Language and communication
語言和交際

Text

On cross-cultural communication

There are dozens of books on communicating globally. The trials, tribulations and terrors of attempting to do so have been well documented-tales of linguistic misunderstanding leading to costly mistakes, embarrassing encounters and humorous assumptions. Many are real, and given the creative range of human imagination, some are apocryphal.

That said, do we need yet another book on how to communicate effectively internationally, and if so, is it possible that any revelations can be offered? Surprisingly, the answers are maybe and yes. The Elements of International English Style manages to carve out another niche in the ongoing quest for global understanding-a not unremarkable achievement. Early on, the book is off-putting because of its somewhat pedantic approach, but before relegating it to the look-at-it-later stack, the reader should persevere.

Author Edmond Weiss notes that while English is the first language of about 400 million people (he calls them E1s), there are more than a billion who speak it as a second language (E2s). "All communication risks misunderstanding," Weiss notes, "and communication between E1s and E2s simply increases those risks." The focus of his book, then, is how to minimize the difficulties in communicating with E2s, especially those trying to understand business and technical documents. Often, he says, the key is to challenge accepted ideas of clarity, to forgo eloquence for comprehension and to break a few rules in order to eliminate confusion.

One tactic to get the most out of this slender volume is to read it quickly for an overview, noting the areas of miscommunication vulnerability. The book then can serve as a useful reference for avoiding specific linguistic and cultural minefields. One helpful section describing ways to make life easier for E2 readers details the virtues of simplified syntax, aggressive punctuation and readable typefaces. Another chapter offers tips to prepare copy for translation and for correspondence. Also helpful is a checklist for "internationalizing" a web site.

Despite the book's academic trappings (carefully noted sources, discussion questions and sometimes stuffy vocabulary), Weiss unexpectedly introduces bits of humor to reward the diligent reader. Speaking of jargon, for example, he comments, "Impact as a verb has no place in writing, except for those who are discussing asteroids and wisdom teeth." And he gains credibility with his observation, "Americans will overuse basically in much the way that British E1s overuse actually; as far as I can tell, neither word means anything at all."

The usual admonitions about global communication appear: no slang, no jargon, no sarcasm or irony, no idiomatic expressions, no cultural or literary allusions, no military or sports vocabulary and/or anything else that might befuddle an E2 attempting a literal translation. Also included are such anomalous ideas as substituting longer, more complex words with a single meaning for simpler words with many meanings, and hyphenating normally unhyphenated words to improve comprehension.

Other useful sections summarize principles of simplicity, clarity, correspondence and cultural adaptation, and writing for translation. Readers reluctant to plunge into uncharted international semantic seas can test the waters by completing an exercise in Appendix 2, "Sentences that Need Editing". In fact, this is not a bad way for a communication manager to introduce his or her staff to some of the more obvious traps.

Weiss also discusses how different cultural values can affect communication. He notes, for example, that in the U.S., people in business are admired for directness, lack of formality and effective use of time-traits seen in other parts of the world as rude, uncultured and immature. In the end, if nothing else, reading Weiss' book should heighten one's international cultural sensitivity.

Reading comprehension

1. According to Edmund Weiss, the key to minimizing the difficulties in communicating with E2s does not include____.
[A] avoid cultural minefields
[B] challenge accepted ideas of clarity
[C] forgo eloquence for comprehension
[D] break a few rules to eliminate confusion

2. What does the author want to tell us by quoting "impact as a verb has no place in writing"?
[A] Jargon is difficult to understand.
[B] It is necessary to try to avoid the use of jargon in communication.
[C] He wants to show his sense of humor.
[D] He wants to gain credibility.

3. Edmund's suggestions on making global communication clearer include the following except_____.
[A] avoid the use of cultural literary allusions
[B] use simple words with many meanings 
[C] hyphenate normally unhyphenated words
[D] avoid idiomatic expressions

4. What aspect does Weiss discuss apart from the language that can also affect communication?
[A] Body language 
[B] National boundaries
[C] Intonations and tones 
[D] Cultural values 

5. What type of writing is this article?
[A] Novel. 
[B] Article. 
[C] Essay. 
[D] Book review. 答案與題解

1.[A]
Edmund Weiss認為，和以英語為第二語言的人交際中，減少交際困難的關鍵是挑戰(zhàn)固有的關于清楚表達的概念、為增加理解而放棄雄辯、打破一些規(guī)則。

2.[B]
作者舉這個例子的目的是想表明應盡量避免在交際中使用一些術語和行話。

3.[B]
Edmund的建議是，寧可使用只有一種意思的更長更復雜的詞，也不要使用有多個意思的短詞和簡單詞，以避免出現(xiàn)混淆。

4.[D]
除了語言本身，Weiss只提到文化價值觀念對交際的影響。其他如身體語言、語音交際的影響作者都沒有提到。

5.[D]
這是一道宏觀題。文章對Edmund Weiss所著的《國際英語文體基礎》做了介紹和評論，作者對該書總的評價不錯。比如作者認為，這本書雖然比較學術化，但仍然不乏幽默。文章比較后一句說，讀Weiss的書能夠提高人的國際文化敏感性。

Words

tribulation   磨難

costly  貴重的

apocryphal  不足憑信的

revelation  啟示，揭示

carve out  開拓，創(chuàng)業(yè)

niche  小生境

off-putting   令人氣惱的

pedantic  書生氣的

relegate  轉移，歸入

typeface  字體

trapping  特有的或象征性的符號

jargon  行話

admonition   警告

befuddle  使迷惑，使迷糊

anomalous  不規(guī)則的，反常的

hyphenate  以連字符號連接

Notes

1. 第二段第三句中的a not unremarkable achievement 是雙重否定的用法，為了表示強調。
2. 第二段比較后一句中的look-at-it-later復合法構詞。由動詞詞組look at it later中間加上連字符構成，變成形容詞。
3. 第四段第一句話中的get the most out of作"發(fā)揮......比較大功效"講。例如The doctor have told him that he has only six months to live, so he's trying to get the most out of them. 醫(yī)生告訴他，他只能再活6個月了，因此他試圖比較有效地利用這段時間。
4. 第四段比較后一句話Also helpful is a checklist for "internationalizing" a web site. 這是一個倒裝句。正常語序是A checklist for "internationalizing" a web site is also helpful.
5. 第六段第二句話Also included are such anomalous ideas...也是一個倒裝句。

課文參考譯文

關于跨文化交際

關于全球交際的書籍有成打之多。嘗試進行全球交際的試驗、磨難和恐懼也被很好地記錄了下來--語言學上的誤解導致代價高昂的錯誤、令人尷尬的遭遇和幽默的假設。這些記錄許多是真實的并基于人類的想像做了創(chuàng)造性發(fā)揮，有些則是假冒的。

那就是說我們還需要另一本關于怎樣在國際上有效地進行交際的書嗎？如果需要的話，它能否為我們提供一些啟示？令人驚訝的是，這兩個答案分別是也許和是�！秶�際英語文體基礎》成功地在全球相互理解的探索中開創(chuàng)出一片新的天地--一個不同尋常的成就。這本書由于它學究式的風格，之前，給人的第一印象不怎么好，不過在把它歸入以后再看的書堆之前，讀者應該再堅持看一會。

作者Edmond Weiss談到，雖然英語是大約4億人的第一語言（他稱作E1s），還有超過10億人將英語作為第二語言（E2s）。"所有的交際都有誤解的風險，"Weiss提到，"E1s和E2s之間的交際只是增加了這些風險。"這本書關注的焦點在于怎樣使同E2s之間交際的困難變得比較小，特別是那些想要理解商業(yè)和技術文件的人。他說，關鍵是挑戰(zhàn)公認的關于清楚的觀念、放棄完全理解的想法，打破一些規(guī)則以消除混淆。

從這本小冊子中獲得比較大益處的一個方法就是快速將其閱讀一遍，獲得總體看法，注意到容易出現(xiàn)錯誤傳達之處。對于避開特定的語言學和文化雷區(qū)，這本書是個有用的參考。其中一個部分提供了對E2讀者有益的方法，詳細說明了簡化句式、多打標點符號、字體清晰易讀的好處。另一章為翻譯和通信準備副本提供了建議。書中的一個一覽表對于網站的"國際化"也很有用。

這本書除了學術上的特征（詳細記錄的資料來源、討論問題甚至有些枯燥乏味的詞匯）外，Weiss出人意料地為勤奮的讀者帶來了一些幽默。例如，談到行話時，他評論說，"Impact作為動詞時在寫作中基本用不上，除了那些在討論彗星和智齒的人。"而且他通過自己的觀察令人信服，"美國人過多使用basically，和英國人過多使用actually一樣；我認為，這兩個詞都沒有什么意義。"

關于全球交際常見的告誡有不用俚語、不用行話、不用諷刺和反話、不用習慣表達、u不用文化或文學典故、不用軍事或體育詞匯和（或）任何可能使一位照字面進行翻譯的E2感到迷惑的東西。同樣書中還有一些非常規(guī)的觀念，例如用更長、更復雜的單義詞代替簡單但有多個意思的詞，將通常不加連字符的詞加上連字符，以提高可理解度。

書中其他有用的部分對簡潔、清晰、一致和文化適應等原則進行了總結。不愿意投入未知的語義海洋的讀者可以通過做一下附錄2中的一項練習 "需要編輯的句子"來試試水。實際上，這對于交際經理來說不失為一個好辦法，這樣可以向他或她的員工介紹一些明顯的陷阱。

Weiss還討論了不同的文化價值觀如何影響交際。例如，他注意到，在美國，生意人的直接、不拘于客套和有效利用時間受人稱贊--而這些特點在世界其他一些地方被認為是粗魯?shù)摹�沒有教養(yǎng)的和不成熟的。比較后，讀Weiss的書能夠提高人的國際文化敏感性。