A Study Of The Orientation Of Cultural Standards In Intercultural Communication

With the accelerating process of globalization, and the increasing interconnections between cultures, more and more people are working and living under multicultural environments, When people of differing cultural backgrounds meet, they often have considerable difficulties while it comes to understanding one another. These cultural dissimilarities have a decidedly negative influence on the abilities to collaborate. The factor Culture as an integrated system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behavior, and artifacts that the members of a society use to cope with their world and with one another, and that are transmitted from generation to generation through learning (Bates & Plog , 1990), can be especially disturbing when the acting persons are not aware of their dissimilarities.This factor can seriously impede or even render finding acceptable solutions possible because perception and evaluation of critical situation is determined by cultural standards which refers to core characteristics of a culture-specific orientation system that embrace all kinds of perception, thinking, evaluation and acting that most members of one culture regard as normal and appropriate for themselves and for others (Thomas ,1993). In order to research how cultural standards serve the function of criterion for judging and regulating one's own behavior and that of others in intercultural communication (ICC), this research aims at capturing the core cultural standards through comparing cultural differences between China and America with recording critical incidents (CIs) in combination with cultural standards method described by Mayring ( 1996) & Oevermann (1997)and the method of identifying cultural standards developed by Thomas( 1993, 1996) .These procedures make it possible to analyze and understand how the cultural standards shaping one perception ,thinking, evaluation and acting on subtle level, i.e. to demonstrate how cultural values are reflected in the attitudes and behaviors of people working, simultaneously to deduce and contrast the type of relationship, relationship orientation and association orientation between China and America in current changeable situation.Comparing the core Chinese culture standards and the core American cultural standards, which are based on analyzing critical incidents stemming from cultural differences, we can see that Culture standards might involve the following aspects under multicultural circumstances :l.Culture standards are central elements of the culture specific orientation system influencing the processes of perception, cognition, emotion and action. For the majority of the members of a particular culture they are regarded, for themselves and for others, as normal, typical and obligatory.2.Personal behavior and the behavior of others is judged and regulated according to these central culture standards.3.Central culture standards regulate wide areas of thought, evaluation and action whereas domain or field specific culture standards are the rule only for specific situations or groups of people.4.The individual and group-specific manner of handling central culturalstandards for behavior regulation, can vary within a certain range of tolerance.5.Manners of conduct that are outside the given limits are rejected and discredited.And further possibilities arise both in scientific research and practical application. Based on the relative culture standards concepts derived from the experience with critical incidents ,which suggests itself to use this material for training (Miiller & Thomas, 1995; Markowsky & Thomas, 1995; Briich & Thomas, 1995; Thomas & Schenk, 2001; Martin & Thomas, 2001; Foellbach, Rottenaicher & Thomas, 2001), we suppose to develop Cultural Assimilator Oriented-Training Method and make cultural specific training program (Appendix VI Cultural Assimilator Oriented Training Syllabus)for foreign language learners (specific target group and specific usages) by combining the concept of cultural standards and the cultural assimilator training method (Albert, 1983; Fiedler, Mitchell & Triandis, 1971) .The purpose of the training would make trainees: have a familiarization with the foreign culture; show mastery of the problems of acculturation into the foreign culture; deal more effectively with partners of a foreign culture; and show mastery of the problems of reintegration into one's own culture on return home (Thomas, 1996; Thomas, Schroll-Machl & Kinast, 1999; Thomas, Hagemann & Stumpf, 2001). The program consists of the analysis on the cases of critical incidents. The analysis are worked on in the following manner:1. A short episode is presented which describes a typical intercultural interaction(critical incidents )between a member of one's own and a member of a foreign culture. This situation is in some way problematic, meaning that a misunderstanding will probably occur.2. After reading the episode, the user is offered three, four or more alternative explanations for the involved persons' behavior, out of which he is asked to choose the one he finds best explains the situation from the foreign partner's point of view. Usually, only one alternative precisely captures the foreign person's point of view. The others, while seeming adequate from one's own cultural background, do not offer a correct explanation.(Appendix V Cultural Assimilator Oriented Training Examples)3. After the learner has selected one of the alternatives, he/she is given feedback regarding his choice. If he has chosen correctly, the feedback is positive. After receiving additional information about the role culture plays in such situations, he/she may continue with the next episode. If the choice was incorrect, it is explained exactly why this interpretation was wrong. The learner is then asked to re-read the episode and select a different alternative (Lange, 1994).The process in return manifests that cultural standards dominate intercultural communication all along, and the main result of the study suggests that while training is generally effective, cultural assimilator orientation training based on social learning theory is consistently more effective.4. Presenting cultural identity, cultural biases, and effects of codes usage.5. Pointing out the core cultural standard corresponding with the situation.6. Illustrating the roots the cultural standards grow up in the aspects of culturaltraditions, values and social norm systems and the like.The result of t-test for the training demonstrates that the cultural assimilator oriented training has a positive effect on foreign language learners. It could strengthen their cultural awareness and sensitivity, heighten their cultural knowledge provision, enhance their emotional management to cultural shock, develop their communicative empathy skills in intercultural contact , raise their interest in foreign language study and the efficiency of their work ,and advance their communicative skills and their pragmatic competence to accept differences and appreciating similarities in intercultural interaction.