Culture difference between China and America Outline

Introduction:

China and the United States are two completely different culture models. The biggest cultural differences between the two countries are especially evident when analyzing the family unit, classroom, tradition. That is power distance; intercultural communication of individualism and collectivism; and communication style. China and the United States are big countries in the world. China has more than five thousand years of history. I have been studying in America for almost one year, and the United States has about two hundred years of history. I think China and the United States have a lot of differences; not only economic differences, but also ethnic and historical differences. All those big factors make their cultures different. I think the United States’ ideas are open and new, but China is more traditional and closed.

Thematic Statement:

    The differences between China and United States can be shown in the principle of the Power distance is a concept from intercultural communications that highlights these differences. For cultural communication classes, individualism and collectivism principles will help people to understand cultural differences. And communication style is always influenced by different cultures.

Body:

I.         The dimension of individualism and collectivism.

A. The dimension of individualism-collectivism is a good way to show the cultural effects in peer response groups.

a)        Individualists want to take care of themselves.

b)       Collectivism people put the group’s peace above personal goals.

c)        These matters also relate to the concept of “face.”

B. Individualism can be defined as personal goals and benefits having a higher priority than group goals and benefits.

C. Collectivism more strongly emphasizes on “we” rather than “I”, and it refers to a teamwork mentality and focusing on a group as a whole rather than individual work.

D. I power distance compares two individuals or groups in terms of relative respect, honor and authority.

a)        Low power distance means that people are equal, and both get respect for their ideas.
        Example: about American family.

b)       High power distance to teachers or others, students are without confidence to give comments to the high-power people.
        Example: about Chinese family.

 

 

II.      “What is culture? This question has fascinated scholars in various academic disciplines for many decades.

A.      The main difference between Chinese and America eating habits is that unlike, where everyone has their own plate of food, in China the dishes are placed on the table and everybody shares.

B.       The difference wedding between Chinese and America.

a)        Chinese people love the character of lively traditional Chinese wedding ceremony can be fully manifested.

b)       West is the romantic type of wedding, the entire wedding from start to finish to the full of romantic atmosphere. And western ideas are more open to demands for the wedding is relatively low, they are the climax of the wedding is in a church.

Conclusion:

China and United State are two completely different culture models. I talked with about American and Chinese culture. I discuss this topic for a long time. I really learned a lot of information about different countries’ culture of power distance and culture background. I think it is good for the families to treat children equally. However, it also depends on the cultural background and society. I think culture communication is very important in the world; and I will continue to learn a lot about communication from people of other cultures. In this way, I can have a good time when communicating with people and make a lot of friends. I think that cultural communication plays an important role in my life that can give me many ideas on how to communicate better with people from different cultural backgrounds. So, I would like tochoicetopic for my final paper.

References:

1.Graves, C. Sprial dynamics: stratified levels of human development and their characteristics. Handout by Waneen White, EDUC 472: Intercultural Communications. Spring, 2010.

2. Kohls, L. R. (1984). The values Americans live by. Washington. D.C: The Washington International Center.

3. Nelson, G. I. (1997). “How cultural differences affect written and oral communication: the case of peer response groups.” New directions for teaching and learning. 70, 77-84

4. Toomey, S. & Chung. L. (2005) Understanding Intercultural Communication. Now York, NY: Oxford University press.