Request a sample essay for the case study section of the foundation of Chinese international education

Case Study and Writing for the Master's Degree in Chinese Language Education

1. Introduction

Will students from different cultural backgrounds continue to adhere to their own cultures in the process of interacting with each other, or will they accommodate others? Obviously, they will mainly maintain their own culture and accommodate others according to the situation. This makes it inevitable that small frictions will occur between national and international students in their studies and lives. Since conflicts and frictions are inevitable. The key lies in what kind of mentality we should have and how we should deal with them. Should we avoid it? Should we put it aside? Or actively face to seek a solution? Please see the following case study.

2. Case Study

For the sake of convenience, the case is represented by Li, the international student is represented by Sophie, and the Chinese classmate of the international student is represented by Ying.

2.1 Case Statement

Background Xiao Li used to play ball on the second floor of the second body every Thursday morning and did not leave until 12:30 pm. This is because that was the time when Sophie and Ying had their volleyball lessons. They thus met often and made eye contact several times.

Case 1: First Impressions

Li was very active in saving the ball, organizing the attack, and shouting "good shot" and "my fault". He is also the main scorer on the court. As a result, she is often the center of attention of the spectators both on and off the court. When Lee scores, Sophie sometimes applauds off the court. In this case, Sophie accidentally hit the ball into the court while practicing outside the court, and Li helped her to pick it up and handed it to her with a smile on his face. Sophie smiled back with an apologetic look in her eyes and said "Thank you!" in Chinese.

Sophie also smiled and apologized and said "Thank you!

Case 2: Sophie's anger

Li finished her game and went to get her windbreaker from the rack at the side of the court. Everyone's windbreaker hangs on the same rack, and Little Li's windbreaker is on the far end. He asked, "Anyone? Would you mind letting Little Lee take Little Lee's coat?" And then jokingly, "Anyone? Who's hiding in there?" Because so many coats were all hanging in one place and looking big, it gave the impression that there was someone hiding inside. Lee asked while glancing around the clothes. Since no one responded, Lee picked up the clothes. Preparing to take his own clothes. At this time, Sophie and Ying hurriedly trotted over from a short distance away. Xiao Li smiled and gestured to Sophie, she didn't return the gesture and replaced it with a serious expression. Without paying attention, Xiao Li dropped his trench coat on the ground without realizing it, and Sophie frowned. Seeing Sophie's expression, and then not finding his coat, Xiao Li was a bit overwhelmed, and hurriedly tried to hang his hands full of clothes back in place. But it didn't work. Tried several times in succession but it didn't work. Sophie then reached out to help, mumbling under her breath. All Li could hear was that Sophie was speaking French. And there was a note of dissatisfaction and complaint in her voice. Li became even more flustered and couldn't manage to hang up all the coats. This time, Sophie said in a very heavy tone of voice, in not-so-standard Chinese, "Bring it here you!" She yanked the clothes away with all her might, her brows furrowed, her expression very angry, and with her sideways face turned towards Xiao Li. Due to Sophie's good figure, in the process of tugging, Li's right arm touched Sophie's chest, and he quickly retracted his hand as a reflex, and had an embarrassed expression on his face. This action makes Sophie turn her head and stare at Li, Li felt his face was very hot, and did not dare to look at each other. At this time, Li's classmate Tang Ning picked up the windbreaker on the ground, and was ready to pat the gray two times by Li stopped and took it. Xiao Li said, "No need to shoot, it's okay, the jacket is to make it dirty." After that, Sophie hung up the clothes and Li said sorry to her, Sophie ignored it. On the side, Xiao Ying said, "It's okay, it's okay." Sophie squinted at Ying again. Xiao Li took a deep breath to adjust his mind. With a very humble demeanor and a cute and mischievous tone, he said to Sophie, "You are so beautiful like la lune!", "Salad", "Sha wah ditka ", "Ohh wahh wahh". The students who were preparing for class were amused, but these tricks didn't seem to work for Sophie, so Li had to express the moment with a very helpless and apologetic gesture. When he was just about to leave, he had a bright idea, first bowed slightly, then slightly touched the ground on one knee, gestured to make a photo, smiled and asked in English, "Could you say 'cheese' to me?" Everyone turned their attention to Sophie, and Sophie ignored it. Sophie ignored the question and turned her back on Li, who had no choice but to leave.

Case 3: Sophie says "Hi"

On the Monday after the weekend, when Li was on his way to a professional class in a school, there was a girl walking towards him, and Li didn't recognize her as Sophie. When she came up to her, Sophie took the initiative to smile and said, "Hello!" Xiao Li then recognized that it was Sophie, and hastily returned the salutation, "Salut."

Case 4 Two people tacit understanding

On Thursday, it was gym class again, and this time Sophie was out on the field, and when Xiao Li turned around to look at her, she gestured with her hand. Xiao Li waved back at her. Then she pointed her finger at Xiao Li's trench coat hanging on the stand, and then at her own trench coat, and then made an opposing gesture. Xiao Li understood what she meant, smiled and nodded vigorously, gave an OK sign and said loudly, "OK! OK!"

2.2 Case Analysis

2.2.1 Analysis of Stages of Intercultural Communication

The above case of cross-cultural communication between Xiao Li and the foreign student can be summarized as follows four stages, i.e. friendly beginning, storm triggering, positive remedy and returning to friendship. Let's analyze them one by one.

The first stage-beginning of friendship

Firstly, Li and Sophie are both highly educated, with high qualities and willingness to be kind to others; secondly, Sophie came to China to study because she had a good vision of it; furthermore, Li is a person who loves to make friends; lastly, the physical education class gave them time and space opportunities to get in touch with each other. Finally, the physical education class gave them the opportunity to get in touch with each other in time and space. Through the initial contact, both parties showed their own shining points. Little Li's flashpoints include handsome, healthy, energetic, enthusiastic, etc., which can be seen from Little Li's appearance and performance when playing ball in Case 1. For example, he actively saves the ball, shouts for a good shot, and helps to pick up the ball. Sophie's flashpoints include beauty, intelligence, kindness, good literacy, etc. This can be seen in Sophie's outward appearance and in Case 1 when Sophie applauded off the court and apologized when she hit the ball into the court. Since both parties are sending only positive messages in front of each other, they are naturally kind of friendly to begin with.

Phase 2 - The Storm that started it all

First, Lee made the mistake of "doing unto others as he would like to be done unto". He didn't mind people ogling and touching his clothes, so he assumed that others wouldn't mind him doing the same. Even though he asked beforehand, he didn't take into account the fact that the other person's situation was that of a foreign student, and he probably didn't react quickly enough to what we said. Not to mention the fact that playing with a ball player is rather dirty. Then after touching the more sensitive parts of a woman's body, he showed a lewd look. The last string of amusing gestures was even more claptrap. The above behavior escalated Sophie's disgust, first with a seriousness, then a frown, then a grunt, an angry "Bring it here you!" and glaring so hard that by the end of it, her back was turned to me.

Second, Ying said, "It's okay, it's okay!" Obviously stand on our Chinese values, think I do not mean it, can be forgiven. In addition, Xiaoying is Sophie's classmate, she may know Sophie better, and knows that Sophie is not a narrow-minded person, so she will certainly forgive me, and therefore boldly assert or endorse. But, after all, Xiao Ying is not Sophie, she has no authority to say it's okay on behalf of Sophie. So Sophie squinted at Xiaoying for a moment.

In the end, Xiao Li felt that he should admit the wrong admitted, but the other party still did not have the slightest sign of understanding. Only helpless to leave. The temporary end is that no one ignores anyone.

The third stage - positive remedies

The cause of this storm is mainly Li. Therefore, Li opened his mind to remedy the situation. First of all, with a guilty look to say sorry, and then a string of quirky and amusing polite language to ease the atmosphere, and finally very witty and creative half-kneeling pretending to take a picture to beg for forgiveness, not only to the other side of the highest respect, after all, to give you on your knees; at the same time also give themselves room to maneuver, because this posture can also be a photographic, not to be too lowly. Finally said, "Could you say 'cheese' to me?" on the one hand, it is photographic language, that is, ask each other to smile; on the other hand, at this moment is to ask each other to smile in order to express the forgiveness of the mistakes made by Li; can be described as a very Classic.

The first time I've ever seen a woman with a smile on her face, I've seen a woman with a smile on her face.

Ying plays the role of peacemaker here. Unfortunately, the cultural background is on Li's side, so it is easy to understand Li's behavior. I believe that after that, she was explaining some Chinese behaviors to Sophie in her private communication with her, probably including this behavior of Li, so that Sophie could adapt to the Chinese way of thinking as well as some habits of living and studying.

Sophie also reviewed the whole process afterward when she calmed down. Sophie is a very smart and kind international student. When she realized that Li didn't mean to invade her privacy, to make light of her situation, to make a fuss, etc., she apologized and sent a friendly message. After she realized that Li did not intend to violate her privacy, make a fool of herself, etc., and positively apologized and sent a friendly signal, and in a sense, Li did not bring any substantial harm to Sophie, even if it was damage. Of course, Sophie is a tolerant and open-minded person with a high degree of cultivation is a more important reason. In short, her education, so that it through the value judgment, feel that this is a small matter. So when she saw Li four days later, she took the initiative to greet him to send a friendly signal.

Stage 4 - Returning to Friendship

For Little Li and Sophie to send friendly signals to each other, both parties responded positively. The two sides were prompted to eventually return to friendship. However, just as a wound heals, the scar remains; a rope breaks, and there is a knot when it is joined. Thus, the two still face an awkward knot. The clever Sophie, through a gesture, signaled to Xiao Li to remove Xiao Li's windbreaker and put her own windbreaker on the outside first. In this way, it would be easier for Xiao Li to remove her clothes after playing soccer. Little Li also understood. So the two had this tacit understanding.

2.2.2 Analysis of Intercultural Communication Phenomena

The case involves the phenomena related to cross-cultural focus, communication barriers, taboos, culture shock, non-verbal language and so on. It is summarized below.

Intercultural Focus Intercultural focus refers to the correct interpretation of a foreign culture. For under-focused foreign cultures, we have to over-focus our interpretation; for over-focused foreign cultures, we have to under-focus our interpretation.

Li is an optimistic and positive person, and he is also very confident. However, the degree of self-confidence is not well grasped, which results in often over-focused interpretation of other people's signals. For example, Sophie expressed a friendly smile signal, Li interpreted as Sophie in the like themselves; Sophie a little like Li, Li interpreted as she is very like themselves; Sophie out of politeness thanks, Li interpreted as Sophie touched. In short, eventually, Li positioned herself as a whole over-focused. That is to say, much more than the real position in Sophie's values. As a result, it becomes intemperate to joke and say things that can only be said to a good friend, but to an ordinary friend. So much so that later, Xiao Li put Sophie step by step to anger.

Sophie felt that her privacy and female dignity had been violated. As a result, negative emotional factors dominate. When one's emotional factors dominate, one is also prone to cognitive hyperfocus, which in turn produces excessive behavior. After Sophie's anger, whatever Li did subsequently, Sophie interpreted it in a negative way, which ultimately resulted in hyperfocus. This is precisely why Li did so many things to express his apology at the time without getting results.

Ying's interpretation of Sophie would be underfocused. She rushed to say it was okay on Sophie's behalf without really getting to know her, and ended up causing Sophie to look at her obliquely.

Communication Barriers In cross-cultural communication, there are barriers to communication because of the differences in language.

Li didn't understand French and wasn't fluent in English, plus she was nervous. Therefore, unable to accurately express his apology, he could only say more relevant words to express his attention, his mindset to please the other party, and his desire to resolve the conflict. But the outer form and the content of the statements were all words that made people feel puzzled. Therefore, it is difficult for Sophie to understand the so-called importance of Li's heart, mentality and mood at that time.

Sophie is not fluent in Chinese and her pronunciation is not standardized. Her first reaction is still French, therefore, when she is disgruntled, her mouth is mumbling French. And Xiao Li can't understand it, so it's hard to respond correctly. Of course, frowning, grunting, talking loudly, even complaining, cursing, etc. always convey a richer emotional message. Li's response is more broad and unfocused, and can only revolve around apologizing, and doing something to make the other person happy to make up for it.

Cross-cultural taboos In the process of cross-cultural communication, taboos are scales, usually untouchable. Once touched, the consequences are severe. The foundation of a friendly impression that has been laid before is virtually subverted.

Li and Sophie would have greeted and smiled at each other. Such a relationship was healthy and benign. But then it was broken. It was because Xiao Li touched Sophie's taboo. Whether intentionally or unintentionally.

Here, for Sophie, Little Li touched two more serious taboos. The first is surveying her clothing and reaching out to hug it to her body, which violates her right to privacy. The second is that RF is something to be celebrated for western countries like France. In their culture, RF is viewed with an open and healthy mindset, whereas in China, most people are still influenced by tradition and treat RF as taboo. This creates the awkward look on Li's face. In Chinese culture, a man's accidental touch and expression of embarrassment is a sign of politeness. And in the eyes of Westerners, Xiao Li's behavior is equivalent to getting a bargain. And it's extremely disrespectful to women.

Cultural shock Sophie goes through a little cultural shock process.

Honeymoon period - the favorable impression that Xiao Li and the other students made on her, as well as her own longing for China and her love of physical education classes. All these made her feel good and sweet about Peking University. This period is the honeymoon period.

Frustration period - Xiao Li continuously touched Sophie's taboos and said some puzzling things. It makes her very resentful. In such an angry situation, the Chinese friends around her actually helped the Chinese to speak, and took it upon themselves to say that it didn't matter. All of this made Sophie's mood negative. This period is the period of frustration.

Adjustment Period--Sophie reviewed and thought about the whole process when she calmed down afterwards. She adjusted her mindset and views, and gradually understood and forgave Li's behavior. This period is the adjustment period.

Adjustment period--As a result of this incident, it is equivalent to making Sophie produce antibodies. In the future, she will be somewhat immune to similar incidents. In the future, she will be able to adapt to the behavior of Xiao Li or other Chinese people. This later period is the period of adaptation. In the several cases in the thesis, there is no obvious sign that Sophie has reached the adaptation period. I just base on the fact that later Sophie took the initiative to greet Xiao Li, as well as hanging his coat on the outermost layer for him so that he could hold it well. From this information, it can be inferred that Sophie had already adjusted herself. Therefore it was natural to enter the period of adjustment.

Non-verbal language There is a lot of non-verbal language in the case.

For Li, the non-verbal language involved is: playing on the field, helping Sophie pick up the ball, smiling at Sophie, surveying Sophie's jacket, not daring to look directly at Sophie after touching her sensitive parts, half-kneeling in front of Sophie, and giving Sophie an OK sign. These actions of Xiao Li are obviously not using words to convey a message. Rather, they are conveyed with expressions and body language. Some of the messages conveyed by these languages are kind of polite, some appear to be aggression to people, and some are like clowns.

For Sophie, the non-verbal language involved is: apologetic expressions, smiles, seriousness, frowns, glares, squints, turning her back, waving her hand in greeting, and gestures to adjust her clothes. With these gestures, Sophie is clearly not using words to convey a message. Rather, they are conveyed with expressions and body language. Some of the messages conveyed by these languages were kind of polite, some were disgruntled, angry, even resentful and hostile, and others conveyed tolerance and understanding.

2.3 Case Summary

In the process of cross-cultural communication with international students, it is inevitable to encounter small frictions. Of course, most of the time, people don't do it intentionally. Rather, there are some misunderstandings caused by the existence of differences in the cultural background of both sides. If we call ourselves as the hosts and the international students as the guests. Then -

As the host party, when you have no intention to hurt the other party, and the other party has shown obvious sign of displeasure. You should immediately stop the same kind of hurtful behavior. Also apologize promptly. Can no longer measure their own moral standards by their own country's values, not to mention the face of the other party to ask for forgiveness. When apologizing to the other party to ask for forgiveness, it is also not urgent to ask the guest party for immediate forgiveness. After all, the guest will have an emotional period after being hurt. We should give the guest time to think and wait patiently for their forgiveness. When the host party is hurt by the guest party, it is natural that they will be emotionally upset first. But afterward, when you calm down, you should think differently, and in a forgiving attitude, eventually try to understand the other party. Failure to do so will turn a small misunderstanding into a big conflict. We have seen in the news many cases of conflicts between foreign students and locals at home and abroad, and even bloodshed and loss of life. We should really take this as a warning.

The first thing you should do as a guest is to do as the Romans do, as the guest does. At the same time, we need to understand the culture shock, know clearly which period of culture shock we are in, and adjust ourselves in time.

The four cases in this paper interpret the problems encountered in cross-cultural communication and the solutions to the problems. Communication is a two-party, so the solution to the problem must also be a two-party interaction to complete. Problem formation process, often can not distinguish who is more right and who is more wrong. In principle, whoever is the initiator of the storm should be the first to actively seek a solution. In this case, it is obvious that Li is the initiator of the whole incident. Therefore, he is bound to be responsible. Even if the behavior may seem like a clown, or even a bit like a psychopath in the eyes of others. But in terms of the final result of the two making up, it is worth it.

3. Concluding Remarks

Through the case, we have learned that we are going to encounter a lot of problems in the process of communicating with international students. Difficulties in language communication, differences in living habits, differences in ways of thinking and so on. However, we also have many similarities, that is, we all have a heart that seeks friendship, gestures, facial expressions and so on that can be understood by each other. As long as both parties are restrained and rational and adopt a positive mindset to remedy the situation when problems are encountered. Eventually both parties are able to return to friendship. That is to say, despite the problems that may arise, it is still possible for us and the international students to realize a friendly relationship.