Differences In Thought Pattems And Influences Upon Intercultural Communication Between Chinese And Americans

Due to improvements in transportation technology, developments in communication technology, globalization of economy and augmentation of population, the world is witnessing profound changes with multipolarization and globalization, never before did people feel so close to each other as nowadays. In such a world, the problems of communication intrude upon our every waking moment.People get more and more aware of the importance and the impact of intercultural communication. And the study of it has become hotter and hotter and now a worldwide topic.Intercultural communication concerns the contrastive study of the differences between cultures, which in substance, block communication between people. Under some circumstances, these differences may lead to misunderstanding, small conflicts or even disastrous consequences. Among the differences, there exist three variables: (1) Observing process including belief, value system, attitude, worldview and social organization; (2) Verbal process including language and thought patterns; and (3) Non-verbal process indulging non-verbal behaviors, time conceptualization and uses of space. Among the above variables, the most representative and the most important is the first one, especially thought patterns.Thought patterns are the total manifestation of a culture, for they designate ways of thinking about concrete, empirical questions, which, on many occasions, involve value-judgments and questions of values in ethics, religion and other such human concerns. Chinese and Americans have sharply different thought patterns which are caused by different reasons. This thesis tends to compare different thought patterns and their impacts upon the intercultural communication between Chinese and the Americans.The thesis starts with a brief introduction of the situations and the study of intercultural communication at present.In order to lay a foundation for understanding and discussing thought patterns and intercultural communication, the first chapter reviews some basic terms concerned, such as culture, communication, intercultural communication, thought patterns and so on. At the same time, some similar terms, such as intercultural communication and intracultural communication, are differentiated.In the second chapter, detailed comparisons of thought patterns between Chinese and Americans are made. Based on experience and intuition, Chinese thought patterns tend to be synthetic, holistic, imaginative and past-oriented. In contrast, American thought patterns tend to be analytic,reductive, abstractive, logical and future-oriented. These differences bring great difficulty to the communication between Chinese and Americans.The third chapter analyzes the causes of the above-mentioned differences in thought patterns. Specific history, climate, geography, philosophy, religion, language, political system and modes of life in a culture have shaped specific thought patterns of the people in that culture. Due to the above reasons, the Chinese and the Americans possess different thought patterns.Different thought patterns will be inevitably manifested in the communication between people in different cultures and greatly influence it. Chapter Four, concentrating on the verbal communication, expounds with examples how the thought patterns influence intercultural communication between Chinese and Americans. Impacted by the thought patterns, to some degree, Chinese speak and write in a circular way, while Americans usually in a linear way.The last part is the conclusion which summarizes the whole thesis and indicates the significance of the study of intercultural communication.