The influence of cultural differences between China and Western countries on cross—cultural communication

次仁德吉

【Abstract】Cross-cultural communication refers to the communication between peoples of different cultural backgrounds. To solve and avoid the cultural conflicts and blocks， it is high time to enhance the actual skills of cross-cultural communication. This paper gives a comparative analysis of the concrete representations of differences between Chinese and western culture in cross-cultural communication. And it gives some communication principles on the cross-cultural communication.

【Key words】Cross-cultural communication； Cultural conflict； Differences between Chinese and western culture

Chapter one introduction

Representations of differences between Chinese and western culture

1.1 politeness language

The United States， Canada and other English speaking countries belong to individualistic culture， while China emphasizes collectivism. The most obvious example is that the answer to compliments in English and Chinese is quite different. In English speaking countries， when people hear compliments， they will say “thank you”. In China， when comes to compliments or praise， people are accustomed to sue the negative or self-deprecating way to respond.

1.2 temporal concepts

Chinese people are good at comprehensive consideration， so they tend to polychromic time. Therefore the Chinese will make a random decision based on their circumstances. So Chinese make reservations when they socialize with others. But western people dont. They tend to monochromic time.

1.3 privacy awareness

The definition of privacy in China and the west is quite different. In China， the secrets within a group belong to privacy. However western people think their own information also belongs to privacy. So they will not answer the questions about age， salary， marital status and so on， while Chinese care little about these.

1.4 food culture

In China， eating almost become the most important things in their daily life. They treat eating as art. However in Britain， the United States and other western countries， eating food is only treated as a necessary means for survival and for communication.

Chapter two the solution to the cultural conflicts

Overcome cultural conflicts and improve the ability of cross-cultural communication

2.1 Recognize cultural differences and learn cross-cultural communication knowledge

With the acceleration of globalization， more and more people are involved in cross-cultural communication. In this process， many people may meet with cultural conflicts. They incline to blame Language difficulties. However many Chinese who can speak English also cannot understand the western people. It is caused by cultural conflicts. Therefore it is necessary to understand the existing of cultural conflicts. To solve the problem， people should learn the knowledge of cross-cultural communication.

2.2 adopt the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences

When comes to cultural conflicts， people should learn to respect others who come from the different culture. People should adopt the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences. Only in this way， can people from different cultures communicate successfully.

Summary

Cultural conflicts can cause misunderstanding between people from different culture. To solve the problems， it is necessary to learn the knowledge of cross-cultural communication. To adopt the principle of seeking common ground while reserving differences is a good way to avoid the cultural conflicts.

References：

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[4]Hu Wenzhong，Introduction to intercultural communication[M].Beijing：Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press，1991.