Cultural Differences of China and America Reflected in Pragmatics

【ABSTRACT】：This paper will analyze the cultural differences of China and America on the basis of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis from the pragmatics aspect of the two languages： Chinese and English， aiming at arousing the cultural awareness when communicating interculturally in order to develop a successful communication.

【Key Words】： Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis; Pragmatics; The Dimensions of Culture

PART ONE

INTRODUCTION

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis refers to the views that language and culture are interrelated. Each language presents us with a unique way of perceiving the world and interpreting experience.

Pragmatics， it is defined as the study of language in use （Hu 171）. Since language and culture are interrelated， cultural differences of China and America can be reflected in the use of their languages. In this paper， cultural dimensions as follows can be used.

In Culture’s Consequences， Hofstede ascertains four dimensions： power distance， uncertainty avoidance， masculinity/femininity， individualism/collectivism. Hofstede later integrated term orientation in the dimensions. Hall has proposed low- and high- context schema in Beyond Culture， which directly focuses on cultural differences in communication processes between cultures.

PART TWO

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES IN PRAGMATICS

1.Cultural Differences in the Style of Expressing

Chinese is a language focus on coherence and its implicit style of communication needs the hearer focusing on the high context to truly recognize hidden meaning. While English focus on cohesion and its explicit style of communication aims at expressing everything out and clear.

According to Hall， cultures differ in a continuum that ranges from high to low context. Our Chinese culture is a typical high-context culture while American is a low-context one. High- context communication involves the use of indirect， implicit ， ambiguous messages. While low- context cultures emphasize how information is expressed through explicit verbal messages.

2. Cultural Differences in the Use of Addressing

Different terms of address arise from different cultures. The differences in addressing reflect the essence of Chinese politeness and American’s concern for equality. In China， it’s a common sense when the young mother of a child teaching her son to call an unknown supermarket clerk “aunt” to show politeness， while it’s very strange for Americans. In America， people are willing to address others directly by their first names and its members enjoy much independence and equality， which lay the foundation for the social interactions.

Chinese culture is a collectivistic culture of high power distance. However， America is an individualistic country with a low power distance culture， where people often tend to form a higher number of looser relationships and they are expected to develop and to be proud of their personalities and their choices.

3. Cultural Differences in the Way of Greeting

The use of greetings differs immensely in China and America. In China， the most common greetings are： “Have you had the meal？”， “where are you going？” and so on which can be hard for Americans who pay great attention to individualism and privacy to understand. They may consider you are rather doing a questionnaire than saying hello to them.

The different ways of greeting reflect the cultural differences of China and America namely the aforesaid individualism/collectivism dimension. Chinese way of greeting aims at developing a harmonious atmosphere. While in the individualistic culture as in America， people treat privacy as a kind of human right， which cannot be arbitrarily violated.

4. Cultural Differences in the Way of Rejecting

Refusals and rejections can mean disapproval of the interlocutor’s idea and therefore， a threat to the interlocutor’s face. Chinese people usually avoid direct refusal which is considered as bad manners， while Westerners prefer a clear “Yes” or “No” reply to show their thought.

Individualism， as compared with the Chinese collectivism， can well explain the characters of the strategies used when making refusals. It is generally accepted that the Chinese culture is group/collectivity oriented; while English culture is recognized as individual oriented.

PART THREE

CONCLUSION

This paper aims at arousing the cultural awareness in the intercultural communications. Languages and cultures must be learnt hand in hand. Just as Malinowski in The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages points out that the study of any language spoken by a people who live under conditions different from our own and possess a different culture must be carried out together with a research of their culture and of their environment.

WORKS CITED

[1]Hall， E.T. Beyond Culture.New York： Doubleday，1976.

[2]Hofstede， G.H. Culture’s Consequences： International Differences in Work-related Values[M]. Beverly Hills，CA：Sage，1980.

[3]Malinowski， B. “The Problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages”. The Meaning of Meaning. London： Routledge.1923.

[4]Mandelbaum， D. G. Selected Writings of Edward Sapir in Language[M]. culture and personality，1949：162.

[5]胡壯麟.現代語言學教程[M].北京大學出版社，2001：171.