Abstract

Language is the carrier of culture, and economic globalization leads to the increase of intercultural communication. With the increase in the opportunities for cooperation between China and the West, the contradictions between Chinese and Western cultures are becoming more and more common. Because people have different social backgrounds, culture and values, which makes people have some unnecessary misunderstanding and the cause of conflict. This article studies the apology from a cross - cultural perspective, including the way in which apologies are studied, the relationship between apology and culture, and the differences between Chinese and Western responses and apologies. If you want to achieve the desired effect in cross-cultural communication, to improve the ability of cross-cultural communication, to avoid the conflict between Chinese and Western cultures. The perspective of cross-cultural study is indispensable.

Key words: intercultural communication, apologies, differences

CONTENTS

中文摘要

Abstract

1. Introduction-1

1.1 Background of the study-1

1.2 significance of the study-1

1.3 Organization of the thesis-3

2. Forms of Apologies-3

2.1 Linguistic and Non-linguistic-3

2.2 Verbal and written-4

2.3 Official and Unofficial-5

3. The Relationship between Apology and Culture-6

3.1 The definition of language and culture-6

3.2 The relationship between language and culture-6

4. Differences between Chinese and English in the Apologies-7

4.1 Frequency of apologies-7

4.2 Apology strategies-8

4.3 Responding to Apologies-9

5. Reasons causing differences-10

5.1 High-context culture vs low-context culture-10

5.2 Individualism vs collectivism-11

6. Conclusions-12

Works Cited-13