Cross-cultural Encounters

1
Cross-cultural Encounters

• Scenarios
• We need to be able to interact effectively with
  people from other cultures.
• These exercises are designed to improve
  inter-cultural communication skills.

2
Culture

• Shared knowledge
• Shared values
• Shared perspectives
• Shared beliefs
• Shared behaviour
• Generalisations and stereotypes
• Stereotypes are dangerous!

3
Culture

• Ethnocentrism
• We tend to use the norms of our own culture as
  standards when we judge the behaviour of people
  from other cultures.
• We need to try to understand the world from other
  cultural perspectives.
• We are often not even aware of the cultural
  assumptions that we make.

4
English Culture

• An Individualist culture
• The need for personal space/privacy
• Independence/self reliance
• High achievement/career
• Take credit and responsibilty for what we have
  achieved

5
English Culture

• Reluctance to accept compliments
• Reluctance to answer personal questions
• A clear and firm distinction between your private
  and your public life
• Westerners tend to speak directly-plainly and
  openly- We get to the point
• Tolerant of behaviour that does not conform to
  cultural norms-accept a wide range of views and
  values
• Family relationships-care of elderly/independence
  of the young.

6
Chinese Culture

• A Collectivist culture-view themselves as members
  of a group-family/work unit/-consider the needs
  of the group to be more important than the needs
  of the individual
• Obligation to help others in their group
• Generosity
• The host culture
• Modesty
• Tend to communicate in a way that is more
  indirect and subtle
• High degree of conformity is expected-a clear
  consensus as to what is/is not acceptable
  behaviour. Pressure to conform
• Self respect, dignity and face are perhaps more
  important in Chinese culture.

7
Understanding other cultures
8
Intercultural communication

• Rule 1 Be careful, and don't jump to conclusions
  too quickly.
• Rule 2 Try to see things from the foreigner's
  perspective.
• Is it possible that this foreigner means
  something different? If so, what could it be?
• Rule 3 Always keep trying to learn more and
  understand better.

9
Encounters

• 1.Why didnt she want my help?
• 2.The shopper
• 3.Reading Alone
• 4.Not Eating
• 5..The taxi
• 6.Getting to Know You
• 7.The Gift
• 8.Out of the Nest
• 9.Grandma
• 10.The Compliment
• 11.Who should pay for the meal?
• 12.The Banquets
• 13.The Kiss
• 14.The English Teacher
• 15.Grades
• 16.The Interview

10
The Encounters-short stories

• Critical incident exercises start with a
  presentation of a short story describing a
  problematic encounter between two different
  cultures-an encounter in which there is some kind
  of misunderstanding.
• There are different possible explanations for
  what may have gone wrong.
• A broad range of possibilities are considered
  when considering the behaviour of people from
  other cultures.
• There is no right explanation of the situation.

11
Encounters

• Encounters builds students awareness of how they
  go about interpreting the behaviour of
  foreigners.
• They encourage the habit of pausing to consider
  alternative possible explanations of puzzling or
  problematic behaviour on the part of foreigners,
  rather than jumping to often ethnocentric and
  wrong conclusions.

12
Why didnt she want my help?

• This summer at your school there is a short
  term English Training Course being offered by
  several western Teachers and you have been
  assigned as one of the assistants for the
  programme. The western teachers have not been in
  China before, and dont speak Chinese, so your
  duty is to help them with daily life issues and
  to generally serve as a host while they are in
  China. It is also your duty to make sure that
  they remain safe while they are in China. During
  a break between classes, you overhear Jane, one
  of the older western teachers, say that she needs
  to buy some T-shirts. You offer to go out
  shopping with her this afternoon, but Jane says,
  No thank you and then rushes off to class. The
  next day you overhear the students talking about
  how Jane got lost yesterday when she went off
  alone to a market on the other side of the city
  to shop for the T-shirts.

13
Why didnt she want my help?

• 1. First, decide how you would feel when you
  heard the students talking about Jane.
• 2. Think of several possible explanations for why
  Jane turned down your offer of help to take her
  shopping. (There is no single right answer but
  there are a number of likely possibilities.)
• 3. Talk with your teacher about this situation
  and see what she thinks of the explanations you
  suggest.

14
Why didnt she want my help?

• Discussion questions
• Why do you think westerners think it is impolite
  to ask how much money someone makes or how much
  they spend on an item?
• Why do you think westerners feel privacy is so
  important?
• Why do you think westerners place so much
  importance on independence?

15
Group analysis/discussion of one of the Encounters
16
Working together-one person writes-but all share
ideas
17
The shopper

• The Shopper
• Xiao Wang is out shopping and in a store he
  sees a middle aged western woman who is trying to
  ask the storekeeper how much an item costs. The
  woman looks frustrated and is using lots of sign
  language but the storekeeper still does not
  understand what she wants.
• Xiao Wang decides that this would be a good
  chance to practice his English, so he goes over,
  explains to the clerk what the tourist wants and
  then tells the tourist how much the item costs.
  The tourist says thank you, and then begins
  looking at other items in the store.
• Encouraged by his success, Xiao Wang asks the
  tourist if she would like him to acts as
  interpreter as she shops. The tourist however
  says no, thank you and then walks off to
  another part of the store.

18
The Shopper

• How do you think Xiao Wang might have felt when
  the shopper refused his offer of help?
• What do you think Xiao Wang expected?
• Why do you think the shopper refused his offer of
  help?
• List several possible explanations and then
  decide which seems to be the most likely.

19
Reading Alone

• At Xiao Lees school there is a western
  teacher called Mrs. Coates who Xiao Lee often
  sees and chats with in the cafeteria. Several
  times Mrs. Coates has told Xiao Lee that she
  would be welcome to come over and visit her some
  time and so one evening, after dinner, Xiao Lee
  decides to go to visit her. Xiao Lee arrives at
  Mrs. Coates apartment, knocks, and Mrs. Coates
  opens the door. When Mrs. Coates sees Xiao Lee
  she smiles and says, It was nice of you to come
  over, but I just want to spend an evening by
  myself reading. Could I ask you to come back at
  another time?
• Why do you think that Mrs. Coates says she wants
  to read rather than inviting Xiao Lee in?
• List several possible explanations and then
  choose those that seem to be the most likely.

20
Reading Alone

• Many westerners feel that it is a good thing to
  have some personal time, i.e. to spend some
  time alone doing whatever they would like to do.
  Alone does not necessarily mean lonely. In
  China do people feel that they need personal
  time or time when they are alone?
• In China, when guests visit, what are your
  obligations? Are there occasions when you can
  turn them away?
• Among westerners some invitations are polite
  and others are real. In China, do you have both
  polite invitations and solid invitations? If
  so, how can you tell the difference between them?

21
Not Eating

• Xiao Wang has invited an American friend
  named Nancy home for dinner and Xiao Wangs
  family has prepared a large meal in honour of the
  guest with lots of local specialities. However
  soon after the meal begins it is obvious that
  Nancy is not eating much. Several times Xiao Wang
  and his family encourage Nancy to eat more, and
  each time she is urged to do so Nancy eats a
  little bit more, but still not very much.
  However, each time the family urges Nancy to eat
  more, she comments on how wonderful the food is.
• Why do you think that Nancy is eating so
  little?
• List several possible explanations and then
  choose those that seem to be the most likely.

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The taxi - Xiao Lee

• Scholarship - study in UK
• Arrives by plane at Heathrow
• Waits in the queue - takes a taxi
• Luggage in back
• Shows address to driver
• On arrival - taxi meter reads 32.50
• Driver asks for 50!
• Why?
• In groups discuss and think of as many possible
  reasons -good /bad, likely/unlikely

24
The Taxi-Solutions and counsequences?

• What could she do?
• What should she do?
• What would you do and why?
• What could be the consequences?

25
The Taxi

• Is tipping a good custom or a bad custom?
• Are their situations in China where it is
  appropriate to tip? If so, how much? How and when
  do you present the tip?
• What kinds of extra charges might surprise a
  western tourist in China?

26
Getting to Know You

• Xiao Lee has recently arrived in a
  western country to study English and moves into a
  dormitory with western graduate students. Xiao
  Lee is the only international student in her
  Hall. On the first day there is a party for all
  the people in Xiao Lees Hall of Residence. First
  they have a planning meeting where they all sit
  in a circle and introduce themselves, and when
  Xiao Lee says where she is from, one of the other
  women say, You will have to tell us all about
  your country, and the other people all agree.
  Xiao Lee is pleased because she wants to tell
  them about China. Later, when the party starts,
  Xiao Lee waits for people to come and talk to her
  about China, but instead all of the western
  students talk to each other, and nobody comes
  over to talk to Xiao Lee.

27
Getting to Know You

• How do you think Xiao Lee might have felt?
• What do you think she expected?
• Why do you think that no-one went over to talk to
  Xiao Lee about China?
• List several possible explanations and then
  choose those that seem to be the most likely.

28
The Gift

• Xiao Wang has been granted a special
  scholarship to an American University, and his
  English Teacher, Mrs. Coates, wrote a
  recommendation for him that was instrumental in
  his getting the scholarship. Xiao Wang feels very
  grateful to Mrs. Coates, and so decides to buy
  her an expensive gift, a landscape painting, as a
  way of saying thank you to her. One day after his
  class has ended and the other students have left,
  Xiao Wang presents the gift to Mrs. Coates.
  Looking surprised, Mrs. Coates says thank you,
  but says that she cant accept it. Xiao Wang
  offers the gift several more times but Mrs.
  Coates insists on refusing it.

29
The Gift

• Why do you think that Mrs. Coates will not accept
  the gift?
• List several possible reasons and then decide
  which seems to be the most likely.
• What are the customs for gift giving and
  receiving in China?
• In China, what are some appropriate ways to
  express thanks to someone who has helped you?
• Is there a clear difference between a gift and a
  bribe?

30
Out of the Nest

• When Xiao Lee is getting on the bus, she
  drops one of her packages. A young man picks it
  up for her, and as the bus starts Xiao Lee begins
  to chat with him. He says that he is 18 years old
  and has always lived in this town. Although his
  family laso live in the same town, he lives alone
  in a small apartment. He has just graduated from
  High School this year and is now a student at the
  local university. Xiao Lee asks him where he is
  going and he says that he is going to work-he has
  an evening job at a restaurant to make money to
  pay for university. He says that although his
  family is not poor, he doesnt want to live with
  them or ask them for money.
• Why do you think that this young man does not
  live with his family or get any money from them?
• List several possible explanations and then
  choose those that seem to be the most likely.

31
Out of the Nest

• Most western cultures place great stress on
  self-reliance and independence, and young people
  normally leave home at around 18 years of age.
• In China, do students take part-time jobs?

32
Grandma

• Xiao Wang is visiting a western teacher he
  knows and looking at pictures of her family. He
  sees a picture of her grandmother and asks the
  teacher about her. The teacher says that her
  grandmother is 83 years old and lives in a small
  town. Xiao Lee asks if the grandmother lives with
  any of the other family members, but the teacher
  says that she lives alone-all the other family
  members have moved away.
• Why do you think that the grandmother lives
  alone, instead of with the other family members?
• List several possible explanations and then
  choose those that seem to be the most likely.

33
The Compliment

• Xiao Wang is visiting a local museum, and
  there he meets an older western man.
  Unfortunately the explanations of the exhibits
  are not translated into English and the man cant
  read them, so Xiao Wang offers to explain all the
  exhibits to him.
• However, as he begins he soon finds that it
  is very difficult to explain about all the
  ancient artefacts in English because there are
  many words that it is very difficult to explain
  in English. He makes a lot of mistakes, and often
  has to admit that he doesnt know how to say what
  he wants to say in English.
• By the time they reach the end of the museum,
  Xiao Wang feels very tired and discouraged
  because there are so many things that he cant
  say in English.
• However, the man smiles and thanks Xiao Wang
  for his help, and then says Your English is very
  good. Xiao Wang says, Im sorry. My English is
  very poor.

34
The Compliment

• What do you think the American really thought
  about Xiao Wangs English, and why did he
  compliment him?
• List several possible reasons and then decide
  which seems to be the most likely.
• When and how are compliments usually given in
  China, and how does one respond?
• In some western countries there is a saying If
  you dont have anything nice to say, dont say
  anything at all. In China, is it better to say
  nice things, even if they arent true, or to
  always be honest?

35
The compliment

• Culture note
• Chinese people sometimes respond to compliments
  by directly rejecting them (My English is really
  poor) Westerners more often respond to
  compliments with the following strategies
• Accept it-Thank you and then to return the
  compliment.
• Deflect it-Often Westerners will accept the
  compliment by saying thank you, but then quickly
  pass the credit on to someone else.
• Thank, but decline- they may feel that the
  compliment is unjustified or cannot be accepted
  and so they will thank the person for the
  compliment but without accepting it-Its nice of
  you to say so. Thats very kind of you.

36
Who should pay for the meal?

• Who pays?
• Marie is an American exchange student who
  has recently come to China to study. A Chinese
  friend met her in town and after a while invited
  her to go for dinner.
• They went to a small restaurant nearby and
  they each had a meal of noodles. The Chinese
  friend felt that as she was new to the town that
  she should pay for the meal and that she should
  treat her to the meal. The Chinese girl paid for
  the meal.
• However Marie, the American student was not
  happy and wanted to pay for her own meal. The
  Chinese student kept refusing to take her money
  and finally Marie agreed but she still did not
  seem to be very happy about the arrangement.
• The Chinese friend found the experience a
  little awkward and unpleasant. She did not have
  that good feeling that she usually had when she
  treated her Chinese friends to a meal.
• Why did the American student feel so strongly
  that she should pay for her own meal?

37
The Banquets

• Xiao Wang works for a Chinese Company and
  has been given the responsibility of making
  arrangements for Mr. Smith, a westerner who will
  visit the company for a week. Xiao Wang arranges
  all the meals for Mr. Smith and makes sure that
  there is always plenty of food at each of the
  meals.
• Mr. Smith says that he enjoys the meals, but
  after three days of these banquets he starts to
  get annoyed with Xiao Wang for some reason. He
  says that he likes to make his own decisions
  about what to eat, at least some of the time and
  that he doesnt like being served more food than
  he can eat at each meal.
• He becomes more unhappy and annoyed and Xiao
  Wang cannot understand this and begins to feel
  that he should be more appreciative of all the
  efforts that he has made for him. He thinks that
  Mr. Smith is being ungrateful.
• Why are there these problems between Mr. Smith
  and Xiao Wang?
• How could this misunderstanding have been avoided?

38
The Kiss

• May is a Graduate student in China and over
  the past few weeks has become friends with Earl,
  a western student studying Chinese at the same
  university. They often see each other at social
  gatherings and they have got to know each other
  very well.
• One weekend, Earl asked May to go to the cinema
  with him. They went for a meal and then to the
  movie and afterwards they talked for a long time
  and then Earl walked May home. When it was time
  to say goodnight, Earl took Mays hand and then
  kissed her. She was a little surprised, but was
  not unhappy because May liked him a great deal.
• May then started to tell her friends that Earl
  was her boyfriend. However, one of Mays Chinese
  girlfriends advised her that westerners were very
  casual about relationships between men and women.
  She said that May should be careful about letting
  him kiss her because he probably wasnt very
  serious about his interest in her.
• What do you think? What did Earls good
  night kiss mean?
• What do you think Earls intentions are towards
  May?

39
The English Teacher

• Situation
• Xiao Wang is taking an English class which is
  taught by a Western teacher. Xiao Wang's teacher
  never lectures on grammar instead the class
  usually consists of conversations in pairs or
  large group discussions of cultural issues.
• Today, Xiao Wang was confused about how to use
  "the" and "a" in English, so in class she asked
  the teacher to explain. However, instead of
  explaining, she said "I generally prefer not to
  explain grammar rules. Tell me what you want to
  say and I will tell you how to say it correctly."
  
• Why do you think the teacher refused to
  explain?
• List several possible explanations and then
  choose several which seem most likely.

40
The English Teacher

• Some possible interpretations
• The teacher avoids explaining grammar because she
  doesn't know how to explain grammar very well
  (and doesn't like it very much).
• The teacher doesn't think grammar is important.
  The teacher's main goal is to build students'
  communication skills, so she focuses more on
  communication and fluency than on grammar.

41
The English Teacher

• The teacher refuses to give long explanations
  because she thinks they will slow down the
  lesson.
• She feels her method is more efficient.
• The teacher thinks the students rely too much on
  memorizing grammar rules, so tries to encourage
  them to figure out rules for themselves.

42
Grades

• Situation
• Xiao Lee's first semester at a university abroad
  is coming to a close, and next week she needs to
  turn in her final paper for an economics course.
  Today in class the professor of the course says
  that next week when everyone turns in their
  papers he also wants everyone to give him a note
  saying what grade they think they deserve for
  this course.
• Why do you think the professor asked students to
  give themselves a grade?
• List several possible explanations and then
  choose several which seem most likely.

43
Grades

• Some possible interpretations
• The professor feels that he is being fair or
  democratic he feels that students have a right
  to have their opinion considered in the grading
  process. (He may not give students exactly the
  grade they think they deserve.)
• The professor wants to know students' opinion of
  their own work because it will be helpful
  information as he decides their grades. (He may
  not agree with their assessment.)

44
Grades

• The professor asks students to give themselves
  grades because he wants them to reflect on their
  own performance. He feels students will learn
  better if they evaluate themselves.
• The professor doesn't feel grades are very
  important, and he wants to minimize the pressure
  of grades. (He will give students more or less
  what they ask for.)
• The professor doesn't feel grading is right, but
  has to give some kind of grade. Having students
  decide their grades cuts down on the professor's
  work.

45
The Interview

• Situation
• Xiao Wang is being interviewed for a job with an
  American company. The interviewer, a middle-aged
  American woman, first asks several questions
  about his educational background, work
  experience, and why he wants this job. Then she
  asks Xiao Wang what salary he would expect.
• Why do you think the interviewer asked Xiao Wang
  what salary he expected?
• List several possible expectations and then
  choose several which seem most likely.

46
The Interview

• Some possible interpretations
• The interviewer is testing Xiao Wang to see how
  he deals with an awkward question.
• The interviewer wants to see if Xiao Wang knows
  the profession and normal pay scales in it.
• The interviewer wants to see how confident Xiao
  Wang is of his worth.

47
The Interview

• Follow-up discussion questions
• For Westerners, one part of the purpose of a job
  interview is to get a sense of what candidates
  are like and how they handle themselves. It is
  therefore not uncommon for interviewers to ask at
  least one or two questions that are awkward or
  difficult to handle, in order to see how
  candidates perform under pressure.
• The question about salary in the situation above
  is one example. Another might be Why do you
  think you are qualified for this job? (Issue of
  balancing modesty with confidence.)
• In China, do interviewers ever intentionally ask
  difficult questions?

48
The Interview

• British and American folk tend to avoid asking or
  talking about what their salary is, possibly
  because it is such a potent marker of status and
  because we try to be relatively egalitarian.
• How do Chinese people feel about this topic?
• In China, when is it acceptable to ask about
  someone else's salary, and in what situations? Is
  it ever rude?

49
The Interview

• Describe a strategy for coping with job
  interviews in China (how to prepare, dress,
  etc.).
• How much are interviews used in China as a means
  of recruiting? If interviews aren't used for
  selecting candidates for jobs, how is it done?

50
Encounters with Westerners

• Encounters with Westerners Improving Skills in
  English and Intercultural Communication
• Don Snow
• ISBN 978-7-81095-158-6
• Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press

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