A Study On The Impediments In Sino-American Inter-cultural Communication Caused By The Divergences In Value Orientations

According to the studies made by Jia Yuxin(1997) and Samavor (2000), coding system,the core element in the process of communication can be deconstructed into language codes, contextual codes and cultural codes, among which the last serves as the core element. Culture can be classified into spiritual culture, behavioral culture and material culture according to the theories put forward by HuWenzhong (1999), He Minzhi (1999) and Scollon (2000). And value orientations, as the nucleus of spiritual culture, are the fundamental roots of people's social behaviors and conducts in communication.On these theoretical foundations, the thesis studies two value dimensions system and constructs a framework for this study including three value orientations: social relationship, time and history view and human nature. The thesis compares the value orientations of Chinese and American culture in these three aspects and generates three main divergences:"WE"consciousness VS."I"consciousness; past-oriented VS. future-oriented; and weak self-concept VS. strong self-concept. The thesis makes further analysis on 100 cases of failure in Sino-American inter-cultural communication and the results show that 62% of the failures can be attributed to the three value divergences which correspondingly appear to be the following three value impediments: individuality impediment, time concept impediment and privacy impediment.Furthermore the thesis conducts a survey on Chinese college students'cultural ability in these three aspects and the channels through which the ability has been acquired and proposes pedagogical implications for the cultivation of cultural awareness and competence in college English teaching.This thesis has deconstructed the coding system, analyzed the core impediments: value divergences in Sino-American inter-cultural communication and generated three main value impediments. On the basis of the research findings the thesis made a survey on Chinese English learners'inter-cultural communication ability. The research is of empirical value to both Chinese foreign exchanges and English teaching.