122 Cultural Comparisons Country A Country B ChineseTaiwanese

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Cultural Comparisons Country A Country B Chinese/Taiwanese Eastern Company A School A Company American Western Company B School 2/22: 6

Culture Shock 1. "Anxiety that results from a loss of commonly perceived and understood signs and symbols of social intercourse" (Brown, 1987 as cited by Gorodetskaya). 2. "Cognitive and affective contradictions of the foreign culture mount up" and the person becomes "disoriented" (Brown 1994: 170). 3. Impact on us of THE UNFAMILIAR 3/22: 3

What is Culture Shock? It might include feelings of frustration anxiety resentment homesickness self-pity hostility indecision depression irritation loneliness unhappiness anger estrangement physical illness 4/22

Hypothetical Case of Culture Shock for an American 1 "At first, things in the cities look pretty much alike. There are taxis, hotels, with hot and cold running water, theatres, neon lights, even tall buildings with elevators and a few people who can speak English. But pretty soon the American discovers that underneath the familiar exterior there are vast differences. (Hall 1959: 59, cited in Brown 1994: 170; reformatted as a list here. ) 5/22

Hypothetical Case of Culture Shock for an American 2 When someone says "yes" it often doesn't mean yes at all, and when people smile it doesn't always mean they are pleased. When the American visitor makes a helpful gesture he may be rebuffed; when he tries to be friendly nothing happens. (Hall 1959: 59, cited in Brown 1994: 170; reformatted as a list here. ) 6/22

Hypothetical Case of Culture Shock for an American 3 People tell him that they will do things and don't. The longer he stays, the more enigmatic the country looks…. " (Hall 1959: 59, cited in Brown 1994: 170; reformatted as a list here. ) 7/22

Stages of Culture Shock 1. Excitement and Euphoria 2. Culture Shock 3. Gradual, tentative, vacillating recover 4. Full recovery: Assimilation or Adaptation (Brown 171) 8/22

Alternatives to Recovery 1. Abandon the culture 2. Continue to suffer “Chronic Culture Shock” 9/22

Culture Shock Environments 1. Traveling abroad 2. Living abroad 3. Reverse culture shock 4. Language classroom 10/22

Culture Shock Anecdotes 1 1. Russian journalist pushing English colleague's cat off a chair to sit down 2. Personal space 3. Kenji studies abroad (TYPICAL) 4. Social communion (Russians complain as part of theirs) Gorodetskaya (1996) 11/22

Culture Shock Anecdotes 2 5. Gestures (OK sign and Cuban) 6. Offering and refusing refreshments as a guest PROTOTYPICAL 7. Time (punctuality, manana) 8. Topics of Conversation—Small talk Gorodetskaya (1996) 12/22

Kenji Studies Abroad 1 Kenji, a university student from Japan, is studying at a pre-university language institute in the US. For 12 years he has been taught what the role of a good student is. He shows respect to his teacher by never contradicting the teacher; never speaking in class unless spoken to—the teacher should initiate all communication. Adapted slightly from Brown, 1994: 174 13/22

Kenji Studies Abroad 2 He lets the teacher's wisdom be 'poured into' him; never calling a teacher by a first name; respecting older teachers even more than younger teachers. But, in his new language school, his teachers are very friendly and encourage a first-name basis. Adapted slightly from Brown, 1994: 174 14/22

Kenji Studies Abroad 3 They ask students to actively participate in group work. They try to get students to come up with answers to problems rather than just giving the answer, and so on. Kenji is confused. Why? Adapted slightly from Brown, 1994: 174 15/22

Sources of Culture Shock DIFFERENCES in CULTURE DIFFERENCES in EXPECTATIONS DIFFERENCES in CUSTOMS DIFFERENCES in WAYS OF SPEAKING / SOCIOLINGUISTIC RULES 16/22

Preventing Culture Shock Through education Gorodetskaya mentions a "vaccination" approach 17/22+

Sociocultural Competence A. K. A. Sociolinguistic Competence Knowing What to say How to say it When to say it Who to say it to and under what conditions 18/22

Preventing or Minimizing Culture Shock 1. Do not deny someone's frustration 2. Increase cultural and self-awareness (Brown, 173 c; Samovar et al. 253 f) 3. Learn as much as possible about the other culture (Samovar et al. 252) 19/22+

Japanese Customs and Values Gift giving The (non) use of first names Bowing Indirect speech The removal of shoes Politeness The use of business cards The importance of group harmony 20/22

French Customs and Values In a business setting (e. g. , presentation), you should be: Formal and polite Well organized Logical Explicit and prepared for difficult questions 21/22

Intercultural Communication Expertise Language teachers Translators / Interpreters Business people (some of all of them) Ordinary language learners 22/22