Ｃｒｏｓｓ－ｃｕｌｔｕｒａｌ ａｗａｒｅｎｅｓｓ

Nowadays， the whole world becomes a large global market， with many different cultures mixing in it. So cross-cultural communication is inevitable. But because every culture is unique，so it is difficult to communicate with each other in different cultures without cross-cultural awareness.

According to Robert G Hanvey's descriptions， the four levels of cross-cultural awareness are as follows: 1. awareness of superficial or visible cultural traits; 2. awareness of significant and subtle cultural traits that contrast markedly with one's own from Culture Conflict situations; 3.awareness of significant and subtle cultural traits that contrast markedly with one's own from Intellectual analysis; 4. awareness of how another culture feels from the standpoint of the insider from cultural immersion.

Here is the process to achieve cross-cultural awareness or understanding. That is: if a person from one culture wants to communicate with the people from other different cultures， at first， he must prepare to learn and understand the other cultures. Then， he must act in the local way of other cultures， which is called participation. And then his participation will get rewards--the internal and community approval from the local people. Then the rewards may become an encouragement to stimulate him to participate again. And participation gets rewards again and again. So participation and reward becomes a circle to push him to go further in other cultures. Gradually， he will get deeper understanding about the culture and will be completely absorbed into it .To that degree， he will be really inside of the host society. Then communication will be a piece of cake. From the process， we can see easily that it accords with Robert G Hanvey's points of view completely， and it proves his description is correct and useful.

Then in order to further analyze the importance of the four levels of cross-cultural awareness， Let’s see a personal reflection on one particular source of cultural confusion and misunderstanding because of the cross-cultural awareness: the subject of Chinese names.

Level 1: Chinese Names as Superficial Stereotypes

Teachers often formulate superficial opinions about Chinese names which show them to be entertaining or bizarre. Many teachers are often felt bemused by the common use of Chinese names such as Li or Yu. Similar feelings are also had for those students who seem， with ease， to adopt or change their western names.

Level 2: Chinese Names as Problematic

At this level， teachers encounter Chinese names as problematic. Phonological differences between the English and various Chinese languages make pronunciation difficult. In addition， limited cultural knowledge of Chinese names can also add to the problems; there may be difficulties in identifying the family name from the given name or understanding how or why some students select western names while others do not.

Level 3: Chinese Names Are Understood Intellectually

A growing intellectual awareness means that teachers begin to understand that Chinese names begin with the family name and are followed by the given name. There is also an awareness that the majority ethnic group， the Han Chinese， use approximately only a hundred surnames， which accounts for the common use of certain one-syllable names such as Li， Yu， Wang， Wu， Zhao and Zheng. There may also be an awareness of how given names tend to be historically and culturally influenced. For example， in the 1960's and '70's， the decades of the Cultural Revolution， babies tended to be given patriotic names like Guoqing (National Day) and Hong (Revolutionary).

Level 4: Chinese Names Are Understood Experientially

At this level， experience allows teachers to re-evaluate what they know of Chinese names. Firstly， there is awareness by teachers that while it is common in western tertiary education for teachers and students to address each other using given names， the situation couldn't be more different in China. Furthermore， many students select western names in an attempt to ease their transition into western society. But some students may choose to make direct translations of their names， for example， Tao becomes Peach， Chun becomes Spring. Or they select names that have a similar phonological equivalent， for example Wei Wei becomes Vivian， Lei or Li may become Lily etc. However， the unique nature of given names may make such names sound strange to western ears.

At last， from the analysis of the theory and example， we can conclude that all the people should attach importance to cross-cultural awareness， try their best to learn and understand the other cultures at any time， so that we can do the intercultural communication with others and get a better understanding about each other， which will promote the development of the whole world.

（河北省石家莊聯(lián)合技術(shù)職業(yè)學(xué)院）