Investigating the Reliability and Validity of Chen and Starosta's Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) against Chinese Cultural Background

Intercultural Communication Competence (ICC), as one of the research fields of intercultural communication, has been given much importance from scholars all around the world. Intercultural sensitivity is one of the three dimensions in Dr Chen's ICC model. This research investigates the reliability and validity of Chen and Starosta's Intercultural Sensitivity Scale (ISS) (2000) against Chinese cultural background by using Chinese university students majoring in English as respondents.

The Influence of Chinese Proficiency and Cultural Background on CFL Learners’Comprehension of Chinese Logogriphs

This study investigates how Chinese logogriphs are comprehended by learners of Chinese as a foreign language(CFL)with different Chinese proficiencies and cultural backgrounds.Eighty-eight CFL learners from four cultures(South Koreans,Southeast Asians,Western Caucasians and Arabs)were divided into two Chinese proficiency groups according to their HSK scores,and 15 L1 Chinese speakers also took part in the experiment as a control group.The participants were asked to write down how they interpreted Chinese logogriphs in questionnaires.An ANOVA analysis was conducted to examine the effects of Chinese proficiency and cultural background on logogriph comprehension.The results indicate that the accuracy of logogriph comprehension and the frequency of adopting logogriph-solving strategies positively correlated with the learners’Chinese proficiency,and that those with higher proficiency used more linguistic and cultural knowledge of the target language.As for cultural influence,Western Caucasians tended to think more visually than the other three cultural groups,and South Koreans and Southeast Asians were better at activating Chinese semantic knowledge.The closer the CFL learners’culture is to Chinese culture,the more similar strategies they adopted to those of L1 Chinese participants.Moreover,the participants’Chinese proficiency and cultural background show an interactive effect on their logogriph comprehension,with the former factor having a greater influence than the latter in this process.

Cultural Input in English Vocabulary Teaching

The close relationship between the English words and culture is analyzed in this article.Only by understanding the hidden cultural meanings in the English words,can college students truly have a good command of them and can their communicative ability be improved.

SOCIO-CULTURAL BACKGROUND AND CHINESE ENGLISH MAJORS' LEARNING STYLES

For the purpose of tailoring language instruction to respond to students' diverse learning styles and enriching students' present learning styles, the present paper examines Chinese EFL majors' perceptional learning style preferences (PLSP) from the following dimensions: visual, auditory, tactile, kinesthetic, collaborative/independent, passive/active and modeling, and probes into the underlying socio-cultural factors which affect Chinese English majors' learning styles. Based on the style findings, some practical suggestions are provided to promote EFL teaching in China.

Analysis the Reflection of Cultural Factors in Foreign Affairs Translation Activities

From the perspective of cultural background and cross-cultural communicative awareness, this paper discusses the cultural factors in the context of foreign affairs translation. It points out translator should adapt themselves to different cultural backgrounds and fully convey the cultural denotations and connotations in foreign affairs texts, which can achieve successful conversation from the source language to the target language.

Contrast and Fusion: The Role of Regional Culture in Shaping Jiangsu Paper-Cut Art

The Chinese paper-cut art,first recorded in the Wei,Jin,and Southern and Northern Dynasties(220 AD-589 AD),has witnessed the changes of times,yet it still retains its artistic vitality.Chinese papercuts can be divided into two schools:the northern and the southern.Jiangsu,located in the region of the Yellow River and Huai River,is the geographical dividing line between those two schools.Therefore,in Jiangsu Province,not only the rough northern art form(such as in Xuzhou papercut)but also the graceful southern art form(such as in Jintan papercut)is evident.In addition,the unique combined paper-cut style(such as in Yangzhou and Nanjing papercuts)can be appreciated here.Although several scholars have analyzed the artistic characteristics of Jiangsu papercut based on cultural background,very few have discussed the differences between the northern and the southern in terms of content,connotation,and style.Through literature review and collected works made by local craftsmen and inheritors of this tradition,this article aims to show readers the contrast and integration of papercuts in these four places under the influence of different cultural and economic backgrounds in order to better understand the role of regional factors in shaping the art form of papercuts in Jiangsu Province.Nowadays,with the change in people’s lifestyles,the living space of traditional papercuts has shrunk drastically,and its practicability in the past has faded.Instead,people are searching for and creating cultural and artistic value in museums,tourist attractions,and commodity transactions.Among them,some works have deviated from the cultural background of traditional paper-cut art.Therefore,this paper provides a basis for the current development of this art form in Jiangsu.

Domestication and Foreignization from Perspective of Schema Theory --Culture： an Indispensible Element in Translation

Observing the effects brought by the universal and individual features of the schema inbred in the different languages and cultures, the author touches on the domesticating and foreignizing methods in the process of translation in cultural background from the perspective of schema theory.

Comparison of Keyword Translations in Tao Teh Ching From the Perspective of Skopos Theory

Tao Teh Ching,which is commonly regarded as the greatest book of Taoism in China,is rich in meaning and profound in annotation.In spite of its limited length,it has a great impact on Chinese philosophy.Due to its great popularity,the number of its translations remains increasing,and the translations by different translators vary from each other.The authors make comparison between James Legge’s and Lin Yutang’s translations of some keywords in Tao Teh Ching.By studying the two translators’personal experiences and basing on the Skopos Theory,they find out that the translators apply different translation strategies because of their cultural backgrounds and translation purposes.

Factors Affecting English Reading of High School Studies

Compared with the skills of listening and speaking, reading is commonly considered to be one of the most difficult skills to be improved for the middle school students. The slow progression results from various obstacles the students might confront in their reading. This essay makes a summary of various difficulties that hinder the students＇ successful reading comprehension, from the aspects of vocabulary, sentence and grammar, understanding of a passage, habits of reading, logic thinking, meanings of language and culture background.