The Difference Cultural Characteristics between Chinese and American(英语论文).doc

The Difference Cultural Characteristics between Chinese and American I. Introduction 1.1 Definition Culture is a shared, learned, interrelated set of symbols, which unite and identify members of society. (Terpstra and David, 1991) 1.2 The Range of Culture (1) Values and beliefs (moral and religious beliefs) (2) Communication (spoken and written language, body language) (3) Norms of behavior (4) Customs (5) Arts, music, dance, sport 1.3 The Characteristics of Culture (1) Learned. Process of learning ones culture is called enculturation. (2) Shared. By the members of a society. No culture of one. (3) Patterned. Petructed through a constant process of social interaction. (4) Symbolic. Culture, language and thought are based on symbols and symbolic meanings. (5) Arbitrary. Not based on natural laws external to humans, but created by humans according to the whims of the society. Example: standards of beauty. (6) Internalized. Habitual. Taken-for-granted. Perceived as natural. II. The Difference Cultural Characteristics between Chinese and American 2.1 High -Context vs. Low- Context Chinese culture belongs to high-context culture, while American culture belongs to low- context culture. The people from these two different cultures have obvious different communication way. Chinese people, who come from high context culture much go unsaid and depend on the relationship between the speaks, each is able to interpret body language and” read between the lines. However, American people, who come from low-context culture speak clearly and directly and come straight to the point and say exactly what the mean. Therefore, when Chinese people are communicating with American people, Chinese people perceive American people too talkative, too obvious and redundant. On the contrary, American people perceive Chinese people non-disclosing and mysterious. Hence, the people who come from these two different countries should realize the different c