glod跨文化交际上课内容unit7

Unit Seven Time and Space Across Cultures

I.

Warm Up

1. Please read the story on page 156. What can we learn from the story?

2. Go to answer the questions on Group Work (p235-236) and find out your

sense of time?

?

Supplement: Additional materials

II.

Chronemics

Chronemics is the study of how people perceive and use time.

(i) The sense of time:

1) Time is linear

线形

. Western cultures think time is linear

—

a flow

from the past to the present to the future.

2)

Time is cyclical

周期的

. Life on earth evolved in response to the

cycles of day and night and the ebb and flow

潮涨潮落

of the

tides.

(ii) Monochronic

出现一次

and Polychronic Time (p256-257)

1. What is M-Time and P-Time? Which do you think is the dominating

time system in our culture?

1)

Monochronic

time

means

paying

attention

to

and

doing

only

one

thing at a time

–

events scheduled as separate items.

2) Polychronic time means being involved with many things at once.

2. What is the philosophy

哲学

underlying each of the time system?

1)

P-time

stresses

involvement

of

people

and

completion

完成

of

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transactions

事务

rather

than

adherence

to

遵守

present

schedules.

Appointments

are

not

taken

as

seriously

and,

as

a

consequence,

are

frequently

broken.

P-time

is

treated

as

less

tangible

有形地

than

M-time.

Weakness:

Matters

in

a

polychromic

多彩的

culture

seem

in

a

constant state

恒定常态

of flux. Appointments are frequently broken.

2)

In

M-time

system,

social

and

business

life

is

commonly

schedule-dominated.

By

scheduling,

we

compartmentalize

划分

;

this

makes it possible to concentrate on

集中注意

one thing at a time, but

it also reduces the context. M-time is also tangible. M-time scheduling

is used as a classification system that orders life.

Weakness:

Life

in

general

is

at

times

unpredictable.

M-time

reduces

the

context

and

alienate

使疏远

people

from

themselves

and

from

others.

(iii) The Heartbeat of Culture (p229-232)

1.

What does the author want to tell us from his experience in Brazil

and

the

questionnaire

between

students

in

Niteroi

and

those

in

Fresno?

?

In Brazil, people seem to be very flexible in their concepts of time

and

punctuality.

Brazilians

are

likely

to

attribute

lateness

for

appointments to unforeseen circumstances

意外情况

that the person

couldn

’

t control. They seem less inclined to

倾向于

feel personally

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responsible for being late. So they express less regret for their own

lateness and blame others less when others are late.

?

The

Brazilian

students

believed

that

a

person

who

is

consistently

late is probably more successful than one who is consistently on time.

They seemed to accept the idea that someone of status is expected to

arrive late. Lack of punctuality is a badge

标记

of success.

2.

There

aren

’

t

unanimous

全体一致

perceptions

of

time

时间知觉

among culturally different people. Even within one country, ideas of

time

and

punctuality

vary

considerably

from

place

to

place.

Different

regions

and

even

cities

have

their

own

distinct

rhythms

and rules.

3.

Appreciating cultural differences in time sense becomes increasingly

important as modern communications put more and more people in

daily contact. If we are to avoid misreading issues that involve time

perceptions, we need to understand better our own cultural biases

偏

见

and those of others.

※

American Concept of Time: (See Case 25)

III.

Proxemics

人际距离学

A

fascinating

area

in

the

nonverbal

world

of

body

language

is

that

of

spatial

relationships

空

间

关

系

,

or

proxemics,

the

study

of

man's

appreciation and use of space. As a species, man is highly territorial but we

are

rarely

aware

of

it

unless

our

space

is

somehow

violated.

Spatial

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relationships

and

territorial

boundaries

directly

influence

our

daily

encounters. Maintaining control over such space is a key factor in personal

satisfaction;

observing

spatial

interactions

in

everyday

life

is

a

key

to

personal awareness.

(i)The

study

of

proxemics

includes

three

aspects

of

space:

(a)

fixed

features

of

space.

(b)

semifixed

features

of

space,

and

(c)

personal

space

(a) fixed features of space

Fixed

feature

space

is

characterized

by

unmovable

boundaries,

like

divisions

within

an

office

building.

Architecture

and

spacing

of

buildings also belong to this aspect of space.

For example, a person in the United States can drive on a highway for

miles and never see a sign of people or dwellings

民居

. Therefore, he

may be amazed at the closeness of people in China.

Intercultural

communicators

need

to

realize

that

cultures

have

alternative approaches

变换方法

to space and ways of using it.

(b) semifixed

半固定

features of space

Semifixed

features

of

space

refer

to

spatial

arrangements

of

movable

objects within a room, such as furniture arrangement and seating.

1. furniture arrangement :

French

space

is

a

reflection

of

French

culture.

Everything

is

centralized

集中的

, and spatially the entire country is laid out around

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