1、11Chapter 2Becoming aware11Chapter 2: Becoming aware 1. What is culture? The first step in learning to communicate across cultures, is to consider what people mean when they talk about culture. The most usual meaning is that culture refers to peoples customs and behavior.11Chapter 2: Becoming aware

2、Culture is like an iceberg. Culture is our software. Culture is like the water a fish swims in. Culture is the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves. Culture is the grammar of our behavior11Chapter 2: Becoming aware 2. Learning about culture and learning to do culture. These images all point to

3、the idea that culture is largely out-of-awareness. To do culture, people need to look at their own culture as a system of meaning, as a grammar of their experience and behavior. Speaking English fluently doesnt mean that people in China can do American culture.11Chapter 2: Becoming aware To an Ameri

4、can, culture is a fast moving train and it is better for a speaker to stumble over his words than to fail to keep up with the train. To a Chinese, culture is a treasure of great works and cultural achievements.11Chapter 2: Becoming aware 3. Characteristics of culture Culture is the total accumulatio

5、n of beliefs, customs, values, behaviors, institutions and communication patterns that are shared, learned and passed down through the generations in an identifiable group of people. 11Chapter 2: Becoming aware 4. Beginning to do culture How to do culture? It is first necessary to raise your level o

6、f awareness. Second, to practice seeing your culture the way others who are not a part of it see it. Third, to gain some distance from your home culture by looking at it as if you were a scientist observing it systematically with no prejudgement as to what you will find. 11Chapter 2: Becoming aware

7、5. Contact between cultures When people come in contact with other cultures, they interpret the unfamiliar culture according to the meaning system of their home culture, that is, in terms of their own world and culture. 11Chapter 2: Becoming aware 6. Four levels of cross-cultural awareness Level 1: Cultural differences are exotic Level 2: Cultural differences are frustrat