【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 by bing the title of the profession and the first name. But in western countries, especially in American, “teacher” is just a profession but not a form of address. The right way to greet teachers is to add Mr/Mrs/Miss in front of one’s family name, or call their name straightforwardly.Case (2) (A child in china met an American in a park and tried to speak to him courteously)A: Uncle, how do you do?B: Please call me John。 I’m not your uncle.Analyses: In China, children often call the elder people uncle or aunt for the sake of showing their great respect to them. But in western countries, the appellation of “uncle” can only be used by relatives. If they heard unfamiliar people call them “uncle” or “aunt”, they may feel embarrassed or unfortable. Value OrientationOne of the main factors causing social pragmatic failures is considered as the different belief orientations. And the differences reflected in people’s usage of language during the crosscultural munication. That’s the reason why different people have different responses towards pliment and gratitude. Compliment ResponseCase (3) (A Chinese visiting scholar to American is praised by her American friend)American friend: That’s a lovely dress you have on.Chinese scholar: No, no, it’s just a very ordinary dress.Analyses: In traditional Chinese culture, being modest and prudent has been highly appreciated. People tend to depreciate themselves and put a higher value on other people. But in western countries, it’s quite natural for people to praise others, and it’s just a way of greeting. The different attitudes towards pliment response may certainly cause social pragmatic failures or munication barriers. Gratitude Response Case (4) (After a Chinese host acpanied a foreign businessman)Foreign businessman: Thank you for acpanying me.Chinese host: Don’t mention it. It’s my duty to do so.Analyses: Here, what the second speaker says makes the foreigner feel embarrassed, because he misunderstands the meaning of “duty”what one must do either because of one’s job or because one thinks it right. Instead, the Chinese host should say, “It’s a pleasure!” PolitenessBeing polite is one of the main signals of human civilization. Different cultures have different ways of showing politeness to others. In china, people pay much attention to behaviors and tend to express courtesy in an indirect way. But for westerners, they are likely to use language to express their politeness orally in a very direct way. They are often saying “Hello”, “Nice to meet you”, “You are so pretty” or “You are so cute” to strangers even without thinking about it. Chinese people would feel confused about their words and think that they are so flippant. In the contrary, westerners would consider Chinese people as conservative and stubborn. Imagine that, if an American young boy saw a beautiful girl in the street, and he said loudly to the girl, “you are so pretty today!” The girl must be quite unfortable and feel bashful. This is one of the most typical instances about social pragmatic failures. PrivacyCase (5) many foreigners who came to china for the first time often feel unfortable about some questions asked by Chinese people, such as “Where are you going?”, “Are you married?”, “Have you had your dinner?”.Analyses: People must live and interact together to survive. In dong so, they must develop a way of relating that strikes a balance between showing concern for themselves and concern for others. Hofstede has put forth the individualismcollectivism dimension. Unlike those western countries which tend to hold the individual orientation, Chinese people prefer a collectivist orientation. Thus, privacy in china has not been placed in a position as high as in western cultures. Westerners have a much stronger sense of privacy than Chinese people do. That’s why some foreigners feel quite unfortable and embarrassed about those “intruded” questions. Actually, Chinese people who ask those questions didn’t mean to offend them. It’s only a way of showing care and affection to the foreign friends. Therefore, we’d better choose some public topics when we municate and interact with people from different cultures, such as “weather”, “sports”, or “news”. It would certainly do a great help to our success of intercultural munication. TaboosEvery culture has its own taboos。 different cultures have totally different taboos.Case (6), A Chi