1. semiotics: paintings by chinese painter on english and german attitudes 2. does culture...
TRANSCRIPT
1. SEMIOTICS: PAINTINGS BY CHINESE PAINTER ON ENGLISH
AND GERMAN ATTITUDES2. DOES CULTURE TRANSLATE?
3. A CHINESE JOKE QUESTIONNAIRE4. DOES HUMOR TRANSLATE?5. CAN HUMOR BE TAUGHT?
Range of issues in Cross-cultural English
Language exists in a sociocultural context
Language: a systematic means of communicating ideas or feelings by the use of conventionalized signs, sounds, gestures, or marks having understood meanings
Culture: a shared, learned, symbolic system of values, beliefs and attitudes that shapes and influences perception and behavior -- an abstract "mental blueprint" or "mental code. Must be studied "indirectly" by studying behavior,
customs, material culture (artifacts, tools, technology), language
language & culture intersection: copyright
Yang Liu, born in 1976 in Beijing, has lived in Berlin since she was 13; her advanced degrees are from the UK. She is a prize-winning designer of posters, logos and other graphic arts, for international audiences. This Exhibit was held May-June 2007 at the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Photos of Yang Liu’s exhibit blasted across the Chinese blogosphere in June/July and went West via a German exchange student’s blog on her current studies in Beijing. I rec’d them in Aug from an (Engl) prof in Taiwan.Per Liu’s request on a Chinese-English blog, keyed to international copyright, I am showing only 3 close-up photos. http://yanfeng.org/2007/06/a-comparison-between-german-and-chinese-illustrations
Semiotics: Yang Liu’s Berlin exhibit, July 07
http://www.yangliudesign.com/
Anger: Germans & Chinese
Life style of elders: German & Chinese
Transportation: German & Chinese
Chen Chia-Ying’s M.A. Thesis
English Joke Measurement Questionnaire
Dear participants:The purpose of this questionnaire is to investigate (a) your English joke comprehension and appreciation and (b) your attitude toward teaching and learning of English jokes. All of your answers and personal information will be kept confidential and used for research only. Thank you very much!
Graduate: Chia-ying Chen E-mail: [email protected]
Advisor: Dr. Ling-Zu Yang English Department of National Kaohsiung Normal
University116 Ho Ping First Road, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, ROC
Humor: does it translate? Can we teach it?
DirectionsFirst, please fill out the questionnaire at the top of
your Answer SheetYou will see 16 jokes, on 16 separate slides. Please
check and fill in the appropriate spaces on your Answer Sheet. If a joke seems potentially un-teachable or likely to offend in the US, add a note.
Then we will have a group discussion about these two questions, Chen’s selections, and Chen’s work with different layers of culture and language.
Sample. Answering Q2 is essential
Q: Why doesn’t the dinosaur cross the road anymore?
A: Because their eggs stink. Answers: X UnfunnyQ2: Please explain the punch line. “their eggs stink” sounds like “they're
extinct.”Q3: Why is the joke unfunny? X I have read/heard it before.