggested applications in other contexts (150 words). Biosketch Steve J. Kulich is Executive Director of the SISU Intercultural Institute (SII) of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) and Chief Coeditor of the "Intercultural Research" book series (Volume 1: "Intercultural Perspectives on Chinese Communication," 2007, Volumes 2, 3 forthcoming in 2008 on "Intercultural Values Studies"). As a communications specialist and intercultural professional with over 25 years of Asia experience, his career began teaching business communications in Taiwan, doing Asiafocused research, writing and staff development in Singapore, and then Chinese studies at Xiamen University. Since 1993, he has been a resident scholar at SISU, teaching first in the Overseas Training Department where he launched one of the early courses on intercultural training (1994). Since 2000 he has been teaching postgraduates intercultural communication and in 2002, became the founding Professor of the Intercultural Communication Program in the SISU Graduate School. At present, he is supervising a faculty teaching an 11course intercultural academic program with over 50 MA graduates so far. In addition to his nearly 40 publications, an edited book, three course collections and three business communication and selfdevelopment guides, he is also on the Editorial Board of the 10 volume Intercultural Communications Series, published by Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press (SFLEP). The Future of CrossCultural Communication: Perspectives from 20 Years of the IAICS L. Brooks Hill Trinity University
7 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China San Antonio, Texas USA [email protected] Abstract For the last forty years I have worked in the intersecting fields of intercultural, international, and development communication, and have spent my career devoted to these challenging areas of study (Honna & Hoffer, 2003). Almost twenty years ago I arrived at Trinity University and was recruited into a new interdisciplinary organization devoted to all of my language related interests. Since that time I have served for two terms as President of the International Association for Intercultural Communication Studies (IAICS), served on the Board of Directors for several years, and currently work as the General Editor of the IAICS journal Intercultural Communication Studies. During my forty years in the profession and especially during the last two decades in IAICS, I have contributed to the field while observing some of the areas of cross cultural communication that need more careful research. Based on this lifetime commitment, the following article will channel my experience into suggestions for the future. The sections of this article will address a cluster of closely related ideas that form three major challenges for our future. The first section assumes a more theoretical perspective and identifies several specific concerns that we must confront to unify our collective efforts and direct them with more synergy toward greater scholarly and practical achievements. The second section serves as a serious caution about the uncritical acceptance of technological innovation as a means of teaching and otherwise applying our knowledge. The third and final section turns our attention to ethnic relations. Throughout the world, poor ethnic relations are causing the disintegration of society. We must apply our knowledge more carefully to the resolution of these concerns. Overall, this article will synthesize my experience into three general directions for improvement of the study and practice of cross cultural relations. Its central theme will address the primary question of this anthology: How can we better pull together our collective efforts and thereby synergize our potential for a better world? Biosketch Professor L. Brooks Hill (Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1968) teaches intercultural, international, and persuasive communication at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, USA, where he also serves as the Chairman of the Department of Speech and Drama. A former twoterm President of IAICS, he is the current General Editor for its journal, Intercultural Communication Studies. Author or editor of multiple books and journal issues, he has published over fifty articles, chapters, or monographs about public and intercultural communication. His research for this conference at Harbin addresses triadic communication in an intercultural communication context and the preparation of personnel for foreign assignments. His keynote address will consider the future of cross cultural communication from his perspective of nearly twenty years with IAICS.
8 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Abstracts for Panel Discussions & Workshops Panel I Culture, Health and Organization Chair: Patrick Ng, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Panelists: Vivian C. Sheer, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong GuoMing Chen, South China University of Technology University of Rhode Island, USA Hairong Feng, The University of Minnesota, USA Victor Lux Tonn, Salve Regina University, Taiwan MeiLing Hsu, National Chengchi University, Taiwan Respondent: ShuChu Sarrina Li, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan Performance Appraisal in Hong Kong Subsidiaries versus in Their US Parent Companies: Culture, Communication, and Appraisal Effectiveness Vivian C. Sheer Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong [email protected] GuoMing Chen South China University of Technology University of Rhode Island，USA [email protected] General Managers and human resources managers from fifteen US subsidiaries in Hong Kong (HK) were interviewed regarding performance appraisal processes. Results indicate that all appraisal systems in these subsidiaries were imported from parent companies to varying degrees. These systems generally worked, but less effectively than in the US. Communication, including performance appraisal interview, was considered the weakest area in the appraisal process. The attributes of an effective appraisal system were identified. The role of the local Chinese culture in the performance appraisal process is discussed. An Application of Theory of Planned Behavior to Providing Social Support to One's Close Relationships Hairong Feng The University of Minnesota, USA
9 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China [email protected] Previous research on providing social support found variations in support goals and message evaluations between Americans and Chinese. However, in crosscultural research on social support, explanations on why there are differences most are from individualismcollectivism and high and lowcontext communication dimensions. While these frameworks help predict and explain some crosscultural similarities and differences about supportive communication, they demonstrate the limitation of being general. In this regard, Ajzen's (1985) theory of planned behavior seems an appropriate approach to explain these variations. Theory of planned behavior focuses on using behavioral beliefs, normative beliefs, and control beliefs to explain and predict behavioral intentions which are closely related to people's goals and behaviors. Hence, this paper proposes the possibility of applying the theory of planned behavior to predicting and explaining providing social support in one's close relationships. This direction of focusing on supportspecific beliefs not only helps explain and predict support goal and message evaluation variations but also constitutes a valuable addition to research on social support generally. Systematics and Patterns of Organizations and Communications Victor Lux Tonn Salve Regina University, Taiwan [email protected] / [email protected] In this paper, a general framework of organization and communications a general system comprising subsystems of balanceequilibrium, mutuality, and centrality will be presented, with a special attention paid to the role of cultural and social communicative structures in connecting forces of globalization, social changes, technology, and cultures into an integral whole. Nations differs in cultures, domestic sociopolitical forces, and experiences of modernization especially in the context of a nonWestern nation in dealing with nations of the West. For this reason, similar to the structure of the general cultural economy, this framework of going beyond the market structure to encompass social and political forces is utterly necessary for scholars engaging in the study of the general trend of regionalization and globalization. Then, by employing this framework, topics connecting forces between globalization and regionalization will be explored more easily. The approach of this paper is to study these above models of our great concerns in light of the theory of systematics. To be comprehensive and relatively precise, the utilization of the methods of systematics (by which is meant the qualitative, structural, and substantive studies of all entities in the universe) is necessary. But since the construct of the theory of systematics is new, these models of systematics shall be presented through examples, illustrations and detailed explanations. In order to facilitate the discussion of the models of organizations and communications, within this paper, some basic ideas of systematics such as elements, impactors, unit systems, and grand systems will be presented. Then, three cultural categories profitoriented system, societyoriented system, and traditionoriented system will be introduced. Finally, systematic models of organizations and communications will be developed in the context of lowlevel pragmatic Tcentral.
10 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Lay Discourse of Body, Health, and Medical Use in a Coexistent Culture of Chinese and Western Medicine: A Challenge to the ElitistBased Medical Correctness in Taiwan MeiLing Hsu National Chengchi University, Taiwan [email protected] The contemporary Taiwanese society has long been noted for the pluralism of various medical practices, though the sciencebased Western medicine has more predominant voice in the orthodox establishment. The mainstream elitist discourse, such as healthrelated news, is thus abundant of medical experts' warnings to keep lay people from engaging in nonscientific medical use. Nevertheless, more than 75% of Taiwanese residents had used at least one type of nonWestern medicine for treating illness or alleviating symptoms. It becomes intriguing as to how lay people's perceptions of their bodies and health, together with their practices of medical use, resonate and differ from the socalled medical correctness raised by the elitist medical circle and why. By conducting three focusgroup discussions, two in rural Kaohsiung county and one in urban Taipei city, on 25 adults who had experiences in mixed medical use in the past 6 months, this study found that lay people have developed their theories of medical use and self care, based not so much on science as on perceived image of body health and efficacy in maintaining it. While most of them value the credibility of Western medicine, they do not perceive their adoption of nonWestern medicine as contradicting with their health beliefs. Lay perceptions and practices of Chinese and folk medicine actually reflect people's philosophy of life and living, which also differ by perceived self health, age, and interpersonal influence. Implications of the role of culture for establishing indigenous health communication and discourse are discussed. Panel II Media and Culture: Media Performance in Different Cultural Context Chair: Zhang Guoliang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Panelists: Bonnie Peng, National Chengchi University, Linlin Kuo, National Taiwan University ChiHuei Chueng, Shih Sing University Kirsen Huang, Shih Sing University Respondent: MeiLing Hsu, National Chengchi University The purpose of this panel is to examine media performance in different cultural context. Four papers which dealt with the topic of media and culture will look at how Western media models fit
11 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China or adapt at an Oriental society like Taiwan and China. When SCP (structureconductperformance) theory has often been used by economists to study the industry, few concerns on cultural influences toward media industry have been raised. The media in Taiwan which followed the Western model, American model especially, demonstrate unique developmental paths to integrate market driven journalism with traditional professionalism. The panel will look at the concept of professionalism, news quality, reader interactivity, and variety programming under the umbrella of media culture in Taiwan as well as in China. When East Meets West: Media Professionalism Revisited Bonnie Peng, National Chengchi University, [email protected] This paper will examine the concept of media professionalism under the context of Taiwan. It has been discussed that some similarities existed when journalists in Taiwan look at the norms; ethics governed their daily practices when they produce media content. The examination of professionalism is a major theme in sociological literature. A cognitive dimension centers on the body of knowledge and techniques that professional apply in their work, as well as the training needed to master these concepts and skills. A normative dimension covers the service orientation of professionals and their distinctive ethics, which justify the privilege of selfregulation that society, grants them. And an evaluative dimension 'implicitly compares professions to other occupations, underscoring the professions' singular characteristics of autonomy and prestige (Singer, 2003, p. 141). How those three dimensions apply to the news professions in Taiwan? Will the news workers be professional? Are the cognitive, normative, and evaluative dimensions of professionalism the best criterion in judgig the performance of Taiwan journalists? A theoretical and empirical discussion of the media professionalism in Taiwan will be the focus of this paper. The Future of News Consumption: What Do Readers Mean to the Newspaper Industry? Linlin Kuo, National Taiwan University Linlin Ku National Taiwan University [email protected] The future of the newspaper industry is even more uncertain with the demise of the Mingsheng Daily, a once profitable local newspaper that specialized in lifestyle coverage. There have been talks of the folding of more local newspapers. Many attributed the loss to the rapidly changing demographics of newspaper readership. The average reader is more than 50 years of age, and the likelihood of people in their 20s reading a print version in the future is almost nil. The survival of the newspaper industry is determined by how newspapers look at themselves and by how they
12 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China serve their readers. Specifically, newspapers must think beyond markets, reconsider their social roles, and serve the needs of their communities. Readers still want news, but the days of offering monolithic news experience are over. Readers must be able to receive personally relevant news at any time in any place. Newspapers must conduct extensive research on understanding readers' preferences and tap into the talents of readers in more creative ways. Furthermore, they must incorporate the broadband and mobile infrastructure to offer news on multiple distribution platforms. Newspapers are still a valuable source of news and analysis and evaluate how they can serve a moreengaged, moreintelligent audience. Accountability System of Television: The Viewpoint of Paradox from TV Ratings and TV Responsibility ChiHuei Chueng, Shih Sing University, [email protected]) Chung ChiHui Shin Hsin University When the concept of public interest was being brought out, it easily turns out to be a vulnerable value if it is not sufficient protect. According to the studies in Japan and European countries, the accountability system of television seems to be the latest tendency in the field of broadcasting research. Under the democratic society, the theoretical meaning of accountability is that any authorized organization should be supervised and evaluated by the people who will be affected by their action. Based on this meaning, there should be one system for a certain group to examine the broadcasting system in public and this group should also refer to the opinions from the audience. This paper tries to use accountability system of television as the operate definition to carry out the public interest, because we can see from the studies and observations that the key point to get program quality and quality television is the TV stations and the producers. Other than this, the sign of crisis of public confidence is showing worldwide; therefore, the public interest is not only the value of public service broadcasting but also the responsibility of the television. TV Variety Show has been regarded as main identity of popular culture. It also can reflect regional culture and social characteristics by its content and format. After being separated for more than fifty years, the two entities across the Taiwan Strait have developed different broadcasting policies and media convergence of the tow entities' longdivided political and economic views, this research is to , through the analysis of TV Variety Show programs' history development and ratings, sketch the contours of current TV audience in Taiwan and Mainland and the viewing behavior thereof and further explore the differences to help provide the TV industries on both sides of the Taiwan Strait a viable direction for Variety Show's development. This research result indicates that CCTV still stand on marketleading role in Mainland China from channel share perspective. In Taiwan, the four free terrestrial Television channels are dominant. As for program format, Mainland Chinese Variety Show is popular for performing contest and festival gala. Taiwanese Variety Show is more popular for entertainment show. This kind of entertainment show is mainly hosted by local host, and combined with singing contest, performance, and comedy section which are played by popular singer, actor, and actress. From program exchange
13 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China perspective, Mainland Chinese Variety Show will be quite interesting and attractive to Taiwanese viewers even they might not be too familiar with Mainland Chinese host and content. However, Taiwanese Variety Show will face with some difficulties from Mainland Chinese government because of over sensational and derisive content. The content will be secured based on proper Mainland Chinese program regulation. To sum up, the exchange of nonofficial professional creativity on both sides of the Taiwan Strait has been expanded for quite a long time. The demand of market expansion on Mainland and Taiwan will make TV Variety Show mutual interchange become one of the mainstreams in the near future. Panel III The Media Literacy Education in Taiwan: From Concepts to Practices Chair: Sophia Tsueyjen Wu, National Chengchi University Panelists: ChengYu Lin, National Chengchi University. TsungHsiao Huang, Taipei Municipal University of Education. ChiaLun Chang, National Taipei University of Education. ChihJen Cheng, National Chengchi University. Respondent: PingHung Chen, National Taiwan Normal University. In Taiwan, efforts are being made to make media literacy education a valid field of study, practice, and public concern. Taiwan’s Ministry of Education issued a white paper on media education policy in 2003, and established the Media Literacy Education Committee on May, 1 in the same year. Since the concept of “literacy” particular in the phrase of “media literacy” is varied defined, in this proposed panel we would like to propose a definition of literacy and further discuss the educational practices at elementary level. The main attempt for this proposed panel is to construct core concepts of media literacy in Taiwan context, and to demonstrate how these concepts integrated into elementary school curriculum. Literacy should include multifaceted aptitudes and refers to the capacities to organize, accumulate, store, retrieve and utilize knowledge. These skills are not merely acquired through writing, but rather are determined by technological developments and the social context, including constrains as well as affordances. Any meaningful interpretation of literacy is to be made; states of literacy must be placed back within the context of particular cultural and social conditions. The ultimate vision of media education is to strengthen the liberation and empowerment of the populace and reform a healthy media community through the mechanisms and the integration of media literacy education. The panelists will address and discuss the following issues: 1. The distinguished qualities of media literacy. 2. The substance of media literacy education in Taiwan. 3. Media literacy Teacher Training and Teaching Materials Development. 4. Showcase one: media literacy in Health and physical education. 5. Showcase two: media literacy in information education. 6. Challenges and problematic issues faced. 7. Crosscultural and Common issues discussion.
14 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China An Action Research on Media Access: From Concept to Practice ChengYu Lin National Chengchi University. [email protected] The substance of media literacy education can be interpreted in many concepts: for media audiences to know and realize all media are construction, the media construct reality, audiences negotiate meaning in the media, media have commercial implications, media contain ideological and value messages, media have social and political implications, form and content are closely related in the media, and each medium has a unique aesthetic form. In short, though media literacy education, we hope to strengthen each audience abilities of media liberating and empowerment. Further, to establish Healthy Media Community is the core value for media literacy education. To reach the core value, we may say that the most important thing is to arouse audience to practice the concepts. And the gateway is media access. This article concerns how media access is run, and how possible is from concept to practice. The author starts the research in action in a class between teacher and students, to reflex the meaning of media access. Besides, the process of dialoguing, including from understanding media texts, developing mindware, designing media play, practicing expressing, connecting community, etc. will be presented. Lastly, the author will present the challenges and problematic media access faced. A case study on the Implementation of Media Literacy Education on Elementary School in Taiwan TsungHsiao Huang Taipei Municipal University of Education. [email protected] The media is a rich implications and the multidimensional news significance box of Pandora, which people have to study and educate. The media literacy education curriculum enables the students correct explanation advertisement, and to be a consumer behavior more thorough understanding. This case study discusses the implementation of media literacy education curriculum on an elementary school in Taiwan. We design a suitable media literacy program to infuse into Grade 16 curriculums and teach program of Mandarin, society, Arts, and Humanities. The main goal of this program is to provide students, through designing and studying of curriculum and teaching methods, with plentiful and diverse learning environment and opportunities. Here the conclusions of this study are presented as follows: 1. The program is intended to establish a studentbased learning environment, provide a diverse teaching strategy, diverse ways of offering classes and teaching activities, and emphasize the value of knowledge and the meaningful process of learning how to learn. 2.This program takes the student selfconfidently, trains the student analysis, comparison, induction, critique then natural ponder ability, takes the student in the question discovery and the solution strength raise, encourages the student in the information ability creation and the expression. 3. The information integrates the
15 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China teaching, stimulates and improves student's study interesting. To construct the media literacy education standards in Taiwan’s elementary school ChiaLun Chang National Taipei University of Education. [email protected] In the last few years, the various countries realize that the media has huge influence to schoolchild, compete to put in the media literacy subject in the official curriculum, and practices the Media Citizenship. Our Ministry of Education declared “The Government’s Media Literacy White Paper” in 2002, expresses the media literacy education is one kind “the high quality citizen education”, the goal is that to development the citizen has the main body and the independent thinking to the omnipresent information in the democratic society. But quite is a pity, in the present the NineYear Systematic Curriculum, didn’t have media literacy education in this study domain. Therefore, the teacher who has a mind in teaching needs to take their private time, independently to design the curriculum. It is so easy to create the curriculum content not to be inconsistent, not to have the systematic characteristic, also to be unable to carry on the ability to link up, thus has the urging to draw up the media literacy education competence standards the demand sound appearance. This research take solves the scene teaching difficult position as a premise, attempts to draw up suits ability of target our country media literacy education to supply the reference. The expectation penetration inquired into correlation of theory and the connotation the media accomplishment education, and the reference overseas (England, US, Canada, Australia) have bought into line with the media literacy education the official curriculum, implements the competence standards and the core connotation, draw up the competence standards which is suitable, and the penetration “Fuzzy Delphi Technique” the implementation, seeks information the domestic media accomplishment to educate the expert, the curriculum scholar, opinion of the teaching experienced scene teacher, then confirmed this research institute draws up appropriateness of the media accomplishment education competence standards. An Action Research on Intergrading Media Literacy into 2nd Learning Stage of Health and Physical Education ChihJen Cheng National Chengchi University. [email protected] Taiwan’s Ministry of Education announced “The Government’s Media Literacy White Paper” on October 24, 2002. Taiwan become the first country that impetus the media literacy education by the government in Asia. Today, the white paper promulgates soon expires for four years, truly carries out in the school education extremely to be limited. Besides the related study training insufficiency, the school administrative personnel and guardian's question, the most major difficulty to the teacher who attempt the media literacy teaching, there is no easy seat of teaching
16 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China material to be allowed to rely on. Researcher who held the post of the media literacy lecture for the past three years, discover through the interaction with the teacher who join the seminar or the teaching team who need the counseling, it’s not easily to implement media literacy in the school, lay in the teacher to be insufficient regarding the media elementary knowledge, causes to be unable independently to design the teaching activity, however in the market although had few publications to be allowed to instruct the media literacy teaching, but in the teaching activity often needed to use the massive media model, those had to collect by the teacher voluntarily, moreover most of these curricula taken the independent teaching, didn’t intergrade and coordinated with the existing curriculum, therefore could have the problem in the teaching time. Therefore, this research take the way which the curriculum intergrades with the media literacy teaching, eliminates the anxiety of teaching time, and take reduces the threshold as the principle, the development media literacy education intergrades into the second study stage design of the health and physical education. Further the affiliation by the experimental teaching process, observes and analyzes the student intergraded into health and physical education performance in the media literacy, appraised this set of curricula inappropriateness, as well as the discussion intergrades into health and physical education curriculum possible bitter experience difficulty in the elementary school implementation media literacy education. Panel IV Psychological Testing: Intercultural Implications Chair: Shinichi Takahara, Chiba Public Schools, Japan Panelists: Shinichi Takahara, Chiba Public Schools, Japan Ning Wang & Yi Wang, Harbin Engineering University, China Zahari Ishak, University of Malaya Irina Lebedeva, Far Eastern National University, FENU, Russia Emma Ruiz Martín del Campo, Universidad de Guadalajara Xu Jiajia, Shanghai International Studies University, China Respondent: Adaption of a Foreign Student to a Japanese School: A Case Study of A Fourteen Yearold Girl from Peru Shinihi Takahara, Chiba Public Schools, Japa [email protected] During the last decade, in Japan, the number of minors, who are in the age range of compulsory education (19 grades), from overseas has been increasing. Many of them drop out of school or do not attend school at all, for various reasons such as indifference and misunderstandings, unfavorable school environment, and insufficient legal protections for minority students. In
17 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China addition, the number of ethnic or international schools is not enough, and if any, many immigrants have economic problems to attend these schools. In Japan, there is no legitimate regulation concerning foreign students’ formal education process, and the minors who do not attend school seem neglected. The present study investigates some protective factors for a 14yearold Peruvian girl who is successfully attending a regular Japanese public school, in spite of the language barrier and cultural differences. The investigator will conduct interviews with the student, her parents, school staff, and other students in the school where the girl is attending. The investigator will also observe the performance of the student at school. The report includes discussion about cultural adaptation. The Chinese Translation of Cultural Adaptation and Adjustment Scale Shinihi Takahara Chiba Public Schools, Japan [email protected] Ning Wang, Harbin Engineering University, China Yi Wang, Harbin Engineering University, China The Cultural Adaptation and Adjustment Scale (Portes & Sandhu, 2000) or CAAS is an assessment tool that measures the degree of adjustment, felt discrimination and discouragement related to an individual’s cultural adaptation. It is a five point Lykert type scale with 35 items. Portes, Sandhu, Gupta and Sekhon found that the Cronbach’s alpha (reliability) value for the total score was acceptable (ÿ=.84) when the scale was conducted on various ethnic groups in the United States (n=514). The purpose of the present study is to investigate the applicability of the Chinese translation of CAAS to Chinese immigrants in the United States and Japan. The alpha value (reliability) of the Chinese version of CAAS will be calculated for each group. The validity of applying CAAS to Chinese immigrants will be discussed. Incidentally, the life situation of Chinese immigrants in the two countries, the U.S.A. and Japan, will be compared from the viewpoint of social adaptation. Eleven Years Old Malaysia Chinese Student’s Knowledge Construction during Concrete Operational Stage Zahari Ishak, University of Malaya [email protected] This purpose of this study is to explore eleven years old Malaysian Chinese students’ knowledge construction during concrete operation stage especially between their cognitive abilities and performance in Science’s & Mathematics examination. The study was conducted in a school in Selangor, Malaysia through action design. There are 45 students (25 boys and 20 girls) involved in
18 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China this study. The samples’ mean ages are 10 years 9 months for both boys and girls. All of them are from middle class family. Piagetian tasks had been used as data collections instrument. The tasks involved were conservation task, seriation task, classification task and class inclusion task. The findings show 80% of the students have acquired seriation ability, 46.66% conservation ability, 88.1% classification ability and 59.09% class inclusion ability. Furthermore through this study two action plans have been proposed. First I suggest using card games, external justification sources textbook and second authority figures to construct children’s knowledge. Multiple Intelligences: Psychological Tests in Language Teaching Irina Lebedeva, FFar Eastern National University, ENU, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] / [email protected] Nowadays teaching becomes more personoriented. Most language teaching methods are based on a humanistic approach to education, which focuses on the needs of the personality. To teach effectively and efficiently we – teachers – should not only be interested in our students but we should know them well in order to have an individual approach to each of them. What’s more, according to the theory of Multiple Intelligences language proficiency should not be the only target. Language begins to function as a tool of understanding learner’s inner self. Developing English speaking skills requires a sort of inattention: students are best at mastering language without noticing it. This leads us to the following question: are there any other effective ways apart from games to shift students focusing off the language while developing their listening, reading and speaking skills? The answer is simple – psychological tests. Activating Multiple Intelligences, these tests help students not only to master a foreign language quickly and effectively in a warm and relaxing atmosphere, they also make students realize who they are and what they need to change in their lives. In this workshop we will try out a number of psychological tests that can be used with students of different ages and levels. Intercultural Psychotherapy: Different Models and Strategies for Creating an Interpersonal Relationship beyond Cultures Emma Ruiz Martín del Campo. Universidad de Guadalajara [email protected] In “Refugio”, a German psychotherapeutic institution for immigrants, I was participant observer by two psychotherapists: a native German woman and a migrant man living within the German culture for many years. I reflect upon different models and strategies to make possible communication beyond cultural differences. From offering herself as “bridge”, as a benevolent model from the German culture to which she belongs, to the deep comprehension of the new migrant’s feelings, that the migrant psychotherapist himself has experienced upon a time, there are several ways to ease up the passage from the known to the unknown, from the cultural loss to intercultural ties founded on confidence. I recount fragments of two different psychotherapies
19 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China (Ingrid Koop in interaction with “Ragida” and Hussein Farschidi in interaction with “Soraya”) to make the analysis of several possibilities for creating intersubjectiveintercutural spaces. Developmental Stages and Indicators of Contemporary Chinese Friendship Xu Jiajia Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] This study seeks to explore the concept of friendship from a developmental perspective in the contemporary Chinese context. It will define the stages that Chinese friendship develops through from stranger period to best friend period by examining into the connotations of various expressions and sayings, along with their respective indicators of such stages. Another emphasis will be focused on how friendship develops from one stage to another in view of the internal and external factors. To put it more practically in the global context, it aims to help people from other cultural backgrounds to communicate more efficiently with Chinese with a clear consciousness of the developmental modes of Chinese friendship and towards the most positive direction instead of a negative one, which would facilitate the global intercultural communication and promote intercultural harmony in the ultimate end. In order to make the study feasible, Mark Knapp’s Relational Stages Model and Stephen Duck’s Relationship Filtering Model are examined in the Chinese context, supplemented by a repertoire of Chinese friendship indicators. A qualitative research method will be utilized primarily in the interviews. Conclusions will be made on the basis of interview transcribing and data analysis. Panel V The Extremely Short Story Competition in Japan Chair: TAKESHITA Yuko, Toyo Eiwa University, Janpan Panelists：TAKESHITA Yuko, Toyo Eiwa University, Japan MIYAKE Hiroko, Tokyo Keizai University, Japan OKAURA Yoshiyuki, Fukuoka Institute of Technology, Japan FUJIWARA Yasuhiro, Chugoku Gakuen University, Japan Respondent: The Extremely Short Story Competition (ESSC): A Successful Case in Japan TAKESHITA Yuko Toyo Eiwa University [email protected] This panel is proposed by members of the steering committee for the Extremely Short Story
20 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Competition (ESSC), sponsored by the Japanese Association for Asian Englishes (JAFAE). The ESSC concept was originated by Professor Peter Hassall of Zayed University, the United Arab Emirates. He developed it into a competition, so that his students could both practice English writing and get awarded for their performances. Soon, the idea was imported to Japan by Professor Nobuyuki Honna. The JAFAE decided to be responsible for administering the ESSC in Japan as part of the commemorative events to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The JAFAE held its first competition successfully in December 2006. A student of English may both learn and have fun through the ESSC. The most interesting and educational part is that a story must contain only and exactly 50 words. This could be both encouraging and challenging for nonnative speakers of English, especially those who hadn’t had much experience in creative writing. A 50wordlong story seems short enough for a beginner, and yet it is not that easy to write a good story with exactly 50 words. Another characteristic of the ESSC is that the stories are presented as Power Point files. This could be truly entertaining for the writer as well as the reader. We would like to share our success with more people from different parts of the world. Just like people in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, our Japanese contestants made enormous efforts and gained a lot by participating in the first ESSC in Japan. In the near future, we will hold an ESSC on an international basis. Such an occasion will enable all contestants to learn from each other and find social, cultural, linguistic and rhetoric similarities and differences in the extremely short stories that they create. University Students’ Responses to the ESSC MIYAKE Hiroko Tokyo Keizai University [email protected] Regarding "English contests" in Japan, many of them focus on the utterance of English. Speech contests, debates, and recitation contests are some typical examples. In such an environment, the ESSC (Extremely Short Story Competition) for Japanese can provide an important new setting where English learners write English with freedom, under certain rules. They can both demonstrate their writing skills and unleash their imagination. Moreover, positive educational effects of the ESSC are expected among researchers. In November 2006, one month after the first ESSC began in Japan, writing ESS was experimentally introduced to 130 students in four "English elearning" classes of Tokyo Keizai University. In these classes, the students were able to start writing ESS smoothly because they usually had studied English with PCs, and all of them had achieved basic skills to operate PCs. However, no students were familiar with the competition, the rules of writing ESS, or how to submit their finished works, so the teacher had to have much knowledge about the ESSC at first, and then explain this to the students. In this presentation, I will report the process from the beginning to the end of introducing ESS into classes; the preparation for the introduction of ESS, the content of the handouts, some problems when writing ESS, and
21 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China the students’ reactions when their works appeared on the website of the ESSC. Some Characteristics of ESSC Works in Japan OKAURA Yoshiyuki Fukuoka Institute of Technology [email protected] The purpose of the present paper is to examine some characteristics of ESSC (Extremely Short Story Competition) works in Japan 2006. First, we will examine color terms with positive, negative and neutral meanings. For example, “blue” is used to express positive meaning in some works, and to express negative meaning in other works. Secondly, we will consider the verbs which express the authors’ inner feelings: for example, “wish,” “desire,” “like,” “love,” “think” and “remember.” Next, we will deal with some expressions associated with the seasons when the First ESSC in Japan was held, that is, from October 1 to December 31. That is because expressions related to autumn and winter are frequently used: “Christmas” and “snow.” Finally, we will refer to effective paraphrase. ESSC works should be composed of exactly 50 words, so the authors effectively paraphrase a twoword expression in a single word and the reverse. We will show some examples of both effective and ineffective paraphrase. International Corpus of Creative English, Japan: What Are Creative Characteristics of English Used by Japanese Learners? FUJIWARA Yasuhiro Chugoku Gakuen University [email protected] With some similarities between the ICCE and the ICLE such as ‘written,’ and ‘tertiary,’ one striking difference is whether learners/users are given a topic to write about: while the participants in the ICLE project are given a title, those in the ICCE, with only the rigorous limitation concerning the number of the words, are allowed to freely write anything such as prose, fiction, poetry and so forth －the contents of the ICCE are entirely up to the authors. It therefore would be possible to assume that some creative characteristics are reflected in their lexical choices: what they create by “words” naturally shows “creative” features. More specifically, their lexical preference will be analyzed in terms of 1) raw and standardized frequencies and 2) correspondence analysis. This type of research can be done in the ICCE, China or Korea, probably yielding some similarities in Asian Englishes and differences in each nation. Panel VI Media and Culture: Media Performance in Different Cultural Context
22 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Chair: GuoMing Chen, South China University of Technology/University of Rhode Island Panelists：Doreen D. Wu & Patrick Ng, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Mei Zhang, Missouri Western State University Meihua Lee, National Chiao Tung University Yinjiao Ye, University of Rhode Island, USA Respondent: Shuang Liu, The University of Queensland, New Zealand Global Schemas and Local Register in International News Reporting: Case Studies of CCTV4 and Phoenix TV Hong Kong Doreen D. Wu & Patrick Ng The Hong Kong Polytechnic University The paper gives a review of the issues on globalization and localization in media practice and presents a tripartite approach of discourse analysis based on which the global and local elements in CCTV4 and PhoenixTV Hong Kong are examined along three lines of dynamics in the international news reporting: value appeals, move structure, and register choice. Detailed analysis of the global and local elements and of how the global and the local intertwine in the process of news reporting will be presented. Narratives of Role Models in the Early Years of Economic Reform: A Study of Chinese Media Rhetoric during Historic Transition Mei Zhang, Missouri Western State University Media Representations and Images of the Hakka in Taiwan Meihua Lee, National Chiao Tung University Beyond Materialism: Television News Coverage of Health Risks, Healthrisk Perceptions, Healthrelated Selfefficacy Beliefs, and Life Satisfaction Yinjiao Ye, University of Rhode Island Panel VII Aspects of Chinese Communication Chair: MeiLing Hsu, National Chengchi University, Taiwan “The Chinese Cultural Influence on Group Communication and Decision Making: Comparing Computermediated Communication Groups with Facetoface Communication Groups” ShuChu Sarrina Li & YiJing Liu, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan “CrossCultural Study of Actual Market Prices and Consumer Price Knowledge in Macau and Taiwan”
23 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Angela Chang, University of Macau “Chinese Verbal Artistry Reconsidered” HuiChing Chang, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA “An Examination of College Students' Identity in Quemoy” JianFeng Wei, National Kinmen Institute of Technology “The Classical Practice of Definition East and West” Xiaosui Xiao, Hong Kong Baptist University Respondent: Ling Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University Panel VIII CrossCultural Interpretation and Adaptation: China America Chair: Hongmei Sun, University of Massachusetts, USA Panelists: Xuefei Bai, University of Massachusetts, USA Hongmei Yu, University of Oregon, USA Keming Lin, University of Massachusetts, USA Hongmei Sun, University of Massachusetts, USA Zixu Liu, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Respondent: Studies of crosscultural interpretation and adaptation have taken on new significance with the discussions interlinked with contemporary political, economic, race and gender issues. This panel seeks to examine the intricate ways that crosscultural interpretation and adaptation interrelate with representation of the postcolonial subjectivity in literature, cinema and theory. We consider the role of power in the ways that the foreign and the indigenous are adopted, adapted, altered, and appropriated, and the ways that representation of the "self" and the "other" are engaged with political, social, national and transnational concerns. Overall, it is hoped that the seminar might bring out a crosscultural and interdisciplinary exploration about the pervasive tensions between the local and the global in crosscultural interpretation.This panel invites papers that critically reflect on problems and questions linked to theoretical approaches and literary analysis of crosscultural adaptation and interpretations. Questions that will be addressed include, but are not limited to: How is the interpretation of the tradition and the foreign important in the formation of national or ethnic identity? How has the representation by the other influenced the selfrepresentation of the subaltern? What forms of adaptation, reinterpretation, transformation, localization, and exclusion have occurred in the translation and interpretation of a literary work, a culture, a concept, or a
24 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China theory? To what ends have crosscultural appropriation been accepted and executed? How do we posit critical questions regarding subjectivities, sexualities, coloniality and the “nation” in cases of these interpretations?The five papers presented include researches in the fields of film studies, translation studies, comparative literature, and contemporary critical theories. Anxiety over Translation: Postcolonial Translation Theory in Modern China Xuefei Bai University of Massachusetts Amherst In modern China, translations of the Western works illuminate scholars of all humanity fields, entitling them to jump at the latest theories in various fields. Meanwhile, translation has seen its own disciplinary blooming. However, within a globalization context, the accessibility of translations often indicates assimilation and colonization. It is right at the awareness of this implication that the postcolonial concept that holds translation as a tool of imperialist colonization reached the Chinese intellectual and had them inquire into the translation activity as well as the ‘colonizating’ effect it has brought about to Chinese language and academia. Translation has, therefore, become a site of anxiety for Chinese scholars, a site that mirrored their selectivity of Western theories and their resistance to cultural hegemony. Through critical analysis on the appropriation of postcolonialism in China’s translation studies, together with the cultural, political, and ideological stratums interwoven into this phenomenon, my paper explores the doubleedged nature of postcolonialism, and the anxiety among some scholars when translation is set within the postcolonial framework. I would argue that China is a unique case in postcolonial studies and that its application in China’s translation studies is at once cultural colonization and decolonization, and has its positive significance. Chinese Masculinities Between Orientalism and Occidentalism Hongmei Yu University of Oregon In this paper I compare a complex of “feminized masculinity” or “selfOrientalism” found in Chinese Fifth Generation films by some scholars with a set of different cinematic representations in the main melody films. I content that the cinematic representation of Chinese masculinity in main melody films is closely related to the representation of Chinese nationalism. For example, in Grief over the Yellow River, as China’s still unfavorable status in the global competition is symbolized by the weakened masculinity, what we can see is redemption/sublimation of the castrated male subjectivity with nationalist discourses. Moreover, as the international success of some Chinese film indicates a feminized China in the eyes of the Westerns when the gender issue is reencoded in the east/west context in which the West assumes an authorial position to read and consume the Chinese femininity, I argue that the representation of masculinity in the domestic Chinese market is taking the form of Chinese Chauvinism, which has been represented by some
25 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China transnational love romances. Translating or Remaking: Why Do We Hate the Departed So Much? Keming Lin University of Massachusetts Amherst Although Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006) has acquired a cult following in the West, many Asian audiences, especially those who have seen its Hong Kong original Infernal Affairs (2002), express strong dissatisfaction with this “unfaithful” remake. This study seeks to conceptualize the dialectic interplay between the remake and the original in order to explore whether a remake can set out to please both audiences who have seen the original and audiences who have not. Underpinned theoretically by concepts located in deconstruction and psychoanalysis, the analysis of the difference between translating and remaking is applied to discuss the relationship between the original and the remake, and offers a framework for comparing the discourse incarnations of the two films, Infernal Affairs and The Departed. The result of the comparison is also presented and discussed. The "Faking" of Tradition: Textural Revision and the Writing of Asian American Ambivalent Identity Hongmei Sun University of Massachusetts Amherst Much of the Asian American literary tradition can be read as successive attempts to create a new narrative for representing the Asian American experience through rewriting of ethnical myths, tales, and literary traditions. Introducing Bakhtin’s concept of “doublevoiced discourse" and Henry Louise Gates, Jr.'s "Signification" into analysis of Asian American literary works, I adopt an interethnic perspective in dealing with the complexities of the Asian American controversy over “cultural authenticity” in cross cultural representation. Using Maxine Hong Kingston's Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book as an exemplary work, I content that creative "faking" of Asian tradition is crucial in representing the ambivalent identity of Asian American. I further argue that such prototypical trickster figure as the Monkey King acts as an icon that embraces heterogenous traditions and denies dualities such as east vs. west. Once Upon a Time in China – Nationalism, Modernity, and Cinematic Representation Zixu Liu, University of Massachusetts, Amherst [email protected] Starring Jet Li, directed by Tsui Hark, and set in the turn of the century Canton Province, China, the martial art trilogy Once Upon a Time in China raises a number of questions concerning history,
26 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China ChinaWest binarity, the dilemma of Chinese modernity, the structure of the “feminizing” gaze, and the Westernized Chinese subjectivity. It is suggested that Once upon a Time in China, as a deliberate effort to retell and rediscover the past, constitutes part of a response to the "Western gaze," a (re)affirmation of Chinese masculinity and cultural superiority, and therefore to great extent become the "materiality of Chinese identity". This study tries to address these issues, with the intention to point out some contradictions in the discourses about Chinese cultural identity and modernization, thus to create a consciousness of the disjunctures, discontinuities, and most importantly, the inherent (generic) hybridity in Chinese culture and identity. Besides, the recognition of the mutually feminizing gaze between the West and the East brings about an understanding of orientalism as a cultural logic, which lies in the center of the “truly traumatic experience” of the post colonial subject. Panel IX Communication as Popular Culture Chair: Vivian Hsuehhua Chen, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Panelists: Dienfang Chou, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan Vivian Hsuehhua Chen, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore Sonoko Azuma, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan Noriko Inomata, Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka, Japan Respondent: Why the Female Adolescents in Taiwan Enjoy Reading the Boys' Love Manga? Dienfang Chou Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan [email protected] The purpose of this research is to explore the motivation and enjoyment of reading the boys' homosexual manga among female adolescents in Taiwan. Over the years, homosexual comic books that translated from Japan to Mandarin Chinese have become very popular in Taiwan. Although the stories are about boys' love towards each other male homosexuality?, previous literatures in Taiwan showed that 70% of the readers are female. Why the girls are reading the text that they could not find a reading position to substitute? What kind of pleasure can reading boy's homosexual manga bring to the female readers? What collective imagination do those readers have? These will be the main issues in this research to investigate. Moreover, according to previous researches done in Japan, the relationship between female adolescents and boy's homosexual manga is an issue of gender more than sexuality. Therefore, this research focuses on the aspect of gender, especially on the gendered life experience. By interviewing readers, this study explores life history of the readers, including their reading history, reading position, gender consciousness and self gender evaluation, reading motivation an d pleasure of reading boys' homosexual manga.
27 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The Impact of Japanese Manga: Exploring Singaporean Adolescents' View of Friendship Vivian Hsuehhua Chen Nanyang Technological University, Singapore [email protected] With Japan's economic power and the effect of globalization, Japanese culture has a strong presence in Asia. Hao & Teh (2004) have observed that Japanese culture has significant impact on Singaporean youth through media exposure. Among the different media use, reading Japanese comic books is a popular leisure activity among Singaporean youth. This project thus investigates how manga as a medium influences adolescents' lives in Singapore. Adolescence is the first life cycle era when identities for adulthood are being developed (Marcia, 2002). Peer relationship is a major factor in an adolescent's identity formation period, especially in areas of romantic relationships and companionship, where friends become the source for partners and also the source of approval of the choice of partners (Wood et al, 2002). It is important to understand the ways in which adolescents make sense of their peer relationship (friendship). There is a lack of research on how comics influence adolescents' identity and friendship formation. Since friendship is a common theme in almost all manga, how the narratives of different characters and friendship in manga influences adolescents' identity and relationship formation with others is of interest. Moreover, little research is done on impacts of Japanese manga in the Singaporean context with the exception of Hao & Teh (2004). Therefore, the first research objective is to look at how Japanese manga influence the ways adolescents relate to their peers. The second objective is to understand how manga influences adolescents' view of friendship, including definition, quality, formation, and maintenance. What do Women Disguised as Men Make Possible? : Gender Research about "Dansou Cafe" in "Yaoi" Culture in Japan Sonoko Azuma Osaka University, Osaka, Japan [email protected] This presentation looks at the cafe called "dansou (=dressing as man in Japanese) cafe" in Japan in which servers are women disguised as men, from the perspective of gender studies. The interesting point about this cafe is that lately they are made not for lesbians but for female "otaku" who love comics and animation. In Japan, there are many teenagers and adults who love animation, comics, computer games and so on, and they are called "otaku". They tend to like different works depending on gender. Female otaku mostly love comics and novels that depict love between men, called "yaoi" and "boy's love". The customers of "dansou cafe" are nearly female "otaku" who like "yaoi". The "dansou cafe" is a version of the "maid cafe". "Maid cafes" are cafes in which waitresses dress as housemaids, popular in animation, comics and games for male otaku. It is not made only in Japan but also in some other Asian countries, and in some
28 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Western countries like Canada. As for versions of the "maid cafe" for female otaku, there is the "butler cafe", in which servers are men dressed as butlers too, but the "dansou cafe" is more popular. This presentation analyzes the function of female servers of "dansou cafe" disguised as men for female customers, and considers the meaning of "dansou cafe" for women from the view of gender studies. Creation of Young and Feminine Manga Reader Noriko Inomata Osaka Prefecture University, Osaka, Japan [email protected] We are now, once again, talking about manga's worldwide success. Now, it is considered as important soft material to export from Japan and it has become a form of reading read all over the world. Why is manga consumed around the world? What are the reasons that manga fascinates people? Manga dose not exist only in Japan; China, along with other Asian countries, and European countries, it is also popular. Especially in France which is the third largest consumer of manga in the world it also occupies the top ranking in Europe. In spite of having its proper traditional BD (= French comic) culture, nowadays, in the French book market, one of four BD is manga. What is the difference between the reception of manga and those of BD in France? It must be the existence of the manga market for the young. BD has been published for the child or exclusively for the adult so far. Manga is provided for the "forgotten reader", the young adolescent, who massively consumes it. We have to mention about the feminine reader, too. In Japan, they are indispensable as consumers and also producers of manga, but in the history of BD in France, the reader and author have been limited to men. Manga is accepted by those who have not had their BD written exclusively for them; the young and women reader. Manga has now become a French word thanks to the young reader's vast consumption and the social economic influence. The vast specificities of manga provide publications for all age groups and both sexes. Concerning these specificities, it was the production and circulation system which forged them. In this presentation, by focusing on the physical aspect of manga diffusion and comparing manga with BD, it will be made clear how manga creates its reader audience. Panel X Ethnocentrism and Stereotypes in Intercultural Mass Communication Chair: Sun Youzhong , Beijing Foreign Studies University) Panelists: Zhang Xiaoying, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China Zhai Zheng, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China Chen Xiaoxiao, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China Ma Lin, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China Respondent: Liu Chen, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China
29 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Ethnocentrism is the belief in the inherent superiocity of one’s own group and culture accompanied by a feeling of contempt for other groups and cultures; stereotypes are generalizations, usually exaggerated or oversimplified and often offensive, that are used to describe or distinguish a group or culture. These elements, unfortunately, often infiltrate into the discourse of intercultural mass communication, causing misunderstandings and conflicts between different cultures. This panel consists of three case studies that examine, respectively, the construction of the Chinese cultural identity by major Western media in their coverage of the Chinese people’s response to the opening of a Starbucks coffee shop in the Forbidden City, the representation of the Orient in Western women’s perfume advertisements, and the portrayal of China and Chinese people by The New York Times in its coverage of the SinoJapan conflicts. The fourth paper is an instrumental study that explores how China’s English language media can better “explain China to the world.” Storm in a Coffee Cup:Who We Are vs. Who They Think We Are Zhai Zheng The beginning of 2007 saw an uproar over the Starbucks coffee shop in the Forbidden City. The ensuing discussion, both at home and abroad, reflected a spectrum of viewpoints on cultural identity and stereotype. The author intends to conduct a content analysis of three different sources of texts: 1) Rui Chenggang’s original blog post that led to the discussion and responses posted on his blog page, as well as some representative Englishlanguage blog posts by native speakers of English who live and work in China; 2) news reports and analyses of some influential and crossregional newspapers in China; and 3) news reports and analyses of some influential news organizations in the UK and US. The paper reveals the attitudes of contemporary Chinese towards their native culture and foreign culture. It also seeks to examine how British and American media represented this cultural encounter between China and the West. The Representation of the Orient in Western Women’s Perfume Advertisements: A Semiotic Analysis Ma Lin Advertising, omnipresent in current mass media and daily life, is a widespread cultural practice that circulates knowledge as well as commodities. While studies have long challenged the ways in which advertising in western countries employ gendered imagery that objectify women and reinforce power differences between the sexes in order to sell products, not much attention has been given to the images of the Orient that are adopted to create women’s imagery in advertisements. This paper provides a semiotic analysis of the representation of the Orient in western women’s perfume advertisements, where women’s images are a focal point and most fully exploited. By decoding the signs and discourses in the deployment of Oriental images in women’s perfume advertisements, the paper attempts to reveal how race and gender are combined to create and reinforce female roles and define femininity in western societies.
30 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The New York Times Reporting on SinoJapan Conflicts: A Critical Discourse Analysis Chen Xiaoxiao This paper is a critical discourse analysis of the news reports on SinoJapan conflicts in The New York Times from January 1, 2001 to November 30, 2006. First of all, a brief content analysis is conducted to reveal the major themes in the news reports. After this, a microstructural analysis is made to delineate the contrasting representations of China and Japan, locating some particular discursive strategies that harbor ideological inclinations. Findings indicate that The New York Times portrayed Chinese government as aggressive, dominant and repressive and the Chinese as a frightening and violent group of people, so that China was made less victimized and sympathized in the reporting of SinoJapan conflicts. In contrast, the Japanese government and its people were depicted as more rational and courteous, while their atrocities in World War II, their denial of history, and their military and political ambitions were played down or glossed over. The macrostructural analysis of the sample texts brings to surface further evidence of ideological traces. In the concluding section, the author brings to light the underlying reasons for the ideologically framed news representations in The New York Times. A CrossCultural Perspective on the English Version of CCTV.com Zhang Xiaoying CCTV.com is one of China’s five most important official media websites, along with the other four which respectively belong to the Xinhua News Agency, the People’s Daily, China Daily and China Radio International. The latter four all have their English versions while the former conveniently converts the content of the English channel of CCTV9 (CCTV International) into its English version, containing mostly the English programmes that have been previously broadcast. As a major window to the outside world, the web site of the CCTV International has often been crticized as being not timely enough in its reporting. But so far little attention has been given to the ineffectiveness of its English language. This paper intends to examine and assess the performance of this typical foreignoriented publicity medium of China in the context of intercultural communication. By closely examining the language employed in the web site’s Home, About CCTV, and particularly the News Programme sections, the paper concludes that CCTV International needs to be more culturally sensitive in “explaining China to the world.” Panel XI Issues in Intercultural Communication Chair: Dienfang Chou, Tzu Chi University Panelists: Ling Chen, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong Shuang Liu, The University of Queensland, New Zealand
31 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Tong Yu , University of Rhode Island GuoMing Chen, South China University of Technology/ University of Rhode Island An Ran, Zhang Shihai & Hao Zhifeng, South China University of Technology, China XinAn (Lucian) Lu, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, USA Respondent: HuiChing Chang, University of Illinois at Chicago To Compare or Not to Compare? Professor Ling Chen Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong [email protected] An important issue in cross cultural communication studies is cultural generality vs. cultural specificity in conceptualization and theorization. Cultural general conceptualization allows crosscultural comparisons but necessarily glosses over the contextual variations. Cultural specific conceptualization, on the other hand, is grounded in specific contexts and almost precludes comparison between societies. While far from reaching an agreement, scholars have achieved some understanding that the two approaches are generally complementary to each other. The issue then becomes how the two approaches inform us differently and complementarily about a phenomenon or topic, and what approach would be suitable for what kind of studies. My paper will explore the issue with specific topics such as leadership, face work, etc. Living with Others: Mapping the Routes to Acculturation in a Multicultural Society Shuang Liu The University of Queensland Brisbane QLD 4072 [email protected] This study drew upon theories of acculturation and intergroup relations to examine the attitudes towards multiculturalism and how those attitudes influenced acculturation strategies of both ethnic minorities and people of the main stream culture in Australia. Data was collected via a survey administered to 200 respondents. Results indicated that while most of the participants tended to support multiculturalism, attitudes towards equal societal participation varied across groups. Differences were also found in the preferred acculturation strategies adopted by migrants and people from the main stream culture. Of the demographic characteristics, age and length of stay in the host country appeared as significant factors influencing migrants' acculturation strategies. Those findings further enhanced our understanding of cultural adaptation processes and had implications for the policy on promoting cultural diversity. The Relationship between Intercultural Sensitivity and Conflict Management Styles in
32 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China CrossCultural Organizational Situation Tong Yu University of Rhode Island, USA GuoMing Chen South China University of Technology University of Rhode Island, USA [email protected] Increased cultural diversity in work places has aroused considerable attention on conflict management and intercultural sensitivity. However, few studies have investigated these two concepts together. This study aims to bridge the gap in this line of research with an examination between intercultural sensitivity and conflict management styles in a hypothetical crosscultural organizational situation. Two hundred and fifty three students in the basic course of Communication participated in this study. The results indicate that significantly positive and negative relationships exist among the dimensions of the two concepts. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed as well. An Examination of Factors Influencing the International Students' Choice of Studying in China Professor An Ran, Zhang Shihai, & Hao Zhifeng South China University of Technology [email protected] A sample survey on integrated factors of influencing international mobility to China for Chinese language learning is conducted among 458 international students from 64 countries and 201 teaching/administrative staff from 63 Chinese universities. Individual interviews are also conducted based on specific focus to supplement the survey. Six factors of local environment, university reputation, promotion efficiency, admission process, academic arrangement, and warfare services are investigated and the difference in priority of main factors is raised between international students and Chinese teaching/administrative staff. Finally, the impact of intercultural adaptation and cultural diversity on the difference of opinions is discussed. Mundane Communication: A Venue for Intercultural Studies Professor XinAn (Lucian) Lu Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, USA [email protected] Culture, as a way of life, perhaps finds its most pronounced manifestation in the mundane and the trivial of the daily life of a cultural group. Investigation of mundane and trivial communication episodes in a group's daily interactions may prove a productive venue to extrapolate cultural
33 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China values, principles, norms, and expectations. Shorttime communication between strangers and acquaintances, such as that which occurs during greetings, at the airport, or on the road, forms an important part of mundane communication. This paper employs the undertapped methodology of comparative studies of such mundane communication in the U.S. and China to extrapolate distinct underlying cultural values beneath communication that is seemingly too trivial to be of any worth. The author hopes to demonstrate that mundane and trivial communication, contrary to popular perception, may provide fertile land for cultural and intercultural studies, and thus should be treated as a method worthy of more scholarly attention. Panel XII Intercultural Communication and Translation Chair: Sui Huili, Harbin Normal University, China Panelists: Mao Haiyan, Harbin Normal University Tang Miao, Harbin Normal University Zhang Ying, Harbin Normal University Sun Li, Harbin University Su Yue, Harbin Normal University Yang Ping, Harbin Normal University Application of Persuasion Theory to the Use of Language in Intercultural Communication Mao Haiyan, Harbin Normal University [email protected] The goal of this article is to provide specific guidelines to help create effective intercultural communication based on persuasion theory. Participants of intercultural communication are encouraged to initially identify and investigate the optimal target audience and then draft and test reactions by samples of that audience using pilot messages. They are also advised to consider research on attitude persistence, memory, and social norms and apply this research to content and style of language used. The article concludes with an application of persuasion theory to a series of overall guidelines for effective intercultural communication language use. If the these specifications were followed, the chance of success should be enhanced. Communications inside and between Speech Communities Tang Miao, Harbin Normal University [email protected]
34 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China A speech community is the whole set of people who live in a local place with specific cultural background and similar way of living, and who use a rulegoverned language or languages in a unique and mutually accepted way in social interactions. Each individual has a distinctive speech repertoire, which refers to the language or language variants that the person uses in certain social occasions. Social networks determine that members of a speech community, in different social occasions, utilize flexibly language variants in their speech repertoires to communicate with other members so as to be identified. There may come some obstacles in communications between different speech communities, for the language or language variants used are different from one community to another. The best way to solve this problem may be to understand the languages we use now, to recognize the specific properties of each speech community, to find out similarities in different language cultures, and to seek common ground while maintaining differences. The Application of Adaptation Theory in Intercultural Communication Zhang Ying, Harbin Normal University [email protected] Communication is a complicated process, in which intercultural communication is even more complex since the activities go with man’s different histories and cultures; therefore, misunderstanding is quite unavoidable. The scholars at home and abroad thus have conducted a great many researches on the failure of communication in intercultural context from different perspectives. This dissertation offers a new approach to investigate the causes to intercultural misunderstanding, making use of Verschueren’s Adaptation Theory, taking both speaker and hearer into consideration. According to Verschueren, using language involves continuous making of linguistic choices, which have to be interadaptable with all the potential ingredients in the process of intercultural communication, such as the language users’ roles and mental states, a background of physical world, and the diverse social and cultural norms, otherwise, a failure of appropriate adaptation may lead the communication break down, in that case, a contextual pragmatic transfer is going to occur. As a real situation of choicemaking process in intercultural communication, contextual pragmatic transfer also reveals a process of dynamics, which is usually in accordance with the learners’ pragmatic transfer properly, and try to avoid the negative effects of it gradually through the improvement of their pragmatic competence. The Establishment and Overthrow of Cultural Stereotypes from the Point of Epistemology Sun Li Harbin Normal University [email protected] The complexity and broad range of culture induce people to establish the relatively unilateral stereotypes about a particular culture. This thesis holds the idea that although such stereotypes are a kind of paradox, they have the epistemological foundations and therefore have the objectivity of
35 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China existence. On the one hand, they are a reflection of the target culture and help to further the investigation; on the other hand, during a communication with people from the target culture, the cultural stereotypes usually play a negative role. We have to continually revise the previouslyestablished stereotypes or even overthrow them, but at the same time establish the new ones as we further our insights into the communicatees. This thesis analyzes the reasons why people tend to establish cultural stereotypes and find out that the process of establishing and overthrowing the cultural stereotypes conforms to the process of human’s cognition which is a development from a perceptual cognition to a rational one through continuous practice. Cultural Default and its Compensation Strategy in Crosscultural Translation Su Yue, Harbin Normal University [email protected] Cultural default is defined as absence of some cultural background knowledge shared by the author and his/her reader. The existence of cultural default results in ‘vacuum of sense’ in cultural communication, which is vital to comprehend coherent structure. It is the task for the translator to reconstruct the default for the TL readers in translation. The reconstruction of cultural default helps the TL readers to build coherence in the text so that readers can appropriately understand the text and culture conveyed in it. To adapt with the cultural individuality in target language, This paper introduces some compensation strategies to deal with cultural default in crosscultural translation. That is, annotation; amplification for transplanting culture; specification and abstraction; and domestication. The Choice of Translation Strategy is Important for the Dissemination of the Source Language Culture Yang Ping, Harbin Normal University [email protected] Translation is closely related to culture and important for its dissemination around the world. But how to deal with the difference between the source language culture and the target language culture in the translation process is a great challenge for the construction of translation theory and the translation practice. To solve this, translators mainly use two ways: domestication and foreignization. And there has been always a hot debate about which one is better to choose. In this article, the author thinks that it is better to use foreinization in translation, for it can help with the dissemination of the source language culture and thus make it more important and influential all around the world.
36 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Abstracts for Workshops Workshop I Language and Cultural Education, Teaching Language through Culture and Culture through Language Andrey Fatyuschenko Lomonosov Moscow State University [email protected] Svetlana TerMinasova Lomonosov Moscow State University The experience of English language teaching in the Soviet Union when the country was completely cut off with the Iron Curtain from Englishspeaking world has shown quite vividly and convincingly what happens to a language under such circumstances: it died. And you teach and learn it as a dead language, like Latin or Ancient Greek . Thus, for decades modern European languages were taught in the Soviet Union as dead languages, and they were dead because the world of their users did not exist for us. Now the situation with foreign language learning and teaching in Russia has instantly and dramatically changed. Foreign languages – overwhelmingly Englishare the focus of public attention, they are urgently needed as live and efficient means of communication in all its forms. In order to satisfy all those demanding and angry legions of learners of English, Russian teachers have to think very hard about the essential principles of ELT. For the moment a most important one turns out to be the emphasis on cultural studies. The actual use of language as a means of communication largely depends on the cultural background knowledge of the user. The world culture is used here in its broadest meaning as the ideas, customs, beliefs, the way of life of a certain community at a certain time. We know from our own painful experience that it is a great misunderstanding to believe that in order to use a language, to produce speech, both written and oral, it is enough to know words as lists of meanings (vocabulary) and rules of bringing them together in speech (grammar and syntax). The problem is that the idea of meaning as a reference to reality invariably leads one out of the world of language into the world of reality. Consequently, bringing words together means bringing the culturally determined concepts of objects and phenomena of reality together. . The real worlds may coincide in some physical features but the visions of the world by different peoples representing different speech communities and different cultures do not coincide. Thus, the idea of meaning as a reference to reality invariably leads one out of the world of
37 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China language into the world of reality. Meanings of foreign words lead to foreign worlds. That is why learning a language is impossible without the vast background cultural knowledge of the world where the language under study is used. The Faculty of Modern languages and Area studies at Lomonosov Moscow State University have developed an original multimedia way of coteaching languages and culture which has been a great success with students of foreign languages in Russia. The learning/teaching course on English Language and Culture comprises a book, films illustrating it and activity books accompanying each film. This approach radically improves the traditional cultural area studies pedagogical strategy of accumulating layers of different kinds of prepackaged information: politics, environment, economy and business, population, sports and regions. The program aims at both producing academic scholars and training students for effective work in a foreign environment. We strongly believe that in addition to language fluency, students need an understanding of how and why the native language users make the choices they do. It is for just this reason that we adopted an area studies approach programs that combines the teaching of history, literature and popular culture alongside the teaching of language. The new approach is going to be demonstrated at the workshop with a learning/teaching course on English Language and Culture called “England and the English”. It comprises a book, films illustrating it (DVD) and activity books accompanying each film. Workshop II CodeSwitching On Campus Yu Xudong, Chair Harbin Inatitute of Technology Participants: Zhang Mei, Jiang Hongmei, Shi Qi Qi，Xie Long,Wang Zhu and Tang Ke, Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The development of language is closely related to that of economic and culture. The expanding communication between China and other countries in the world has brought great changes in people’s daily life, especially in the way they use language. One of the manifestations of this change is codeswitching which refers to that a speaker switches from language A to language B or from variety X to variety Y (Wardhaugh). In this panel, we attempt to have a discussion on the codeswitching on campus which has become very popular nowadays. The ChineseEnglish switching frequently takes place in college students’ daily communication because most of them know two or more languages, and they are willing to accept and experience new ideas. We will carry out our investigation in a university in Harbin, and regard Chinese as the matrix language (ML) and English as the embedded language (EL) in the research. The statistics and examples are to be collected by way of interview, recording and discussion. Based on the theories of power, solidarity, politeness, adaptation, memetics and so on, the participants of this panel will respectively focus on the motivation, functions of codeswitching on campus and the fields in which it occurs. The purpose of our research is to find out the rules and principles of codeswitching and therefore probe the relationship between economic, culture and language use
38 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China in this new era. Abstracts for Individual Presentations Nonverbal Signals and TurnTaking in an ESL Community Abdulaziz Alnofal University of Riyadh, Saudi, Arabia [email protected] The rules of turn taking mechanism suggested by Sacks, Schegloff, and Jefferson (1974) are considered the base of investigating turn taking. This study used Sacks rules in the turn taking mechanism to investigates the role of two nonverbal signals, eye contact and hand movement, in turning among a group of ESL graduate students (male Arabs) studying in the United States. A weekly informal gathering had been video recorded and analyzed for the purpose of this study. The analysis emphasized on the role played by the tow nonverbal signal under investigation in turn taking. Findings of this study included: a) the participants in this study used eye contact and hand movement for different purposes; b) they used eye contact and hand movement to keep, exchange, seek for, give, and/or reject turn; c) although they used both nonverbal signal (eye contact and hand movement) in turning taking, they used eye contact more than hand movement and for much more purposes. Implications and suggestions for further studies are included. Determining the Effectiveness of an Integrated Diverse Workforce on the Satisfaction and Retention of Employees Afshan Ahmed NUST institute of management sciences [email protected] The research paper focus on finding out the role of diversity among workforce and efficiency out put of the employees in selected organization. The regional setting of the research is Pakistan and purposely five big organizations have chosen where diversity element can be observed easily .Diversity has been taken on two grounds: gender and culturally different workforce. Research methodology is focus group discussion, informal interviews and questionnaire. The distributed questionnaires results were tallied and interpreted through pie charts as well as those questions which had likert scales were interpreted through weighted mean and its ranking scale. Result conclude that indeed integration of diverse workforce in terms of gender and cultural background has a positive effect and helps in the retention and motivation of the employees. Even though this concept has not been widely observed in the Pakistani firms but still the employees and some employers seem aware of the importance of integrating diversity at workplace. From the findings of research, the managers and supervisors have been advised to make sure that the employees who belong to different cultures and are women should be made welcome in the office.
39 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China From employee perspective orientation stage seems to be critical where he sees more diversity among workforce. HVS Adaptive Perceptual Digital Image Codec for 21 st Century Satellite Based Intercultural Global Geography Awareness Ajith Kumarayapa, Zhang Ye, R.Wickramanayake Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] ‛‛Picture is worth than thousand words” is a true saying that passes from generation to generation. In the modern digital era, we change the word Picture to Digital Signal Image. Moreover, in the context of intercultural awareness and the consequent communication activities, the satellite based Earth observation Digital Signal Imaginary plays crucial role. For an example, while staying in China for research studies, one can understand his back home geographical environment in far eastern country like Sri Lanka, observe its true environmental locations, towns of cultural diversity by accessing Google Earth; the interactive internet database based on Remotely Sensed Satellite Digital Signal Imaginary (combined with simulations). Furthermore, due to the advancement of remote sensing image compression and transmission technologies, now a day, not only we can talk to a friend in the other part of the globe but also watch his living city and suburb environment through the internet based earth observatory digital image simulations. At the beginning of our paper, we briefly address the question; ‛‛what is the technology behind such digital image communication task?” .Then, in order to make such bulky remotely sensed digital image communication and the ensuing observations more efficient, here, we propose and simulate an efficient, novel, Human Visual System (HVS) based (perceptual) Image Codec (i.e. a system to compress and decompress digital images).The evaluation results, including Ten (10) human observer’s subjective assessment average model emphasis the efficiency of our technique over the existing. The Phonosemantic Universality of Multilingualsim: An Anthropocentric Hypothesis on Word Formation Alexei Medvedev University of South Australia [email protected] The work outlines the main principles of the tentative Rigorously Universal Phonosemantic Hypothesis (RUPH) claiming the trilateral dialectical unity (Vygotsky) of sound, thought, and meaning of human speech embodied in the always intentional “pure and quasinaked sense of articulation” (Humboldt) that expresses some primordial syncretic, mostly spatial, meanings of the
40 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China thought by analogy in some particular qualia of the referents. Such phonosemantics is constrained by human articulatory abilities, yet considered universal across all human languages. It thus allows compiling with several crosslingual contrastive procedures the preliminary inventory of phonosemes – the elementary bearers of presumably universal meanings. Words could initially have been built ad hoc by agglutination of meaningful phones as primitive descriptions of the referents’ qualia with their further fossilization and complete loss of the primordial explicit meaning. Multilingualism is understood hence as multiple manifestation of the human ability of word creation. The hypothesis reconstructs the primeval conceptions of naming various objects: animals, numbers, and abstract terms, such as justice, right, society, et al., in multilingual and thus multicultural perspectives. The phonosemes correspond to the counterparts in reconstruction of human protolanguage, Sumerian, and particularly ProtoChinese by Howell and Morimoto. Toward a Selfregulating System of Romanian Mass Media from a Ccybernetic Approach Alina Hogea University of Bucharest [email protected] After the fall of communism (1989), Romanian media had known an impressive and fast development, characterized by the appearance of thousands of publications, and hundreds of audiovisual outlets. This contributed to a rapid and uncontrolled increase in the number of people working in media, but it doesn’t means that the number of professional journalists increased (Coman 2003:35). Although in recent years, there were several attempts to createand implement a system of selfregulation, at present there is no ethical code known and recognized by the whole profession and there is no professional body recognized by all media to judge ethical deviations. As Peter Gross (2002:161) stated, EasternEuropean journalism lacks the essence of professional journalism: objective verified information for the public to draw correct conclusions as regard the surrounding world. The aim of this paper is to present a concrete way of changing the Romanian mass media system, which is still in transition, into an accountable and democratic one. From a historical approach, and using systems theory and cybernetics – theories drawn from Luhmann (2000), Bateson (1972), Maturana (1992) and HarriesJones (1995) – the essay tries to find a way in which an ethical behavior can be adopted without being perceived as a restrictive, limitative action upon media activity. Instead of proposing another ethical code, which could turn into dead letters again, this paper looks for a change effectively introduced into the selfobservation of the system, which would lead to a change in the communication of the system. This is of interest not only in terms of the inner functioning of the system, but also in respect to its potential for a change of the whole society. English as the Mirror of Identities: the Image of Thailand Alina Turkutyukova
41 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Far Eastern National University [email protected] In the globalized world the English language has gradually acquired the important status of lingua franca facilitating intercultural communication. Contrasts between cultures are becoming less striking and a country sharing its culture with the global community at the same time runs the risk of losing its cultural uniqueness and identity if we understand identity as the ability to distinguish between 'us' and 'them'. Having become the means of cultural selfexpression, very much so in Asia where 80% of all NNS English communication takes place, English is undergoing changes due to the mother tongues of these cultures’ influence which is shaping it into national varieties. One of the aspects of this nativization process is borrowing vocabulary. Investigations into the loan words inform the researcher of how this Asian culture is different from what we may call the Western culture as it is what strikes as strange and unusual is then borrowed into English. Qualitative as well as quantitative analyses of loan words from an Asian language into English provide insights into this difference thus enabling us to realize what is it that builds the uniqueness of the culture thus attempting to define the cultural identity. The presentation deals with the Thai loan words in the English language. Media and Culture New Russia’s Image in American Linguistic (Based on Newspaper Discourse) Alla Sheveleva Far Eastern National University [email protected] In the context of globalization and intercultural communication typical of this millennium, Russia is constantly attracting American journalists’ attention. Its interests are thoroughly described by various newspapers. The description considers events from the political, economic, military, religious and cultural spheres of Russia’s life. But unfortunately the description suffers from subjectivity. At the same time it enables readers to create fixed ideas and beliefs about life in Russia. In general negative stereotypes prevail over positive ones. This is attained due to a large number of linguistic and extralinguistic factors involved in the description. Here a great role is attached to comparison based on similarity or to contrast based on opposition. It is revealed in newspaper titles, wordorder breaks or inversion, cleft sentences often used to make the information more emphatic or expressive, to produce a certain influence on readers; in the use of some lexical units, e.g. the pronoun it when speaking about Russia. Our objective is analyzing the newspaper texts devoted to Russia, penetrating into the mechanism of influencing readers and describing the linguistic means by which certain results are achieved. A CrossCultural Study of Discourse Structure of News Reports
42 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Selected from China Daily and the New York Times An Jie Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] News report, as a special type of writing by which people get the latest information all over the world, plays an important role in the modern society. But when comparing the news written by native Englishspeaking journalists and those by Chinese journalists, differences in discourse organizations are easily observed. The aim of this paper is an attempt to reveal the immanent cause of this phenomenon from a crosscultural perspective, especially from the point of thinking patterns. Data are collected from China Daily and the New York Times, and both quantitative and qualitative analysis are used to testify the causal relationship between cultural thinking patterns and the ways Eastern and Western journalists organize their English news reports. Global Culture as a Global Problem Anna Pavlovskaya Moscow State University [email protected] The problem of globalization nowadays is one of the most urgent and crucial. It is mainly not the question of political and economical but cultural unity. The growing of globalization in the world surprisingly gave birth to the new wave of nationalism in different counties mainly in the peaceful spheres of culture, manners and way of life. But who knows what will be next? On the one hand it is obvious that today all the cultural processes in the world are intertwined: the fashions, the style, even the private life are unified in spite of national preferences and values. On the other hand, in many European countries the inner, mostly unconscious protest is growing up, aiming to restore national traditions. This is the problem that is going to affect the future of the mankind Linguistic Technologies in Modern Political Discourse ANNA SUSLOVA American Studies Department at Irkutsk State Linguistic University [email protected] Political discourse might be considered as the site of political struggle inasmuch as power is exercised and enacted in discourse. Power can be won, held and lost not only in physical and brutal actions of wars and revolutions, but also in the wars of words, tones, styles, and even grammar structures. Broadly speaking, modern politicians have some definite linguistic mechanisms of powerholders (which we call linguistic technologies). With the help of these
43 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China linguistic technologies the powerholders reach their political goals. A successful politician is always alert to nuance and the finer shades of verbal meaning. In their speeches, they very often try to “textualize” the world in their own particular way leading the interpreter to interpret this text in this particular way. Words and other linguistic expressions enter into many sorts of relationship in their speeches –similarity, contrast, overlap and inclusion. Some American presidents such as Abraham Lincoln , John Kennedy , Ronald Reagan, and some others were considered to be masters of a variety of rhetorical tones and styles. They often followed either Ciceronian tradition or the tradition of Shakespeare and the King James Bible in their presidential speeches. Ciceronian tradition is sober, lapidary, and, at its best, characterized by an Olympian grace: "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate". Shakespeare and the King James Bible tradition depends for its power upon the strength of its language and imagery. Now days American politicians are purposely changing these traditions in American oratory by making their speeches less standard, embracing informality, and drawing nearer to a more authentic and more "natural" humanity. An experienced politician producing (often with the help of speechmakers) various texts include into them not only his knowledge of language but also his knowledge of the natural and social worlds they inhabit, values, beliefs, assumptions, and so on. Linguistic technologies, which are based on systematic tendencies(reference to national values, repetition of the same ideas by means of various linguistic mechanisms, positioning the reader/listener, even engaging the coparticipants of discourse into discussion) help the politicians to exercise their political power and very often manipulate the public opinion. Political Advertising on the Internet: Challenges and Prospects Anna V. Zban Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences Vladivostok, RUSSIA [email protected] The Internet offers innumerable opportunities for political campaigns and candidates including fundraising from supporters and advertising for new voters. The survey carried out by the Online Publishers Association in 2003 found that more than two out of three U.S. voters were likely to turn to the Internet to find information about a candidate. The study also predicted a possible breakthrough for the Internet political advertising in the very near future to come. But despite the clearly established advantages and benefits of those predicted innovations, the election campaigns have been still too slow in pouring those eagerly expected big financial resources into online political advertising. Online advertising and political advertising are still booming separate but equal; and too many political consultants consider Internet political advertising to be no more than a backroom experiment. Our study attempts to analyze the reasons for the phenomena observed and to reflect on the prospects of efficient use of the Internet resources in the election campaigns.
44 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Some Words about Russia’s Image in Western Publicistic Discourse Anna V. Koltunova University of Vladivostok [email protected] In the context of globalization and intercultural communication Russia’s image has been taking on special significance. That is why it’s necessary to study linguistic and cultural factors contributing to a negative image of our country in Western publicistic discourse. We’ve analyzed American newspaper articles (NovemberMarch, 2007, 200000 printed characters). In each article the described events are interpreted as elements of a comprehensive whole. This lets the massmedia influence public opinion, the political situation in the country, and intercultural communication. From the linguistic standpoint, the influence is based on the causal connection of the events based on the use of certain means. The analysis implies: studying temporal localization of the events (moment, period of time, relation to another event); determining topicality’s characteristics which change the informational structure of a sentence; classification of the events’ modality (real / hypothetical, desirable / undesirable). Scientists note that the modality is implicit here, and this is peculiar to the publicistic discourse. This kind of analysis helps find out the piblicistic discourse’s degree of subjectivity and trace the development of the Russia’s image, which is formed of events, their estimation, and stereotypes. Cultural Determination in the Reconstruction of the Female Subject in Gita Hariharan’s The Thousand Faces of Night (1992) and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997) Anupama Vohra University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K, India [email protected] The literacy achievements of a number of Indian English writers, especially women novelists have brought Indian English fiction into the international literacy scene. The present paper will study Hariharan’s and Roy’s engagement with cultural determinism in the reconstruction of the female subject. The Indian English women writers have concentrated on middle class consciousness and experiences in their fiction. The shaping of this subject by the ideologies of patriarchy, colonialism and capitalism, sequences an awareness of processes by which representation of certain images of women became fixed and these in turn, are enforced in constructing women’s selfrepresentation. Writing from a position of power linked to English language the aim of writing for such writers cannot be exclusively art for art’s sake but must have a social function. In the two texts taken up for study the dynamics between the protagonist/authors ways of contending with the complex and contradictory sociocultural imperatives that underlie gender construction will be focussed. So prejudiced by the cultural influence they fail maintain their own identity or adopt the new one in totality.
45 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Housing for the Poor: The Pursuit WellBeing in the Emerging Urban Context of Khon Kaen Town Apisak Dhiravisi Khon Kaen University, Thailand [email protected] Buapun Promphakping Khon Kaen University, Thailand [email protected] This participatory action research aims to analyse the urban poor’s resource base for their livelihood as well as to analyse and expound on the housing development patterns for these poor. The results show that the urban poor made use of resource base to drive this process in term of materialistic resource, human society and culture this kind of resource base was formed and existed under the patronage system and horizontal network. As for the housing development patterns called ‘2SCHOOL Model’. This involved seven implementing aspects: The poor were moulded to have spirit, saving, cooperative mind, housing development participation, organization with dignity of potential group as in operation research, and the last aspect for the urban poor was leadership. The suggestions on the housing development for the poor are that they must adjust their lifestyles from being ‘the receivers’ to ‘the builders’ of their own housing, with selfdependence and spirit for strengthening their livelihoods. About community organizations after official transforming into cooperatives, there should form the followup system for internal and external evaluations to stabilize their performance, acting as a shield to prevent any likely fraudulence. The ways leading to cooperation mean that the partnership, process and target on joint knowledge must be the dividends, and the workplace must be open so that all representing groups can draw their potential to participate with dignity. Globalization & Justice Azadeh NazerFassihi Cultural Studies, University of Tehran, Iran [email protected] This article presents an analysis of the discourse of globalization from the perspective of justice. We will search the answer of this question: How the globalization contributes to expand of justice in the world? The analysis first discusses the concept of globalization and definition of justice. Second the relationship between globalization and justice is examined. This claim, is speaking about the development and adjustment of the civic institutions and public arena and movement toward democracy, with the assistance of cyberspace and real world and their conformity with each other. Globalization is a movement toward an ideal target in which there is equal access to
46 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China various facilities and services for all citizens. In this paper, will be studies, necessary principles to making better world with these concepts: “Globalization& Justice” and the appearance of the justice indices in this process and the way that globalization could help to establishment of that. Homogenization of diverse cultures, Global justice and solidarity movement, endless information and the new management of the world, the political face of justice: “Democracy”, global boundaries and increasing capacities. In here, justice is defined based on” humankind consensus feeling”. Internet (as a medium for democratization)that use in many ways even: in creation virtual ethnic communities, knowledgeled, freedom of express, new social discipline and the cultural effects of this process and other issues which are going to be reviewed in this paper. KEY WORDS: Globalization, Justice, Consensus feeling, Equilibrium, Capacity, Justice Indices The Marginalization of the SecondGeneration Chinese in Britain Bao Huaying Beijing Foreign Studies University As Britain now comprises a sizeable population of “secondgeneration” minority, there is an ongoing debate about their adaptation of and integration into the mainstream society. For the Britishborn secondgeneration Chinese, it is also their major concern. This paper intends to highlight their difficulties in the process of adapting and integrating into the mainstream society, presenting their problems and invisibility in such areas as education, employment, politics and culture. The result of the research indicates that although there have been increasing socialeconomic achievements among the secondgeneration Chinese, on the whole they are still marginalized from the mainstream society. Reasons for the marginalization of the secondgeneration Chinese are also explored, which include both problems within the Chinese group itself and obstacles from the British society. Despite the present marginalization of the secondgeneration Chinese, the thesis also indicates that the situation may not be hegemonic in the long run, as there emerge new trends for the Chinese community in Britain. These new trends are significant factors for promoting the integration of the secondgeneration Chinese into the British society. Empowering Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Children Barbara HongFoster Texas A&M International University [email protected] Rosemary Chai
47 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Nanyang Technological University [email protected] The current trend for enhancing student outcome has been focused on hiring more qualified teachers, increasing test scores, and holding administrators more accountable. However, no one is holding the students responsible for their own learning. Research has continuously shown that schools are not preparing students to take ownership of their own learning, become selfdirected, selfregulated, and selfempowered. In short, students are not experiencing positive outcome as they leave the school setting into the real world. Unfortunately, this is particularly true for students from culturally and linguistically diverse background and students with disabilities than any other groups. There appears to be a lack of literature investigating the impact of teacherstudent relationship and student outcome. Perhaps a need for attention should be focused on the nonlinear, dynamic communicative interaction between student and teacher, including how teachers treat students, quality of proactive teaching and learning taking place in classrooms, teacher relatedness towards students, and teacher responsiveness towards diverse students' needs. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to explore the degree to which teachers help students become selfempowered by examining specific factors which enhance or frustrate the development of selfdetermined behavior. Far and Away—Effective and Efficient Preparation of Employers for Internatioanl Assignments through the Intercultural Knowledge Scale Bernd Kupka, Senior Presenter University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand [email protected] Associate presenters: André M. Everett, University of OtagoDunedin, New Zealand Carley Dodd, Abilene Christian University Texas A&M University, USA Stephen G. Atkins, University of OtagoDunedin, New Zealand Lynne Walters, Abilene Christian University Texas A&M University, USA Tim Walters, Zayed University Abu Dhabi, UAE Jürgen Bolten, FriedrichSchillerUniversität Jena, Germany Marion Mertesacker, Universität Regensburg Universität Regensburg，Germany Andrea Graf, Universität Regensburg Universität Regensburg, Gernany Bethany Richter, Trinity University Trinity University, USA L. Brooks Hill, Trinity University Trinity University, USA The Intercultural Knowledge Scale (ICKS) is introduced as a tool to assess the intercultural knowledge of candidates for international assignments. Practitioners can use the ICKS to conduct
48 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China reliable needs assessments and training effectiveness evaluations on trainees’ knowledge of the target culture to which they are delegated. The 12item ICKS performs well in four studies that were conducted in New Zealand, the USA, the United Arab Emirates, and Germany. The ICKS shows very high Cronbach’s alpha scores, produces very robust test – retest correlations, displays very high KMO scores, and explains on average more than two thirds of the variance. A three factor model in evident in self tests and retests. Confirmatory factor analyses produce the same solution in peer tests and retests. The three components are target culture knowledge, knowledge acquisition, and unrealistic expectations. Self evaluations show a slight social desirability bias; peer assessments are not tainted by this tendency. The ICKS is sufficiently sensitive to detect most differences over time and between self and peer evaluations. The ICKS enables multinational enterprises to prepare their international cadre effectively, efficiently, and socially responsibly through the ability to customize intercultural communication training based on the results of the scale. The ICKS saves internationally operating companies valuable resources (time, money, personnel), and facilitates the dispersion of knowledge as a resource in the host and the home country once expatriates return. Change and Stability of Conversifixal Derivatives in English Boris I. Bartkov Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Language change is a sum total of many processes at different levels of speech.During the Middle English Period verbadverb combinations began to appear, e.g. to make up, break down, etc. Our study has shown that in the XIV th century a new phenomenon appeared, namely: formation of nouns and adjectives from verbadverb combinations according to the following models: Ving (makingup) and Ver (makerup), Vo (makeup) and Ved (madeup). About 3,500 words have been coined as a result of two simultaneous processes, namely: conversion and composition (that’s why we dubbed them “conversifixal derivatives”). From a diachronical point of view the following changes have occurred: percentage of nouns formed after the models Ving and Ver decreased from 73% in the XIV th century to 2% in the XX th c. On the other hand, percentage of Vo nouns increased from 7% in the XIV th c. to 94% in the XX th c. This trend was stable during six centuries. Derivational types in conversifixes up, out, off, in, down, etc. have been singled out and described in accordance with modern tendency to use such quantitative characteristics as productivity, valency, frequency, etc. Loans and Language Contact in Algonquian and French Cree Bostjan Dvorak ZAS Berlin, Germany [email protected]berlin.de Patrick Steinkrueger ZAS Berlin, Germany
49 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China [email protected]berlin.de When asked about some modern expressions taken from a European language, mainly English, like computer, internet or plane, the speakers of Ojibwe often hesitate, when interviewed in the experiments, referring either to a standardized pretence, such words would not exist in their language, or presenting skilfully a big variety of language own corresponding words, like mazinaabekiwebinigan, wazamooassab or bemissemagak. The preference for such neologisms may be associated with a kind of national purism from a modern European point of view, but on the other hand it coincides with what we find in early statements made by Baraga and other authors about the language and its nature – characterising it as being that rich and dynamic that it tended to express all things by own words and forms. What is the concrete relation between language type and possibilities for loans and borrowings? This and further questions about contacts between European and Algonquian languages arise when we consider older statements, new opinions and own observations; most parts of gathered information seem to bring some evidence for the proposed or at least indicated (Rhodes, pc) claim that Algonquian languages show a certain immunity from influences by other languages, based mainly on complexity and type of their morphological structure. It is likely to assume that loanwords should be rather rare, therefore, when compared with other situations of contact between (more closely related) languages. On the other side, there is the case of the Michif language (“French Cree”) within the same linguistic and geographic context, showing an extreme opposite to the model assumed above, in combining two typologically extremely different grammars consequently in one system, with the nominal part almost completely integrated from a non Algonquian language. How should this be interpreted? Although being considered to be a typological rarum, a systematically planned or constructed language, due to the sociolinguistic situation given at its origin, this structure might be considered as an evidence for the assumed contact difficulties based on morphological structure rather then being in opposite to them; the present consideration attempts to associate Michif as a mixed language phenomenon with the tendencies found in general in the languages of the Algonquian family, when exposed to contact, with an account based on morphological structure and dominant parts of the grammar. With Michif and Algonquian morphology, some systematic differences between creole and mixed languages arise, which are compared in several aspects of grammar and language contact situations. The Measurements of Emotion on Media Brad Yen Center for Communication and Technology Research National Chiao Tung University [email protected] Jacey Lee Institute of Communication Studies National Chiao Tung University [email protected]
50 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The emotion plays an important role on how people process the information, such as memory or attention, both of which influence how producers or directors manipulate media content. The emotion is defined with a dimensional model of emotion presented by P. J. Lang, including valence dimension and arousal dimension. There are three approaches to measure the emotion, including physiological data, selfreport data, and behavioural data. The physiological data are composed of facial EMG (facial electromyography recordings), EDA (electrodermal activity), HR (heart rate). With facial EMG, the electrical response of zygomatics major (cheek) is followed by positive emotion, while corrugator supercilii (eyebrows) is followed by negative response. The EDA shows positive relationships with high arousal response. While watching negative films, the HR decreases larger amounts compared with watching positive films. The selfreport data are measured with the SelfAssessment Mannequin, SAM, including both and arousal and invented by P. J. Lang. The behavioural data is based on the researchers’ observation to determine whether the participants feel. The article concludes the emotion is interacted with attention and memory. A Qualitative Study of Chinese University Students’ Misconceptions of American Culture Cao Hongxia Nanjing Normal University [email protected] Though they are regarded as the essential resource of cultural learning, Chinese teachers of English doubt their ability to teach culture. It is necessary for them to know the current state of students’ cultural conceptions, especially misconceptions so as to modify their culture teaching methods. This paper reports a qualitative study aiming at exploring Chinese university students’ misconceptions of American culture. The study was conducted in the course American Culture Through Film which was attended by 126 thirdyear undergraduate English majors in Nanjing Normal University. Through analysis of student questions, observation of classroom performance and discussion of students’ response to two essay questions, the study finds that students reveal four types of cultural misconceptions, i.e., stereotyping, lack of knowledge on crossnational differences, outofdate beliefs, ignorance of culture as developmental. Of these four, stereotyping is the most typical but can be rectified through instruction and guiding. Language teachers’ level of cultural awareness, language learners’ dependence on textbooks and influence from mass media are possible reasons for their cultural misconceptions. Chinese Culture in Intercultural Communication: A Case Study of English Majors Cao Jing, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law [email protected]
51 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Research in intercultural communication has been focusing on how to help Chinese better understand the western culture. Studies have shown that understanding the difference between Chinese culture and western cultures is the key issue in developing intercultural communication competence, yet they fail to realize the fact that most Chinese do not understand Chinese culture. Little research has examined how well a Chinese understands his or her own culture. In light with the current situation, the present study explores the current situation of English majors in their understanding of Chinese culture and cultures of some Englishspeaking countries. A small survey was made to answer the following two research questions: 1. Do the English majors know more about cultures of Englishspeaking countries with the increase of their English proficiency? 2. Does their understanding of Chinese culture also increase with the increase of their English proficiency? Ninety participants involved in the survey were the first, second and thirdyear English majors. The results showed that the participants did show a better understanding of western cultures when learning English with a longer period of time. The survey also revealed that the understanding of Chinese culture turned out to be limited and remained the same level among the participants of different grades. The study then provides insights into the important role that Chinese culture plays in developing intercultural communication competence of Chinese students, and suggests the pedagogical implication in teaching Chinese culture in English to English majors. Social Distribution of Written Openings in China CAO Xianghong Xinjiang Normal University [email protected] This paper is concerned with how Chinese people use opening strategies linguistically and pragmatically according to their age in personal letters. The opening structure of 259 actual personal letters was analyzed, and the uses of openings by Chinese of different age and generation in the family and the nonfamily contexts were compared. Findings reveal that the openings in Chinese personal letters are a highly ritualized act and the way in which writers structure openings varies according to age and generation. That is, for the different generations, older family writers prefer to use the opening strategies emphasizing authority and intimacy, while younger family writers demonstrate a strong preference for the most intense structure stressing respect intermingled with affection. However, both older and younger writers in the nonfamily letters show an equal preference for the combination pattern emphasizing social status. For the same generation, both elder and younger writers in the family and nonfamily contexts make an extensive use of the highly conventionalized combination patterns. This paper also discusses the impact of Chinese cultural values and norms on the different orientation to structural aspects by Chinese in this kind of written interaction.
52 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Culture Learning and Adaptation: A Close Look at the Realities Cecilia Ikeguchi Tsukuba Univeristy, Japan cecilia@tsukubag.ac.jP We are confronted with a paradox: intensified human interaction through dramatic advances in technological and the unchanging diversification in culture values and norms. Communication technology is still not a substitute for human interaction. Rather it merely precedes personal and intercultural relationships. Advances in communication technology are simply instrumental tools and resources for a more intensified human communication. It is almost a cliché to say that the reality of facetoface interaction demands a truly intensified intercultural knowledge and skills. This paper investigates the concept of intercultural learning of nonJapanese inÿJapan as they come to grips with new meaning sand learn the values and social relationship in the culture. It shows the reality of how different individuals confront the dilemmas of facetoface communication The study focuses on “culture distance” and “intercultural experiences”. These concepts are analyzed in terms of the implicit difference model (Shaules, 2004). Data are derived from the results of a survey conducted among 200 foreigners in Japan. It was found that the stages of culture learning of the participants can be described in a nonlinear model: acceptance, adaptation and enforced adaptation. The presenter will prove, from the results of the investigation, that it is possible to dislike a particular community and still be interculturally sensitive (Matsumoto, 2003). Other implications for intercultural mix groups will be discussed. Cultural Schemata and Poetry Reading Chang Zonglin, Ocean University of China [email protected], [email protected] With the increased interest in reading processes, the recent years have seen considerable diversity in its research. Most of these researches however are done in one culture. And they are typical of psychological approaches. Though a person’s reading practices involve the psychological activities of his mind, it is axiomatic in the view that it involves both preexisting linguistic and cultural knowledge, which form one’s linguistic and cultural schemata. Since readers in different cultural communities receive different education, the knowledge they have acquired is different. Moreover, they have been greatly influenced by their social customs, their social behaviour and their social ideology. Since cultural learning has attracted much more attention than it used to and it has become an integral part of language learning, the mere study of reading practices by means of psychology alone is considered inadequate. It should be reconsidered from the perspectives of cognitive, linguistic and cultural studies. The purpose of the research centres on the cognitive
53 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China reading process of subjects from different cultures. With the feedback from the subjects being presented and discussed, this study aims to explain how different readers in English and Chinese cultures read, engage with and interpret poems and how they respond to the culturally loaded texts by writers with same cultural schemata and with different cultural schemata. It attempts to exemplify how the subjects read and respond in their communications in terms of their different schemata which result in the differences and similarities in their interpretations and responses when they read poems and the culturally loaded discourses. It aims to present different ways in which these subjects form and utilize images in their reading process. Translating Global Terror at Local Going to Global Newrs Research with Context and Power ChiaChuan Chang SOAS, University of London [email protected] Since 1970s, one of the longestrunning debates in media and cultural studies has been cultural/media imperialism regarding asymmetric flow and representation in global news. In parallel with changes of global media environment, the research paradigm of global news has gradually switched to applying notions of active audiences to investigate representation, meaning and effects of global news at local level since 1990s. Under the context of globalization, criticisms to cultural/media imperialism and notions of active audiences suggests that the relationship between two paradigms in doing global news studies are not substitute, but necessary to be amend and connected with each other. In brief, when researching global news working at local level, macro factors (cultural/media imperialism) and micro factors (active audience theory) should be taken into consideration simultaneously. I endeavour to suggest research tasks to bridge their differences. First, it is essential to identify the dynamic power relationship between global and local news environment in the way that constructs the context doing research. In other words, cultural/media imperialism still works as a frame of reference. Second, although local is able to take different meanings from global news they want compatible to the social, cultural and political ideology they serve, this process is still subjected to the global structure of unequal political and economic power. I will take translating global terror in Taiwanese mainstream newspapers as example to illustrate the research tasks. On the one hand, definition of global terror is always related to imbalance in global power. On the other hand, due to market considerations, newspapers in Taiwan largely rely on transediting news feeds from major global news agencies and media as their international news. However, lacking of participation in the world affairs, what kind of meanings do Taiwanese mainstream newspapers take from global news about global terror and how structural factors do limit gatekeepers to reshape meanings would be interesting to investigate. Do Chinese Always Reject Compliments?
54 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China ——A Study of the Chinese Responses to Compliments Chang Mei, Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] This paper investigates compliment responses for Chinese of different age and English education level. The investigation is carried out through a questionnaire with 14 items that cover common compliment topics on appearance, performance, possession, personality and offspring. They are in open question format. Social status and relative power between complimenter and complimentee are also taken into consideration in designing the questionnaire. The result is analyzed and categorized primarily based on Loh’s taxonomy with two modifications. It shows that older people tend to be more conservative when they respond to compliments, and Englishmajors tend to use more appreciation to accept compliments than their nonEnglishmajor counterparts. The causes of these differences are examined and discussed from political, social and educational points of view. Note 1 This paper is based on an unpublished group work assignment for sociolinguistics module when the author was under the teacher training program in National Institute of Education of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The group designed the questionnaire together but wrote papers individually to fulfil the assignment. Other group members are Gu Xiaole, Xiao Yanling and Zheng Zhaohong. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the module chair, Dr. Rubdy Rani Sumant, for her academic guidance and encouragement, and my enormous appreciations to other group members for their brilliant ideas and diligent work. Harmony or Conflict Chang Wei Dong Yanyan Harbin Institute of Technology sabrina[email protected] In intercultural communication field, a comparative study has been developed and some ideas began to occur to our mind that in different culture and different society, different group of people have their unique way of communication; The differences in communicative style reflect the cultural value diversity among people. Its explanations can only be best understood in the context of culture and value system of their own. In literature, most conflicts between figures are developed this way. Thus the conflict in literature can easily be comprehended. In Martin Eden, the hero Martin grew to be a celebrity from a humble origin, but eventually chose to die. Its mystery can be solved by and by after the conflict between Martin and the upper class or the class he belonged is revealed by his own communicative way contradicting with others. This article will focus on their communicative way to see how the author revealed the conflict between him and the upper class or the lower class. We’ll further discuss whether there’s a way to help Martin be in harmony with them by changing him communicative way.
55 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Let's Face It! A Chinese Cultural Model of Interpersonal Communication Yanrong Chang University of Texas, Pan American [email protected] Interpersonal communication as a discipline is still relative new in China. On the basis of my understanding of interpersonal communication as it is conceptualized in the U.S. textbooks, I am going to examine interpersonal communication in the Chinese cultural context. Assuming that human beings in general are strategic and rhetorical, and that language provides the vocabularies of motive for human action and interaction, I will construct a Chinese cultural model of interpersonal communication that centers on two major vocabularies of motive (Burke, 1950), namely, lian and mianzi (roughly the English translation, face). I will argue that lian and mianzi function as the cultural codes that inform, regulate, and integrate Chinese people in their social interaction, creating a speech community (Hymes, 1962; 1972) that has a shared understanding and practice of the codes (Philipsen, 2002). This Chinese cultural model will be compared and contrasted with the model of interpersonal communication as depicted in the U.S. textbooks. A discussion of implications for theories and research on interpersonal communication, and culture and communication will also be provided. Key terms: Lian, mianzi, face, interpersonal communication, language, speech community, Chinese culture, culture and communication, social interaction Crosscultural Comparison of Promotional Elements Used in US, Chinese, and Taiwanese Websites Yuhmiin Chang National Chiao Tung University [email protected] Many well recognized marketing communication scholars called for the studies of intercultural communication through the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) perspective, which involved various promotional elements such as advertising and public relations. For example, Taylor (2005) believed that applying IMC perspective in studying intercultural communication will be a critical extension to the current international advertising research. Kitchen and Schultz (2003) as well as Schultz and Schultz (2004) asserted that examining IMC in the global context is in need. To study intercultural IMC practices, Web is the medium that cannot be ignored (Ellison 2000; Riedman 2000; Taylor 2005b). Nonetheless, few crosscultural communication studies compared the promotional elements used in a brand’s different country sites. In responding to the call for such studies, this study analyzed the promotional elements used in 68 US leading brands’ US, Taiwanese, and Chinese websites (n = 204). The results showed that several aspects of the
56 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China promotional and executional elements were significantly different among the countries. The implementations of these findings are discussed. CrossCultural Comparison of Promotional Elements Used in US, Chinese, and Taiwanese Websites Yuhmiin Chang National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, R.O.C [email protected] Many well recognized marketing communication scholars called for the studies of intercultural communication through the Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) perspective, which involved various promotional elements such as advertising and public relations. For example, Taylor (2005) believed that applying IMC perspective in studying intercultural communication will be a critical extension to the current international advertising research. Kitchen and Schultz (2003) as well as Schultz and Schultz (2004) asserted that examining IMC in the global context is in need. To study intercultural IMC practices, Web is the medium that cannot be ignored (Ellison 2000; Riedman 2000; Taylor 2005b). Nonetheless, few crosscultural communication studies compared the promotional elements used in a brand’s different country sites. In responding to the call for such studies, this study analyzed the promotional elements used in 68 US leading brands’ US, Taiwanese, and Chinese websites (n = 204). The results showed that several aspects of the promotional and executional elements were significantly different among the countries. The implementations of these findings are discussed. Superstitious Customs among Young Japanese Adults Charles McHugh, Professor Faculty of Foreign Studies, Setsunan University Neyagawashi, Osakafu, Japan [email protected] Thirtyfive Japanese subjects, aged around 20 years old (Female=16; Males=19), wrote free responses about superstitious customs for nine listed categories and one other category. The nine specified categories are: New Years, Daily Life, School, Marriage, Clothes and Body, Birth, Death, Numbers, and Hospital. Subjects could write up to six responses per category including both what the custom is and their reason for the custom. These results show some commonly recognized superstitious customs plus lower frequency or idiosyncratic ones. Some of the common ones include: eating noodles on New Year's Eve, not exchanging food with chopsticks, avoiding numbers 4 and 9, and not sleeping pointing to the north. Some lesser known ones might be: don't kill centipedes, kill spiders at night, don't point at a mosquito, and accidentally spill wine on the table.
57 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China These findings offer implications for improving crosscultural contacts with Japanese. NonJapanese interlocutors will gain deeper knowledge about what they observe in daily life as well as realizing what actions they should avoid or enact to ensure smoother interpersonal relations.
The Dissemination of Hangzhou Tourism Culture in English Taking "Ten Views of West Lake" as the Case Chen Baiying Zhejiang Shuren University [email protected] The thesis deals with the cultranslation of Hangzhou tourism culture in reference to language & culture and translation theories. It provides a critical introduction to the English version of Hangzhou tourism culture, taking the wellknown “Ten Views of West Lake” as the case, and attempts to explore the effective methods and find possible solutions to the problems found in Hangzhou tourism discourse. In presenting the theme, the thesis highlights the crosscultural communication and hopefully helps to promote the dissemination of Hangzhou tourism culture in global era. 1) Deliberating on the motif of Hangzhou tourism cultural dissemination, the author deems that aesthetic value expressed in Hangzhou’s leisure ambience and cultural temperament is capable of making crosscultural communication more attractive and fruitful. 2) Holding that both language and culture have been placed in the context of globalization, the author advocates the priority of foreignization or semantic translation and encourages people to take the third way—making an eclectic use of different approaches in intercultural dimension when the former does not work. Foreign Is Not Unfamiliar An Translation Impact Study Involving Taiwan Subjects HuiWen Chen Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung Qianting Wang Communication University of China, Beijing Yong Zhong University of New South Wales, Sydney [email protected] The research discussed in the paper is the last of a trilogy investigating the impact of foreignized
58 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China and domesticated translations on sampled readers. The two precursors had been conducted in two Chinese Mainland cities of Beijing and Guangzhou and this last one was conducted in a Taiwanese city of Douliou. So comparisons will be made to the two precursors in the discussion of the research procedure and findings of the Taiwan project. The paper begins with a brief introduction of the background in which the Taiwan project was conceived and a brief profile of the subjects sampled for the project. Then there is a description of the research design, including the hypotheses and field work methodology. The three hypotheses are that the subjects would have distinguishable ideas about the two renditions, that the subjects would have correlated ideas about each of the renditions and that the findings of the Taiwan project would corroborate those of the two precursors. The description of the research design is followed by a presentation of the data analysis conducted for the project together with a statement of the conventions adopted for reading the statistics. On the basis of the data analysis, interpretations are made, leading to the rejection of the first two hypotheses and acceptance of the third hypothesis. Stereotype of Sexist Language from the Perspective of Conversation Analysis Chen Jing Hangzhou Normal University [email protected] Most genderlanguage studies always put their attention to gender differences in conversation, in turn, gender stereotypes has been formed in the comparison. Different from most of the previous gender studies, the challenge to gender stereotypes is the main point of this paper. The author wants to draw readers’ attention to the negative effect of the stereotypical gender differences. Gender is a social constructed category, a joint achievement in interaction. Conversation Analysis (CA) is based fundamentally on interaction as a joint activity. Based on the theories of sociolinguistics and pragmatics，this thesis approaches gender interactions from the perspectives of conversation structure, conversation strategy and conversation style. The ultimate goal of this analysis is to minimize the misunderstandings in intergender communication and achieve effective and successful intergender communication. The Affininity between European Rationalism and Chinese Doaism of Loazi and Zhuangzi—on the Intercultural Permeation Thinking in the GlassBead Game of Hesse Chen Min School of Foreign Languages, Donghua University, Shanghai [email protected]
59 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China German author Hermann Hesse, who had been deeply influenced by Chinese Philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi, constructed a kind of utopian perfect spiritual realm of human beings in his fulllength masterpiece novel The Glassbead Game through the affinity and combination of European rationalism and Chinese Daoism. Through the analysis of the opus, we can conclude that only via achieving the dialectical integration of forging ahead (western rationalism) and thinking deeply (Chinese Daoism) by cross the Chinese and western culture to let these ancient and great thinking get closer and attached to each other, can the human society go along the way of peaceful coexistence and harmony development. On the other hand, the idea and spirit respected in the opus still has significant implication in the harmony development of our present society. Key wordsÿThe Glassbead game, Western rationalism, Chinese Daoism, Intercultural affinity, Harmony development of society Communication through Web Publishing Projects Chen Nan Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The popularity of reality shows, such as “The Apprentice,” “Survivor”, “Project Runway”, provides language educators new insights on the significance of communication through projectbased learning (PBL), which notably promotes learnercentered, collaborative, and purposeful learning. The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it advocates a PBL environment targeted towards introducing language learners to the design and development of web publishing projects. Hypermedia/multimedia learningbydesign uses the powerful instructional methodology of PBL, which is inspired by the constructivist learning theory that emphasizes active, studentcentered learning within authentic, collaborative context. Second, it discusses how web publishing projects can shape the traditional language classroom by integrating student publishing with the development of important language and learning skills and experiences. It is argued that communication through web publishing projects goes beyond the boundaries of facetoface communication and thus enables realtime virtual communication in a wider variety of speech communities, which incrementally facilitates communication in the target language. Intercultural Encounters and Acculturation of The Rural Migrant Workers Chen Suke Graduate School of Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] Over the years, there have been numerous studies focusing on cultural adaptation, which pose strong foundation for migrant population studies. This study builds on the work of Young Yun Kim and Hirolo Nishida and others to develop an approach for
60 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China studying intergroup communication in china. In china the speedy economic development has accelerated mobility of population from rural areas to big cities. This special group is known as rural migrant workers which draw increasing concerns of scholars from diverse fields. The paper studies cultural adaptation of the special group from intercultural communication perspective.What happens to them in their turbulent intercultural boundarycrossing journey? At which social stratum do they arrive at? Is the marginalized status the only direction they can get to? Could they successfully reach Assimilated or Bicultural Identity? What characterizes their future development? By analyzing the data collected from net, newspaper, books etc, the paper attempts to apply intercultural communication study framework to probe into transformation process of their current cultural status and its future developmental orientation. The paper will, to some extent, shed light on the issue of rural migrant workers’ cultural encounters and cultural integration from an intercultural perspective. The New York Times Reporting on SinoJapan Conflicts: Translation Techniques of Advertisement in Intercultural Communication Chen Yao Northeast Forestry University [email protected] This paper attempts to study the techniques in advertisement translation from intercultural communication perspective. It points out that like any other translations， advertisement translation is also a kind of intercultural communication activity. Cultural differences have an essential bearing upon advertisement translation. Most problems in advertisement translation concern the core of culture: cultural psychology, values，way of thinking and aesthetic interest，varying between English and Chinese. Advertisements in crossculture communication come from different cultural background, so this paper, through translation background, translation aim，and translation effect, mainly puts forward five translation techniques and elaborates these with concrete examples. In order to make the advertisement more effective in crossculture communication, it is very important and necessary to adopt the proper translation technique. This article discusses with carefully chosen examples how these cultural differences influence advertisement translation and how to avoid mistranslations due to such differences. A Brief Analysis of Communication Accommodation in Shanghai ChenYingrong East China Normal University [email protected]
61 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China In the light of Cultural Accommodation Theories (CAT) in intercultural communication, the present paper intends to examine different accommodation models of people from various areas/provinces when they come to reside in Shanghai. Such an examination could enable us to explore how such processes are related with changes of attitudes and behaviors of these newcomers. The subjects under discussion are those with diverse social status, cultural identities and ethnic background, including students from other provinces, people hunting for jobs in Shanghai, migrant workers, and foreigners. They live in Shanghai for various purposes. Then, the paper goes on to match the four groups with four categories according to Cultural Accommodation Theory, The paper further analyzes those people’s communication strategies in their interaction with local people in Shanghai and their attitudes and behaviors towards Shanghai local culture. Finally, this paper discusses implications for people’s intercultural communication in internationalized metropolitan cities. A Comparative Study of American and Chinese Teachers' Talk in College Oral English Class Cheng Cheng, Zhou Hua Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Based on the typical characteristics of oral English class in China and the related theories on English as a foreign language teaching, the paper compares American and Chinese teachers' talk in college oral English class. The author randomly chooses 10 American teachers and 20 Chinese teachers who teach oral English to collect data. Attending their lectures and recording are the principal research methods which lasted one semester. Three aspects are studied here: talk time, talk style and talk quality. The results can be found: talk time of Chinese teachers is longer, talk style is more serious and conforms to talk rules, and talk contents are likely to deviate from the topics. Relatively, American teachers' talk time is less in quantity, talk style is likely to be casual, and talk contents are closer to the topics. Therefore, the corresponding class atmosphere and teaching results can be found. Finally, the effective constructional strategies in dealing with problems confronted by teachers of oral English class are put forward. Chinese English Teachers’ Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC): An Investigation Cheng Donghui Anhui University of Technology and Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] The time today calls for the abundance of interculturally competent world citizens in all fields. The current situation in China is, although people are increasingly aware of the imperativeness of becoming interculturally competent, there lacks systematic endeavor to help
62 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China people improve their intercultural competence. Teachers of foreign languages are on the front line of interacting with alien cultures. Therefore, they especially English teachers, since English is the largest foreign language taught in China for many years, are supposed to shoulder the majority of the responsibility. The fact is some pioneers of them have already carried out the task, introducing IC related courses, revising textbooks, adopting new methods of instruction, etc. However, generally speaking, most English teachers do not receive specific training on IC, nor the ways to promote students' ICC. Their ways of teaching are divided and experimental. In the field of IC education research what has been done is almost all related to students. The teachers' role has long been neglected. In the process of education, in and out of classroom activities, teachers play a crucial role, as organizers, participants, facilitators, observers and innovators as well. The teachers’ levels of ICC will inevitably exert great influence on the students’. Based on a small scale investigation this article addresses the following research questions: What is the status quo of ICC level of Chinese teachers of English? What are the factors that hinder / facilitate the process of their becoming interculturally competent? What measures should be taken to further improve their ICC level? Chinese English Teachers' Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC): An Investigation Charles Cheng Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] Donghui Anhui University of Technology. [email protected] The time today calls for the abundance of interculturally competent world citizens in all fields. The current situation in China is, although people are increasingly aware of the imperativeness of becoming interculturally competent, there lacks systematic endeavor to help people improve their intercultural competence. Teachers of foreign languages are on the front line of interacting with alien cultures. Therefore, they especially English teachers, since English is the largest foreign language taught in China for many years, are supposed to shoulder the majority of the responsibility. The fact is some pioneers of them have already carried out the task, introducing IC related courses, revising textbooks, adopting new methods of instruction, etc. However, generally speaking, most English teachers do not receive specific training on IC, nor the ways to promote students' ICC. Their ways of teaching are divided and experimental. In the field of IC education research what has been done is almost all related to students. The teachers' role has long been neglected. In the process of education, in and out of classroom activities, teachers play a crucial role, as organizers, participants, facilitators, observers and innovators as well. The teachers’ levels of ICC will inevitably exert great influence on the students’. Based on a small scale investigation this article addresses the following research questions: What is the status quo of ICC level of Chinese teachers of English? What are the factors that hinder / facilitate the process of their
63 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China becoming interculturally competent? What measures should be taken to further improve their ICC level? A Pragmatic Study of Humorous Intercultural Communication Cheng Jie Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Humor is pervasive in our daily communication. Research has shown that native speakers are generally capable of adapting their language to make it appropriate for a nonnative speaker interlocutor’s proficiency. Little is known in general about humorous interaction in intercultural communication, in particular little is known about how and why humorous intercultural utterances are made during such interaction. Based on the existing research findings, this paper attempts to explore the humorous interactions in the intercultural communication from perspectives of both pragmatics and cognition. It will be argued that the adaptationrelevance model may help us understand more clearly the dynamic processes of producing and interpreting the humorous utterances from the cognitivepragmatic perspective and make a contribution to a better understanding of humorous utterances. It also helps us to understand why some people may fail in the humorous intercultural interactions. Thus, by virtue of the deepgoing analysis of the samples about the humorous intercultural communication, this study tries to prove that humorous communication is a process of adaptationrelevance and reveal the underlying causes and strategies involved in the verbal humorous intercultural communication. The Application of National Culture Signs on Brand Communication Strategy: A Case Study of Chinese Cultural Meanings in Absolut Printed Ads MeiChiung, Chi Department of Advertising, Chinese Culture University, Taiwan [email protected] YenLing, Chen Department of Advertising, Chinese Culture University, Taiwan [email protected] SoJeng, Hung Department of Advertising, Chinese Culture University [email protected] Brand represents the manufacturer’s product values, both visible and invisible values. In the international market, original country image is also an important factor for developing brand
64 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China image. Absolut is Swedish wine brand, however, not as Russia; Sweden is not recognized as a famous country for making vodka among the international markets. This brand has his born limitation in building brand image. In order to dilute the negative impact from his country of origin, Absolut escaped from his national culture traits in purpose and put his identified focus on his logo—bottle design. Therefore, Absolut use multicultural symbols to create national culture characteristics in a series printed ads. It not only expresses his bottle shaped impression, but also builds his global brand image at the same time. Based on 2 Absolut printed ads which used Chinese culture elements, this study analyzes the application of Chinese culture meanings on brand image building. It tends to delve the brand image effects by using national culture symbols and cultural stereotypes among crosscultural communication. In summary, from crosscultural communication viewpoint, this study tries to analyze communication strategy of international brand when building brand image. Intercultural Ingredients: A Content Analysis of Texts in an Integrative English Course Chi Ruobing Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) [email protected] Li Jing Xianda College of Economics and Humanities at SISU [email protected] Despite anecdotal evidence often cited to support the importance of culture in foreign language programs, systematic textual data analysis is still lacking, especially that of course books for college majors of the English language. To fill in the gap, this study aims to detect, collect and analyze cultural and intercultural elements in the texts of the first four volumes of An Integrative English Course (AIEC), which claims to lay emphasis on cultural aspects in English learning. If the process of acquiring a foreign language and learning a different culture can be compared to that of taking in food, so are the texts to the ingredients, on which all the ensuing steps depend. Therefore, to evaluate the course books from a cultural perspective, a content analysis is preliminary. Adopting a coding system based on Seelye’s theory of cultural teaching (1993), the authors content analyze all the texts so as to provide a clear and complete picture of which aspects of culture are included. A further step (cf. a separated proposal by Zhou and Liu) will be taken concurrently to analyze the exercises of the same set of textbooks and the comparative results of the two attempts will be reported respectively.
65 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China How Can World Englishes Bloom in Japan? The Situation and Problems of College English in Japan? Chie Saito International University of Health and Welfare [email protected] English Language Teaching (ELT) at the university level in Japan has been altered in the last 15 years due to societal changes reflected on the nation’s educational system and language policy. This movement has positive and negative effects in terms of the improvement of students’ English ability. It would appear that ELT at the university level in Japan has lost purpose and does not know what its goals are. First, the current situation of English education at universities and colleges in Japan will be presented and the problems which we are facing will be highlighted. Second, the concept of World Englishes will be discussed as a remedy of the problems. Finally, due to the limited understanding of the concept of World Englishes among students and teachers alike, some proposals to spread the concept of World Englishes will be made. Cultural Analysis of Advertising Media, A Case Study: Two Nike Billboards Cooper Wakefield Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] Xiaoqing Frances Pan Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] A recent Nike advertising campaign in Shanghai depicts several NBA basketball stars most of whom strike gangsterrap style poses which entail dominating eye gaze, cocked head positions, frowns, challenging eyebrows, and generally imposing and intimidating poses. Relying on the theories of Scollon and Scollon, Kress and Van Leeuwen, Goffman, and others, we will analyze the nonverbal gestures, the compositions of the advertisements themselves, and the geosemiotics of the advertisement as a whole, which is juxtaposed with another nearby Nike advertisement which sports Chinese athletes in far more conventional athletic poses. In addition, we performed a survey of local responses to these images. Our aim is to analyze the layers of meaning embedded in these advertisements and how those meanings are interpreted in light of their situatedness in space, determine how people respond to these images, and to analyze their responses by asking for qualitative explanations of their responses. As an American myself, I find these advertisements objectionable, and alienating. I wonder how other people respond to them (specifically, Chinese people). Do they find them “cool?” Do they find them objectionable? Do they find them powerful? We will conclude
66 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China with some discussion of our results. This research will shed light on issues of advertising, analysis of visual media, and youth culture. The Aesthetical and Audiovisual Design of Television Networks Continuity as a StrategicAesthetical Weapon of Communication Cristina Gonzalez Oñate University of Castellon, Spain [email protected] Television networks are considered as audiovisual companies with a mission, vision and organisational philosophy, with long and shortterm objectives directed to the search of benefits that address an audienceclient. The audiovisual companies, like any other company, have opted to manage their communication and leave their mark by paying special care to their audiovisual aesthetics to provide an opportunity to capture the audience. Many of these companies are those networks that already attempt to shake off their competitors and stand out from their counterparts by offering the television viewer new intangible values presented through audiovisual design. These new values are displayed and expressed by the development of elements, communicative tools and peculiar discursive forms (signature tunes, captions, title screens, graphic art, selfpromotion, etc.) that serve to place and differentiate networks from the others and, most importantly, to define and express an Identity and a projection of their own corporate Image to create an attractive, distinguishing and positive standing before the viewer. The audiovisual design of television continuity, as a model of specific corporate communication of the television medium, is an identity wrapper of the television networks. It has become a strategic model that is increasingly managed to create television marks and offer the audience value. It is precisely this enterprising conceptual framework of television networks where the importance of dealing with communication as a fundamental tool has revived; a tool that is able to transmit its mark in order to project an Image and a positive standing in the audience’s mind. It is our intention with this paper to throw light on the strategy of marks that one television network which is new to the television medium has followed to define its position and approach the public in a highly competitive television market. Intercultural Personhood and Identity Negotiation Dai Xiaodong Shanghai Normal University [email protected] It is generally accepted that people achieve identity through various social communications. Identity, in most cases, is not given, but constructed in interpersonal or intercultural negotiations. Identity negotiation is discussed by many scholars and two major theories—Identity Management
67 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Theory (IMT) and Identity Negotiation Theory (INT) are developed to address the issue. IMT and INT provide us with insights into the logic and operation of identity negotiation, but they have not explored what part intercultural personhood plays. Intercultural communication presupposes certain degree of both cultural universalism and cultural particularism, and intercultural personhood proves to be an indispensable bridge for common understanding. This paper aims at investigating how intercultural personhood interacts with the process of identity negotiation. Firstly, the paper defines the concept of intercultural personhood; secondly, it maps out the developing process of intercultural personhood and identifies the key dimensions in which it interacts with identity negotiation; finally, how intercultural personhood shapes identity negotiation competence is addressed. Culture as a Shaping Factor in Second Language Acquisition Dai Weidong Shanghai International Studies University Bao Liying Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] Since 1950s, second language acquisition (SLA) has undergone the influence of behaviorism, structuralism, and Universal Grammar whose impact is still very much felt today. The 1980s and 1990s has seen the bloom of theorizing SLA from various research strands, and culture, which had been ignored in the modular SLA models with disparate description of language representation and language learning, has drawn attention from both SLA researchers and pedagogic practitioners. This paper first studies the role of culture as an independent variable in SLA from sociocultural, sociolinguistic and emergentist perspectives. Then, an intercultural approach is put forward to describe and promote SLA. Intercultural Communication and Network Society: Reconsideration on the Impact by Internet Dan Haijian Wuhan University of Technology [email protected] Network Society is a concept different from Virtual Space or nonvirtual space, which describes the living space changed by using of Internet. It includes communicative activities on Internet, also the offline activities affected by Internet. Such society contains many new qualities to feed the need of Democracy or Modernity. This article explores the different understandings towards this term, tries to define it and uses it to describe the current Internetmediated society. Intercultural Communication in the network society has its new characteristics and brings
68 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China challenges and opportunities for the society’s development both in the context of “harmonious society construction” and “globalization”. What Happens When Critical Literacy Goes Intercultural? An Examination of the Experience of Preparing Intercultural Students for Academic Literacy Deborah Bryant University of South Australia [email protected] Jonathan Crichton University of South Australia [email protected] Processes of globalisation have led to rapid social and economic changes and an increasing interconnectedness between languages and cultures. Associated with these developments is the large scale movement of students internationally to study at Englishspeaking universities. A key issue for such students is their ability to engage with the Western model of academic literacy, fundamental to which are skills in critical literacy. While approaches to teaching critical literacy have been incorporated into Western education more generally, they have yet to be systematically included within programs for international students. This paper reports on the experience of the University of South Australia in incorporating critical literacy within international programs. Drawing on data from a range of programs delivered to international students, we argue that critical literacy needs to incorporate an intercultural dimension if it is to support the learning of international students. Word Polysemy in English as Related to Their Age Deborah H. Larson Visiting Professor, Quality School International (USA) Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Boris I. BARTKOV Foreign Languages Department Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Tatyana B. BARTKOVA Far Eastern State Technical University, AVladivostok, Russia [email protected]
69 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China All new words emerge as monosemantic units. Quantitative study of new meaning addition to affixal derivatives has shown that the older words have more meanings. The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1989) allowed us to calculate a very informative characteristic, namely: “an average number of meanings per word”(S*). Comparisons demonstrate that prefixal as well as suffixal derivatives obey the following rule, “Older derivatives of each type are more polysemantic than the younger ones, and vice versa.” ERGO: word age is one of the causes of polysemy in English. Cultural Identity of Hong Kong Reflected in Jackie Chan'S Performances and Movies Ding Yajuan Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] [email protected] After Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, some talented Hong Kong film stars, such as Jackie Chan, YunFat Chow and Michelle Yeoh, sought their career success in Hollywood, involving in more and more western film productions. By studying Jackie Chan’s fifteen films, five Hong Kong films produced before 1997, five Hong Kong films produced after 1997, and five Hollywood films, this paper is in an attempt to explore how cultural identity of Hong Kong is reflected differently in Jackie Chan’s performances and movies before and after 1997 in his Hong Kong Films, and in his Hong Kong films and Hollywood films. Diverse Languages Depicted in Babel Communication and Miscommunication Dong yanyan Zhang lingyan Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] After God created the world, the whole earth had one language and few words. People on earth decided to build a really tall tower through which they can reach the heaven. But God was not happy to see this. He divided all these people into different races, living in different places, speaking different languages, thus making them unable to communicate with each other easily. The newlyOscarawarded movie “Babel” is a film with the theme of communication and miscommunication of the people around the world. Catastrophic circumstances bring out the differences and similarities between individuals from various cultures speaking different languages in this tense movie. This essay discusses the theme and circumstances shown in the movie from a cultural perspective since there are several countries and languages in the movie:
70 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China English, Japanese, Mexican, Moroccan and further more, the sign language for the deaf and dumb people. The essay probes the mentality of humanity via the analysis of the film and through the superficial communication and intricate tie between the people in the movie. A Study of the Heteroglossic Nature of RA Abstracts from the Engagement Perspective Dong zhiyou Harbin Normal University [email protected] The research article abstract (RA abstract) as a special genre arouses many researchers’ interest in it. Previous researches into this field mainly focused on the structural aspect of it. This paper, however, aims to explore the dialogic/heteroglossic nature of RA abstracts from the perspective of engagement system in the Appraisal theory. This discourse semantic system is a useful tool for us to investigate how the writer of a RA abstract manages to negotiate a better interpersonal space for himself and to get the readers aligned through various lexicogrammatical resources in it. This different approach to the study of RA abstracts provides new insights to language teaching in general and RA abstract writing in particular. The Rise and Fall of You Tube: How the Compressive Effects of Technology and Digital Capitalism Sharp Socia Donna R. Miller Jefferson Community and Technical College [email protected] David C. Bruenger University of Texas San Antonio [email protected] Communications of the late 20th and early 21st centuries support and depend upon a synergy between and among technological innovation, economic growth, and social utility. As viral communications architecture and utilities have become increasingly accessible on a global scale, they have become more and more deeply embedded into the daily lives of many individuals. For these Internet citizens (netizens), social media sites such as MySpace, YouTube, and LiveVideo create and extend social spaces and practices via the Net. These postmodern communications are frequently utilized as democratic platforms for individual spectacle that often become viral in nature. At the same time, with profoundly differing intent, social networking sites have become pivotal
71 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China components of the multibilliondollar economy of new media. This paper examines the recent tension and division of the YouTube social network as the compressive effects of technology encourages the horizontal creation of competitive social media and the force of digital capitalism pulls YouTube into vertical alignment with traditional media. Contrastive Analysis of Speeches by Chinese and U.S. Presidents With Special Reference to Hu Jingtao and Bush’s Speeches Dou Weilin, Wu Shanji University of International Business and Economy [email protected] The present study applies contrastive discourse analysis, which is a multidisciplinary approach with the combination of contrastive linguistics and discourse analysis，to a case study of contrasting Chinese and U.S. president’s speeches. Several pairs of speech samples by U.S. president George W. Bush and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao on similar topics or similar occasions are collected from the official website of White House, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Xinhuanet.com. and are analyzed in depth in their tenor, texture, rhetorical strategies, etc.. Through the contrastive analysis of linguistic units and language phenomenon in the two different languages, the present study tries to uncover the differences between China and U.S. in terms of cultural values, patterns of thought and ideology. Paper Proposal: Modeling American and Taiwanese Consumers’ Responses to Mobile Advertising Using LISREL Technique Kenneth C. C. Yang The University of Texas El Paso [email protected] Tim K. Tso College of Life Science National Chiayi University [email protected] Recent developments in mobile commerce technologies and applications have generated a lot of interests among advertising researchers and practitioners to embrace mobile devices as a third screen. Largescreen mobile and handheld equipment such as PDA’s, colorscreen cell telephones, and iPods have evolved these devices into a major part of converging media to deliver personalized and instant advertising messages. Despite the increasing interests of incorporating mobile advertising into advertiser’s integrated marketing communications activities, an often
72 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China ignored issue is whether mobile consumers will be willing to accept mobile advertising sent through these mobile devices. In this study, we surveyed 200 American and Taiwanese mobile consumers to propose a model predicting consumers’ responses to mobile advertising. We propose a theoretical model that has consumers’ perceptions of mobile advertising as the first order factors and past adoption behavior as the second order factors. These second order factors were allowed to interact freely with the first order orders to predict crosscultural consumers’ responses to mobile advertising. The fit of this hierarchical model of consumers’ perceptions of mobile advertising is expected to be acceptable for both Taiwanese and American consumers after preliminary LISREL analyses. Preliminary analysis found that the proposed structural models can predict consumers’ intention to use mobile advertising. To further control the demographic composition of the survey participants from Taiwan and U.S., we introduced gender, age, education, and income as covariate in the proposed predictive model. Preliminary analysis also found that none of the demographic covariates were significant predictors in the model. Crossvalidation of predictive models for both Taiwanese and American consumers was found to provide further support to the validity of the proposed theoretical model. Model fit and diagnostics were found to be acceptable for both models. All specified loadings were also found to be highly significant in both models. The results suggested a strong homogeneity among mobile users and their responses to mobile advertising. Implications for the diffusion of mobile advertising globally are discussed. Media, Globalisation of Culture and Identity Crisis in Developing Countries Sedigheh Babran Islamic Azad University [email protected] [email protected] This article focuses on the globalisation of culture and the role of media in the ensuing identity crisis (both individual and social) resulting from this process. The article tries to display the basic concept of the process of globalisation with all of its effects, threats, challenges and opportunities and will illustrate its interaction with the media in a developing country such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. The essay will show that the main components of power structure in today's world can be linked to these two complimentary processes – globalisation and the information era. The interaction between these two phenomenons has changed the quality of communications which, in turn, is creating new personal and social identities (personification and personifying). According to survey results, it is clear that in societies which are not efficient in reinforcing and strengthening their communication infrastructures and which are unable to compete with the new methods of communication and information exchange, identity formation gains political, economic and culturally adverse and asserts an unrepairable damage. In conclusion, the article
73 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China tries to present some proposals for Iranian and other developing countries' media as the active player of this era and offers ways to challenge and deal with the unavoidable process of globalization and identity crisis. Analysis of the News Supervision by Public Opinion in Mainland China YuLi Wang Chinese Culture University, Taiwan [email protected] Under the arrangements of mainland China’s Reform and Openup Policy, mass media has been listed in the third tertiary industry due to its industrial nature. Being a member of the industry, the mass media was asked to assume responsibility for its own profits and losses. Following the trend of the media commercialization, the mass media draws close to the populace’s lives. Along with the press reform, the “news supervision by public opinion” emerged in mainland China. Although the definition of the news supervision by public opinion is somewhat different between the western’s and mainland China’s, the emergence of the media criticism under the unified public opinion nation is quite welcome by the audience. The news supervision by public opinion, on one hand, draws the media close to the audience and fulfills the needs of media commercialization, on the other hand, supervises the disadvantageous reform factors and fulfills the government’s expectation. The news supervision by public opinion in mainland China was considered is one kind of government authority’s power extending, but not the execution of citizens’ right. But, in the process of the news supervision by public develops the “marginal utility "effect. In other words, in extends the political power authority, when makes the supervision by public opinion to the different agenda, it also has the reversed function to the surveillance of the political power authority itself. Some western scholars pointed out that, since mainland China’s economy reform and open policy, has appeared the weakening of the state apparatus’s control. They also believe there is already appeared the “civil society “in mainland China. This study employs the research methods of literature review, secondary analysis, and case study. It aims to discover the performance of news supervision by public opinion under the two power strength of media commercialization and political regime. This study also tries to explore the influence of news supervision by public opinion on emerging civil society. A Tentative Comparison of Kinship Address
74 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China To Nonkin between English and Chinese Du Xuezeng Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] Kinship address constitutes an important component of the whole addressing system of any language spoken across the world. Kinship terms are predominantly used to define and address kinship relationships. They can be extended, however, to nonkin relationships to express respect, solidarity and intimacy. This extension varies considerably from language to language both in form and usage. The present paper attempts to examine the similarities and differences in kinship address to nonkin between English and Chinese. This research draws on earlier studies conducted by linguists both Chinese and overseas in the area, but is mainly based on my own data obtained from modern Chinese plays and novels as well as from my own observation. The research findings demonstrate that there are more differences than similarities both in form and usage in kinship address extended to nonkin between Chinese and English. Language and Cultural Communication: Developing Cultural Awareness in the Experimental ESP Reading Course E.Korotkova Far East National University, Vladivostok Institute for International Studies [email protected] Language, communication and culture cannot be separated. We teach communication and culture issues in the frame of a 68hour ESP experimental reading course. The course is based on the study textbook called ‘ Political , Social and Economic Processes in the Pacific Rim Countries’ and designed for students majoring in International Studies and World Economy. The major components of the cognitive reading process are reading skills tied up with various reading stages and strategies, cognitive operations and cultural values intrinsic of the Pacific Rim countries. In reading comprehension familiar information or Theme meets the unknown information, or Rheme, thus making the text comprehension more complete for learners. The unknown political, economic, historic and cultural ideas become the Rheme, and the learners understanding it, acquire the various notions the textbook encompasses. Teaching cultural awareness necessitates sorting out cultural universals as well as inferring the cultural values characteristic of Pacific Rim countries, so, the students will acquire social cognitive skills alongside with the cognitive reading skills when they end up the course. The communication activities and rolegames simulating the real life situations instruct learners to use various modes of communication styles (dominant, relaxed, friendly ,etc.). Therefore, learning to understand diverse message systems of the Pacific Rim countries the course recipients develop awareness of both the host culture and empathy and encourage feedback in real life communication process. Thus, ESP course optimizes cognitive reading and comprehensive process, activates education and reallife communication, incorporates new cultural notions and develops cultural awareness in its recipients.
75 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Metaphorical Facets of Inter Cultural Communication: A Case Study of Russian and British Media Edward Vladimirovich Budaev Nizhnii Tagil State Social Pedagogical Academy, Russia [email protected] The theoretical basis of the research is the “cognitivediscursive” paradigm which combines heuristics of cognitive linguistics and media discourseanalyses. Metaphor is seen as not the rare or isolated linguistic device, but as one of the most basic and ordinary means through which humans conceptually organize the world. Through examination of linguistic data one can reveal the structure of humans' conceptual systems. Thus, by identifying metaphorical concepts evident within a culture and “mapping” them semantically, one simultaneously gathers information on the values of a particular culture. The empirical content of the study is an analysis of metaphorical models, which organise conceptualization of exSoviet republics of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia in the EU (British press) and beyond (Russian press). The metaphorical models reflect the dominant ways of cognitive construal and evaluation of the concept "Baltic States" in Russian and British consciousness. It is argued that a political misunderstanding between Russia, Baltic States and Europe is linked with the difference between metaphorical conceptualizations of the same reality in national media discourses. Evolution of Public Relations Theories: A Historical Comparative Analysis EE Chang Institution: Shih Hsin University, Taipei, Taiwan Dept. of Public Relations and Advertising [email protected] Public Relations is a young social science of about 100 years. Yet many people still think this young profession does not have its own theories. Is it true or not true? Starting in 1975, the year the first public relations journal Public Relations Review was issued, many public relations theories have since been evolved and used. Public Relations, like other social sciences, have accumulated an abundant collection of concepts/theories through the years to shed lights on its practices. This research aims to ascertain the public relations theories that have been developed and applied through the past 30 years, and the paradigm shifts in this process. The theories in the past three decades will be dividing chronologically into three groupings/generations according to their inception years. A historical comparative analysis of theories in different generations will be conducted, with emphases on their origins, contents, application and future developments. Possible findings include: Different generations of public relations theories may focus on different themes. The major theme of the first generation is persuasion; theories involved are W. McQuire's
76 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China persuasion matrix, J. Grunig's situational theory, Chaffee and McLeod's Coorientation Model, Petty and Cacioppo¡|s ELM, etc. The main purpose of this period is to decipher the "black box" between sources and receivers, with the hope of acquiring better campaign results. The theme of the second generation is management, with theories under the structuralfunctionalism/system paradigm such as J. Grunig's Four Models, Excellence Theory, conflict resolution, risk communication, crisis management, game theory, and marketing public relations, etc. This period centers on management and sees public relations merely as a tool to augment the management function and marketing effects. The last generation possesses two themes, relationship and rhetoric. Persuasion is not the purpose of communication in this period, but building relationship is. In the mean time, speech communication with a critical perspective is well entrenched in this decade. The paradigms that came along also switched to a more critical perspective. Conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, and cultural studies are the guiding thoughts. Multiculturalism in Historical Countries; With Emphasis on Iranian Version of Multiculturalism Ehsan Shaghasemi University of Tehran , Iran [email protected] Through multiculturalism, modern countries recognize the potential of all citizens, encouraging them to integrate into their society and take an active part in its social, cultural, economic and political affairs. In this regard, they use many instruments such as respecting to language and religion of immigrants for societal solidarity. In this article we see that multiculturalism in historical countries is throughoutly different from the other versions of multiculturalism. We see here that mechanisms of multiculturalism in historical countries are more traditional and spontaneous. Because these countries often has long history of coexistence so their tools for problem solving is more experienced , effective and therefore useful for modern countries. In this article wee take a look on different versions of multiculturalism and then we assess the sense of multiculturalism in Iran by conducting a survey among 223 Iranian students from four different ethnicities. Finally we will see that multiculturalism in countries like Iran must be seen as an internal sense of being respected by the others, not as external criteria such as bilinguality or dual citizenship. The New Paradigm of Media Literacy: Using a Documentary Literacy Development Program by “Documentary Channel” Eunheui CHOI Department of Sociology Bukkyo University choi@bukkyou.ac.jp The documentary seems to have become selfevident in the progression of cultural evolution,
77 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China including the progress of media technology, the expansion of an information society, and the development of the human imagination. However, in reality, it is becoming more obscure with the passage of time. In short, in order to interpret the cultural code (representation) referred to as “documentary,” because there are limits in the narrow perspective which focuses on the greatest common denominator, it is necessary to incorporate a perspective that integrates multiple disciplines upon reconsidering the substitute of symbols in which more complicated imaginings are blended as objects. It is necessary to trace back history once again and reexamine the question of, "who tried to depict what object with what kind of intention," by tracing back the condition of the "documentary" in the social contexts of those days. Also, it is necessary to analyze the "documentary" as it gives examples of social practices that grope for the reality of documentaries in the digital and global modern world, and to clarify the various problems hidden under the cultural interface of documentaries which were discovered in the process of development as well. Translation as the Vital Line in Communication: Notes of a Practicing Translator Evgenia TEREKHOVA, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences. Vladivostok, RUSSIA [email protected] Translation theory (translation studies) is indeed a wide crossroad of many disciplines such as language studies, crosscultural communication, psychology, sociology, ethnology and others while for centuries it has been taken for granted that translation, both translation and interpretation, merely takes place between two given languages. As Mary SnellHornby argues, “the concept of culture as a totality of knowledge, proficiency, and perception is fundamental in our approach to translation. If language is an integral part of culture, the translator (interpreter, ET) needs not only proficiency in two languages, he/she must also be at home in two cultures” (1995:42). Having said all that, I would like to indicate that the main objectives of my presentation are the approaches, strategies, and particular procedures of translation processes I implement with the basic emphasis on a twoway Russian into English translation/ interpreting. I would also like to demonstrate the importance of reference to preexisting knowledge as one of the techniques used in simultaneous interpretation. Developing Culture C in Intercultural Communication
78 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Fan Wenjue Shanghai Maritime University [email protected] Intercultural communication has been attracting increasing interest among the people whose professional or private life is likely to include encounters with people from cultures different from their own. It is mainly concerned with the problems arising from communication between people of different cultural backgrounds and ways to solve them. To better understand people from other cultures, we must learn to tolerate and even to appreciate their diversity; such appreciation will help us develop a perspective that makes intercultural communication more likely to be successful. With China’s entry into WTO, and its successful bids for the Olympic games in Beijing and the World Expo in Shanghai, the study of intercultural communication has proven to be particularly important in China. This thesis elaborates theories of intercultural communication and diverse cultural patterns, and proposes Culture C in multicultural environments, focusing on an intercultural communication model and discussing cognitive aspects in the new integrated culture. Besides, the article analyses differences in various aspects between Culture A and B such as face, negotiation, thinking, interpersonal relationships and nonverbal codes in order to develop Culture C for effective communication. Finally, the paper offers some specific suggestions for effective conflict management based on individualistic and collectivistic cultural concepts. Cultivating Cultural Empathy Competence in Taskbased Listening Teaching Fan yongxian Taiyuan University of Science and Technology [email protected] Cultural empathy competence (CEC) is regarded as a necessary factor for successful foreign language learning. CEC refers to the ability to consciously change one’s cultural stands and transcend his own cultural framework by putting oneself in target language’s cultural mode in an effort to feel and understand what natives feel and understand. The present paper analyzes the close relation between culture and successful listening comprehension (LC), exploring the effect of empathy on promoting learners’ LC based on international communicative competence (ICC) studies. Attention is focused on how to cultivate nonEnglish majors’ empathy competence in taskbased listening teaching. Empathy can be fostered from two aspects: sensitivity training and cultural coherence competence development. Some tentative techniques are provided in preclass task, task cycle and postclass task. Strategies to facilitate movement from each stage to the next are suggested.
79 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Knowledge Resources and Humor Translation Fang Chuanyu Anhui University [email protected] Both translation studies and humor studies are complex and interdisciplinary fields of research, the findings of one would be of interest to the other. However, the link between translation and humor, typically as in the translation of humor, has not received sufficient attention from scholars in either field. The present study tries to draw on findings in both translation and humor studies and emphasizes the importance of equivalence in the translation of humor, i.e., the equivalence in the effect humor both in its SL (source language) and TL (target language) have on their respective audiences. Based on a review of the traditional approaches to humor translation and a discussion of the translatability of humor, the present study, by adopting KRs (knowledge resources) in the GTVH (the General Theory of Verbal Humor) as major parameters in the translation of humor, aims to propose a pragmatic approach to the translation of humor which goes beyond linguistic barriers and incorporate cognitive and cultural factors. Issues in Conceptualizing Intercultuaral Communication Competence Feng Li Yan Ming Heilongjiang University [email protected] One of the most important applicability of which intercultural communication makes sense is to pedagogically inform human being, the subject of intercultural communication, of their correspondent behavior in practice. Literature review shows that although ICC has become one of the core subjects in this field and conceptual frameworks have been developed from diversified angles, an overwhelmingly convincing model is yet to be built. This paper firstly intends to discuss two causes to this phenomenon and then argues that, firstly, a well acknowledged conceptualization of communication competence has to be built as the preliminary platform for various fields to have further exploration of ICC. Secondly, the existence of contextfree model of ICC should be questioned. If it does not exist, the ICC in specific contexts should be the research foci in this area. The Role of Language Assistants in Foreign Language Learning Feng Ruimin Renmin University of China [email protected]
80 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Learners can never learn a foreign language well without having a deep insight into its culture. Cultural knowledge should be incorporated into foreign language teaching at the very beginning. However, language teachers can only address limited cultural knowledge in class due to the limited time. Therefore, creating a rich language learning environment after class becomes critical for learners to promote their understating of culture. Since 1968, the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant (FLTA) Program has aimed to strengthen foreign language instruction at U.S. educational institutions by establishing a native speaker presence. As one of the first group of Fulbright Chinese Language Assistants, I worked at the College of Wooster in the United States from August, 2005 to May, 2006 with the aim of adding an energetic and uptodate cultural component to Chinese classes as well as to student life. The paper introduced the Chinese language program at the college and explored the role of language assistants in learners’ foreign language learning process. Analysis of U.S. News Coverage of LenovoIBM Deal FengYi Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] On December 8 th 2004, the China’s largest personal computer company Lenovo announced that it would buy IBM’s personal computer products section, including its popular Thinkpad line of laptops and it also said that the acquisition was expected to be completed within one year. And on May 1 st 2005, Lenovo offically took over all of IBM’s personal computer business, with this merger LenovoIBM became the world’s third largest PC maker with roughly $12 billion in revenue, behind Dell and HewlettPackard. This was one of the biggest and most successful acquisiton of the Chinese company, expecially in the hitech field. This merger also raised some suspicions and the Committee on Foreign Investigation in the United States (CFIUS) and the congress both held some investigations on the merger because they wore worried about the national security implications of the proposed sale. However, with the review by the U.S. government completed in March 2005, IBM and Lenovo were moving quickly to integrate the two companies and finalized it on May 1 st . During this period, there were many news reports on this LenovoIBM deal both in China and in the United States. In this paper, the author will focus on the news coverage in the American printed media, that is, in the newspaper and business magzines. Although the reports on this issue were not in great number, they had some features in common, such as the politicalization of the economic issue and more negative reports toward this merger. The author adopted the content analysis and discourse analysis, and could get the following conclusions. First, the focuses of the news coverage of this LenovoIBM deal were 1) the regime of China where Lenovo had its base on, 2) the negative perspective of this deal, and 3) the opportunity it created both for Lenovo and IBM. Second, among 29 reports, except 5 abstract from Wall Street Journal, 20 reports gave a negative view on this deal, and only 4 directly used the
81 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China word opportunity to describe it. Last but not least, words related to politics are frequently used in this economic issue, such as communist, socialist, stateowned, etc. To sum up, in the news coverage of this LenovoIBM deal, the most obviose feature is the politicalization of the economic issue, but some reports could escape from this and report this from the economic perspective. A Discussion on the Syllabus Design of Intercultural Communication Yuan Feng Hainan University [email protected] Intercultural communication as a course has been offered in quite a number of institutions of high learning in China. It was provided first to students majored in foreign languages, foreign trade, and foreign affairs. Today, its service is extending to almost all students as either a programelective or a universitywideelective course on many campuses. The education of intercultural communication emphasizes the understanding of world cultures, and efficient and constructive communication with them. The two major challenges are how to help students expand their cultural capital and apply it in their intercultural communication practices. Based on years of curriculum research and teaching in the field, the author believes that such courses must be designed in light of students’ different needs. Taken three kinds of student groups as examples (foreign language, tourism business management, and universitywide mixed), this paper discusses the languages use, the selection of learning materials, learning methods, and assessment approaches that may contribute to effective learning in intercultural communication classrooms. On Culture Transfer in Advertising Translation Fu Ping Hunan First Normal College [email protected] Zhou Xuanfeng Wu Yi University [email protected] Language is the carrier of culture. Advertising with persuasive power and loading ability is the product of culture and its persuasive function is particularly culturalspecific. However, in current advertising translation practice, cultural differences between the target language and the source language are often neglected by translators who have unconsciously brought their own cultural value into the target language. Thus negative culture transfer in advertising translation arises which has caused great confusion or misunderstanding among consumers. By adopting a comparative and contrastive research method, this paper studies culture transfer in advertising through collecting and analyzing translated advertisements appearing in Chinese newspapers and
82 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China magazines with its research focused on three kinds of transfer, namely linguisticcultural transfer, socialcultural transfer and ideologicalcultural transfer. Research findings suggest that in order to reduce or avoid culture transfer in advertising, it is better to adopt a threeprocedure translating model, in which the translator first tries to capture cultural differences through a “cultural filter”, then jumps over the possible cultural barrier and steps into the target culture territory, and finally undertakes cultural transposition with target languageculture orientation. The Problem of Terms in Intercultural Communication within a Discourse Community: The Case of English Language Teachers Galina Lovtsevich Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] A discourse community is usually defined as sharing a common language, and this would appear to be the case for the worldwide community of Teachers of English as Second or Foreign Language. Their professional status presupposes a knowledge of the English language, and it is in this language that most of their international discourse is conducted, whether online, at conferences, or through journals or other publications. However, anlaysis of their professional discourse reveals that even within such a discourse community there are cultural impediments to smooth communication. These impediments are most frequently encountered in the form of terms or professional jargon. Like other elements of language, these terms have grown out of specific cultural contexts and a high degree of familiarity with the context is often needed in order to understand the connotations and even the denotations of a particular term. The presenter will draw examples from her research on the use of English terms in the discourse of Russian teachers of English to illustrate the point. Email Communication: Experience, Benefits, Perspective Galina Papysheva FarEastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Larisa Popova FarEastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia In motivating students’ activity language teachers use a great variety of means and methods. The Internet presents an excellent source of information both for teaching and studying the language. Email is possible for these purposes as well. Contacting with foreign partners is of specific interest for students. Our law students have an experience of communicating with Taiwan students by email. Both sides benefited from this type of activity. First, it’s a fine chance to share views and opinions about the ways of teaching English and to exchange educational material. Second, as
83 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China the future legal activity involves a lot of writing (drafting contracts, business letters, claims, etc.) the experience of email message is the first step of enhancing writing skills. And the contemporary world with more and more expanding relations between the nations demands not only every day but professionally oriented communication as well. Besides, in modern process of globalization awareness of different national cultures is of great importance. We are looking for new contacts! On Fuwa Incident Gang Li College of Earth and Environment Sciences,Lanzhou University, PR China. [email protected] The world’s development can not be sustainable and harmonious without cultural communication, especially intercultural communication which is also a field of study that looks at how people from differing cultural backgrounds endeavor to communicate. Intercultural communication is now stepping into a situation of culture globalization, with Olympics as one of the most important ways. Consequently, “Mascot”, with its derivation from Provencal French “Mascotto”, has been one key representative for Olympic culture since the fist nominal Olympic mascot “Waldi” occurred in Munich of Germany in 1972 (the first Winter Olympic mascot “Schuss” was born in France in 1968). In this study, "Fuwa Incident" is referred to as the international name change of Bejing 2008 Olympic mascots from the former English word "Friendlies" to the latter Chinese Pinyin "Fuwa". This study reviews the evolution process of "Fuwa Incident" and analyzes the rationality of the latter name. What was inconsistent with the facts has been pointed out from the media in order to clear up misunderstandings. "Cultural selfconfidence" has been studied by analysis of cultural psychology and cultural root of the incident has been studied by analysis of aesthetics and linguistics. The internal (essential) reason for the name change is that "Friendlies" has great deficiencies in connotation to be used as a name of mascots. In addition, the renaming must be a reflection of the Golden Mean. This study discovers that the former name “Friendlies” was born from Chinese people’s extreme confidence in foreign language experts’ subjective intuitions. So the external reason of renaming was that the original entitling process had a public participation without a scientific and logical level. In view of the historical features of the incident, this study suggests that Beijing Olympics should try to build a harmonious culture and aim at "Harmonious Olympics" under the leadership of "Humanistic Olympics". Key words: Fuwa IncidentÿEvolution ProcessÿCultural ExplanationÿHarmonious OlympicsÿBeijing Olympics An Intercultural Rhetoric Study of Metadiscourse in Research Articles Gao Jian Southeast University [email protected]
84 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The ability of writers to control the level of personality in their texts via the employment of metadiscourse is a key feature of successful academic writing. Researchers with the interest in metadiscourse have come to the consensus that metadiscoursal features help acknowledge the identity writers share or wish to share with readers as far as disciplinary discourse community is concerned. A review of literature, however, shows that previous study investigating rhetorical differences in the texts written by different cultural groups hardly discussed cultural similarities and differences in the use of metadiscourse in Applied Linguistics research articles written by Chinese scholars as NNSs and scholars as NSs from USA and UK. Adopting Hyland’s interpersonal model of metadiscourse (2000), Aristotle’s persuasion appeals (1936), Brown and Levinson’s face theory (1987), the study employs both quantitative and qualitative approaches, comprising frequency counts and text analyses of 26 singleauthored English research articles published in the same year. It was found that NNSs’ inappropriate use of metadiscourse, such as attitude markers, evidentials and hedges, might make readers feel overimposed. And the limited negotiation space caused by such a practice would make in vain all of the writers’ endeavors to humble themselves as servants of research. Gender Representation in TESOL Textbooks Used in China: A Crosscultural Perspective Xiuping Gao Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] This study attempts to investigate the representation of gender by TESOL textbooks used in China. It adopts a crosscultural perspective in that two types of textbooks are analyzed, namely the textbooks written by Chinese editors and those composed by native English editors and introduced to China. The study draws on the previous research on sexism and gender stereotyping in teaching materials, including those on L1 textbooks and especially those on L2 teaching materials and adopts these guidelines to analyze the gender representation in TESOL textbooks used in Chinese primary schools. Three aspects are compared between the two types of textbooks: firstly, the number of male and female characters in both texts and illustrations; secondly, the number and variety of occupations linked to males and females; thirdly, types of behaviors related to both genders. Results reveal that the two types of textbooks are not free of sexism and gender stereotyping, especially the textbooks edited by the Chinese writers, which are found to underrepresent females and stereotype females in terms of occupations and behaviors. Nevertheless, Textbooks written by native English editors display a number of strategies for avoiding sexism, which can be recommended for their Chinese counterparts. CrossCultural Differences in Perceptions Regarding Legality Dr. Gary Russell
85 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China University of Manitoba, Canada [email protected] There is a great deal of misunderstanding between cultures when it comes to the assessment of legitimate practices. What is seen in one culture as a legitimate activity may be seen in another culture as wrong and corrupt. But at a time when western commerce is gaining some dominance in the economic arena, western concepts of legitimacy are presented as the only way to do business. While there are many activities on both sides which can never be justified, there are also some perfectly honourable Chinese practices which are seen as corrupt by western business simply because the nature of an eastern relationshiporiented society is poorly understood in a western propertyoriented society. This paper examines that cultural dissonance, and attempts to place the conflicting approaches into a common framework of social and cultural analysis, so that they can interpret each other in an objective manner. The paper goes on to examine practical programmes which have been implemented successfully in different countries to keep business and government on an uncorrupted path. Then it considers how some of these experiences may suggest useful policy in the Chinese context. A CrossCultural Contrast of Chinese and American Body Language Ge Weili Southwest University [email protected] The body language is an important part of nonverbal communication, which includes body movements, gestures, facial expressions, touching and so on. It is true that there are some similarities in body languages, but there are still a lot of cultural differences in body languages. With the development of crossculture communication, the cultural differences of body languages become the major barriers in crossculture communication. This thesis classifies the cultural differences of body languages between Chinese and American into three types and concretely analyzes the cultural differences of hand gestures, facial expressions, eye management and touching between the two languages in order to emphasize the significance of the body language in crossculture communication and make crossculture communication more efficient. Virtual Image and Genuine Selfdisclosure on the Internet Godfrey Du Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] Past researches have looked into the reasons behind the higher levels of online selfdisclosure, and accredited this mainly to visual anonymity, one feature of computermediated communication (CMC). Lately, scholars realize the need to study the combined influence of “visual anonymity” with other social psychological aspects, such as trust, which has long believed an important factor in selfdisclosure, and selfawareness (at both private and public levels), noted in quite a few recent CMC studies. From this interactivefactor perspective, this paper proposes two holistic
86 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China views to study CMC virtual image (perceived online image) and virtual distance (perceived online interpersonal distance) and attempts to prove the existence of this “virtuality” phenomenon. Due to the higher complexity of virtual distance, involving image, immediacy, risk level and nonverbal communication, it then focuses on the existence of virtual image and its components through focus group responsive to selective online presentation and a largerscale confirmatory online survey. In addition, this paper differs from past studies in its strategy of preidentity disclosure at varied degrees, say comparing different results from online profile with photo and simultaneous web video camera, as opposed to the past either anonymous or fully identified strategy. Theorizing about Intercultural Communication: Semiotic and Memetic Approach to Dynamic Intercultural Communication Gu Jiazu School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University [email protected] As pointed out by William Gudykunst in his Theorizing About Intercultural Communication (2005),”Theorizing about communication and culture has made tremendous progress in the last 20 years”. However, while acknowledging the past intercultural communication scholarship, the author of this paper assumes that the past scholarship seems to be largely limited to sociological, sociolinguistic, anthropolinguistic, sociopsychological and philosophical approaches, which are surely far from adequate. Moreover, a lot of such studies tend to be static , rather than dynamic. The author ,therefore, stresses the importance of resorting to certain more important approaches such as semiotic and memetic for intercultural communication, illustrating the implications of semiotic and memetic theories reflected in the process of intercultural communication and consequently, making a practical course like intercultural communication more dynamic and more theorized as desired for. Intercultural Communication Course Design: A Case Study at CJLU Gui Qingyang China Jiliang University [email protected] In response to complaints by Zhejiang Province area employers about the lack of communication skills of China Jiliang University graduates, College of Foreign Languages (a college with a specialization in Foreign Trade English in China Jiliang University) has initiated a new program of communicationintensive courses to address the problem. One such course (with the author of the present paper as the instructor) involves intercultural communication. The course focuses on experiential learning through studentfacilitated discussions, working with an interactive computer writing tool in the language lab, and an extensive ethnographic project (including an observation, library, and Internet research, interviewing, an email survey, and a formal presentation). All elements of the course are designed to achieve three goals: conscious analysis of communication
87 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China techniques and their improvements; intensive communication practice; and content acquisition. Students are supposed to communicate more during this communication intensive course than during the rest of their academic careers. They will most probably appreciate the chance to facilitate their own small group discussions and to conduct a comprehensive ethnographic project. Training Teachers for SpeechHandicapped Children: Terminology of the Field Hal M. STROM Headmaster, Quality School International (USA) Vladivostok, RUSSIA [email protected] Marina G. IRZHEVSKAYA Senior Teacher, Primorsky Teacher’s Skill Improvement Institute Vladivostok, RUSSIA [email protected] Boris I. BARTKOV Foreign Languages Department Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] In order to expand their vocabulary, teachers should be able to read special literature in English (textbooks, monographs, etc.). A wellknown educationalist E. Thorndike (1941) was the first who proposed using frequency of words in various affixes as a scientific basis for selection of the most commonly used suffixes, namely: 8 most frequent [(a,i)ble, ian, er, ful, less, ness, ion, ity] and 16 less frequent [age, al, ance, ant, ary, ate, ence, ent, ic, ical, ish, ive, ment, or, ous, y]. To facilitate quick enlargement of the vocabulary we suggest to teach students the most productive derivational affixes quantitatively selected: PREFIXES. List 1: in(negative), un, self, a (most productive); List 2: dis, re, mis, over, step, non (medium); List 3: ill, en, half, inter, pre, semi, under, well (the least productive); SUFFIXES: List 1: ion,n; ed,a; al,a; ing,n; ly,adv; ic,a; ing,a; ity,n; ive,a; ness,n; (a,e)nce,n; (a,e)nt,a (most productive); List 2: (a,o)ry,a; ment,n; ate,a; ous,a; ate,v; ical,a; (a,i)ble,a; y,a; er,n; ism,n; or,n; ics,n (medium); List 3: ology,n; ar,a; ful,a; less,a; ist,n; (a,e)ncy,n; age,n; th,n; y,n; ly,a; ian,n; cy,n; tude,n; en,v; ize,v; al,n; ship,n; osis,n; eme,n; ward,adv; (e)ry,n; hood,n; ian,a; ify,n (the least productive). Various approaches to selection of most important affixes will be discussed. “They've Never Heard of Beijing”: Learning English and Reconstructing a Chinese Identity in Toronto
88 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Huamei (Samantha) Han Modern Language Centre, OISE, University of Toronto Ontario, Tornoto [email protected] This paper illuminates how learning a second language entails the process of identity reconstruction of the learner, which further shapes language learning. Viewing learning as involving a dual process of participating and learning to become, and being recognized as competent members in specific communities of practice (Lave & Wenger 1991; Wenger 1998), I recognize that access to participation and identity possibilities are shaped by the larger sociocultural context and the globalized political economy. Drawing on data from a threeyear ethnography of skilled immigrants from Mainland China in Toronto, this paper focuses on how a Mandarinspeaking young man, who was enthusiastic in learning English upon his arrival in Toronto, later learned Cantonese and integrated into the Chinese community. Presenting critical episodes in sequence, this paper demonstrates how, in interacting with Englishspeakers to learn English, he learned the differential values of various languages, and his position and possibilities in this Englishdominant, multilingual community. The socioeconomically segregated life in Toronto and his understanding of it later paved his way of integrating into the ethnic community. Individual and social consequences will be discussed. Key Words: language, identity, communities of practice, ethnicity, globalization Attitudes to Plagiarism in Intercultural Communication Han Xiaohui Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Plagiarism is a complex, culturally loaded concept which causes much anxiety for both academics and students. Exactly what constitutes plagiarism is dependent on a number of contextual factors. This paper reports a small qualitative study conducted by three participants, who came from different cultural background, to reflect students’ attitudes to plagiarism in intercultural communication. Results indicate that students’ background knowledge in the content area of the text and their attitudes toward plagiarism influence the quality of their papers, thus affect their ways of communication. It is shown that the participant, who has the most background knowledge and a negative attitude toward plagiarism, performs sophisticated ability in summary writing and therefore a remarkable competence in intercultural communication. These findings are discussed in the areas of the causes of attitudes to plagiarism and perspectives on learning and teaching plagiarism. As a result, it may have a positive influence in improving students’ competence in intercultural communication. A CultureBased Approach to Teaching Politeness Strategies to L2
89 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Students Han xiaohui Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Li huijie Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Over the years of EFL in China, there has been little research as regards the role and the teaching of language learners' pragmatic competence. This is most probably due to the fact that pragmatic competence is the most difficult aspect of language to master in learning a second language. This article, therefore, makes an attempt to explore methodological aspects of teaching culturebased linguistic politeness as a means of promoting language learners' pragmatic competence. Besides, it is our belief that by teaching L2 learners politeness knowledge, we will enhance their awareness of sociocultural differences and therefore help them make informed choices in producing language and arriving at intended inferences in comprehension. This, in turn, should help them to become aware of potential areas for negative pragmatic transfer and avoid pragmatic failure. To achieve this, we start with a brief overview of different accounts of linguistic politeness theory and then analyze how polite language is used and what strategies are employed in such aspects as vocabulary and syntax in classroom context. In sum, we believe that linguistic politeness theory is an optimal tool to teach, explain and understand social interaction and to provide an insight into what constitutes appropriate linguistic behavior in different cultures. The Analysis of Humor differences between China and West From Aesop’s Fables and Mencius’ Fables Hao Lina Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Humor is a kind of language art with jocosity and wit. It is one type of special language manifestation which distinctly differs from other language expressions. Every culture has its own characteristic humor if you study languages and cultures throughout the world. However, all of the nations form their own unique humors because of different histories, traditions, and cultures. In this way, it is always difficulty for people from different countries to reach an understanding and enjoy others’ meanings during the process of communication. The key point of this paper is about the aspect of different understandings of humor rooted in the cultures of China and West. This thesis emphasizes the manners and the rules of humor of different cultures from Aesop’s Fables and Mencius’ Fables. At the same time, the root of these differences is explored from the point of distinct historical and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, people can better understand each other and enjoy others’ humor in order to reach a deeper cultural communication.
90 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Cultural Reflection in Chinese and English Advertising Language Hao Qinhai Capital University of Economics and Business [email protected] Advertising is something that we are all exposed to. It is also something that is likely to affect most of us in different spheres of our lives. Advertising takes many forms, but in most of them language is of crucial importance. The wording of advertisements is, in most cases, carefully crafted to meet particular ends. Sometimes it is intended to inform, but most often, and more importantly, to persuade and influence. Advertising, moreover, not only influences any human society in which it is widespread, but also reflects certain aspects of cultural values in a society and that society’s structure. Therefore, the reciprocal influence of language, culture and thought can perhaps be best illustrated in the world of advertising. Whether one begins or ends with language, thought or culture, the other two are woven in, the circular pattern holds, with each influencing and being influenced by each of the others. Based on this idea, the present study is undertaken by investigating the linguistic features in both Chinese and English advertising languages, which are affected by cultural factors and helping to fulfill the commercial purposes of advertising. The study also involves the exploration of the reasons for the crosscultural pragmatic failure in hybrid advertising. It is done with a crosscultural approach, namely, a comparative study on Chinese and western cultures. Far from a detailed study as it is, it is really an attempt in this sphere. It goes without saying that such a research is of practical significance to people engaged in business circles, and to our country’s economic development as well. By analyzing the data from different cultures, we can see that due to different philosophical views, cognitive patterns and social morality, different linguistic features come into being in advertising languages and contribute to the format of prototypes of advertising based on the individual prepositional models in the cultures. Besides, the analysis of crosscultural pragmatic failure in hybrid advertising reveals that the sources of failure are traced back to the transference of pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic rules of mother tongue to the target language. It is to be hoped that this paper provides businessmen with the required basis for making effective and fruitful ads in light of good understanding of Western culture, and supplies language learners with a basis for the further study in this sphere as well.
91 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China On the Relationship between Derrida and Nietzsche in Terms of the Power of Language Dajun He Northeast Agricultural University [email protected] Most critics would like to talk about the relationship between Derrida and Nietzsche in terms of texts. However, Derrida and Nietzsche can be also related in terms of the power of language. Friedrich Nietzsche is the first philosopher who finds that language is metaphorical but not referential in nature. Nietzsche’s interpretation of language has been accepted by poststructuralists, such as Jacques Derrida, Hayden White, and Paul de Man. They insist that discourse is composed of human’s wills and wills are expressed through metaphors or other rhetoric methods. Derrida declares that it is difficult to bring together or stabilize, within a particular configuration, a “thought” of Nietzsche.Derrida defies all concepts related to Nietzsche, such as “Nietzscheism”, “Nietzschetext”, and “To be Nietzsche”.Derrida deconstructs Nietzsche, thus creating his “Nietzschetext.” “Open and chaotic” represent the spirit of skepticism from which Derrida develops his theory on deconstruction.Derrida thinks that the question of Nietzsche’s style can launch “a new phase in the process of deconstructive interpretation”Both Derrida and Nietzsche set up certain relationship between the metaphorical language and texts. Metaphors are used not to express meaning or truth, but to arouse the uncertainty, and then new texts appear. This is the way of deconstruction, a philosophically skeptical approach to the possibility of coherent meaning in language. The Validity of SapirWhorf Hypothesis Crosscultural Counterexamples in Chinese and English He Jing Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] The paper is a tentative approach to examine the validity of the influential SapirWhorf hypothesis, which, either in its strong version or the weak one, advocates the direct bearing of language on our thinking about the external world of reality. While acknowledging the contribution of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf to highlight the importance of linguistic research into marginal languages as a precondition to enhance one’s understanding of cultural diversity with kaleidoscopic worldviews, the paper ventures to question the validity of the famous SapirWhorf hypothesis by testing it against the Chinese and English cultural frameworks from their respective philosophical ideas on man and nature and value systems on family and hierarchy. The author attempts to prove that the syntactic, lexical and morphological features of Chinese and English languages are manifestations, to a large extent, of the differences in western and Chinese thinking patterns, the formation and interpretation of which cannot be separated from their respective cultural traditions and orientations framed over history.
92 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Can Internet Change “Mainstream” Media News Frame? The Influence of Hyperlink Types on Social Responsibility Attribution He Juntao, Pan Xiaohui, Liu Yi，Wen Bingsen Shenzhen University [email protected] In the information booming age, Internet is believed to be the main influence to lead to the social transformation. More probably, Internet can help alter “mainstream” media’s news frames which are widely blamed for bias, discrimination, inequity and antidemocracy. Yet, other voices argue that Internet does not play a role as unlimited information provider because editors “copy” the printed and broadcasted news coverage directly to the news websites and even some countries rule that “mainstream” media and official news agency are the only legal information sources. However, some researches discover that although Internet can not enhance knowledge acquisition, such kind of new media may improve audiences’ ability for structural learning of the relationship of social facts. The interconnectedness of information gives receivers a large picture of whole society so that audiences can get the related information. Based on these contradictory statements, a pertinent question should be asked whether Internet reconstructs “mainstream” media’s frame or it is just a “mirror”. This study attempts to establish a descriptive model to explore the relationship between Internet, browsing behavior, cognitive effect of media frame and more important, the process of frame reconstruction. The paper hypothesizes that hyperlink, as the distinguished feature of Internet, may influence the audience browsing behavior in terms of exposure time so that the cognitive effect of “mainstream” media frame conceptualized as responsibility attribution may be changed. In other words, Internet may results in news frame reconstruction because many “mainstream” media frames are episodic depiction while structural information on the websites let people perceive social facts thematically. The research method of this study is a withingroup experiment with 60 participants randomly chosen and treated independently by three different hyperlink patterns (intext hyperlink, followingtext hyperlink and nonhyperlink). The data is statistically analyzed with ANOVA to test the participants’ social responsibility attributes and a regression analysis is performed to predict the pattern of different responsibility attribution over browsing behaviors caused by types of hyperlink. The result assumes that the responsibility attribution vary with experiment treatments. The followingtext hyperlink group may rank high on social or environmental factors while other two groups tell that heroes and heroines in the stories should shoulder the responsibilities. The regression analysis may present that different hyperlink types result in different social responsibility attribution with the browsing behavior as mediating variable. The episodic frame is
93 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China altered by the hyperlink of social responsibility attribution. The hypothesis is verified. This study has a great social and theoretical significance on understanding the impact of Internet on audiences’ cognition and social perception. The research empirically depicts the new picture of media ecology in this cyberage. Intercultural Communication Studies in China since 2000 He Mingzhi Peking University [email protected] Though “China has yet had its original communication studies that theoretically originates in China and is “proprietary” to China” , intercultural communication studies have seen a stable and smooth development in the past few years and has been characterized by four salient features , i.e. the theorization of research approaches, the diversification of research topics, the standardization of research methods and the globalization and internationalization of research vision. The author of this thesis is therefore to examine in details the four features of China’s intercultural communication studies since 2000, through an empircal analysis of most of major works on that topic. The author also points out the deficiencies in current studies and and prospects for future studies. Daily Life Singing With Children: An Emotional Bond Hilda Mercedes Morán Quiroz Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico [email protected] I propose a methodological reflection around the nonintentionality of everyday transmission, use and recollection of songs belonging to oral tradition: Singing in daily life, especially when the relationship between parents and their children is involved, is intimately linked to the emotional life of the family, and its recollection form part of the affective experience. Singing to a child in a specific situation may not be considered as singing, for the idea of this activity is linked to public performances. It is because of this that memory seems to be deficient; for example, if the need to entertain or calm down a child is not the case, we may not remember the song. Collecting folksongs related to private life is thus a task that goes far beyond the “objective and impersonal” interview: for the researcher it is a matter of establishing a personal connection with the “informer”, for the informer it is a matter of recollection of daily “private” life and personal bonds.
94 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China A Progress Report on the Extremely Short Story Competition (ESSC): University Students’ Responses to the ESSC Hiroko MIYAKE Tokyo Keizai University The vast majority of "English contests" in Japan focus on the utterance of English, i.e. speech contests, debates, and story contests (reading aloud), etc. In such an environment, however, the ESSC (Extremely Short Story Competition) for Japanese is different in three ways and can provide an important new setting where English learners write English with freedom, under certain rules. They can both demonstrate their writing skills and unleash their imagination. Moreover, positive educational effects of the ESSC are expected among researchers. In this paper, I will report the process of implementing ESSC from the beginning to the end; the preparation for the introduction of ESS, the contents of the handouts, some problems when writing ESS, and the students’ reactions when their works appeared on the website of the ESSC. A CrossCultural Pragmatic Study of Politeness Principles in Chinese and American Advertisements Hongfei Ke Beijing University of Science & Technology [email protected] Applying a model of politeness derived from an interlocking of Brown and Levinson’s theories, this paper studies the politeness strategies of comparable Chinese and American advertisements. The author uses negative versus positive face value, individual versus social face value, and self versus other face value, and their combined features to analyze the samples of Chinese and American advertisements. Through coding of strategies according to these features in 70 advertisements, it is shown that Chinese advertisers use more “collectiveface” and “negativeface” strategies, which correlate with collectivistic, vertical and highcontext cultures, while the American advertisers use more “individualface” and “positiveface” strategies, which correlate with individualistic, horizontal, lowcontext cultures. Besides, Chinese advertisements use more “selfface” strategy while American advertisements use more “otherface” strategy. It may be because of the use of “negativeface” strategy which stresses on being indirect in Chinese advertisements. These findings, having indicated face features of Chinese and American advertisements, are very meaningful and enlightening for Chinese and American corporations do the international product promotion. Pragmatics and advertising culture are combined to be researched in this paper, which enriches the interdisciplinary research, and makes contributions to the development of pragmatics and crosscultural communication studies.
95 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Narrative Understandings of China’s English Teaching Reform Landscape: Sacred Stories, Secret Stories, and Cover Stories Hongguo Cui Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Libo Zhang Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] This is a qualitative narrative inquiry. In this paper we study three English teachers’ learning and teaching experiences in Mainland China. All three participants are born in the 70s and see themselves as struggling teachers trying to find their positions in the curriculum, in the institution and in their classrooms. They also express confusions over the English reforms that they feel are imposed upon them, but that are nevertheless without clear meanings and directions. The teachers feel a strong desire for their voices to be heard in curriculum and decision making for their teaching. The paper, through studying the teachers’ secret stories, cover stories and the dominating sacred stories, tries to solve the puzzle of the teachers’ identity, curriculum making, personal practical knowledge and professional knowledge. Through studying the teachers’ experiences the paper also describes and discusses the English teaching reform landscape in the university level in Mainland China. The Study of Influence from TV Shopping Channel Hosts to the Purchase Intention of Consumer HSIAO, JUHAN National Chiao Tung University [email protected] According to Ministry of economics Affairs in Taiwan, the market of TV home shopping industry has achieved four hundred million. Since 1999, ET Mall has entried Taiwan market successfully; one by one, Fubon Group and Citic Group also joined to this market. In the situation, on TV the market has created many super shop employees who were artists, models, airline hostess and etc. Stephens et al.（1996）studied QVC（Quality Value Network）shopping channel’s programs including general TV show and hosts’ friendly introduction which produces great interaction relationship of channel and audience as well as profit creation. Cook（2002）also pointed out that host’s convince and tactic stimulate the intention of purchase; therefore , hosts play the important role on TV shopping channel. According to relative studies, most paper focus on consumers or product marketing. In Taiwan, only two papers mentioned about TV shopping channel hosts, but not trying to explore hosts and
96 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China customers purchase intention. My report will regard TV shopping hosts as TV shopping channel brand, adopting Asker’s “brand personality scale”, including five categories: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, and ruggedness. The five categories, as TV shopping channels hosts, survey to learn different types of host by which different degrees of credibility, and taking account of product involvement, in this way, to explore hosts, product involvement and message credibility which have influenced consumer’s degree of purchase intention. Bilingual Education: A Key to Improving Intercultural Communication and Embracing Cultural Diversity in Public Schools Guangyuan Hu The University of Alabama [email protected] The last two decades has witnessed the dramatic change of ethnic composition of student population in American public schools. Accompanying increasing diversity is the rising miscommunications between students from different cultural background. Intercultural communication within different cultures becomes a critical issue, and has attracted a great deal of interest in the education community. The past research has been trying to seek for effective ways for students with diverse cultural backgrounds to communicate with each other. Although the former researchers have found that bilingual education becomes a critical factor in improving intergroup communication, most of them admit that bilingual education itself faces a number of challenges in the current social context, which reflected in policymaking is that states such as California, Arizona, and Massachusetts have officially abandoned such practice. The proposed research will look at the effect of current bilingual education policy from the perspective of improving intercultural communication and in embracing cultural diversity. It will explore how bilingual education stimulates linguistic minority students to acquire necessary skills in communicating with others. This research is important not only in understanding the upsurge of intercultural communication research in public schools, but also in deriving a validated base of evidence upon which subsequent work can be taken in understanding and developing intercultural knowledge and skills in a time of globalization. Integrating Cultural Studies into the Language Skills Development to Improve the Intercultural Communication Competence Hu Yan Taiyuan University of Science & Technology [email protected] Based on the requirements of the English Syllabus for English Majors (ESEM 2000:12), the author points out in this paper that only by integrating the cultural studies into the developments of language skills, namely, listening, speaking, reading and translating, can students’ intercultural
97 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China communication competence be improved. In the first part, the paper analyzes the problems caused by the deficiency of sufficient cultural knowledge, in turn, these led to the communication obstacle and meanwhile, the development of four basic skills is also hindered. Then, in the second part, the author puts forward some teaching approaches to enhance the cultural studies in English language teaching. Firstly, instead of only instructing some cultural knowledge occasionally, the teacher should teach culture systematically and work out a culture teaching syllabus. Secondly, input of the cultural knowledge should cover as many fields as possible such as literature, customs and festivals, expressing habits of the target culture, etc. Thirdly, comparing the Chinese culture with the target culture from different perspectives, not only can infuse students’ culture knowledge, but can arouse students’ interests in language learning. Fourthly, cultivating students’ cultural awareness by interpreting the learned information in terms of cultural perspective. Fifthly, the webassisted learning, such as English films and multimedia corpus can be applied to the culture teaching. In the last part, the author emphasizes that by combining the culture learning with the development of language skills, the culture awareness of students can be greatly improved, and we, language teachers, are in the strong hope to cultivate students’ intercultural communication competence. The Influence of Cultural Values on Advertising Appeals from a Perspective of International Advertising Communication Hu Yanru Institute of Tourism, Beijing Union University [email protected] With the rapid growth of international business, advertising is playing a crucial role in the publicity and promotion of products and services in international market. Generally speaking, in the process of advertising designing and development, most international marketers would take economic and politicallegal environments and geographic characteristics into consideration, but would often neglect another important factor —— cultural values. Although values are the most implicit cultural element, they can exert a profound influence in the successful transmission of an international advertising across country borders. This article focuses on the value dimension of individualism and collectivism and takes this dimension as the basis for the analysis of how different cultural values are conveyed in different countries’ advertising appeals (take Chinese and American advertising markets for example) and how cultural values can hinder the successful transmission of an international advertising if international marketers ignore or neglect the cultural values of a target country when designing advertising appeals.
98 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China From Correspondent to Reader: A Linguistic/Cultural Analysis of Journalistic Coverage on China by the New York Times and the Economist Zhengmao Hu Faculty of English Language & Culture Guangdong Foreign Studies University, Guangzhou 510420 [email protected] There has been in recent years no shortage of journalistic coverage on China by Western media and still less shortage in critiquing literature on their coverage, either popular or academic. Among the latter, some dismiss it as deliberately demonizing or “Chinabashing” while others welcome it as exhilarating indication of China’s cultural power as a result of its economic prowess. This paper takes as its sampling pool major articles on China from the New York Times and The Economist dating from January 2006 till at the time of writing and challenges both assumptions by composite means of discourse analysis, statistical enquiry and author clarification “straight from the horse’s mouth.” It argues that more detached academic studies on major Western media’s coverage on China are needed before legitimate/testable conclusions are made. Based on these analyses, this paper also suggests some tentative implications for communication in general and intercultural communications in particular Constructing the Pear Garden in the West —Extension of Chinese Theatrical Tradition in Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book Huang Furong Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] In this paper, the solidaritybuilding function of Chinese culture, especially that of Chinese theatrical heritage is discussed in the identity searching process of Chinese Americans. My approach to the issue is based on analyzing the identity construction of the main character in Maxine Hong Kingston’s Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book. In culture theory, theater is seen as the part of culture system that can affect people’s identification with certain group. It is also a place that is rife with the struggle for dominance and the effort to maintain or subvert the authority of national discourse (mainstream versus marginalized minority). Based on the belief mentioned above, the function of Chinese theatrical tradition in Tripmaster Monkey is explored, where the main character Wittman starts as an individualist at the beginning of the book, but learns to reconcile his individuality with his role in the Chinese American community. His growth comes from his effort to found a theater that can voice the joy and sorrow, and loss and gain of the minority group. I discuss how the elements of the Chinese theater are used as a medium to reflect the doublerootedness of their dual cultures and how they are used as the measure against the dominating American mainstream culture.
99 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Based Culture to Perform: the Social Script Theory and the Performed Culture Pedagogy Huang Hong Institution: Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] In this essay, I will compare the social script theory with a language teaching approach, the Performed Culture Pedagogy that has been carried out in last decade in the Department of East Asia Language and Literature, Ohio State University, USA. I will also illustrate the importance of the social scripts while learning language and the necessity of performing the culture while teaching Chinese. However, there are still problems to be solved in the development of the social script theory and the application of the Performancebased Pedagogy and this essay will also address them. Key words: perform culture social script theory Chinese language teaching (Re)Construction of Foreignness of Foreign Criminals in Japanese Media: Mediamediated Fear toward Foreigners in Japan: Izumi Funayama Faculty of Letters, Kumamoto University, Japan [email protected]u.ac.jp The present study examines the ways in which Japanese media create and perpetuate the fear toward foreigners by (re)constructing “foreignness” of foreign criminals in media text. This study especially examines particular manners in which Japanese media depict attributes of foreign criminals or criminal suspects—as different from Japanese ones. Based on the text analyses of newspapers, magazines as well as broadcasts, the study shows that Japanese media, in reporting crimes by foreigners, frequently emphasize their nationality and/or ethnicity (only) by first mentioning it in headlines. Headlines (re)construct the characteristic of the news, as much as directly expressing it. Further, headlines provide the framework for understanding of stated events toward readers and audiences. That is, the nationality and/or ethnicity of foreign criminals or criminal suspects are/is not only a significant characteristic of the news but rather, the news itself. Thereby, the study attempts to demonstrate that, Japanese media does not only create and perpetuate negative stereotypes about “foreign” others but also, and more importantly, often victimize the Japanese society and Japanese people as opposed to “foreign” offenders—or others. In conclusion, “foreign” crimes are not simply reported by Japanese media; they are (re)produced in the context of mediamediated reality.
100 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Indian Symbolism in Global Communication: Impact of Indian English Films on Western Culture J. Josephine University of Madras Chennai, India Lata Rajagopalan Kumar University of Madras Chennai, India [email protected] The new millennium has seen the birth of a new genre of films: English feature films made by Indians, either locally or abroad. They capture the essence of urban lifestyles and modern culture. Mostly dealing with the problems and experiences of contemporary Indian homes the world over, these films focus either on the influence of global cultures on local issues or vice versa. This paper analyses the role of Indian symbolism in New Age cinema, with emphasis on the cultural angle. Thematic, semiotic analysis groups the films into symbolic categories which describe the visuals in the context of culture. Films made between 2000 and 2007 have been analyzed. Selection has been done randomly. The objective of the study is to understand the global impact of Indian symbolism through the popular medium of cinema. The Role of Adverbs in Aspectual Interpretation in Russian and English Jadwiga Stawnicka University of Silesia, Poland [email protected] The author proposes the interpretation of the meanings of Russian aspect. The main aspectual meanings give different ways of viewing the internal temporary structure of a situation: ‘a synchronic view of the situation’ and ‘a retrospective view of the situation’. They are described as the phasal meanings (the meaning of the initial phase, the intraterminal phase, the final phase...). These definitions show differences in the semantics of different types of perfective and imperfective verbs. I try to show the role of adverbs in the aspectual interpretation in Russian and English and the phenomenon of ‘aspectual coercion’ and describe to use perfective and imperfective form of verbs with the durative adverbials in Russian and English. The following subtypes have been distinguished: adverbials of amount of duration (He was speeping for two hours), adverbiale of time consumed in perfecting the action (He wrote the letter in two hours) and adverbials od duration of the state caused by the action (He went out to town for two hours).
101 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Cultural Impact of Globalisation on the Identity of Women: A Study of Advertisements in India Jasbir Singh University of Jammu, Jammu, India [email protected] After globalisation the TV has been flooded with numerous advertisements influencing the identity of women in the present context. Advertisements use women not as humans but as objects. The commodification and objectification of woman’s body is so intense that a woman’s body is compared with a pressure cooker, the advertisements promoting men’s undergarments, colognes and clothes show women drooling all over them. Now in order to sell products we are selling bodies. Women in India suffer from dual discrimination which is posing a serious challenge to their identity. There is a clearcut welldefined public/private dichotomy visible in these advertisements. In advertisements women are performing traditional roles. Even the woman who works outside is also shown performing all the household chores and feeling responsible as well as guilty for everything. The sudden inflow of fairness soaps and creams has resulted in creating serious cleavages of ugly/ beautiful, dark/fair, undesired/desired, and unwanted/wanted. The parameters of success are being redefined, a woman commentator needs a fair face, fragrance of talc can land with a job and one looses even boyfriends and husbands if one is not fair of face. Women tend to conform to what the advertisements show and believe that they can look like the woman in the advertisements in just a few weeks. These beliefs only create more barriers for women. By creating these unrealistic images of women both genders are affected by these unreasonable and often unattainable expectations and goals. This creates a downward spiral of disappointment and disillusionment. Creative Waves©: Virtual Splash on Intercultural Education Jerry Johnson Troy University, Alabama [email protected] What would it sound like if a hundred photographs were taken at the exact same moment all around the globe? The sound of shutters going off in synchronization in that one instant creating a crescendo; a swelling, rolling creative wave wrapping around the planet— Creative Waves, the world’s largest student online photomedia project, explored the potential for combining graphic and photomedia design, structured by an evolving creative brief. The brief involved a mixture of individual and collaborative work initiated by a sequence of directed tasks. The creative works culminate in a selfdetermined, collective project. Creative Waves challenged the paradigm of the individual creative process, by involving a diverse group of students from around the globe. The brief was structured to explore the prospect of working collaboratively in new ways and the prospects that this would open.
102 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Over a sevenweek period, Creative Waves formed the largest multicultural community of student designers ever to work together in a totally online context. Creative Waves participants were able to interact in shared creative exchanges, responding to challenges set by an unfolding and conceptual design brief, ultimately giving them opportunity to balance individual and collaborative studio approaches, and engage in active and reflective modes of creative dialogue, discussion and visual collaboration. Some Features of Commercial Advertisement English Ji Zhemin Chai Ruiqin Guo Limiao North University of China [email protected] What is advertising or advertisement? According to American Marketing Association (AMA), advertising is “the nonpersonal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media.” Today, with the development of the technology and the diversity of the mass media, advertising has influenced us pervasively in our daily life. However, whatever the primitive strategies advertising takes, language is the main carrier of message all along, as Vestergaard, the author of Language of Advertising says, advertising takes many forms, but in most of them language is of crucial importance. Advertising language is a style of immediate impact and rapid persuasion. The commercial advertisement is also a type of communication. It’s a very structured form of applied communication, employing both verbal and nonverbal elements that are composed to fill predetermined space and time formats that are controlled by the sponsor. Its cost is paid for by the sponsors. It is intended to be persuasive to win converts to a product, service, to promote a product with the intension of making a profit. Today, technology enables commercial advertising to reach us efficiently through a variety of addressable media and interactive media. The planning, scheduling, and buying of media space and time are important to advertising effectiveness. It informs us about new and improved products and teaches us how to use these innovations. It helps us compare products and features and make decision. It mirrors fashion and design trends and contributes to our aesthetic sense. Advertising media are the vehicles of forms of communication used to reach a desired audience. Two basic types of media available for advertising are print media and electronic media. Print media including newspapers, magazines, direct mails and billboards, accounts for one quarter of all advertising expenditures. Electronic media including television and radio, accounts for the other 75% percent of all expenditures. Newspapers, televisions and direct mails are the most widely used media in advertising.
103 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Of course, the commercial advertisement English becomes the key point for language learners to study. It helps us to know the unique quality of varied products, to have chances to choose the best one in numerous products. For the special effect, commercial advertisement English has formed its own features, playing a role of communication and persuasion. And the English language is rapidly becoming the universal language for corporate advertisement campaigns directed to international business people. Naturally, commercial advertisement English has become an important means of communicating ideas, demonstrating a variety of linguistic features of its own. The present paper attempts to study and summarize these features in lexicology, syntax, and rhetoric structures and styles. This paper will be divided into five parts. The first part is the introduction and the last conclusion. The focus of the paper is laid on the middle three parts which respectively analyze language features at lexicology, syntax, and rhetoric. And the authors here hope that this paper can offer help to advertisement writers and language learners. Universalization and Indigenization in Face and Facework Research A Case Study of How NonWestern Cultures Could Be Integrated into a Universal Theory of Communication Wenshan Jia, Ph. D. Department of Communication Studies Chapman University [email protected] [email protected] In this paper I argue that there exist three schools in the scholarship on face and facework. The first one is the universalist school represented by Goffman, Brown & Levinson (both Western and implicitly cultural) and TingToomey (facenegotiation theory which is both universal and cultureexplicit and relativist). I further argue that face, a concept originating from Chinese culture, has been desinicized so that it has been accepted as a universal theory. The second school is relativist and represented by Huang KwangKuo and Yang Guoshu who pushed for indigenization of face research. The third school is between the universalist and the relativist and labeled as social constructionist. This school is represented by Wenshan Jia who argues that communication can potentially transform face practices and facerelated identity. The universalist school of face and facework research exemplifies how a nonWestern culture such as Chinese culture could be accepted as a culture with universal dimensions. Such universal dimensions need to be boldly translated and integrated into communication theory through a process of deindegenization. This could be a case study of how a nonWestern culture such as the Chinese culture could make inroads into the Western culture which is currently dominating the world. It could also possibly challenge, enrich and transform Western culture and help create a shared human culture of diversity drawing upon all existing ethnic cultures, Western culture as an ethnic culture, included.
104 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China A Contrastive Study of Requests in Chinese and American Cultures Xuerui Jia Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The author makes a contrastive study of the Chinese indirect and implicit and Americans’ direct and explicit requests. The author points out that the Chinese often prefer to delay their request until the end or after facework and justifications or reasons while the Americans often prefer to place their request early or in general at the beginning and if they want to provide justifications or reasons for their request, they usually place them after the request. Philosophically speaking, the Chinese indirect and implicit and Americans’ direct and explicit requests are consistent with the concept of self in terms of interpersonal relationship in these two cultures. Crossculturally speaking, the differences in requests and expressions can be attributed to the differences in the concepts of the Eastern self and the Western self and their selfexpressions. In the Confucian or Chinese sense of self, one is more a self in human relationships, and less a self in isolation. To establish relationship or harmony, obliging and accommodating others are deemed to be the most important mechanism in interpersonal interactions. This necessarily leads to an indirect style in requests. Whereas, the Americans, who are autonomousself oriented, selfexpression inherently becomes ideal and the inhibition of it is the biggest problem. And this leads to a direct style in requests. On NonNative English Speaking Professionals in ELT: Implications for ESL and EFL Learners Jia Yongfang Inner Mongolia University of Technology [email protected] The paper seeks to focus on one research question: What can NNES professionals in English language teaching (ELT) tell ESL and EFL learners based on their own experiences of being nonnative language learners and then struggling to be accepted as professionals in ELT? It aims to explore the role of NNES professionals in ELT and their impact on the language and culture acquisition of English language learners in ESL or EFL contexts. To achieve this goal, the paper is organized into three sections. The first section provides a general introduction about NS/NNS dichotomy. It deals with the debate on the terms of NS (native speaker) and NNS (nonnative speaker): the appropriateness of the terms and possible alternatives. This section sets the basis for the further exploration of the role of NNES professionals in ELT. The second section focuses on the advantages and challenges nonnative professionals possess and face, which are summarized by scholars and researchers in the field of applied linguistics and TESOL. The third section explores
105 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China how the NNES professionals are judged by the current English language learners in various contexts and how the latter can be motivated and inspired in their language learning and bicultural identity maintenance as well. Finally the paper is concluded with the quotation from Thomas (1999): “To acknowledge the presence of what Edge (1996) called the ‘crosscultural paradoxes’ in our profession is just the first step. It is time to go beyond lip service. It is time to clean house and to truly value diversity” (p. 4). This call for multiculturalism in ELT deserves rethinking among people in different levels and different positions. Cultural Metaphors in China A Visual Experience of Hierarchy and Status Symbols Jiang Chun University of International Business & Economics [email protected] He Jiao University of International Business & Economics (UIBE), Beijing P.R China [email protected] Reading the book The Major Metaphors that Constitute European Thought– Growth, Game, Language, Drama, Machine, Time and Space written by Dr. Robert N. St. Clair (2002), a parallel question conjures up in my mind: are there any major metaphors that constitute Chinese thought? An interesting research subject area worth exploring though, it would be too ambitious a topic to be accomplished within a conference paper. Therefore the focus of the present research is narrowed down on the powerful role that visual metaphors can play in the making of an epistemic system, namely in the social construction of Chinese culture. In order to fulfill this task the author will take the readers to a culture metaphor tour of Beijing Forbidden City, also named Palace Museum, to make them feel the visual power of hierarchy and status symbol. This paper will include three parts: the first part is the rational and significance of writing this paper. It takes metaphor beyond its original function not as a mere rhetorical device but as a more interesting epistemological quest of cultural study. The second part is the theoretical foundation of the research. The author will review the major theories and developments in metaphor and lay a theoretical foundation for the conceptual explication of cultural metaphor. The third part is the pictorial and descriptive research into the visual metaphors in China that play an important role in understanding Chinese culture. Cultural Materialism behind the Global Cultural Diffusion Process Jiang, Chun
106 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China University of International Business & Economics, Beijing, P.R. China [email protected] He, Jiao University of International Business & Economics (UIBE) [email protected] Globalization, in spite of many controversies, seems to have reached two consensuses: one is that “all societies create their own modernity,” which means people modernize in their own way. This is evidenced in various modernization models of China, India, Russia and Brazil. The second consensus is people are living in a hybrid culturalworld. This is supported by globalized food, sports, fashion styles and business norms. The direct cause of hybridization is massive migration of people, information, and ideas. There are many interesting issues related to hybridization such as varieties of hybridity, patterns of hybridity, process of hybridity, layers of hybridity and hybridity in the postmodern period. The areas that have demonstrated global hybridity include architecture, music, sports, business, food, fashion, political systems, and wellestablished educational models. This investigation is focused on the process of hybridization, in other word, the process of creolization or global mélange. The author argues that despite the two opposing paradigms of cultural views (differentialism vs. universalism) what is really happening and winning is the third paradigm of mixing cultural perspective as presented in Jan Nederveen Pieterse’s book Globalization and Culture Global Mélange. However, what is not mentioned in the book is that the formation and eventual spread of any ‘new cultural scripts’ is the transformation process from territorial culture to translocal culture with economic motive behind as the driving force. They are in strict conformity with Marvin Harris’ cultural materialism theory. The author investigates into five specific examples in China, namely KFC, Amway, Supergirl campaign, and professional sports to support her arguments. The conclusion is in the transformation process of shifting cultural scripts and social patterns the power of economics is the driving force behind. Why Interculturalisation? An Approach to Accommodate Cultural Diversity in Higher Education Xiaoping Jiang Guangzhou University [email protected] The paper offers a neoMarxist framework of interculturalisation to accommodate the increasing cultural diversity in the internationalisation of higher education with specific reference to Chinese students in New Zealand. At present, there are few official strategies in place to provide for the needs of international students in New Zealand universities. Tolerance is often promoted to cope with differences in general, but this notion is not sufficient to embrace and encourage cultural diversity in higher education. The paper reviews neoliberal and neoMarxist perspectives of interculturalism/interculturalisation. In order to move beyond mere tolerance of cultural diversity,
107 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China which is seen as a problem to be overcome, the paper concludes that a national and institutional policy for internationalisation in higher education should be underpinned by neoMarxist principles of interculturalism. Why Interculturalism? An Approach to Accommodate Cultral Diversity in Higher Education Xiaoping (Isadora) Jiang Guangzhou University [email protected] The paper offers a neoMarxist framework of interculturalisation to accommodate the increasing cultural diversity in the internationalisation of higher education with specific reference to Chinese students in New Zealand. At present, there are few official strategies in place to provide for the needs of international students in New Zealand universities. Tolerance is often promoted to cope with differences in general, but this notion is not sufficient to embrace and encourage cultural diversity in higher education. The paper reviews neoliberal and neoMarxist perspectives of interculturalism/interculturalisation. In order to move beyond mere tolerance of cultural diversity, which is seen as a problem to be overcome, the paper concludes that a national and institutional policy for internationalisation in higher education should be underpinned by neoMarxist principles of interculturalism. On Cultural Acquisition in Language Acquisition ——A Perspective of Intercultural Pedagogy Jin Huikang Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University [email protected] Cultural acquisition is well undertaking through imitation passing down from generation to generation within as well as outside a cultural community. As a matter of fact, that the spreading of any cultural memes are achieved through imitation. But what happens in cultural acquisition when we are acquiring a s/f language? Language Attitude Jin Xiaoling Chen Zhuo Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected]
108 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China There has been an explosion of research in language attitudes since 1960. Kalaja defines language attitudes as attitudes people have towards either languages or regional or social dialects of a same language. According to Kalaja, during the past centuries, language attitudes have mostly been considered from a mentalist point of view. A person’s attitudes are either positive or negative. Language attitudes are often linked with the study of second language learning. As Hartikainen puts it, “the L2learner has to put aside or go beyond his own language and culture”. Therefore, a successful L2learner has to be psychologically prepared to do this, which also involves attitudes. According to Lambert, L2learners’ motivation to learn the new language is thought to be determined by his attitudes and orientation toward learning a second language. Considering that it’s indispensable for successful English learners to hold correct attitudes toward English language, priority should be given to attitude guidance in English instruction. Cultural Connotations in Chinese and English Names Jin Ying Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Names are used by human beings as symbols indicating each particular member in society. They distinguish people from one another. As an essential part of human language, they are also bestowed with profound cultural connotations. This essay makes a close study of Chinese and English names. First of all, it examines the two names from form, time of appearance, origin, and usage so as to make a comparison of collectivism and high social distance in Chinese society and individualism and low social distance in the West. Then it focuses on the similar cultural connotation manifested in Chinese and English names, which is sexism. The article collects three common features which concern sexism in both names, illustrating with the support of abundant examples. Finally, it is concluded that a comparative study of Chinese and English names does work effectively in understanding the two cultures. A Tentative Comparison of Address Terms Used by Young Chinese Males and Females with Their Friends Jin Yue Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] The present paper addresses itself to the original sociolinguistic data in the area of address terms. The main objective of this study is to examine what address terms this generation’s young Chinese use among their friends and to discern any patterns which might exist between the address terms used by males and by females. As far as the sex variable is concerned, the subjects in this research are divided into four groups: the male to male group, the male to female group, the female to male group and the female to female group. Three elicitation methods are employed: observation
109 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China (participant and nonparticipant), interview and questionnaire. The results show that this young generation (the educated undergraduate and graduate students aged from 2030) on informal occasions tend to address their friends (peers with similar background) more with names and nickname address terms than the other types of address terms: the extended kinship terms and the title address terms. As considering the sex variable, a pattern is revealed that the same sex friends use nickname terms most among themselves but names are mostly used form addressing opposite sex friends. The results reveal that the typical address terms used by young people, as social distance markers, speaker’s emotion markers and interactive intention markers, are a means to strengthen the close relationship. And also as compared with females, males used some derogative address terms and even some obscene terms which are deemed as markers of their covert prestige among the male group. Making Bilingual Signs More Communicative: A Functionalist Approach Jinding Peng Central South University [email protected] Wang Bin Central South University [email protected] A text is made meaningful by the receiver and for the receiver (Nord, 2001). Accordingly, the directing, prompting, restricting, compelling effects of signs can be achieved only when they are well understood by the target audience, which is true to bilingual signs on tourist spots. However, international tourists to China often complain that they get confused, puzzled or ridiculed by some of the signs. Why cannot bilingual signs deliver the right information to their target receivers? How can we make these signs more informative? The present study, based on a close examination of the corpus of bilingual signs in Chinese and English collected on mainland China, hopes to find answer to the above questions by adopting a functionalist approach with special attention on crosscultural differences in linguistic aspects, sociocultural aspects and ideological aspects. Findings reveal that functionalist approaches can facilitate ChineseEnglish translation of signs in that it adopts a targetculture orientation in forecasting, avoiding and handling various translation problems. As a result, a fourstep model is suggested in translating signs from Chinese into English, which is believed to contribute to the improvement of signs translation quality and broaden the application of functionalist translation theory as well. Cultural Adaptation and CrossCultural Awareness
110 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Jiwan Bi Beijing Language and Culture University Cultural adaptation to a new culture consists of shortterm adaptation， or adjustment of sojourners， and longterm adaptation， or acculturation of immigrants. The present paper attempts to discuss the nature of cultural adaptation and the relationship between the two types of cultural adaptation based on two case studies, of which one is the film <Gua Sha Treatment>. It focuses on the characteristics of longterm adaptation. This author’s views are: Shortterm adaptation is the initial stage and the foundation of longterm adaptation; The former aims at overcoming culture shock whereas the latter deals with the adaptation to the value systems of the host culture and the transformation of cultural identity. The argument is that the goal of the transformation is integration rather than assimilation and the gaining of multicultural personhood rather than intercultural personhood. The essential approach to the adaptation is to develop a host communication competence. The author believes that it is crucial to have a positive attitude towards the cultural stress, regarding culture shock as a profound learning experience in crosscultural awareness and adaptation to the new value systems. Presents of Mind rewrapped: A study of Hybridization Processes in Japanese Renditions of English Haiku Judy Yoneoka Kumamoto Gakuen University, Kumamoto, Japan [email protected] When popular cultural products such as literature, music and cinema cross linguistic borders, they are often reshaped to fit a new audience in a process known as cultural hybridization. This process is more than mere translation, as it must take into account the sensitivities and cultural environments of both the original and the target languages. In their analysis of popular films derived from Chinese sources, Wang and Yeh ÿ2005ÿdefine three subprocesses at work in hybridization: “deculturalization” “reculturalization” and “acculturalization”. The present study analyses Japanese renderings of the haiku in Presents of Mind (Kacian 1995, Japanese translation by the Kon Nichi Haiku Circle 2006) from the point of view of these three subprocesses. The 1995 Presents is an awardwinning anthology of haiku poetry originally written in English, and reprinted in the 2006 book alongside their Japanese counterparts. The analysis reveals that within the highly rigid, formal, compact and stylized genre of haiku, hybridization takes on dual roles both of rendering the sensitivities associated with culturally specific elements into another language, and of appropriate emulation of the poetic form and kigo seasonal words. A Case Study of Language Maintenance and Language Shift among Australianborn Chinese in Sydney
111 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Julia Mickler Graduate of University of Technology, Sydney, Australia [email protected] (This case study was conducted as part of a MA in Applied Linguistics degree at The University of Technology, Sydney) While there is generally a large body of research on the language maintenance of migrant languages in Australia, there is still only a relatively small amount of research on secondgeneration Chinese in Australia. This paper discusses some key findings from a case study on language maintenance of secondgeneration Chinese in Sydney. The study involved detailed interviews with four secondgeneration Chinese aged between 33 and 37 years and a focus group discussion with seven Australianborn Chinese aged between 25 and 38 years. The study investigated three areas of language maintenance and language shift: language use, factors affecting language maintenance or shift and the relationship between language and cultural identity. The most significant findings of the study were with regards to the relationship between language and cultural identity. The study found that the informants have multiplegroup identities and that there is a complex relationship between these identities and language (Chinese and English). While this is a smallscale study, it provides a deeper understanding of language maintenance and shift in Australianborn Chinese. In particular, it highlights some interesting areas in the relationship between language(s) and cultural identity. A Language Planning Model of Trust Building between Two Linguisti Groups Junko Saruhashi Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, JAPAN saru[email protected] One of the main issues of Language Planning (LP) studies and practice is how to grasp the real linguistic needs of linguistic minority and how to overcome the disregard by linguistic majority of those linguistic needs. As global migration expands, the way to cope with diverse linguistic needs will be more crucial and complex. Since the sociolinguistic environments are becoming intricate and dynamic, LP models should contain the idea of interlinguistic relationship, i.e. interactive model of different linguistic cultures. From the fieldwork observing interaction between small immigrant groups and local governments, the author has extracted a trust building process contributed to language planning and policy implementation process. In this paper, a Trust Building LP model is described together with a criterion of mutual reliance. It has been clarified that active LP practices will be successful by continued buildup and reinforce relationships between two or more linguistic groups. The point is how well all the interested bodies of multilingual society can participated in and contributed to the awareness that languages are cultural resources and cohesive assets within the society.
112 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Choice of Foreign Names as a Strategy for Identity Management Justina Cheang University of Macau [email protected] Regardless of the fact that Macau’s dominating population is Chinese, English names, or to be more exact, foreign names, are favoured and widely used, be it in the businesses, the government, or education institutions. Though Chinese (Cantonese) is spoken by most in the city, local Chinese people’s favour in the use of English/foreign names, whether they are students, civil servants, or working in the business, does reflect their taste and their desired image to be displayed to others. Interviews are conducted showing that people’s choice of English/foreign names are somehow a strategy for identity management – certain names are chosen to show a pleasant personality, or to project a more businesslike image, or to better allow them to mix with the culture in the workplace (e.g. the government department where Portuguese is still the only official language before handover). It is interesting to note that other than English names, people would choose Portuguese names, Japanese names, names of things (nonProper names), or even people’s own creation to be adopted for use. Research Methodology in Intercultural Communication Studies Lyubov Kanunnikova Far Eastern State Technical University, , Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Crosscultural communication is widely studied by many new sciences, including cognitive linguistics and linguistic culturology. These sciences implicate different approaches and offer a variety of research methodology. Here we will talk about a linguoculturological approach in studies, namely, linguoculturological field studing method. This approach, partly based on SapirWhorf hypothesis, states for a group of lexical elements that are united within one concept. The main criterion for forming a linguoculturological field is an extralinguistic factor. And the aim of this approach is to view lexical elements from a conceptual point of view in a close connection with the way that person both understands the world and behaves in it. In other words, by finding lexical elements within one topic and what is important, elements with culural connotation; by arranging one linguoculturological field and studing it, we can figure out the peculiatrities of the whole nation's mentality and see how the world is represented in the language of this particular nation. We will get an opportunity to get aquainted with the its culture.
113 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Reporting on Kosovo War – The Objectivity of Two American Newspapers KE Jing Bejing Foreign Studies University [email protected] Oriented by the theory of social construction of reality, this paper examines comparatively the news covered by The Washington Post and The Washington Times, using LexisNexis as the searching tool and the combination of content analysis and discourse anylisis as research method. The time period for choosing samples for this study is from 1 February to 31 July, 1999. The analysis of chosen samples indicates that, though neither of the two selceted papers presented an obvious political slant in their reportings on the Kosovo issue, both of them failed or ignored to report some of the crucial issues related to the Kosovo crisis, such as the Appendix B of the Rambouillet Accords, NATO’s cluster bombing of the nonmilitary targets, and the NATO’s strike on the Serb TV Station. This gives evidence that news is not a reflection of objective reality, that news reporting in a democratic society is not free from interrelated social, economic and political factors or even manipulations. Comparative Study on History Development and Rating Analysis of TV Variety Show between Mainland China and Taiwan Kirsten Y.C. Huang Department of JournalismShih hsin University [email protected] Variety Show has been regarded as main identity of popular culture. It also can reflect regional culture and social characteristics by its content and format. After being separated for more than fifty years, the two entities across the Taiwan Strait have developed different broadcasting policies and media convergence of the two entities’ longdivided political and economic views, this research is to, through the analysis of TV variety show programs’ history development and ratings, sketch the contours of current TV audience in Taiwan and Mainland and the viewing behavior thereof and further explore the differences to help provide the TV industries on both sides of the Taiwan Strait a viable direction for variety show’s development. This research result indicates that CCTV still stand on marketleading role in Mainland China from channel share perspective. In Taiwan, the four free terrestrial television channels are dominant. As for program format, Mainland Chinese variety show is popular for performing contest and festival gala. Taiwanese variety show is more popular for entertainment show. This kind of entertainment show is mainly hosted by local host, and combined with singing contest, performance, and comedy section that are played by popular singer, actor, and actress.
114 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Technological Progress as a Value Orientation of American culture: We and the Japanese Klinkova Anna The Far Easter National University, Russia [email protected] The presentation is devoted to the study of such a value orientation of American culture as technological progress and attitude to science in newspaper discourse on Japan. The latest achievements of the two technical superpowers, Japan and the USA, are constantly monitored and compared in terms of efficiency, practicality, mobility, future orientation, doing orientation, security, success, progress and change. The emphasis of the research lies on the cultural interpretation of evaluative word usage on the pages of American newspapers. Technological progress of Japan is highly appreciated by Americans and viewed as a boon as it agrees to their beliefs that man controls nature, environment should be changed to serve man and provide comfort of all kinds, the results of such change are of measurable character, goals can be attained individually, the future can promise more than the present and the like. Such factors as wide spread, high frequency and topical diversity of technological discourse on Japan in American newspapers prove the importance of technological progress and science for American culture. Military Uniform as Fashion during the Cultural Revolution Xurong Kong Department of Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures Kean University, Union, NJ [email protected] This paper investigates the development and significance of military uniforms during the Cultural Revolution. Due to superior material and appealing colors, in conjunction with the ideology they stood for, the military uniforms were the clothing of choice for revolutionminded youth. Starting with the political and military elite, the fashion for military attire spread to Red Guards and Educated Youth, and eventually became popular throughout China. This reflects two ideological connotations of the military uniform at that time: antiindividualism and equality. After the Tian’anmen Incident in 1989, the military uniform ceased to be fashionable. Gone with the military uniform are not only the chaos of those years but also a certain zeal to reform Chinese society. There are three parts to this article. The first part focuses on two conditions that led to the military uniform becoming fashionable, including both economical circumstances and their effect on fabric and color and ideological notions about style. The second part deals with the spread of military uniforms. The third section addresses the value system represented by the military uniform, which
115 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China emphasized social rather than individual benefits and equality between men and women. SelfTranslation: A Model for Cultural Adaptation in Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior Ying Kong and Guizhi Wang Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected], [email protected] Theories of crosscultural adaptation are dominated by two opposing concepts of self: selfinvention in the “melting pot” culture, in which a new self is governed by its host culture, and selfpreservation in the “mosaic” culture, in which the self preserves its original culture. Because selfinvention cuts the self from its past and traditions, thereby disallowing the extended self across time, and because selfpreservation cleaves the self to old traditions of the native culture, thereby preventing the extension of the self across space, neither model of cultural adaptation is upheld in life writing. Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (1976) offers another model for selfhood in cultural –adaptation –self –translation. This essay explores how Kingston selftranslates and mediates between the Chinese and American cultures, between the past history and present situation, between the old traditions and the new fashions in her life and in life writing. Languages in the Process of Globalization Kornienko Svetlana FarEastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] When we talk about global culture, we refer to those cultural elements which share the common way of life of human communities through the process of globalization. The impressive development in technological innovations and the rapid spread of global culture through the media have great effects on the development of human communities. Some of the effects may be positive while others may be negative. The economization of time and energy and the maximization of efficiency and effectiveness in the transportation of goods, people and information, and the increased communication between cultures of different geographical areas and ethnic backgrounds may be considered positive. Tendency toward homogenization of languages can be considered destructive. It is wellknown that a wide variety of human sensibilities and preferences are hidden in language. It is natural to respect each national language. Today’s trend toward globalisation of languages is of great concern. It is very stylish to mix borrowed foreign words with traditional native words. It can lead to language identity. Such process produced a vague anxiety.
116 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Language and Cultural Communication Developing Cultural Awareness in the Experimental ESP Reading Course E.Korotkova Far East National University Vladivostok Institute for International Studies [email protected] Language, communication and culture cannot be separated. We teach communication and culture issues in the frame of a 68hour ESP experimental reading course. The course is based on the study textbook called ‘ Political , Social and Economic Processes in the Pacific Rim Countries’ and designed for students majoring in International Studies and World Economy. The major components of the cognitive reading process are reading skills tied up with various reading stages and strategies, cognitive operations and cultural values intrinsic of the Pacific Rim countries. In reading comprehension familiar information or Theme meets the unknown information, or Rheme, thus making the text comprehension more complete for learners. The unknown political, economic, historic and cultural ideas become the Rheme, and the learners understanding it, acquire the various notions the textbook encompasses. Teaching cultural awareness necessitates sorting out cultural universals as well as inferring the cultural values characteristic of Pacific Rim countries, so, the students will acquire social cognitive skills alongside with the cognitive reading skills when they end up the course. The communication activities and rolegames simulating the real life situations instruct learners to use various modes of communication styles (dominant, relaxed, friendly, etc.). Therefore, learning to understand diverse message systems of the Pacific Rim countries the course recipients develop awareness of both the host culture and empathy and encourage feedback in real life communication process. Thus, ESP course optimizes cognitive reading and comprehensive process, activates education and reallife communication, incorporates new cultural notions and develops cultural awareness in its recipients. Nonverbal Language of “Street Dances” in American Culture Ksenia Okatova Far Eastern National University, Institute of Oriental languages, Vladivostok [email protected]
117 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Dance is known as a language of a body, it conveys humans’ thoughts, ideas, emotions nonverbally. It may reveal and express individual and national culture. This paper focuses on street dances of the USA, which are popular among youth. Unlike many other dances street ones influence and have cultural impact on teenagers, express protest of young generation, even effect not just language but cloth fashion. That is why street dances were chosen as a tool to study American culture. The research is based on creolized texts (which consist of two inhomogeneous parts, verbal and nonverbal (e.g. pictures, photos, etc.)). Exploration of the USA culture is built not upon politics or history but it is extracted from American youth street dances point of view. Identities Reflected in the Discourses of Male Speakers: A Malaysian Chinese Perspective Kuang Ching Hei Faculty of Languages and Linguistics University of Malaya [email protected] This paper discusses the spoken discourses of four male speakers whose ages ranged from 6 years to 56 years of age. Using the framework of Discourse Analysis the study hopes to unravel the unspoken identities of the male speakers as identified in their spoken discourses whether among themselves, with friends, close relatives or with their parents. The findings disclose that the younger male speakers use very direct modes of speaking which illustrates that today’s young people are less aware of what politeness or attending to face is about and in so doing, creates misunderstandings between themselves and the older generation. Culturally and Linguistically Driven Misunderstanding? : The Analysis of Intercultural Misunderstanding Kumiko Tsutsui Kumamoto Gakuen University, Kumamoto, Japan [email protected] Misunderstanding is considered an inescapable communication phenomenon in intercultural communication. Reasons for it are usually identified with differences of cultural or/and linguistic backgrounds between interactants. This is an ethnographic study that examines a misunderstanding event between international students and staff members in the international office. After a meeting in which they discussed a sexual harassment incident that involved one of the students, the students were furious about the Office’s explanation. The Office argued that the students misunderstood the staff’s explanation because of their foreign language incompetence and cultural differences; whereas the students insisted that they had understood everything and refused to have further contact with the Office. Based on the participants’ hearings and official reports, I investigate why and how misunderstanding occurred. The analysis sheds light on not
118 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China only cultural and linguistic aspects but also their relationships, preconceived ideas, organizational viewpoints, and groupthink that came into play in this misunderstanding event. Presenting Aboriginal Culture in the Digital Age: Participatory Communication in the Construction of Digital Archive of Lan Yu’s Ethnic Media Liangwen Kuo Graduate Institute of Communication Studies, National Chiao Tung University, TAIWAN [email protected] The aboriginal media of Yan Yu Isalnd (Orchid Island) contribute to form consensus and ethnic identity among local residents and function to present the local voices to the outside world. However, the literacy of computer and communication technology is underdeveloped in the aboriginal people residing in this island. A joining effort is established between a team of National Chiao Tung University and the aboriginal journalists and documentary filmmakers in constructing the digital archive of Yan Yu’s media contents. These media contents are mainly produced by The LanAn Culture and Education Foundations including documentary films (in VHS and DV forms), radio programs, LanAn biweekly news report, historical photos, and LanAn Newsletters. This paper aims to analyze the participatory and intercultural communication processes that are involved in the construction of ethnic database, website, metadata and data management of various local media. A particular emphasis is to explore the context of cultural relativism, digital literacy, particularity of ethnic media, and cultural issues of participatory communication in the process between academics and aboriginal people. Presenting Aboriginal Culture in the Digital Age: Participatory Communication in the Construction of Digital Archive of Lan Yu's Ethnic Media Liangwen Kuo Department of Communication and Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan [email protected] The aboriginal media of Yan Yu Isalnd (Orchid Island) contribute to form consensus and ethnic identity among local residents and function to present the local voices to the outside world. However, the literacy of computer and communication technology is underdeveloped in the aboriginal people residing in this island. A joining effort is established between a team of National Chiao Tung University and the aboriginal journalists and documentary filmmakers in constructing the digital archive of Yan Yu’s media contents. These media contents are mainly produced by The LanAn Culture and Education Foundations including documentary films (in VHS and DV forms), radio programs, LanAn biweekly news report, historical photos, and LanAn Newsletters. This paper aims to analyze the participatory and intercultural communication processes that are
119 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China involved in the construction of ethnic database, website, metadata and data management of various local media. A particular emphasis is to explore the context of cultural relativism, digital literacy, particularity of ethnic media, and cultural issues of participatory communication in the process between academics and aboriginal people.Keywords: participatory communication, ethnic media, digital archive, intercultural communication, Lan Yu Island Presenting Aboriginal Culture in the Digital Age: Participatory Communication in the Construction of Digital Archive of Lan Yu’s Ethnic Media Liangwen Kuo National Chiao Tung University [email protected] ChongWei Lin National Chiao Tung University [email protected] Sukan Lin Tamkang University [email protected] The aboriginal media of Yan Yu Isalnd (Orchid Island) contribute to form consensus and ethnic identity among local residents and function to present the local voices to the outside world. However, the literacy of computer and communication technology is underdeveloped in the aboriginal people residing in this island. A joining effort is established between a team of National Chiao Tung University and the aboriginal journalists and documentary filmmakers in constructing the digital archive of Yan Yu’s media contents. These media contents are mainly produced by The LanAn Culture and Education Foundations including documentary films (in VHS and DV forms), radio programs, LanAn biweekly news report, historical photos, and LanAn Newsletters. This paper aims to analyze the participatory and intercultural communication processes that are involved in the construction of ethnic database, website, metadata and data management of various local media. A particular emphasis is to explore the context of cultural relativism, digital literacy, particularity of ethnic media, and cultural issues of participatory communication in the process between academics and aboriginal people. . Photography as Grobalization of Something: Chang ChienChi’s Photography Kuo LingTzu Chinese Culture University, Taiwan
120 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China [email protected] American sociologist George Ritzer identifies two basic broad subprocesses of globalization: glocalization – the integration of the global and the local – and grobalization – the imposition of the global and the local. He also makes the distinction between something and nothing. Something is equal to forms that are indigenously conceived and controlled and comparatively rich in content. Nothing is equal to forms that are centrally conceived and controlled and largely lacking in distinctive content (Ritzer, 2003:191). According to Ritzer’s theory, there are two processes – glocalization and grobalization, and two cultural types – something and nothing. The interrelationships among glocalizationgrobalization and somethingnothing offer four basic possibilities that operate within globalization: (1) glocalization of something, (2) glocalization of nothing, (3) grobalization of something, (4) grobalization of nothing (Ritzer, 2003:191). Globalization is a set of complex transnational processes rather than a singular result. The discussion of the grobalization of something makes it clear that grobalization isn’t unmitigated source of nothing. The goal of this study is to explore how photography as grobalization of something. The paper dissects Chang ChienChi’s work to unravel how photography as grobalization of something. Chang’s photography work “The Chain” and his own immigrant experiences contributed to his own double vision on both global society and the cultural issues of Taiwan. His membership at Magnum Photos and his exposure to different cultures form his photography as grobalization of something. Chang ChienChi joined Magnum Photos in 1995 and became a full Member in 2001. After the Bachelor degree of English Literature at Soochow University in Taiwan, Chang went to Indiana University in the U.S. Bridging the Gap between the International and the National L. Bondarenko, Director Far Eastern National University, Institute of foreign languages, FENU. Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] In the globalizing world leading to global economy, global business, global environmental problems, global education, global language there is growing anxiety in the world that very soon people of different nations can become just people of the world with no cultural or ethnic identity whatsoever. Much of communication in the world today is performed in English and this is quite understandable mostly for economic reasons. In different parts of the world though the global
121 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China language is developing local varieties. I believe time has come to reconsider the habitual notions of language standards, priorities in hiring language teachers (native/non native), preferences in teaching culture (ethnic/anglo), etc. The study of local variants of English will contribute greatly to successful communication and help to preserve the peoples' national identities.At the Department of Phonetics, Institute of Foreign Languages, FENU we have been studying the phonological negative transfer, the diversified syllable and rhythmic structure of English speech in China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Vietnam, and Thailand. Through theoretical and instrumental analysis we have obtained data which allows us to speak of certain typological similarities in the production and perception of English speech in those countries. We hope the research can be helpful in teaching English pronunciation in the above mentioned countries with the shift to these typological pronunciation features.
Triadic Communication Within the Intercultural Context L. Brooks Hill and John McGrath Trinity University, USA [email protected] Dyadic or twoperson interpersonal communication is a major focus in the literature about human communication. What happens to patterns of dyadic communication when you add a third person? While this subject is largely ignored in the communication literature, social scientists in the more therapeutic professions have considered the triad or threeperson interaction extensively with serious implications and potential for the study of communication behavior. This paper provides an overview of the literature about triadic interaction and discusses the implications of the available literature for future studies of triadic communication. Based on these observations, the paper will finally project the potential variations into the intercultural context and suggest some comparative research projects that members of IAICS might valuably pursue Intercultural Communication and Corporate Culture in Training Specialists in Service Larissa Savinkina Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Institute of International Tourism and Hospitality of Far Eastern National University trains specialists in hotel and restaurant service and tourism, as well as managers in service, administrative, scientific research and educational forms of activities. To be professional in these activities the students should possess the cultural knowledge of the country the language of which they study and be able to behave according to the rules of intercultural communication. Information is transmitted both at the verbal and at the nonverbal level; the latter represents the
122 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China greatest difficulties for interpretation by the representatives of other cultures. To achieve understanding students should be trained in active listening and interpretation. They also should possess the skill of foreseeing and preventing possible errors. The students of Institute are trained to work for foreign multinational corporations. Company’s corporate culture and host country national culture interact at the external and internal levels. Corporate culture determines the behaviour of the personnel, ensures the social stability of organization and commonality feeling. International multinational corporations use different control models in their activity. Training professional managers of international level, able to work in different cultural conditions and adapt easily to the cultural standards of the host country is complex and labourintensive process. “Don’t Look, We’re Changing!” A Descriptive Analysis of Cultural Trends in Indian Advertising Lata Rajagopalan Kumar University of Madras, Chennai, India. [email protected] India is in the midst of a cultural transformation. Both urban and rural Indian consumers are experiencing the impact of globalization on local marketing. Advertising, which is a cornerstone of cultural mapping, has undergone complete metamorphosis. The modern consumer now has a new face, a new mind. Brand advertising has a new look and marketing has a new thrust. This paper attempts to critically analyze the changing scenario in Indian advertising with emphasis on consumerism. The objective of the effort is to understand the new Indian consumer while tracking the kinds of brands and advertising elements that appeal to him/her. The study also includes a comparative analysis between India and China, exploring the possibility of common advertising strategies.“Don’t look, we’re changing!” researches the convergence of the seeming extremes of ethnic Indian advertising styles in the context of global marketing. It is a qualitative, etic study wholly based on secondary data. Constructing a Complimentary Relationship: Rhetorical Study of Two First Ladies in Taiwan LinLee Lee National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan [email protected] Whereas many scholars and critics have fixed upon the dimensional roles of the President and political influence, far less attention has been paid to the rhetoric of First Lady. Many scholars have wondered what role she should undertake. The role of First Lady has always been under lens of the public and accordingly attracts scholars to study the intriguing perspectives. Although First Lady has never been codified or officially defined, some of them do figure prominently in the political and social life of the nation. In the West, some of them present their husbands both at
123 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China home and abroad; some are closely watched for hints of presidents’ thinking; some have used their influence to affect legislation on important political decisions such as educational reforms, housing improvement, women’s rights, among others. President Lee and President Chen represent a new chapter of Taiwanese political development. Accordingly, the role of their first ladies plays a vital part in the political realm. This paper examines the rhetorical roles of two contemporary First Ladies in Taiwan—First Lady Lee Tseng Wenhui and the incumbent First Lady Wu Sujen in an attempt to decipher how First Lady Lee and First Lady Wu work to construct a complimentary relationship for the best interests of their husbands. Furthermore, this essay compares and contrasts to what extent the rhetorical strategies of these two First Ladies assimilate to or deviate from each other. Keywords: First Lady Lee Tseng Wenhui; First Lady Wu Sujen; complimentary relationship Implementing Cultural Teaching Appropriately in Listening Classroom Lei Haiyan Taiyuan University of Science and Technology [email protected] After reviewing the common phenomenon that Chinese students fail to understand listening information even without the barriers of new words, the author points out that the best part of the reason is closely associated with the lack of students’ relevant knowledge, especially cultural background knowledge. According to Schema Theory, this is caused by insufficiency or activation failure of schematic knowledge. Therefore, it is very necessary for us language teachers to implement cultural teaching appropriately in listening classroom. In listening class, the teacher should use different ways to get students to have the access to relevant cultural knowledge in the light of Schema Theory. First the teacher should analyze and assess the background knowledge already acquired by students by asking some questions or instructing students to make predictions or inferences with the help of key words. For those about which students have some ideas, teachers should play the role of matchmaker between the recorder and the listener, activate the already possessed schema and assist students to bridge their old knowledge structure and the listening material. Then for those about which students are found having no idea, teachers should introduce new knowledge directly through different ways such as explaining, telling stories, watching movies or computerbased means etc. Culture Exchange in the Context of Globalization Li Benxian Xi’an International Studies University [email protected] This paper was intended to explore the culture exchange patterns in the context of globalization
124 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China using a triad method derived from triad philosophy. The author reveals to readers that the imbalance in cultural tradeoff not only derives drastic unfairness but also incurs terrible detriment to the peripheral countries. And as the globalization picks up its speed, the impact is observed to be far more pervasive than ordinarily speculated. In the end of the article, the author appeals that if globalization means freedom in culture exchange in a sense, it was time for us to address its disparity triggered by the imposed practice while arousing the cultural awareness of the people exposed to the strong impact. A Comparative Study of Metaphors in Chinese and English Li Boyang Hangzhou Dianzi University [email protected] Li Yu Harbin University of Commerce [email protected] The concept of metaphor plays an important role in the process of understanding and reforming the world and metaphor is not just a kind of artistic embellishment, but a basic phenomenon that occurs throughout the whole range of language activity closely related with cultures. The present study examined the usage of metaphors of two languages, namely Mandarin Chinese and English. Data were collected from daily use of metaphors and metaphors appearing in literature works in both English and Mandarin Chinese, followed by a contrast conducted aiming at finding similarities and differences between metaphors in the two languages and an exploration of the factors which cause variations of the usage of metaphors within two cultures was presented. Failure of Language in Intercultural Communication A study of Email Interaction Li Hongmei College of Foreign Languages South China Agricultural University [email protected] Due to cultural diversity, in email communication there is always a gap between what the sender intends to convey and what the receiver actually perceives. This gap may be enlarged if the communicators have to use the same foreign language rather than their native language. In this case the email communication will involve more omission even distortion of the original information. In this study, the email communication within one month between two nonnative speakers studying in University of Pennsylvania is analyzed. The two communicators
125 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China differ not only in cultural background but in English language proficiency and gender. After 15turn email correspondence they printed out all the emails they got from the other and marked out the words or sentences whose literal meaning was ambiguous or confusing to them. Besides, they exchanged their perception of the information conveyed to them for clarification in their facetoface conversation. The analysis of insufficient communication and miscommunication reflected in the 15turn emails shows that grammatical mistakes in the emails hardly cause any problem in communication. However, lack of accuracy in the use of words may leads to miscommunication and necessary meaning clarification is needed to remove the misunderstanding. The analysis also indicates that highcontext information is generally a little puzzling to a person who is from lowcontext culture and that communication turns out to be less successful when the person who is used to highcontext culture takes for granted that the information is fully conveyed while the person believing in explicit expression depends more on literal meanings and fails to read between the lines. Therefore, it is proved that sufficient and effective communication between people with different cultural background depends not only on accurate use of the language but a full awareness of and sympathy for cultural differences. A Comparison between Christian and Traditional Chinese Views on Human Nature Huawei Li Zhangzhou Normal University [email protected] The wherearewefrom quest and the whatarewe pursuit have ever been a foundational theme resonating along the questioning voyage of human race. The attempt to uncover the mystery of human nature has been a main stream in Chinese philosophies, especially in Confucianism. There have been arguments about whether men are gifted with a good nature or an evil nature. To this same puzzle which people yearn to unravel, the Christian theology, based upon and derived from the Holy Bible, has yet offered another view which sees humans as being at the very first endowed with the glory and honor of God however, stained by sin, falling victim to a fallen nature. The probability that all human civilizations could be traced to the same origin well justifies a comparison of the Chinese traditional philosophy and the Christian view. And knowing the similarities and the differences between them could be enlightening in the cause of crosscultural
126 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China communication which in essence is a cause of cultural interactions and the reshaping of cultures with thriving vitality. Computermediated Communication Language and English Language Teaching Li Hui Shanghai University of Sport [email protected] With the rapid development and popularization of computer network, the much frequentlyused Computermediated Communication (CmC) language has been increasingly shifting into live natural language. This kind of network language is not confined in network only, but as an indispensable part, begins to permeate into human daily communication. Such tendency, which is sure to be characteristic of the world wide language — English, has opened up a new field for language development and posed a tough challenge for English language teaching. Based on the analysis of the formation, function and evolution of networkrelated words, phrases and some sentence structures of modern English in present age, This paper attempts to identify the problems that the teachers who teach English as a foreign language in China might practically meet with, as well as to put forward the appropriate attitude towards and some possible solutions to these problems, hoping to give some inspiration to the English teachers in their teaching practice. TOFEL Reformation vs. CET Reformation Li Huijie School of Foreign Languages, Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Year 2006 is particular to Chinese tertiarylevel English learners. In June and December this year, the College English Test committee officially issued the CET band 4 and band 6 new format respectively; in September the same year, ETS launched its first TOEFL iBT in China. This paper has the intention to find out the decisive differentiae between new TOEFL and CET so that we can take advantage of the beneficial implications from the two tests for English education in China. The paper begins with general description of the two tests, including the following characteristic factors: testtakers, testing approach, purpose, nature, type, reference, tool, test tasks, material selection and social effect. The paper continues with a closer look at the two tests by introducing the foundation background, reformation history and pertinent researches on both tests. The main part of the paper deals with seven reformative focuses of the two tests, such as the construct validity, item types, and interactiveness. The paper argues that there are four decisive differentiae between the two tests: test approach, construct validity, test task and backwash. Finally the paper comes to the conclusion that the purpose difference results in the divergent tendency of the two tests, and that both the innovated TOEFL and CET point out new directions for Chinese college
127 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China English learning, teaching and testing. The Effect of Cultural Differences on English Reading Comprehension Li Jing Guangxi Normal University [email protected] In our college English teaching such phenomenon often occurs that when students are doing reading comprehension, even though they know more than 95% words of the whole passage, they can’t make the right answer in the multiple choices designed for the corresponding passage. One important reason is that students have very scant knowledge of the cultural differences reflected in the language patterns. Thus having the knowledge of cultural differences is key to the understanding of the English passage. This article discusses how the differences in language patterns between Chinese and western cultures affect Chinese students by analyzing some English passages on Band 6. It particullarly focuses on the contrast of English and Chinese discouse patterns and how English patterns cause difficulty in understanding. Finally, some suggestions are put forward as to how to integrate the western culture into our classroom by the three periods: the primary period deals with the general differences in everyday life, including language patterns and the actual application; the secondary period involves differences in terms of words, phrases, proverbs and idioms and the higher period is mostly concerned with the deep structure of the cultural differences—discourse patterns. Integrated Bilingual Cultural Identity—A Case Study of Sandy Yu Li Kun Zhangzhou Normal University [email protected] Wikipedia defines cultural identity as, “the (feeling of) identity of a group or culture, or of an individual as far as she/he is influenced by her/his belonging to a group or culture.” As far people of mixed cultures concerned, they are the much admired natural bilinguals, however, they may encounter with problems such as a feeling of being an outsider or not knowing for certain where the home country is, etc, which may cause identity confusion. Cultural identity to them is a question about with what cultural membership they should identify. This paper investigates an American Chinese girl Sandy Yu’s cultural identity between Chinese culture and American culture. Sandy was born in American in a Chinese family. She went back to Taiwan with her family when 7 years old, and gradually came to understand and identified with Chinese culture. Six years later she faced with a reverse culture shock when returned to the States. But gradually she managed to reconcile the two cultures and made the best of it. By taking the
128 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China case of Sandy Yu as an example this paper tries to explore an integrated bilingual cultural identity. The Adaptability of Speech Act and Intercultural Business Communication An Analysis of Two Business Letters Li Lanxin Beijing Institute of Economic Management [email protected] Communication is mainly composed of a series of speech acts which can be quite different from one situation to another. Therefore, making appropriate speech acts is highly regarded by those engaged especially in international business communication. This paper looks into the speech act in intercultural business communication by analyzing two business letters in terms of participants, scene, message form, effect etc and tries to find ways of adapting one’s speech acts into speech situations. The paper attempts to build up business people’s awareness of the significance of making right speech acts with their communicators and convey the right meaning adapt their speech act to the situation concerned in all aspects, not only of who participates in, but also of how and what is being approached, and of what kind of consequences is to be achieved. This paper provides great enlightenment on the speech act of business communication across culture. How to Increase the Intercultural Business Communication Ability of Business English Practitioners Li Lixin Northeast Normal University [email protected] With the globalization of economy, communication becomes everything when it comes to surviving in an international business society, therefore more and more Business English practitioners are badly needed. This paper deals with how to increase the intercultural business communication ability (IBCA) of Business English practitioners from the following four aspects. First, the basic theories in Business, Linguistics, Communication and Cultural Studies provide a solid theoretical base for the intercultural business communicators to increase their communication ability under the guidance of the comprehensive theoretical framework and principles. Second, the casestudy ability will be increased through the discussion and analysis of some classical, typical and selfchosen current cases in business world with the help of intercultural communication theories. Third, the efficiency and effectiveness of spoken and written communication require that grammaticality, proper forms, cultural information, communication skills and principles be integrated into the appropriateness and acceptability of communication. Finally, the creative thinking is a critical part of effective and efficient IBCA, for no fixed pattern, skills and principles can suit any business communication situation. Thus more effective
129 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China approaches to increase IBCA are needed to be researched on to satisfy the society’s increasing need for intercultural business communicators, especially when the number of people who use English as a communication tool greatly exceed the number of native English speakers in the world today. Moral Doubleedged Sword A Research on “Internet Hunting” Li Luxiaÿ Hong Kong Baptist University [email protected] This research analyzes Chinese netizens’ attitude towards privacy and their language style in specific cases, thus exploring the indepth reasons for this prevailing phenomenon concerning cyberspace ethics with a hope to help fill the “policy vacuum” in cyberspace. After the tworound content analysis of four sample cases, the research makes the conclusion that most of the “Internet hunting” or “Internet investigation” cases in China feature severe discourse violence, largescale privacy disclosure and regretful tragedy ending. It also finds out that there is little consciousness for Chinese netizens to privacy issues in cases of “Internet hunting” or “Internet investigation”. However, despite all of the negative influences of “Internet hunting” and “Internet investigation”, they also exert positive effects on the virtual community and real society. Because those had done something immoral were punished through the “civic court” online. That’s why I called “Internet hunting” and “Internet investigation” a moral doubleedged sword. In conclusion, what we should do now is to keep the civic strength of justice and make up certain regulations to protect the privacy of huntees. Key Words: cyberspace ethics, Internet hunting, Internet investigation, discourse violence, privacy Cultural Effects of the Chinese Sense of Propriety Manli Li, Xuejun Zhang Foreign languages School Harbin institute of Technology Recently, both in China and abroad, interest in Confucius has increased markedly, and there has been a growing study and discussion of his philosophy. Confucius placed great emphasis on morality. Most of his sayings recorded in Analects concern moral questions. Of all moral questions, 5 virtues are widely known by foreigners: humanity, rightness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. Confucianism attaches great importance to the notion of politeness and rites and holds it indispensable for selfcultivation as well as government administration. As propriety is universally accepted to exert great influence on Chinese culture and plays a decisive role in establishing a harmonious society, this paper intends to mainly explore its connotation and analyze how it influences the Chinese behavior. Therefore it hopes to help foreigners better interpret and slip into the Chinese social context during intercultural communication.
130 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The Development of Intercultural Communicative Competence LI Meilan Foreign Language Department , Sanming University [email protected] As the development of social and economic globalization, English has become an international language. Therefore, the ultimate goal for English education is intercultural communicative competence. This article first explores the necessity to develop students’ intercultural communicative competence in English teaching. Then, it analyzes the concept of intercultural communicative competence. Finally, the author recommends some techniques and methods to develop students’ intercultural communicative competence in English classroom. A Study of Image Schema and Its Applications in China Li Mingjun Harbin Institute of Technology Liu Lihua BIPT, Beijing Cognitive linguistics is termed as a new approach or perspective to study language. Among what cognitive linguists concerns, image schema theory, one of the hottest topics, receives much attention and is applied in many fields since it was put forward. According to image schema theory, knowledge is stored in people’s mind in abstract and systemic forms, and people’s interaction with the world is a kind of meaningful construction of image schema. The paper first discusses “image schema” theory itself, and then demonstrates how “image schema” theory is applied to facilitate people’s understanding, including language acquisition, cultural translation, habitformation and academic studies with the purpose of a better view of the applications of the studies of “image schema” theory in China. A Study of Interlanguage Pragmatic Development of Making Requests By American Learners of Chinese Shuai Li Beijing Language and Culture University [email protected] In line with recent focus on acquisitional issues in interlanguage pragmatics, the present crosssectional study investigates the interlanguage development of making requests by 60
131 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China American learners of Chinese across low, intermediate, and high proficiency levels. Learner data will be collected through an oral discourse completion test (Oral DCT), and baseline data will be collected among 20 native speakers of Chinese and 20 native speakers of American English. By concentrating on request strategies, this study will address both pragmalinguistic and sociopragmatic development of learner requests. For the pragmalinguistic aspect, learners’ development of direct, conventionally indirect and nonconventionally indirect requests will be examined; for the sociopragmatic aspect, efforts will be made to investigate whether and how the two contextual variables, power (P) and ranking of imposition (R) influence the choice of request strategies as learners’ Chinese proficiency increases. Comparison to native speaker data will be made to check whether the observed development is converging or diverging from native norms. Qualitative analysis will also be carried out to examine qualitative development of learner requests. According to the result of our pilot study, we anticipate that as learners’ L2 (Chinese) proficiency increases, more conventionally indirect request strategies and less direct request strategies will be used, and the use of nonconventionally indirect requests will remain at a low level. Information processing theories will be used as post hoc explanation to observed developmental patterns, and theoretical and pedagogical implications will be drawn as well. ComputerMediated Rationale and Sample Application in Elt in China Li Xiao University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen, Scotland [email protected] Cao Ruhua Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, China During the past two decades, the role of computers in foreign language teaching and learning has changed significantly and education literature reflects a growing interest in adapting traditional classroom methods to ensure that technologies enable students to have greater control over their learning. Technological and pedagogical developments now make it possible for us to integrate computer technology into the language learning process. Computermediated communication (CMC), being regarded as the most revolutionary development in computerassisted language learning, has made its way into the foreign language field as an innovative way to facilitate language teaching and learning. In China, more and more EAP (English for Academic Purposes) courses are emerging and the access course, which is designed for the students who will study in Englishspeaking countries, is one important kind. This essay focuses on the advantages of CMC in foreign language learning as well as its application in an EAP access course, beginning with the introduction of some concepts related to CMC, and the rationale of using CMC in foreign language learning, based on a review of relevant research. The context of the EAP course is introduced and some suggestions of using CMC in this course are proposed.
132 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The Influence of Culture on Native and Chinese English Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs about Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Chinese University Students Li Xiaoming Harbin Inatitute of Technology [email protected] This study aims to investigate and how different cultures influence the pedagogical beliefs that native and Chinese English teachers have about teaching English as a foreign language to Chinese university students. 15 Chinese English teachers and 15 native English teachers participated in this study voluntarily. Surveys, semistructured interviews and fieldworks were used to compare native English teachers’ and Chinese English teachers’ beliefs about teaching English as a foreign language to Chinese university students to determine how their beliefs are different based on the fact that they have been influenced by different cultures and language learning experiences. Using SPSS13.0 to analyze data, the following results are revealed: (1) teachers participated in this study reported five core beliefs about English teaching that guide them through daytoday work; (2) there is a significant difference between native teachers’ and Chinese teachers’ beliefs about teaching English as a second language; (3) these different beliefs about English teaching mainly derive from different cultures. Variation of Metaphor in English and Chinese: from Cognitive Perspective Li Xiaowen Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Metaphor has long been touched upon by a large number of papers and books from various theoretical and methodological approaches, but, in terms of the cognitive status of metaphor, fewer of these studies have taken into consideration evidence or data from any unrelated languages. Now it has become more clear that, although the cognitive linguistic view of metaphor is inspiring, there is a lot more that must be added to make it a more comprehensive and sophisticated account of both universality and the variation of metaphor. My research first describes the different kinds of variation of metaphor in Chinese and English, and then analyses the causes of the variation of metaphor in English and Chinese. Suggestions for modifications are provided to cognitive linguistic view of metaphor, so that it can be more comprehensive and subtle to include both universality and variation of metaphor. This empirical study could throw a little light on the relationship between thought and metaphorical concepts, the cognitive functions of certain metaphors, as well as the cognitive foundations of these figurative languages.
133 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Intercultural Communication Competence in the Context of EAP Li Xiaoxiang Southeast University [email protected] Gao Jian Southeast University [email protected] Much progress has been made in the area of cultural differences in such academic genres as research article, thesis or dissertation, book review, callforpapers text, and so on. However, there seems to be lack of a satisfactory model of Intercultural communication competence (ICC) that is helpful for graduate students in EAP classrooms and novice writers of academic texts. Based on a review of past research in ICC and social interaction in academic texts, this paper intends to identify variables that contribute to an ICC model supposed to be helpful for EAP instruction in China. Specifically, the present study tries to integrate the theoretical backgrounds of classic rhetoric, functional grammar, politeness strategies, genre analysis, knowledge construction, and academic literacy to promote a multidimensional understanding of ICC in the EAP context. Participants representing three groups, i.e., gatekeepers, experienced nonnative writers and EAP experts, responded to a questionnaire and experienced nonnative writers’ texts were analyzed, compared with those of native writers of the same discipline. Findings suggested that knowledge of genre norms (both linguistic and rhetorical), good understanding of both creativeness and criticality, and the quality of being polite and respectful to readers and researchers in and outside the same area might contribute a lot to successful academic communication. Writing Sima Qian’s Rhetorical Style into English Li Xiuying Dalian University of Technology [email protected] The Chinese historian Sima Qian employed a great many rhetorical devices in his writing of Shi Ji (Records of the Historian), thus making it a masterpiece of literature read and enjoyed by Chinese and other Asian readers for centuries. In the mid20 th centuries, a great American translator Burton Watson was attracted by Sima Qian’s subtle literary devices and embarked on reproducing Sima Qian’s rhetorical style in English. His English version of Shi Ji, Records of the Grand Historian, was also recognized as a literary success. This paper explores the strategies Watson adopted in writing Sima Qian’s rhetorical style into English and analyses the reasons why Watson’s English rendition was also accepted as a masterpiece in English literature of translation. The research result is enlightening to translators both in China and other countries in introducing Chinese classics to the West.
134 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Impact of Cultural Differences on ChineseEnglish Translation of the Expressions on Public Signs Li Xue & Ma Chunyan Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Public signs in English are becoming more and more important in China’s greeting 2008 Olympic Games and accelerating the development of international cities, as they are essential to international tourists. Public signs, which are the characters showed in public places, have special communicative function and can provide information and finish certain commands, such as advertisement, commodity instruction, traveling guidebooks, etc. In the translating process from Chinese into English, the authors find that the cultural differences between China and the western countries have a great impact on the ChineseEnglish translation of the expressions on public signs. This paper discusses the language features and functions of Chinese and English public signs, introduces the basic principles of the translation, analyzes the problems of ChineseEnglish translation of public signs, probes into the causes from the perspective of cultural differences between China and English speaking countries, and finally comes up with solutions to these problems. Cultural Impact on Chinese & American Classroom Teaching Li Zhaozeng Binzhou University [email protected] This presentation will give the ESL/EFL teachers or students insights into cultural differences between Chinese and American with special reference to differences of classroom teachings in these two large countries. Many examples, collected through interviews and conferences , are provided to illustrate that Chinese classroom teaching is greatly influenced by Confucianism hierarchy and American classroom teaching by Egalitarianism. The main point of this research is that ESL/ EFL teachers should carefully consider the different styles, behaviors and strategies of the students from different cultural backgrounds when preparing, teaching and evaluating their students. Evolution of the English language: from Queen’s English to “International” English Liang Haiyan， Liu Guochao Beijing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture [email protected]
135 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The international language as the English language is, it was of no significance even in Europe before 1600s. The paper tends to explore how the English language has been spreading overseas and how it has become the global language. The Industrial Revolution in Britain gave rise to its development in technology and economics and neologism. The following four centuries of colonization helped to spread the power of Britain and its language beyond Europe. During the same period English adopted many foreign words and made them its own. Dialects of English have developed in many of the former colonies of the British Empire. English has now inarguably achieved global status. It is believed that over one billion people worldwide are currently learning English. Both the learners and the users may influence or even change the English language. It’s reported that there are more English learners in China than the population of the United States. The next biggest influence on the English language might be the Chinese language. Then we may communicate not with Queen’s English or American English but with “international” English. Communication to CrossCulture Understanding: A Bicultural Assessment of US and Taiwanese Cultures Shirly Liang National Taiwan University, School of Management: International Business [email protected] With great progresses made in culture studies over the past twenty years, cross cultural value/dimensionist approaches and theories have developed several broadly shared frameworks that conceptualized the values within cultures. The first part of this study includes a brief literature review of crossculture studies, followed by a focus on interactionist beliefs in explaining the relationship between communication and culture. Even if English is the predominant language for communication globally, I argue that understanding different communication behaviors is the only way to effective and efficient crossculture understanding. The second part of the study examines the bicultural point of view; I compare and contrast US and Taiwanese cultures with a focus on communication behaviors by assessing four levels: 1 General differences in communication patterns and styles; 2 Degree of differentiation with ingroup and outgroup members; 3 Variations in conflict management styles; 4 Effective correspondence and communication strategies. Finally, I conclude the study with a discussion of the implications of biculturalism and how cultural intelligence is needed for effective intercultural or crossculture communication. Promoting the Chinese Program in SmallTown America: A Case Study Wenbo Liang Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] In recent years, Chinese language programs have been a key project in promoting the Chinese
136 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China culture overseas. Smalltown America has exhibited only a lukewarm welcome. The smalltown people's lack of interest in and motivation to learn about the outside world, the very unflattering image of "communist" China, and a lack of exposure to the positive aspects of what China is like today have combined to reduce the appeal of China and Chinese learning in smalltown universities. Marshall University, in small universitytown Huntington, West Virginia, with its “ne’ergiveup” International Office, had successfully met these challenges, and in two years (20052007), by proactively eliciting and integrating the efforts of the Chinese faculty and the local Chinese community, the local media, the local churches, local and state education legislatures, and the College Board, have cultivated a desire and driven home a need to learn Chinese and learn about China. Underlying Marshall’s successful experience are: 1) a committed university as a promotional engine, 2) committed Chinese faculty and staff as assertive agents reaching out to the students and the local community to make the Chinese presence felt, 3) perseverant teambuilding efforts in integrating the efforts of the local Chinese community to further the Chinese presence and influence among the local smalltown community. A Comparative Analysis of Reports in The Times and Monitor about the Enlargement of EU LIN Wenshuang Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] Bulgaria and Romania entered in the EU on January 1 2007, thus completing the EU’s historic fifth round of enlargement. Since the signing of the Accession Treaty of Bulgaria and Romania to the European Union on 25 April 2005, both two countries have been threatened with accession delay several times because of lack of preparedness. This paper attempts to compare two newspapers – The Times of UK and Monitor of Bulgaria, to reveal the causes and potential factors of this issue, and different attitudes of these two groups 1 towards the EU enlargement. The focus of the paper is to examine how the citizens of the two groups imagine the European perspective after five rounds enlargement Studying the issue of the EU’s latest enlargement is important for two reasons. First, the enlargement of Bulgaria and Romania will be “the last stage of the enlargement allowing the reunification of Europe.” Second, the accession of Bulgaria and Romania completes the historic fifth enlargement of the EU, which is intended to erase the eastwest division left by the cold war. The paper will contribute to the understanding of the EU’s strategy in Western Balkan. RolePlay: A Promising Technique That Can Make the Learning of a Second Language and Second Language Culture a Magical Experience
137 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Yi LIN Institution: University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada [email protected] [email protected] Language and culture are often intertwined. Studies have shown that most ESL students tend to feel frustrated by language stress and culture shock (Makita, 1995). Moreover, with the spread of ESL programs in nonEnglish speaking countries, problems such as cultural appropriateness for Asian learners (Anderson, 1993; Ellis, 1996; Rao, 2002, & Sano et. al. 1984) and linguistic and cultural imperialism (Qiang & Wolff, 2005) have been identified. Through a case study exploration I investigated roleplay implementation in middle school ESL classrooms in China and proposed it as an alternative teaching technique to meet ESL students’ needs in a specific cultural context. Two central questions (“How is roleplay used by Chinese ESL teachers to improve their students’ language skills and cultural behavior?” and “What issues do Chinese teachers need to consider when using roleplay in their ESL classes?”) were explored through three lenses: theory of language and second language acquisition including the socialcultural perspective of language, roleplay literatures and previous studies. These questions were explored through the use of interviews, followup interviews, direct classroom observations and questionnaires. During the study, the research literatures were scrutinized through interviews and classroom observations with two Chinese ESL teachers and their students. The findings of this research not only proved the effectiveness of roleplay to facilitate students’ language and cultural learning but also revealed several issues classroom teachers need to consider during implementation. Based on these findings, a series of recommendations to classroom teacher, teacher education, educational authorities and further research were made at the end of the study. In conclusion, the author believes that this study has contributed to our knowledge of a promising technique that can make the learning of a second language and second language culture a magical experience. An Invisible Hand: Ideology in Intercultural Interpretation in Poetry Translation Lin Yupeng Hefei University of Technology, China [email protected] This paper is an exploration of the close relationship between ideology and intercultural interpretation in poetry translation. After giving a definition of the term ideology , categories of ideology and their relationships, the author of this paper makes an attempt at the fundamental role ideology in general and political ideology in particular play in intercultural interpretation in poetry translation. Then the paper makes an exploration of the function of the secondary texts such as the preface and notes made by the translator in revealing such factors as the ideological condition of the translator , his subjectivity and visibility, his political and cultural identity; and his choice of the poems to be
138 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China translated determined by these factors. Thirdly the paper explores the influence of ideology in the process of poetry translation:1) poetic form, use of the meter and rhyme in the translated work; 2) ideology in the selection of certain translation strategies and techniques; 3) ideology and the choice of certain words and expressions in the translated work; 4) analysis of the mistakes resulting from ideology. Finally the paper attempts an analysis of the relationship between ideology and the reception of the translated poetic works on the part of the reader. The Trouble between Ben and Tracy Linell Davis Nanjing Normal University, School of Foreign Languages and Cultures [email protected] In this paper one of the parties to the trouble, a Chinese graduate student in English, recounts her experiences with an American small business owner in China. As their relationship passes through phases of supervisorintern, mutual friendship, and employeremployee, several misunderstandings occur. At times they successfully negotiate their differences and at other times their misunderstandings remain unresolved. This “situated discourse” (Duranti & Goodwin: 1992) is explored in terms of the context, assumptions, values and beliefs that contribute to meaningmaking. The analysis of the data shows that meanings cannot be totally explained either in terms of learned predispositions (internalized cultural meanings) or in terms of the immediate situation (constructedness). To fully account for crosscultural interaction it is necessary to consider both internalized cultural meanings and situational demands. The case study provides a model for research in “the third space” (Bhabha: 1994) that avoids determinism of either type by attempting to synthesize the multiple influences on interaction. Candidates’ Selfpoliteness Strategies in a Chinese TV Job Interview Liu Aijuan Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] Most researchers focus on the otheroriented politeness when investigating politeness phenomenon in human interaction. This study examines candidates’ selfpoliteness strategies in a Chinese TV job interview. In the job interview, candidates are put into a dilemma: If they adopt selfpromotion, they will do SFTAs (see Chen, 2001) which will influence their image in the interviewers’ eyes. If they stick to being polite, they can not fully express their qualities. In this study, Chen’s (2001) model and Gu’s (1990) Chinese Politeness Principle are used to investigate how candidates employ selfpoliteness strategies to mitigate the force of SFTAs and protect their own face. Results show that candidates usually employ positive selfpoliteness strategies in Chen’s (2001) model such as “justify”, “hedge”, “impersonalize”, “be confident” and “be modest” during the process of interview when confronted with FTAs by the interviewers, rather than
139 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China negative politeness strategies like “hesitation” and “attach conditions”. And the successful applicant is more voluble and informative than the unsuccessful ones in applying the positive selfpoliteness strategy “justify”, much in line with Lipovsky’s (2006) finding. In addition, the results of my quantitative study indicate that the successful applicant employs the strategy “hedge” much more than the unsuccessful applicants during the interview. One Man’s Poison Is Another’s Meat: On the Value of Clichés in the Cultural Assumption of Foreign Language Education Liu Fuli Southwest University [email protected] Among the theorists and practitioners in mainland China, it is not difficult to find out the rejections of the use of “clichés” in the field of foreign language education. Proper though in some other places, in Chinese mainland this thinking deserves discussing further. In pedagogy, all the elements are supposed to be taken into consideration, and most important of all, context. In the context of foreign language education in mainland China, new meanings will arise concerning the significance of “clichés” teaching. For the sake of language and for the sake of culture, “clichés” provide an invaluable resource for the negotiation of meaning in educational practice, specifically, curricular design, implementation and evaluation; and “clichés” imply a lot in the relevant cultural assumption underneath these aspects. Schema Adaptation in Crosscultural Communication: A Case Study Liu Hongyu Yanshan University [email protected] This paper studies the cultivation of crosscultural competence from the perspective of Schema Theory. People from different cultures may have different, or even, lack the proper schema towards the same communication event. Whether the communication is successful or not depends largely on the activation of the appropriate schema. Therefore, to develop crosscultural competence, we need to study the adaptation of schema in crosscultural communication. By conducting a case study, this paper addresses the following problems: 1. The necessity and importance of schema adaptation in crosscultural communication; 2. The effective approach to the adaptation and construction of schema in crosscultural communication. A thinkaloud protocol and a Crosscultural Communication Awareness Questionnaire are applied
140 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China in the study. From the collected data, the study tries to emphasize the importance of schema reconstruction in the development of crosscultural competence. It also suggests that to adapt the schema effectively, we need to enrich crosscultural communication awareness and knowledge, have a thorough understanding of the function and mechanism of schema, and get ourselves involved more in authentic crosscultural communication. Between the Public and the Market: Comparison of the Broadcasting Styles of Two TV News Channels in Taiwan HueiLing Liu Journalism Department of NCCU of Taiwan [email protected] The terms “sensational” and “tabloid” are commonly used to describe the style of Taiwanese TV news. This leads us to a question: Is the tabloidstyle reporting the only style employed by all the TV news channels in Taiwan? This study aims to compare evening newscasts of two TV channels, TVBS and PTS, from information process theory perspective and explain their fundamental differences and similarities. The results indicate TVBS fits the definition of tabloid TV, which mainly focuses on crime and scandal news. On the other hand, PTS presented no internal orders related news, and most its news reports were less deviant and more significant. The content and format of both two newscasts were also different. Their visual/verbal redundancy and recaps were, however, quite similar, as most of the news reports had a low and medium redundancy. When analyzing both newscasts in terms of the ten production techniques proposed by Grabe et al. , this study found unlike PTS, TVBS utilized flamboyant visual aids on the background, obtrusiveness of anchor’s voice and drama storytelling methods. Diversity, Harmony and Face Negotiation An Ethnographic Study on Silence in the Chinese EFL Class of English Linguistic Postgraduates Liu Jing Ocean University of China [email protected] Mou Xiaomei Ocean University of China [email protected] Communication behaviors in the EFL classrooms in China have been investigated as crosscultural communication from a theoretical perspective (see, for example, Linell Davis, 2001;
141 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Gong Weidong & Wu Xueyan, 2003; Kang Li, Li Yan, & Gao Songhui, 2005). No empirical research has been conducted. The current research is an ethnographic study of silence behaviors among postgraduate Chinese students in the EFL classrooms with their foreign instructors in China. Using data collected through ethnographic interviews with EFL students as well as their foreign teachers, and participantobservations, we will describe patterns of silence in the EFL classrooms and interpret their cultural meanings. The research provides some empirical support for the Face Negotiation Model (Zhou Meiling, 1994; Wang Yinan & Yang Zhongfang, 2005), showing that Chinese students’ silence behaviors are influenced by the Chinese cultural notions of face, harmony, and power in social relationships. A discussion of the practical implications of the study for EFL teaching/learning and crosscultural communication is also provided. Investigation into Chinese Background Students’ Difficulties in Academic Writing in Australian Universities Liu Li Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] This study focuses on the perceived difficulties in academic writing by a group of students of Chinese background studying in an Australian university. The presentations of both the Chinese and Australian tertiary contexts illustrate two different practices in the area of the teaching of writing. To have a better understanding of these students’ writing performance, three groups of data were collected including qualitative interviews with Chinese background students as well as their lecturers and their written texts. Analysis of the interview data and performance data centered on students’ perceptions of the nature of academic writing and their difficulties in academic writing. It was found that the mismatches existed between the students’ English writing ability and the expectations and demands of academic writing in the Australian teaching context. Recommendations are made to better prepare Chinese students in the Chinese EFL context for academic writing success in the Australian tertiary context. A Contrastive Analysis – Incoherence Reflected in Eflabstracts of TechnicalDiscourse Lida liu Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Coherence, as a process helped along by interacting factors like encoding and decoding on all levels of communication especially on textual level, has been given a great attention in the recent twenty years in rhetoric, pragmatics, and intercultural communication, with a special attention to signposts of coherence or coherence position. As effective approaches to coherence position, somewhat difficult but very important for both EFL learners and teachers, discourse analysis (DA)
142 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China and contrastive analysis (CA) have significant bearing on them. The present paper builds on the assumption that incoherence or coherence disorder in position reflected in EFL abstracts of technical discourse is triggered by EFL learners’ systematic stylistic preference presented in numerical patterns, and that this phenomenon subjects to change and refinement only when DA and CA approaches are introduced both in advanced EFL learning and teaching. This research brings out the differences of Chinese and English understanding of coherence in a way of CA and DA in terms of textual unity, text relatedness and test organization strategies. To illustrate differences in those three aspects, data obtained from the subjects ( advanced EFL nonEnglish major PhD candidates) and discussion on the learners strategies and preference in EFL advanced level are provided to elaborate writer’s assumptions. The writer hopes to provide a meaningful insight into the EFL learning and teaching in terms of coherence in English context. Choice of Translation Strategies in the Crosscultural Perspective Liu Ling Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Translation in nature is a kind of intercultural communication, and there are few arguments of application of intercultural communication strategies in the practice of translation. Common intertextuality, including in this paper discourse rule intertextuality, behavior regulation intertextuality and shared communicative context intertextuality builds a solid basis for communication between different cultures, as well as different language systems, so the strategy of assimilation will serve as an effective means in translation practice to transport the shared knowledge and experience among human beings. On the other hand, different culture asks for their survival and prosperity through their own diverse development. When cultural conflicts in translation occur, dissimilation or alienation will be chosen as the appropriate strategies to maintain its distinguished culture specialty and shed new light on the target culture field. Whether the translator adopts assimilation or dissimilation strategies, the objective of crosscultural communication should be bore in his mind, which will aid him or her to make informed decisions and ensure the smooth communication between the source and target culture encountered. Restudy of Facesaving Strategies Liu liqun Li Zhi Haerbin University of Science and Technology Melissa[email protected] “Face” is the public selfimage every member of a society wants to gain for himself. In research of “face”, Brown and Levinson’s Face Theory (FaceManagement View) is widely accepted to be foundational as facesaving strategies, while it is obvious that this theory is mainly based on
143 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China verbal communication and western culture, with little consideration on the nonverbal side of human interaction and eastern culture. Therefore, many scholars both at home and abroad have put forward lots of critiques on its general social behavior and crosscultural universality. “Face” has different cultural features between Chinese and Western cultures especially from the body language point of view. It would be helpful to discuss these differences to “strengthen” Face Theory and to clear away the communicative obstacles encountered by different people with different cultural backgrounds in order to facilitate the crosscultural communication. CrossCultural Learning in Liberal Education Liu Xiaodan Foreign Languages School of Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] In promoting the development of the current harmonious society, it is now generally acknowledged that liberal education is getting more important. Crosscultural learning as an integrating part of liberal education can never be overlooked. This paper, through reviewing the optional courses offered by the Foreign Languages School of HIT, first analyzes the implications of crosscultural learning in optional courses in liberal education and its benefits to students’ professional lives as well as social and personal development. To promote crosscultural learning in liberal education and foster students’ crosscultural competence, the author then puts forward some instructive recommendations, including the perceptional shift, textbook compiling, course design, students’ exchange program, etc., which are supposed to be both practicable and feasible in the universities of China. On the African Primitive Culture in The Heart of Darkness Liu Xiujie， Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The Heart of Darkness, one of Conrad’s highly acclaimed works, proves to be a valuable anthropological literature. It describes the features of African primitive culture, such as inclusion ritual, atheism, primitive dance, and peculiar customs of filing teeth and hanging skulls. Conrad confirms the peculiarities of aboriginal culture, shows his care for its continuity, and expresses his deep concern for the unprivileged nations. He rationally selfexamines such hegemonistic ideas as “civilization” and “nationalization”, and expresses his desire for the multiculture coexistence in his texts. His culture outlook of seeking the common ground while reserving differences constructs a bigger space instead of being restricted into his texts. This paper intends to show light on some of African cultural practices reflected in this novella and serves as a window of understanding primitive culture.
144 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Reflections on Internet Relay Interpersonal Communication Liu Yao Shanghai Trade Union College [email protected] The thesis is a tentative discussion concerning Internet Relay Interpersonal Communication.The substantially developing Internet has facilitated interpersonal communication. It has endowed human communication with a brand new communicative medium. Based on the communication theories and communicative samples collected from Internet, the thesis is to have a close examination on communication behaviors in the virtual world in order to pinpoint some peculiarities of Internet relay interpersonal communication and to explore their implications in crosscultural communication in general. The discussion is tentative for two reasons. Firstly, the study of communication on computer networks is a burgeoning field; secondly, the study on crosscultural communication itself is an interdisciplinary endeavor. The joint of these two academic domains promises a fertile field for research. This thesis is but one of the attempts, through which the writer hopes to bring meaningful inspiration and appeal to further study. Cultural Dissemination and Embodiment of Literature Sociocultural analysis of American Postmodernist Fiction Liu Ying English Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Harbin Normal University [email protected] Through the sociocultural analysis on the American postmodernist fiction, this paper attempts to discuss and manifest the cultural dissemination of literature. Postmodernism fiction is a literary genre occurred in 1960s, when America stepped into a postindustrial period. Postmodernist literary works is marked by the loss of traditional values, breaking up from normal traditional writing techniques and devices. Seemingly chaotic in the way of writing, postmodernism literary works disseminate and embody the social culture of modern American society. In this way, it provides a medium for people from other culture background to understand the postmodernistic social culture of America. A Comparative Study of Questioning Strategies in US and Chinese TV Interviews LiXi Harbin Institute of Technology
145 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China [email protected] This study compares the questioning strategy in the questionresponse sequences of interactions in TV interviews with politicians and celebrities in U.S. and Chinese contexts. By focusing on two selected TV interview programs: Sixty Minutes and Face to Face, the author examines the function of questions in TV interviews in both cultures. It is found out that between the discourses in U.S. and Chinese contexts, questions for specific information are the most frequently adopted strategy in both U.S. and Chinese TV interviews, but more clarification and confirmation questions are used in the US data and more questions for comments and explanations are found in the Chinese data. The crosscultural differences in the questioning strategies are discussed in relation to different ideological and cultural assumptions. Problems Posed by Power Distance on Juvenile Education in China Long Zhan Xi’an International Studies University [email protected] This thesis starts from “Juvenile Internet Addiction” of CCTV News Probe. By analyzing two Internet Addiction (IAD) cases and the way to solve the problems, the role and different effects of power distance are studied. The author proposes that power distance plays an important role in juvenile education. In Chinese society, adult people tend to use high power distance ideology to educate children. Yet the juveniles are under the rebellious age. This tends to intensify the conflicts. Family education, schools and the society play major roles in shaping the children’s character. High power distance results in less communication between adults and children. With no way out, the children become addicted to the Internet. They assume that they could get recognition and a sense of fulfillment on the Internet. When their parents failed by using high power distance means to keep them away from Internet, nevertheless, a professor uses low power distance approach and listens to what the children think. And through low power distance treatment, the children realize their problems and successfully get out of IAD. The conclusion is that only by reducing power distance can people solve juvenile educational problems. And low power distance contributes to a better communication between adults and juveniles. Formation of a Third Culture Characteristics of Cultural Integration in China Lu Le University of Shanghai for Science and Technology [email protected] Jia Ying
146 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China University of Shanghai for Science and Technology [email protected] The paper distinguishes between Globalization as an irresistible external force, and Internationalization as the inner motivation. Both forces help to create a multicultural environment in which a third culture is being formed in China. This third culture is labeled in this paper SinoWestern Culture, the concept of which is based on Professor Nigel Holden’s equation: C(ulture) 1 + C(ulture) 2 = C(ulture) 3. The paper explores into this third culture by examining the different aspects that characterize its formation. These aspects are classified into such subcategories as cultural assimilation, cultural adaptation, cultural parallelism, cultural ambiguity and staggered cultural errors. Discussion is also made on the cultural disputes about “over integration” as an important element that helps to balance the formation of the third culture. Use of Social Networks in Evrydayt Information Seeking and Use:A Study of International Chinese Graduate Students in the Untted States Yang Lu University of California, Los Angeles [email protected] Library and Information Science (LIS), or Information Studies (IS) is a multidisciplinary field with the primary goal of facilitating people’s access to information at large. It has intrinsic connections with the field of communication, therefore, draws upon many theories and insights from communication. The following research focuses on one aspect of interpersonal/intercultural communication international students’ information seeing and use in everyday life. As the research is still ongoing, there is no definite conclusion yet at this stage. It is expected that data analysis will be finished and preliminary conclusions drawn in early May 2007, i.e., before the full paper submission deadline. Language and Society: Gender Differences Luganskaya Yevgenia Valeriyevna Irkutsk State Linguistic University, Russia ug[email protected] Language is not only a means of communication, but also a means of building and synthesizing experience. Our experience has a great impact on constructing social reality. Due to different social roles that men and women play in everyday life, they respond to the same stimuli in a different way. Thus, men and women see the world differently; they have different strategies of survival and different ways of cognition: hunter/gatherer vs. nurturer. Though a person’s experience is always individual, it overlaps the experience that the person gets through language
147 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China and culture (social + individual). So we can speak about the different experiences of different social groups, particularly of men and women. The bedrock of the research is the idea that our experience is concentrated in evaluations that people make about other people, different phenomena, things that surround them, etc. The corpora for the research are letters to the editor from the socalled ‘center of interest’ magazines (magazines targeted on a wide audience) which have been published in England, America, and Australia for the last 10 years. The letters abound in evaluations; therefore, they are a convenient material for studying them. A Contrastive Study of Associative Meanings between English and Chinese Culture Words in English Poetry and the Verses in A Dream of Red Mansions Luo Jie Jiangxi Broadcasting & Television School [email protected] This exploratory study is aimed to advance the understanding of language and culture by focusing on the associative meanings of English and Chinese culture words in poetry, with Leech’s seven types of meaning serving as the core theory. The texts for the contrastive study are taken from classic English poetry and the verses in A Dream of Red Mansions. The thesis makes an intensive study on the associative meaning of eight culture words: “秋”, “月”, “柳”, “红”, “玉”, “桃花”, ROSE and NIGHTINGALE. More than 180 poems serve as the examples of the contrastive study. The research analyzed the culture words under three categories—words with the same conceptual meaning and partial associative meanings; words with the same conceptual meaning but different associative meanings; words with the same conceptual meaning and with rich associative meanings in one language but none in another. Research indicates that there are significant differences between Chinese and English poetry. The classical Chinese poetry tends to be more implicit and condensed, whereas the classical English poetry is more accurate and detailed. Chinese poetry is notable for having the quality of painting. The images tend to be richer and more concrete than those in English poetry. What a Difference a Month Makes: A Mixed Methods Assessment of Intercultural Competence Lynne Masel Walters Texas A&M University –College Station, USA lynne[email protected] Zohreh Eslami Texas A&M University –College Station, USA [email protected]
148 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Janet Hammer Texas A&M University –College Station, USA [email protected] In May, 2007, 15 world history and world history teachers from Texas secondary schools will begin a monthlong visit to China. They will visit sites and schools in four diverse Chinese cities, as a FulbrightHays Group Project Abroad, hosted by the National Academy of Educational Administration in Beijing. The “Seminar on Chinese History, Geography, Language and Cultures” will provide participants with accurate and uptodate geographic, ethnographic and historical information about China to integrate into course curricula. Organizers hope it will improve the teachers’ intercultural competence. This is critical, especially in an Asian context. Although people believe Mexican and South American students fill Texas classrooms, immigrants from Asia, particularly China, are the 2nd largest source of immigration to Texas and represent new and unrecognized diversity in Texas schools. Teachers will take the valid and reliable Intercultural Development Inventory before and after their sojourn in China. Additionally, we will analyze the entries in their required daily diaries, along with statements about crosscultural adaptation and dislocation made at the regularly scheduled discussion sessions. This paper will report on the results of the mixed methods analysis with the aim of determining the impact of such a sojourn on intercultural competence. Research Methodology in Intercultural Communication Studies Lyubov Kanunnikova Far Eastern State Technical University, , Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Crosscultural communication is widely studied by many new sciences, including cognitive linguistics and linguistic culturology. These sciences implicate different approaches and offer a variety of research methodology. Here we will talk about a linguoculturological approach in studies, namely, linguoculturological field studing method. > This approach, partly based on SapirWhorf hypothesis, states for a group of lexical elements that are united within one concept. The main criterion for forming a linguoculturological field is an extralinguistic factor. And the aim of this approach is to view lexical elements from a conceptual point of view in a close connection with the way that person both understands the world and behaves in it. In other words, by finding lexical elements within one topic and what is important, elements with culural connotation; by arranging one linguoculturological field and studing it, we can figure out the peculiatrities of the whole nation's mentality and see how the world is represented in the language of this particular nation. We will get an opportunity to get aquainted with the its culture. Intercultural Pragmatic Failure and English Teaching
149 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Ma Jingxia Harbin Normal University [email protected] Pragmatics in language teaching has become a major growth over the past decades. Pragmatic failure is an important source of intercultural communication breakdown. The term of intercultural pragmatic failure is adopted from the article by Thomas (1983). She states that pragmatic failure refers to the inability to understand “What is meant by what is said”. Leech (1983) argues “the transfer of the norms of one community to another may well lead to pragmatic failure”. In other words, pragmatic failure refers to communication breakdown resulting from being unable to realize a variety of pragmatic differences. The study of intercultural pragmatic failure is of great value for both communications across languages and English teaching. This thesis focuses on the analysis of the causes of intercultural pragmatic failure, and aims at finding some ways to improve their English pragmatic competence. In addition, it also tends to expound the importance of cultivating students’ cultural awareness as well as cultural creativity in foreign language teaching and learning. A Universal Approach to Metaphors Lin Ma Harbin Institute of technology [email protected] Metaphors have been studied for a long time from different perspectives. Philosophers tend to consider language as literal, thinking metaphor as aberrant only to be used by poets. Cognitive linguists view metaphor as important and not marginal at all, emphasizing the construal of meanings and our embodied understanding of the situation. By using examples from English, French and Chinese, this paper attempts to analyze metaphor from the universal perspective, arguing that metaphors in different cultures reflect the similar thinking pattern, thus indicating metaphors are universal because human nature is the same. Cultural Identity and Globalisation Social Identification and Immigrants in the US Ma Xiaofeng Zhao Chunhua Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology [email protected] The US is an immigrant country, from the very beginning of its foundation. Social identity has never been ignored and remains a hot topic, as it is an issue seldom severed with selfconcept from
150 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China the person and selfconsciousness from his cultural background and even ethnic, gender socialization processes. In 1979, Henri Tajfel and John Turner put forward social identity theory, which involves three central ideas: categorization, identification and comparison, among which the social identification theory contributes a lot to explaining some issues of the immigrants. Social identification, sometimes, induce conflict between host and home cultures. And in some cases, assimilation and antiassimilation derived from selfconcept become inevitable. But this essay will try to prove that the issue of the immigrants is not totally that of “melting” or assimilation. On the contrary, it is an issue of how to counterbalance the conflict between the host and home cultures and how to preserve the relative culture and keep the harmony. In this process, social identification theory will contribute a lot. . The Speech Act of Refusal in Chinese Yingxin Ma Dezhou Uiversity [email protected] The speech act of refusing is a responding act in which the speaker denies to engage in an action proposed by the interlocutor. (Chen, Ye and Zhang, 1995 ). According to Brown and Levinson, it is facethreatening act. Refusals are important for ESL educators and those involved in crosscultural communication because they are a major crosscultural “stickingpoint” for many nonnative speakers. Refusals are also interesting from a sociolinguistic point of view. First, they are complex. In natural conversation they often involve a long negotiated sequence, and the risk of offending one’s interlocutor is so much a part of the speech act that some degree of indirectness usually exists. Second, refusals are interesting in that their form and content vary according to the eliciting speech act (e. g., invitation, request, offer, or suggestion).They are also sensitive to other to other sociolinguistic variables, such as status of the interlocutor. (Beebe et al: 1990). KEY WORDS: The speech act of refusing; interlocutor; facethreatening act; sociolinguistics Reading of Koolhaas’s CCTV New Headquarters Yingxin Ma Dezhou Uiversity [email protected] The CCTV New Headquarters were designed by the famous Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and his firm OMA( Office for Metropolitan Architecture). When judging the design, the jury commented that “…the planned new CCTV building can not only represent the new image of Beijing, but also express, in the language of architecture, the importance and cultural nature of the TV industry. The novelty and feasibility of the structural design will surely push forward the innovation of structural systems and theories of China’s highrise buildings”( General Office of CCTV New Site Construction & Development Program, cctv.com).
151 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Examining a Global Health Problem from Intercultural Communication Perspectives Margaret U. D’Silva University of Louisville [email protected] Kandi L. Walker University of Louisville [email protected] Joy L. Hart University of Louisville [email protected] Affecting most countries across the globe, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has serious health and social consequences. Because it is widespread, HIV/AIDS has important implications for scholars in intercultural communication. Our work reviews current research on communication and HIV/AIDS in a number of different countries spanning several continents. We address cultural factors in conducting prevention efforts as well as intercultural considerations in communicating about this health issue. We conclude the paper with recommendations for future research on health communication and HIV/AIDS as well as intercultural factors practitioners should consider in developing new prevention and health education campaigns and related programs. Ethnic Stereotypes and Cognitive Processes in CrossCultural Communication Maria Lebedko Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Nowhere are the differences more striking than between stereotypical perception in crosscultural setting. Various theories on ethnic stereotypes generated a large body of valuable research. What amazes is that the problem is far from being solved. Among conflicting views there is a theory that we should eradicate stereotypes from our minds erasing them from dictionaries. It is a lot easier to erase stereotypical expressions from dictionaries than to develop the right attitude to “strangers.” My goal is to identify cognitively based explicit and implicit stereotypical messages and to teach potential communicants to recognize subtle displays of ethnic stereotypes. As a scholar, I would like to develop a comprehensive approach that would emphasize the cognitive processes and cultural categories generating stereotypes. Cognitive processes (asymmetrical social perception, generalization, judgmental anchoring, cognitive dissonance etc.) will be analyzed to understand
152 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China the stereotypes nature. Central questions in interaction of cultural categories that will be addressed are modes of communicative styles, time and space attitudes, culture context, etc. The goal might seem too broad but, as a teacher, I have to expose students to potential problems based on a highly complicated interaction of all the categories in the context of cross cultural communication in order to get rid of stereotypes. Vietnamese English: Prosodic Transfer Marina Pivovarova Institute of foreign languages, FENU. Vladivostok, Russia. [email protected] The present article is a study of prosodic transfer effects in two typologically distinct languages, English and Vietnamese, representing two different prosodic types (accent language and tone language correspondingly). As is known prosodic features can be a strong cue to a foreign accent. Suprasegmental factors carry great weight in marking speakers as nonnative. The paper focuses on a contrustive study to predict or explain areas of prosodic interference in the English speech of Vietmamese with empirical and experimental verification where necessary. The detailed prosodic analyses should greatly facilitate second language acquisition for Vietnamese speakers of English who are well known to speak a second language with a strong first language accent. Negotiation of Language Identity: The British and Americans Marina Rassokha Foreign Language Institute, Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] The paper examines the intercultural communication between the British and Americans within the discourse that emphasizes the use of English. Broadly, this type of discourse can be identified as the discourse on language ownership. Characterized by typical communicative behaviors and formulaic language expressions it serves to negotiate the language identity of the ‘cousins on both sides of the Atlantic’ when, while interacting with each other, they come to the issues of English use. From the identity perspective, showing loyalty to their varieties of English allows both speech communities ‘to stake out’ their own language and cultural space and employ this discourse as a means of placing the Other. Looking briefly at the origins of the conception of English created in British and American language communities, the paper explores its impact on today’s interactions. The meanings that have been conventionalized and persisted in communicative behavior of both British and Americans are examined and discussed. A special emphasis is placed on the new meanings that have evolved in speech communities, especially with regard to the humorous disguise of the discourse under study.
153 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Cultural Aspects of Communication of Omani Students as Measured through Discourse Analysis Meenalochana Inguva Sultan Qaboos University, Oman [email protected] Naveen Safia Sultan Qaboos University, Oman [email protected] The culture of Oman is unique, as symbolized in the latest book, ‘The Lexus and the Olive tree’ by Thomas Friedman. Omani culture is at the threshold of modernizing and acquiring the material welfare and at the same time maintaining the culture and traditions of the land as well as the Islamic values. It is still traditional when compared to its neighbours in the rest of the Arab world. Certain cultural aspects are obvious in their communication catches the attention of many teachers here at the Sultan Qaboos University because of the fact that Omani culture is foreign to most of the teachers who are from different nationalities. This paper discusses the obvious cultural aspects found in the communication of Omani students captured through their formal presentations in their class as well as their informal communication outside classes. This paper also analyses three important issues relating to pedagogy through the classroom discourse analysis. And they are the cultural effects on Omani student’s learning English, their general and specific communication skills in English and the strategies these students use to overcome certain aspects which are not acceptable in standard English communication. Verbalization of the MythImage of Russia’s President V.Putin as A Man with Many Faces Megrabova Emma Far Eastern National University,Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] One of the diversified tendencies of the globalization process is proclaiming the dominance of Western values, based on the philosophy of liberalism. The liberal discourse of the magazine Newsweek (U.S.A.) interprets Russia’s political life through the prism of liberal values. The authors of the Newsweek construct a political liberal myth about Russia and its leader. The conceptual picture created by a myth does not wholly coincides with reality, but it is necessary for social orientation in different political situations in accordance with certain schemes, values. The authors’ description of V. Putin’s image is done through emphasizing the most semiotically loaded elements of the political discourse: power, political organization of society, the role of Russia in
154 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China the world. The result of this interpretation is actualization of the mental scheme “ambiguity, contradictoriness” verbalized in connotative lexemes, metaphors, epithets (“threecoloured Putin”), allusions (to Stalin, R. Nixon), set expressions and creation of Putin’s image as a myth of the man with many faces. This myth varies aksiologically, though it is marked by the shift to the pole of demonization (a black myth). A CorpusBased CrossCultural Comparison of the Use of Evaluative Language in Research Articles by Chinese EFL Researchers and Their NSE Counterparts Meng Meng，Zhang Hui Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] This study is intended to reveal the differences between Chinese EFL writers and NSE writers in their use of expressions of critical interpersonal meanings in research articles. Specifically speaking, I will look into how Chinese researchers and native speakers of English express their attitudes, evaluation, commitment and other judgmental meanings in their research articles. The framework of the study will be largely informed by the Systemic Functional Grammar of Halliday and other related discourse and rhetorical theories. Two smallsized corpora (both around 100,000 words) will be built: one consists of Chinese EFL writers’ research articles and the other includes exclusively research articles by native speakers of English. As a way of enriching the data and increasing the hermeneutic value of the study, I will also attempt to glean expert readers’ perceptions of these interpersonal meanings in question so that the motives and rhetorical underpinnings of these linguistic constructs can be understood. Politeness Principle and Pragmatic Failure in CrossCultural Communication Meng Wenji Harbin Engineering University [email protected] Politeness is the bridge and foundation of successful communication. To avoid language misunderstanding and ensure smooth communication, people should comply with politeness principle. British linguist Leech proposes politeness principle on the basis of the research of politeness phenomena. Politeness principle, which makes up for the cooperative principle, is composed of tact maxim, generosity maxim, approbation maxim, modesty maxim, agreement maxim and sympathy maxim. In crosscultural communication, due to differences in history, culture, custom, religion and belief, as well as various understanding and focus of politeness principle, people from different countries encounter communication barrier and misunderstanding, and pragmatic failure is formed. Therefore, for successful crosscultural communication, people
155 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China from different cultures should have a clear understanding of the similar and different content and focus of politeness principle in both cultures so that they will make efforts to adapt themselves to each other. In order to improve crosscultural communication, this paper discusses the usage of each principle in politeness principle and analyses typical examples of pragmatic failure. Based on Nonverbal Communication under Different Cultural Backgrounds Meng Yu Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai [email protected] Nonverbal communication (NVC), as an important communicating way, includes many channels: facial expression, body language, gesture, clothing styles, personal space, smell, music and color, etc. It not only assists verbal communication to express ideas together, but at the mean time, it conveys more profound and subtle meaning that we can not express fully by verbal communication separately. This article offers a rough analysis on various kinds of NVC under different cultural backgrounds, aiming at comparing the similarities and differences of various NVC so as to promoting the intercultural understanding and human interaction. Intercultural Communication in Practice: Filling the Cracks in the System Michelle Henault Morrone Human Care Department, Nagoya University of Arts and Sciences [email protected] Eiko Ujitani Department of English and American Studies, Nagoya University of Foreign Studies In the 1990’s, when the Japanese Ministry of Education approved and encouraged institutions of higher education to open their doors to foreign students, universities across the land scrambled to create programs to attract this new population of students. Most universities focused their energies on curriculum issues as well as the other immediate logistical concerns. At that time of this writing, however, there still remains insufficient infrastructure set in place to assist with the inevitable confusion that occurs when immersed in a new environment.. In this session, we look at ways in which teacherguided intercultural workshops, as well as studentcentered approaches to cultural classroom instruction can provide guidance for students that mitigate the potential dangers of leaving the intercultural experience up to the individual alone. In regard to policy studies of intercultural education, the workshops and classes provide valuable lessons. In particular, as Japan faces the challenges of changes in its homogeneous population, awareness of the intercultural
156 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China experiences of foreign and Japanese help educators to better understand the complexities of those encountering new cultures. The creation of intercultural education programs based on these experiences promises to empower students to deal with challenges effectively and positively. Excuse Me, Your Life Is Here The West’s Embrace of the Law of Attraction Is Rooted in the East’s Law of Karma Michelle Prosser [email protected] Proposal for a Workshop for 7th Biennial International China Symposium on Intercultural Communication at the Harbin Institute for Technology: “Harmony, Diversity and InterculturalCommunication” Teachings about the Law of Attraction have swept the West, especially the United States, by storm in the last ten years due to books like Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting by Lynn Grabhorn, Ask and You Shall Receive by Ester and Jerry Hicks and many others. The discussion of it in the hit film What the Bleep Do We Know?! generated the largest response on its website. The DVD and book The Secret became overnight sensations. The Law of Attraction was featured on Oprah Winfry, a national daily program, and received tremendous feedback The Law of Attraction means that like attracts like. Michelle Prosser is an executive coach who works with corporations, governments, educational institutions and individuals teaching the Law of Attraction along with other coaching techniques and is completing a book on the subject entitled Excuse Me, Your Life is Here. She argues that this concept has its roots in a belief system from Asia: the Law of Karma. Both philosophies are based on the belief that our actions today can dictate our future outcomes. This paper will outline the Law of Attraction and theorize why most Westerners are more willing to embrace the Law of Attraction rather than the Law of Karma. Intercultural Communication: Human Being’s Further Exploration of the Self Mingjie Huo Guangzhou University [email protected] What is intercultural communication (ICC)? This question has something to do with definition of human being. When we say human being is social, we mean human being is in communication. In communication, we find who we are. That is, we can have a real understanding of the self by
157 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China means of communication. The paper argues that ICC is actually a further step of intracultural communication. There is no difference between the two by nature. So ICC is the further exploration of the self. As today’s world is becoming increasingly interconnected due to different advances, ICC has become a must. It is a must for one to further explore the self. Consciously or unconsciously, an individual is constantly trying to cross different boundaries within a culture or between cultures. This is the means to enter the others’ thoughts, to communicate spiritually. The similarities and uniqueness are to help an individual, as a cultural and intercultural one, to seek to understand human being’s existential states and his philosophical meanings. Developing a Writing System for Sign Languages of the Deaf Mihoko Kato Toyohashi University of Technology [email protected] To write descriptions of signs, line drawings, photographs or illustrations have been the way for a long time, but these only represent a very small moment in the process of signing. A notation system for sign language was strongly needed in order to study the structure of sign language. Pioneers, such as William C. Stokoe, who proposed a notation system for American Sign Language (ASL)， and Lynn Friedman， who analyzed ASL from a phonological point of view, have made it possible to show how a sign is made, that is, the structure of a sign. However, these notation systems are rather impractical for general users because they are too technical, much like phonetic alphabets in spoken languages. Therefore, it is necessary to employ another “writing system” to describe a sign or a signed sentence for everyday purposes. The most suitable sign writing method for these purposes, the Sign Writing System proposed by Valerie Sutton, is described in this presentation. After the description of previous notation systems in sign language, Sutton’s system is introduced and an attempt is reported that apples it to Japanese Sign Language (JSL). Furthermore, a proposal has been put forward to incorporate the system into the curricula for Japanese deaf children. Crossing the Bridge from Sameness to Narrative Understanding Muayyad Jabri University of New England, AUSTRALIA [email protected] A concern for sameness of the self with social others lies at the heart of many contemporary inquiries into society and culture. Sameness is aimed at explaining how generalized orientations in values, identities, or systems, are fixed and maintained. At the metatheoretical level, sameness is problematic because it is located in a concept of society in which the status quo is the desired state of affairs. Sameness is generally manifested in the emphasis placed on commensurability between
158 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China cultures, based on a universal conceptual structure (standard), consisting of a set of generalized orientations, along the axis of which cultural differences among nations are given. In an era where multiple identities have become more widely accepted and theorized, organizations and professionals are facing some very pressing issues: Is intercultural understanding that transcends sameness at all possible? How can we resign ourselves to account for change and renewal in identity and identity formation? What approach would describe how we could reach a dialogic state of communication in the border zone between cultures? Keywords: dialogic; identity; intercultural communication; narrative; sameness A Biographical Approach to Mobile Technologies and New Forms of Social Interactions in Zambia Musonda Kapatamoyo Ohio University School of Telecommunications [email protected] The research explains the phenomenal ascent of mobile technologies in Zambia. As mobile technologies, such cellular phones and Short Message Service (SMS), have become an essential part of everyday communication, they have also led to subtle changes in the patterns of communication between different levels of the society. The research investigates the actual changes in communication patterns; the meaning of these changes and whether these alternations are part of a broader social change? The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is the theoretical anchor because the usages of mobile technologies are solidly anchored on local circumstances and prevailing forms of life. These factors determine the perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use of these technologies. The research attributes the dissemination of mobile technologies to the simplicity and the unique infrastructural network design and user equipment’s shift from large to small; and from expensive to cheap. The research concludes that mobile technologies have created freedom from place/geography, altered existing communication patterns and yet still remains implanted in prevailing social relations and practices. By constantly creating technologybound vocabulary, value added usages such as SMS, continue to redefine basis for social interactions. Opening Moves in Chinese Online Chat Na Xiaodan Beijing Foreign Studies University nxd[email protected] This paper aims to present the features of opening moves in Chinese online chat. In light of the observation of online chatrooms, five categories of opening moves, including greeting, request, statement, “questionsafteryou” (“QaU”), “paralinguistic cues” and others are analyzed. The result shows that the opening moves are not in disorder. The phatic talk and the principle of politeness which are routines of daily communication can also be found in the opening moves in
159 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China online chat. At the same time, the direct expression of personal feelings is a special phenomenon in the opening moves concerning online chat. Despite of intensified attention on opening sequencing in telephone conversation and greeting in facetoface communication, this study may contribute to the investigation into the field of computermediated communication (CMC) in this regard. Due to the lack of social presence, CMC has provided us a novel perspective to perceive our communication. Semantic Classes and Grammatical Categories of English Proverbs Nancy D. STROM Senior Teacher, Quality School International (USA) Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Olga N. PERESHIVKINA Instructor, Kherson Pedagogical University, Kherson, UKRAIN Boris I. BARTKOV Foreign Languages Department Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, , Russia [email protected] Tatyana B. BARTKOVA Far Eastern State Technical University, , Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] There are several seemingly different set phrases (SP) in English, namely: aphorisms, adages, apothegms, idioms, proverbs, sayings, etc. But according to the type of syntactic bonds among words all of them fall into two classes, namely: phrasemes (nonpredicative SP) and proverbs (predicative SP). Proverbs (paremiemes) can be divided into 3 semantic classes: (1) Paremiological FUSIONS are proverbs, whose denotative meanings are unknown because of some unknown constituent words (usually proper names); their figurative meanings are wellknown and frequent (e.g., All roads lead to Rome). (II) Paremiological UNITIES are proverbs, whose denotative meanings are known but infrequent; their figurative meanings are wellknown and frequent (e.g., Don’t cross the bridge untill you come to it). (III) Paremiological SETS are proverbs having only one meaning which is a sum of meanings of words (e.g., Live and learn). Sociolinguistic study of most frequent English proverbs in newspapers has shown that each semantic class has different productivities. Quantitative analysis of 500 most frequent proverbs has shown that the ratio among semantic classes equals to 6% (FUSIONS) : 57% (UNITIES) : 37% (SETS). Ratios among different grammatical categories (mood, tense, aspect, voice, etc.) have been calculated. Information obtained will help us better understand social importance of proverbs as cognitive means of communication among people.
160 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Internet: A Bridge for Rural Development Nasrin Khansari Faculty of Social Science University of Tehran Tehran, Iran [email protected] Mehdi Montazer Ghaem Faculty of Social Science University of Tehran, Iran [email protected] This paper discusses the public as well as governmental ICT and the Internet development projects in the rural areas of Iran. For this, various qualitative and quantitative research findings are considered and reanalyzed. The article, thus, focuses on a diverse range of subjects. Here, two (namely; Gharn Abad and Shah Kooh) out of a few villages being totally digitalized by developmentalist pioneers as well as governmental plans (namely; TAKFA and NEDAK, designed for the diffusion of the ICTs and the internetrelated technologies in respectively national and rural scales) have been discussed. Furthermore, data related to current state of preexisting cultural, social and technological prerequisites for adoption and utilization of the ICTs within rural areas and amongst villagers are presented. This national case study shows that, despite great global hopes invested in the ICTs and the Internetrelated technologies, Iran's move has been too cautious and delayed and that almost very little scientific data has been produced on the general impacts of the diffusion plans on actual development of rural areas. Nowadays, a vigorous and ongoing study of planningexecutionevaluation is required to guarantee the costefficiency of all rural ICT programs in Iran. However, it is predictable that the near future will yield about a better distribution of information and services on health, education, social welfare, and agricultural and environmental matters within Iranian villages and remote areas. Keywords: Internet, Rural Development, Social Capital Cultural Identity and Globalisation Natalya Sevastyanova Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok,Russia [email protected] International society is a global social framework of such core values and norms as international peace and security, state sovereignty, selfdetermination, nonintervention, nondiscrimination, integrity, and inviolability of all existing states regardless of their level of development, form of government, political ideology, pattern of culture or any other domestic characteristic. This global construct involves problems and predicaments. One of them is an absence of a common underlying culture to support global international society which embraces all major cultures and civilizations. The values and norms of free markets, liberal democracy, and human rights may provide that support. But these values and norms are avowed by the developed states and not by many states of East Asia and many Islamic states. The regional diversity of contemporary global
161 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China international society is conducive to international pluralism based on groupings of states which share a geographical region and may also have cultural affinities and interconnected economy. After the World War II there has been sanctifying of international boundaries and the establishment of local sovereign jurisdiction based on selfdetermination. The current global nternational society, which is based on formally equal state sovereignty, in fact contains huge inequalities between member states. That socioeconomic disparity has led to a practice of international aid in which rich states are called upon to help ameliorate poverty in poor states. Cultural Aspects of Communication of Omani Students as Measured through Discourse Analysis Meenalochana Inguva and Naveen Safia Sultan Qaboos University, Oman [email protected], [email protected] The culture of Oman is unique, as symbolized in the latest book, ‘The Lexus and the Olive tree’ by Thomas Friedman. Omani culture is at the threshold of modernizing and acquiring the material welfare and at the same time maintaining the culture and traditions of the land as well as the Islamic values. It is still traditional when compared to its neighbours in the rest of the Arab world. Certain cultural aspects are obvious in their communication catches the attention of many teachers here at the Sultan Qaboos University because of the fact that Omani culture is foreign to most of the teachers who are from different nationalities. This paper discusses the obvious cultural aspects found in the communication of Omani students captured through their formal presentations in their class as well as their informal communication outside classes. This paper also analyses three important issues relating to pedagogy through the classroom discourse analysis. And they are the cultural effects on Omani student’s learning English, their general and specific communication skills in English and the strategies these students use to overcome certain aspects which are not acceptable in standard English communication. Revising Business Communication Course Framework from Market Analysis Naveen Safia Sultan Qaboos University, Oman [email protected] The paper presents the results based on the extensive research undertaken by two faculty members of CCE in 2006 to evaluate the suitability of present BCOM courses (Business Communication,
162 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Public Speaking and Technical Writing) and its materials. The research instrument used was a detailed questionnaire to employees and employers of the corporate world in Muscat. The following research questions were explored: Are the course materials locally as well as globally appropriate? Does cultural adaptation precede or follow global adaptation? Do the syllabi of communication courses cater to meet the demands made by local as well as global workforce? Is there a mismatch between what university prepares the students for and what they are really expected to do in the corporate world? How best can university courses bridge the gap between theory and practice? Based on the survey results, feasible solutions were proposed to design an effective curriculum. Data based on research by Minu Mathews,lecturer, College of Commerce and Economics, Sultan Qaboos University. Cultural aspects of communication of Omani students as measured through Discourse Analysis Naveen Safia Sultan Qaboos University, Oman [email protected] Meenalochana Inguva Sultan Qaboos University, Oman [email protected] The culture of Oman is unique, as symbolized in the latest book, ‘The Lexus and the Olive tree’ by Thomas Friedman. Omani culture is at the threshold of modernizing and acquiring the material welfare and at the same time maintaining the culture and traditions of the land as well as the Islamic values. It is still traditional when compared to its neighbours in the rest of the Arab world. Certain cultural aspects are obvious in their communication catches the attention of many teachers here at the Sultan Qaboos University because of the fact that Omani culture is foreign to most of the teachers who are from different nationalities. This paper discusses the obvious cultural aspects found in the communication of Omani students captured through their formal presentations in their class as well as their informal communication outside classes. This paper also analyses three important issues relating to pedagogy through the classroom discourse analysis. And they are the cultural effects on Omani student’s learning English, their general and specific communication skills in English and the strategies these students use to overcome certain aspects which are not acceptable in standard English communication.
163 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Attributive Clusters in the Political Discourse Nevezhkina Natalia Department of Lexicology , Stylistics and Methodology Studies of the English Language Far Eastern National University Institute of Foreign Languages, Vladivostok [email protected] The analysis of the political discourse seems to be a hot topic for many linguists interested in the rhetoric studies. A lot has been done in this area; however there was no investigation of attributes and attributive clusters in the speeches of presidents of the USA. Attributes may play in important role in the manner in which conservatives have framed the discussion, the problem of attributive clusters can receive progressive response so far, and ideas for more effective progressive framing of the debate. Attributive clusters frame the public discussion and receive the status of repeated frames so often and for so long that they have become ingrained in the public’s mind, which means that those frames have become realized physically in the brains of many members of the public. Such clusters as “tort reform”, “tax relief”,” lawsuit abuse”, “frivolous lawsuits”, “greedy lawyers”, “litigation lottery” and etc. evoke a frame. They communicate that something is the matter with the tort system, which requires reform or correction. In this respect, the phrase is similar to an effective political ploy to rule the public. Once the public accepts these phrases, they have bought into the idea that they need to be relieved from the affliction of “bad things” and that they need to fix the tort system. The debate then turns to the question of how and how much. At that point, progressives can’t win the debate. Thus, the analysis of attributive clusters can be an interesting subject to segment the linguistic programming so much admired in Politics and political discourse. China's CrossCultural Communication in Central Asia Ni, Jianping Shanghai Institute of American Studies [email protected] While China’s relations with the great powers remain a cornerstone of its foreign policy, the launch of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in June 2001 marked a new era in relations between China and the countries of Central Asia. It also gave a new stimulus to China’s redoubled efforts in intercultural communication and national image building in the region. Nevertheless, Chinese culture is not yet dominant in any country, or even comparable to either the Russian by tradition and history, or the very visible and captivating presence of American culture. Certainly, China will continue to exert an increasing, though limited, amount of cultural influence over the region, given the nations’ current backsliding towards different cultures.
164 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China In this presentation, the author uses the definition of culture by Geertz (1973) to describe the strategic implications of China’s cultural communication in the region, before applying the concept to analyze the limitations for China’s cultural communication in Central Asia. Through this analysis, the author reveals important differences in cultural communication between China, Russia and the U.S. He also argues that a firm strengthening of ChinaCentral Asia relations will have to be attributed to China's successful cultural cultivation of Central Asia, and that only the convergence of China's rise in economic, political and soft power, Central Asia’s softened threat perception of China and the rise of Chinese culture in Central Asia all will presage a healthy future development and growth in a harmonious China Central Asia relations. Zhang Yimou’s Golden Flower: A Story of Hybridity Jia Ning Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] In the last decade or so, some postcolonial theorists, Homi Bhabha being one of the leading thinkers, proposed the concept of cultural hybridity in the context of globalization. Originally a derogative term, hybridity evolved into an object of celebration in late 1990s when the term “hybrid cultures” was coined to describe the societal reality in which tradition is found in juxtaposition with extraneous cultures. Such a hybrid feature can also be found in the culture of presentday China. This paper dissects director Zhang Yimou’s latest movie Curse of the Golden Flower to unravel the feature of hybridity which runs through the movie yet which has escaped from most critics’ observation. While narrating a story of family and order, a repeated theme in traditional Chinese discourse, the director interweaves Western concepts into this traditional discourse, creating a platform for traditional and Western cultures to negotiate with each other. Therefore, from this interstitial perspective of culture, Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower is a real blessing to the healthy development of China’s cultural identity. The Impact of English Language Learning on Learner’s Personal Security: A Case Study Donna R. Miller Jefferson Community and Technical College [email protected] This paper investigates how learning English affects the achievement of female learners’ dignity in the areas of daily lives at school, at work (if they have a job) and at public places, and how they encounter their negative effects on their English learning and feelings of a lack of confidence in regard to English. The research methodology used was indepth interviews with seven postgraduate international students from six different countries in Asia and a convenient snowball
165 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China sampling. One week after the interviews, the participants were requested to validate the interpreted data by means of corrections if there were misinterpretations or mistakes. The results reveal four critical themes: background in learning English, intercultural transition, crisis phase, and adjustment phase. These themes exhibit different time frames. The first was the time before the participants came to Australia for the pursuit of their study. They learned and utilised English as a foreign language back home. The second was the transition time from homeland to Australia. They learned and used English as an international language in order to communicate with others inside and outside the class. The third was after their stay in Australia and went through negative experiences because of their inadequate competence in English and intercultural communication which affected the achievement of their dignity in their daily life at school, at work and at public places. The fourth was the time when the participants responded to and dealt with their negative encounters. American Students’ Views on Chinese Concept of Harmony (Hexie) Noreen M. SchaeferFaix Communication Arts Defiance College, OHIO, USA [email protected] One of the goals of the McMaster School at Defiance College is to prepare students to be engaged citizens in a world that is becoming more interdependent and connected. As a step toward understanding the importance of the movement toward globalization, Defiance College students study the theory of harmony from the Chinese cultural perspective. Although there is considerable ambiguity in the students’ predispositions at the start of the course, the readings and discussions on the concepts of hexie, keqi, yuan, guanxi, and bao give the students and indepth understanding of the nature of harmony. This paper is to report the results of class learning on the subject of Chinese harmony. The observation in the interactional process with the students provides rich information about American students’ views on the concept of harmony embedded in the Chinese culture. The author hopes that the results of this study can contribute to the literature of intercultural communication study. Crosscultural Factors in English Advertisement Translation Pan Li & Sun Shuang Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] With the development of economic globalization, the world has become a unified market. The immersion and conflicts of cultures from different countries become more frequent. Ads, as an important carrier of culture, spread both at home and abroad. Therefore, the advertisement translation becomes an important business and should be undertaken with an understanding of
166 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China cultural factors. It should not only be limited to literal renderings but also involve considerations of different modes of thinking and different norms and degrees of tolerance toward marketing styles East and West. The article will work on five aspects of crosscultural factors in ads translation: 1.the different modes of thinking; 2. the differences of individuality; 3. the differences of behavior criteria; 4. the different forms of cultural communication; 5. the different degrees of tolerance towards marketing strategies. The article will provide the sample ads and its translation to prove the point. By the consideration of the crossfactors in translation, the communication gap between the English and the target language will be bridged. Being globalizing: A crosscultual approach to explore the impact of globalization over organizational culture PoLin Pan The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, AL [email protected] Globalization has been an important theoretical perspective in contemporary organizational and intercultural communication studies in many dimensions. With globalization, many organizations are being prepared to develop their businesses beyond their national borders in order to successfully enter global marketing. This exploratory study mainly looks at the influences of globalization over the organizations, especially their organizational culture that is defined as “patterns of interpretation composed of the meanings associated with various cultural manifestations” (Martin, 2002). Specifically, the study attempts to analyze the impact of globalization on the process of organizational transformation and discuss the nature of globalization in reshaping organizational structures as globalizing organizations. Additionally, this study looks at the impacts of cultural divergences and cultural convergence within multinational organizations on the inside and outside of organizations. By analyzing cultural dilemmas and differences in multinational organizations, the study also attempts to explore how multinational organizations have to be developed as globalizing organizations by the advent of globalization. Moreover, the role of crosscultural communication within globalizing organizations would be analyzed in this study. Globalization and Intercultural Communicaition Unity in Diversity PAROO NIHALANI Department of English Language and Applied Linguistics Universiti Brunei Darussalam [email protected] As markets and geographic barriers become increasingly blurred and even irrelevant, globalization is no longer an objective but imperative. Along with computers and mass migration, English has
167 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China proved to be the turbine engine of globalization. Globalization, however, has by no means, eclipsed countries’ efforts to defend their national identities. The English language is a global product available in local flavors. National flavor has been seen by many, nowadays, as a distinct advantage in speech, provided the national distinctiveness does not interfere with international intelligibility. Communication is one of the keywords of the global age. The everincreasing use of English as a World language has clearly meant that British RP and American Standard English (GA) are no longer seen as the models that learners aspire to. With the global spread of English, three major related questions come to our mind: (a) diversity and multicultural identity, (b) mutually intelligible international communication, and lastly (c) the pedagogical issue of an educational target for global communication. After a detailed discussion of the impact of globalization on the educational patterns in general and English language teaching in particular, this paper focuses on the intercultural communication in the global context, and examines the three muchdebated major related issues of ‘comprehensibility’, ‘intelligibility’ and ‘interpretability’ from the perspectives of linguistics and social psychology. Quantitative data from the Expanding Circle (Japanese English), the Outer Circle (Indian English, Malaysian English, Singapore English, Brunei English, Nigerian English, etc.), and the Inner Circle (British English, Scottish English and American English) will be presented. In conclusion, a pragmatic model that is informed by the multidimensional view of intelligibility and, more importantly, multicultural interpretability will be discussed in order to address the third major concern of language standardization for global communication. Engrish and Its Intercultural Signification Patricia Golemon University of HoustonDowntown [email protected] Echou Wu Providence University, Taiwan [email protected] English has now become the most usable lingua franca in today’s world and it, of course, like any widely spoken language, will deviate and evolve with the increasing number of its nonnative speakers. One of the most widely documented of the English variations is “Engrish,” which originates in Japan, but it is not uncommon in China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. The paper is to discuss some of the more humorous and egregious examples from Taiwan’s products, menus, signs, and written notices that have been documented by Engrish.com users, and by virtue of the analysis to explore its intercultural signification. Engrish has played a part in demythologizing the linguistic imperialism of English. When Engrish becomes linguistic otherness fitting the speech stereotypes of Asians, English users should particularly note that its merits outweigh the
168 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China defects. Engrish first elides the power Standard English transfers to speakers and its crosscultural appropriation invigorates linguistic hybridity, suggesting the complexity and instability of language forms. Engrish is written not only as visual signifiers but also as linguistic romance—the fascinating combination, the shock of the inaccurate signified, the reader’s imaginative interpretation, and the exotic representation of phrasing. In it we can perceive the “aesthetic of incompleteness,” in the words of Michael Dash, in which “an intricate branching, adaptation, and accretion governs the existence of all things.” We have to admit that creative use of English in a globalized world is unavoidable, though it sometimes is not very simple to use English to express all the local realities. English and Its Inter Cultural Signification Patricia Golemon University of HoustonDowntown [email protected] Echou Wu Providence University, Taiwan [email protected] English has now become the most usable lingua franca in today’s world and it, of course, like any widely spoken language, will deviate and evolve with the increasing number of its nonnative speakers. One of the most widely documented of the English variations is “Engrish,” which originates in Japan, but it is not uncommon in China, Hong Kong, Korea, and Taiwan. The paper is to discuss some of the more humorous and egregious examples from Taiwan’s products, menus, signs, and written notices that have been documented by Engrish.com users, and by virtue of the analysis to explore its cultural signification. Engrish has played a part in demythologizing the linguistic imperialism of English. When Engrish becomes linguistic otherness fitting the speech stereotypes of Asians, English users should particularly note that its merits outweigh the defects. Engrish first elides the power Standard English transfers to speakers and its crosscultural appropriation invigorates linguistic hybridity, suggesting the complexity and instability of language forms. Engrish is written not only as visual signifiers but also as linguistic romance—the fascinating combination, the shock of the inaccurate signified, the reader’s imaginative interpretation, and the exotic representation of phrasing. In it we can perceive the “aesthetic of incompleteness,” in the words of Michael Dash, in which “an intricate branching, adaptation, and accretion governs the existence of all things.” We have to admit that creative use of English in a globalized world is unavoidable, though it sometimes is not very simple to use English to express all the local realities. Learning SocioCultural Talk in Health Settings : Milestones and
169 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Barriers Patsy Deverall English for Health Professionals, AUT University, New Zealand [email protected] Before non – English speaking or overseas trained health professionals can begin medical and clinical examinations required to practise in Australia and New Zealand they must pass either the OET with a B pass or the International English Language Test with 8, 7.5, or in some cases 7. The mandatory requirement to pass an English test prevents some students from attempting registration in various health professions but the Occupational English Test, (OET) also matches language performance with the skills requisite to 11 different health professionals in the workplace. This paper explains the process of preparing students for their workplace and for the OET and backgrounds the linguistic and cultural impediments to passing the OET test. The research questions conversation in health settings between worker and client and the jointly constructed shared meanings and how the culture of the participants in Bourdieu's terms can foster a caring role or can marginalise the patient. A journal of teacher observations records the teacher’s / students’ interactions which progress students towards their target of oral competency and cultural “acceptability” within the health sector. Because OET candidates require a range of communicative skills A DVD was made to simulate conversational situations in health settings as a teaching tool to encourage “noticing” of the socio pragmatics of elicitng information such as offering advice, reassurance, or persuading reluctant clients to be compliant, Rose and Ng (2001) Finally a discussion investigates possible reasons why in New Zealand currently, the IELTS test is the only pathway through to medical examinations for overseas trained doctors (OTD) attempting registration. Perception of Society towards the Education of National Integration Through Literature Malaysia Chew Fong Peng University of Malaya [email protected]> Racial Riot in 1969 awake the Malaysian that the ethnic relation is fragile and can easily caused damourous due to conflict of sociocultural value and differences of political interest. In order to faster the sense of oneness, many national policies had been implemented since 1970 till now, including education. Hence teaching the theme of national integration in Malay Literature become an new educational policy to achieved the goal. In order to find out the truth, an empirical study carried out based on the Theory of Social Background. The samples involved 1,600 Form IV, Form VI and universities’ students beside graduated teachers in Malay study. Questionnaire was used as a main instrument which consist two open questions. The finding of the study was that 66.48% of the respondents support the idea of teaching the literature of integration in all the educational institution. Malays, female and higher socioeconomic status respondents were more supportive compared to nonMalays, male and lower socioeconomic status respondents. Beside
170 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China that, they proposed 13 types of suggestions in enhancing the harmony society in Malaysia through the literature of integration in education. Conclusion of the study is that teaching the Malay Literature of integration become an important mechanisme in all institutions of education in Malaysia. Making Bilingual Signs More Communicative: A Functionalist Approach Jinding Peng Central South University , China [email protected] Wang Bin Central South University, China [email protected] A text is made meaningful by the receiver and for the receiver (Nord, 2001). Accordingly, the directing, prompting, restricting, compelling effects of signs can be achieved only when they are well understood by the target audience. However, in spite of the fact that bilingual signs on tourist spots can provide necessary guidance to visitors both at home and abroad, international tourists to China complain that they get confused, puzzled or ridiculed by some of the signs, with English Signs in Beijing “Lost in Translation” being a perfect case of the kind described by China Daily (2005/08/15) The question is why signs can not function as signs should in delivering the right information to their target receivers? And how can we make bilingual signs more communicative through getting over crosscultural problems? Based on a close examination of the corpus of bilingual signs in Chinese and English collected on mainland China, the present study hopes to find answer to the above questions by adopting a functionalist approach with special attention on crosscultural differences in linguistic aspects, sociocultural aspects and ideological aspects. Findings of the present study reveal that functionalist approaches can facilitate CE translation of signs in that it adopts a targetculture orientation to forecast, avoid and handle various translation problems. As a result, a fourstep model is suggested in translating signs from Chinese into English, which is believed to contribute to the improvement of signs translation quality and broaden the application of functionalist translation theory as well. Key words: bilingual signs, cultural difference, functionalist approach, communication Image Gestalt and Their Reembodiment in the Translation of Ancient Chinese Poems： Tune Tian Jing Sha as the Example Peng zhenchuan&Liu Kedong Harbin Institute of Technology
171 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China [email protected] This paper studies the translation of images in Ancient Chinese poems with Tian Jing Sha by Ma Zhiyuan, a poet in Chinese Yuan Dynasty, as the example. Ancient Chinese poems are full of imagery just like ancient Chinese paintings. The images are culturally loaded and can be regarded as genes (memes) of Chinese culture which have been handed down to modern times. (One inference is that memes can be classified into culturally universal and culturally specific and naturally the images belong to the latter type). They pose great difficulties in the translation of Ancient Chinese poems. On the other hand, poetic images are the result of cognitive construction and are gestalt structures in nature. Their cognitive construction seems to follow a certain model from basic concepts to image gestalt, in which culture, the system of meaning/value endowment, plays a key role by assigning parameters to them. While we believe that the parameters are predictable in a given culture, different cultures assign different parameters to the same image, resulting in cognitive/information gap in its interpretation. The translators’ task is to fill in the gap by resorting to various skills, which obviously involves the issue of translatability. Intercultual Communication Scope and Responsibilities Peter Sercombe University of Newcastle, UK [email protected] Intercultural Communication (ICC) considers how people from dissimilar cultural backgrounds try and communicate with each other. Among other things, ‘knowing’ the field of ICC assumes an understanding of: Concepts of culture, communication and language, and the links between them; Knowledge of what is involved in communication between culturally heterogeneous people; as well as being able to explain the role of cultural patterns and verbal codes in intercultural relations; being able to identify one’s own and others’ cultural values and belief systems and explaining how these can affect communication; in addition to being able to describe obstacles to efficient intercultural communication, it means being able to understand analyse and apply intercultural communication concepts in a range of contexts, such as interpersonal relations, education and business; as well as understanding and being able to evaluate literature on ICC. Nonetheless, the scope of ICC is not necessarily clearly transparent. While ICC benefits from being a heterogeneous subject area, should it be perceived as a discrete field, as conferences such as this might suggest? If so, what then might be excluded from ICC’s remit? This paper seeks to tentatively circumscribe the heterogeneous field of ICC by considering the reach of ICC studies to date, with particular reference to literature aimed for use on (taught) ICC courses as well as topics that have been researched under the banner of ICC.
172 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The Change of Standard Thai High Tone: An Acoustic Study Phanintra Teeranon Mae Fah Lunag University, Chaingrai, Thailand [email protected] Standard Thai tones can be divided into two categories by their heights and shapes; level tones (mid, low and high) and contour tones (rising and falling). Thai high tone has been found to change its height and shape during the year 19112002 (Bradley, 1916; Abramson, 1962; Tamtavitikul, 1994; Teeranon, 2002). The tone has changed its shape from mid falling (1911), high level (19601970’s), to mid rising (19802002) (Teeranon, 2002). This study attempts to show that high tone in Standard Thai is changing its phonetics characteristics from high level to mid rising. Forty informants of various genders were used. The informants are divided into two age groups: oversixty and undertwenty. The Praat program is used to conduct an acoustic analysis. The results show that high tone characteristic of the oversixty is high level, but it is mid rising in the undertwenty. It has also been found that the present characteristic of high tone is similar to that of rising tone. It is argued whether Standard Thai high tone should be regrouped as a contour tone. Any possible ongoing tone changes in Thai are also discussed What Cultural Immersion? Studay “Abroad” in a Fully Connected World Phyllis Larson, Chair Asian Studies Department, St. Olaf College, USA [email protected] In the old model of study abroad, students traveled to the target country knowing that they would have limited contact with their families and friends back home, limited to letters and expensive international phone calls. That was before the advent of email and the Internet. Now, when our students leave for study abroad, not only do they go for shorter periods of time (a semester or a month, instead of a year), they also go, knowing that their friends and families can communicate with them any time and all the time through email and cell phones. This changes the dynamic of the intercultural experience in significant ways. Although we may have once thought about how to persuade students to limit their use of these communication technologies, the question now is: given the level of intrusion (through these technologies) of the culture of origin on the international experience, how can we shape the “abroad” program to yield the kind of intercultural competence we value? This paper articulates the intercultural goals of study abroad in a fully connected world and explores strategies for achieving them.
173 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The Advantages of International English Summer Camp in Improving Awareness in Intercultural Communication Ping Li Harbin Normal University [email protected] Along with the speedup of Globalization, people in the world are in more close contact than before. Now English, as a cosmopolitan language, has already become an essential implement to show people around the world and to broaden their field of vision. In 2008, the Olympic Games will be held in Beijing, which has started a new upsurge of English study. Undergoing a long process of exploration and practice, people gradually realized that the final aim of English study is making intercultural communication, so people’s intercultural communication competence is the most reasonable standard checking their English level. Some scholars made detailed questionnaires to survey the intercultural communication competence of middle school students. The result shows that their intercultural sensitivity and intercultural communication competence are generally in a low level. In order to solve this problem, educational circles have always been trying various methods. In recent years, more and more Chinese customers are becoming interested in International English Summer Camp, which is regarded as a newly developed kind of activity combining English study with recreation. Basing on the theories of intercultural communication and some other subjects concerned, this paper starts with the scheduling and contents of International English Summer Camp in order to prove that such kind of activities will help to enhance children’s awareness in intercultural communication. Hopefully this will become a good suggestion for children studying English. Teaching professional English language communication in the context of Asian national cultures Pros’yants Natalia, Pacific Naval Institute, Vladivostok, Russia) [email protected] The paper covers the issues of the urgency for teaching professional cross cultural communication in the discourse as interaction of naval officers. The questioning of the naval students and officers showed that the lack of skills in cross cultural communication is caused by cultural unawareness and linguistic barriers. The analysis of sea cooperation communication situations between Russian Navy and the Navies of AsianPacific countries including the roles adopted by participants, their prescribed norms of professional interaction defined three spheres: protocol in the course of official visit, proper professional interaction for accomplishing joint missions and social activities in the foreign ports. Each of these spheres requires particular stereotypes of professional behavior (verbal, nonverbal and paraverbal), the structure of their discourse to meet communicative goals (Claire Kramsch). The directions in curriculum change, designing the discourse syllabus are
174 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China considered in the paper as the solutions for developing communities abilities, based on linguistic competence and communicative competence, integrating culture and communication. The acquisition of professional communicative competence contributes into students’ developing strategies for increasing crosscultural awareness. Reconceptualising Intercultural Communication Competence: Towards an Asilcentric Approach Prue Holmes University of Waikato, New Zealand [email protected] Understanding international Chinese students’ communication in western university learning contexts has often been informed by dualistic and Eurocentric models of intercultural communication which fail to account for the assumptions and rules that underpin Chinese communication. This paper, by adopting an Asiacentric approach (Kim, 2003; Miike, 2004), suggests an alternative interpretation of Chinese students’ intercultural communication experiences with cultural others, thus offering other insights into what constitutes ICC. Drawing on interviews with nine international Chinese students completing a business degree in a UK university, the study is guided by the following questions: How do Chinese students experience and (re)negotiate (their own and their UK peers’) communication? In what ways do they (re)construct and (re)negotiate their identities in light of these experiences? For what reasons? Through this new approach, and by drawing on understandings of ICC (e.g., Byram, 1997, Chen & Starosta, 1996) and Chinese rules for interpersonal communication (Gao & TingToomey, 1998), the study seeks to uncover Asiacentric understandings of being, knowing, and communicating in order to offer new—Asiacentric—conceptualisations of ICC in the above context. On cultural variation in genderrelated strategies and tactics of communicative politeness Pshenichnikova Anna Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Linguistic research shows that a person’s communicative performance can be affected by their identity. Thus, men and women practice overlapping but still differing styles of communication. Genderrelated characteristics of communication are seen in a person’s choice and use of verbal means and nonverbal elements of communication, and communicative strategies and tactics. Men and women are generally believed to have different communicative priorities: men’s style of communication is best described as competition and women’s – as cooperation. This may
175 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China sometimes cause a misunderstanding or a conflict and disrupt communication. Mutual politeness is the universal tool of avoiding communicative failure. Strategies of politeness are subjected to genderrelated as well as cultural variation. Both men and women of different cultural backgrounds have different perceptions of what is considered “polite” in a conversation. This concerns choosing topics, deciding upon length and manner of speaking, making interruptions, asking questions, expressing aggression, etc. Men and women’s sets of favourite tactics of verbal and nonverbal politeness don’t fully correspond to each other in different communicative cultures. Our research goal is to find out cultural differences in linguistic, paralinguistic, and extralinguistic means of realizing genderrelated strategies of politeness in English and Russian dialogues. “What is your role?”: Identity Negotiation in a Chinese Heritage Language Classroom Chang Pu Xiaoshi Li The University of Texas at San Antonio [email protected] [email protected] Due to the steady increase of immigrant population in the United States, heritage schools have been on a steady rise and heritage language learning and teaching is an area that scholars have been trying to investigate. Adopting interactional sociolinguistics (Gumperz, 1982) as the theoretical approach, this study presents and analyzes the detailed classroom interactions, through which the ongoing process of identity negotiation is constructed and coconstructed by Chinese American children and their teacher as well as their peers in a Chinese heritage language (CHL) classroom. Data were collected in Fall 2006 via audiotaping and classroom participant observation in Hope Chinese Language School located in southwest United States. It was found that due to the special natures of CHL classrooms as being the place where Chinese language and culture is the target of teaching but situated in a bigger American culture context, the teacher and the students face a lot of identity conflicts and dilemmas such as studentteacher relationship that affect the teaching and learning process and classroom dynamics. Findings in this study may shed some light on the research of language, culture, and identity and also provide insights for heritage language as well as L2 teaching and learning. Negative Language Transfer Reflected in EFL Learners’ English Writing Xiukun Qi Xiaole Gu， Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The central issue of language transfer has been centered upon whether the first language of L2
176 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China learners influences second language acquisition. Many Chinese language researchers have offered answers of different degrees to these questions. However, the present researchers are intended to prove the existence of negative language transfer in Chinese learners’ English writing, to determine the aspects where it lies, and to assess its influence on the English learning so as to find feasible strategies for improvement. The study is based on the theory of Language Transfer by American scholar Terence Odlin; the results are obtained from the analysis of 30 randomly selected English essays written by Chinese college students. The findings show that negative language transfer is quite a common phenomenon in the students’ English writing. It exists in many aspects which are categorized in this paper as morphology, lexicon and syntax. The findings reveal a high level of the influence of negative language transfer on the English study of the students involved in the research, and prove that the crosslinguistic difference between Chinese and English is of serious hindrance to Chinese English learners. Therefore, feasible measures are needed for effective English teaching. An Overview of CultureSensitive Pedagogy Xiaomei Qiao, University of Arizona [email protected] Huiyu Tan, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics [email protected] This article summarizes major findings in research on what is culturesensitive pedagogy (CSP), why it is necessary, and how we can develop a real culturesensitive pedagogy. Two reasons are identified for the drive for a culturesensitive pedagogy: first, although globalization pushed nonWestern (developing) nations to import educational theories from the West, research found that simple importation suffered from certain degree of failure. Second, dramatic differences between cultures supported that each culture has the right and should fight to be different. As for the concept of culturesensitive pedagogy, the idea of “global thinking, local teaching” proposed by Kramsch & Sullivan (1996) is suggested to be the best interpretation so far. Three models are discussed concerning how to develop a CSP: Holliday (1994)’s simplified model that looked at it as a “marketplace”, Thomas (1997)’s more structured and integrated model that probes how a CSP could meld political, economic and cultural dimensions in order to accommodate a ‘global culture’, and a psychological model at the end. More research is suggested to be done on what should CSP include and how it should be implemented in real practice. The Measurement of Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism
177 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China In the UK among British College Students Lili Qin，Wang Shaoping Dalian University of Foreign Languages [email protected] [email protected] Among 104 British college students from Newcastle University and Northumbria University in another western context– United Kingdom, the validity of the 32+2 items’ scale of Horizontal and Vertical Individualism and Collectivism was measured. The research was carried out through questionnaire filling and data analysis employed the calculation of Mean and Sum values. The findings highlighted that the validity of the scale was supported collectively among British college students but not individually; Furthermore, the British college students were depicted to be more horizontal than vertical and scored highest in HC and lowest in VC, in other words, the mode of HC>HI>VI>VC was the most favored. Influence of EnglishAmerican Literature Knowledge on the Cultivation of Culture Awareness Qiu Dewei, Taiyuan University of Science & Technology [email protected] The paper illustrates that the teaching of EnglishAmerican literature course plays a significant role in cultivating students’ culture awareness. The paper is built out of four parts: In the first part, two kinds of relationships, one is between literature and culture, another is between language and culture, are discussed, which can be a firm theoretical basis for the importance of cultivating culture awareness through the learning of EnglishAmerican literature. In the second part, the present culture teaching situation and the main existing problems due to the deficiency of culture teaching methods are analyzed. Then, in the third part, the paper focuses on the BritishAmerican literature course, which can serve as a platform to teach target culture and further develop students’ cultural awareness and culture use. It mainly covers the following four aspects: first, the questionnaires and interview to find out most suitable teaching approach and the weak points of the students. Second, some approaches are highlighted, such as the systematic syllabus of teaching literature and relevant culture knowledge, the comparative study of Chinesewestern literature and culture, the cooperative learning and the internetassisted teaching, the pragmatic application of the cultural knowledge, etc. Finally, the author comes to the conclusion that through the BritishAmerican literature learning, students can not only have a systematic understanding about the target culture, but can be inspired to develop their culture awareness.
178 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China CrossCultural Adaptation (CCA) of Foreign Teachers in Chinese Higher Education Qiu Shan Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, and Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] With the globalization of education in China, more and more foreign professionals or experts, both language and nonlanguage majors, are needed in Chinese Higher Education. The Chinese policymakers have worked out a lot of practicable management emphasizing particularly on creating comfortable living conditions and taking caring of these foreign teachers’ life habits and religions. And most of the present literature on foreign teachers in China also deal with the management and policymaking concerning about their living conditions instead of the sojourners’ adjustment in the alien culture. Thereby, their crosscultural adaptation and their demands to participate in the Chinese social and cultural life were greatly neglected. From the perspective of intercultural communication, and by conducting interviews and questionnaires with both qualitative and quantitative methods, the present research digs into the following questions: 1) what are the foreign teachers’ motives and expectations for teaching in China? 2) what is the status quo of their crosscultural adaptation (both in psychology and socioculture) in China? 3) what are the factors that hinder or facilitate their CCA process? 4) what can we Chinese do to facilitate their CCA process? Toward Communication Challenges in an Age of Diversity: R Rampersad HOD: Public Relations Management Durban, South Africa [email protected] Critiquing Crosscultural Communication Challenges in a Multicultural Learning Environment Culture is an intricate concept, with many different classifications. Simply put, "culture" refers to a group or community with which we share common experiences that shape the way we understand the world. In a world as complex as ours, each of us is shaped by many factors, and culture is one of the powerful forces that acts on us. Anthropologists Kevin Avruch and Peter Black explain the importance of culture this way: One's own culture provides the "lens" through which we view the world; the "logic"... by which we order it; the "grammar" ... by which it makes sense. (Avruch and Black, 1993). In other words, culture is central to what we see, how we make sense of what we see, and how we express ourselves. This paper offers a critique of problems experienced in multicultural learning
179 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China environments and explores factors that inhibit intercultural communication. In addition the paper highlights current psychological and cultural issues which are resilient and relevant to contemporary life in South Africa. An investigation into the ostensible invitations used in English and Persian native and nonnative EFL speakers. Fatemeh Ahmadi Gorgan university Abbass Eslami Rasekh English Language Dept. Isfahan University . [email protected] This study is an attempt to investigate the pragmatic role of culture in using ostensible invitations across the two languages English and Persian. It also investigates to the extent EFL learners from two culturally different regions of Iran, Gorgan and Isfahan) with a high level of proficiency tend to transfer L1 features to L2. Methods:100 female subjects in five groups were selected as participants: (a) 20 Persian speakers with a low level of proficiency from Gorgan , (b) 20 Persian speakers with low level of proficiency from Isfahan (c) 20 EFL learners with a high level of proficiency resident in Gorgan (d) 20 EFL learners with a high level of proficiency resident in Isfahan (e) and 20 Canadian native English speakers. Two questionnaires (Persian and English) were prepared both including 10 situations and each situation with three options to consider. The English questionnaire was given to EFL learners and English native speakers; the same questionnaire (in Persian) was given to Persian speakers, citizens in Gorgan and Isfahan. In each situation, participants were asked to choose and evaluate the geniusness of the invitation, i.e. to find out to what degree the invitation (offer) was genuine as opposed to ostensible based on their cultural backgrounds. Results: The ANOVA measurements of participants' scores on the English questionnaire revealed that there was no significant difference between Canadian participants and EFL learners with a high level of L2 proficiency from Gorgan, in the degree of using ostensible invitations. These subjects used the least degrees of ostensiblity in their invitations. On the other hand, there was a significant difference between Canadian subjects and EFL learners with a high level of L2 proficiency from Isfahan. The Scheffe procedure showed that the degree of ostensibility in invitations used by lowproficiency speakers from Gorgan was greater than Canadian participants. Also, the degree of ostensibility in invitations used by lowproficiency speakers from Isfahan was higher than Canadian participants. Conclusion: The results revealed that there was a significant difference in the degree of ostensibility of invitations across Persian compared with Canadian, i.e. Canadian participants used more genuine invitations and patterns of use were different. Regarding the importance of culture
180 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China in SLA and its relation to the use of appropriate speech acts, the findings of this research may be helpful for EFL teachers; they can provide language learners with fruitful information concerning the most important use of ostensible invitations versus genuine invitations in sociopragmatic situations which are different. Body Language in Different Culture Ren Zhipeng Heilongjiang Institute of Science and Technology [email protected] The essay presents a variety of different body languages in different cultures of the world. Body language can convey a wide range of meanings. It is showed as follows: people in different cultures share the common sense by using the same body language such as gazing and eye management, facial expressions, gestures and body movements; on the other hand, people in different cultures express the distinctive meanings by using the same body language. It comes in three aspects: first, eye contact is different from culture to culture; second, other nonverbal gestures are varying from culture to culture; the third, proper distance between two people shows their various attitudes from different culture. Modernization and the Sedimentation of Cultural Space: The Stratificational Patterns of Mumbai (Bombay) and Bangalore Robert N. St. Clair University of Louisville [email protected] Margaret U. D'Silva Ulniversity of Louisville [email protected] Not all cities are modernized in the same way. There are different forces from the past that interact with the processes of modernization to create very different cultural spaces. For example, in India the modern city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay) has undergone similar processes of modernization as the city of Bangalore (currently being renamed as Bengalooru), but they remain culturally different entities and these differences can be attributed to the differences in their cultural past. This is because the cultural present is embedded in the cultural past and the present forces of modernization must not only be embedded in the cultural spaces of the past but it must also be integrated into its archeological strata. Hence, in order to explain this phenomenon, a different model of cultural space is needed. Such a model has been proposed. The sedimentation theory of cultural space is such a model (St. Clair, 2007). It is based on the metaphor of the "Archeology of
181 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Knowledge" in which Foucault (1969) envisions knowledge as layers of human activity deposited in a cultural space over time. A modification and expansion of this metaphor can be found in the sedimentation theory of cultural space which not only envisions time as the accumulation of social practices layered in cultural space, but also provides epistemological mechanisms that explain how reality is socially reconstructed within a cultural space. Crisis Management Exercism Oslo 2006 Robert Vaagan Oslo University College, Norway Robert[email protected] On 1718th October 2006, the largest civilian crisis exercise to date in Norway unfolded in the capital Oslo. “Exercise Oslo 2006” involved 5,000 participants and was organized by The Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning. Its main aim was to train Norwegian society’s ability to tackle extensive terror scenarios. One part of the exercise was media management. An electronic newspaper “Oslonytt” was set up and staffed by 190 undergraduate students in journalism and media & communication studies from Oslo University College. They were reinforced by 9 members of staff, including the author who acted as one of 3 editors. The newspaper published 120 articles on all aspects of the exercise. The terror scenario envisaged a fictional group MADI (Militia Against Discrimination and Inequality) – controlled from an imaginary country Tagistan striking against civilian targets in Norway, echoing events in Madrid and London. Supposedly, unwelcome Norwegian involvement in oil and gas exploration activity in Tagistan by the stateowned Norwegian Power Group (NorPow) unleashed the terror strikes. Based on a selection of the 120 articles in “Oslonytt”, the paper analyses selected intercultural communication issues of Exercise Oslo 2006, particularly Norwegian threat perceptions. Portable Medical Records Accessibility and Privacy of Multicultures Ruijian Zhang Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN, USA [email protected] In emergency situations, medical professionals are often called upon to make quick decisions without the benefit of background information. We developed a system named Portable Medical Records Accessibility (PMRA), which will enable physicians and other health care personnel to render accurate, informed medical treatment through immediate, secure access to a patient’s digital medical records. Meanwhile the issues regarding security, media, legal, and privacy are becoming more and more important, even in very different culture background. When developing the PMRA system, all of these concerns are identified as extremely high priority and have been addressed in some manners for various culture backgrounds, in order to provide a comprehensive and realistically functional system. Patient data and the access software will be included on the
182 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China PMRA device. This, in conjunction with readily available USB and SD interface ports will allow inexpensive and universal access. The PMRA device worn in the form of a wristband, necklace, or key fob will be readily available to medical personnel. Convenient access necessitates an efficient security system in the event of the PMRA device being lost or stolen. Ellipsis Resolution and Discourse Analysis Sana Ullah Institution: Inha University South Korea [email protected] This paper presents a theoretical researchbased approach to ellipsis resolution in machine translation. Moreover, the formula of discourse is applied in order to resolve ellipses. The validity of the discourse formula is analyzed by applying it to the real world text, i.e. newspaper fragments. The source text is converted into monosentential discourses where complex discourses require further dissection either directly into primitive discourses or first into compound discourses and later into primitive ones. The procedure of dissection needs further improvement, i.e. discovering as many primitive discourse forms as possible Khan (Khan, 1995). This work is further improvement to the concepts presented by Khan (Khan, 1995). Likewise, an attempt has been made to investigate primitive discourses, i.e. patterns, from the given text. Keywords: Ellipsis Resolution, primitive, compound and complex discourses Entre Voces: Mexican Histories from Indigenous Voices Sarah Corona Universidad de Guadalajara, México [email protected] [email protected] In the compulsory textbooks used in all schools in Mexico, a monolithic version of the nation’s history is presented. All Mexican children are exposed to this official version of the origin and development of the Mexican state from a union of Aztec and Spanish cultures. But Mexico is not only geographically diverse; in addition it is populated with individuals with distinct religions, ethnicities, races, social classes, ages… in sum, histories. In the seminar and editorial project for children called, “Entre voces… Fragmentos de educación entrecultural,” held in the secondary school Tatutsi Maxakwari in San Miguel Huaixtita, Jalisco, participants discovered other ways to conceive the history of their country. When asked, “What is Mexico?” the Huichol participants acknowledged the official version of history, but maintained that this did not apply to them. “We are not Mexicans” wrote one of the Huichol historians. For the mestizooccidental participants to our seminar, Mexico’s History is not the pacific unity the hegemonic version tries to give either. Mexico’s territory is the result of many battles and there is a long history of struggles and mixing. In the other hand, it has a name that doesn’t represent all the different and contrasting regions. We
183 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China don’t all speak Spanish, have the same religion or are mestizos. In this presentation, we will discuss the construction of unofficial versions of history, indigenous conceptions of history, the writing of alternative histories, and the publication of plural histories for Mexican children. Media, Globalisation of Culture and Identity Crisis in Developing Countries Sedigheh Babran Islamic Azad University [email protected], [email protected] This article focuses on the globalisation of culture and the role of media in the ensuing identity crisis (both individual and social) resulting from this process. The article tries to display the basic concept of the process of globalisation with all of its effects, threats, challenges and opportunities and will illustrate its interaction with the media in a developing country such as the Islamic Republic of Iran. The essay will show that the main components of power structure in today's world can be linked to these two complimentary processes – globalisation and the information era. The interaction between these two phenomenons has changed the quality of communications which, in turn, is creating new personal and social identities (personification and personifying). According to survey results, it is clear that in societies which are not efficient in reinforcing and strengthening their communication infrastructures and which are unable to compete with the new methods of communication and information exchange, identity formation gains political, economic and culturally adverse and asserts an unrepairable damage. In conclusion, the article tries to present some proposals for Iranian and other developing countries' media as the active player of this era and offers ways to challenge and deal with the unavoidable process of globalization and identity crisis. The Role of 'Trust' in Verbal Communication within the Persian Language Society and between Different Language Societies Shahla Sharifi Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran [email protected] It seems it’s necessary and inevitable to consider the “trust” as an important factor in a successful language interaction among the members of a language society or the members of the different language societies. If there is no trust, the principle of quality (one of the Grice’s conversational maxims) will never come into the truth and a successful verbal interaction will never happen. But there is a narrow point here, that is, the degree of the trust which the speakers of different languages place in each other is different from a society to another one. One of the most important factors effective here are cultural norms and habits, though other factors are also involved. I think we can determine the total tendency of a language society in this case, regardless of the other
184 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China factors. It seems the degree of the trust between the verbal interaction participants plays an important role in the beginning and continuing a verbal communication. According to the data and evidences I have gathered, Persian language speakers tend to trust the strangers very easily. They give their very private information to those whom they have already never met. They expect their addressee to do the same and it’s the point that may make some big misunderstandings when they talk to the people from other cultures and nations. This paper talks about the importance of this factor (trust) in the beginning and continuing a verbal interaction among the speakers of the Persian language and tries to show that it’s also a very important factor in any interlanguage communication. Effective Communication: the Essential Components For Successful Total Quality Management Implementation Sharina Bt. Samsudin UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA [email protected] Total Quality Management (TQM) programmes have been attracting the attention of many organizations during this period to improve their organizational performances. However, past studies showed not all organizations succeed in the process of implementing TQM. The failure rate of as high as 5070% raises the question as to whether the factors have any connection with the practice of organizational communication. Undoubtedly organizations realize the importance of effective organizational communications but do not identify precisely to what extent and how they should practice it in the process of implementation of TQM. The frequent failure of TQM implementation result inpart from misused of organizational communication strategies and tactics. This paper aims to explore the nature and importance of effective communication in the TQM context. It will provide a significant theoretical foundation in preparation for a major empirical study in the associated areas. The aims initially therefore, to explore the nature of effective organizational communication, the link between effective organizational communication and TQM initiative and to identify other effective communication’s attribute. These would contribute to the successful implementation of TQM. Based on the fact that effective organizational communication is recognized in literature as having a role in the implementation of change management programmes such as TQM, it is important to understand what factors impede or facilitate effective communication within an organization. Ultimately, it aims to explore how effective communications contribute to the successful implementation of TQM programmes. Classroom Research on Fostering Chinese Students’ Pragmatic Competence Shi Bingyan, Zhao Hongshan Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected]
185 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China It is universally acknowledged that language is an abstract system used for human communication. We use language to exchange information and to establish and maintain smooth, harmonious interpersonal relationships. Hence language teaching and learning involves not only “usage” but also actual “use” related to specific contexts. In China, however, the lack of English learning environment and the grammaroriented and testintended teaching approach lead to learner’s pragmatic failures in real communication. There is no denying that it’s important to foster learners’ pragmatic competence. This paper dwells mainly on the potential pragmatic failures that nonEnglish major students are likely to produce in crosscultural communication by a research investigation conducted in the nonEnglish major students’ classrooms. The results reveal that college English teaching has much room to improve students’ pragmatic competence while developing their linguistic competence. In order to cultivating students’ pragmatic competence effectively, some preliminary suggestions and practicable remedies are given in college English teaching. It has been proved that these are effective and popular ways to be used in class. Communication Culture and Face Work of Chinese Internet Community Shi Qiqi Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] [email protected] From the last decades on, the world has witnessed the coming of digital era. One of the chief phenomena of the digital age is the popularization of internet, which has become the extension of human lives and relations. Chinese Internet community or forum, the virtual community on internet social dimensions, formed by groups of people who have the same interest, has come into its full blossom and developed its own communication culture. People with different and multiple cultural identities are reorganized in Internet communities, where they negotiate, establish and develop their new virtual identities and social roles. They form various voluntary communication cultural systems due to the convenience of Internet, and have a shared norms system of communication. This paper is conducted from the cultural and sociolinguistic perspective on the level of interpersonal communication. It will analyze the phenomenon of Internet communities as a virtual communication community with its own communication culture. It involves the orientation of Internet community culture and multiangled analysis of facework and face system with related to the traditional Chinese negotiation of face relationship. British National Identity in the Age of Globlization
186 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Shi Tongyun Beijing Foreign Studies University, China [email protected] Defining British national identity has never been an easy job as “being British is a variable ideology”. This paper aims to analyze how Britishness has been and is being reshaped in the new global context by the new Labor Party since 1997. The New Labor interpreted British national identity as a conjunction of historical past and political future; the past refers to British cultural heritage and the future refers to “new and creative Britain”. Facing the challenge of the new information age and the country’s own ethnic and cultural complexity, New Labor led by Tony Blair responded with “rebranding Britain” into a new and creative, young and modern, diverse and outwardlooking country. In retrospect, New Labor has to great extent succeeded in the mission. With its creative industry responsible for $157 billion out of $2.2 trillion of global revenues in 2000, modern cultural industries in which young people are key producers and consumers and the democratic constitutional reform of the House of Lords in 1998, as well as devolution, Europeanization and multiculturalism, new Britain is creative, modern, dynamic and pluralist. Crosscultural Differences and Their Impacts on Brand Building In China and America Shi, Xingsong University of International Business and Economics [email protected] The study analyzed the characteristics and origins of American and Chinese cultures and pointed out that in Chinese culture, elements like advocate of golden mean, harmony, nondoing, nonstrive, restraint of individuality, selfcontentment, indifference in innovation etc. have impeded China’s brand building and global branding. In American culture, however, elements like individualism, diversity, ambition and aggressiveness of external expansion, entrepreneurship, unrelenting search for excellence etc. have facilitated their brand building and global branding. To prove it at the level of enterprises, the study analyzed the corporate values behind the American global brands and the best Chinese brands with both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. It reveals that most Chinese enterprises don’t have global vision and tend to be contented with the huge domestic market. Also, they do not attach great importance to innovation, and do not have distinct specialties. The study argued that since many Chinese firms have already had the economic strength, by learning and reinforcing strong and effective brand building systems, Chinese enterprises can and will build global brands.
187 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China A Culturalpower Minded Approachto Intercultural Communication Shixu Zhejiang University [email protected] In this contribution, I shall argue that this mainstream scholarly discourse of intercultural communication fails to recognise the crucial power, or, oppositional, nature of intercultural communication. That is, rather than merely an individual, linguistic and cognitive phenomenon, intercultural communication is a joint, cultural activity embedded in broader, global, historical context. A central part of that context is an imperial order of colonialism and anticolonialism resistance. More specifically, intercultural communication should be seen as different and contested ways of representing and acting upon the world that reflect historically concrete linguistic, national and geographical imbalance of power (from here one may even argue for a broader view of inter gender, class, ethnic and generational communication as intercultural). To study intercultural communication, then, is to study, beyond 'misunderstandings', 'deficiencies', relations and practices of repression, dominance, confrontation, exclusion and prejudice, etc. And from the point of view of language, discourse and communication studies, this means to analyse how such relations and practices of power are produced or accomplished through linguistic and contextual devices. The Effects of Segregation on Intercultural Communication in Mslaysian Schools Sidin Ahmad Ishak University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia [email protected] National and community integration has been a key concern for a wide array of social and educational projects in multiracial country such as Malaysia. However, educational institutions in Malaysia are becoming more widely segregated along racial lines than ever before. Most Malay students attend national schools or private Islamic schools; most Chinese students attend Chinese schools and most Tamil students attend Tamil schools. In the tertiary level, colleges and universities are noticeably segregated in terms of student composition. Thus, the prevailing current view of school and campus climate is that intercultural communication is poor and students from different racial groups are segregating themselves from other groups. This study looks into the effect of segregation on students’ views and behavior relating to intercultural communication. It also explore the relationship between the students’ educational background and their awareness, understanding and perceptions of other races. The results of this study can be beneficial for both research and theory on intercultural communication in educational institution.
188 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Community Participation Efforts in Strengthening Social Harmony Daenseekaew S, Khon Kaen University [email protected] Klungklang R, Khon Kaen University [email protected] Tungpukdee J, Khon Kaen University Boonkong, P, Khon Kaen University [email protected] This participatory action research aimed to enhance a community’s potential in strengthening subdistrict harmony, a grassroot society of Northeast Thailand. Community Participation had 3 patterns. The first pattern involved the determination of the five community commitments in which the community members relied on an honest living, followed the ‘sufficiency economy,’ practiced local traditions, engaged in community development, and prevented their community from conflicts under the community justice system. The second participation was processed through community meetings in which good volunteers were voted. Three workshops were arranged so that the volunteers were trained to be able to develop instruction media for raising consciousness, distribute their knowledge, and resolve any controversies among the community members. The third participation was to advocate the human right among the community members by broadcasting via the local news tower, religious ceremonies and career meetings. These activities helped encourage the generosity among the community members, praise the respectful members, keep on the traditions, develop communication, and build careers for the inferiors including the children, handicapped, poor, sick or elderly persons as well as the supporting of community proactive role in using the justice system to settle the conflicts among its members. The Debates on the Yasukuni Shrine between China and Japan －A Symbol of Imperialism and Militarism in Japan? JennJaw Song ChengKung University ChunPin Su HsingKuo University of Management [email protected] The relations between China and Japan are widely regarded as the most important bilateral
189 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China relations in East Asia. After Japan’s normalizing of its relations with China in 1972, these two countries become closer in the political, economic, and cultural spheres. However, there are still many issues of contention between the two countries. One of the arguable questions is the Yasukuni issue. Because there are many Japanese who died in the SinoJapanese wars, including the Class A war criminals, enshrined in the shrine, the Chinese government and people view it as a symbol of imperialism and militarism. Political visits to the shrine always cause strong protests from China. However, many Japanese, especially the rightists, perceive it as a heartwarming symbol of sacrifice and patriotism. They insist that visits to the shrine by the Prime Minister or Emperor are an internal political matter in which China or other countries have no right to interfere. This Yasukuni issue, thus, has become a huge stumbling block in moving bilateral relations forward between China and Japan. This paper intends to study this issue from both the Chinese and Japanese viewpoints and examine that this issue is a cultural misunderstanding or a diplomatic conflict. Image Portrayal of Australian Indigenous People For Non Indigenous Tourismin Australian Tourism Catherine Nan SONG Beijing Foreign Studies University Catherine <[email protected] The growth and development of indigenous tourism has been a significant cultural, and social phenomena of the postwar decades in Australia. As core elements of Indigenous tourism, Indigenous people and their culture are highly featured in tourism marketing. Their images have been highlighted in tourism promotion targeting nonIndigenous markets, overseas as well as domestic. Such tourismoriented images have farreaching meanings for the local people. On the one hand, the promotion of Indigenous tourism seems to have provided an incentive and opportunity for cultural preservation and helped Indigenous people to take pride in their cultures and tradition, and strengthened their identity. On the other hand, the commercial nature of tourism, and the lack of control of Indigenous people over tourism management, often means that their portrayals are manipulated by the tourism industry to be marketfocused, designed to meet the demands of the industry. This thesis, based on crosscultural development theory and a field study in Australia, provides a qualitative analysis of the ways in which Indigenous people have been portrayed by the industry and analyses the ambiguous role of tourism in crosscultural communication and reorganization, cultural development and identity building of Indigenous Australians in tourism destinations. Key words: Indigenous people, culture, tourism, development, image. Harmony versus Critical Cultural Awareness: A Case Study of Intercultural Language Education in Japan Stephanie Houghton
190 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China University of Kitakyushu, Japan houghton@kitakyuu.ac.jp The development of critical cultural awareness is an important objective of foreign language education aimed at nurturing intercultural communicative competence. What particular challenges does the development of critical cultural awareness present to Japanese students of English as a foreign language socialised in a culture that values harmony? What learning outcomes can be expected? A complex case study was conducted to examine the development of critical cultural awareness in intercultural language education in a tertiary education context in Japan. Qualitative data were gathered over a ninemonth perod from thirtysix student participants and myself as teacherresearcher to examine the impact of three separate courses of English language study all aimed at developing critical cultural awareness in students. Data gathered from student participants indicate that the importance of harmony had been underestimated and certain learning outcomes had been unanticipated by the teacherresearcher in the initial conceptualisation of the study. This paper will present relevant data in context and consider the implications for the development of critical cultural awareness in intercultural language education. Links will be drawn with value change and citizenship education. Key words: intercultural communicative competence, tertiary education, critical cultural awareness, harmony Do Short, Intensive Crosscultural Encounters Lead to Greater Intercultural Harmony? Stephen M. Ryan St. Thomas University, Osaka, JAPAN [email protected] Many intercultural exchange programmes are built on the premise that if we simply bring together people from different cultural backgrounds they will learn to get along together, and the result will be greater tolerance of diversity and increased intercultural harmony. This paper addresses that assumption in light of both experience and theory. In particular, it focuses on the effectiveness of short (13 week) crosscultural experience programmes for young people. Such programmes are becoming popular among educational institutions aware of the need to educate their graduates for an increasingly diverse world and of the inadequacy of classroombased pedagogical models in preparing young people for this reality. Can such programmes indeed lead to greater tolerance and understanding? If so, what are the parameters for success? And what variables can be manipulated in order to enhance the quality of the educational experience? These questions are addressed with reference to specific programmes and models of crosscultural learning. Ethnic Encounters between the Diasporic Subject and Indigenous People in the Era of Globalization: Reading Michael Ondaatje’s Anil’s Ghost
191 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Jingfen Su National Taiwan University [email protected] Setting his awardwinning novel Anil’s Ghost amidst the turbulent Sri Lankan Civil War, Michael Ondaatje creates Anil as a diasporic woman who leaves her birthplace in pursuit of better education and more prosperous career in the West. Years later, Anil returns “home” as a forensic anthropologist under the auspices of a UN organization to investigate the human rights violations sanctioned by Sri Lankan government. With such dual identities as both Sri Lankanborn and Western educated and commissioned, Anil has been repeatedly engaged in a subtle opposition to indigenous Sri Lankans. How does the diasporic subject and the local natives view each other in terms of ethnicity, gender, class, and (trans)nationality? Do such ethnic encounters produce any change in the diasporic subject’s identification or perception of the Self? Do they cast any impact on the locals who are doomed or voluntarily choose to stay in their tumultuous home country? In this paper I will explore how Ondaatje represents the ethnic encounters between Sri Lankan diaspora and indigenous Sri Lankans made possible in the era of globalization. By examining the complex interactions between the diasporic subject and the local natives, I will also reexamine the definitions of diasporic subjectivities in the global context and make suggestions accordingly. Keywords: Diaspora, Ethnic Encounter, Transnational Identity, Globalization, Sri Lankan Civil War, Michael Ondaatje, Anil’s Ghost The Cultural Factors in Humor Failure Su Juan Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] In the modern world, intercultural communication is getting more and more frequent. As a primary form of social communication, now and then, humor may become one of the most difficult problems in intercultural communication. It is common that a joke works well in one language and falls flat in another. This paper attempts to explore the culturalspecific attribute of humor by English and Chinese comparative studies. Sociocultural knowledge is crucial for the appreciation of humor. The cultural specialty of humor is studied in view of its generic references. It is argued that, for a nonnative speaker, humor on shared conventions is easy to understand, while humor on absent referents and different stereotypes is hard to appreciate. China’s Gay Representation on ChineseLangauge News Website Su Lezhou Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected]
192 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The paper focuses on Chinese gay representation on the media in China through studying headlines of Chinese gayrelated social news on the Internet. The study is grounded mainly in Van Dijk’s theoretical framework of critical discourse analysis. According to his theory, ideology is ‘the basic frameworks for organizing the social cognitions shared by members of social groups, organizations or institutions.’ Ideologies have cognitive function to organize specific group attitudes. Correspondingly, ideologies, as van Djik(1998:25) said, have cognitive structures that ‘involve the [polarized] representation of Self and Others, Us and Them’ It is cognitive structures of ideology or mental models of social actors that mediate between discourse and structures. Following the cognitive structures, there is an abstract evaluative structure or strategy underlying social actors’ linguistic practices (e.g. speaking or writing), which van Dijk calls ‘ideological square’ Emphasize our good properties/actions Emphasize their bad properties/actions Mitigate our bad properties/actions Mitigate their good properties/actions van Dijk (1998:33) Applying this theory to the present study of gayrelated news headlines, we may readily draw the hypothesis that China’s media represent the voice of heterosexual mainstream society, regarding the heterosexual population as “US” and the homosexuals as “THEM”. The news reports are ideologically manipulated and express discursively the “ideological square”. Specifically speaking, the gayrelated news coverage on the mainstream media consciously or unconsciously emphasize the bad properties and mitigate good properties of China’s gay community while emphasizing the good properties and mitigate bad properties of the mainstream heterosexual society. The study analyzes the gayrelated news headline to find out how the ideological square manifests itself in this case. Quantitative analysis and qualitative analysis are incorporated in the study. The former research method leads to an overall representation of the Chinese gay on the electronic media in China. To make the preliminary conclusion more convincing, qualitative analysis is employed, seeking to understand further how the image of the subcommunity is represented by studying the headlines’ linguistic features most relevant to the study purpose. ON Form and Meaning asymmetry of Chinese and English Conceptual Metaphors A Study on the Problems Caused by Cultrual Diversities in Learning English Metaphors and the Ways to Deal with Them SU Lichang Nankai University, P.R. China [email protected] [email protected] Conceptual metaphor, as an important process of human cognition, bears strong universal features.
193 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China However, this cognitive process is also strongly cultureridden, thus causing considerable problems among language users of diversified culture backgrounds in their foreign language learning. The paper speculates the problems that perplex the Chinese students of foreign languages in their perception of metaphors, aiming at seeking a cognitive explanation and a better solution to the problems caused by the cultural diversity. The paper begins with a comparison of sets of the root Chinese and English conceptual metaphors that bear universal features and especially those that possess strong culture identity. The paper then speculates the problems caused by the culture diversity among the Chinese students in their understanding of the western metaphors. On the basis of these analyses, the paper expects to find a better explanation to the problems by using the latest theories in cognitive linguistics, such as the theories of analogy, mental space, cognitive blending and social scripts etc., in an attempt to resolve the barriers caused by cultural diversities in learning conceptual metaphors in a target language. The paper is one of the first few attempts made in the circle of second language acquisition in dealing with the problems of metaphorical perception that exist among students of diversified cultures. And it is hoped that the cognitive explorations made in the paper will arose the students’ awareness of the problems, and provide them with more understanding of the problems, thus benefit their foreign language learning in general. A Study on the Change of Life Pattern of Veddas in Sri Lanka due to Influence of Electronic Media Sugath Mahinda Senarath School of Journalism and Communication Wuhan University, P.R.China [email protected], [email protected] [email protected] It is common to have changes in every culture at different skills even largely or simplistically. The change can be due to requirements of the particular culture or else the interactions with other cultures together with external influences. This phenomenon is common to an Aboriginal set of inhabitants called Veddas formed in the jungles of Sri Lanka. As a result of the infiltration of surroundings Sinhalese and Tamil cultures in to the life patterns their own identity too has been loosing now .Today even the small groups left by now have been under going severe changes in their life. The external influences have contributed a lot for this change. Social changes and the mixing of other societies depriving of their own home land or the territory due to the various development projects introduced by the government and introduction of new popular culture trends in life patterns have resulted in changing their life alone with cultural heritage .More ever the development of media in the last two decade has influenced tremendously changing their own cultural pattern common to small tribes.
194 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The study was done in relation to a remaining group of that particular tribe (Veddas) at place called Dambana in the district Monaragala closed to Mahiyanganaya the far most ancient archeological site in Sri Lanka . It was found that their culture as been changed to a remarkable extent due to introduction of Media in different forms. The Mission of University on Shaping Harmonious Society: Diversity and Integration Sun Liqun Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] ， Entering new century, universities borrow their perspective from international societies. Many famous universities accepted teachers and students coming from different countries and areas. Cultural diversities and the roles of cultural communication in university are enhanced. This paper tries to consider the mission of university on shaping harmonious society. The relationship of teachers and students in different cultures was examined. As a community of researchers and teachers, we focus on humanistic value and relationship. This paper will discuss a series of achievements and questions on idea of cooperation. Dialogue, participation, and team work and personality are seen as features of teaching and research in university. These features are helpful for people and countries to understand each other. They are helpful for the development of culture and society of China and take important roles for friendly society of China. Principles of Culture Teaching in EFL Classes Sun Shuang Pan Li Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Language and culture are intertwined: the understanding of one requires the understanding of the other. Teaching culture in an EFL classroom allows learners to increase their knowledge of the target culture, people’s way of life, cultural values, attitudes and beliefs, and to become aware of speech acts, cultural connotations, etiquette, conventional behavior, as well as the daily life routines of the target language group. This list serves to clarify the importance of the crucial dependence of linguistic skills on cultural premises in a language learning program. However, how to impart the cultural dimension of the English language to learners still remains problematic. In order that learners acquire cultural competence, this paper puts forward and illustrates four principles of culture teaching, namely Cognitive Principle, Assimilative Principle, Comparative Principle and Tolerant Principle. The Cognitive Principle places emphasis on knowing and understanding of the target culture and society, rather than behaving. By the
195 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Assimilative Principle learners attempt to preserve their own lifestyle, while also adopting elements of the target culture. The Comparative Principle helps learners seek similarities and differences between their home culture and target culture. By this means learners can assess the potential consequences of their acts and be tolerant of those of others. The Tolerant Principle enables learners to avoid ethnocentrism, cultural stereotype and cultural prejudice. Linguistic Features of Internet Relay Chat Susan Zhao Auckland University of Technology [email protected] Development in internet technology has brought forth new means of communication. Internet relay chat has become a popular textbased means of computer mediated communication. In order to guarantee the efficiency of realtime conversation, participants have to use a specific code system of transmitting the message, and have developed a special genre of language with special linguistic features. Chat room language has become a focus study in areas of communication media since the 1980s, especially since the first multiuser chat system, internet relay chat was developed in 1988 (Collot and Belmore, 1996). This paper discussed some linguistic and interactional features of internet relay in terms of abbreviation, capitalization and punctuation, nonverbal information and language play. Authentic English utterances copied from a Chinese web site and an English web site were used as data for the discussion. It was found that common linguistic features in the two chat rooms in aspects of more uses of abbreviation, fewer uses of capitalization and punctuation, expressions of nonverbal information through verbal means all contribute to the general characteristics of being speaking and writing of the chat language. In addition, in the Chinese chat room, chatters came to chat mainly for practicing English, their use of English was often affected by their first language and their English was much less colloquial than the English chatters. Moreover, the content in the Chinese chat room was less coherent and consistent. The internet relay chat, like all other means of media that might have been touted for their potential for education (Jones,1998), might also be employed in language learning from a pedagogical perspective. Reading Nonnative Englishspeaking Authorss in Esp/Eap Claese Svetlana Savintseva Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, (FEB RAS) [email protected] Teaching ESP/EAP classes implies that students read lots of texts by nonnative authors since the principal criterion in choosing literature is professional interest of the students. This may cause
196 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China problems for people without a linguistic background and unaware of peculiarities of World Englishes. This paper presents a small project carried out in groups of postgraduates specializing in natural sciences in the FEB RAS. The aim of the project was to help students cope with papers written by Japanese researchers. Prereading activities were used to demonstrate some characteristic features of Japanese English and thus make the reading easy (e.g., a brainstorming discussion on peculiarities of the Japanese language and their possible influence on Japanese English). During postreading activities students could consolidate the acquired skills and develop creative attitude to the work with their professional literature (e.g., one of the tasks was to think how their mother tongue (Russian) might influence their own writing in English). The project showed that the work on features reflecting the nature of another foreign language proved fruitful not only for reading texts by nonnative Englishspeaking authors but also for developing crosscultural awareness of postgraduates. Linguistic and Cultrual Peculiarities of Canadian Food Advertizing Tamara Denisenko Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Observation and interpretation methods lead to a conclusion that advertisers are active in propaganding healthy and regular food, which means a health value. As any value is developed on the basis of a concept and formed on a value attitude of a subject to an object, the analysis of the linguocultural concept HEALTH revealed healthy physical conditions of a body, free of any kind of illnesses as its conceptual nucleus. Periphery is physical beauty proper, as Canadians (judging from advertisements contexts) are convinced that health means not just a safe and sound body, but also physical beauty of a human body. The concept of HEALTH reflects one of the fundamental characteristics of human existence. That is why it is interpreted differently every time when people’s life undergoes critical changes, but still remains a universal value. The essence of this value is that health as an individual state lets a person put into life a certain set of physical, spiritual, and social options, that is, in the long run, realize one’s human potential. Higher Education and Cultural Understanging RussianChinese Exchange Program Tamara I. LEONTIEVA Department of Crosscultural Communications and Translation Vladivostok State University of Economics [email protected] One of the basic contributions to international understanding is ChineseRussian exchange of students which is taking place today. For both nations English is a foreign tongue and the knowledge of it makes it possible to teach Chinese students in Russia to a number of professions.
197 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The experience of Vladivostok State University of Economics in cooperation with some universities of China/ the successful activity of Chinese students, their research work in such areas as “Translation Theory”, “Stylistics of the English language”, “International Studies and others will be presented. The academic study is an open window to crosscultural communication between Chinese and Russian students. Mutual survey of the culture, traditions, behavioral characteristics occurs at the classes and out of class which serves the noble aim of enriching the educational and cultural possibilities of the students. Such contacts related to the study of various cultures are directly relevant to international understanding. High/LowContext Cultures and ConflictHandling Jianmin Tang Shandong University of Science and Technology Pinju Yang Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology [email protected] Edward Hall organizes cultures by the amount of information implied by the setting or context itself, regardless of the specific words that are spoken. According to Hall, cultures differ on a continuum that ranges from high to low context. People in highcontext cultures prefer to use highcontext messages, in which most of the meaning is either implied by the physical setting or is presumed to be part of the individual’s internalized beliefs, values, and norms. On the contrary, in lowcontext cultures the majority of the information is vested in the explicit code. By making use of Hall’s classification, TingToomey believes that people in highand lowcontext cultures both define and respond to conflict differently. Based on views of the aforementioned scholars, this paper will first use some examples to show how people in highand low context cultures handle conflicts differently, and then suggest some possible ways as to how to handle conflicts in the intercultural communication. Code Switching between Chinese and English On Campus Tang ke Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Code Switching is a common phenomenon in communication and language study on campus. It motivates the concerned researches into the fields of social linguistics, pragmatics, and psychology and so on. Based on the data collected in the English major students in graduate school in Harbin Institute of Technology, this paper first discussed the forms and social functions of code switching, then probes into the motivations and possible reasons explaining for this
198 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China phenomenon, which includes the principles of cooperation, principles of power and the principles of politeness. Finally the author will present her reflections on this issue. On Nonverbal Communication across Cultures Tang Min Southwest University [email protected] Nonverbal communication is an indispensable component of intercultural communication. It is not a perfect communication if people only pay attention to verbal communication but not nonverbal communication. “All human beings use nonverbal symbols to share their thoughts and feelings. Although the process of using our actions to communicate is universal, the meanings for those actions often shift from culture to culture”(Samovar and Porter, 1995: 72). In crosscultural communication, in order to avoid communication misunderstanding, people should take into account the fact that some nonlinguistic behaviors are not common and have their own cultural uniqueness. This paper is to analyze the different forms and functions of nonlinguistic communication from the following aspects: body language, paralanguage, object language and environmental language to illustrate the great importance of applying properly the nonlinguistic behavior in cross cultural communication. A Comparison of Digital and Printing Media on Reading Behavior— An Eye Movement Perspective YungYi Tang DaLun Tang DerRung Chen Department of Mass Communication, Chinese Culture University [email protected] [email protected] With the proliferation of computer and its applications, people spend more time on the digital medium than on the traditional printing medium. Like many communication inventions before it, the digital medium has been blamed for many undesired influences. One of such claims is that the digital medium has reduced young adult’s literate abilities. It is argued that the young adult’s reading and writing skills have severely decreased because of their spending too much time on the imagebased digital communication device. The goal of this study is to explore the differences of grammatical detection, recall, and comprehension in reading behavior between digital (i.e., computer screen) and printing media by adopting an eye movement tracking device (EYELINK II) in a laboratory environment. The experimental texts will be chosen from high school textbooks and subjects will be chosen from college students. A questionnaire regarding the stimulate texts will be administrated following
199 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China the experiment in digital and printing forms separately. Both the cognitive frame of media use and attention are discussed in accordance to the findings. Intelligibility of China English in International Communication Tatiana Ivankova Institute of Management and Business of the Far Eastern National University Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] One of the sensitive areas of intercultural communication involving different varieties of English is their mutual intelligibility. China English (CE) has recently been recognized as one of the World Englishes. It is not an institutionalized, but a performance variety (in terms of B. Kachru) as it has a limited range of functions within the country. That is why the linguistic features of CE are not codified. But the author argues that they are “innovations” rather than “mistakes”, because they are repeatedly produced by Chinese speakers of English with a high level of proficiency and the use of certain features is fixed in national Englishlanguage newspapers. Another factor allowing to describe the characteristics of CE as “innovations” is their understandability to speakers of other varieties. A study with 15 native speakers and 15 nonnative speakers of English based on L. Smith’s threecomponent cline of intelligibility helped determine which lexical and grammatical features of CE did and which didn’t pose problems for understanding (intelligibility, comprehensibility, and interpretability) across cultures. The article shows that innovations of CE reflecting the Chinese way of thinking and the communicators’ sociocultural backgrounds enrich intercultural communication rather than hinder it. Cultural Identity (by the Example of Australian Nation) Tatiyana Yu. Tereschuk Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Globalization involves escalating human mobility more and more people are able to move from place to place, not just as migrants seeking new homes, but as sojourners, visiting different countries where they may stay for longer or shorter periods of time. The result for any state is growing diversity of its resident population and increasing pressure to support and represent the interests of its citizens living abroad. Moreover, some communities that exist as enclaves within
200 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China the domain of a state may identify themselves as distinct nations claiming the right to govern themselves. The information revolution based on the spreading use of the Internet and access to radio and television by satellite enables minorities in any country to identify themselves and to mobilize members living both at home and in foreign countries. In the more than 200 years of white settlement, Australians have struggled to define a sense of national cultural identity. How successful has it been? Can we any longer talk about a core culture? Innovation and Copyright Protection in the USA and China: A Model for Genuine Cooperation between the Two Countries Dexin Tian Xi’an International Studies University [email protected] This paper studies the interrelationship between innovation and copyright protection in the USA and China with the intention to apply a model for genuine cooperation between the two countries in their effective protection of intellectual property rights. A comparative study of the relevant literature and interpretations of the copyright laws in the two countries reveal that neither the historical and cultural perspectives nor the legal and administrative measures are satisfactory to resolve the USChina IPR disputes. Instead, the developmental and innovative model can probably provide an alternative approach. The implementation of IPR protection may first decrease innovation, but it will gradually accelerate it as the economy grows and the national technological capacity expands. While it is necessary to help China constructing a complete IPR legal infrastructure with effective enforcement, the USA should adopt a stageoriented strategy to resolve the IPR issue by considering China’s economic growth and its average per capita GDP as a whole and by focusing on promoting and safeguarding innovation on both sides via effective copyright protection. There have been signs on both sides that the developmental and innovative model is already working, thus presenting a hopeful prospect for genuine cooperation between the two countries in their joint efforts to keep the balance between supporting creativity and promoting innovation via copyright protection. Excessive Asynchrony and Priority Inversion in China’s English Education Tian Qiang Li Jiehong Li Xiaohong Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] English education is growing rapidly in China. Yet, demonstrated and hidden problems are
201 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China affecting its wholesome development. Of the various factors that account for the occurrence of the problems with China’s English education, the two essential ones are the excessive asynchrony of the goal and the process and priority inversion of teaching and testing. The excessive asynchrony is responsible for the features of “otherdirectedness” and “reasonsupportedness”, and the lack of initiatives and motivations that accompanies these features, in turn, causes the deficiency in the education. The structural inversion is responsible for the lack or disappearance of epistemological system in the process of learning, which, in turn, aggravates the deficiency in China’s English education. The inversion of explicit and implicit factors in testing further affects quality of the education. The asynchrony and the inversion are themselves products or consequences of the Chinese history: The testorientedness, the foreseeable but intangible importance of English learning, the separation of language and cultural and liferelated knowledge all derives from history. The asynchrony and the inversion are also products of a functionally defected system: malfunctioning of certain parts and transgression of others, and noneducational treatment of English education. Solution to all these problems will come only succeeding the two essential ones, and of the two can be treated successfully only on the base of thorough understanding of English education as a whole in China. Understanding Communicative Silence: East and West Tom Bruneau Professor Emeritus Radford University [email protected] / [email protected] The nature of silence and related concepts are complex and vary from one sociocultural grouping to another. This theoretical essay reviews the nature of silence in philosophical and religious traditions in representative Eastern and Western sociocultural groupings. Silence can concern peacefulness and happy endings, but also beliefs about death, nothingness, timelessness, and the unknown, etc. Also, some sociocultural groupings are characterized by a global and pervasive quietude compared to others, some of which can be very noisy. Silences are not the same as silence. Silences concern informational pauses and hesitations in spoken language, stylization of pauses, as well as breaks in continuity and dysrhythmia during interactions. Silences of timidity or uncertainty, those related to emotional states, those purposively fashioned, and those of control during interpersonal interactions involve common uses of silences, for example. Silencings are not the same as silences. Silencings concern persuasion, control of the expression of others, hierarchy, authority and power, dominance and submission, punishment, parental and political control, etc. Silencings can discourage or prevent open expressions of marginalized persons or groups as well as selected topics. There are many "public secrets," ideas and topics that are forbidden or publicly taboo.
202 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Western and Eastern sociocultural groupings feature both negative and positive attitudes toward silence, silences, and silencings. Exploring the Socialistic Consciousness of Cultural Industry Discourses in China ShiouFen Tsai Shih Hsin University [email protected] Cultural industry is the mainstream of cultural policy in current China. Since cultural industry policy is essentially influenced by PostFordism consumerism and economic globalization from Western countries, the author would like to explore the socialistic consciousness degree of the cultural industry discourses in China (as a socialist country), and to examine the diversity of discourse on this issue. This article first illustrates the various discourses of cultural industry in the world, which are divided into cultural optimism, compromised, and cultural criticism discourses according to its supported or opposed position. Moreover, it presents the socialistic cultural perspectives and the new evolving socialistic discourses as related to the cultural industry. Second, from the Chinese Journal Database (19942006) and the doctoral and master theses database in China (19992006), it discovers cultural industry articles (about 5000) that are composed of approximately 99% articles inclined toward both cultural optimism discourses and compromised discourses, and only about 1% articles that mention socialism consciousness. This research explores these minority reports and divides them into 6 categories according to different degrees of socialistic consciousness, then makes comparisons with previous cultural industry discourses. The author found the socialistic consciousness prone toward both modernism and conservative socialism within these 1% articles, which perhaps is influenced by a strongly modernistic aura and developing ideology. This article then proposes some reflection regarding this phenomenon, and suggests enhancing the discourse diversity of the cultural industry. Rural and Urban Dynamis in Taiwan New Wave Cinema: A Comparative Study of Films by HouHsiaoHsien and Edward Yang Larry Linghsuan Tung Kean University, New Jersey, USA [email protected] In the 1980s, a revamped film industry in Taiwan produced numerous international acclaimed
203 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China films, marking the beginning of the Taiwan New Wave Cinema and putting Taiwan on the cultural map of the world. Hou Hsiaohsien and Edward Yang, the two most prominent directors in the movement, were born in the same year. However, they came from very different family backgrounds and both use their personal experience in their filmmaking. The dynamics and the symbolic connotations behind the differences in languages and cultures portrayed in their films represent two very important elements in Taiwanese cinema – the struggle and challenge in urban and rural lives. Like many other nations in Asia, Taiwanese people are obsessed with metropolis and actively pursuing the myth of urbanism, building the tallest building in the world and building highspeed rail and subway systems. Meanwhile, as globalization dominates our everyday life, Taiwanese people also embrace Westernization, striving to learn English and adopting Western value. It is only natural that the audience is more likely to appreciate films with strong urban themes while rural stories are often deemed as boring and oldfashioned. Although many of the new directors did receive their training in filmmaking in Taiwan, they are often under strong Western influence with further training in the United States. It is very likely that they will see more urban directors rise in the coming years. However, since government funding for films has been institutionalized to support local film industry, films with rural flavors will have room for survival but will likely remain a minor player in Taiwanese cinema. Key Words: Taiwan, ethnicity, linguistics. Chinese and Russians: Do We Use the Same Gestures? Tatyana Vlasova Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia [email protected] Nonverbal communication works hand in hand with speech. Our words carry part of the message, and nonverbal signals carry the rest. Together, the two modes of expression make a powerful team, augmenting, reinforcing, and clarifying each other.” Some linguists think that nonverbal means of communication are more reliable as it is easier to deceive with one’s words than with one’s behavior. Words are relatively easy to control; body language and facial expressions are not. It is important to decipher the partner’s nonverbal messages correctly; if you do that you can interpret . the underlying attitudes and intentions and respond appropriately. Nonverbal means of communication differ internationally. If we want to communicate successfully with the representatives of a foreign culture, we should learn the nonverbal forms of communication used in this culture. The paper deals with the gestures typical of Chinese and Russian cultures. The study of the gestures in the two cultures made it possible to form five groups: 1. Gestures that are the same in both languages and have the same meaning. 2. Gestures conveying the same meaning but differing in details.
204 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China 3. 4. 5. The same gestures that have different meanings in the two languages. Different gestures that convey the same meaning. Gestures peculiar of the specific language. The description of the Chinese gestures is based on the information given by Chinese students who study Russian at the Far Eastern National University. The Situational Teaching in the Intercultural Communication Wang Aili Bohai University [email protected] In the influence of the behaviorism and the structural linguistics, educators in our country paid so much attention to the grammar, phonetics and pattern drills before that students knew what to speak but they didn’t know how to speak with the people in the target language. Hence activity teaching in the cultural class is the key solution to the problems. The measures are: I. The situational Roleplay and Discussion. II. The situational cultural interviews and the modal cultural class. In a word, this is a new model of teaching in the intercultural communication. The aim of the thesis is to input cultural study in language teaching to improve students’ capacity of intercultural communication. Globalisation of the Media Does Not Tend to Undermine National Cultures Wang Dawei Communication University of China [email protected] This essay aims to find out whether globalisation of the media tends to undermine national cultures. Current arguments about the relationship between media globalisation and national cultures are presented and analyzed. A study of the different functions performed by global media within the context of different economic, technological and cultural situations, from a cultural perspective, was carried out in order to examine the different ways globalisation of media can influence national cultures. Media might play a necessary and active role affecting a nation’s culture, but are improbably to be called a ‘sufficient condition’ for cultural resistance or submission. Whether the globalisation of media undermines national culture or not also depends on how strong a particular national culture is. On the positive side, economic and technological globalisation of media not only recharges the existing media strengths, but also allows new media bodies to emerge and grow. The essay uses the case of India to exemplify that the driving forces behind global cultural homogenization can be weak under some circumstances and that global media may be indigenized in some cases. The national and regional media groups in India, such as
205 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Zee TV, develop quickly. Thanks to cultural factors, they have an edge over foreign competitors and play a very important role in the preservation of Indian cultural identity. Acting as Interculturally Competent Teachers: a Reflection on Teachers’ Roles in EFL Classroom Wang Ge Southwest Forestry University [email protected] Stereotyped conceptions on Chinese learners are often reported in western literatures when Chinese students are categorized or described as “passive rote learners, whose logic follows a strange spiral pattern and who are products of a static, unchanging, traditional society” (Pennycook, 1998, p. 162). In EFL classroom, quite a few native English speaking teachers complain that Chinese learners have neither the written and oral skills of analysis and reflection, nor the independence of thought and study that are required in western universities. As a result, some effective language learning strategies like CLT do not work well when they are applied in language classroom in China. If this trend continues, what native or nonnative English teachers should do in teaching such a large population with diverse language and culture? Are language teachers adequately prepared to handle problems resulted from language and culture diversity in China? To respond to these questions a survey was made among five tertiary institutions in Yunnan China. The findings suggest that there are remarkable divergence between the expected classroom behaviors of English learners and their actual performance in English classroom. It is hoped that personal observations will provide experiential insights on this issue through widely collected empirical data and shed some light on developing teachers’ intercultural teaching competence in EFL context. A Tentative Analysis of "face" in the Chinese Request WANG Heng Beijing Foreign Studies University Email: [email protected] It is often observed that in the Chinese culture, a successful performance of asking for the otherí"s favor usually can not be realized in a single talk exchange of oneí"s asking and the otherí"s granting or rejecting of the request. People prefer to steadily unravel and build up information before arriving at the important message, in which a deliberate maneuvering is made to satisfy each otherí"s wants of face and build up close and harmonious relationship. This paper is, therefore, devoted to a tentative exploration in applying the Politeness Principle and í"Faceí" (calledmianziin Chinese) phenomenon in analyzing the Chinese request. The research methodologies include the sample recording in combination with interview surveys. Clearly,
206 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China cultural traits are embodied in the formation of this structuring. The Confucian based notion of harmony is one of the factors, which emphasizes cooperation, prudence and collective ideal (cf. Brick 1990:131 132; Hsu 1972). Politeness will therefore have to be studied not only as a dependent variable but as a product of different cultures and as a force in shaping human relationships. Postmodern Space in the National Olympic Stadium WANG Heng Beijing Foreign Studies University Email: [email protected] A design made by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron with a birdsí» nestlike enclosure has been selected for the National Stadium, which will be the main stadium in 2008 Olympic Games inBeijing. The stadium is easily held to be traditional, because the signifier (the stadium) obviously has its signified (a birdí»s nest in the nature). But after reading Fredric Jamesoní»sPostmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism, I find many elements of postmodern space in the National Stadium. The most telling ones lie in its interwoven steel facadeí¬í?Its skin is made of bonesí?(Lubow 68). In random arranged steel trusses, the possible information is denied by its own slashes and crosses. At the same time, the fragmented spaces produced by the í?latticeworkí? erase the binary opposition between the inside and the outside. With this stadium, birdí»s nest, ceramics, wooden lattices, and other images associated with Chinese tradition culture have turnedthe past into í?a vast collection of imagesí? and í?a composite of stereotypesí? (Jameson 18). Finally, thecommercial and entertainment facilities around integrate the stadium into the consumer culture in the postmodern society. Schematic Analysis of the Neutralized Functions of English in Context Construction in Crosscultural Communication Wang Jianguo Zhejiang Normal University [email protected] Context which consists of temporalspatial unit, topic, and interlocutors with diverse cultural and socialpsychological ground is the essential problem in communication, especially, in crosscultural communication, in which people from different cultural background decode messages based on incongruent context construction, thus misunderstanding, even embarrassment may arise. As an international language, English is very significant in crosscultural communication as a neutralized medium. In this paper, the author made a schematic analysis of the neutralized functions of English in context construction in crosscultural communication. As result of the analysis, four main functions were exposed: 1. Context selection: the interlocutor can
207 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China select apt contextual elements both from English and his/her own language; 2. Context transfer: the interlocutor can transfer potential abusive contextual elements which may cause trouble in verbal communication into English; 3. Context amalgamation: the interlocutor can amalgamate certain elements of English culture and certain essentials of his/her culture to form a neutralized context; 4. Context adaptation: the interlocutor can adapt deviated context for meeting the needs of achieving mutual understanding in crosscultural communication. Learner Autonomy in the East Wang Jinghui Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The theory and practice of autonomy have been dominated by Western perspectives for about two decades, and few studies seem to examine them from the Eastern standpoint, particularly from the philosophical stance of the Confucian school, which is believed to exert considerable influence in the east and the southeast of Asia. Different from previous research work, this study is to explore the philosophy and practice of learner autonomy in the West and East, and then propose a theoretical framework, which caters for Chinese postgraduates’ autonomous learning in EFL context. The study examined the link between learner autonomy and metacognitive beliefs, and investigated EFL postgraduates’ attitudes towards, and beliefs about, their autonomous learning through metacognitive variables and constructs，which might provide fresh insights into EFL learning in a nonwestern cultural context. The research methodology is the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The findings in the study suggest that the subjects are willing and ready for autonomous learning, and that autonomous learning should be fostered in the eastern context, where the growing importance of computers in English learning environments has been recognized. Language Expectation and Language Selection Wang Li Jianghan University [email protected] Since the 1950s, China has been promoting the use of Putonghua widely. Most citizens communicate with one another in Mandarin or dialect in the public ,which is a kind of unconscious language behavior. The social environment of the reform and opening up policy has improved people's language expectation. The fact that most parents (fathers or grandparents) insist
208 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China on communicating with their children in Putonghua (although it is not a standard Mandarin )shows the change of people’s language conception. Many people come to realize that there is a close link between people’s survival and their language competence in the era of globalization. More and more parents start to cultivate their children's language habits and language competence consciously. However, as the children grow older, the autonomy of children’s language selection has been gradually enhanced. They can communicate with one another in Mandarin or dialect in different occasions freely. According to a survey of language use in Wuhan City, this paper shows that the language planning of China has been improving the language competence of Chinese people. Although the Mandarin and dialects will have some influence on each other and even bring about some language variations, the coexistence of Mandarin and dialects will not change in a long time . On the Chinese, Swedish and American Patterns of Communication Wang Lihao, Harbin Engineering University [email protected] Based on existing literature, internet discussions, and interviews of Chinese, Swedes, and Americans in Sweden, this paper looks into similarities and differences among the Swedish, American, and Chinese patterns of communication according to an analytical framework of pattern of communication which brings out the purpose, the roles, overall structures and procedures concerning the interaction between the speaker and the listener, the communicative behavior of a single speaker or listener, and understanding. This paper also briefly considers some of the factors that may contribute to the discussed facts of Swedish, American, and Chinese patterns of communication. It is concluded that some of the main similarities and differences among the Swedish, American, and Chinese patterns of communication may stem from the Swedish people’s lagom value, the American people’s assertion of self, and the Chinese people’s willingness to keep harmony with the outside circumstances. The Study of “Comrade” as an Addressing Term and Its Evolution in China Wang Ling Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] “Comrade” has been used as an addressing term in China for over half a century. The rise and decline of “comrade” as an addressing term well illustrates the effect that social changes have on language. When “comrade” was first used as an addressing term, it embodied strong political color.
209 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China The political color fades as times goes by due to political reasons. In modern China, “comrade” is generally used to address the following three types of people: 1. strangers. 2. people who one is not familiar with and are not in any kind of leading position. 3. “Comrade” is also used between people of different social status to broaden or narrow their distance. It now serves as both a social sign and a nonsocial sign depending on the context where a conversation takes place. “Mr.” and “Miss”, which were applied to address the “exploiting class” before 1949, have replaced “comrade” and are gaining popularity as China is moving on to a developed market economy. In the last decade “comrade” is more reluctantly used in daily communication because it conveys the connotation of homosexuality. Discussion on the Nonverbal Communication Wang Liqun Northeast Forestry University [email protected] Nonverbal communication involves all those stimuli in a communication setting that are generated by both the source and his or her use of the environment and that has potential message value for the source or receiver. It includes all messages and cues not coded into a verbal language. It occurs through cues accompanying language or separate from language from which people interpret meaning. For the function of nonverbal communication, we mostly learn about the meaning of nonverbal messages by studying them in relationship to verbal messages. Essentially, a nonverbal message functions in one of the following five ways: namely, repeating, complementing, substituting, regulating and contradicting. They may compliment or repeat what is being said verbally. Nonverbal cues may also substitute the verbal. The study of nonverbal communication covers many areas. The study of nonverbal communication is directly linked to the study of culture. It is therefore of great significance to learn about the following relationship between nonverbal communication and culture. Nonverbal communication has the same qualities. Edward T. Hall uses three metaphors to describe this invisible aspect of culture and nonverbal communication: the silent language, the hidden dimension, the dance of life. Nonverbal communication is part of the culture that is covert, implicit, and hidden. Culture is allpervasive, multidimensional, and boundless. The same is true of nonverbal behavior. We can make hundreds of nonverbal movements to serve as messages. Nonverbal behavior is also difficult to describe and pin down as well as culture. As it is beyond our consciousness, we find it hard to specify our nonverbal behavior and the meanings behind it.
210 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China A Concordancer of Equivalent Words in EnglishChinese/ChineseEnglish Parallel Corpora Wang Lixin, Wang Yang Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The choice of equivalent words in compiling the bilingual dictionary should be based on the analysis and regulation of a lot of parallel texts. The best way to sort out the equivalent situation of English and Chinese words in practical language employment is to concordance the EnglishChinese/ ChineseEnglish equivalent words by a parallel corpora in a large scale, then to extract the targetlanguage candidate equivalents from sourcelanguage words and put them in order according to equivalent intensity for their respective usage. The concordancer of Equivalent Words in EnglishChinese/ChineseEnglish Corpora is a bilingual concordancing program designed for EnglishChinese/ ChineseEnglish lexicography. It differs from common bilingual concordancers in that it calculates the probability of cooccurrence of a sourcelanguage word and its targetlanguage candidate equivalents in two parallel corpora, builds an index file on the basis of calculation results and sorts the candidate equivalents in order of probability of cooccurrence so that equivalent words in parallel corpora can be conveniently retrieved. The concordancer provides EnglishChinese/ChineseEnglish dictionary compilers with a quick and objective means of identifying targetlanguage equivalents. Intercultural Communication in the Globalized World Wang Lu Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] It is commonly believed that a newly integrated world is being built by globalizing forces. In this paper, we look at what significant implications the globalized world would have for intercultural communication and whether intercultural communication may be largely replaced by supracultural communication. The paper introduces Western culture’s wide spread and the cultural infiltration from North American culture, and how people respond to the homogenized supranationalizing culture. It is argued that the great divisions among humankind and the dominating source of conflict will be cultural, and the civilizations will clash over cultural differences. We analyze the possibility to build a supranational and supracultural system rooted in Anglo Saxon and European, liberal and consumer based culture, and the sequent effect of the “culture shock” presented by the new supraculture. The paper considers it unsafe and even harmful for our human to live and work together in a new globalized world order with supranation and supraculture. It concludes with two anticipations, the world led to increasing integration with supracultural communication, and the
211 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China world led to increasing disintegration with intercultural communication, certainly with quite opposite profound effects on human activity and survival, particularly in the arena of communication between different peoples. Cultural Difference and Cultural Teaching Wang Min，Zhang lijuan National University of Defense and Technology [email protected] English teaching is essentially a process of crossculture communication．One purpose of English teaching is to develop learners’ awareness of cultural difference reflected in languages．According to cognitive theory, language leaning is a process of communicationfrom input of the language to processing of it and then the output in which there are language understanding and expressing in each stage. But there are frequent occurrence of pragmatic failures and lack of cultural and pragmatic knowledge among the students. Pragmatic failure refers to the errors made in language communication, which has not achieved the purpose of communication. Therefore The teachers should develop students' awareness of cultural differences and then improve their communicative competence. In this paper, we try to analyze pragmatic error from the perspective of the reason of crossculture pragmatic mistake and discuss the importance of incorporating culture into second language teaching. Also based on the analysis of crossculture difference of Chinese and English, this paper recommends strategies for infusing cultural issues in classroom instruction in order to achieve better teaching effect. An Enquiry into Cultivating Intercultural Nonverbal Communicative Competence in College English Teaching Wang Ning Harbin Engineering University [email protected] In an extension of research demonstrating causal effects of intercessory prayer physical healing in a medical setting, the present study experimentally examined the effects of intercessory prayer for improved task performance in an employment setting. Trained customer service representatives either did, or did not receive daily intercessory prayer for the specific needs and challenges of their workplace. Speed of call handling was evaluated for each customer service representative. The specific dependent measures were number of calls per hour and number of seconds per call. No statistically significances between prayer and nonprayer groups were found for either calls per hour or seconds per call. Recommendations for research in this new area of study center on methodological issues, including the selection of relevant dependent measures.
212 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China “Do you want to become my language partner?” An exploratory study on Chinese college students’ intercultural communicative competence Wang Qiong Beijing Language University Wang[email protected] This paper analyzed Chinese college students’ experience of communicating with foreigners in general and their experience of finding language partners in particular. The setting varied from a college campus to a remote village, from real world to virtual world on web. The data was based on 177 first year Chinese college students’ selfreflective reports. Initially, the data was split into two sets based on the subjects’ successful and unsuccessful experiences. Each category then was further divided into subcategories based on emerging common themes. A closer investigation of each subcategory revealed factors underlying successful as well as unsuccessful communication. “We are Alike, We Are Different” —An Examination on Ethnocentrism in Intercultural Communication Wang Shijing East China Normal University, Shanghai [email protected] The paper is intended to examine some problems and issues caused by intrinsic ethnocentric stance intercultural communication, particularly in both Chinese and American communicators. With theories of communication, the author not only explores the perceptual and procedural variations of the ethnocentrism embedded in two respective cultures, but also attempts to render analytical and interpretative explanation for the consequences which can either lead to a breakdown or create problems of a communication act. The awareness of and sensitivity to the impact of ethnocentrism is manifested in varying degrees in intercultural communication, including Americans and in Chinese. The paper further suggests some readjustments that could contribute effective fulfillment of Communication between Chinese and Americans. Chinese Americans’ Retention of Culture and Renegotiating of Cultural Identity Wang Song Li Jinling Harbin Institute of Technology, P. R. China
213 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China [email protected] While past research has discussed the positive psychological impact on biculturalism as an acculturative outcome in ethnic minorities, it has not fully examined the process by which an individual becomes bicultural. Rather than look at the variables that contribute to assimilation into the dominant Western culture, this paper examines the variables associated with the retention of one’s own ethnic culture and the renegotiating of one’s cultural identity in an adopted culture. For individuals who wish to retain aspects of their traditional culture, this process may be difficult and may depend on several variables. Using a descriptive and exploratory design, this paper examines the retention of ethnic culture and the renegotiating of one’s cultural identity among Chinese Americans. The sample consisted of 24 Chinese Americans from Boston and Louisville. This study found a significant positive relationship between family socialization and the retention of Chinese ethnic culture. A significant negative relationship between perceptions of discrimination to self and the renegotiating of one’s cultural identity was also found. This paper also discusses some of the clinical implications associated with the explorations of acculturation issues and the impact of perceived discrimination on one’s ethnic identity. The Intercultural Strategy in Classroom Context Wang Tao Foreign Language College, Southeast University, Nanjing, China [email protected] The thesis focuses upon the significance of subjectivity characteristic of English learners and argues that only through subjectivity can they establish individual intercultural awareness and competence.Under the designated Chinese context, the consciousness of subjectivity enables language learners to develop a sense of their own cultural identity, gain an understanding of their target language culture and realize a diversity of cultures in the world. Language and culture are not only closely intertwined with each other but also inseparable from their subjects—language learners. In this case, the task of intercultural language teaching is to help students develop their intercultural awareness and competence by comparison of similarities and differences between their own language/culture and the target language/culture so as to motivate them to communicate effectively with people from a different culture, initiate them to learn the skills needed for effective communication and enable them to gain the ability to put this knowledge into use. Promoting Intercultural Communicative Competence in EFL Teaching Wang Xiaodong Northeast Agricultural University [email protected]
214 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Culture and language are closely related. Culture tends to be the essential factor for the successful communication. Hence, promoting intercultural communicative competence will be the ultimate aim in EFL teaching. The paper analyzes the components of communicative competence and discusses the potential intercultural communicative problems, including inappropriate language transfer, misunderstanding of nonverbal communication, different value systems and improper teaching techniques, and then indicates some effective strategies to promote intercultural communicative competence, such as, revealing words’cultural meaning, finding discourses’cultural information, creating communications’situational and cultural context and applying communication strategies. Of course, we still need more approaches to language teaching and learning, which will shift the focus of attention from the linguistic forms to communicative competence. The teacher would expose his students to the target culture as much and often as possible, and help the to achieve the higher intercultural awareness and communicative competence. The Influence of Ethnic Identity and Intergroup Contact on Anxiety/uncertainty and Communication Satisfaction Xiaoling Wang, The Second Northwest University for Nationalities, and Shanghai International Studies University (SISU). [email protected] In the intercultural field, the study of ethnic identity has been focused on concept of the construct and measurement. The influence of ethnic identity on the outcomes of communication has not received sufficient attention. Since both anxiety/uncertainty and communication satisfaction can predict the outcome of intergroup communication, with one negatively related to the outcome of communication and the other positively related to it, we will link ethnic identity and intergroup contact with anxiety/uncertainty and communication satisfaction, and find the influence of ethnic identity and intergroup contact on them. In order to identify the universal crosscultural variations along certain universal dimension, both emic and etic research attribution will be reviewed in the present paper, including some of the latest papers from Professor Phinney famous for her MEIM (The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure) and the empirical research by the author conducted in a Chinese university for ethnic minorities. It is hoped that the paper can propose a new way for studying the outcome of intergroup communication under the influence of ethnic identity, and strengthen the research of communication patterns in the China context, highlighting some of the influences of modernization and economic development. Key Words: ethnic identity; intergroup contact; anxiety/uncertainty; communication satisfaction FirstYear English Major Students’ Selfidentity Change in English Learning
215 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Wang Xiaoying Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] Research has shown that the learning of a foreign language will influence the learner’s selfidentity, and this influence is a continuing process. To explore how the selfidentity of Chinese EFL learners at the tertiary level changes over time, a longitudinal study was carried out. The present paper reports part of the study results, focusing on English major students from one foreign language university and presenting the students’ selfidentity changes over their first academic year. 240 Englishmajor students were invited to respond to a questionnaire on selfconfidence and five types of identity change (Gao et al., 2004) at the beginning and end of their first academic year. 24 students from one class were also invited to write journals to reveal their confidence in English learning and their feelings and conceptions about English language learning. The questionnaire results showed that positive confidence, productive and additive types of selfidentity change remained high over the year, although they all had a statistically significant decrease. Negative confidence and split type of selfidentity change remained low over the year, while negative confidence had a statistically significant increase. Split and zero type of identity change remained more or less unchanged. Students’ journals revealed a more complicated picture and partially supported the quantitative data. The Cultural Factors in Intercultural Communication Wang Yang, Wang Lixin Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Starting from the concept of crossculture communication, this article discusses the communication essence and analyzes the cultural factors in intercultural communication, on the basis of comparing Chinese culture and American Culture. In modern societies, the rapid development of economy, science & technology and global cooperation bring out the reality that intercultural communication becomes immense. Because of different social backgrounds, social systems, ways of thinking, norms of behaviors and customs, people have many difficulties and obstacles in understanding one another and communicating with one another. To whatever kind of successful communication, both sides must share a set of pattern to explain, evaluate and predict communicative behaviors, otherwise, efficient communication is impossible. Culture, rules of social behaviors provide us with the basis of explaining, evaluating and predicting. The study of this field helps to overcome and solve these problems, and to predict people’s possible behaviors during the intercultural communication. To avoid unnecessary misunderstanding between interpersonal, intergroup and international communication, to communicate more efficiently and to build a good relationship between each other, it is indispensable to learn something in this field, then to improve the communicative abilities.
216 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China A Study of Communication Style Differences’ Effect on ComputerMediated Communication Wang Yi Harbin Engineering University [email protected] With the development of globalization and computer science, intercultural communication changed from facetoface communication to computermediated communication, the more convenient and faster way. Asian countries are highcontext cultures and most western countries are lowcontext cultures. Highcontext cultures communicate through context, however, lowcontext cultures communicate mostly through language. Computermediated communication is a world of lowcontext, nonverbal deficient realm. This paper makes a study on whether the highcontext cultures have communication handicap in the lowcontext, nonverbal deficient world of computermediated communication. The study was carried out among Chinese students who are under highcontext culture. They were divided into two groups to discuss the same topic. One group had a facetoface discussion, and the other had an online discussion. This paper reports the results and discusses the plausible reasons. A Survey on the cultural Pedagogy in the EFL Classroom in China: Perceptions of Chinese English Teachers and Native English Teachers Wang Yi An Hangzhou Dianzi University [email protected] Teaching a foreign language with its culture and fostering FL learners’ Intercultural Communicative Competence (ICC) have been a trend in language teaching and learning since 80’s. This trend is underpinned by the two developments: the globalization around the world and the progress in language acquisition research, which has broadened and diversified our conception of what it means to be communicatively competent in a language. It is generally accepted now that the study of language is inseparable from the study of its culture. However, there seems to be lots of diversities and arguments about what should be taught and how to teach cultures in a language classroom considering the complex of the terminology ‘culture’, especially in the FL settings. In this paper, we conducted a survey in a group of English teachers in two Chinese Universities (12 Chinese and 5 native). The survey was designed to provide information on the current perceptions of these EFL teachers on the issues of the pedagogical treatment of culture. The results revealed some problems in current language classroom with respect of culture teaching in China and also showed the different perceptions between Chinese English teachers and Native English teachers on these issues.
217 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China A Discourse Analysis about the Linguistic Characteristics of White House Briefings Wang Yingyu English Department Harbin University [email protected] White House Briefing is a special type of political interview held nearly everyday between American executive branch and the press. This paper will probe into the linguistic characteristics of White House Briefing as political discourse from discourse analysis angle to reveal the relationship between language and society First of all, the participants in briefings take shifting roles, which is convenient for both the podium and the press to carry on their institutional task. Second, the participants’ rights and obligations in interaction are shown by the politeness strategies exploited by the participants. The podium’s positive face and that of his clients is routinely under the threat from the questioners, and at the same time, politeness strategies are employed by the press when they claim a turn at talk, or when the journalists are going to threaten the podium and his client’s face especially severely. Finally, the approach of this paper sees asymmetry or power as “orient to, and produced by actual talk, rather than being predetermined by a theoretically established context.” The podium establishes a symbiotic, adversary and permanent resident critic relationship between the administration /president and the press by employing these communication strategies. Language is asserting its function in constructing political reality by briefings. The Impact of Existentialism on China’s Democratic Education through Globalization Zhenping Wang Beijing Foreign Studies University, PR China University of Louisville, USA angzhen[email protected] In the process of globalization, cultivating a person as a qualified global individual has a great importance to China’s development and its communication with the world. To make China’s education more democratic and to make it being able to produce such an individual, the idea of Existentialism, the most influential philosophy in the 20th century, has been bought to offer great sources and suggestions. The French existential philosopher JeanPaul Sartre states that “existence
218 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China precedes essence” which suggests that human beings born into the world have no fixed nature. They are neither imprisoned by unconscious forces (Freud) nor are they determined by specific economic conditions (Marx). They are independent and alone. They are what they make of themselves. Education theorist Maxine Greene greatly influenced by Existentialism appreciated and supported Sartre’s idea. She believed that Existentialism is a personal study. The individual is an aware alienated being and she draws forth the salient learning for her situated meaning making and takes the task of creating herself. China is in great need of this democratic idea of individual consciousness in its education system. In this paper, based on Sartre’s philosophy and Greene’s educational theory, some implications to education are to be presented and discussed in which the key concept, individual, will be the focus. These implications can shed light on and bring more democratic elementary to Chinese education particularly to the teachers on how they could treat and nurture their students to be independent and aware being and to the students on how they could struggle with anxiety and perform the task of creating themselves. Anthropological Analysis of Death Euphemism in English and Chinese Wei Huizhe Hebei Teachers University [email protected] Death is the most terrible event to most human beings, which means the end of existence. As a consequence, it is a forbidden area in almost every culture. However, people must face it no matter whether they like it or not. To avoid mentioning directly the word “death”, which probably will arouse unhappy feeling and frighten people, lots of euphemisms are created to substitute for it. Death euphemisms can reflect cultural difference. This thesis adopts American anthropologist, Florence Kluckhohn’s pattern to give a contrastive analysis of death euphemism in both Chinese and English cultures. Florence Kluckhohn identified five orientations, that is, five categories of beliefs and behaviors for comparing cultural values. They are respectively, human nature, the relationship of man to nature, sense of time, activity, and social relationship. Every culture has to work out solutions to these issues. And answers to these issues form the base of each culture. A contrastive study in this field may well enhance people’s awareness and understanding of other cultures as well as their own, thereby facilitating crosscultural communication. Cultural Differences Seen from SinoUS University Mottos Wei Xiujuan Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The university motto is a reflection of the runningschool principles, the university
219 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China history and traditional culture. It embodies the spirit of a university that valued by its professors and students. The comprehension of universities’ and colleges' mottoes is a key to the study of campus culture and characteristics. Since the university motto is rooted in its traditional culture, different university mottos reflect different cultures. From the comparison of Chinese and American university mottos, we can have a general understanding of SinoUS cultural differences. The mottos of Chinese universities embody that Chinese culture emphasizes on ethics, morality, personality and responsibility. It is past orientation while the American culture is future even exfuture oriented. The mottos of American universities show that American culture focus on cognition, individualism and changes. Face as Socially Constructed Ethos: From Confuciu’s Li to Goffman’s "Definition of the Situation” Wei, YongKang University of Texas at Brownsville, USA [email protected] Chinese face is similar to Western ethos in that it functions as a rhetorical strategy to build up trust or to make one look good or credible. However, Chinese face also differs from Western ethos in many ways. While the projection of ethos remains the sole responsibility of a speaker in Western rhetoric, Chinese face is constructed, interactively, between a speaker and an audience. As a rhetorical strategy, Western ethos is to create the appeal of speakers or writers to their own credibility and character whereas Chinese face often works to protect the selfesteem of an audience (as in face saving) and, to a larger extent, to preserve social harmony as prescribed in Confucius’ li (ritualization). Chinese face can also be seen as a function of “the definition of the situation,” to use Goffman’s words. Because of its implicit emphasis on the participation of other people, Chinese face may thus be taken as a function of “the definition of the Other,” in contrast to “the definition of the self,” which characterizes Western ethos. In short, as an alternative to Western ethos, Chinese face is a rhetorical appeal socially, and collectively, constructed. Key words: comparative rhetoric; ethos; rhetorical strategy; social interaction Revisiting Chinese Values in Selfselected Proverbs and Sayings Weng Liping Shanghai Internatioanl Studies University [email protected] Schwartz’s comment on uncovering values from “cultural products” (Schwartz, 1994) has led us to believe that valuesloaded proverbs and sayings provide a way to unwrap some of the core values held by a certain cultural group. Although the link between proverbs and values has been
220 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China noted both in the western social psychology/IC literature (Kohls, 1984, Kohls & Knight, 1994, Zormeier & Samovar, 1997) and in Chinese sociology/IC/language training literature (e.g. Hu, 1988, Hu & Grove, 1991, Ho & Chiu, 1995, Gao, 1996), empirical studies of Chinese values through selfselected proverbs and sayings seem to be lacking. To fill the gap, the Shanghai Chinese Values Project systematically collected and analyzed a multitude of Chinese proverbs and sayings generated by university students years ago in an effort to identify a set of core values operative in such a cultural group. The findings were also correlated to Bond & CCC’s CVS (1987) and Schwartz’s culturelevel value dimensions (1994) to test the validity and usefulness of the proverb sampling method in uncovering and reflecting cultural dimension continuum and cultural values, as outlined in two unpublished papers (Kulich, 1997, 1998). Building on Kulich’s draft studies, this paper seeks to 1)identify the possible value shifts as reflected in Chinese proverbs and sayings though a crosssectional study. The 40 most frequent selections resulted from the draft studies will be reevaluated by currently enrolled university students along dimensions of relevance and importance and to 2)further test the validity and usefulness of the proverb sampling method in today’s context by duplicating the selfselected proverbs and sayings study with a modified research methodology which seeks to embrace sayings of a wider variety. Initial findings of the study will be reported and suggestions for future research discussed in the paper. Harmony and Diversity To Avoid Conflicts through Understanding Differences of Diversified Culture Wenying Woo, Deputy Director International Exchanges Beijing University of Technology :[email protected] From the analysis of 5 cases of conflicts, (facing a spelling mistake, a pay incident, a refused invitation, and a selfwritten recommendation letter, caps with tortoises as gifts ) which were experienced or witnessed by the author, between Chinese people and people from other cultures, the paper explores some reasons for causing the conflicts in intercultural communication. Difference in value towards human nature, social status, in time conception, in nonverbal symbol, and etc, are possible factors in causing misunderstanding, depression and even conflicts, which usually result in an inharmonious setting. Achieving a harmonious society is not only a goal which is actively promoted by Chinese Central government and dreamed by Chinese people, but also a destiny pursued by all human beings. Diversity is a prominent feature of the outcome of globalization. How to keep harmony in a diversified world is a challenging. The paper provides some suggestions on how to coexist in a diversified society. Keywords: case analysis cultural diversity conflict harmony.
221 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Interpreting the Chinese Quality of “Being Dependent” Wu Huiping Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The difference between the Chinese and the westerners obviously lies not only in that they have different appearances, but also in many other perspectives, such as personality, which is an important part of the hot topic “culture” today. “Being dependent” directly or indirectly helps us to develop some other qualities. Being dependent, we depend on something practical and helpful and useful, although things have changed much. We also depend on others both when we are young and old. A new phenomenon, “the generation gnawing at the old”(in Chinese “啃老族”), can be the best evidence to support the point. The quality of “being dependent” helps us a lot get other qualities. For instance, we like to develop strong relationship with others and we are grouporiented and indirect. We are living in relationships with others, that is, we are living in groups, and being indirect will do good to harmony within groups. Another important quality of ours “don’t like changing much” –results from this, too. Our conclusion is that the quality of being dependent probably has had much influence on the formation of the other qualities of ours. A tentative study of online chatting: Topicoverlapping and conversational ending Wu Li Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] Conversational analysis, developed within a movement in American sociology, called ethnomethodology, looks into the improvisatory activity of participants in informal situations of communication (Erickson, 1996). Many linguists have contributed to this new branch – conversational analysis, focusing mainly on the sequential organization, the strategies and functions of conversations (Aijmer, 1996; Button, 1991; Richards ＆ Schmidt, 1983; Schegloff, 1968). Among the studies on conversational strategies, much effort has been directed to the specific skills of topicshifting and making smooth conversational endings (Button, 1987, 1990; Coulthard, 1977; Schegloff ＆ Sacks, 1973; Winskowski, 1977). In recent years, with the prevalence of computer and easy access to the Internet, online chatting, another type of conversational speech event conducted via the channel of the Internet, has become increasingly fashionable and widespread among Chinese “netters”. It is interesting that, unlike in facetoface conversations, one topic usually interweaves with another in online chatting and that the chatting often comes to an end abruptly without ending. Though online chatting has drawn the attention of some researchers (Crystal, 2004; Marcoccia, 2004), topicoverlapping and
222 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China conversational endings have been looked into by few. This paper focuses especially on the abovementioned two aspects – topicoverlapping and conversational ending, so that more characteristics of online chatting can be discovered and presented to the readers. On Car Models from a Feminist Perspective Lihong WU School of Foreign Languages, Beijing Forestry University [email protected] Auto fairs with models are recent auto culture in China. In big cities as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Congqing ect., it is prevalent that the auto fairs employ models for the exhibitions. According to a research of autofair pictures from the Internet, around 90% of the car models are female. Why are cars marketed mainly for male consumers, but almost all of them adopt female as car models? In Western countries car models are mainly females too, which can be proved by the pictures of car advertisements. So far, there is no one really question this phenomenon or challenge the situation. This paper attempts to analyze this phenomenon from the perspective of feminist theories. The goal of the paper is to dig out the underlying reasons behind the phenomenon, make the public fully realize women’s status and roles in the patriarchal society, and help them see the inequality of females in the society. On the Different Social Scripts of Teaching and Learning between Chinese and Westerners Lihong WU School of Foreign Languages, Beijing Forestry University [email protected] The influence of social scripts is omnipresent. Everyone behaves in one’s own culture following the relevant social scripts without realizing them. Social scripts are built up day by day, they are rooted in our mind. This is one part of culture. This paper aims to illustrate the respective social scripts of learning and teaching between Chinese and western students. A detailed social script table is presented for the compare and contrast of relevant social scripts. The underlying causes for the differences are analyzed. Requests by Australian Learners of Mandarin Chinese Wu Lina Tianjin University
223 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China [email protected] Studies on interlanguage pragmatic (ILP) development have concentrated on a narrow range of target languages, mainly English or other European languages (e.g. Schmidt, 1983; House and Kasper, 1987; Kasper, 1989; BlumKulka and Levenston, 1987; Weizman, 1993). Although there is a rising trend of ILP development research on Asian languages (e.g. Hassell, 2003), studies involving Chinese as the target language still lag far behind. This crosssectional study serves as a preliminary exploration into ILP development in learners of Mandarin Chinese. The study examines the development of requests by 15 learners of Mandarin, grouped into 3 proficiency levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced). A group of Mandarin native speakers (N=6) served as a comparison baseline. Participants performed a roleplay with one of the researchers consisting of four request situations (2 low imposition, 2 high imposition). The researchers used Trosborg's model (1995) to compare request strategies made by the three groups of learners with one another and with those produced by the native speakers. Effects of imposition are also explored. This study indicates that requests made by learners of different proficiency levels deviate from the native speaker model. Notably, two request strategies of Chinese requests found in this study – large context and convergent pattern – were not produced by the learners. Compared to Chinese native speakers, contexts in learners’ requests are often limited to the linear scope directly related to the request intention. Learners’ requests also lack the “smoothness” of Chinese native speakers’ discourse. The developmental stages are not in a linear progressive pattern, and negative pragmatic transfer occurred even with advanced learners. These findings have significant pedagogical implications for teaching the pragmatics of Chinese as a target language. How Can We Introduce China to the World? Wu Wen’an Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] [email protected] Translation from Chinese into foreign languages is difficult and sometimes controversial. In doing so, how can we introduce China to the world, presenting a real image of China and making Chinese culture understood by foreigners at the same time? This paper centers around three principles concerning translation from Chinese into foreign languages, by defining translation from Chinese into foreign languages first and then interpreting the related three principles. The author points out that translation is closely related to the formation of national identities; identity and language can influence each other. Catering to the mentality of foreigners in translation is reasonable, but it is not workable sometimes and may distort the Chinese image, which constitutes a situation that translators should avoid. Flexible translation strategies should be based on specific
224 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China conditions, such as literal translation plus necessary explications, given that translations can represent Chinese realities and make foreign addressees understand China well. Media and Risk Perceptions during the Threat of Avian Influenza in Taiwan：An Examination of the Social Amplification of Risk Framework YiChen Wu FuJen Catholic University, Taiwan [email protected] FuLi Chen FuJen Catholic University, Taiwan [email protected] Although some empirical studies of the social amplification of risk framework (SARF) have demonstrated the mass media’s impact on amplifying or attenuating the public’s perceptions of a certain risk, some critics still raised questions against the media’s role in risk amplification. This study reexamined the media role in the process of SARF by using the example of the expected possible future infection of Avian Influenza (AI). It hypothesized that people’s risk perceptions of the possible outbreak of AI should change across times alone with the changes of media reporting to the threat. Data of the study were from the two waves of randomsampling telephone surveys conducted in 2006 in Taiwan. The first survey was conducted in March 2006 after the greatly increased media attention to the warning of possible AI infection; the second survey was repeated in December 2006 when the media coverage decreased significantly. It was found that the respondents’ risk perceptions of AI, including level of knowledge, perceived vulnerability, worry and trust in government, did not change significantly alone with the changes of media reporting. Moreover, respondents who received AI information from the mass media and other sources demonstrated much greater extent of risk perceptions than those only from the media, meaning that the media by itself were not powerful enough to attenuate public’s perceptions of the risk. MEDIA AND RISK PERCEPTIONS DURING THE THREAT OF AVIAN INFLUENZA IN TAIWANŸ AN EXAMINATION OF THE SOCIAL AMPLIFICATION OF RISK FRAMEWORK Debbie YiChen Wu FuJen Catholic University, Taiwan [email protected] FuLi Chen FuJen Catholic University, Taiwan [email protected]
225 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Although some empirical studies of the social amplification of risk framework (SARF) have demonstrated the mass media’s impact on amplifying or attenuating the public’s perceptions of a certain risk, some critics still raised questions against the media’s role in risk amplification. This study reexamined the media role in the process of SARF by using the example of the expected possible future infection of Avian Influenza (AI). It hypothesized that people’s risk perceptions of the possible outbreak of AI should change across times alone with the changes of media reporting to the threat. Data of the study were from the two waves of randomsampling telephone surveys conducted in 2006 in Taiwan. The first survey was conducted in March 2006 after the greatly increased media attention to the warning of possible AI infection; the second survey was repeated in December 2006 when the media coverage decreased significantly. The results did not support the SARF about the media’s role in risk attenuation process. Respondents’ risk perceptions of AI, including level of knowledge, perceived vulnerability, worry and trust in government, did not change significantly alone with the changes of media reporting. Moreover, respondents who received AI information from the mass media and other sources demonstrated much greater extent of risk perceptions than those only from the media, meaning that the media by itself were not powerful enough to attenuate public’s perceptions of the risk. Possible cultural determinant factors of the results are discussed and further examination of the interactive functions between the media and other influencing elements during the risk amplification/attenuation process are also suggested in the study. Translation Equivalence under Intercultural Communication Xianshouwei North China Institute of Astronautic Engineering [email protected] Intercultural communication is a heat topic nowadays. It is of vital importance for translation equivalence. Translation is a special kind of intercultural communication; therefore, to achieve real translation equivalence we must overcome many obstacles related to it, such as vocabulary, idiom, experience and custom etc. And we also should know how to effectively work with an interpreter if necessary. Chinese Face in a Dream of Red Mansions Xin Yang Beijing Normal University [email protected]
226 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Most of these theories on politeness are purported with the emphasis on the universality, while with the emergence and development of crosscultural pragmatics since 1980s, the issue of universality versus culturespecificity has aroused great interest of pragmatists. This current article, focusing on face, the kernel notion of politeness, investigates Chinese inviting transactions in Chinese classic novel—A Dream of Red Mansions. Through exploration, two different kinds of invitation are identified—one issued by the superior and the other by the inferior. In these two types of invitations, selfface and otherface are threatened differently and hence face is protected in dissimilar ways. This variation reveals that to a great degree it is social status that determines the way invitation is conducted and hence decides the way speakers maintain selfface and attend to otherface. Besides, the concept of Chinese lian is examined in detail, and its three senses are put forwards for further discussion. This analysis demonstrates that Brown & Levinson’s Facesaving theory is universal as a general framework, but there must be some deviation when it comes to deep exploration in diverse cultures. Cultural specificity calls for various reflections on apparently same but actually varied phenomenon. An Intercultural Perspective to the Cold Welcome of Disney’s Mulan in China Xing Jianmin Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] From the perspective of intercultural communication, this paper looks into the cultural factors that account for the cold welcome that Disney’s film Mulan received in Mulan’s hometown—China. The author contends that what hide behind this strange phenomenon is the conflict between Chinese culture and American culture, in particular that of diverse core cultural values and world views under the disguise of an entertaining film. This paper tries to analyze how value differences between Chinese culture and American culture work on the production as well as the reception of Chinese Mulan and Disney’s version of Mulan along lines of such core cultural factors as individualism/collectivism, time orientation, relationship of humankind to nature and religious beliefs, etc. It will be concluded that transculturation is necessary for successful intercultural communication whatever form it takes. Business or NonBusiness: Analyzing Talk in BritishChinese Business Meetings Jianyu Xing, University of International Business and Economics [email protected] This paper analyzes the content of two welcome meetings held by the British host company for
227 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China two visiting Chinese business delegations. The initial analysis of the data has found that one of the two British chairmen used a considerable amount of nonbusiness talk on a wide range of topics in both the opening and the closing stages of the meeting, while the other did not include any. Many researchers have discussed the functions of small talk. Tracy and Naughton (2000), for example, claim that small talk can help "accomplish social goals such as managing impressions, putting people at ease, building connection, winning approval and predisposing a listener to one's perspective". Holmes (2000) finds that small talk also fills "dead" time, or "a gap between planned activities", as sitting around or waiting in silence would be socially embarrassing. Laver (1975) identifies the propitiatory, the exploratory and the initiatory functions in the opening stage and the facilitating function in the closing stage of an encounter. This paper attempts to discuss the in/exclusion of nonbusiness topics during the course of the meetings and explore the factors contributing to the use/nonuse of nonbusiness talk. A Study of Culture Teaching in ELT in Chinese Universities an Examination of College English (New Edition) Xing Lei, Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] With the globalization of the world, intercultural communication has become more and more important. A good command of a foreign language not only means mastering the language itself, but also involves the cultivation of （inter）cultural competence. Learning material, one of the most important elements in language teaching, plays a very significant role in this respect. Nowadays most college English textbook writers in China realize the importance of culture in English language teaching (ELT) and have tried to incorporate the idea of intercultural communication competence into the textbooks, but there still exist some problems yet to be solved. In order to investigate students' intercultural communication competence and to investigate whether the widely used College English (New Edition) provides students with adequate knowledge of intercultural communication, a socialculture test by means of a questionnaire are conducted among college students in China. It was found that students' intercultural communication competence is not satisfactory and there is much room for improvement in respect to developing good college English textbooks. With the aim of improving culture teaching in ELT, the writer makes an attempt to explore an ideology of culture teaching in college English and its’ realization in textbook writing. Confirmatory Factor Analysis on Tertiary Students’ Attitudes Towards Bilingual Education inChina Xu Hongchen
228 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Peking University [email protected] The essay focuses on the factors that mainly influence Chinese college students’ attitudes towards bilingual education (i.e. the courses related to their majors). The factors involved are classified into two subcategories: linguistic variables (such as English proficiency and course features) and socialpsychological variables (such as motivation and identity), according to which a concept model is proposed for confirmation. Confirmatory factor analysis by AMOS 5.0 is applied in statistic calculation to confirm the following concept model. The data fit the model quite well, from which a conclusion might be drawn that in a foreign language context the preference to the teaching language in nonEnglish courses is greatly influenced by the students’ linguistic proficiency, their socialpsychological attitudes as well as the course features. Developmental Stages and Indicators of Contemporary Chinese The Thinking of Cultural Appropriacy of the Communicative Language Teaching in China Xu Liangfeng Zhejiang University of Science and Technology [email protected] The introducing and application of the communicative language teaching (CLT) into EFL teaching in China have provoked a great deal of comment and debate. Whereas some accounts have emphasized the value of adopting CLT in China, others have noted the importance of Chinese traditional ways of teaching and learning. However, the majority of accounts have focused on the need to adapt CLT to the demands and conditions for language learning and teaching in China. Within this heated debate on English teaching methodology, the study of the cultural appropriacy of CLT deserves particular attention. Based on this question, my paper is intended to examine some questions of cultural appropriacy of CLT in China form certain perspective. First the paper will present the main characteristic and principles of CLT and its present practice in China. Then it tries to present some cultural differences between the Chinese and the Western which will inevitably influence the adoption of CLT in Chinese language teaching, in terms of different cultural values, different cultures of learning and teaching. Shifting the Focus in Intercultural Communication Study XU Lisheng & WU Liping Zhejiang University [email protected]
229 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China As intercultural communication is becoming an everyday phenomenon in today’s world, studying intercultural communication has become all the more important now. However, it seems that intercultural communication study has so far been too occupied with describing and generalizing cultural differences and accounting for problems, difficulties, and breakdowns in intercultural communication by attributing them to those cultural differences, and therefore it is rather limited in its scope of investigation and its capacity of contributing to improving intercultural communication in real life. Though attributing failure and misunderstanding in intercultural communication to cultural differences may help explain why they occur, it can hardly inform us very much of what actually happens in the process of intercultural communication. Our research focus has to be shifted from what differences there are among people of various cultural groups to how people actually interact when they find they differ greatly from each other. More research effort should be exerted to study the cases of intercultural communication in which participants successfully tackle problems, overcome difficulties, repair breakdowns and achieve crosscultural understanding in spite of many cultural differences existing between them. Women’s Status in Eastern and Western Rhymes Yang Chunyan Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Nursery rhymes are actually musical language. Generally people covey their emotions by music, so that these musical rhymes can tell us a lot about people’s life. On the other hand, rhymes are vibrant and unique aspects of culture deep rooted in the daily life of the people. They are usually orally handed down, sung to us by parents and grandparents, but mostly are told by women. Through rhymes women’s life and emotions are recorded, and the analysis of which can help us understand women’s history and status in difference cultures. In this article, certain eastern and western rhymes concerning family life would be studied on the aspects of their origin, social contents, and changes according to times, so that we can get to know the women’s life in the rhymes, as well as their status changes throughout history. In this way we can have better understanding in both Chinese and western culture. Refashioning Modern Chinese Woman: Fun, Fearless and Female Analysis of the Chinese Edition of Cosmopolitan Magazine from 2002 to 2006 Jing YANG Naval University of Engineering, P. R. China [email protected]
230 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Cosmopolitan, a popular women’s magazine, offers over 50 editions in 28 languages and reaches about 36 million women worldwide with the slogan “3F” i.e., “fun, fearless and female”. The Chinese edition of Cosmopolitan began its publication in April 1998 in a joint venture with Hearst and ever since then it has been a leading women’s magazine in China. Because the stereotypes of Chinese women have long been constructed as housewives, female workaholics, or sex objects and so on by media in the Chinese society, this study aimed to investigate whether the image of modern Chinese woman was refashioned as “3F” in the Chinese edition of Cosmopolitan as it proposed from a perspective of feminism. 441 articles and 334 pictures in five issues of Cosmopolitan from 2002 to 2006 were quantitatively analyzed at the physical and spiritual layers. Results showed that the Chinese Cosmopolitan successfully refashioned a beautiful, confident, perseverant and independent women’s image, which echoed “3F”. Moreover, about the physical and spiritual sides of women’s life, Chinese Cosmopolitan attached almost equal importance to each of them by analyzing the content of articles. A Brief Analysis of Cultural Connotations of Vocabulary Yang Lina Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] This paper discusses mainly cultural connotations of vocabulary. Cultural connotations of vocabulary refer to the neutral words with the same referential meaning in two or more than two languages, but these words have particular meanings of affective evaluation, cultural and historical associations. These vocabularies can be classified into eight categories according to referential meanings as follows：1. animals, 2. plants, 3. colors, 4. numbers, 5. folklore, 6. personal names, 7. place names, 8. anniversaries and traditional festivals. Such vocabularies usually cover a certain nation’s history, geography, literary stories, mythology, religion, folklore, anniversaries and traditional festivals, values, aesthetic standards, common nouns and proper nouns with vivid examples. The paper also emphasizes that certain vocabularies reflect different cultural implications. In the eyes of pragmatics, the prerequisite for comprehending the exact meanings of cultural connotations of vocabulary is to have a good knowledge of target culture, to have knowledge through all ages at home and abroad. Associative meaning of vocabulary depends on context. The significance and ways of grasping cultural connotations of vocabulary are introduced in the paper. People may use cultural connotations of vocabulary appropriately in communicative context, which may fully display that language communication is in fact a crosscultural communication. A Longitudinal Analysis of Metaphors Concerning Love in Chinese Renying Yang North China University of Technology [email protected]
231 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Love is often regarded as elusive, abstract emotion devoid of any conceptual content. However, the description of conceptual love is not beyond practicability after the case study of love by Lakoff, Kovecses and etc. Therefore, it is a worthwhile and challenging task to impose an understanding on conceptual structure concerning “love” in Chinese languages. By investigating the metaphors of love and their connections from ancient times to now with cognitive point of view, this paper explores people’s attitudes toward love change with the different periods, especially in the era of globalization when abundant metaphors concerning love are coined or introduced from the other languages. From the analysis, we can see the expressions disappeared or accompanied with the time in a degree reflect people’s emotional openness degree. In addition, the study will help to understand the people’s mind operating in Chinese and the way language shapes the people’s attitude and further facilitates the communication in some fields as well as promotes the personal and social harmony. Evolution of Conceptions of the Spring Festival and Christmas A Qualitative Study of the Ideas of 2 Generations in Shanghai Yang Sha Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] The recent years have witnessed the decreasing traditional flavor in the way Chinese people celebrate the traditional Chinese festivals. The spring festival, the most influential festival in China, is also faced with this challenge. Through interviewing 2 age groups of Shanghai natives (The younger group has 12 subjects and the older group has 10) about their attitudes towards the Spring Festival and Christmas, the paper tends to find out what values between the two generations have changed reflected in the two festivals. From my research, I find that individuals have varied attitudes, but one family usually share similar attitude toward the Spring Festival. Family reunion has been the theme of the Spring Festival, which cannot be replaced by Christmas. Christmas is a very secular and commercialized festival pursued by young people in Shanghai. Factors affecting web usage among Taiwan’s old people TaiEn Yang Institute of Communication Studies National ChiaoTung University HsinChu City, Taiwan [email protected] This study will focus on the old people (age>60)’s internet usage. For various reasons, old people, as we may expect, are usually the most disadvantaged in terms of internet usage: they may lack
232 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China the technologies, the money, the relations, and the motivations to use the internet. This study will try to pinpoint the major factors affecting the usage of internet among the old people. Uses and gratifications and other related theories will be the frame of reference for this study. Expected results of this study will include a priority list of the factors influencing the web usage. Web experts will hence have a guideline to better serve the old citizens by removing some of the factors. While the old people may avoid the hindrances of those factors in internet usage. Also expected will be some minor revisions of the uses and gratifications theory. This theory has gone a long way since it was first introduced into the mass media field. During the internet era, there will certainly be some new aspects that can be added into the theory. 220 Sugath Mahinda Senarath School of Journalism and Communication, Wuhan University,P.R.China Email: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] A Study on the change of life pattern of Veddas in Sri Lanka due to influence of electronic media. It is common to have changes in every culture at different skills even largely or simplistically. The change can be due to requirements of the particular culture or else the interactions with other cultures together with external influences. This phenomenon is common to an Aboriginal set of inhabitants called Veddas formed in the jungles of Sri Lanka. As a result of the infiltration of surroundings Sinhalese and Tamil cultures in to the life patterns their own identity too has been loosing now .Today even the small groups left by now have been under going severe changes in their life. The external influences have contributed a lot for this change. Social changes and the mixing of other societies depriving of their own home land or the territory due to the various development projects introduced by the government and introduction of new popular culture trends in life patterns have resulted in changing their life alone with cultural heritage .More ever the development of media in the last two decade has influenced tremendously changing their own cultural pattern common to small tribes. The study was done in relation to a remaining group of that particular tribe (Veddas) at place called Dambana in the district Monaragala closed to Mahiyanganaya the far most ancient archeological site in Sri Lanka . It was found that their culture as been changed to a remarkable extent due to introduction of Media in different forms. Intercultural Communication Competence of International Students in China Yibo Yang， Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] As the globe is quickening its pace in growing into an intercommunicable village, China opens its
233 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China door accommodating students from all over the world as well as sending its people overseas. These international students with various cultural backgrounds would soon find themselves facing an oriental culture which by itself is everchanging as a modern society. The pilot study in this paper investigated the international students in Harbin Institute of Technology into their intercultural communication competence and cultural awareness. The objective is to provide a new perspective towards these students and see what we can do to improve the teaching program. By having interviews and answering questionnaires, the participants revealed their own cultures, their previous related education and their present competence and awareness in intercultural communication. The data collected show that their competence is closely related to communication awareness, both of which are influenced to a great extent by their cultural and educational background. Confined to a rather small social circle for quite a long time after they came to China, most students expressed their weakness in intercultural communication. Yet there are a few cases proved to be quite extraordinary in this field and their successful experiences may give us some beneficial considerations. An Analysis of Structural Metaphor as Realization of Adaptability and Its Functioning in Chinese TV Talk Shows YangQing Jiangsu Teachers University of Technology [email protected] The structural metaphor occurs frequently in our everyday conversation. Since the previous studies which have been reviewed are found inadequate to reveal the dynamic nature of structural metaphor, the present study attempts to explore the dynamic adaptability of structural metaphor and its functions realized in the process of adaptation in a specified setting－－Chinese TV talk shows. On the basis of the data collected from the wellknown CCTV program Tell It Like It Is, and with Verschuren’s linguistic adaptation theory as the general conceptual framework, it has been found out that structural metaphor is a result of linguistic choice made by negotiation with certain contextual correlates, and employed by the speaker as a communicative strategy to fulfill certain particular interpersonal functions. When the speaker’s needs are not to the hearer’s expectation, structural metaphor can resolve interpersonal conflicts, and when the speaker’s needs coincide with those of the hearer’s, structural metaphor can maintain interpersonal harmony as well. Cultural Attitudes toward Silence: Relevance and Interpretations Ye Xiang China Agricultural Uni. [email protected] Silence sends us nonverbal cues concerning the communication situations in which we participate.
234 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China In the crossculture communication, silence may occur as a response, so the interpretation for such kind of silence will be more complicated. This article tends to apply Relevance Theory (RT) to a satisfactory cultural interpretation for such silence. The use of silence in communication is, as in the case of speech, rulegoverned, and it is also variable and culturespecific. Apart from its common function to signal lack of communication, silence is used to express or maintain certain types of interpersonal relations (e.g. respect, submission, defiance), manifest emotions (e.g. anger, sympathy) and express propositional meanings (e.g. to refuse an invitation). Relevance Theory may be seen as an attempt to work out in detail one of Grice’s central claims: that an essential feature of most human communication, both verbal and nonverbal, is the expression and recognition of intentions. RT, in fact, is mainly used to interpret implications of an utterance under a cognitive context, and rarely has silence been analyzed with RT. Therefore, how to construe the implications of silence in the crossculture communication with a theoretical model of RT is rather a new and worthwhile aspect of pragmatics. Japanese Hot Spring Culture in Taiwanhomi Bhabha’s Hybridity’s Post Colonial Perspective SzuYin Yeh, University of Shih Hsin in Taipei, Taiwan [email protected] The opening of hot spring was during the Japanese military occupation. Nowadays, the hot spring culture has become the public activities due to the promotional effort of the tourism and cultural industry. Therefore, having been independent from the Japanese occupation for many years, the hot spring culture and narratives which originated from the time of Japanese occupation is still represented and promoted in Taiwan very often. The taste and value of Japanese hot spring culture stands on the predominate status. This means Japanese cultural colonialism is still very much an inseparable part of Taiwan after such a long time. This study attempts to examine the Japanese postcolonial representation and narrative of hot spring culture in Taiwan, and analyze the ‘hybridity’ practices in it. To explore the relationship of Japanese culture imagination and postcolonial identity in Taiwan. Border Trade Economic Zone: Intercultural Comunication Yelyutina Rimma Far Eastern State University Vladivostok, Russia
235 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China [email protected] The paper presents the role of the project of Border Trade Economic Zone with a common territory and a uniform regime for the citizens of two neighboring countries. The zone will stretch along the RussianChinese border close to the settlement of Pogranichniy, Primorskiy krai, RF, and the city of Suifenhe, Heilongjiang province, PRC. During the meetings in the PRC, V Putin, President of the RF, confirmed the policy to develop cooperation, mutual penetration of the economies and culture of the adjacent territories. This project is of federal significance since it is determined by Russia’s foreign policy aimed at achieving strategic partnership with the PRC in the 21st century, creating the atmosphere of good neighborhood in the near –border areas. The project of constructing the Russian BTEZ in Pogranichniy includes some goals and purposes. One of them is the developing of the intercultural communication between the adjacent territories, including training professionals, establishing an international university, exhibitions, forums, conferences etc. The purpose of this paper is to show the positive role and the possibilities the project of Border Trade Economic Zone could play in the developing of the intercultural communication between our countries. Issues of Linguistic Righes in Japanfor Deaf Education Yoko koizumi Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan [email protected] The concept of linguistic rights is being developed in an attempt to rectify a variety of linguistic wrongs. It has been accompanied by the rising movement for the preservation of minority languages in Europe. This paper highlights the linguistic rights issues of deaf children in deaf education in Japan in order to examine the significance of linguistic rights on a larger scale in Japan. In May 2003, a group of parents of deaf children made an appeal for the rights of deaf children and an improvement in deaf education. In their appeal, the parents claimed linguistic rights of deaf children seeking Japanese sign language in their deaf schools. To assure Japanese deaf children of their rights to use Japanese Sign Language in deaf education, three points will be discussed; (1) Japanese Sign Language is a language. (2) Deaf children’s mother tongue is Japanese Sign Language. (3) The deaf are a linguistic minority. This paper will conclude with an argument that studies of linguistic rights will clarify social factors multicultural communication and mutual understanding in a symbiotic society the 21 century is ushering in.
236 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Globalization of English and Its Impact on Chinese Language Yu Huaying Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] As a world language, English is, without question, the most widely used and the most influential. Its impact is not only visible in oriental and occidental research, but also in people’s lives and in international commerce. The spread of the use of English has become more and more obvious in an age of quick travel and worldwide communication. As a result, English has occupied much room of other languages’ usage. The languages excluded, especially some major languages also widely used throughout the world, would possibly consider English global spread as a threat. The research will endeavor to explore the contemporary phenomenon of English as a world language in China, including the reasons for the popularity of English, the process of popularization of English, and the present condition of English education in China. I will also examine the problems in Chinese English learning and teaching. Then, I will set out to analyze how far English has affected the country sociologically and linguistically. I aim to discover whether this influence is positive or negative. Will it lead to a damage of the Chinese culture and language? What is interface between two languages? What strategy should Chinese take towards the spread of English? Interpretation of Ethos from Aristotle to Cicero Yu Liyan Harbin Engineering University [email protected] Aristotle and Cicero, both great classical rhetoricians have their modes of persuasion. Two topics dominate scholarship on ethos in classical rhetoric. That is Aristotelian theory and Ciceronian practice. Scholarly commentary on the role of ethos in classical rhetoric typically stresses Aristotle’s theoretical definition of ethos and Cicero’s demonstration of ethos through his public oratory. The tendency to associate Aristotle with theory and Cicero with practice provides important insights. Aristotle clearly illustrates ethos in his Rhetoric as one of the three main proofs warranting the judgment of an opinion. In contrast to the scholarship on the theoretical treatment of Aristotelian ethos, studies emphasizing the practical application of ethos frequently examine Cicero’s legal and political speeches. Such work provides important observations that help to explain how ethos is culturally created between rhetoricians and audience within a special social context. This paper is intended to make a comparison between Aristotelian ethos and Ciceronian ethos to better understand their modes of persuasion.
237 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Study on the Crosslingual Differences of Animal expressions in respect to cultural connotation Yu Xianli Foreign Languages Department of the Chongqing Communication Academy [email protected] Since language is the carrier of culture, culture is fully reflected in the images and emotions of expressions for all beings. In both English and Chinese languages, there are numerous animal expressions which associate with the emotion and feeling of people, with different animal images embodying different cultural connotations. However, the connotations of animal expressions in one language do not necessarily coincide with those in the other one. The difference in Chinese and western culture resulted in the difference in the cultural connotations of animal expressions in their own languages. This paper probes into the crosscultural differences of the cultural connotations of animal expressions in English and Chinese language, via the approach of comparison between the various expressions of animals in the two languages and the approach of analysis. This probe is to accomplish the purpose of understanding fully and correctly the whole massage an expression carries in crosscultural communication, enhancing the mutual understanding and mutual communication between the Chinese and the western culture, and avoiding the obstacles in crossculture interaction. Root of Intercultural Communication Yuan Chi Harbin Engineering University [email protected] Due to exploration of population, globalization of economy and improvements of communication technology, the world becomes an earth village. That makes more and more people produce the intense consciousness on communication and understanding. At the same time, the increasingly high demand makes people have strong desire to communicate with residents living outside this country . An increasing number of importance and impact of intercultural communication haunt the people.Intercultural communication concerns the contractive study of the difference between the cultures, especially block communication between people. Under some circumstances, many linguists took differences as the focus on intercultural communication. They prefer to consider differences as the key to solve the problems of intercultural communication. We prefer to look for the root of arousing a series of questions, which involves thought pattern , belief, value system and its judgement, values in ethic or religion and regionality. Only in this way can we settle the problems on intercultural communication finally.
238 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Building College Students’ Intercultural Competence through Technology Chenfeng Zhang . Program in Educational Technology, Marygrove College, Michigan [email protected] Intercultural competence is the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately in a variety of cultural contexts. It requires understanding of the cultures of others and how cultures coexist in the global family. Intercultural competence requires knowledge of one’s own and other cultures, skills to communicate with people in other cultures and attitudes towards other cultures. Technology can play an important role in building college students’ intercultural competence. Online resources, virtual tours, WebQuest projects, online collaboration projects, online discussion groups are some of the ways to build knowledge, skills and attitudes in a student’s intercultural competence. A Pragmatic Study of Cultural Context in Humor Translation Zhang Chunxing Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Zhang Chunyue University of Chinese Medicine [email protected] Due to their strong contextdependent and cultureingrained nature, humorous languages require a pragmatic understanding of the mechanics working in translation in producing equivalent effects. In this paper, first, Grice’s four maxims are reviewed during a Gricean analysis of humor formation. Then, pragmatic features of humorous languages, such as presupposition and presupposition trigger, cultural context and recontextulization, incongruity from violation of cooperative principles, are presented in analyzing culture as the intricate and idiosyncratic ingredient of humor. Last, a comparison of cultureoriented incongruity in source text (ST) and target text (TT) is made and the influence of cultural context on translation is studied. Blog Comments as a Reflection of The Readers’ Inference of the Blogger’s Intention Zhang Hui
239 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] This paper examines the comments on blogs under the framework of Sperber and Wilson’s (1986) approach of interpreting communication, namely, the Relevance Theory. It makes a qualitative study of three blogs located in two of China’s largest blog websites: sina.com and sohu.com. Through the analysis of comments and noncomments in the chosen blogs, this paper finds that this novel way of communication is in fact not much differentiate from traditional means of communication. It proposes that the blog contents are actually assumptions raised by the bloggers to seek mutual manifestation of his/her intentions between the bloggers and the blog readers. These assumptions may be in line or may be in conflict with the blog readers’ existing assumptions, and hence having different effects on the blog readers. These effects lead to their noncomments and various comments on the blogs. Therefore, the comments and noncomments of blog readers can reflect how their inference of the blogger’s intentions to a certain extent. Contrastive Research on Metaphorical Time from the Perspective of Intercultural Communication Zhang Ji Nanchang University [email protected] Diversities of perceptions and modes of thinking lead to different attitudes towards time in Eastern and Western cultures, so the concept of time in intercultural communication seems a mysterious guide, which may intangibly restrict people’s expressions and behaviors and exert considerable influences on intercultural communication. In this paper, metaphorical time is placed in the background of intercultural communication for investigation by applying Lakoff’s theories of metaphor to the thesis. Comparative analysis of three modes of metaphorical time including orientational metaphors, structural metaphors and ontological metaphors in English and Chinese are made to figure out the similarities and discrepancies between these two languages and to probe into the details of cultural backgrounds which cause differences. On one hand, similarities lie in the fact that human cognitive activities derive from similar daily life and social experiences. On the other hand, differences lie in the fact that the effect of different factors such as world outlooks, values, the process of thinking, customs, language and nonverbal language results in differences of metaphorical time. This thesis will make a thorough inquiry into the above problems from various aspects in order to provide English teaching and intercultural communicative activities with some theoretical modes and practical source materials for reference. Representation of Female Identity in Charlotte Brontë’s Novels
240 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Zhang Jin, Wang Jing, Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] [email protected] For early western women writers who were enclosed in the constructs of maledominated society, collusion with the dominant male literary discourse was just a natural defense for their works. They never ceased to struggle for a strategic redefinition of self. This paper examines Charlotte Brontë’s novels and analyzes the strategies Brontë deploys to represent female identity. Desolate or alien landscapes indicate the marginal position of women and their estrangement from male culture, while such diseases as amnesia or aphasia suggest the absence of female voice in patriarchal society. Violence is the reflection of the true self of women, and it most effectively expresses the heroines’ as well as the woman writer’s anger and defiance against male hegemony. Meanwhile the depiction of sisterhood is the straightforward affirmation of female identity. By these means, Charlotte Brontë tells the truth of women, but she tells it slant. Distant Intercessory Prayer and Task Performance Zhang Li, Yale University [email protected] In an extension of research demonstrating causal effects of intercessory prayer physical healing in a medical setting, the present study experimentally examined the effects of intercessory prayer for improved task performance in an employment setting. Trained customer service representatives either did, or did not receive daily intercessory prayer for the specific needs and challenges of their workplace. Speed of call handling was evaluated for each customer service representative. The specific dependent measures were number of calls per hour and number of seconds per call. No statistically significances between prayer and nonprayer groups were found for either calls per hour or seconds per call. Recommendations for research in this new area of study center on methodological issues, including the selection of relevant dependent measures. A Study on Patterns of Cultural Difference and Multicultural Collaboration Zhang lijuan，Wang Min National University of Defense and Technology [email protected] We all communicate with others all the time in our homes, in our workplaces, in the groups we belong to, and in the community. No matter how well we think we understand each other,
241 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China communication is hard. "Culture" is often at the root of communication challenges. Our culture influences how we approach problems, and how we participate in groups and in communities. When we participate in groups we are often surprised at how differently people approach their work together. Our histories are a critical piece of our cultures. Historical experiences whether of five years ago or of ten generations back shape who we are. Knowledge of our history can help us understand ourselves and one another better. Exploring the ways in which various groups within our society have related to each other is a key to opening channels for crosscultural communication. In a world as complex as ours, each of us is shaped by many factors, and culture is one of the powerful forces that acts on us. Six fundamental patterns of cultural differences ways in which cultures, as a whole, tend to vary from one another are described below. The descriptions point out some of the recurring causes of crosscultural communication difficulties. An appreciation of patterns of cultural difference can assist us in processing what it means to be different in ways that are respectful of others, not faultfinding or damaging. Also In this paper, we discuss some of the guidelines for Multicultural Collaboration. A Contrastive Study on the Employment of Euphemisms in Chinese and English Zhang Lingyan, & Dong Yanyan Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Through a crosscultural study of the English and Chinese euphemisms, it is shown that, despite the primary similarities, .English and Chinese employment of euphemisms bear many distinctions due to the different cultural backgrounds, which are shown in such aspects as death, religion, sex, race, privacy, profession and topics of conversation. And there are also some contextual factors influencing the use of euphemisms, such as participants, setting and activity, especially the gender and cultivation of the participants and the relationship between the speakers. To have a better understanding of the use of euphemisms in English and Chinese will be beneficial for us to avoid misunderstanding and to express ourselves smoothly and appropriately in the international communication. Electronicparalanguage of Nonverbal Communication in Digitalized Communication Zhang Liu Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] Internet and mobile communication technology live with us nowadays. Many scholars as well as big techcompanies pay much attention to the communication both in cyberspace and through short messaging service of mobile phones. Related studies of computermediated communication
242 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China (CMC) are mainly based on sociology and psychology. Few authorial books focus on the topic. In China, there are even fewer works on this topic, and if there are some, most of them discuss how to use computer to improve teaching in class. Researches on short messaging communication are hard to see either. However, the fact is that China is prosperous in telecommunication, and that the number of netizen in china increases in an amazing speed with the years. In an increasingly digitalized world, research on CMC has its significance socially and economically. This paper focuses specially on electronicparalanguage of nonverbal communication in the digital world; this paper also aims at calling wider attention to electronicparalanguage: not only scholars but also engineers should know more on electronicparalanguage in CMC to better design and develop internet communication tools and mobile messaging software so as to improve communication in cyberspace and communication through mobile phones. Theory of Interlanguage in SLA and Its Implication on Strategies of EFL Teaching and Learning Zhang Mian Shenyang Pharmaceutical University [email protected] Trough the research of modern linguistics, for the difference of language, interlanguage, as an expression, gradually develops in the learning process from native language to target language during second language acquisition (SLA). Basing on the above view, the author of the paper attempts to study from the point of interlanguage (Selinker and H. D. Brown) and influence of learning strategies which L2 learners adopt, including L1 transfer, in the process of SLA. This paper also tries to analyze the influence of learning strategies from two aspects: positive and negative for both L2 learners and L2 teachers, together with the current situation of ESL teaching in Chinese colleges. From the adoption of interlanguage and recorded data, we can see there are difficulties faced by L2 learners; however, the implication of this special language system which is neither the L1, nor the L2, might be great treasure for L2 teachers to develop their EFL teaching. A Study of ‘Culture of Learning’ in Chinese Tertiary EFL Classrooms Zhang Miaoxia, Taiyuan University of Science &Technology [email protected] While many scholars have focused their researches on language learning beliefs and learning strategies, little account has been taken into ‘culture of learning’— one of the most crucial factors that influence language teaching and learning. The present study aims to explore the impact of ‘culture of learning’ on Chinese EFL classrooms especially those at the tertiary level. Firstly, a
243 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China critical review is made of previous researches on both language learning beliefs and ‘culture of learning’. Secondly, Chinese ‘culture of learning’ is compared to Western ‘culture of learning’, and the impact is addressed of Western ‘culture of learning’ on Chinese EFL classrooms. Thirdly, a survey is made of Chinese teachers of English and students from Harbin Institute of Technology, in order to explore the impact of Chinese ‘culture of learning’ on its tertiary EFL classrooms. It has been found that Chinese EFL classrooms are to a large extent influenced by its own ‘culture of learning’. These influences can be summarized mainly from three aspects: Chinese teachers and students’ beliefs about English language learning, their classroom behavior, and the dilemma in Chinese EFL classrooms. Finally, a synergetic ‘culture of learning’ is recommended by combining Chinese ‘culture of learning’ with Western ‘culture of learning’ so as to improve Chinese tertiary ELT. Globalization of English and Leaching EFL in China Zhang Quan Nanjing University of Science & Technology Nanjing, China For various reasons, English is becoming more and more global. But the globalization of English does not mean that people in the world all speak the same language. As a learner of English in China, special attention should not only be given to the acquisition of nativelike English but also to the sociolinguistic factors in teaching English as a foreign language. This paper first analyzes the characters of English as a global language in the world. And such issues are then discussed as whose English is spoken, whose standard is adopted, and what core there is. Finally the author illustrates the situations of teaching and learning English in China with different hierarchic varieties of English as in Chinglish, Chinese English, and China English, with a view to assume that China English is a final variety of EFL or EIL in China. EIL and ELT in Japan Zhang Rong 1211, Muromachi, Kokurakitadistrict, Kitakyusyu City,Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan [email protected] English, as an international language(EIL), has occupied an irreplaceable position among all languages in the world. Its influence on the progress of human civilization and intercultural communication is tremendous and its impact on international affairs is so overwhelming that no other languages can take its place completely at the present stage. With the development of IT technology, the employment of English language has been extended to a broader scope and the
244 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China rapid growth of intercultural communication through internet has brought English new implications and a prehistoric chance for future development as well. This paper aims at a more profound and comprehensible understanding towards EIL and offers some new argumentations for a better performance and application. The following key issue will be focused on from the perspective of Call & online education: How to evaluate and contribute to the formation of a real international language? Some specific cases about the ELT(English Language Teaching) situation in Japan will be analyzed in detail and constructive policies and practices will be discussed, especially on those factors that ELT teachers are supposed to taken into account during their process of teaching. Power Phenomena in the Dialogue Programs of TV Broadcasting Zhang Wenxing, Yang Lin Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Power phenomena are very common in our daily life. Based on the video and auditory material of the interview, the Artists, between the anchorman Zhu Jun and the guest Zhao Yazhi, this paper has analyzed and explored the power phenomena in the dialogue programs of TV broadcasting, and drawn the conclusion that the anchorman is powerful while the guest is powerless. What Is Going on in China? – A Cultural Analysi on the Reappearance of Ancient Jili and Hanfu in Present Day China Zhang Yan Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] Victor Turner points out that studying rituals of a society can lend important insights into our understanding of the society because rituals “provide the clues to how a culture functions within its own symbolic world”. Since China has adopted a reformand openingup policy its economy has undergone such rapid even dramatic changes that one wouldn’t be able to recognize his hometown upon returning if he had left it more than 10 years ago. While economically many Chinese are better off, many also experience an “identity crisis”. Modernization is to a large degree synonymous with “westernization”, but the seemingly inevitable process of globalization has also made the question of “national identity” into a more acute one. It is against such backgrounds that Jili (ÿÿ) and Hanfu (ÿÿ) reappeared in modern China as an counteraction against the deepening process of modernization in China. This paper, then, is an attempt of a cultural analysis on the revival of ancient Jili and Hanfu; the author believes that such phenomena, together with other movements to restore ancient practices in China are telling signs of a reacting
245 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China culture in its encounter with globalization. Key words: ritual, identity, globalization, Jili, Hanfu Hvs Adaptive Per Ceptual Digttal Image Codec for 21 st Century Satellite Based Inter Cultural Global Geography Awareness Ajith Kumarayapa, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin. CHINA [email protected] Zhang Ye, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin. CHINA R.Wickramanayake Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin. CHINA "Picture is worth than thousand words” is a true saying that passes from generation to generation. In the modern digital era, we change the word Picture to Digital Signal Image. Moreover, in the context of intercultural awareness and the consequent communication activities, the satellite based Earth observation Digital Signal Imaginary plays crucial role. For an example, while staying in China for research studies, one can understand his back home geographical environment in far eastern country like Sri Lanka, observe its true environmental locations, towns of cultural diversity by accessing Google Earth; the interactive internet database based on Remotely Sensed Satellite Digital Signal Imaginary (combined with simulations). Furthermore, due to the advancement of remote sensing image compression and transmission technologies, now a day, not only we can talk to a friend in the other part of the globe but also watch his living city and suburb environment through the internet based earth observatory digital image simulations. At the beginning of our paper, we briefly address the question; "what is the technology behind such digital image communication task?” .Then, in order to make such bulky remotely sensed digital image communication and the ensuing observations more efficient, here, we propose and simulate an efficient, novel, Human Visual System (HVS) based (perceptual) Image Codec (i.e. a system to compress and decompress digital images). The evaluation results, including Ten (10) human observer’s subjective assessment average model emphasis the efficiency of our technique over the existing. Key words: HVS adaptive Perceptual Digital Image Codec, Digital image Communication, Communication and globalization On Cultural Context in Narration Comprehension Zhang Yi University of Wuhan University of Science and Technology [email protected]
246 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China On the basis of the interrelation of cultural context and discourse comprehension suggested by systemicfunctional linguists that every discourse belongs to a certain genre, the paper attempts to explore the significance of understanding cultural context in English narration by learners with different educational background in China. By means of the selfdesigned questionnaire, findings are observed through the analysis of standard deviation of descriptive statistics and of nonparametric correlations. The analysis of items in questionnaire is also made to compare the similarities and differences among different groups of subjects. Moreover, the corresponding suggestions are put forward from the perspectives of cultural awareness, course design, teaching materials, teaching methods as well as culture testing. Thus it is hoped that the investigation can give guidance on the reinforcement of the input of culture in English language teaching so as to improve the comprehension ability of English discourse by learners in China. Contrastive Analysis of Apology in Chinese and English ZhangLili China Jiliang University [email protected] The speech act of apology has become one of the hot issues in the field of pragmatics and attracted a lot of attention since BlumKulka &Olshtain ect.carried out the CCSARP (CrossCultural Speech Act Realization Project). A review of related literature shows that though apology by native speakers of English and other languages has been widely studied, inadequate study in depth has been done in Chinese in terms of both the realization of and responses to apology. Without studying speech acts in nonwestern contexts, the achievements would be confined to the western cultures. This paper, based on some insights from sociolinguistics, ethnography of speaking, crosscultural communication and pragmatics and addressing itself to the exploration of the common properties and discrepancies of Chinese and English apologies, intends to argue that apology, as a shared phenomenon in the English and Chinese cultures, differs in the choice of remedial exchanges, responses and some aspects of the sociolinguistic distribution. Literacy VS Literature: Liu Xie’s Wen Xin Dao Long as A Rhetorical Treatise on Written Discourse Heping Zhao Cal State U., Fullerton [email protected] Much has been written about Liu Xie's Wen Xin Diao Long as a work on literary criticism, literary aesthetics, or literary history. These views share an underlying conviction that Liu Xie was
247 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China concerned solely with literature. I challenge them and ague that Wen Xin Diao Long is primarily a work of rhetoric. A close reading of the entire treatise, not just those chapters that pertain to the various forms of poetry, reveals that Liu Xie was concerned about the creation and critiquing of all kinds of writing: inscriptions, condolences, memorials, edicts, historical narratives, philosophical speculations, sales records, prescriptions, letters, replies, etc. This broad spectrum of writings covers most, if not all, types of written discourse at the period of North and South Dynasties. It becomes evident, then, Liu Xie's notion of wenxin bears significant similarity to the European concept of rhetoric, an art that enables the user to find available means to distinction through effective use of language, spoken or written. His Wen Xin Diao Long, then, should be treated as one of China’s earliest works on rhetorical theory born out of, and applicable in, the Chinese context. Projectbased Learning Approach in Intercultural Communication Instruction: a case study in China Zhao Ke Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade The University of Hong Kong [email protected] In such a changing world, universities and colleges are confronted with challenges of preparing young people for working lives, which require abilities to communicate, work with others, solve problems, create, innovate and critique, work across specialist border, adapt to new cultures, and so on so forth . However, the current language educational practices in China have been criticized for quite a long time for not fulfilling the mission of cultivating students’ intercultural communication awareness, generic skills and intercultural communication competence. Indeed, there is an increasing awareness of the challenge in the field of Business English education. As English has become a universal language for conducting international business around the world, bodies of research have flourished into innovative instructional practices to bridge the gap between classroom instruction and real work places. The paper reports a use of projectbased learning and authentic assessment for learning in teaching Intercultural Communication in tertiary education in China. The projectbased learning approach is employed to address increasingly serious problems in traditional business English syllabus in China the dichotomy of knowledge and skills, decontextualization of teaching and learning, didactic mode of knowledge transmission, and so on. The paper assesses the effectiveness of the new approach on students’ intercultural communication awareness, generic skills and intercultural communication competence. Register Equivalence between the Source Language and the TargetLanguage in the Translation of Cultureloaded Words
248 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Zhao Mingxue China University of Ming and Technology (Beijing) [email protected] Generally speaking, translation is the information exchange and culture communication involving two language systems and two cultural systems. In translation, the cultural features of two languages can be completely overlapped, partly overlapped, culturally voided or even conflicted. Cultureloaded words are those expressions with special cultural meanings. It is the translation of these words from the source language into the target one which makes a good translation very much challenging. Equivalence was and still is taking the lead in Western translation theorizing, yet scholars’s differences in understanding layers as well as levels of equivalence make it a controversial concept to agree upon and a difficult translation theory to follow in practice. Besides, it has long been noticed that, in many cases, it is impossible to meet equivalence both in language form and language meaning. In this regard, it is generally agreed that equivalence should be an ideal, comprehensive yet relative concept. This paper is a study of applying register theory to translation practice in the hope to meet register equivalence between the source language and the target Language in the translation of cultureloaded words so as to achieve the highest equivalence by way of translation flexibility. Comparative Study of Nonverbal Communication in CMC Zhao Yan Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] [email protected] Computers and Networks have been called a fourth medium in the present world, together with radio, television and newspapers. Communication mediated via a computer is one of the most remarkable ways of human interaction in the present world which concerns the interaction with media as well as people, and is broadly used in business and internet related industries. Nonverbal Communication plays an important role in interpersonal communication. So Computer Mediated Communication (CMC) as a newly developed “special” interpersonal communication form and as such deserves more academic research.. However, among the limited (both in quality also in quantity) Chinese research about CMC, the verbal or linguistic part of CMC has been concentrated on too much, as Kulich (2006）mentioned in that the traditional orientation of Chinese IC research. In this sense, nonverbal communication in CMC should be discussed and explored more deeply. This presentation will compare the interpersonal nonverbal communication with CMC nonverbal communication, and finally test a hypothesis that the functions of nonverbal communication in CMC and in interpersonal communication are similar. This study will be a theoretic pilot study which intends to systematically examine the differences and underlying values suggested in this
249 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China difference both in an intercultural and intergroup sense (gender, age or real profession) The implication of the study could be interesting and valuable in an academic or in a practical way, especially for people working in the video game industry and Ebusinesses, as well as daily businesses online when negotiating and exchanging information. A Study of Interlanguage Pragmatics in the Academic Tutoring Sessions of the Course Western Civilization with Chinese Comparison (WCwCC) Zhao Yun Beijing Foreign Studies University [email protected] This article examines the interlanguage pragmatics in the institutional setting of the academic tutoring sessions of the course named Western Civilization with Chinese Comparison (WCwCC) in Beijing Foreign Studies University. This study is based on the study conducted by Kathleen BardoviHarlig and Beverly S. Hartford in 1996 about the nature of input available to learners in the institutional setting of the academic advising session. According to them, speech act realization, positive/negative evidence from peers and status unequals, the limitations of a learner’s pragmatic and grammatical competence, and the effect of stereotypes, are the four factors that may influence the course of development of interlanguage pragmatics in the institutional setting (BardoviHarlig & Hartford, 1996). Both quantitative questionnaire result and qualitative retrospective interviews give support to the first three factors, while leaving the fourth one unproved. Generally speaking, Chinese students prefer an indirect way of realizing speech acts and their realization patterns are relatively fixed. For the foreign tutor, the more indirect strategies students decide to adopt, the more difficulties the tutor would encounter in deducing their intended meanings. This is closely related to the different characteristics of Chinese culture and Western culture as is shown in the discussion of cultural value factor. Indirectness is found to be still an important pragmatic and cultural characteristic that Chinese highproficiency EFL learners tend to transfer in their performance in the research. Future studies are needed to explore of the reasons for this pragmatic transfer. The Differences of Cultural Psychology Reflected in the Images of Chinese and Western Poems Zheng Lili &Huang Haining Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected]
250 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Poems, as an important part of literature, manifest striking features of human culture. Moreover, “image”, which is regarded as “the picture of mind”, embodies the characteristics of cultural psychology in particular. Since the poems of China and Western world are created under different cultural backgrounds, this paper intends to make comparison between the images of Chinese and western poems in terms of their connotations so as to probe the “variability” and “similarity” underlying different cultures. It will help us to have a better understanding about cultural features of China and Western world and thus leads us to a successful intercultural communication. Approach to Translation Errors: A Cultural Perspective Zheng Shuming & Peng Zhenchuan Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Translation errors can be approached from different perspectives. This article deals with them from the functional point of view. According to Christiane Nord, translation errors are classified into four kindslinguistic translation errors, pragmatic translation errors, textspecific translation errors, and cultural translation errors, but the last one of which is the focus of this article. Translation errors may arise out of four different culturerelated aspects: cultural misreading which shows the influence of the native culture on the understanding of the foreign culture; cultural default which means the defaults in the native culture must be made up in the translation for the target audiences’ understanding; cultural substitution which is used in the translation of objects or events present in the source text but absent in the target text; and cultural borrowing which is the introducing into the target text of the objects or events in the source text but with no equivalents in the target text. The approach to translation errors finds its considerable use in translation criticism; translation teaching including translator training; and translation evaluation. From correspondent to reader: A linguistic/cultural analysis of journalistic coverage on China by the New York Times and The Economist Zhengmao Hu Guangdong Foreign Studies University [email protected] There has been in recent years no shortage of journalistic coverage on China by Western media and still less shortage in critiquing literature on their coverage, either popular or academic. Among the latter, some dismiss it as deliberately demonizing or “Chinabashing” while others hail it as exhilarating indication of China’s cultural power as a result of its economic prowess. This paper takes as its sampling pool major articles on China from the New York Times and The Economist
251 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China dating from January 2006 till at the time of writing and challenges both assumptions by composite means of discourse analysis, statistical enquiry and author clarification “straight from the horse’s mouth.” It argues that more detached academic studies on major Western media’s coverage on China are needed before legitimate/testable conclusions are made. Based on these analyses, this paper also suggests some tentative implications for communication in general and intercultural communication in particular. Culture and English Learning: the Necessity and the Ways of Learning English Classical Literature in Teaching English as a Foreign Language in China From Three New Aspects Zhou Hua Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The current teaching and learning English as a foreign language in China has been much focusing on teaching students to read texts for information, an inevitable part in foreign language education. What is much neglected is the teaching and learning of classical literature works full of culture and precious great thoughts and values. In this paper, the idea of teaching and learning of classical works is given, such as that of Shakespeare, of Socrates, the Declaration of Independence, etc. on the basis of literature review on English literature learning and teaching, especially on the two new basis the wonderful research on water crystals by Japanese professor Masaru Emoto and the ongoing activity of reading and reciting classical Chinese works in China and abroad. These researches prove that learning and teaching of classical works will beautify learners’ mind and soul, the fundamental aim of education, help them grasp the language and culture because within literary works language and culture are more integrated with each other. And the most efficient way of learning English classical literature is to read aloud and recite according to the research of right brain by a Japanese researcher, Dr. Makoto Shichida. What Does the Chef Do with the Ingredients?—A Content Analysis of Exercises in an Integrative English Course Zhou Jiaying Xianda College of Economics and Humanities at SISU [email protected] Liu Huijuan Xianda College of Economics and Humanities at SISU [email protected] As a followup study to Intercultural Ingredients: A Content Analysis of Texts in An Integrative English Course (cf. a separated proposal by Chi and Li), this paper content analyzes the exercises in the first four volumes of An Integrative English Course (AIEC), with a coding system based on
252 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Seelye’s theory of cultural teaching (1993). Since the process of acquiring a foreign language and learning a different culture can be compared to that of taking in food, and hence the texts to the ingredients. To fully evaluate the course books from a cultural perspective, we also need to find out to what extent these available ingredients are exploited. The exercises are exactly the cooked dishes provided by the chef, the editors in this case. An analysis of these exercises can reveal which cultural elements in the course books are highlighted, in which ways they are explored and what are the potential areas to be further explored. The conclusion is that the cultural elements in AIEC are far from being fully exploited and alternative ways to make full use of the various cultural elements in the texts are suggested at the end. Developing Intercultural Communication Competence Zhou Wei Harbin Engineering University [email protected] Because of the amazingly rapid development of science and technology in the areas of communication and transportation systems, we are living in a “global village”. People from all over the world could share information and ideas at the same time through sophisticated technology behind such communication means as television, telephone, fax, and the Internet. It naturally follows that intercultural contacts has become more frequent, more abundant, and more significant than ever before. Now that we will conduct more and more intercultural communication, the problem we are facing is how to do it, and how to do it well. A good knowledge of a foreign language, especially English is no doubt indispensable. But language alone does not ensure successful communication, especially intercultural communication. This paper will discuss intercultural communication competence from the aspects of developing cultural awareness. Armed with this awareness, you can design your own strategies for dealing with problems arising in intercultural communication situations. Besides, you are going to have a better understanding of your own native culture of which you may not be always aware just because you are in it. In order to achieve a successful intercultural communication, one also needs to respect differences and appreciating similarities between cultures, and to develop empathy which is able to see things from the point of view of others or to see oneself in the other fellow’s situation. The author draws the conclusion that intercultural communication competence means being able to communicate efficiently and effectively with people from other cultures, to achieve mutual understanding and to gain better cooperation.
253 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China On the Integration of Attitudes, Knowledge and Skills in Developing Intercultural Communication Competence Zhou, Zhen Yunnan University [email protected] Our success in communication with people from other cultures depends very much on how willingly we are to listen and observe carefully, how much effort we put in to convey our meanings effectively, to act appropriately and to satisfy the needs of the people we communicate with. In practice, we focus on training constructive attitudes including the interest to learn about other’s cultures, willingness to adapt to the environment and one another, mindfulness, empathy and supportiveness. The knowledge that we found most important include the relation of language, communication and culture, awareness of culture’s influence on verbal and nonverbal communication, and knowledge about oneself and others as individuals rather than as representatives of their cultures. The skills we’ve been trying to train include contextual awareness and adaptability, interacting in realworld scenarios, initiating, sustaining and closing conversational exchanges, appropriate feedback and disclosure, and sensitivity of nonverbal clues. Integration of attitudes, knowledge and skills has proved effective in improving the students’ intercultural communication competence. Euphemisms and Harmony Zhou Wenbo Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] Whether in communications within a culture or in communications between cultures, euphemisms seem to be very important because they can help speakers feel relaxed talking about the things which he or she feels too shy to mention, the things which might probably make them appear disgraced if spoken directly, or the things which tend to place both the speakers and listeners in a state of embarrassment. People often use euphemisms in their communication in order to be polite. The ultimate goal of being polite is to achieve a harmonious relationship with others. To that extent, euphemisms are used to achieve harmony. Thus, although the concept of harmony is deeply rooted in the minds of people with a Chinese background, yet it is not unique to the Chinese culture. It belongs to other cultures as well. This paper focuses on how euphemisms are related with the Polite Principle and how they violate the four maxims of the Cooperative Principle to achieve harmony. This simple study aims to enhance successful intercultural communication.
254 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China What Does the Chef Do with the Ingredients?—A Content Analysis of Exercises in an Integrative English Course Zhou Jiaying Xianda College of Economics and Humanities at SISU [email protected] Liu Huijuan Xianda College of Economics and Humanities at SISU [email protected] As a followup study to Intercultural Ingredients: A Content Analysis of Texts in An Integrative English Course (cf. a separated proposal by Chi and Li), this paper content analyzes the exercises in the first four volumes of An Integrative English Course (AIEC), with a coding system based on Seelye’s theory of cultural teaching (1993). Since the process of acquiring a foreign language and learning a different culture can be compared to that of taking in food, and hence the texts to the ingredients. To fully evaluate the course books from a cultural perspective, we also need to find out to what extent these available ingredients are exploited. The exercises are exactly the cooked dishes provided by the chef, the editors in this case. An analysis of these exercises can reveal which cultural elements in the course books are highlighted, in which ways they are explored and what are the potential areas to be further explored. The conclusion is that the cultural elements in AIEC are far from being fully exploited and alternative ways to make full use of the various cultural elements in the texts are suggested at the end. Intercultural competence: a must of professional qualifications in the 21st century Zhuang Enping Shanghai University, China [email protected] Scholars are not unanimous concerning how intercultural competence or the ability to behave effectively and efficiently in a foreign culture can be acquired, and its characteristics, although much has been done in its research. Nowadays intercultural competence has been acknowledged as the important dimension in today’s global environment, there is a common practice that the intercultural competence development focuses too much on such abstract concepts as ‘tolerance', ‘awareness', ‘ sensitivity', ‘knowledge, understanding' etc. and underrates the importance of its application in intercultural environments to resolve any intercultural issues. This practice may
255 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China present a notion to all that the more knowledge of a foreign culture one knows, the more awareness of cultural differences one would have; the more sensitivity one has acquired, the more intercultural competence one has developed. However this notion misleads people into assuming that positive attitudes and emotions may be enough for an intercultural communicator to be successful in an intercultural environment. This paper intends to clarify this misconception, presents the framework of intercultural competence and advocates its application in intercultural environments to justify its practical competence. And finally this paper calls for the development of intercultural competence as a must of professional qualifications in the 21 st century. Pragmatic Failure and Cultural Awareness in English Learning Zhuping Shanghai International Studies University [email protected] In crosscultural communication although people from different cultures speak the same language, such as English, their communication may break down due to pragmatic differences in ways of thinking, rules of speaking, social values, lexical connotations and other factors. Thomas has first used the term “pragmatic failure” to refer to the inability to understand “what is meant by what is said”, the kind of communication failure resulting from linguistically and culturally inappropriate utterances. She classifies two categories of pragmatic failures: pragmalinguistic failure and sociopragmatic failure. By presenting examples of pragmatic failures that occur because of negative pragmatic transfer from L1 to L2 and/or lack of knowledge of target culture, the writer wishes to emphasize the importance of enhancing cultural awareness and developing pragmatic competence in English learning. Migration and Crisis of Identity; the Case of Afghani Immigrants in Iran Zohreh Faghani University of Tehran [email protected] This is not irrelevant if we call the new world as the world of crises. But these crises are not like more familiar crises we faced during the last century. In our era, since material or political issues can be defined and distinguished as well, challenges will not occur in field of such issues anymore. Here the problem is that new challenges are more symbolic so we can't solve or even compromise them. The crisis of identity is a good instance for such a challenge and now this crisis is going to became one of the most substantial crises in the new global world. Identity crisis is the most important conflict human beings encounter when they go fundamental changes in life. The identity is "a subjective sense as well as an observable quality of personal sameness and continuity, paired
256 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China with some belief in the sameness and continuity of some shared world image This article examines the identity hesitations among the afghani immigrants in Iran. Through deep qualitative questions, the amount and level of alienation and their mechanisms for adaptation and resistance to Iranian culture has been widely examined. Intercultural Perspective on Conflict Management Zou Jueping East China Normal University [email protected] This paper discusses the relationship between conflict management and cultural contexts. Specifically, this paper will examine different conflict styles and conflict resolution strategies in collectivistic and individualistic cultures in view of the perceptions of self in those two cultural contexts. The perception of self, to a large extent, has an impact on people’s social behaviors, especially the ways they perceive and deal with clashes. It is proposed that in collectivistic culture, the collective self is highly valued and the concept of harmony as well as neutralism is held as priority, which leads to an implicit manner of carrying out conflicts and a tactful strategy of managing conflicts. In individualistic culture, on the contrary, the private self is attached with great importance and the pursuit of individual goals and interests are encouraged, which results in an explicit manner of carrying out conflicts and a competitive strategy of managing conflicts. In addition, national traits and myths in collectivistic and individualistic cultures will be studied in order to go deep into the reason for differential attitudes people have towards conflicts. Key words: conflict management, self, individualistic culture, collective culture Translating A Nonnative Speaker Zoya Proshina Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok [email protected] Translation and interpretation from English as a Lingua Franca used by nonnative communicators often requires specific knowledge of transference phenomena from the speaker/writer’s native language into English, as well as of contrastive typology of the two languages. This type of translation can be called an intermediary translation. Though in this case English seems to be a source language, in fact it is not, it is inbetween a native language of a speaker/writer and a target language of a reader/listener. This is an indirect translation of a text that can contain various deviations from standard English based on the norms of English from the socalled Inner Circle countries (B.Kachru). For the text to be intelligible, comprehensive, and interpretable (L.Smith), a translator has to know these deviations on all language levels – in phonetics, graphics, grammar, and lexis. I will illustrate it by samples of translation from China English into Russian, focusing attention on the problems of this translation. To help students cope with the translation and
257 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China interpretation challenges, a course of East Asian Englishes has been introduced at Far Eastern National University (Vladivostok, Russia). CrossCultural Immersion in Canada Renovates Teachers’ Traditional Teaching Attitudes Jie Ding Foreign Language Department, Heilongjiang Institute of Science and Technology [email protected] This paper makes a study of a fourweek crosscultural immersion experience in Canada for EFL teachers from Heilongjiang Institute of Science and Technology who attended Douglas College’s Immersion Programme in Vancouver.This immersion is designed to make a positive impact on EFL teachers' attitudes, beliefs, and understandings toward our Chinese college students.Thanks to this short effective crosscultural immersion, teachers enhanced their knowledge,skills and improved their understanding of effective crosscultral communications. The study is based on some typical cases ,such as a crosscultural misunderstanding involving the Canadian homestay family. Through description and analyses, this study shows that an immersion like this type, together with teachers active involvement in program, is very helpful and can help future teachers introduce cultureawareness into the teaching of major English courses. Rethink Of The News Values: Discuss With the Consuming News in Newspaper ChiaoWen, Fang Chinese Culture University, Taiwan [email protected] News media have long served to fight the autonomy and for freedom of speech, which in democratic regimes, have transformed into a mechanism to supervise and balance government and authorities. Being presenters of public opinions and providers of social services, a standard has been set for people in news industry. In terms of presenting people, news media are to provide a platform that accommodates a variety of opinions; in terms of news practice, the principle of objectivity must be abided by. However, in a consumer society where capitalism prevails and commercial products define cultural values, the role and that very standard of news media has inevitably changed. As the main sources of consumer information, newspapers, magazines and other platforms are flooded with advertisements in disguise of consumer living news and the professional language of news releases, news notes and special reports. Advertorial in newspaper is a going trend in the industry,
258 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China where the socalled advertorials in media promote sales and products of associated business groups in exchange for financial support. The instinctive act for survival has erased the distinctive line between news and advertisements, and further invoked doubts about the journalism ethics. The goal of this research is to find the way out of the two most important questions in the present newspaper situation: “Should the classical news values (such as neutrality, objectivity and do not be influenced by commercial pursuits) be altered in the present capitalist society?” and “Does the way to edit the consuming news in newspaper not correspond with the classical news values?” Theorizing about Intercultural Communication: Semiotic and Memetic Approach to Dynamic Intercultural Communication Gu Jiazu Nanjing Normal University [email protected] As pointed out by William Gudykunst in his Theorizing About Intercultural Communication (2005),”Theorizing about communication and culture has made tremendous progress in the last 20 years”. However, while acknowledging the past intercultural communication scholarship, the author of this paper assumes that the past scholarship seems to be largely limited to sociological, sociolinguistic, anthropolinguistic, sociopsychological and philosophical approaches, which are surely far from adequate. Moreover, a lot of such studies tend to be static , rather than dynamic. The author ,therefore, stresses the importance of resorting to certain more important approaches such as semiotic and memetic for intercultural communication, illustrating the implications of semiotic and memetic theories reflected in the process of intercultural communication and consequently, making a practical course like intercultural communication more dynamic and more theorized as desired for. The Different Perceptions of Time in Chinese and Western Culture Li Mengyu Ocean University of China [email protected] The paper concentrates on the study of nonverbal communication, especially on the different perceptions of time in the Chinese and western culture. It analyzes the differences in the following three aspects. Firstly, psychological time and physical time. In Chinese culture, time is not merely regarded as the flow of object in physical movement, but as the psychological reflection of something eternal in which past, present and future are linked. While in the western culture, time is often perceived as a process of physical movement, and especially in modern times, time is even been closely connected with money and wealth. Secondly, relative time and absolute time .In Chinese culture ，time is not thought of as an absolute thing which can control the life of human
259 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China beings , this enables Chinese people to enjoy more leisure time. While in western culture, time is perceived as something fixed and absolute, people have no free will to get rid of the control of time. Thirdly, circular time and lineal time .The Chinese culture regards the movement of time as a circular process, just like the rhythm of the nature. While western culture believes that time is a continuous lineal movement from past to present and future. The Influence of Culture on Native and Chinese English Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs about Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Chinese University Students Li Xiaoming Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] This study aims to investigate and how different cultures influence the pedagogical beliefs that native and Chinese English teachers have about teaching English as a foreign language to Chinese university students. 15 Chinese English teachers and 15 native English teachers participated in this study voluntarily. Surveys, semistructured interviews and fieldworks were used to compare native English teachers’ and Chinese English teachers’ beliefs about teaching English as a foreign language to Chinese university students to determine how their beliefs are different based on the fact that they have been influenced by different cultures and language learning experiences. Using SPSS13.0 to analyze data, the following results are revealed: (1) teachers participated in this study reported five core beliefs about English teaching that guide them through daytoday work; (2) there is a significant difference between native teachers’ and Chinese teachers’ beliefs about teaching English as a second language; (3) these different beliefs about English teaching mainly derive from different cultures. Appraisal and Identities in English Learning Journals of NonEnglish Majors: English Songs or Movies and Identity Liang Meihong Beijing University of Technology [email protected] Identity has become a focus discussion in the circle of linguistics in recent years at home and broad. This paper discusses the relationship between English learning and learners’ cultural identity construction. It applies the Appraisal Theory to analyze the English learning journals on English songs and movies. Based on the concepts of “attitude”, “affect”, “judgement”, “appreciation”, “engagement”, and some other appraisal resources, it analyzes the samples from learning journals of about 105 nonEnglishmajor freshmen in Beijing University of Technology. The analyses are focused on two points: different attitudes towards and reasons for preferring English songs or movies, and the relationship between English learning and learners’ cultural
260 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China identities. The main finding is that through lexical choices, the students express their different attitudes towards, various reasons for and different feelings about English songs or movies. They show a strong awareness of multicultural identities. They attach great importance to fashion and high technology, which indicates personal identity of the individuals. To some extent, this kind of identity distinguishes the very person from “others”. The relationship between English learning and selfidentity construction is very complex. The students show a tendency of multiple identities in contemporary society in their English learning. The Influence of Culture on Native and Chinese English Teachers’ Pedagogical Beliefs about Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Chinese University Students Li Xiaoming Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] This study aims to investigate and how different cultures influence the pedagogical beliefs that native and Chinese English teachers have about teaching English as a foreign language to Chinese university students. 15 Chinese English teachers and 15 native English teachers participated in this study voluntarily. Surveys, semistructured interviews and fieldworks were used to compare native English teachers’ and Chinese English teachers’ beliefs about teaching English as a foreign language to Chinese university students to determine how their beliefs are different based on the fact that they have been influenced by different cultures and language learning experiences. Using SPSS13.0 to analyze data, the following results are revealed: (1) teachers participated in this study reported five core beliefs about English teaching that guide them through daytoday work; (2) there is a significant difference between native teachers’ and Chinese teachers’ beliefs about teaching English as a second language; (3) these different beliefs about English teaching mainly derive from different cultures. Cultural Dissemination and Embodiment of Literature Sociocultural analysis of American Postmodernist Fiction Liu Ying English Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Harbin Normal University [email protected] Through the sociocultural analysis on the American postmodernist fiction, this paper attempts to discuss and manifest the cultural dissemination of literature. Postmodernism fiction is a literary genre occurred in 1960s, when America stepped into a postindustrial period. Postmodernist literary works is marked by the loss of traditional values, breaking up from normal traditional writing techniques and devices. Seemingly chaotic in the way of writing, postmodernism literary works disseminate and embody the social culture of modern American society. In this way, it
261 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China provides a medium for people from other culture background to understand the postmodernistic social culture of America. A Comparative analysis of Survey on Face in Chinese and Western Cultural Background Meng Xuemei Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The paper is to study the recognition and assassment on face concept between Chinese people and western ones so as to get if the differences exist in two different cultural background on “ face ”. Methods: There are are altogether 100 samples from China and western countries. Results: Chinese people pay more attention on face and face work, which is far beyond the western people. In china, face has to do with the image or credibility of the person you are dealing with. You should never insult, embrass, shame, yell at a person. If you do, they will “lose face”. It is an extremely important cultural issue to be aware of face. Reasons: the traditional culturalconfusian ethic face exerts great influnce on Chinesse face. Discussions:1. Different cultural background influnces one’s understanding of “ face ” somewhat. 2. Though “face ” cutural is traditional in China, from the point view of the auther, it is not a good thing for a person, especially in Modern China. The connotation of “face” has changed a lot, we don’t think it worth keeping; on the contrary, it should be deserted. CrossCultural Exploration of Business Communicaiton Sang Xiaolei Northeast Forestry University [email protected] In recent years, with the development of our economy and the tendency of the globalization, the community between our country and others is becoming more and more often. In the communicating process，because of the differences existing between countries, such as cultures, customs, religions，the business activities can not go on smoothly. In order to reduce even avoid the misunderstanding and conflicts, it is necessary to introduce and study the intercultural communication in business. Intercultural communication is attracting more and more attention all over the world. Studying and analyzing the conflicts usually happening, this article focuses on the importance of the intercultural communication in business activities and the methods of how to prepare before the business activities and to decrease the misunderstanding.
262 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China In the intercultural communication, the two parties should not only make their linguistic behaviors suitable, also the nonlinguistic behaviors. The key of communicating success depends on the knowledge and acceptance of other countries’ thinking style, customs and values and so on. One World One Dream The Understanding of 2008 Olympic Games Between China and the Western World Sheng Rongjie Daqing Normal University [email protected] Given that cultural variation between Eastern and Western world have played a significant role in influencing both cognition and communication across cultures, this research will first elaborated the most basic communication styles for all human beings. A cognitive psychological perspective theory which is Relevance theory (Sperber and Wilson, 1994) will be introduced and the basic psychological underpinning for the origins of misunderstandings between cultures will be introduced. Then the theoretical framework will introduce the cultural influence on cognition (Nisbett et al, 2001) emotional and motivational factors (Markus and Kitayama, 1991). The origin of these differences will be sketched and the detailed psychological variations will be specified. The following section introduces the contextual framework and specifies the cultural variations with respect to the representations related to Olympics between China and Britain. The next part of this paper will detail the research design and methodology applied. The last part presents some theoretical issues to explain the major findings in this research. The complex relationship between self construals and cultures will be unpacked in a evolutionary psychological perspective and the universally shared aspects of the sense of self will be indicated. Then the following part will attempt to explain the deeply psychological mechanisms which give rise to misunderstanding between cultures. Finally, a theoretical approach towards the essence of cultural transmission which is the epidemiology of representation (Sperber, 1994) will be introduced as the conclusion of the research report. Domestication and Foreignization in the Context of Cultural Globalization Song Xiuzhi Harbin Normal University [email protected] This article sets out to study two translation strategies in the context of cultural globalization: one is the domestication, the other foreignization. And also indicates that the influences by the cultural
263 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China globalization are including two aspects : one is the similarities in culture and the other cultural localization. According to the “Skopos theory” of German functionalism school and Venuti’s “Postcolonial theory”, it makes the conclusion that in the context of cultural globalization domestication should be mainly applied to the advertising translation oriented by interests and foreignization to the literature translation designed to spread culture. Discussion on the Nonverbal Communication Wang Liqun Northesat Forestry University [email protected] Nonverbal communication involves all those stimuli in a communication setting that are generated by both the source and his or her use of the environment and that has potential message value for the source or receiver. It includes all messages and cues not coded into a verbal language. It occurs through cues accompanying language or separate from language from which people interpret meaning. For the function of nonverbal communication, we mostly learn about the meaning of nonverbal messages by studying them in relationship to verbal messages. Essentially, a nonverbal message functions in one of the following five ways: namely, repeating, complementing, substituting, regulating and contradicting. They may compliment or repeat what is being said verbally. Nonverbal cues may also substitute the verbal. The study of nonverbal communication covers many areas. The study of nonverbal communication is directly linked to the study of culture. It is therefore of great significance to learn about the following relationship between nonverbal communication and culture. Nonverbal communication has the same qualities. Edward T. Hall uses three metaphors to describe this invisible aspect of culture and nonverbal communication: the silent language, the hidden dimension, the dance of life. Nonverbal communication is part of the culture that is covert, implicit, and hidden. Culture is allpervasive, multidimensional, and boundless. The same is true of nonverbal behavior. We can make hundreds of nonverbal movements to serve as messages. Nonverbal behavior is also difficult to describe and pin down as well as culture. As it is beyond our consciousness, we find it hard to specify our nonverbal behavior and the meanings behind it. A Study on Relationship between Attention and Recall of Different
264 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Online Advertising Format SHUYi WU Chinese Cutlure University, Taiwan [email protected] [email protected] In the recent years, more and more advertisers adopt online advertising as their marketing strategy. However, there are various advertising types which were used on the website. If the user can notice the online advertising, it will be a great benefit to the advertiser. Therefore, the most important thing is to find out what kind of advertising format gets popular. According to resource theory, we can know that people’s attention is limited. As user face many different stimulus factors compete on the same website (such as static bigger ad vs. animation smaller ad), what kind of stimulus factor will be excellent? Therefore, we want to find out from different advertising elements (placement, size and animation or static), which one will be the most attentiongetting and impressive? To find out the best stimulus factor is the purpose of this study. Most of past research adopted questionnaire, however, it can’t provide objective findings about user’s actual browsing behavior. This research adopted EYELINK II to track and record subject’s eye movement pattern and try to analyze subject’s attention distributions. Our purpose is to find out the best advertising format and to provide some valuable strategies to the advertising market. The Current Status and Future Trend of the MULAN The Comparisons between Mainland China and Other Countries TungJun WU Chinese Culture University [email protected] People gather information and do many other things by surfing the Internet, which has became part of our lives. With the development of technology and the constructions of WLAN, people can surf the Internet and get information with different devices anytime, anywhere. By using this kind of ubiquitous network, we can improve the efficiency and quality of life as well a enhance the competitiveness of governments, enterprises and persons. In the context of globalization, plenty of countries have devoted their time and efforts to construct the infrastructure of WLAN to enhance their competitiveness. This research is aimed at discussing the policy of carrying out the WLAN and business model under different region, customers, culture and life style in UK, America, Japan, Mainland China and Taiwan. This research discusses the future trend of the progress of the WLAN and the possible problems as well.
265 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China A Comparative Study of the Lexicalization of Verbal Process Lexis in Chinese and English Xu Liying Harbin Institite of Technology [email protected] The degree of lexicalization refers to the extent to which a complex linguistic form has taken on a noncompositional, idiomatic meaning. This paper compares the English lexical items which denote the act of saying in The Great Gatsby with their Chinese translational equivalents. The paper proposes that English has a higher degree of lexicalization than Chinese in terms of words of saying. Tentative explanations of such differences are given from the perspective of differing linguistic worldviews between English and Chinese. The findings have significant implications to language teaching in the Chinese EFL context. Factors Affecting Web Usage among Taiwan’s Old People Taien Yang Institute of Communication Studies [email protected] This study will focus on the old people (age>60)’s internet usage. For various reasons, old people, as we may expect, are usually the most disadvantaged in terms of internet usage: they may lack the technologies, the money, the relations, and the motivations to use the internet. This study will try to pinpoint the major factors affecting the usage of internet among the old people. Uses and gratifications and other related theories will be the frame of reference for this study. Expected results of this study will include a priority list of the factors influencing the web usage. Web experts will hence have a guideline to better serve the old citizens by removing some of the factors. While the old people may avoid the hindrances of those factors in internet usage. Also expected will be some minor revisions of the uses and gratifications theory. This theory has gone a long way since it was first introduced into the mass media field. During the internet era, there will certainly be some new aspects that can be added into the theory. Study on the Crosslingual Differences of Animal expressions in Respect to Cultural Connotation
266 CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 2224, 2007 Harbin·China Yu Xianli Foreign Languages Department of the Chongqing Communication Academy [email protected] Since language is the carrier of culture, culture is fully reflected in the images and emotions of expressions for all beings. In both English and Chinese languages, there are numerous animal expressions which associate with the emotion and feeling of people, with different animal images embodying different cultural connotations. However, the connotations of animal expressions in one language do not necessarily coincide with those in the other one. The difference in Chinese and western culture resulted in the difference in the cultural connotations of animal expressions in their own languages. This paper probes into the crosscultural differences of the cultural connotations of animal expressions in English and Chinese language, via the approach of comparison between the various expressions of animals in the two languages and the approach of analysis. This probe is to accomplish the purpose of understanding fully and correctly the whole massage an expression carries in crosscultural communication, enhancing the mutual understanding and mutual communication between the Chinese and the western culture, and avoiding the obstacles in crossculture interaction. A Study of ISA Theory in Daily Communication Zhou Hua Cheng Cheng Harbin Institute of Technology [email protected] The use of language is closely related with social and cultural factors. In fact, it is regulated and underpinned by them. In the linguistic world, the study of the interactive relationship between them has been a special concern of scholars, as it is of not only theoretical value but also of practical value. The paper tentatively studies the function of the indirect speech act in daily communication, namely, domestic and intercultural communication. Whether the use of indirect speech act is successful or not always influences people’s communication significantly. So, grasping the nature of this pragmatic theory, then applying it into our daily communication is the critical means to improve people’s communicative competence.
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