Sino—Western Cultural Differences and Cross—Cultural Communication Barriers

赵壮

【Abstract】： This thesis takes China as a representative of eastern country， and focuses its research on the impact of cultural differences on Sino-Western intercultural communication. Through case analysis and comparative analysis， the study presents the causes of cross-cultural communication barriers. Finally， giving some suggestions to cultivate cross-cultural communication abilities， then to avoid communication barriers and unnecessary misunderstanding during the Sino-Western communication process.

【Key words】： Sino-Western， Cultural Differences， Cross-Cultural Communication， Barriers

1 Introduction

Intercultural communication means communication between people with different language or cultural background （Ying， 2012）， including forms of communication， language usage， non-verbal behavior， social psychology， customs， values， and etc. Along with Chinas opening to the outside world， there are increasingly trans regional and cross-cultural economic & social interaction. Which provides us more and more opportunities to contact and communicate with western， thus we can expand understanding and trust of western world. But， in the other hand， when facing with different country & culture， stranger with distinct thinking mode， living habit and behavior style， inevitably we will find huge differences in cross-cultural communication. The differences not only are the objective internal demand for cross-cultural communication， but also bring barriers to it. Jim （2004） indicates that researching the intrinsic factors of cross-cultural communication barriers plays a significant role in reducing eastern-western cultural gap and creating a harmonious paradigm of cross-cultural communication.

2 Cultural Differences between China and the West

2.1 Human nature

China， as many other Asian societies has accepted the philosophy of Confucius， that people are believed to be basically good. As they believe that children are born innocent and pure， but may become corrupt as they grow up and have more connections with society.

The traditional western belief about human nature is that human are born evil. However， with the aware of rights improving and the voice of guarantee of human rights increasingly rising， the basic belief has changed to the thinking that human are mixed of both good and evil. The good should be encouraged and the bad must be eliminated whenever possible. Feng and Xihua （2014） think that the direction of moral change is more likely to be from bad to good， rather than from good to bad as it is in the east.

2.2 Values

In China， peoples social status and position may be more important than what a person does. In Chinese culture， peoples action shows who they are， and they should do appropriately to suit to their character， social role and status. Their social roles determine what is socially acceptable， and the person should behave suitably to enhance their social role.

For the westerners， the activity itself is the most important， and deadline is the prime force of productivity， as is the schedule. They are active at any time， and always Have a sense of urgency about getting things done.

2.3 Social relationships

Chinese culture emphasizes ethic， pursues collectivism and personal relationship. Their relationships are based on groups， each persons social identity and rewards come from their group memberships. People are interdependent in a group， and having competition with other groups.

Western countries are individualistic societies， social relations are based on the autonomy of each one person （Free， 2005）. Which means a person should be treated as an individual first， and then as a member of a group or a positioning in a hierarchy. In individualist cultures， peoples actions are based on their own need， and their position in life is seen to be a result of their own abilities and achievements.

2.4 Thinking pattern

Thinking pattern refers to forms of reasoning and methods to problem solution. In general， Chinese culture attaches importance to direct feels， divergent thinking. Chinese people start thinking process from general observations to specific ones， then consider the details subjectively.

But westerners emphasize logic and reasoning， which are on the basis of the facts and empiricism. Their problem solving methods pay attention to logical induction and deduction， and are rely on rigorous scientific analysis.

3 Sino-Western Cross-Cultural Communication Barriers

The bright and strong differences between eastern and western culture are the main reason of causing sino-western cross-cultural communication barriers， which are ranging from basic necessaries of life to deep issues like social customs and rules. The following three parts will find the causes of sino-western cross-cultural communication barriers.

3.1 Dislocation in cross-cultural communication

The dislocations in cross-cultural communication are mainly caused by Chinese and western cultural heterogeneity， which are from their different attitude towards nature， religion and politics. Western culture has the main feature of commercial， and is developed from ocean， which has essential difference with Chinas feature of agriculture and origin of land. In the exploration of ocean， there emerged strong spirit of adventure， fair & democratic consciousness and individualism in western culture. There has been a sharp opposite relationship between human and nature in western culture， westerners believe that they could triumph over nature which has encouraged individualistic heroism. But when find mysterious forces of nature， they begin to show their respect to the nature and believe the god was the worlds dominant power. Lifting the mysterious veil of religion， the various kinds of devout worship of westerners were based on awe toward natures strange power. In China， Confucian culture holds the dominant position in Chinese culture， religion is just a thread in the social life but has never been mainstream of national culture. Chinese people are more likely to believe the power of human beings. The obvious heterogeneity between Chinese culture and western culture is easily to cause dislocation and opposition in Sino-Western cultural communication. Under the influence of their different culture， both sides of communication would misunderstand some macro communication problems then to the details， which could finally lead to communication dilemma.

3.2 Cross-cultural cognitive impairment

The differences between Chinese and western culture result in different meaning of some common concepts in mutual cultural context， which could lead to Sino-Western cross-cultural cognitive impairment. For instance， “vinegar” is a spice with sour taste and smell， but with different emotional cognition， Chinese and westerners have different association about this word. In western culture， vinegary has the meaning of sour-tempered and peevish， but Chinese culture derives an implication of jealous （in men and women relation） from vinegar. Furthermore， in some certain condition， there will be deviation between tow different cultures norm and standard. With no training about the deviation， the two communicative sides have no sensibility about the special pragmatic and can not perceive these differences， thus will always get into misunderstandings even cause embarrassing atmosphere in cross-cultural communication. Also， high context in Chinese culture contains more information in non-verbal communication than low context in most western countries. When encounter misunderstanding and friction in cross-cultural communication， people rely only on their thinking set to melt embarrassing rather than inclusive spirit or empathy， which would lead to further cognitive impairment. So， there is a common dilemma in Sino-Western cultural communication： toward the same concepts， words and things， communicators with different cultural background have different cognition， and they just use their own culture context to deal with the cognitive impairment. Which may finally result in cross-culture communication failure.

3.3 Unequal status in cross-cultural communication

Equal is the most fundamental criterion and requirement of any communication （Lauren & Megan， 2011）， but which is exactly lacked in Sino-Western cultural communication. Without equal， there would be a superiority feeling of one culture toward another in cross-cultural communication， then the cultural lever would lean to the stronger side， which is definitely negative for cross-culture communication. Western cultures concept of universal value is a kind of cultural predominance， which is against to cultural equality and has huge difference with Chinese cultures Confucian ideals. Chinese culture pursues equal and kindheartedness， but western culture always emphasizes universal value with the purpose of shocking the foundation of Chinese traditional culture. Since the First Opium War， there has been an unequal status between Chinese culture and western culture， then western culture gradually infiltrated into Chinese culture， Chinese people began to blindly assimilate western culture and ignore the huge value and potential of their own culture. A sequence of serious social reforms and cultural revolutions in Chinas modern times nearly killed the splendor and positive factors of Oriental culture， which has resulted in whole societys neglect and nonconfidence toward Chinese traditional culture. In addition， western culture attempts to create a cultural unity with their universal values， and westerners just stand in their own place to understand Oriental culture， this egocentrism would inevitably deepen cultural inequity. The omission of Chinese culture and western cultural hegemony would be huge obstacles in Sino-Western cultural communication.

4 Suggestions

To Improve the quality of Sino-Western cross-cultural communication， it is important to grasp principal contradiction of intercultural dilemma， and start from different characteristic & origin of Chinese and western culture， to gradually understand their concrete details under unlike carriers of culture， then we could understand and even be inclusive with the heteroplasmy in cross-cultural communication. Masayuki and Katherine （2002） have argued that both sides of communication ought to have a curious and cooperative attitude to deal with new culture， and enhance their understanding of other cultures through all means. With the understanding， could we have good preparation for problems and taboos that should be noticed in cultural communication （Isma， 2016）， then the awkward situation in intercultural communication could be avoided. Furthermore， we should cultivate cultural tolerance， which could be useful to eliminate strangeness in intercultural communication， then help communicators approach each other. Also， it is important to keep enduring interest towards new culture， and deepen free communication of both sides， which would enable us to improve the ability of intercultural communication through emotional experience of different culture.

5 Conclusion

Along with the rapid development of economic globalization， there has been more and more opportunities for intercultural communication， and the number of cross-cultural problems are also growing. The studies about intercultural cultural communication are getting deeper， the aim of which is to provide communicators feasible strategies to eliminate contradiction and misunderstanding in cross-cultural communication （Nanshun & Xun， 2016）， and enhance cultural tolerance， then promote smooth development of globalization. This paper describes the differences between Chinese culture and western culture at first， then mainly analyzes the forms and reasons of Sino-Western cultural communication barriers， and finally give some suggestions to improve the quality of intercultural communication. Along with the exploration of cross-cultural communication， it is important for us to continue the deep research about both sides of communicators.

References：

[1]Feng， W. & Xihua， X. （2014）. Faithfulness--Translators Responsibility in Cross-Cultural Communication. Cross-Cultural Communication， 10（4）， 74-81.

[2]Free， C. （2005）. Transcultural communication and ethnic comparisons in the experience of services. British Journal of General Practice， 55（514）， 339-345.

[3]Isma， R. I. （2016）. Knowing the Taboos， Improve Intercultural Communication： A Study at Terengganu， East Coast of Malaysia. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences， 219， 359-366.

[4]Lauren， M. & Megan， W. （2011）. The Communication of Respect as a Significant Dimension of Cross-Cultural Communication Competence. Cross-Cultural Communication， 7（3）， 10-18