A Comparative Study Of The Social Etiquettes Between Chinese And English-Speaking Peoples From A Cross-cultural Perspective

With the advancement of economic globalization, the interactions between different cultures have been increasingly intensified. People of different cultural backgrounds, world views and values may inevitably encounter diverse problems and consequently misunderstanding and conflict may arise in cross-cultural communication. This calls for our research into different cultures so that we can find out problem-solving methods and strategies. Social etiquette is one of the problems that are worth our attention because etiquette is the first step to personal intercourse; moreover, either the Chinese culture or English culture lays much stress on the significance of etiquette in communication.China has been well known as "the land of etiquette", and people are constantly observing some generally accepted codes of politeness. Confucianism, which has been influencing China for thousands of years, also stresses etiquettes, so Chinese codes of conduct are naturally under the influence of the ancient culture. Despite the different cultures and values, English-spoken countries unexceptionally emphasize etiquettes in interpersonal intercourse. Therefore, both cultures have something in common as well as different. While focusing on the commonalties, this thesis gives emphasis on differences and furthermore, explores the underlying factors behind these differences. The readers are expected to have a clear awareness of self and others, to enjoy the commonalties and appreciate the differences so as to achieve effective communication.From a cross-cultural perspective, based on a comparative and analytical method, this thesis conducts a comparative study of social etiquettes in five aspects: forms of address, greetings, conducting introductions, visiting and gift-giving. Through the analysis, it is pointed out that four factors underlie the differences: egalitarianism vs. hierarchy, sense of time, high-context culture vs. low-context culture, and concept of face. After that, some solutions are produced: thinking globally and culturally; increasing cultural awareness; learning behavioral skills; developing strategic competence and appreciating the differences. In the end, the thesis concludes that in the context of cultural diversity we should face the reality and overcome communicative obstacles to achieve fluent and effective intercultural communication.