Unit 1 Language and Culture in Communication
Theory Communication is something we do every day. It takes place so naturally that we simply fail to notice it until it hiccups or breaks down。 Though it is commonplace， it is no exaggeration to say that communication is life and life is communication。
1。When you join a social gathering， you must be aware of rules and procedures that govern the way things are going to proceed。 There is a technical term for such rules and procedures—schema.
2。 Face and politeness are two other areas which are extremely value—nsitive。 One of the distinctive features of Chine politeness is lf-denigration and other-elevation.
Ca 1： Litz is a professor of cross—cultural communication in a university in Finland。 She invited her Chine students home for an evening party.
傅斯年
The schema from Litz’s point of view includes the following：
1。 Giving invitation： by phone / by mail
2. Prepare everything before the arrival of guests
3. Receiving guests: open the door / express welcome / take their overcoats / introduce guests / offer them drinks / make them comfortable
4。 Serving food： t the table / soup first / main cour / dert
5。 Post dinner activities: chat / play music / offer more drinks
6。 Seeing guests off： thank them for coming / good night
Litz's evening party was not very successful， becau she was upt by one of her guests。 Here was the initial conversation between Litz and Lin：
Litz： （opens the door） Oh， Lin， how nice you could come!
Lin： It’s not difficult to find your hou。
Litz： Come on in。
Lin: （comes in）
qq解除冻结Litz: Can I take your coat？
Lin： No, thanks。文字标志
Litz： Ok， this way plea。
Lin: (take off her coat and hangs it）
Analysis: Litz was hurt becau Lin did not let her hang her coat. Litz's offering to hang Lin’s coat is one of Litz’s ways (it’s on Litz’s schema)。 On Lin's side， she thought that Litz was her supervisor and that it was inappropriate to let her supervisor hang her coat。 Here we have an instance of one action attached with different cultural values。
烀肘子的家常做法
Ca 2:
Finding an Interested Buyer
Georage Hall was in Beijing attending a trade fair and looking for an opportunity to do business in China. He had been very successful in his business dealings in the US and prided himlf on his ability “to get things moving。” His first day was going well 。He looked around at the displays of sporting equipment to get some idea of whom he might approach。 He was sure that his products， tennis rackets with an unusual new design， would arou some interests。 On the cond day he approached the company which he felt would be most responsive to his products。 He introduced himlf to the general， a Mr。 Li。 Since he had read that Chine find getting down to business immediately too abrupt and rude， he began a casual conversation， eventually leading up to the topic of his products and suggesting how Mr. Li's company might benefit from using them. George then suggested that he could arrange to get together with Mr。 Li and provide more specifics and documentation on his products。
Mr。 Li responded in fairly good English,” That would be interesting。”
Knowing that he had only a few days left in Beijing， George wanted to nail down a time，” When can we meet？” asked George。
“Ah. This week is very busy，” replied Mr。 Li。中国有几大盆地
“It sure is，" said George，” How about 10 o'clock？ Meet you here。”
“Tomorrow at 10 o’clock？” asked Mr. Li thoughtfully。
“Right,” said George， “I'll e you then？”
“Hmm， yes； why don’t you come by tomorrow，" was the reply。
“OK，” responded George," It was nice meeting you.”
The next day at 10 o’clock he approached Mr。 Li's company's exhibit only to find that Mr。 Li had some important business and was not able to meet with George. He called back later in the day and was told that Mr。 Li was not available。
Analysis餐厅的餐怎么写： 英美人士做事情讲究守时.而中国人不太重视这方面.本案列中,李先生不仅没有准时接见预约的客户,甚至放了他“鸽子"。
Ca3： Professor Liang has written a book on Chine culture in Chine。 His book is put on display in Beijing International Book Fair' 96. Professor Liang would like to have his book translated into English and submitted to Thompson Publishers. Professor Liang has asked Li Yan， whom he meets regularly in the English Corner， to help him to talk to Peter Allright， a Thompson reprentative。
Prof. Liang：奥莱特先生，这是鄙人的拙作。
Li Tan： Mr. Allright， this a clumsy book written by your humble rvant.
Mr Allright： No， no, no， you’re not my humble rvant。 We do not publish books in Chine。
Li Yan （to Professor Liang）: 不，不，不，你不是我的仆人，我们不出中文书。
Professor Liang： 我要请李艳翻译成英文。
发明的英语Li Yan （to Mr. Allright）： Professor Liang will ask me to translate it into English。
Mr. Allright： Mm that’s interesting。
Analysis肉手: Chine authors almost always belittle their works by describing them as clumsy writings, and they u the same description when they prent them to Chine publishers. But this will be counter-productive in English。 Instead， authors should point out the merits of their works rather than “clumsiness”.
