CAFIC & IAICS INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
DIVERSITY, HARMONY
AND INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
JUNE 22-24, 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 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Abstracts for Keynote Speeches
English across Cultures and Intercultural Awareness
Nobuyuki Honna
Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan
n-honna@jcom.home.ne.jp
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 ten-year 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
yuxin1228@yahoo.com.cn
Abstract:
The now classic study of metaphors we live by has changed our understanding of
metaphor and its role in language and mind. Metaphor is considered to be a
fundamental mechanism of mind, which allows us to consciously use our bodily and
social experience and activities to understand, experience, and to reason about the
world. This update philosophical understanding of the embodied mind has reopened
our eyes and made us rethink the fundamental philosophical and cultural issues.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
The update philosophical understanding of the embodied mind has made us to
revisit the traditional Chinese philosophy as it regarded metaphor as a fundamental
mechanism of mind about 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.
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 such as image, 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 and it is embodied in nature. As a unique 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 metaphorical and it is grounded in our physical and social experience
and activities.
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 and member of Board of Directors of
China Association for English Education Study. He has acted as Vice-President 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.
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, and so on. 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
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
both in 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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Intercultural Mass Communication:
A New Frontier for Intercultural Communication Research
Sun Youzhong
Beijing Foreign Studies University
sunny@bfsu.edu.cn
Abstract
Communication takes place at various levels of social organization, i.e. intrapersonal,
interpersonal, intragroup, institutional/organizational and society-wide (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 mass-mediated 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
Pennsylvania State University and a post-doctoral 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 books--John Dewey’s Social Thought, Modern
American Popular Culture, Approaching America, and American Cultural Industry—and the
co-translator 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,
1993-2002, 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 1966-1976 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
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 Twenty-first Century. He was featured in China Talent Semimonthly in 2005 (in
Chinese).
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
A founder of the field of intercultural communication in the 1970's, he was President of SIETAR
International in 1984-86. An Emeritus Professor at the University of Virginia (1972-2001), former
Distinguished Professor at the Rochester (1994-2001), Professor at Yangzhou University
(2001-2002); Distinguished Professor at the Beijing Language and Culture University (2002-2005)
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), Sino-American Compositions of Shared Topics (2003), and as co-editor with Steve
J. Kulich, Intercultural Perspectives on Chinese Communication (2007). Kulich, he, and Zhang
Hongling are presently co-editing 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?
Svetlana G. Ter-Minasova
Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Area Studies
Moscow State University, Russia
dean@ffl.msu.ru
Abstract
The future of mankind depends largely on its ability to communicate. Technical progress provides
mankind with an ever-increasing variety of more and more powerful devices and forms of
communication: tele-conferences, multi-media 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 Ter-Minasova, 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 50th 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 New-York
Re-considering Values Studies: China as a Classroom Case for
Multi-method emic to etic Comparisons
Steve J. Kulich, Executive Director
SISU Intercultural Institute
Shanghai International Studies University
kulich@shisu.edu.cn; kulis@uninet.com.cn
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 multi-perspective approaches toward the use of values clarification exercises
specifically in China as well as suggested applications in other contexts (150 words).
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Biosketch
Steve J. Kulich is Executive Director of the SISU Intercultural Institute (SII) of Shanghai
International Studies University (SISU) and Chief Co-editor 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 Asia-focused 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 post-graduates 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 11-course 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 self-development 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 Cross-Cultural Communication: Perspectives from 20
Years of the IAICS
L. Brooks Hill
Trinity University
San Antonio, Texas USA
lhill@trinity.edu
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 two-term 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.
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
Guo-Ming 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
Mei-Ling Hsu, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
Respondent: Shu-Chu Sarrina Li, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
vsheer@hkbu.edu.hk
Guo-Ming Chen
South China University of Technology
University of Rhode Island，USA
gmchen@uri.edu
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
hfeng@d.umn.edu
Previous research on providing social support found variations in support goals and message
evaluations between Americans and Chinese. However, in cross-cultural research on social
support, explanations on why there are differences most are from individualism-collectivism and
high- and low-context communication dimensions. While these frameworks help predict and
explain some cross-cultural 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 support-specific
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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Systematics and Patterns of Organizations and Communications
Victor Lux Tonn
Salve Regina University, Taiwan
jpmaple@aol.com / tonnv@salve.edu
In this paper, a general framework of organization and communications -- a general system
comprising subsystems of balance-equilibrium, 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 socio-political forces, and experiences of modernization especially in
the context of a non-Western 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 -- profit-oriented system,
society-oriented system, and tradition-oriented system -- will be introduced. Finally, systematic
models of organizations and communications will be developed in the context of low-level
pragmatic Tcentral.
Lay Discourse of Body, Health, and Medical Use in a Coexistent Culture of Chinese and
Western Medicine: A Challenge to the Elitist-Based Medical Correctness in Taiwan
Mei-Ling Hsu
National Chengchi University, Taiwan
mlshiu@nccu.edu.tw
The contemporary Taiwanese society has long been noted for the pluralism of various medical
practices, though the science-based Western medicine has more predominant voice in the orthodox
establishment. The mainstream elitist discourse, such as health-related news, is thus abundant of
medical experts' warnings to keep lay people from engaging in non-scientific medical use.
Nevertheless, more than 75% of Taiwanese residents had used at least one type of non-Western
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
differ from the so-called medical correctness raised by the elitist medical circle and why. By
conducting three focus-group 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 non-Western
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 Guo-liang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Panelists: Bonnie Peng, National Chengchi University,
Linlin Kuo, National Taiwan University
Chi-Huei Chueng, Shih Sing University
Kirsen Huang, Shih Sing University
Respondent: Mei-Ling 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
or adapt at an Oriental society like Taiwan and China. When SCP (structure-conduct-performance)
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,
ypeng@nccu.edu.tw
This paper will examine the concept of media professionalism under the context of Taiwan. It has
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 self-regulation 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
linlin_ku@hotmail.com
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
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 more-engaged, more-intelligent audience.
Accountability System of Television: The Viewpoint of Paradox from TV Ratings and TV
Responsibility
Chi-Huei Chueng,
Shih Sing University, chungch@shu.edu.tw)
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Chung Chi-Hui
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' long-divided 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 market-leading 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
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 non-official 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 Tsuey-jen Wu, National Chengchi University
Panelists: Cheng-Yu Lin, National Chengchi University.
Tsung-Hsiao Huang, Taipei Municipal University of Education.
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Chia-Lun Chang, National Taipei University of Education.
Chih-Jen Cheng, National Chengchi University.
Respondent: Ping-Hung 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. Cross-cultural and Common issues discussion.
An Action Research on Media Access: From Concept to Practice
Cheng-Yu Lin
National Chengchi University.
cyou.lin@msa.hinet.net
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
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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 mind-ware, 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
Tsung-Hsiao Huang
Taipei Municipal University of Education.
huth.huang@msa.hinet.net
The media is a rich implications and the multi-dimensional 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 1-6 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 student-based 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
self-confidently, 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
teaching, stimulates and improves student's study interesting.
To construct the media literacy education standards in Taiwan’s elementary school
Chia-Lun Chang
National Taipei University of Education.
gallon100@hotmail.com
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 Nine-Year
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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
Chih-Jen Cheng
National Chengchi University.
evoq0801@hotmail.com
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
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 Year-old
Girl from Peru
Shinihi Takahara,
Chiba Public Schools, Japa
ngzu@yahoo.co.jp
During the last decade, in Japan, the number of minors, who are in the age range of compulsory
education (1-9 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
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 14-year-old 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
ngzu@yahoo.co.jp
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
irahaz@um.edu.my
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
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
lebedeva@ifl.dvgu.ru / swa13n@hotmail.com
Nowadays teaching becomes more person-oriented. Most language teaching methods are based on
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
emmaruiz0808@hotmail.com
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
(Ingrid Koop in interaction with “Ragida” and Hussein Farschidi in interaction with “Soraya”) to
make the analysis of several possibilities for creating intersubjective-intercutural spaces.
Developmental Stages and Indicators of Contemporary Chinese Friendship
Xu Jiajia
Shanghai International Studies University
jessica_xu021@163.com
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 inter-cultural communication and promote
inter-cultural 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
yukot@toyoeiwa.ac.jp
This panel is proposed by members of the steering committee for the Extremely Short Story
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 non-native speakers of English, especially those who hadn’t had
much experience in creative writing. A 50-word-long 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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
hiromyk@pr.email.ne.jp
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
e-learning" 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
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
okaura@fit.ac.jp
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 two-word 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
yassy_08@hotmail.com
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
Chair: Guo-Ming 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
CCTV-4 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
presents a tripartite approach of discourse analysis based on which the global and local elements
in CCTV-4 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, Health-risk Perceptions,
Health-related Self-efficacy Beliefs, and Life Satisfaction
Yinjiao Ye, University of Rhode Island
Panel VII
Aspects of Chinese Communication
Chair: Mei-Ling Hsu, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
“The Chinese Cultural Influence on Group Communication and Decision
Making: Comparing Computer-mediated Communication Groups with
Face-to-face Communication Groups”
Shu-Chu Sarrina Li & Yi-Jing Liu, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
“Cross-Cultural Study of Actual Market Prices and Consumer Price
Knowledge in Macau and Taiwan”
Angela Chang, University of Macau
“Chinese Verbal Artistry Reconsidered”
Hui-Ching Chang, University of Illinois at Chicago, USA
“An Examination of College Students' Identity in Quemoy”
Jian-Feng 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Panel VIII
Cross-Cultural 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 cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural and interdisciplinary exploration about the pervasive tensions between
the local and the global in cross-cultural interpretation.This panel invites papers that critically
reflect on problems and questions linked to theoretical approaches and literary analysis of
cross-cultural 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 self-representation 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
theory? To what ends have cross-cultural 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 post-colonialism in China’s translation studies, together with the cultural,
political, and ideological stratums interwoven into this phenomenon, my paper explores the
double-edged nature of post-colonialism, 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 “self-Orientalism” 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 re-encoded 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
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 “double-voiced 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
zixul@comm.umass.edu
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,
China-West 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Chair: Vivian Hsueh-hua Chen, Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore
Panelists: Dienfang Chou, Tzu Chi University, Hualien, Taiwan
Vivian Hsueh-hua 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
dien@mail.tcu.edu.tw
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.
The Impact of Japanese Manga: Exploring Singaporean Adolescents' View of Friendship
Vivian Hsueh-hua Chen
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
ChenHH@NTU.EDU.SG
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
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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
s_az5@hotmail.com
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
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
lowmilk@yahoo.co.jp
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
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 Sino-Japan conflicts. The
fourth paper is an instrumental study that explores how China’s English language media can better
“explain China to the world.”
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 English-language blog posts by native
speakers of English who live and work in China; 2) news reports and analyses of some influential
and cross-regional 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.
The New York Times Reporting on Sino-Japan Conflicts:
A Critical Discourse Analysis
Chen Xiaoxiao
This paper is a critical discourse analysis of the news reports on Sino-Japan 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 micro-structural 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 Sino-Japan 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
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history, and their military and political ambitions were played down or glossed over. The
macro-structural 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 Cross-Cultural 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 CCTV-9 (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 foreign-oriented 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
Tong Yu , University of Rhode Island
Guo-Ming Chen, South China University of Technology/ University of Rhode Island
An Ran, Zhang Shihai & Hao Zhifeng, South China University of Technology, China
Xin-An (Lucian) Lu, Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, USA
Respondent: Hui-Ching Chang, University of Illinois at Chicago
To Compare or Not to Compare?
Professor Ling Chen
Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong
chling@hkbu.edu.hk
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
An important issue in cross cultural communication studies is cultural generality vs. cultural
specificity in conceptualization and theorization. Cultural general conceptualization allows
cross-cultural 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
s.liu1@uq.edu.au
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
Cross-Cultural Organizational Situation
Tong Yu
University of Rhode Island, USA
Guo-Ming Chen
South China University of Technology
University of Rhode Island, USA
gmchen@uri.edu
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 cross-cultural
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
sieanran@scut.edu.cn
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 Xin-An (Lucian) Lu
Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania, USA
xalu@ship.edu
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
values, principles, norms, and expectations. Short-time 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 under-tapped 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
Communication
Intercultural
Mao Haiyan,
Harbin Normal University
mhy7007@126.com
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
tinasmily78@sina.com
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 rule-governed 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Zhang Ying,
Harbin Normal University
Lzhy79@163.com
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 choice-making 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
Sun_li986@sina.com
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
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
previously-established 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 Cross-cultural Translation
Su Yue,
Harbin Normal University
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
xinheng2004@sohu.com
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 cross-cultural
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
Summer_yp800911@163.com
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.
Abstracts for Workshops
Workshop I
Language and Cultural Education, Teaching Language through
Culture and Culture through Language
Andrey Fatyuschenko
Lomonosov Moscow State University
andreifat@mail.ru
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Svetlana Ter-Minasova
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 English-speaking 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
English-are 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
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 co-teaching
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
Code-Switching 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
Mayjiang83@yahoo.com.cn
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 code-switching 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
code-switching on campus which has become very popular nowadays. The Chinese-English
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 code-switching on campus and the fields in
which it occurs. The purpose of our research is to find out the rules and principles of
code-switching and therefore probe the relationship between economic, culture and language use
in this new era.
Abstracts for Individual Presentations
Nonverbal Signals and Turn-Taking in an ESL Community
Abdulaziz Alnofal
University of Riyadh, Saudi, Arabia
alnofal@cti.edu.sa
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
afshan@nims.edu.pk
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.
From employee perspective orientation stage seems to be critical where he sees more diversity
among workforce.
HVS Adaptive Perceptual Digital Image Codec for 21st Century
Satellite Based Intercultural Global Geography Awareness
Ajith Kumarayapa, Zhang Ye, R.Wickramanayake
Harbin Institute of Technology
ajithky@yahoo.com
‛‛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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
MEDAY001@students.unisa.edu.au
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 quasi-naked sense of
articulation” (Humboldt) that expresses some primordial syncretic, mostly spatial, meanings of the
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 cross-lingual 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 Proto-Chinese by Howell and Morimoto.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Toward a Self-regulating System of Romanian Mass Media from a
Ccybernetic Approach
Alina Hogea
University of Bucharest
ahogea@yahoo.com
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 self-regulation, 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, Eastern-European 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 Harries-Jones (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 self-observation 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
Far Eastern National University
sayonarasun@list.ru
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 self-expression, 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
tatusya91@mail.ru
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, word-order 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 Cross-Cultural Study of Discourse Structure of News Reports
Selected from China Daily and the New York Times
An Jie
Harbin Institute of Technology
anjie@163.com
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 English-speaking 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 cross-cultural 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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Global Culture as a Global Problem
Anna Pavlovskaya
Moscow State University
annapavl@mail.ru
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
aysuslova@yahoo.ca
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 power-holders (which we call linguistic technologies). With the help of these
linguistic technologies the power-holders 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,
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 co-participants 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
for_azban@mail.ru
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 back-room 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.
Some Words about Russia’s Image in Western Publicistic Discourse
Anna V. Koltunova
University of Vladivostok
koltounova@yandex.ru
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 (November-March, 2007, 200000 printed characters). In each article the
described events are interpreted as elements of a comprehensive whole. This lets the mass-media
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 Re-construction 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
vohranu@yahoo.com
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 re-construction 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 self-representation.
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 socio-cultural 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.
Housing for the Poor: The Pursuit Well-Being in the Emerging
Urban Context of Khon Kaen Town
Apisak Dhiravisi
Khon Kaen University, Thailand
apisak02th@gmail.com
Buapun Promphakping
Khon Kaen University, Thailand
apisak02th@gmail.com
This participatory action research aims to analyse the urban poor’s resource base for their
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
self-dependence and spirit for strengthening their livelihoods. About community organizations
after official transforming into cooperatives, there should form the follow-up 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
azade_fasihi@yahoo.com
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
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, knowledge-led, 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 Second-Generation Chinese in Britain
Bao Huaying
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Beijing Foreign Studies University
As Britain now comprises a sizeable population of “second-generation” minority, there is an
ongoing debate about their adaptation of and integration into the mainstream society. For the
British-born second-generation 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 social-economic
achievements among the second-generation Chinese, on the whole they are still marginalized from
the mainstream society. Reasons for the marginalization of the second-generation 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 second-generation 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
second-generation Chinese into the British society.
Empowering Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Children
Barbara Hong-Foster
Texas A&M International University
bhong@tamiu.edu
Rosemary Chai
Nanyang Technological University
Rosemary@ntu.edu.sg
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 self-directed,
self-regulated, and self-empowered. 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 teacher-student
relationship and student outcome. Perhaps a need for attention should be focused on the non-linear,
dynamic communicative interaction between student and teacher, including how teachers treat
students, quality of proactive teaching and learning taking place in classrooms, teacher relatedness
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 self-empowered by
examining specific factors which enhance or frustrate the development of self-determined
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
bkupka@business.otago.ac.nz
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, Friedrich-Schiller-Universität 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
reliable needs assessments and training effectiveness evaluations on trainees’ knowledge of the
target culture to which they are delegated. The 12-item 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 – re-test 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 re-tests. Confirmatory factor analyses produce the same
solution in peer tests and re-tests. 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
country once expatriates return.
Change and Stability of Conversifixal Derivatives in English
Boris I. Bartkov
Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
bibartkov@yandex.ru
Language change is a sum total of many processes at different levels of speech.During the Middle
English Period verb-adverb 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 verb-adverb combinations according to the following models: Ving
(making-up) and Ver (maker-up), Vo (make-up) and Ved (made-up). 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
dvorak@zas.gwz-berlin.de
Patrick Steinkrueger
ZAS Berlin, Germany
steinkrueger@zas.gwz-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, wazamoo-assab 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
bradyen@yahoo.com.tw
Jacey Lee
Institute of Communication Studies
National Chiao Tung University
jacy172001@gmail.com
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, self-report 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 self-report data are
measured with the Self-Assessment 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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
A Qualitative Study of Chinese University Students’ Misconceptions
of American Culture
Cao Hongxia
Nanjing Normal University
carolchx@yahoo.com.cn
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 third-year 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 cross-national
differences, out-of-date 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
wuhan2brock@yahoo.ca
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 English-speaking countries. A small
survey was made to answer the following two research questions:
1. Do the English majors know more about cultures of English-speaking 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 third-year English majors.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
cao_xh2002@yahoo.com
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 non-family 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
non-family 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 non-family 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.
Culture Learning and Adaptation: A Close Look at the Realities
Cecilia Ikeguchi
Tsukuba Univeristy, Japan
cecilia@tsukuba-g.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 face-to-face interaction demands a truly intensified intercultural knowledge and skills.
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This paper investigates the concept of intercultural learning of non-Japanese 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 face-to-face
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 non-linear 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
zlchang@ouc.edu.cn, chang_zonglin@hotmail.com
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 pre-existing 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
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
Chia-Chuan Chang
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
SOAS, University of London
162524@soas.ac.uk
Since 1970s, one of the longest-running 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 trans-editing 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?
——A Study of the Chinese Responses to Compliments
Chang Mei, Harbin Institute of Technology
marychangcn@126.com
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 English-majors tend to use
more appreciation to accept compliments than their non-English-major counterparts. The causes of
these differences are examined and discussed from political, social and educational points of
view.
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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-chang@sohu.com
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.
Let's Face It! A Chinese Cultural Model of Interpersonal
Communication
Yanrong Chang
University of Texas, Pan American
ychang@utpa.edu
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
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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
Cross-cultural Comparison of Promotional Elements
Used in US, Chinese, and Taiwanese Websites
Yuhmiin Chang
National Chiao Tung University
ymchang@faculty.nctu.edu.tw
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 cross-cultural 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.
Cross-Cultural Comparison of Promotional Elements Used in US,
Chinese, and Taiwanese Websites
Yuhmiin Chang
National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan, R.O.C
ymchang@faculty.nctu.edu.tw
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 cross-cultural 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
Neyagawa-shi, Osaka-fu, Japan
mchugh@gol.com
Thirty-five 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.
These findings offer implications for improving crosscultural contacts with Japanese.
Non-Japanese 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
snowball111@sina.com.cn
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 well-known “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 cross-cultural 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
cross-cultural 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 inter-cultural dimension when the former does not work.
Foreign Is Not Unfamiliar
An Translation Impact Study Involving Taiwan Subjects
Hui-Wen Chen
Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung
Qianting Wang
Communication University of China, Beijing
Yong Zhong
University of New South Wales, Sydney
krischen@kmu.edu.tw
The research discussed in the paper is the last of a trilogy investigating the impact of foreignized
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
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third hypothesis.
Stereotype of Sexist Language from the Perspective of Conversation
Analysis
Chen Jing
Hangzhou Normal University
jeanchan78@hotmail.com
Most gender-language 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 inter-gender communication and achieve
effective and successful inter-gender communication.
The Affininity between European Rationalism and Chinese Doaism
of Loazi and Zhuangzi—on the Intercultural Permeation Thinking in
the Glass-Bead Game of Hesse
Chen Min
School of Foreign Languages, Donghua University, Shanghai
inge@dhu.edu.cn
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
full-length master-piece novel The Glass-bead 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 Glass-bead game, Western rationalism, Chinese Daoism, Intercultural
affinity, Harmony development of society
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Communication through Web Publishing Projects
Chen Nan
Harbin Institute of Technology
ency2002@hotmail.com
The popularity of reality shows, such as “The Apprentice,” “Survivor”, “Project Runway”,
provides language educators new insights on the significance of communication through
project-based learning (PBL), which notably promotes learner-centered, 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 learning-by-design uses the powerful instructional methodology
of PBL, which is inspired by the constructivist learning theory that emphasizes active,
student-centered 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 face-to-face
communication and thus enables real-time 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
cskcare3@yahoo.com.cn
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
studying inter-group 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 boundary-crossing
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
integration from an intercultural perspective.
The New York Times Reporting on Sino-Japan Conflicts:
Translation Techniques of Advertisement in Intercultural
Communication
Chen Yao
Northeast Forestry University
Monica66666666@163.com
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 cross-culture 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 cross--culture
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
Sherry22112@163.com
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
new-comers. 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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
A Comparative Study of American and Chinese Teachers' Talk
in College Oral English Class
Cheng Cheng, Zhou Hua
Harbin Institute of Technology
Chch3450@sina.com
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
charlescheng11@gmail.com
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
charlescheng11@gmail.com
Donghui
Anhui University of Technology.
charlescheng11@yahoo.com
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
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
Chengjie6393@sina.com
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 non-native speaker
interlocutor’s proficiency. Little is known in general about humorous interaction in intercultural
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 adaptation-relevance model may help us
understand more clearly the dynamic processes of producing and interpreting the humorous
utterances from the cognitive-pragmatic 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 deep-going analysis of the samples
about the humorous intercultural communication, this study tries to prove that humorous
communication is a process of adaptation-relevance 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
Mei-Chiung, Chi
Department of Advertising, Chinese Culture University, Taiwan
mcchi@faculty.pccu.edu.tw
Yen-Ling, Chen
Department of Advertising, Chinese Culture University, Taiwan
yenlingchain@yahoo.com.tw
So-Jeng, Hung
Department of Advertising, Chinese Culture University
sjhung888@yahoo.com.tw
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
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 multi-cultural 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 cross-cultural
communication. In summary, from cross-cultural communication viewpoint, this study tries to
analyze communication strategy of international brand when building brand image.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Intercultural Ingredients: A Content Analysis of Texts in an
Integrative English Course
Chi Ruobing
Shanghai International Studies University (SISU)
crbcherry@shisu.edu.cn
Li Jing
Xianda College of Economics and Humanities at SISU
lijing_lee12@hotmail.com
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.
How Can World Englishes Bloom in Japan? -The Situation and
Problems of College English in Japan?
Chie Saito
International University of Health and Welfare
saitochie@gmail.com
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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
csw001@gmail.com
Xiaoqing Frances Pan
Shanghai International Studies University
francespan@tom.com
A recent Nike advertising campaign in Shanghai depicts several NBA basketball stars most of
whom strike gangster-rap 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 situated-ness 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
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 Strategic-Aesthetical Weapon of Communication
Cristina Gonzalez Oñate
University of Castellon, Spain
kristin@ono.com
Television networks are considered as audiovisual companies with a mission, vision and
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organisational philosophy, with long- and short-term objectives directed to the search of benefits
that address an audience-client. 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,
self-promotion, 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 Xiao-dong
Shanghai Normal University
xddai@shnu.edu.cn
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
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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Culture as a Shaping Factor in Second Language Acquisition
Dai Weidong
Shanghai International Studies University
Bao Liying
Shanghai International Studies University
reneebao@yahoo.com.cn
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
Dan.H.Jian@gmail.com
Network Society is a concept different from Virtual Space or non-virtual space, which describes
the living space changed by using of Internet. It includes communicative activities on Internet,
also the off-line 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 Internet-mediated society.
Intercultural Communication in the network society has its new characteristics and brings
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
deborah.bryant@unisa.edu.au
Jonathan Crichton
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
University of South Australia
Jonathan.Crichton@unisa.edu.au
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 English-speaking 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
deblarson@mail.ru
Boris I. BARTKOV
Foreign Languages Department
Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
bibartkov@yandex.ru
Tatyana B. BARTKOVA
Far Eastern State Technical University, AVladivostok, Russia
tbbartkova@yandex.ru
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Ding Yajuan
Beijing Foreign Studies University
y0ding02@netmail.louisville.edu
yajuanding@yahoo.com.cn
After Hong Kong returned to China in 1997, some talented Hong Kong film stars, such as Jackie
Chan, Yun-Fat 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 Mis-communication
Dong yanyan
Zhang lingyan
Harbin Institute of Technology
dyyddn@sina.com
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 newly-Oscar-awarded movie “Babel” is a film with the theme of communication and
mis-communication 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:
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
freeman_dong@tom.com
The research article abstract (RA abstract) as a special genre arouses many researchers’ interest in
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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 lexico-grammatical 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
Donna.Miller@insightbb.com
David C. Bruenger
University of Texas San Antonio
david.bruenger@utsa.edu
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
components of the multibillion-dollar 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
weilindou@126.com
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
cyang@utep.edu
Tim K. Tso
College of Life Science
National Chiayi University
kqutep@hotmail.com
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. Large-screen mobile and handheld equipment such as PDA’s, color-screen 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
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 cross-cultural 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
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found that none of the demographic covariates were significant predictors in the model.
Cross-validation 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
saba1969@yahoo.com
babran@csr.ir
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.
Analysis of the News Supervision by Public Opinion in Mainland
China
Yu-Li Wang
Chinese Culture University, Taiwan
ylwang@faculty.pccu.edu.tw
Under the arrangements of mainland China’s Reform and Open-up Policy, mass media has been
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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
To Non-kin between English and Chinese
Du Xuezeng
Beijing Foreign Studies University
duxuezeng@vip.sina.com
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 non-kin 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 non-kin 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
demonstrate that there are more differences than similarities both in form and usage in kinship
address extended to non-kin 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
Elenakorotkova@yandex.ru
Language, communication and culture cannot be separated. We teach communication and culture
issues in the frame of a 68-hour 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 role-games 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 real-life communication, incorporates
new cultural notions and develops cultural awareness in its recipients.
Metaphorical Facets of Inter Cultural Communication: A Case Study
of Russian and British Media
Edward Vladimirovich Budaev
Nizhnii Tagil State Social Pedagogical Academy, Russia
edbud@rambler.ru
The theoretical basis of the research is the “cognitive-discursive” paradigm which combines
heuristics of cognitive linguistics and media discourse-analyses. 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
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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 ex-Soviet 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
yiyiyin@yahoo.com
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
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 structural-functionalism/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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Multiculturalism in Historical Countries; With Emphasis on Iranian
Version of Multiculturalism
Ehsan Shaghasemi
University of Tehran , Iran
ehsanshaghasemi@yahoo.com
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@bukkyo-u.ac.jp
The documentary seems to have become self-evident in the progression of cultural evolution,
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.
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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
evgenia_t@mail.primorye.r
Translation theory (translation studies) is indeed a wide crossroad of many disciplines such as
language studies, cross-cultural 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 Snell-Hornby 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 two-way Russian into English translation/ interpreting. I would also like to demonstrate the
importance of reference to pre-existing knowledge as one of the techniques used in simultaneous
interpretation.
Developing Culture C in Intercultural Communication
Fan Wenjue
Shanghai Maritime University
cdshanghai@citiz.net
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
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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 Task-based Listening
Teaching
Fan yongxian
Taiyuan University of Science and Technology
fanyongxian_qing@163.com
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 non-English majors’ empathy competence in
task-based listening teaching. Empathy can be fostered from two aspects: sensitivity training and
cultural coherence competence development. Some tentative techniques are provided in pre-class
task, task cycle and post-class task. Strategies to facilitate movement from each stage to the next
are suggested.
Knowledge Resources and Humor Translation
Fang Chuanyu
Anhui University
fcy1102@yahoo.com.cn
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
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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
lizfeng@126.com
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 context-free 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
luckyfrm@163.com
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 up-to-date 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.
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Analysis of U.S. News Coverage of Lenovo-IBM Deal
FengYi
Beijing Foreign Studies University
fengyivanessa@yahoo.com.cn
On December 8th 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 1st 2005, Lenovo offically took over all of IBM’s personal computer business, with this
merger Lenovo-IBM became the world’s third largest PC maker with roughly $12 billion in
revenue, behind Dell and Hewlett-Packard. This was one of the biggest and most successful
acquisiton of the Chinese company, expecially in the hi-tech 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 1st.
During this period, there were many news reports on this Lenovo-IBM 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 Lenovo-IBM 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
word opportunity to describe it. Last but not least, words related to politics are frequently used in
this economic issue, such as communist, socialist, state-owned, etc. To sum up, in the news
coverage of this Lenovo-IBM 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
feng1989@hotmail.com
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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
program-elective or a university-wide-elective 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 university-wide 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
mailtofp@163.com
Zhou Xuanfeng
Wu Yi University
zhouxfdr@126.com
Language is the carrier of culture. Advertising with persuasive power and loading ability is the
product of culture and its persuasive function is particularly cultural-specific. 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
magazines with its research focused on three kinds of transfer, namely linguistic-cultural transfer,
social-cultural transfer and ideological-cultural transfer. Research findings suggest that in order to
reduce or avoid culture transfer in advertising, it is better to adopt a three-procedure 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 language-culture orientation.
The Problem of Terms in Intercultural Communication within a
Discourse Community: The Case of English Language Teachers
Galina Lovtsevich
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Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia
lovtsev@ext.dvgu.ru
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 pre-supposes a knowledge of the English language, and it is in
this language that most of their international discourse is conducted, whether on-line, 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.
E-mail Communication: Experience, Benefits, Perspective
Galina Papysheva
Far-Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia
ilinl@chair.dvgu.ru
Larisa Popova
Far-Eastern 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.
E-mail 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 e-mail. 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
the future legal activity involves a lot of writing (drafting contracts, business letters, claims, etc.)
the experience of e-mail 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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
liglzu@gmail.com
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 self-confidence" 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
gaojian480@126.com
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 single-authored English research articles
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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 over-imposed. 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 Cross-cultural Perspective
Xiuping Gao
Beijing Foreign Studies University
root.gao@163.com
This study attempts to investigate the representation of gender by TESOL textbooks used in China.
It adopts a cross-cultural 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
under-represent 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.
Cross-Cultural Differences in Perceptions Regarding Legality
Dr. Gary Russell
University of Manitoba, Canada
private@gwrussell.ca
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 relationship-oriented society is poorly understood in a
western property-oriented 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
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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 Cross-Cultural Contrast of Chinese and American Body Language
Ge Weili
Southwest University
Xiaoxin1234@126.com
The body language is an important part of non-verbal 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 cross-culture communication, the cultural differences of body languages
become the major barriers in cross-culture 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 cross-culture communication and make cross-culture communication more efficient.
Virtual Image and Genuine Self-disclosure on the Internet
Godfrey Du
Shanghai International Studies University
Godfrey.du@gmail.com
Past researches have looked into the reasons behind the higher levels of online self-disclosure, and
accredited this mainly to visual anonymity, one feature of computer-mediated 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 self-disclosure, and self-awareness (at both private and public levels), noted in quite a few
recent CMC studies. From this interactive-factor perspective, this paper proposes two holistic
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
non-verbal communication, it then focuses on the existence of virtual image and its components
through focus group responsive to selective online presentation and a larger-scale confirmatory
online survey. In addition, this paper differs from past studies in its strategy of pre-identity
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.
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Theorizing about Intercultural Communication: Semiotic and
Memetic Approach to Dynamic Intercultural Communication
Gu Jiazu
School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Nanjing Normal University
charlesg@jionline.com
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
gqy118@cjlu.edu.cn
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
communication-intensive 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 student-facilitated 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 e-mail survey, and a formal presentation). All
elements of the course are designed to achieve three goals: conscious analysis of communication
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 Speech-Handicapped Children: Terminology
of the Field
Hal M. STROM
Headmaster, Quality School International (USA)
Vladivostok, RUSSIA
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halstrom@mail.ru
Marina G. IRZHEVSKAYA
Senior Teacher, Primorsky Teacher’s Skill Improvement Institute
Vladivostok, RUSSIA
mirzhevskaya@mail.ru
Boris I. BARTKOV
Foreign Languages Department
Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia
bibartkov@yandex.ru
In order to expand their vocabulary, teachers should be able to read special literature in English
(textbooks, monographs, etc.). A well-known 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
Huamei (Samantha) Han
Modern Language Centre, OISE, University of Toronto
Ontario, Tornoto
hhan@oise.utoronto.ca
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
socio-cultural context and the globalized political economy. Drawing on data from a three-year
ethnography of skilled immigrants from Mainland China in Toronto, this paper focuses on how a
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Mandarin-speaking 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 English-speakers to learn
English, he learned the differential values of various languages, and his position and possibilities
in this English-dominant, multilingual community. The socio-economically 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
hxhus@yahoo.com
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 Culture-Based Approach to Teaching Politeness Strategies to L2
Students
Han xiaohui
Harbin Institute of Technology
hanxiaohuihit@yahoo.com.cn
Li huijie
Harbin Institute of Technology
lihuijiehit@yahoo.com.cn
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
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article, therefore, makes an attempt to explore methodological aspects of teaching culture-based
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 socio-cultural 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
helena_de_viiolet@yahoo.com.cn
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.
Cultural Reflection in Chinese and English Advertising Language
Hao Qinhai
Capital University of Economics and Business
Haoqh2004@yahoo.com.cn
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
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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 cross-cultural pragmatic failure in hybrid advertising. It is done with a
cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural 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.
On the Relationship between Derrida and Nietzsche
in Terms of the Power of Language
Dajun He
Northeast Agricultural University
hdjamericali@hotmail.com
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
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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”,
“Nietzsche-text”, and “To be Nietzsche”.Derrida deconstructs Nietzsche, thus creating his
“Nietzsche-text.” “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 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Cross-cultural Counterexamples in Chinese and English
He Jing
Beijing Foreign Studies University
Christiehe@126.com
The paper is a tentative approach to examine the validity of the influential Sapir-Whorf 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 Sapir-Whorf
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.
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
hejuntao1983@sina.com
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
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are widely blamed for bias, discrimination, inequity and anti-democracy. 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 within-group experiment with 60 participants randomly
chosen and treated independently by three different hyperlink patterns (in-text hyperlink,
following-text hyperlink and non-hyperlink). 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
following-text 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
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 cyber-age.
Intercultural Communication Studies in China since 2000
He Mingzhi
Peking University
mingzhihe@yahoo.com
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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
hildamor@att.net.mx
I propose a methodological reflection around the non-intentionality 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.
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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 Cross-Cultural Pragmatic Study of Politeness Principles in Chinese
and American Advertisements
Hongfei Ke
Beijing University of Science & Technology
Kefei_001@163.com
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 selfversus 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 “collective-face” and
“negative-face” strategies, which correlate with collectivistic, vertical and high-context cultures,
while the American advertisers use more “individual-face” and “positive-face” strategies, which
correlate with individualistic, horizontal, low-context cultures. Besides, Chinese advertisements
use more “self-face” strategy while American advertisements use more “other-face” strategy. It
may be because of the use of “negative-face” 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 cross-cultural communication studies.
Narrative Understandings of China’s English Teaching Reform
Landscape: Sacred Stories, Secret Stories, and Cover Stories
Hongguo Cui
Harbin Institute of Technology
Cuihongguo2000@hotmail.com
Libo Zhang
Harbin Institute of Technology
dancingzlb@yahoo.com.cn
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
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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, JU-HAN
National Chiao Tung University
hanna1019@yahoo.com.tw
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
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
The University of Alabama
hu001@ua.edu
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 policy-making 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
hypurple@sohu.com
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
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
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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 web-assisted 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
rohannahu@yahoo.com.cn
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 political-legal 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.
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
huzhengmao@gmail.com
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 “China-bashing” while others welcome it
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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
frhuang@hit.edu.cn
In this paper, the solidarity-building 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 double-rootedness of their dual cultures and how they are used as the measure against the
dominating American mainstream culture.
Based Culture to Perform: the Social Script Theory and the
Performed Culture Pedagogy
Huang Hong
Institution: Beijing Foreign Studies University
sandrahuang@126.com
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
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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 Performance-based Pedagogy and this essay will also
address them. Key words: perform culture social script theory Chinese language teaching
(Re)Construction of Foreign-ness of Foreign Criminals in Japanese
Media: Media-mediated Fear toward Foreigners in Japan:
Izumi Funayama
Faculty of Letters, Kumamoto University, Japan
funayama@gpo.kumamoto-u.ac.jp
The present study examines the ways in which Japanese media create and perpetuate the fear
toward foreigners by (re)constructing “foreign-ness” 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 media-mediated reality.
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
latakoomar@yahoo.co.in
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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
jadwigastawnicka@wp.pl
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).
Cultural Impact of Globalisation on the Identity of Women: A Study
of Advertisements in India
Jasbir Singh
University of Jammu, Jammu, India
drjbsingh@yahoo.com
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
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bodies. Women in India suffer from dual discrimination which is posing a serious challenge to
their identity. There is a clear-cut well-defined 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
jjohnson@troy.edu
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 self-determined, 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.
Over a seven-week period, Creative Waves formed the largest multi-cultural 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Chai Ruiqin
Guo Limiao
North University of China
jizm8@sohu.com
What is advertising or advertisement? According to American Marketing Association (AMA),
advertising is “the non-personal 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.
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
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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 ResearchA Case Study of How Non-Western Cultures Could Be Integrated
into a Universal Theory of Communication
Wenshan Jia, Ph. D.
Department of Communication Studies
Chapman University
jia@chapman.edu
wjia66@hotmail.com
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 Ting-Toomey (face-negotiation theory which is both universal and
culture-explicit and relativist). I further argue that face, a concept originating from Chinese
culture, has been de-sinicized so that it has been accepted as a universal theory. The second
school is relativist and represented by Huang Kwang-Kuo 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 face-related identity.
The universalist school of face and facework research exemplifies how a non-Western 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 de-indegenization. This could be a case study of how a non-Western 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.
A Contrastive Study of Requests in Chinese and American Cultures
Xuerui Jia
Harbin Institute of Technology
xueruijia@hotmail.com
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
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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. Cross-culturally 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 self-expressions.
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 autonomous-self oriented,
self-expression inherently becomes ideal and the inhibition of it is the biggest problem. And this
leads to a direct style in requests.
On Non-Native English Speaking Professionals in ELT: Implications
for ESL and EFL Learners
Jia Yongfang
Inner Mongolia University of Technology
Jiayf1971@163.com
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
non-native 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 (non-native
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
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 ‘cross-cultural 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.
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Cultural Metaphors in China - A Visual Experience of Hierarchy and
Status Symbols
Jiang Chun
University of International Business & Economics
jiangchun@uibe.edu.cn
He Jiao
University of International Business & Economics (UIBE), Beijing P.R China
Irene8410@163.com
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
University of International Business & Economics, Beijing, P.R. China
jiangchun@uibe.edu.cn
He, Jiao
University of International Business & Economics (UIBE)
Irene8410@163.com
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 cultural-world. This is supported by globalized food,
sports, fashion styles and business norms. The direct cause of hybridization is massive migration
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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 well-established
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
isadoragz@hotmail.com
The paper offers a neo-Marxist 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 neo-Marxist 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 neo-Marxist
principles of interculturalism.
Why Interculturalism? An Approach to Accommodate Cultral
Diversity in Higher Education
Xiaoping (Isadora) Jiang
Guangzhou University
isadoragz@hotmail.com
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The paper offers a neo-Marxist 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 neo-Marxist 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 neo-Marxist
principles of interculturalism.
On Cultural Acquisition in Language Acquisition
——A Perspective of Intercultural Pedagogy
Jin Huikang
Guangdong Polytechnic Normal University
jinhuikang@tom.com
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
hitxiaoling@yahoo.com.cn
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 L2-learner has to put aside or go beyond his own language and culture”. Therefore, a
successful L2-learner has to be psychologically prepared to do this, which also involves attitudes.
According to Lambert, L2-learners’ 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.
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Cultural Connotations in Chinese and English Names
Jin Ying
Harbin Institute of Technology
Shadow0717@163.com
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
amytom118@yahoo.com.cn
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
(participant and non-participant), interview and questionnaire. The results show that this young
generation (the educated undergraduate and graduate students aged from 20-30) 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.
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Making Bilingual Signs More Communicative: A Functionalist
Approach
Jinding Peng
Central South University
jdpeng@126.com
Wang Bin
Central South University
readywang@126.com
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 cross-cultural differences in linguistic aspects,
socio-cultural aspects and ideological aspects. Findings reveal that functionalist approaches can
facilitate Chinese-English translation of signs in that it adopts a target-culture orientation in
forecasting, avoiding and handling various translation problems. As a result, a four-step 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 Cross-Cultural Awareness
Jiwan Bi
Beijing Language and Culture University
Cultural adaptation to a new culture consists of short-term adaptation， or adjustment of
sojourners， and long-term 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 long-term adaptation. This author’s views are: Short-term
adaptation is the initial stage and the foundation of long-term 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
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transformation is integration rather than assimilation and the gaining of multi-cultural 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
cross-cultural 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
judy@kumagaku.ac.jp
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 award-winning 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
Australian-born Chinese in Sydney
Julia Mickler
Graduate of University of Technology, Sydney, Australia
juliandi@ihug.com.au
(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
second-generation Chinese in Australia. This paper discusses some key findings from a case
study on language maintenance of second-generation Chinese in Sydney. The study involved
detailed interviews with four second-generation Chinese aged between 33 and 37 years and a
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focus group discussion with seven Australian-born 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 multiple-group
identities and that there is a complex relationship between these identities and language (Chinese
and English). While this is a small-scale study, it provides a deeper understanding of language
maintenance and shift in Australian-born 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-jun@nifty.com
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 inter-linguistic 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 build-up 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.
Choice of Foreign Names as a Strategy for Identity Management
Justina Cheang
University of Macau
JustinaC@umac.mo
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.
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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 business-like 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 (non-Proper 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
kanunnikovalubov@mail.ru
Cross-cultural 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 linguo-culturological approach in
studies, namely, linguo-culturological field studing method.
This approach, partly based on Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, states for a group of lexical elements that
are united within one concept. The main criterion for forming a linguo-culturological 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 linguo-culturological 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.
Reporting on Kosovo War
– The Objectivity of Two American Newspapers
KE Jing
Bejing Foreign Studies University
kejing@bfsu.edu.cn
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 Lexis-Nexis 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
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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 non-military 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 inter-related 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
happykirsten0624@yahoo.com.tw
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’ long-divided 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 market-leading 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.
Technological Progress as a Value Orientation of American culture:
We and the Japanese
Klinkova Anna
The Far Easter National University, Russia
klin7979@mail.ru
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
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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
xkong@kean.edu
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 revolution-minded 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: anti-individualism 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
emphasized social rather than individual benefits and equality between men and women.
Self-Translation: A Model for Cultural Adaptation in Maxine Hong
Kingston’s The Woman Warrior
Ying Kong and Guizhi Wang
Harbin Institute of Technology
kongying1@hotmail.com, wguizhi@hit.edu.cn
Theories of cross-cultural adaptation are dominated by two opposing concepts of self:
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self-invention in the “melting pot” culture, in which a new self is governed by its host culture, and
self-preservation in the “mosaic” culture, in which the self preserves its original culture. Because
self-invention cuts the self from its past and traditions, thereby disallowing the extended self
across time, and because self-preservation 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 self-translates 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
Far-Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia
krasotulechka_k@mail.ru
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 well-known 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.
Language and Cultural Communication
Developing Cultural Awareness in the Experimental ESP Reading
Course
E.Korotkova
Far East National University
Vladivostok Institute for International Studies
Elenakorotkova@yandex.ru
Language, communication and culture cannot be separated. We teach communication and culture
issues in the frame of a 68-hour ESP experimental reading course. The course is based on the
study textbook called ‘ Political , Social and Economic Processes in the Pacific Rim Countries’
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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 role-games 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
real-life 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
okatovaks@rambler.ru
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.
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Identities Reflected in the Discourses of Male Speakers: A Malaysian
Chinese Perspective
Kuang Ching Hei
Faculty of Languages and Linguistics University of Malaya
kuangch@um.edu.my
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
ktsutsui@kumagaku.ac.jp
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
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
lwkuo@mail.nctu.edu.tw
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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
Lan-An Culture and Education Foundations including documentary films (in VHS and DV forms),
radio programs, Lan-An bi-weekly news report, historical photos, and Lan-An 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
lwkuo@mail.nctu.edu.tw
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
Lan-An Culture and Education Foundations including documentary films (in VHS and DV forms),
radio programs, Lan-An bi-weekly news report, historical photos, and Lan-An 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.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
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National Chiao Tung University
lwkuo@mail.nctu.edu.tw
Chong-Wei Lin
National Chiao Tung University
cwlin@faculty.nctu.edu.tw
Sukan Lin
Tamkang University
sukanlin@yohoo.com.tw
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
Lan-An Culture and Education Foundations including documentary films (in VHS and DV forms),
radio programs, Lan-An bi-weekly news report, historical photos, and Lan-An 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 Chien-Chi’s
Photography
Kuo Ling-Tzu
Chinese Culture University, Taiwan
kathkuo@gmail.com
American sociologist George Ritzer identifies two basic broad sub-processes 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 glocalization-grobalization
and something-nothing offer four basic possibilities that operate within globalization: (1)
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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 Chien-Chi’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 Chien-Chi 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
komyshonok@mail.ru
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
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.
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Triadic Communication
Within the Intercultural Context
L. Brooks Hill and John McGrath
Trinity University, USA
lhill@trinity.edu
Dyadic or two-person 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 three-person 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
tara@idpo.dvgu.ru
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
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 labour-intensive process.
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“Don’t Look, We’re Changing!” A Descriptive Analysis of Cultural
Trends in Indian Advertising
Lata Rajagopalan Kumar
University of Madras, Chennai, India.
latakoomar@yahoo.co.in
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
Lin-Lee Lee
National Kaohsiung Normal University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
linleelee@nknucc.nknu.edu.tw
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
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 Wen-hui and the incumbent First Lady Wu Su-jen
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 Wen-hui; First Lady Wu Su-jen;
complimentary relationship
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Implementing Cultural Teaching Appropriately in Listening
Classroom
Lei Haiyan
Taiyuan University of Science and Technology
leihaiyan1997@yahoo.com.cn
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 computer-based means etc.
Culture Exchange in the Context of Globalization
Li Benxian
Xi’an International Studies University
benbenxli@yahoo.com.cn
This paper was intended to explore the culture exchange patterns in the context of globalization
using a triad method derived from triad philosophy. The author reveals to readers that the
imbalance in cultural trade-off 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
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Hangzhou Dianzi University
lby@hdu.edu.cn
Li Yu
Harbin University of Commerce
liyu@hrbcu.edu.cn
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
liscau@hotmail.com
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 non-native
speakers studying in University of Pennsylvania is analyzed. The two communicators
differ not only in cultural background but in English language proficiency and gender.
After 15-turn 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 face-to-face conversation.
The analysis of insufficient communication and miscommunication reflected in the
15-turn 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 high-context information is
generally a little puzzling to a person who is from low-context culture and that
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communication turns out to be less successful when the person who is used to
high-context 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
thelee001@yahoo.com.cn
The where-are-we-from quest and the what-are-we 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 cross-cultural
communication which in essence is a cause of cultural interactions and the reshaping of cultures
with thriving vitality.
Computer-mediated Communication Language and English
Language Teaching
Li Hui
Shanghai University of Sport
whenlee@126.com
With the rapid development and popularization of computer network, the much frequently-used
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Computer-mediated 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 network-related 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
lihuijiehit@yahoo.com.cn
Year 2006 is particular to Chinese tertiary-level 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: test-takers, 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
English learning, teaching and testing.
The Effect of Cultural Differences on English
Reading Comprehension
Li Jing
Guangxi Normal University
lisa2626@163.com
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
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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
Likun1019@126.com
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
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
lxlee@263.net
Communication is mainly composed of a series of speech acts which can be quite different from
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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
lilx151@nenu.edu.cn
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 case-study ability will be increased through the discussion and analysis of
some classical, typical and self-chosen 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
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 Double-edged Sword - A Research on “Internet Hunting”
Li Luxiaÿ
Hong Kong Baptist University
peggyliluxia@gmail.com
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This research analyzes Chinese netizens’ attitude towards privacy and their language style in
specific cases, thus exploring the in-depth reasons for this prevailing phenomenon concerning
cyberspace ethics with a hope to help fill the “policy vacuum” in cyberspace. After the two-round
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, large-scale
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 double-edged 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 self-cultivation 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.
The Development of Intercultural Communicative Competence
LI Mei-lan
Foreign Language Department , Sanming University
smgzlml@yahoo.com.cn
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
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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, habit-formation 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
lishuaidavid@yahoo.com.cn
In line with recent focus on acquisitional issues in interlanguage pragmatics, the present
cross-sectional study investigates the interlanguage development of making requests by 60
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 non-conventionally 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
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increases, more conventionally indirect request strategies and less direct request strategies will be
used, and the use of non-conventionally 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.
Computer-Mediated Rationale and Sample Application in Elt in
China
Li Xiao
University of Aberdeen, King's College, Aberdeen, Scotland
wshbli@yahoo.com
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. Computer-mediated communication
(CMC), being regarded as the most revolutionary development in computer-assisted 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
English-speaking 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.
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
allegra5921@yahoo.com.cn
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, semi-structured interviews and fieldworks were used to compare native
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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 day-to-day 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
xiaowenli@hit.edu.cn
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.
Intercultural Communication Competence in the Context of EAP
Li Xiaoxiang
Southeast University
xxlicn@yahoo.com
Gao Jian
Southeast University
gaojian480@126.com
Much progress has been made in the area of cultural differences in such academic genres as
research article, thesis or dissertation, book review, call-for-papers text, and so on. However, there
seems to be lack of a satisfactory model of Intercultural communication competence (ICC) that is
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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 non-native writers and EAP
experts, responded to a questionnaire and experienced non-native 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
xyli2@126.com
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 mid-20th 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.
Impact of Cultural Differences on Chinese-English Translation
of the Expressions on Public Signs
Li Xue & Ma Chunyan
Harbin Institute of Technology
lixuesnow@hit.edu.cn
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
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Chinese into English, the authors find that the cultural differences between China and the western
countries have a great impact on the Chinese-English 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 Chinese-English
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
zhaozeng3361986@yahoo.com.cn
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
brendaliang@sina.com
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.
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Communication to Cross-Culture Understanding:
A Bicultural Assessment of US and Taiwanese Cultures
Shirly Liang
National Taiwan University, School of Management: International Business
shuyu1112@yahoo.com.tw
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 cross-culture 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 cross-culture 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 in-group and out-group members; 3Variations 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 cross-culture communication.
Promoting the Chinese Program in Small-Town America:
A Case Study
Wenbo Liang
Shanghai International Studies University
kate_liang74@yahoo.con
In recent years, Chinese language programs have been a key project in promoting the Chinese
culture overseas. Small-town America has exhibited only a lukewarm welcome. The small-town
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 small-town
universities. Marshall University, in small university-town Huntington, West Virginia, with its
“ne’er-give-up” International Office, had successfully met these challenges, and in two years
(2005-2007), 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)
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perseverant team-building efforts in integrating the efforts of the local Chinese community
to further the Chinese presence and influence among the local small-town community.
A Comparative Analysis of Reports in The Times and Monitor about
the Enlargement of EU
LIN Wenshuang
Beijing Foreign Studies University
minifrost@yeah.net
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 groups1 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
east-west division left by the cold war. The paper will contribute to the understanding of the EU’s
strategy in Western Balkan.
Role-Play: A Promising Technique That Can Make the Learning
of a Second Language and Second Language Culture a Magical
Experience
Yi LIN
Institution: University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada
lin1e@uwindsor.ca
ylin54@uwo.ca
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 non-English 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 role-play implementation in middle school ESL classrooms in China
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and proposed it as an alternative teaching technique to meet ESL students’ needs in a specific
cultural context. Two central questions (“How is role-play 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 role-play in their ESL classes?”) were explored through
three lenses: theory of language and second language acquisition including the social-cultural
perspective of language, role-play literatures and previous studies. These questions were explored
through the use of interviews, follow-up 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 role-play 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
linyupng@mail.hf.ah.cn
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
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
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Nanjing Normal University, School of Foreign Languages and Cultures
linelldavis@hotmail.com
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 supervisor-intern, mutual friendship, and employer-employee, 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
meaning-making. 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 cross-cultural 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’ Self-politeness Strategies in a Chinese TV Job Interview
Liu Ai-juan
Beijing Foreign Studies University
liuaijuan2031@163.com
Most researchers focus on the other-oriented politeness when investigating politeness
phenomenon in human interaction. This study examines candidates’ self-politeness strategies in a
Chinese TV job interview. In the job interview, candidates are put into a dilemma: If they adopt
self-promotion, 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 self-politeness strategies to mitigate the force of SFTAs and protect their
own face. Results show that candidates usually employ positive self-politeness 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
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
self-politeness 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
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Southwest University
frankliu@swu.edu.cn
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 Cross-cultural Communication: A Case Study
Liu Hong-yu
Yanshan University
nicole2005cn@163.com
This paper studies the cultivation of cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural
competence, we need to study the adaptation of schema in cross-cultural communication.
By conducting a case study, this paper addresses the following problems:
1. The necessity and importance of schema adaptation in cross-cultural communication;
2. The effective approach to the adaptation and construction of schema in cross-cultural
communication.
A think-aloud protocol and a Cross-cultural Communication Awareness Questionnaire are applied
in the study. From the collected data, the study tries to emphasize the importance of schema
reconstruction in the development of cross-cultural competence. It also suggests that to adapt the
schema effectively, we need to enrich cross-cultural communication awareness and knowledge,
have a thorough understanding of the function and mechanism of schema, and get ourselves
involved more in authentic cross-cultural communication.
Between the Public and the Market:
Comparison of the Broadcasting Styles
of Two TV News Channels in Taiwan
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Huei-Ling Liu
Journalism Department of NCCU of Taiwan
anniectv@yahoo.com.tw
The terms “sensational” and “tabloid” are commonly used to describe the style of Taiwanese TV
news. This leads us to a question: Is the tabloid-style 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
story-telling 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
jingliu@u.washington.edu
Mou Xiaomei
Ocean University of China
mouxiaomei@126.com
Communication behaviors in the EFL classrooms in China have been investigated as
cross-cultural communication from a theoretical perspective (see, for example, Linell Davis, 2001;
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 participant-observations, 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 cross-cultural communication is also provided.
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Investigation into Chinese Background Students’
Difficulties in Academic Writing in Australian Universities
Liu Li
Harbin Institute of Technology
hitliuli@sina.com
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
lidaliu2004@126.com
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)
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 non-English
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.
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Choice of Translation Strategies in the Cross-cultural Perspective
Liu Ling
Harbin Institute of Technology
liulinglucia@yahoo.com.cn
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 cross-cultural
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 Face-saving Strategies
Liu liqun
Li Zhi
Haerbin University of Science and Technology
Melissa-lee1981@hotmail.com
“Face” is the public self-image every member of a society wants to gain for himself. In research of
“face”, Brown and Levinson’s Face Theory (Face-Management View) is widely accepted to be
foundational as face-saving strategies, while it is obvious that this theory is mainly based on
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 cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural communication.
Cross-Cultural Learning in Liberal Education
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Liu Xiaodan
Foreign Languages School of Harbin Institute of Technology
Liuxiaodan1104@sina.com
In promoting the development of the current harmonious society, it is now generally
acknowledged that liberal education is getting more important. Cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural learning in optional courses in liberal education and its benefits to students’
professional lives as well as social and personal development. To promote cross-cultural learning
in liberal education and foster students’ cross-cultural 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
jennylgf@hit.edu.cn
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 self-examines such hegemonistic ideas as
“civilization” and “nationalization”, and expresses his desire for the multi-culture 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.
Reflections on Internet Relay Interpersonal Communication
Liu Yao
Shanghai Trade Union College
liuyao99@gmail.com
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
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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
cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural 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
------Socio-cultural analysis of American Postmodernist Fiction
Liu Ying
English Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Harbin Normal University
huili_sui@yahoo.com.cn
Through the socio-cultural 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 post-industrial 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 post-modernistic
social culture of America.
A Comparative Study of Questioning Strategies in US and
Chinese TV Interviews
LiXi
Harbin Institute of Technology
ciciyqdh@yahoo.com.cn
This study compares the questioning strategy in the question-response 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 cross-cultural differences in the questioning strategies are discussed in
relation to different ideological and cultural assumptions.
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Problems Posed by Power Distance on Juvenile Education in
China
Long Zhan
Xi’an International Studies University
Longzhan78@yahoo.com.cn
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
lllule@online.sh.cn
Jia Ying
University of Shanghai for Science and Technology
lenajia@hotmail.com
The paper distinguishes between Globalization as an irresistible external force, and
Internationalization as the inner motivation. Both forces help to create a multi-cultural
environment in which a third culture is being formed in China. This third culture is labeled in this
paper Sino-Western 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
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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
yanglu@ucla.edu
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-evgenia@mail.ru
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
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 so-called ‘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
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Chinese Culture Words in English Poetry and the Verses in
A Dream of Red Mansions
Luo Jie
Jiangxi Broadcasting & Television School
luojie2121@sina.com
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-walters@tamu.edu
Zohreh Eslami
Texas A&M University –College Station, USA
zeslami@tamu.edu
Janet Hammer
Texas A&M University –College Station, USA
jhammer@tamu.edu
In May, 2007, 15 world history and world history teachers from Texas secondary schools will
begin a month-long visit to China. They will visit sites and schools in four diverse Chinese cities,
as a Fulbright-Hays 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 up-to-date geographic, ethnographic and historical
information about China to integrate into course curricula. Organizers hope it will improve the
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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 cross-cultural 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
kanunnikovalubov@mail.ru
Cross-cultural 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 linguo-culturological approach in
studies, namely, linguo-culturological field studing method. > This approach, partly based on
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, states for a group of lexical elements that are united within one concept.
The main criterion for forming a linguo-culturological 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 linguo-culturological 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
Ma Jingxia
Harbin Normal University
myrina@sina.com
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
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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
linma123@yahoo.ca
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 Xiao-feng
Zhao Chun-hua
Beijing Institute of Clothing Technology
maxiaofeng99@yahoo.com.cn
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 self-concept from
the person and self-consciousness 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 anti-assimilation derived from self-concept 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.
.
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The Speech Act of Refusal in Chinese
Yingxin Ma
Dezhou Uiversity
myx@dzu.edu.cn
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 face-threatening act. Refusals are important for ESL educators and those involved in
cross-cultural communication because they are a major cross-cultural “sticking-point” for many
non-native 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; face-threatening act; sociolinguistics
Reading of Koolhaas’s CCTV New Headquarters
Yingxin Ma
Dezhou Uiversity
myx@dzu.edu.cn
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 high-rise buildings”( General Office of
CCTV New Site Construction & Development Program, cctv.com).
Examining a Global Health Problem from Intercultural
Communication Perspectives
Margaret U. D’Silva
University of Louisville
dsilva@louisville.edu
Kandi L. Walker
University of Louisville
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kandi.walker@louisville.edu
Joy L. Hart
University of Louisville
joy.hart@louisville.edu
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 Cross-Cultural
Communication
Maria Lebedko
Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia
mlebedko@yandex.ru
Nowhere are the differences more striking than between stereotypical perception in cross-cultural
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
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.
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Vladivostok, Russia.
komyshonok@mail.ru
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
conferen@ext.dvgu.ru
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.
Cultural Aspects of Communication of Omani Students as Measured
through Discourse Analysis
Meenalochana Inguva
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
meena@squ.edu.om
Naveen Safia
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
nsafia@squ.edu.om
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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 Myth-Image of Russia’s President V.Putin as A
Man with Many Faces
Megrabova Emma
Far Eastern National University,Vladivostok, Russia
savchanna@yandex.ru
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
the world. The result of this interpretation is actualization of the mental scheme “ambiguity,
contradictoriness” verbalized in connotative lexemes, metaphors, epithets (“three-coloured 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 Corpus-Based Cross-Cultural Comparison of the Use of Evaluative
Language in Research Articles by Chinese EFL Researchers and
Their NSE Counterparts
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Meng Meng ，Zhang Hui
Harbin Institute of Technology
marsmeng@yahoo.com.cn
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 small-sized 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
Cross-Cultural Communication
Meng Wenji
Harbin Engineering University
mengwenji@yahoo.com.cn
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 cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural communication, people
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 cross-cultural 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
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mengyuemma@sina.com
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
hec@sc.starcat.ne.jp
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 teacher-guided intercultural workshops, as well as student-centered 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
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
energyfocus@ntelos.net
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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
hmj168@163.com
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
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.
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Developing a Writing System for Sign Languages of the Deaf
Mihoko Kato
Toyohashi University of Technology
mihoko@hse.tut.ac.jp
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
mjabri@pobox.une.edu.au
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 meta-theoretical 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
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
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A Biographical Approach to Mobile Technologies and New Forms of
Social Interactions in Zambia
Musonda Kapatamoyo
Ohio University School of Telecommunications
mk389300@ohio.edu
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 technology-bound
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-1983@163.com
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, “questions-after-you” (“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
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 face-to-face communication, this study may
contribute to the investigation into the field of computer-mediated 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
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Senior Teacher, Quality School International (USA)
Vladivostok, Russia
nanstrom@mail.ru
Olga N. PERESHIVKINA
Instructor, Kherson Pedagogical University, Kherson, UKRAIN
Boris I. BARTKOV
Foreign Languages Department
Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, , Russia
bibartkov@yandex.ru
Tatyana B. BARTKOVA
Far Eastern State Technical University, , Vladivostok, Russia
tbbartkova@yandex.ru
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 (non-predicative 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 well-known 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 well-known 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.
Internet: A Bridge for Rural Development
Nasrin Khansari
Faculty of Social Science - University of Tehran Tehran, Iran
Nasrinkhansari@hotmail.com
Mehdi Montazer Ghaem
Faculty of Social Science - University of Tehran, Iran
mghaem@yahoo.com
This paper discusses the public as well as governmental ICT and the Internet development projects
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in the rural areas of Iran. For this, various qualitative and quantitative research findings are
considered and re-analyzed. 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 internet-related technologies in respectively national and rural
scales) have been discussed. Furthermore, data related to current state of pre-existing cultural,
social and technological pre-requisites 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 Internet-related 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 on-going
study of planning-execution-evaluation is required to guarantee the cost-efficiency 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
nsevastyanova@yahoo.com
International society is a global social framework of such core values and norms as international
peace and security, state sovereignty, self-determination, non-intervention, non-discrimination,
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
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 self-determination. The current global
nternational society, which is based on formally equal state sovereignty, in fact contains huge
inequalities between member states. That socio-economic 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
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through Discourse Analysis
Meenalochana Inguva and Naveen Safia
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
meena@squ.edu.om, nsafia@squ.edu.om
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
nsafia@squ.edu.om
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,
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?
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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
nsafia@squ.edu.om
Meenalochana Inguva
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
meena@squ.edu.om
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.
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
for_natika@mail.ru
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.
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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 Cross-Cultural Communication in Central Asia
Ni, Jianping
Shanghai Institute of American Studies
niceni@sina.com
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 inter-cultural 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.
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 China-Central 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.
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Zhang Yimou’s Golden Flower: A Story of Hybridity
Jia Ning
Beijing Foreign Studies University
idealjn@bfsu.edu.cn
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
present-day 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
Donna.Miller@insightbb.com
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 in-depth interviews with seven
postgraduate international students from six different countries in Asia and a convenient snowball
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
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encounters.
American Students’ Views on Chinese Concept of Harmony (Hexie)
Noreen M. Schaefer-Faix
Communication Arts
Defiance College, OHIO, USA
nschaefer@defiance.edu
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 in-depth 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.
Cross-cultural Factors in English Advertisement Translation
Pan Li & Sun Shuang
Harbin Institute of Technology
li_pan99@yahoo.com
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
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 cross-cultural 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 cross-factors in translation, the communication gap
between the English and the target language will be bridged.
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Being globalizing:
A cross-cultual approach to explore the impact of globalization over
organizational culture
Po-Lin Pan
The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, AL
ppan@bama.ua.edu
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 cross-cultural 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
nihalani@fass.ubd.edu.bn
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
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 ever-increasing 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
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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 much-debated 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 multi-dimensional 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 Houston--Downtown
golemonp@uhd.edu
E-chou Wu
Providence University, Taiwan
ecwu@pu.edu.tw
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 non-native
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
defects. Engrish first elides the power Standard English transfers to speakers and its
cross-cultural 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.
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English and Its Inter Cultural Signification
Patricia Golemon
University of Houston--Downtown
golemonp@uhd.edu
E-chou Wu
Providence University, Taiwan
ecwu@pu.edu.tw
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 non-native
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 cross-cultural 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 Socio-Cultural Talk in Health Settings : Milestones and
Barriers
Patsy Deverall
English for Health Professionals, AUT University, New Zealand
patsy.deverall@aut.ac.nz
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
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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
fpchew@um.edu.my>
Racial Riot in 1969 awake the Malaysian that the ethnic relation is fragile and can easily caused
damourous due to conflict of socio-cultural 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 socio-economic status respondents were more
supportive compared to non-Malays, male and lower socio-economic status respondents. Beside
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
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jdpeng@126.com
Wang Bin
Central South University, China
readywang@126.com
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 cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural differences in linguistic aspects,
socio-cultural aspects and ideological aspects. Findings of the present study reveal that
functionalist approaches can facilitate C-E translation of signs in that it adopts a target-culture
orientation to forecast, avoid and handle various translation problems. As a result, a four-step
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 Re-embodiment in the Translation of
Ancient Chinese Poems： Tune Tian Jing Sha as the Example
Peng zhenchuan&Liu Kedong
Harbin Institute of Technology
Pengzhenchuan@163.com
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,
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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
peter.sercombe@ncl.ac.uk
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.
The Change of Standard Thai High Tone: An Acoustic Study
Phanintra Teeranon
Mae Fah Lunag University, Chaingrai, Thailand
tphanintra@yahoo.com
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 1911-2002 (Bradley,
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1916; Abramson, 1962; Tamtavitikul, 1994; Teeranon, 2002). The tone has changed its shape from
mid falling (1911), high level (1960-1970’s), to mid rising (1980-2002) (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: over-sixty and under-twenty. The Praat program is used to conduct an
acoustic analysis. The results show that high tone characteristic of the over-sixty is high level, but
it is mid rising in the under-twenty. 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
larsonph@stolaf.edu
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.
The Advantages of International English Summer Camp in
Improving Awareness in Intercultural Communication
Ping Li
Harbin Normal University
lp_1004@hotmail.com
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
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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)
nata_proshjants@yahoo.com
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 Asian-Pacific 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, non-verbal and paraverbal), the structure of their discourse to meet communicative goals
(Claire Kramsch). The directions in curriculum change, designing the discourse syllabus are
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 cross-cultural awareness.
Reconceptualising Intercultural Communication Competence:
Towards an Asil-centric Approach
Prue Holmes
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University of Waikato, New Zealand
pholmes@waikato.ac.nz
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 Asia-centric 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 & Ting-Toomey, 1998),
the study seeks to uncover Asia-centric understandings of being, knowing, and communicating in
order to offer new—Asia-centric—conceptualisations of ICC in the above context.
On cultural variation in gender-related strategies and tactics of
communicative politeness
Pshenichnikova Anna
Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia
moibimulya@mail.ru
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.
Gender-related 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
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
gender-related 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 gender-related strategies of politeness in English and Russian dialogues.
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“What is your role?”: Identity Negotiation in a
Chinese Heritage Language Classroom
Chang Pu
Xiaoshi Li
The University of Texas at San Antonio
chang.pu@utsa.edu
xiaoshi.li@utsa.edu
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 student-teacher 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
qixiukun@hit.edu.cn
The central issue of language transfer has been centered upon whether the first language of L2
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 cross-linguistic difference between Chinese
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and English is of serious hindrance to Chinese English learners. Therefore, feasible measures are
needed for effective English teaching.
An Overview of Culture-Sensitive Pedagogy
Xiaomei Qiao,
University of Arizona
xqiao@email.arizona.edu
Huiyu Tan,
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics
salenathy@yahoo.com.cn
This article summarizes major findings in research on what is culture-sensitive pedagogy (CSP),
why it is necessary, and how we can develop a real culture-sensitive pedagogy. Two reasons are
identified for the drive for a culture-sensitive pedagogy: first, although globalization pushed
non-Western (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 culture-sensitive 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 “market-place”, 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
In the UK among British College Students
Lili Qin，Wang Shaoping
Dalian University of Foreign Languages
smilinggirllily@hotmail.com
wanglishing@yahoo.com.cn
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
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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 English-American Literature Knowledge on the
Cultivation of Culture Awareness
Qiu Dewei,
Taiyuan University of Science & Technology
longyangdeng@yahoo.com.cn
The paper illustrates that the teaching of English-American 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
English-American 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 British-American 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 Chinese-western literature and culture, the cooperative learning and the
internet-assisted teaching, the pragmatic application of the cultural knowledge, etc. Finally, the
author comes to the conclusion that through the British-American literature learning, students can
not only have a systematic understanding about the target culture, but can be inspired to develop
their culture awareness.
Cross-Cultural Adaptation (CCA) of Foreign Teachers
in Chinese Higher Education
Qiu Shan
Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications,
and Shanghai International Studies University
qiushan@cqupt.edu.cn
With the globalization of education in China, more and more foreign professionals or experts, both
language and non-language majors, are needed in Chinese Higher Education. The Chinese
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policy-makers 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 policy-making concerning about their living conditions instead of the sojourners’
adjustment in the alien culture. Thereby, their cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural 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
renithar@dut.ac.za
Critiquing Cross-cultural 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
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 non-native EFL speakers.
Fatemeh Ahmadi
Gorgan university
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Abbass Eslami Rasekh
English Language Dept. Isfahan University .
lida_ahmadi82@yahoo.com
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 low-proficiency speakers from Gorgan was greater than Canadian participants.
Also, the degree of ostensibility in invitations used by low-proficiency 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
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
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renzhipeng@163.com
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
rnstcl01@louisville.edu
Margaret U. D'Silva
Ulniversity of Louisville
m0dsil01@louisville.edu
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
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-Wallace.Vaagan@jbi.hio.no
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On 17-18th 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 state-owned 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 Multi-cultures
Ruijian Zhang
Purdue University Calumet, Hammond, IN, USA
Zhang@calumet.purdue.edu
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
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
sanajcs@hotmail.com
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This paper presents a theoretical research-based 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
saco99@prodigy.net.mx
coronasarah99@yahoo.com.mx
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 mestizo-occidental 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
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
saba1969@yahoo.com, babran@csr.ir
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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
shahlasharifi@hotmail.com
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
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 inter-language
communication.
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Effective Communication: the Essential Components
For Successful Total Quality Management Implementation
Sharina Bt. Samsudin
UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA
sharina@uum.edu.my
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 50-70% 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
sby87@hotmail.com
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 grammar-oriented and test-intended 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 non-English major students are
likely to produce in cross-cultural communication by a research investigation conducted in the
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non-English 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
shiqiqivicky@gmail.com
shiqiqivicky@sina.com
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 multi-angled analysis of facework and face system
with related to the traditional Chinese negotiation of face relationship.
British National Identity in the Age of Globlization
Shi Tongyun
Beijing Foreign Studies University, China
shitongyun@sohu.com
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
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cultural complexity, New Labor led by Tony Blair responded with “rebranding Britain” into a new
and creative, young and modern, diverse and outward-looking 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.
Cross-cultural Differences and Their Impacts on Brand Building
In China and America
Shi, Xingsong
University of International Business and Economics
shixs@sina.com
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, non-doing,
non-strive, restraint of individuality, self-contentment, 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.
A Cultural-power Minded Approachto Intercultural Communication
Shi-xu
Zhejiang University
xshi@zju.edu.cn
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,
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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 anti-colonialism
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
mdsidin@um.edu.my
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.
Community Participation Efforts in Strengthening Social Harmony
Daenseekaew S, Khon Kaen University
somdae@kku.ac.th
Klungklang R, Khon Kaen University
ratdaklung@thaimail.com
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Tungpukdee J, Khon Kaen University
Boonkong, P, Khon Kaen University
boonkong_p@yahoo.com
This participatory action research aimed to enhance a community’s potential in strengthening
sub-district harmony, a grass-root 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?
Jenn-Jaw Song
Cheng-Kung University
Chun-Pin Su
Hsing-Kuo University of Management
yvessu@yahoo.com.tw
The relations between China and Japan are widely regarded as the most important bilateral
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 Sino-Japanese 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
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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 <catherinesnnn@yahoo.com
The growth and development of indigenous tourism has been a significant cultural, and social
phenomena of the post-war 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 non-Indigenous markets, overseas as well as
domestic. Such tourism-oriented images have far-reaching 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 market-focused, designed to meet the
demands of the industry. This thesis, based on cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural
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
University of Kitakyushu, Japan
houghton@kitakyu-u.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 nine-month perod from thirty-six student participants and myself as
teacher-researcher to examine the impact of three separate courses of English language study all
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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 teacher-researcher 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 Cross-cultural Encounters Lead to Greater
Intercultural Harmony?
Stephen M. Ryan
St. Thomas University, Osaka, JAPAN
ryanyama@hcc5.bai.ne.jp
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 (1-3 week) cross-cultural 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 classroom-based 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 cross-cultural learning.
Ethnic Encounters between the Diasporic Subject and Indigenous
People in the Era of Globalization: Reading Michael Ondaatje’s
Anil’s Ghost
Jing-fen Su
National Taiwan University
d94122002@ntu.edu.tw
Setting his award-winning 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 Lankan-born 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
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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
sujuan901@yahoo.com.cn
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 cultural-specific 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 non-native 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 Chinese-Langauge News Website
Su Lezhou
Beijing Foreign Studies University
boatpride@163.com
The paper focuses on Chinese gay representation on the media in China through studying
headlines of Chinese gay-related 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’
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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 gay-related 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 gay-related 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 gay-related 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 sub-community 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
slchang@eyou.com
lichangsu@yahoo.com.cn
Conceptual metaphor, as an important process of human cognition, bears strong universal features.
However, this cognitive process is also strongly culture-ridden, 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
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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
Sugath@spc.cmb.ac.lk, sugathms@yahoo.com
Sugath@whu.edu.cn
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.
The Mission of University on Shaping Harmonious Society:
Diversity and Integration
Sun Liqun
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，
Harbin Institute of Technology
liqunsun@yahoo.com.cn
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
karensun70@sina.com
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
Assimilative Principle learners attempt to preserve their own life-style, 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
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Auckland University of Technology
zhaoyuqinsusan@hotmail.com
Development in internet technology has brought forth new means of communication. Internet
relay chat has become a popular text-based means of computer mediated communication. In order
to guarantee the efficiency of real-time 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 multi-user 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,
non-verbal 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 non-verbal 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 Non-native English-speaking Authorss in Esp/Eap Claese
Svetlana Savintseva
Far East Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, (FEB RAS)
savintseva@mail.ru
Teaching ESP/EAP classes implies that students read lots of texts by non-native authors since the
principal criterion in choosing literature is professional interest of the students. This may cause
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. Pre-reading 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 post-reading 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 non-native English-speaking authors but also for developing
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cross-cultural awareness of postgraduates.
Linguistic and Cultrual Peculiarities of Canadian Food Advertizing
Tamara Denisenko
Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok, Russia
tidenisenko@mail.ru
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
linguo-cultural 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 Russian-Chinese
Exchange Program
Tamara I. LEONTIEVA
Department of Crosscultural Communications and Translation
Vladivostok State University of Economics
leontievati@mail.ru
One of the basic contributions to international understanding is Chinese-Russian 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.
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 cross-cultural 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.
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High/Low-Context Cultures and Conflict-Handling
Jianmin Tang
Shandong University of Science and Technology
Pinju Yang
Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology
jianmintang0725@163.com
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 high-context cultures prefer to use
high-context 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
low-context cultures the majority of the information is vested in the explicit code. By making use
of Hall’s classification, Ting-Toomey believes that people in high-and low-context 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 high-and 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
Cathertang@163.com
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
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
cherry_tm@126.com
Nonverbal communication is an indispensable component of intercultural communication. It is
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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 cross-cultural
communication, in order to avoid communication misunderstanding, people should take into
account the fact that some non-linguistic behaviors are not common and have their own cultural
uniqueness. This paper is to analyze the different forms and functions of non-linguistic
communication from the following aspects: body language, paralanguage, object language and
environmental language to illustrate the great importance of applying properly the non-linguistic
behavior in cross- cultural communication.
A Comparison of Digital and Printing Media on Reading Behavior—
An Eye Movement Perspective
Yung-Yi Tang
Da-Lun Tang
Der-Rung Chen
Department of Mass Communication, Chinese Culture University
yytang@faculty.pccu.edu.tw
tdl@faculty.pccu.edu.tw
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
image-based 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
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
tanya_ivankova@yahoo.com
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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 English-language 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 non-native
speakers of English based on L. Smith’s three-component 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
tty@social.dvgu.ru
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
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
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Dexin Tian
Xi’an International Studies University
dxtian@yahoo.com
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 US-China 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 stage-oriented 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 Jie-hong
Li Xiao-hong
Harbin Institute of Technology
treasurewood@126.com
English education is growing rapidly in China. Yet, demonstrated and hidden problems are
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 “other-directedness” and “reason-supportedness”, 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 test-orientedness, the foreseeable but intangible importance of English
learning, the separation of language and cultural and life-related knowledge all derives from
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history. The asynchrony and the inversion are also products of a functionally defected system:
malfunctioning of certain parts and transgression of others, and non-educational 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
tbruneau@radford.edu / singer@swva.net
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.
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
Shiou-Fen Tsai
Shih Hsin University
surena@ms37.hinet.net
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Cultural industry is the mainstream of cultural policy in current China. Since cultural industry
policy is essentially influenced by Post-Fordism 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 (1994-2006) and the doctoral and master theses
database in China (1999-2006), 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 Hou-Hsiao-Hsien and Edward
Yang
Larry Ling-hsuan Tung
Kean University, New Jersey, USA
ltung@kean.edu
In the 1980s, a revamped film industry in Taiwan produced numerous international acclaimed
films, marking the beginning of the Taiwan New Wave Cinema and putting Taiwan on the cultural
map of the world. Hou Hsiao-hsien 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
high-speed 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
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themes while rural stories are often deemed as boring and old-fashioned. 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
vlasova@vimo.dvgu.ru
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.
3.
The same gestures that have different meanings in the two languages.
4.
Different gestures that convey the same meaning.
5.
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Bohai University
ifli@163.com
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 Role-play 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
daphnewang626@hotmail.com
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
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
wge72@yahoo.com.cn
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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 non-native 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: chriswh@163.com
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,
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
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Beijing Foreign Studies University
Email: chriswh@163.com
A design made by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron with a birdsí» nest-like 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?lattice-workí? 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 Cross-cultural Communication
Wang Jianguo
Zhejiang Normal University
wangjianguo@zjnu.cn
Context which consists of temporal-spatial unit, topic, and interlocutors with diverse cultural and
social-psychological ground is the essential problem in communication, especially, in
cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural
communication as a neutralized medium. In this paper, the author made a schematic analysis of
the neutralized functions of English in context construction in cross-cultural communication. As
result of the analysis, four main functions were exposed: 1. Context selection: the interlocutor can
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 cross-cultural communication.
Learner Autonomy in the East
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Wang Jinghui
Harbin Institute of Technology
Winterfruit2003@yahoo.com
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 non-western 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
wanglier@public.wu.hb.cn
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
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 .
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On the Chinese, Swedish and American Patterns of Communication
Wang Lihao,
Harbin Engineering University
lihao_wang@126.com
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
wanglingjennifer@yahoo.com.cn
“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.
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 non-social 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.
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Discussion on the Nonverbal Communication
Wang Liqun
Northeast Forestry University
shaoqiezi@163.com
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 all-pervasive, 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 Concordancer of Equivalent Words
in English-Chinese/Chinese-English Parallel Corpora
Wang Lixin, Wang Yang
Harbin Institute of Technology
Lixin_wang@hotmail.com
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
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of English and Chinese words in practical language employment is to concordance the
English-Chinese/ Chinese-English equivalent words by a parallel corpora in a large scale, then to
extract the target-language candidate equivalents from source-language words and put them in
order according to equivalent intensity for their respective usage. The concordancer of Equivalent
Words in English-Chinese/Chinese-English Corpora is a bilingual concordancing program
designed for English-Chinese/ Chinese-English lexicography. It differs from common bilingual
concordancers in that it calculates the probability of co-occurrence of a source-language word and
its target-language 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 co-occurrence
so that equivalent words in parallel corpora can be conveniently retrieved. The concordancer
provides English-Chinese/Chinese-English dictionary compilers with a quick and objective means
of identifying target-language equivalents.
Intercultural Communication in the Globalized World
Wang Lu
Harbin Institute of Technology
lucywang0604@yahoo.com.cn
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
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
caesaryan@hotmail.com
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English teaching is essentially a process of cross-culture 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 communication---from 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 cross-culture pragmatic mistake and discuss the importance of incorporating
culture into second language teaching. Also based on the analysis of cross-culture 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
babinwn@163.com
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 non-prayer 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.
“Do you want to become my language partner?”
--- An exploratory study on Chinese college students’ intercultural
communicative competence
Wang Qiong
Beijing Language University
Wang-diana@sohu.com
This paper analyzed Chinese college students’ experience of communicating with
foreigners in general and their experience of finding language partners in particular.
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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’
self-reflective 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
Jameswsj1201@163.com
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 re-adjustments that could
contribute effective fulfillment of Communication between Chinese and Americans.
Chinese Americans’ Retention of Culture and Re-negotiating of
Cultural Identity
Wang Song Li Jinling
Harbin Institute of Technology, P. R. China
wangsong3412@yahoo.com.cn
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 re-negotiating 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 re-negotiating of one’s cultural identity among Chinese
Americans. The sample consisted of 24 Chinese Americans from Boston and Louisville. This
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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 re-negotiating 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
Wangtao_seu@yahoo.com.cn
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
wxdhlj@tom.com
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
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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).
xlw11_0@yahoo.com
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 cross-cultural 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
First-Year English Major Students’ Self-identity Change in English
Learning
Wang Xiaoying
Beijing Foreign Studies University
Sophyq02@yahoo.com.cn
Research has shown that the learning of a foreign language will influence the learner’s
self-identity, and this influence is a continuing process. To explore how the self-identity 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’ self-identity changes over their first
academic year. 240 English-major students were invited to respond to a questionnaire on
self-confidence and five types of identity change (Gao et al., 2004) at the beginning and end of
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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 self-identity change remained high over the year, although they all had a statistically significant
decrease. Negative confidence and split type of self-identity 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
wangyanghit@126.com
Starting from the concept of cross-culture 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, inter-group 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.
A Study of Communication Style Differences’ Effect on
Computer-Mediated Communication
Wang Yi
Harbin Engineering University
Wy.jennifer@163.com
With the development of globalization and computer science, intercultural communication
changed from face-to-face communication to computer-mediated communication, the more
convenient and faster way. Asian countries are high-context cultures and most western countries
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are low-context cultures. High-context cultures communicate through context, however,
low-context cultures communicate mostly through language. Computer-mediated communication
is a world of low-context, nonverbal deficient realm. This paper makes a study on whether the
high-context cultures have communication handicap in the low-context, nonverbal deficient world
of computer-mediated communication. The study was carried out among Chinese students who are
under high-context culture. They were divided into two groups to discuss the same topic. One
group had a face-to-face 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
wangyian2003@hotmail.com
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.
A Discourse Analysis about the Linguistic Characteristics of
White House Briefings
Wang Yingyu
English Department Harbin University
jjwyyjj@163.com
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
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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-ping@163.com
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 Jean-Paul Sartre states that “existence
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
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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
esther7910@yahoo.com.cn
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 cross-cultural communication.
Cultural Differences Seen from Sino-US University Mottos
Wei Xiujuan
Harbin Institute of Technology
xiujuanrun@163.com
The university motto is a reflection of the running-school principles, the university
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 Sino-US 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
ex-future oriented. The mottos of American universities show that American culture
focus on cognition, individualism and changes.
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Face as Socially Constructed Ethos: From Confuciu’s Li to
Goffman’s "Definition of the Situation”
Wei, Yong-Kang
University of Texas at Brownsville, USA
ywei@utb.edu
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 self-esteem 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 Self-selected Proverbs and Sayings
Weng Liping
Shanghai Internatioanl Studies University
wengliping@gmail.com
Schwartz’s comment on uncovering values from “cultural products” (Schwartz, 1994) has led us
to believe that values-loaded 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
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 self-selected 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 culture-level 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
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reflected in Chinese proverbs and sayings though a cross-sectional 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 self-selected
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 DiversityTo Avoid Conflicts through Understanding Differences of Diversified
Culture
Wenying Woo, Deputy Director
International Exchanges
Beijing University of Technology
:bpuiec3@bjut.edu.cn
From the analysis of 5 cases of conflicts, (facing a spelling mistake, a pay incident, a refused
invitation, and a self-written 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 non-verbal 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 co-exist in a diversified society. Keywords: case analysis cultural
diversity conflict harmony.
Interpreting the Chinese Quality of “Being Dependent”
Wu Hui-ping
Harbin Institute of Technology
Wu_huiping2005@yahoo.com.cn
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
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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
group-oriented 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 on-line chatting:
Topic-overlapping and conversational ending
Wu Li
Beijing Foreign Studies University
bfsuwl@yahoo.com.cn
Conversational analysis, developed within a movement in American sociology, called
ethno-methodology, 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 topic-shifting 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, on-line 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
face-to-face conversations, one topic usually interweaves with another in on-line chatting and that
the chatting often comes to an end abruptly without ending. Though on-line chatting has drawn the
attention of some researchers (Crystal, 2004; Marcoccia, 2004), topic-overlapping and
conversational endings have been looked into by few. This paper focuses especially on the
above-mentioned two aspects – topic-overlapping and conversational ending, so that more
characteristics of on-line 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
wulihong1995@yahoo.com.cn
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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 auto-fair 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
wulihong1995@yahoo.com.cn
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
joy_wulina@hotmail.com
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; Blum-Kulka 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 cross-sectional 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 role-play with one of
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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
wenanwu@yahoo.com.cn
wwaandy@sina.com
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
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
Yi-Chen Wu
Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan
032526@mail.fju.edu.tw
Fu-Li Chen
Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan
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026644@mail.fju.edu.tw
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
re-examined 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 random-sampling 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 Yi-Chen Wu
Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan
032526@mail.fju.edu.tw
Fu-Li Chen
Fu-Jen Catholic University, Taiwan
026644@mail.fju.edu.tw
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 re-examined 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 random-sampling 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
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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
Peter780925@126.com
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
xinyang1978@163.com
Most of these theories on politeness are purported with the emphasis on the universality, while
with the emergence and development of cross-cultural pragmatics since 1980s, the issue of
universality versus culture-specificity 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, self-face and other-face 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 self-face and attend
to other-face. 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
Face-saving theory is universal as a general framework, but there must be some deviation when it
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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
nicolexing8255@126.com
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 Non-Business: Analyzing Talk in British-Chinese
Business Meetings
Jianyu Xing,
University of International Business and Economics
xingjianyu@hotmail.com
This paper analyzes the content of two welcome meetings held by the British host company for
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 non-business 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 non-business topics during the course of the meetings and explore the factors
contributing to the use/nonuse of non-business talk.
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A Study of Culture Teaching in ELT in Chinese Universities
--an Examination of College English (New Edition)
Xing Lei,
Harbin Institute of Technology
iceflower1981@yahoo.com.cn
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 social-culture 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
Peking University
michaelxhc@sohu.com
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
social-psychological 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 non-English courses is greatly influenced by the students’ linguistic
proficiency, their social-psychological attitudes as well as the course features.
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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
xulf2000@hotmail.com
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
lsxu@zju.edu.cn
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 cross-cultural
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understanding in spite of many cultural differences existing between them.
Women’s Status in Eastern and Western Rhymes
Yang Chunyan
Harbin Institute of Technology
ycy_cat@yahoo.com.cn
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
Freda_yj@126.com
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
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each of them by analyzing the content of articles.
A Brief Analysis of Cultural Connotations of Vocabulary
Yang Lina
Harbin Institute of Technology
hrbyln@yahoo.com.cn
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
cross-cultural communication.
A Longitudinal Analysis of Metaphors Concerning Love in
Chinese
Renying Yang
North China University of Technology
Joannayry7770@sina.com
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
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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
marthayang423@hotmail.com
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
Tai-En Yang
Institute of Communication Studies
National Chiao-Tung University
Hsin-Chu City, Taiwan
teyang09211985@gmail.com
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.
220 Sugath Mahinda Senarath
School of Journalism and Communication,
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Wuhan University,P.R.China
Email: Sugath@spc.cmb.ac.lk, sugathms@yahoo.com, Sugath@whu.edu.cn
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
yiboyang@hit.edu.cn
As the globe is quickening its pace in growing into an inter-communicable village, China opens its
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 ever-changing 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
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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
Adaptability and Its Functioning in Chinese TV Talk Shows
of
YangQing
Jiangsu Teachers University of Technology
yangqing501@yahoo.com.cn
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 well-known 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.
cau@gmail.cn
Silence sends us nonverbal cues concerning the communication situations in which we participate.
In the cross-culture 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, rule-governed, and it is also
variable and culture-specific. 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 non-verbal, is the
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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 cross-culture communication with a theoretical model
of RT is rather a new and worthwhile aspect of pragmatics.
Japanese Hot Spring Culture in Taiwan-homi Bhabha’s Hybridity’s
Post Colonial Perspective
Szu-Yin Yeh,
University of Shih Hsin in Taipei, Taiwan
d93810001@cc.shu.edu.tw
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
orphey50@mail.ru
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 Russian-Chinese 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,
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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 Japan-for Deaf Education
Yoko koizumi
Aoyama Gakuin University, Japan
yokokoizumi12@hotmail.com
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.
Globalization of English and Its Impact on Chinese Language
Yu Huaying
Harbin Institute of Technology
huaying_yu@163.com
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
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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
yuly518@163.com
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.
Study on the Cross-lingual Differences of Animal expressions in
respect to cultural connotation
Yu Xianli
Foreign Languages Department of the Chongqing Communication Academy
Taro1980@126.com
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
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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 cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural communication, enhancing the mutual understanding and mutual
communication between the Chinese and the western culture, and avoiding the obstacles in
cross-culture interaction.
Root of Intercultural Communication
Yuan Chi
Harbin Engineering University
yuanchichi@hotmail.com
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.
Building College Students’ Intercultural Competence through
Technology
Chenfeng Zhang .
Program in Educational Technology, Marygrove College, Michigan
chenfengzhang@hotmail.com
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
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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
cym9228@126.com
Zhang Chunyue
University of Chinese Medicine
zhangchunyue_ivy@126.com
Due to their strong context-dependent and culture-ingrained 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 culture-oriented 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
Beijing Foreign Studies University
simplejanezh@yahoo.com.cn
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 non-comments 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
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blog readers. These effects lead to their non-comments and various comments on the blogs.
Therefore, the comments and non-comments 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
nomeir@163.com
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
non-verbal 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
Zhang Jin, Wang Jing,
Harbin Institute of Technology
zhangjincatherine@126.com
wangjing304@sina.com
For early western women writers who were enclosed in the constructs of male-dominated 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
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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
lizhang@yahoo.con
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 non-prayer 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
ggyyzlj@yahoo.com.cn
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,
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 cross-cultural
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 cross-cultural communication difficulties.
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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
lyzhang08@163.com
Through a cross-cultural 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.
Electronic-paralanguage of Non-verbal Communication in
Digitalized Communication
Zhang Liu
Shanghai International Studies University
zhangliu818@hotmail.com
Internet and mobile communication technology live with us nowadays. Many scholars as well as
big tech-companies pay much attention to the communication both in cyberspace and through
short messaging service of mobile phones. Related studies of computer-mediated communication
(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 electronic-paralanguage of non-verbal communication in the digital world;
this paper also aims at calling wider attention to electronic-paralanguage: not only scholars but
also engineers should know more on electronic-paralanguage 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.
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Theory of Interlanguage in SLA and Its Implication on Strategies of
EFL Teaching and Learning
Zhang Mian
Shenyang Pharmaceutical University
Mianzhang1981@sina.com
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
zmx_hrb@163.com
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
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.
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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 native-like English but also
to the socio-linguistic 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
1-2-11, Muro-machi,
Kokurakita-district, Kitakyusyu City,Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan
zhang@nishitech.ac.jp
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
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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Power Phenomena in the Dialogue Programs of TV Broadcasting
Zhang Wenxing, Yang Lin
Harbin Institute of Technology
vincent835712@163.com
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
yan.zhang@louisville.edu
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 reform-and opening-up 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
culture in its encounter with globalization. Key words: ritual, identity, globalization, Jili, Hanfu
Hvs Adaptive Per Ceptual Digttal Image Codec for 21st Century
Satellite Based Inter Cultural Global Geography Awareness
Ajith Kumarayapa,
Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin. CHINA
ajithky@yahoo.com
Zhang Ye,
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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
yyzyxy@yahoo.com
On the basis of the interrelation of cultural context and discourse comprehension suggested by
systemic-functional 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 self-designed questionnaire, findings
are observed through the analysis of standard deviation of descriptive statistics and of
non-parametric 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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Contrastive Analysis of Apology in Chinese and English
ZhangLili
China Jiliang University
shirley0209@tom.com
The speech act of apology has become one of the hot issues in the field of pragmatics and attracted
a lot of attention since Blum-Kulka &Olshtain ect.carried out the CCSARP (Cross-Cultural
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 non-western contexts, the achievements would be confined to the western
cultures.
This paper, based on some insights from sociolinguistics, ethnography of speaking, cross-cultural
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
hzhao@EXCHANGE.FULLERTON.EDU
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
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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Project-based Learning Approach in Inter-cultural Communication
Instruction: a case study in China
Zhao Ke
Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade
The University of Hong Kong
cocochao@hkusua.hku.hk
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
project-based learning and authentic assessment for learning in teaching Inter-cultural
Communication in tertiary education in China. The project-based learning approach is employed
to address increasingly serious problems in traditional business English syllabus in China---- the
dichotomy of knowledge and skills, de-contextualization 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 Culture-loaded Words
Zhao Mingxue
China University of Ming and Technology (Beijing)
zhaomx55@126.com
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.
Culture-loaded 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
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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 culture-loaded 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
zylilac@gmail.com zy_lilac@hotmail.com
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
difference both in an intercultural and inter-group 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 E-businesses, 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)
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Zhao Yun
Beijing Foreign Studies University
helen_zhaoyun@yahoo.com.cn
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 Bardovi-Harlig 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 (Bardovi-Harlig & 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 high-proficiency 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
happy_zhengllili@hotmail.com
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.
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Approach to Translation Errors: A Cultural Perspective
Zheng Shuming & Peng Zhenchuan
Harbin Institute of Technology
hgdzsm@yahoo.con.cn
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 kinds---linguistic translation errors, pragmatic translation errors, text-specific 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 culture-related 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
huzhengmao@gmail.com
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 “China-bashing” 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
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
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Foreign Language in China From Three New Aspects
Zhou Hua
Harbin Institute of Technology
chunzhouhua@yahoo.com.cn
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
on-going 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
zhoujiaying03@yahoo.com.cn
Liu Huijuan
Xianda College of Economics and Humanities at SISU
lynnliu2002@yahoo.com.cn
As a follow-up 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
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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
zhouwei@hrbeu.edu.cn
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.
On the Integration of Attitudes, Knowledge and Skills in Developing
Intercultural Communication Competence
Zhou, Zhen
Yunnan University
zhouzhen54@126.com
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
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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 real-world 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
jodie521@126.com
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.
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
zhoujiaying03@yahoo.com.cn
Liu Huijuan
Xianda College of Economics and Humanities at SISU
lynnliu2002@yahoo.com.cn
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
As a follow-up 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
enpingz@hotmail.com
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
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 21st century.
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Pragmatic Failure and Cultural Awareness in English
Learning
Zhuping
Shanghai International Studies University
zhuping@shisu.edu.cn
In cross-cultural 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
zohreh_faghany@yahoo.com
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
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
winniping@163.com
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 Non-native Speaker
Zoya Proshina
Far Eastern National University, Vladivostok
uliana_p@mail.ru
Translation and interpretation from English as a Lingua Franca used by non-native 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 in-between 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 so-called 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
interpretation challenges, a course of East Asian Englishes has been introduced at Far Eastern
National University (Vladivostok, Russia).
Cross-Cultural Immersion in Canada Renovates Teachers’
Traditional Teaching Attitudes
Jie Ding
Foreign Language Department, Heilongjiang Institute of Science and Technology
djclare@sina.com
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This paper makes a study of a four-week cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural immersion, teachers enhanced their knowledge,skills and
improved their understanding of effective cross-cultral communications. The study is based on
some typical cases ,such as a cross-cultural 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 culture-awareness into the teaching of major English courses.
Rethink Of The News Values:
Discuss With the Consuming News in Newspaper
Chiao-Wen, Fang
Chinese Culture University, Taiwan
cc5477@yahoo.com.tw
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,
where the so-called 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Memetic Approach to Dynamic Intercultural Communication
Gu Jiazu
Nanjing Normal University
charlesg@jionline.com
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
limengyu1968@163.com
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
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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Li Xiaoming
Harbin Institute of Technology
allegra5921@yahoo.com.cn
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, semi-structured 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 day-to-day 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
Non-English Majors: English Songs or Movies and Identity
Liang Meihong
Beijing University of Technology
liangmeihong@sohu.com
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 non-English-major 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
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 multi-cultural 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 self-identity 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’
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Pedagogical Beliefs about Teaching English as a Foreign Language to
Chinese University Students
Li Xiaoming
Harbin Institute of Technology
allegra5921@yahoo.com.cn
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, semi-structured 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 day-to-day 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
------Socio-cultural analysis of American Postmodernist Fiction
Liu Ying
English Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages, Harbin Normal University
huili_sui@yahoo.com.cn
Through the socio-cultural 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 post-industrial 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 post-modernistic
social culture of America.
A Comparative analysis of Survey on Face in Chinese and Western
Cultural Background
Meng Xuemei
Harbin Institute of Technology
cloemxm@163.com
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 cultural-confusian
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.
Cross-Cultural Exploration of Business Communicaiton
Sang Xiaolei
Northeast Forestry University
luckydog.pipi@yahoo.com.cn
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.
In the intercultural communication, the two parties should not only make their linguistic behaviors
suitable, also the non-linguistic 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
shengrongjie@hotmail.com
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
songxiuzhi@163.com
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
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
“Post-colonial 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
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
Northesat Forestry University
shaoqiezi@163.com
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 all-pervasive, 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
Online Advertising Format
SHU-Yi WU
Chinese Cutlure University, Taiwan
magali11kimo@yahoo.com.tw sammy.wu@hotmail.com
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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
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 attention-getting 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
Tung-Jun WU
Chinese Culture University
msuallan@hotmail.com
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.
A Comparative Study of the Lexicalization of Verbal Process Lexis
in Chinese and English
Xu Liying
Harbin Institite of Technology
xlydiane@yahoo.com.cn
The degree of lexicalization refers to the extent to which a complex linguistic form has taken on a
non-compositional, 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
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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
Tai-en Yang
Institute of Communication Studies
teyang09211985@gmail.com
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 Cross-lingual Differences of Animal expressions in
Respect to Cultural Connotation
Yu Xianli
Foreign Languages Department of the Chongqing Communication Academy
Taro1980@126.com
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.
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CAFIC & IAICS International Conference, June 22-24, 2007 Harbin·China
This paper probes into the cross-cultural 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 cross-cultural communication, enhancing the mutual understanding and mutual
communication between the Chinese and the western culture, and avoiding the obstacles in
cross-culture interaction.
A Study of ISA Theory in Daily Communication
Zhou Hua
Cheng Cheng
Harbin Institute of Technology
zhouhuameihit@126.com
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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