Chapter 7 Cultural Patterns
Text A
1. Why understanding differences in cultural patterns is extremely important for effective intercultural communication
Becau cultural patterns are the basis for interpreting the symbols ud in communication. If the cultural patterns between people are different, the symbols ud in communicating will be interpreted differently and may be misunderstand.
2. How is cultural patterns defined
Cultural patterns can be defined as following: shared beliefs, values, norms, and social practices that are stable over time and that lead to roughly similar behaviors across similar situations.
3. What are other factors besides culture that influence how we e the world and communicate the world
The are both influenced by factors, including age, gender, status, occupation, etc.
Ca 40
1. What different views do Fua and Hettie hold on the issue of lending money, especially to family members
Hettie became very upt. She never heard of parents asking children for money. She thought it was children who were suppod to borrow from parents and parents borrow from banks. Hettie thought it was unreasonable to lend money to family member. But Fua thought to lend money family member is very common, and it was also kind of honor.
2. What do you think caus the differences
It is caud by different cultural patterns. Different cultural patterns are provided people different ways of thinking. Cultural patterns provide the basic t of standards that guide thought and action. Fua come from Laos ,and Hettie come from German, so they have different cultural patterns. So in this situation, they have different thoughts.
Text B
1. What are the components of cultural patterns
Beliefs, values, norms and social practices together constitute the components of cultural patterns.
2. And how is each of the components defined Support with examples.
Beliefs: a belief is an idea that people assume to be true about the world. For example, a widely shared belief dates back to the time when Europeans believed that the earth was flat. That is ,people “knew” that the earth was flat. Most people now “know” that the earth is basically round and would laugh at any suggestion that it is flat.
Values: involve what a culture regards as good or bad, right or wrong, fair or unfair, just or unjust, beautiful or ugly, clean or dirty, valuable or worthless, appropriate or inappropriate, and kind or cruel. For example, Americans value youth rather than old age. In Korea, however, respect for elder is a positive value.
Norms: are the socially shared expectations of appropriate behaviors. For example, the greeting behaviors of people within a culture are governed by norms.
Social practices: are the predictable behavior patterns that members of a cultural typically follow. For example, in the United States, lunch is usually over by 1:30 pm. But in Italy, lunch hasn’t even begun by 1:30 pm.
3. What are the value types propod by Schwartz
Schwartz’s value types: power, achievement, Hedonism, stimulation, lf-direction, universalism, curity, benevolence, tradition and conformity.
4. What values do Chine cultures stress And what values do westerners stress
Chine cultures stress power, conformity, universalism, curity, benevolence, and tradition. Westerners stress achievement, lf- direction, hedonism, stimulation.
Text C
1. What is context according to Hall
Hall defines context as the information that surrounds an event. It is inextricably bound up with the meaning of the event.
2. What are the main features of high-context cultures
In high-context cultures, people are very homogeneous with regard to experiences, information networks and the like. Information is provided through gestures, the u of space, and even silence. It tend to be more aware of their surroundings and their environment and do not rely on verbal communication as their main information channel.
3. What are the main features of low-context cultures
In low- context cultures, the population is less homogeneous, the verbal message contains most of the information and very little is shown in the context or the participants. Member of low-context cultures expect messages to be detailed, clear-cut, and definite.
