UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT ON CROSS CULTURAL COMMUNICATION TOPIC CULTURE SHOCK Lecturer Student Class GUARANTEE “I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work The data and research results in the essay are honest and have never been published in any other work I also hereby declare that any help has been received in the preparation of this thesis and that the sources cited in this thesis have been acknowledged ” Author TABLE OF CONTENT Page I INTRODUCTION 4 II CONTENT 4 1 Definition of cultu.
… UNIVERSITY … ASSIGNMENT ON CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION TOPIC: CULTURE SHOCK Lecturer: Student: Class: GUARANTEE ***** “I hereby declare that this thesis is my own work The data and research results in the essay are honest and have never been published in any other work I also hereby declare that any help has been received in the preparation of this thesis and that the sources cited in this thesis have been acknowledged.” Author TABLE OF CONTENT Page I INTRODUCTION II CONTENT Definition of culture shock Times of culture shock 2.1 The first period (from to months): .5 2.2 Phase (about the next 3-6 months) 2.3 Stage (about the next 6-12 months): .6 2.4 The “Self-Acceptance” Stage The Mechanism of Culture Shock English-Vietnamese culture shock through language communication 4.1 Culture shock when it comes to complimenting and receiving compliments 4.2 Culture shock: how to choose the main point of communication 4.3 Culture shock due to literally speaking/translating 10 4.4 Culture shock due to roundabout expression .11 III CONCLUSION 13 REFERENCES .14 I INTRODUCTION Culture is the essence and spirit of each nation The process of cultural formation occurs at the same time as the processes of cultural contact, cultural borrowing, cultural transformation, and cultural integration, especially the phenomenon of interference between different cultures through children different ways, such as: war of aggression, trade exchange, or through various forms of evangelism The concept of interculturality can be understood in two ways That is the broad sense and the narrow sense Cultural interference is the process of cultural contact between two ethnic groups Interculturalism is the phenomenon of the influence of one culture on another culture In Vietnam in the integration period, the process of cultural interference takes place strongly, especially with English-speaking countries, the world's most popular language The English-Vietnamese cultural interference poses many problems, including many difficulties that hinder the integration process, especially in the field of communication This has resulted in culture shock for English-speaking Vietnamese and people in the English-speaking Vietnamese community This is an issue worthy of attention, requiring solutions to reduce negative interference and the phenomenon of culture shock, stimulate integration, and create conditions for development in other social fields II CONTENT Definition of culture shock In the view of Claire Ellis, "culture shock is used to describe the wide and varied range of emotions people can feel It is a combination of psychological and physical trauma that a person experiences when he or she enters a new environment.” According to Jack C Rechar, "culture shock is understood as feelings or strong feelings of discomfort, fear, or insecurity that a person may experience when moving to another country other cultures For example, when a person moves to a new culture, they will experience a series of culture shocks until they actually become a member of that new culture " Thus, culture shock is the phenomenon that occurs when a person of one culture moves to live in another culture, where everything becomes foreign to the native culture At first, there is a feeling of confusion, surprise, and lack of understanding; the latter may turn into a negative rather than hostile, confrontational attitude, especially when the person refuses to use the new language This kind of feeling occurs when people feel threatened and unsafe because no one understands them and they don't understand anything about this new culture Anyone can experience culture shock when moving to another culture Each country or ethnic group has its own culture Moving to a new country entails adjusting to everything, and culture shock occurs regardless of how much time you spend preparing for it However, the more careful preparation (especially the cultural knowledge of the new land), the more the shock level will be reduced That equates to faster adaptation and integration time Times of culture shock According to Esther Wanning, there are four specific periods of culture shock: 2.1 The first period (from to months): The country, the people in the place you come to are very joyful, pleasant, better than at home Everything is very different and interesting, the people are friendly; the customs are interesting 2.2 Phase (about the next 3-6 months) When the initial excitement fades (wearing off), everyone looks selfish, shallow, and stupid Strange customs and manners don't seem to be interesting anymore; it's all boring and seems to be working against you You start to feel very tired all the time Culture shock forms You are confused as to what you are doing here This reaction is not unusual because you are surrounded by people imbued with a different culture, and you not know how to even the simplest things Speaking the local language, it is also impossible to understand the behavior of people You feel a great loss because your existing style is now not helping you to control the situation The emotional reactions to culture shock can be extreme: bewilderment, despair, frustration, anxiety, irritation even become physically ill Even the smallest things can make you angry, and feeling offended can make you cry In this situation, many people intend to move to live in the private areas of foreigners to find compatriots Country people can be a barrier for you to adjust to your new life If they reinforce your negative feelings about the people here, the more difficult it will be for you to get over culture shock, especially if you don't use the new language often The people here will forever be strangers to you Feelings of culture shock may decrease, but you still feel uncomfortable and homesick 2.3 Stage (about the next 6-12 months): These fellow countrymen tell you that in the past they felt the same way you now Instead of analyzing what's wrong with the native language, they remind you that the words "true" or "false" have no meaning in cultural matters You should try to see what motivates the person to such a thing, and maybe you will get many of your likes back You can go find a native to ask about what you don't understand Try to keep your head clear, spend time learning about your new country, keep mixing regimes, and you will see things get better up The most important thing is that you should not be bored and stay at home Go out and what you like, especially keep learning foreign languages 2.4 The “Self-Acceptance” Stage After about a year, you no longer think much of the strange things the natives By feeling them as unique individuals, you will feel at home and know how to behave in any situation You find it interesting to be a person of two cultures The native culture is not rejected, but the second way of life begins to settle in a new place for a long time The Mechanism of Culture Shock Culture shock is operated by a complex mechanism both in terms of human psychology and linguistic aspects According to Dr Nguyen Van Chien, the components of culture shock as a mechanism include at least two identities: the shock maker and the shock sufferer Shockers are communicators who have caused culture shock to others due to their cultural differences They often tend to impose behaviors that are stereotyped in their native culture on behaviors in other cultures, or to so in a culture different from the one in which they exist for their own sake lack of understanding of the very culture in which they live and interact Shock sufferers are those who misinterpret cultural behaviors when they engage in cross-cultural contact This phenomenon is called "migration to an unfamiliar culture." When an individual of culture A is trying to assimilate into culture B, observing a phenomenon belonging to culture B at a certain distribution point, he understands the same meaning as his cultural phenomenon When he reversely applies his behavior to the phenomenon of culture B, as he is used to the same phenomenon in culture A, he receives different responses than when he behaves in culture B A, sometimes to the negative, he feels shocked In addition, there are two other important components: the psychological and physiological traumas of the communicator as an end result of culture shock as a process; and the causes (processes) leading to those traumas When one person engages in interlanguage communication, he or she can be both a shocker and a shocker, alternating As a result, the participants in the communication can become hostile or confrontational with each other Culture shock is the result of the cultural interference phenomenon Negative interference is the premise of potential culture shock There are two basic types of culture shock: culture shock expressed through linguistic communication (through different languages) and culture shock expressed through non-verbal communication (sign language or communication sign systems) English-Vietnamese culture shock through language communication In English-Vietnamese interlanguage communication, culture shock often occurs in some typical cases In addition to the cases of cultural interference mentioned above (potential forms of culture shock), there are also notable cases such as: complimenting and receiving compliments, literal translation, roundabout expressions , how to conduct a conversation, answering the phone Below is a specific study of these typical cases: 4.1 Culture shock when it comes to complimenting and receiving compliments Praise is a behavior that exists in all cultures and at all times It is also a speech act performed in all languages to serve many different purposes, such as: starting a conversation; suggesting, enlisting affection; professing admiration; paving the way for suggestions; asking; showing care; expressing gratitude, encouragement Praise is understood as expressing the positive evaluation of an individual, a group, or a community; about an individual, a group, or a community; other or about something or a certain event with satisfaction Therefore, praise is a dynamic, diverse, and highly subjective behavior The method of commendation is also very diverse and depends on many subjective as well as objective factors such as: object of commendation, object of commendation, subject of praise, purpose of commendation, circumstances of commendation, and the relationship between the object of commendation and the object of praise Praise statue For example: A Vietnamese girl is praised: "You've got a new beautiful dress!" (Your new shirt is so beautiful.) She replied back: "I don't think so!" It's old stuff (I don't think so It's old.) Vietnamese people are very humble or have a habit of condescending when they are complimented or denied In contrast, Westerners love to be complimented and often immediately respond to compliments with a thank you The guy in this case expected a thank you from the girl after being complimented by him But the Vietnamese girl, by applying a very Vietnamese way of thinking and acting, surprised the boy She immediately denied the beauty and newness of the dress out of her habit of modesty, but left the young man wondering about his ability to judge Cultural researcher Barbara Cohen commented: "Vietnamese people are very modest, especially in communication But sometimes that modesty is so outrageous that Westerners don't understand why " For that attitude, Westerners often ascribe: "Vietnamese people are not real." 4.2 Culture shock: how to choose the main point of communication Choosing the topic of communication is an important step that directly affects the progress of the conversation Cultural differences in how to choose communication topics are one of the reasons why the communication process is delayed or broken' right after one or two words are said Here are some typical shocking cases for foreigners that Vietnamese people often encounter For example: A conversation between a Vietnamese (A) and an Englishman (B) who have just met for the first time A: - Hi! B: - Hi! A: - How many children have got? (How many children you have?) B: - Do you really want to know that? (Do you really want to know?) A: - Yes, I (Right) B: - What for? (What you do?) A: (Embarrassed) In internal communication, Vietnamese people have the habit of talking to each other about private matters in public places Most gift stories touch on personal issues British culture is the opposite Private things are considered taboo in social communication, especially when a woman meets for the first time her age, husband and children it is very impolite In the above meeting, the Vietnamese deliberately developed the conversation topic according to their cultural habits The British avoided answering because they thought that Vietnamese people poked into private lives with interrogation questions, and eventually the conversation was deadlocked 4.3 Culture shock due to literally speaking/translating In the process of learning foreign languages, learners often have the habit of translating their ideas literally from their mother tongue to communicate in a foreign language From the perspective of language-culture interference, this is a form of borrowing both the language and culture of the mother tongue Because they already know their mother tongue plus the available cultural knowledge, learners mistakenly believe that with their knowledge of grammar, vocabulary, and phonetics of a foreign language, they will be able to express exactly what they want to say for native speakers But in reality, this borrowing both does not produce the desired effect and shocks native speakers because they not understand what the interlocutor wants to say The most common error in this error is the phenomenon of word-for-word translation of idioms, proverbs, idioms in the native culture into the target culture without knowing that the target culture exists in the target culture Those words are not Usually, the way of saying it will be different because these terms are formed on the basis of the social characteristics, production, concepts, etc of each ethnic group Here are some typical cases in Vietnamese discourse that cause confusion for English speakers For example: The Vietnamese say: "The road is in front of me." Similarly, this Vietnamese has arbitrarily translated the expression "sugar in the mouth" from Vietnamese into English without bothering to find the equivalent sentence English speakers will be 10 surprised at this sentence because they not understand it To express this, English would be: "You have to ask for the wav" In the above cases, because the learners' communication capacity is still limited, if they want to use fixed phrases, they not hesitate to include their language knowledge, thinking ability, and existing cultural capital using one's mother tongue to achieve one's own communication purpose, thus causing ambiguity in the target language due to incompatibility with the target culture Fixed languages can be considered the most difficult to access area in learning foreign languages and cultures because these are all learned experiences associated with the culture of each ethnic group You must be really fluent in the language and culture of that nation to be able to skillfully and appropriately use fixed languages in communication like a native 4.4 Culture shock due to roundabout expression Gossip is a strategy used in interlingual communication, which is not a communication error in itself But this is one of the causes of errors in learners, shocking the recipients of the message It causes the process of interlanguage communication to be interrupted or broken when the speaker and the listener not understand each other Due to limited language ability and not seeing the very important role of cultural factors in the communication process, listeners self-imposed linguistic-cultural habits of their mother tongue while looking for ways to express themselves They achieve a roundabout that they consider to be equivalent, leading to misunderstandings and misunderstandings in communication In interlanguage communication, the speaker does not know the words or sentence patterns that need to be used immediately, so he cannot express his thoughts directly, but must interpret in a roundabout way by using combinations of words or structures that they consider to have the same or nearly equivalent meaning In intraverbal communication, because there is context, roundabout expressions can sometimes still be effective But in intercultural communication, when cultural factors are outside the universal or local scope of influence, misunderstandings and misunderstandings often occur because what the speaker/writer wants to express 11 cannot be decoded by the listener/reader Consider the following two cases to see how shocking roundabouts can be 12 III CONCLUSION Through the study of some typical cases, it can be seen that national cultural characteristics are the cause of cross-cultural errors—the main cause of culture shock in intercultural communication The phenomenon of shock can still exist even when the language proficiency and ability of the learners are quite complete because the cross-cultural errors prove to be the most difficult to overcome Existing culture shock shows the limitations of common language ability, common thinking ability, and lack of cultural and social knowledge about the target language This is a remarkable thing in foreign language teaching and learning activities in order to find ways to overcome interference and minimize the behaviors that cause culture shock when communicating with people from the language community that they are studying This can also be considered as the ultimate goal of the process of teaching and learning foreign languages in general, and English in particular Culture shock in intercultural language communication are relatively new issues, and due to the limited time and scope of research, this work inevitably has limitations and shortcomings, such as: unable to mention all the cases that cause interference and culture shock in reality, limited in actual survey and statistics related to specific data, collected cultural situations and puzzles are limited These existing issues suggest a broader research direction in higher-level works in the future, with the goal of overcoming and reducing culture shock to the greatest extent possible while meeting communication standards next Because in fact, when interference and culture shock still exist, one way or another, people can still communicate with each other But we have ambitions towards standard communication, that is, people participate in cultural communication and truly understand each other 13 REFERENCES Nguyen Van Chien (2010), From failure to language interference across cultures, National Study Seminar; Do Cao Sang (2005), Calling in English, Language and Life Magazine; Nguyen Quang (1999), A difference between Vietnamese and American verbal communication in the ways of complimenting and receiving compliments; Claire Elliss (1995), Culture shockỉ Viet Nam, Singapore, Kualarlumpur; R.Lado (1957), Linguistics across Cultures, University of Michigan press; Wall, Allie Patricia (1987), Say it naturally, University of North Carolia at Charlotte; Jack C.Rechar & John, Heidi Platt (1997), Dictionary of language teaching & appỉied linguistics, Longman 14 ... some typical cases in Vietnamese discourse that cause confusion for English speakers For example: The Vietnamese say: "The road is in front of me." Similarly, this Vietnamese has arbitrarily translated... communication This has resulted in culture shock for English-speaking Vietnamese and people in the English-speaking Vietnamese community This is an issue worthy of attention, requiring solutions... communication (sign language or communication sign systems) English-Vietnamese culture shock through language communication In English-Vietnamese interlanguage communication, culture shock often occurs