Contents

1.	Contents……………….……………………..…………..	1
2.	Unit 1. Intercultural communication……………….	2
3.	Unit 2. Understanding how culture affects communication….................................................	8
4.	Unit 3. Globalization…………………………........................	13
5.	Unit 4. Americanization: for better or for worse?………………………………............................	20
6.	Unit 5. Russia: a blend of cultures and religions………………………………………….............	24
7.	Unit 6. The role of languages in our life………………………………………….....................	30
8.	Unit 7. Intercultural communication and lawyers in the USA………………………………………….........	36
9.	Unit 8. Intercultural communication and law enforcement………………………………………….......	44
10.	Sources…………………………………………………….	52
11.	Appendix 1………………………………………………..	53
12.	Appendix 2………………………………………………..	54
13.	Appendix 3………………………………………………..	65
14.	Appendix 4………………………………………………..	66

UNIT 1

Task 1.1 Warming-Up Activity

1. Have you ever travelled in another country?

2. If yes, were you ever in a situation where you felt culturally unprepared? In other words, did you ever feel like you did something inappropriate because you did not know about the culture? Share your stories.

3. What do you understand as “culture”?

4. Look at the picture below – how do you understand it? Discuss it with a partner, then share your ideas with your class and teacher.

Figure 1. Culture: An iceberg metaphor

Task 1.2 Read the text

Intercultural communication

With rapid changes in global economy, technology, transportation, and migration policies, we feel the growing need to increase our understanding of people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds. We find ourselves in increased contact with people who are culturally different, working and living side by side with us. Those people can have an unfamiliar accent, way of speaking, way of doing things, and way of nonverbal communication. They bring with them different work habits and cultural practices. They also may look and move differently. In order to achieve effective intercultural communication, we have to learn to manage differences flexibly and mindfully.

Intercultural communication is sometimes used synonymously with cross-cultural communication. In this sense it seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate and perceive the world around them. It studies situations where people from different cultural backgrounds interact. Aside from language, intercultural communication focuses on social attributes, thought patterns, and the cultures of different groups of people. It also involves understanding the different cultures, languages and customs of people from other countries.

Intercultural communication plays a role in social sciences such as anthropology, cultural studies, linguistics, psychology and communication studies. Intercultural communication is also referred to as the base for international businesses.

There are many practical reasons for studying intercultural communication. We offer three reasons here: global diversity trends, domestic diversity trends, and interpersonal learning opportunities.

Successful business today depends on effective globalization. Effective globalization, in part, depends on dealing with a diverse workforce. Factors that contribute to the diversity of the workforce on the international level include the development of regional trading blocs (e.g., the European Union; the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA), communication technology (e.g., fax, E-mail, the Internet), immigrant worker and guest worker policies on the international level. In this era of global economy, it is inevitable that employees and customers from dissimilar cultures are in constant contact with one another.

Beyond global business, increased number of individuals are working in overseas assignments such as government service, humanitarian service, peace corps service, and international education. Acquiring the knowledge and skills of mindful intercultural communication is a necessary first step in becoming a global citizen.

In a domestic society learning to understand cultural differences will serve as a major step torward building a more harmonious, multicultural community.

On the interpersonal level direct contacts with dissimilar others in our neighborhoods, schools, and workplace are an inescapable part of life in the 21^st century. Whether we are embarked abroad on a student exchange program or are going overseas for business reasons, we will be meeting with people who are different from us, with unfamiliar experiences and values unlike our own. Our ability to communicate effectively with cultural strangers will help us to uncover our own diversity and “worthiness”.

Task 1.3 What do these words and expressions mean? Use the context and your dictionary to help you decide.

diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds; domestic diversity; nonverbal communication; interpersonal learning opportunities; to perceive the world; diverse workforce; aside from language; overseas assignments; social attributes, thought patterns; peace corps service; global diversity; inescapable part of life.

Task 1.4 Answer these questions about the text.

1. Why do people find themselves in increased contact with people from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds today?

2. What can the cultural differences be?

3. How are the terms “intercultural communication” and “cross-cultural communication” related? What do they mean?

4. Which fields of science and business is the knowledge of intercultural communication important for? Can you think of your own examples?

5. What are the practical reasons for studying intercultural communication? Can you think of your own examples?

Task 1.5

1. Read the poem by Rudyard Kipling. How do you understand it? Discuss your ideas with your class mates and teacher.

2. Read the translation. How close is it to the original text you think? Have you met any other translations of this poem into Russian?

3. Try to make your own literary translation. Share it with your class.

We and They (by R. Kipling)

Мы и Они (by dandorfman)

Father and Mother, and Me, Sister and Auntie say All the people like us are We, And everyone else is They. And They live over the sea, While We live over the way, But-would you believe it? – They look upon We As only a sort of They! We eat pork and beef With cow-horn-handled knives. They who gobble Their rice off a leaf, Are horrified out of Their lives; While they who live up a tree, And feast on grubs and clay, (Isn't it scandalous? ) look upon We As a simply disgusting They! We shoot birds with a gun. They stick lions with spears. Their full-dress is un-. We dress up to Our ears. They like Their friends for tea. We like Our friends to stay; And, after all that, They look upon We as an utterly ignorant They! We eat kitcheny food. We have doors that latch. They drink milk or blood, Under an open thatch. We have Doctors to fee. They have Wizards to pay. And (impudent heathen!) They look upon We As a quite impossible They! All good people agree, And all good people say, All nice people, like Us, are We And everyone else is They: But if you cross over the sea, Instead of over the way, You may end by (think of it!) looking on We As only a sort of They!

Семья и соседи и просто друзья, Все наши, кого ни возьми: Здесь "Мы" называют таких как я, А там, за морями - "Они". Но знайте, пусть "Мы" все кто рядом со мной, А те - на краю Земли. Эти "Они" между собой, Нас называют "Они". "Мы" мясо коров нарезаем ножом, А ручка ножа - из рогов. Для нас их обычай нелеп и смешон, Не трогать священных коров. "Они" и личинки с деревьев едят. Лохмотья - куда ни взгляни. И все же на нас с отвращеньем глядят, И вновь повторяют: "Они". По птицам мы бьем из ружейных стволов. И пес нам добычу несет. Они лишь с копьем, вот безумцы, на львов. Бывает, льву больше везет. Их кожа им служит одеждой вполне, Добротно укутаны "Мы". Мы истину ищем охотно в вине. "Они" не бывают пьяны. Их встречи друг с другом как миг коротки. Гостят у нас долго друзья. Открытым наш дом, нам держать не с руки. Их дом - лишь навес от дождя. Коль недуг, мы платим своим докторам, Они же спешат к колдуну. Смешны суеверья, шамана там-там, Не может помочь никому. И все мы согласны, Что только лишь "Мы" Достойны считаться людьми. Но вот что ужасно, Мы помнить должны: Нас кто-то считает "Они".

Task 1.6 Posters in Heathrow advertising HSBC (bank) make a good point about cultural differences concerning how the grasshopper is viewed:

“U.S.A. - Pest, China - Pet, and Northern Thailand - Appetizer.”

Even though taxonomists define a grasshopper as an Acrididae, culture determines how the insect will be perceived. Think of your own examples of when things are viewed differently in different cultures.

Task 1.7 Choose a culture you find most interesting. Search the Internet to find some new information about:

1. what makes it quite different from yours;

2. what it has in common with yours;

3. things you’d like to learn from that culture.

Make presentations to share your findings with your class.

Task 1.8 Translate from Russian into English.

Знание межкультурных различий, языка и правил поведения, приемлемых в той или иной стране, подчас разнятся настолько, что даже объяснение жестами требует вмешательства переводчика.

К примеру, столь привычный для современной молодежи жест «о’кей», благополучно перенятый из американских фильмов, в Португалии, Испании и Бразилии считается не только выражением негативных эмоций, но и попросту неприличен.

Качание головой вперед-назад может означать вовсе не то, что Ваш собеседник полностью согласен с коммерческим предложением. В таких странах, как Индия, Болгария и Греция, этот жест обозначает «нет».

Даже остановить машину на улицах Греции будет проблематично, используя привычный для нас жест вытянутой руки с оттопыренным вверх большим пальцем, поскольку здесь он имеет негативное значение. Тот же жест в ряде мусульманских стран является более чем оскорбительным.

А вот путешествуя по Тибету, не стоит обижаться, если встречный прохожий покажет Вам язык, в этой стране такая мимика является выражением миролюбия, тогда как в соседней Индии это распространенное выражение гнева и даже угрозы.

В мусульманских странах преподнесенный левой рукой подарок, или подписанный этой рукой договор, будут восприняты как умышленное нанесение оскорбления, в то время как наши соотечественники даже не придадут этому значения.

Task 1.9 Do you know that…

Numbers are associated with bad luck and even death in many countries. Curiously, it tends to be different numbers for different cultures.

People of the United States, for example, think that 13 is an unlucky number. Most U.S. American hotels do not have a 13th floor, and even a hotel number ending in 13 may be refused. Friday the 13th is perceived as an unlucky day, causing people not to schedule important events on this day.

The Chinese feel that four is the most negative number because it sounds like the word for death. Hotels in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan often have no fourth floor, and some Asian airports have no Gate 4.

For many Chinese, having an uneven number of people in a photograph will bring bad luck, such as that the middle person in a photo of three people will die.

Numbers also have positive meanings in China. For example, the number six represents happiness, and nine represents long life.

UNIT 2

Task 2.1 Warming-Up Activity

1. What are stereotypes?

2. What stereotypes do these people have about each other?

3. What stereotypes do you know about other nationalities?

4. What stereotypes are there of people from your country? Do you think they are fair and accurate?

5. How do we get stereotypes? Where do they come from?

Task 2.2 Read the text