从涉外导游角度看英语专业发展的前景和途径

ABSTRACT
This paper first explores the definitions of intercultural communication, intercultural communicative awareness, and intercultural communicative competence, and the relations among them. Secondly, it studies the current situation of the intercultural communicative competence of English major undergraduates, and their understanding about the intercultural communicative activities of foreign language tour guides through questionnaires. At the same time, through interview and investigation, it also elaborates the common intercultural communicative barriers in foreign language tour guides’ intercultural communicative activities. Thirdly, it explores the reasons why the English major undergraduates lack of intercultural communicative competence in the aspects of objective and subjective conditions. It finally proposes the ways to improve students’ intercultural communicative competence, and to overcome the cultural barriers in the aspects of the educational reform of English major, and the improvement of intercultural communicative competence. Thus it can help the English major undergraduates enhance their competitive competence who want to be foreign language tour guides.

Key words: English major undergraduate; foreign language tour guides; intercultural communication; English educational reform

Contents

1．Introduction 1
2. Relevant concepts 2
2.1 Language and culture 2
2.2 Culture and communication 4
2.3 Intercultural communication 5
3. Research and investigation 8
3.1 Questionnaire investigation 8
3.2 Interview 10
4. Reasons English major undergraduates lack intercultural communicative competence 12
4.1 Cultural barriers in communication between China and western countries 12
4.2 Deficits in major courses arrangement 16
4.3 Poor practical competence of English major undergraduates 17
5. Ways to improve intercultural communicative competence of English major undergraduates during foreign tourism activities 18
5.1 Overcome cultural barriers 18
5.2 Reform English major undergraduate education 21
5.3 Seek Society’s support 22
6．Conclusion 23
Acknowledgements 24
References 25

1．Introduction

The term of “Intercultural Communication” was originated in the United States in the 1950s. During the following five decades, with the advancement in technology, increase of cultural migration, economic globalization, and the trends of multiculturalism, the studies on the intercultural communication have been increasingly popular. Compared with other industries, tourism has been the fastest growing industry in the world. The massive tourism activities are bound to cause integration or clash of different cultures all around the world. Nowadays, China has become the fourth largest country to receive the foreign tourists in the world, and the largest country to provide the native tourists for foreign countries in Asia. It is imperative to enhance the intercultural communicative competence of the foreign tour guides who play pivotal roles in the tourism activities.
In such circumstance, the traditional English major undergraduate education mode and methods should be optimized and renewed, catering to the need of intercultural communication and creating a beneficial environment for the employment of the students. As for the English major undergraduates who are interested in foreign tourism activities, they should enhance their intercultural communicative competence in both of theories and practice, in order to improve their employment competence. This paper will first explore the definitions of intercultural communication, intercultural communicative awareness, and intercultural communicative competence. Then it will study the current situations of the intercultural communicative competence of English major undergraduates and foreign language tour guides in foreign tourism activities. It will thirdly explore the reasons of lack of intercultural communicative competence. It will finally propose ways to improve English major undergraduates’ intercultural communicative competence, and help them enhance their employment strength.

2. Relevant concepts
Language and culture are the two essential elements in communication. Culture and language are also interdependent with each other. “Their mutual interdependence can find proof in the rise of civilization, the development of writing and human communication.” [1] This part will first state the definitions of language, culture and the relations between them. It will then explore the definition of communication, and its relations with culture. It will finally explore the concepts of intercultural communication.
2.1 Language and culture
2.1.1 Language
2.1.1.1 Definition of language
Language is difficult to define. Sapir defines language as a purely human and non-instinctive method of communication of ideas, emotions and desires by means of voluntarily produced symbols. [2] Chomsky gives the definition of a set of (finite or infinite) sentences, each finite in length and constructed out of a finite set of elements.
2.1.1.2 Functions of language
Using a language as a primary means of communication is so natural that it is often difficult to realize what the actual functions of language are. Firstly, language has the informative function. Halliday says, “Language serves for the expression of content: that is, of the speaker’s experience of the real world, including the inner world of his own consciousness.” [5] Secondly, Language has the emotive function, which is so crucial in changing the emotional status of an audience for or against someone or something. Thirdly, language has the function of phatic communion, meaning people always use some small, seemingly meaningless expressions such as Nice day, Bless you, etc., to maintain a harmonious relationship between people without any factual content. Fourthly, language has recreational function which means people use language to share joy of using it. Finally, language has the metalingual function which means people can use language to talk about language itself.

2.1.2 Culture
2.1.2.1 Definition of culture
Culture is the most essential difference between man and animals. It is rather difficult for anyone to define culture which is too broad, abstract and inclusive. Among the numerous definitions, I share the same idea with Samovar et al. who describes culture as “the deposit of knowledge, experience, beliefs, values, attitudes, meanings, hierarchies, religion, notions of time, roles, spatial relations, concepts of the universe, and material objects and possessions acquired by a group of people in the course of generations through individual and group striving”. [6]
2.1.2.2 Cultural value patterns
Based on the studies of Hofstede and Bond, we can divide the cultural value patterns into six contractions: Individualism and Collectivism; Small and Large Power Distance; Weak and Strong Uncertainty Avoidance; Masculinity and Femininity; Future and Past; Man and Nature. [7]
The different value patterns in culture are mainly based on the difference between country natures, historic backgrounds, religious beliefs, and so on. For instance, American values include material, comfort, wealth, competition, individualism, physical activity, and fitness. However, Chinese values include cooperation, consideration and harmony. Such differences lead to the diversity of the culture in the world; meanwhile they also bring us much confusion, misunderstanding, and conflicts during communication and activities.
2.1.3 The relationship between language and culture
Chaika, the famous professor of linguistics, says, “Language and society are so intertwined that it is impossible to understand one without the other. There is no human society that does not depend on, is not shaped by, and does not itself shape language.” [8] Language is a part of culture, as well as a set of sign system for recording culture. While during the evolution process of language, culture has been an important impetus to promote the development of language.
2.1.3.1 The Influence of language on culture
Language plays an indispensable role in the construction and exchange of the cultural world.
In theory, the construction of culture is based on two prerequisites – the knowledge of the objective world and the exchange and diffusion of the knowledge. The knowledge of the objective world is mainly presented as a series of thinking processes in practical activities. When the result of thinking process is fixed in a certain material form, and is exchanged among members of a group or community, the culture of this group or community is formed. In the whole process, language plays an important role. So we say language is the most fundamental material form for diffusing the thought.
Only by means of certain media can cultural exchange and communication be realized. Among the numerous media during the long history, human language is the most essential, natural, convenient and efficient one. With the development of society and civilization, it was widely aware that oral language cannot completely and perfectly transmit culture due to the restriction of space and time. The appearance and wide use of written language has not enlarged the cultural exchange and communication but made it possible to pass down the cultural heritage.
2.1.3.2 The influence of Culture on Language
Language cannot exist without culture. Culture not only influences the structural system and function of language but also plays an important role in the formation and development of language. Besides, certain culture can also influence people’s acquisition of language.
Culture can influence th e sound system, vocabulary system, pragmatics and the applicability of language. Samovar et al. conveys the fact that “language is inseparable from culture and that culture influences language symbols and rules for using those symbols.” [9]

2.2 Culture and communication
Culture and communication are inseparable. Culture determines the way people communicate, while at the same time culture is learned, acted out, transmitted, and preserved through communication.
2.2.1 Communication
During the development process, communication has experienced three stages. In the first communication revolution, the first written communication began, with pictographs; in the second communication revolution, writing began to appear on paper, clay, wax, etc; in the third communication revolution, and communication revolution can now be transferred via controlled waves and electronic signals.
Up to now, linguistics, neurologists, anthropologists have offered more than 126 definitions of communication. It is widely considered that communication is a process by which people exchange information or express their thoughts and feelings. [10]
2.2.2 The relationship between culture and communication
Culture helps to bind a certain group of people together and makes life controlled and manageable. It is unrealistic to communicate with another group of people without knowing or contacting with their culture. People easily tend to interact with people according to norms and principles they have acquired from their own culture; however, it is obviously inappropriate and will make misunderstandings and even conflicts. The anthropologist Kaivero Oberg first introduced a term of culture shock in 1958.
2.2.2.1 Definition of culture shock
According to the Wikipedia, culture shock means the anxiety and feelings (of surprise, disorientation, uncertainty, confusion, etc.) felt with people have to operate with a different and unknown culture.
While having seen the dramatic difference between our culture and other cultures, people may miss the foreign friends we have made, lament the loss of our reputation to foreign countries, and become critical of our own culture. [11]
2.2.2.2 Characteristics of culture shock
1) Alienation and isolation – Living in a new culture, one may find the food distasteful, the climate terrible, and the local people there impolite or rude, which would make it difficult to communicate with people from that culture.
2) Anxiety and depression – There is a famous Chinese saying, “Follow the customs when going into a village.” If one can succeed in modifying and changing his or her attitude and way of life, he or she will feel comfortable in an alien culture. Otherwise, one will easily experience anxiety and depression.
3) Hostility and total withdrawal – These are the two extreme attitudes when they are faced with the new culture. Those people tend to avoid any unnecessary contact with others, and feel embarrassed when talking with others. They just want to return to their own culture in which they can feel at home again.
2.3 Intercultural communication
In the 1950s, “Intercultural Communication” was originated in the United States. Many scholars commonly recognize Edward T. Hall, an American leading anthropologist, as the father of the field of intercultural communication study. His book, The Silent Language, which was published in 1959, marked the beginning of intercultural studies. [12]
2.3.1 Intercultural awareness
Intercultural awareness is the first step towards intercultural communicative competence. People must be able to acknowledge, respect, tolerate and integrate cultural differences in order to become an enlightened global citizen. Intercultural awareness functions as the minimum condition for an intercultural competence individual in the global society.
2.3.1.1 Definition of intercultural awareness
Chen & Starosta define intercultural awareness as the “cognitive aspect of intercultural communication competence that refers to the understanding of cultural conventions that affect thinking and behavior.” [13] Intercultural awareness can be viewed as a cognitive process of understanding others’ values, attitudes, beliefs and outlooks. It means people should change their personal thinking about the environment through understanding the distinct characteristics of their own and others’ culture.
2.3.1.2 Levels of intercultural awareness
Intercultural awareness can be divided into three levels: [14]
1) Awareness of superficial cultural traits. At this level, the awareness is superficial and partial because people get information about different culture through the public media, textbooks, tourism pamphlets, etc.
2) Awareness of important and subtle cultural traits. At this level, people can make sharp contract between their own culture and others’ culture through direct or secondhand experience. People will accept and respect the new culture.
3) Awareness of how another culture feels from the insider’s viewpoint. At this level, the ability to see the culture from an insider’s perspective is required.
2.3.2 Intercultural communication
In Chinese history there are two famous cases of intercultural communication. One is the “Silk Road”, which enables people from Asia, Africa, and Europe to interact with one another. Another one is Marco Polo’s travel to China during the 13th century. [15] Nowadays, with the changes of technology, travel, economy, political systems and immigration patterns, the intercultural communication becomes more and more frequent.
2.3.2.1 Definition of intercultural communication
For Samovar, “Intercultural communication is communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol system are distinct enough to alert the communication event.” [16] Byram thinks the term “Intercultural Communication” has its narrow sense and broad sense. Based on the above definitions, the author thinks intercultural communication refers to the communication between people from different cultural backgrounds. Such people may come from different countries on the other side of the earth or from the same country.
2.3.2.2 Forms of intercultural communication
According to Samovar et al, there are three forms of intercultural communication: [17]
1) Interracial Communication — It occurs when the source and receiver are from different races. The major difficulty encountered in interracial communication is racial prejudice and the use of power by the dominant culture to control the degree to which racial groups are accepted into the main stream.
2) Interethnic Communication — It refers to communication between people of the same race but different ethnic origins of backgrounds. Always they have quite different backgrounds, perspectives, goals and languages.
3) Intracultural Communication — It is defined as communication between members of the same culture, including racial, ethnic and other co-cultures. Generally, people who are of the same race, political persuasion and religion or who share the same interests, communicate intraculturally.

3. Research and investigation

In order to find out the current situations that English major undergraduates know about the intercultural communication during the tourism activities, the author creates a questionnaire targeting the English major junior undergraduates of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology. Furthermore, through visiting and interviewing the foreign language tour guides of Zhejiang CYTS Travel Agency, the author summarizes the main barriers in intercultural communication during the reception of foreign tourists, which can help to enhance the reliability and practicality of author’s research and investigation.
3.1 Questionnaire investigation
3.1.1 Subject
The target objects of the questionnaire are the English major junior undergraduates of Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, for they have accepted the knowledge of Basic English and Advanced English, and have a grasp of intercultural communication. What is more, some of them have the experience of being a foreign language tour guide. There are eleven questions in the questionnaire, ten of which are multiple choice questions. Among them there are three multiple-choice questions; the other one is an essay question.
Twenty of questionnaires were handed out, and all of them are returned.
3.1.2 Result
See the attached sheet.
3.1.3 Analysis
Question 1&2 try to find out the current situations the investigated students know about intercultural communication. 80% of the students have ever experienced intercultural communication, which means intercultural communication is popular among English major undergraduates. 65% of the students may have a plan to do some jobs related to intercultural communication, such as foreign tourism. Thus my investigation is necessary and practical.
Question 3&4 try to find out the current situations our school carry out the intercultural communication. 55% of the students think our school has done a good job in this field, while 45 of the students are not quite satisfied with it or have no idea about it. It proves that it is urgent for our school to improve the education of intercultural communication.
Question 5 – 10 intend to investigate the current situations English major undergraduates know about foreign tourism. According to the result of question 5, the three most fundamental reasons causing cultural barriers in foreign tourism are differences in values, cultural and historic backgrounds, and religions between China and foreign countries. According to question 6, most of the students acquire the sense of time when meeting the foreign tourists. In American culture, time is a sensitive and strict concept, being on time is the basic quality that a foreign langu age tour guide should acquire. According to question 7, the three most inappropriate topics when we talk with foreigners are religions, politics, and income. Actually, in daily intercultural communication these topics should be avoided, because they are too sensitive or private to be mentioned. Thus they will lead to misunderstanding or conflicts. Question 8 tries to test how the English major undergraduates know about the basic intercultural communication questions, such as the difference between China and foreign countries in greeting. In China people usually ask others whether they have had their dinner as a greeting when meeting someone. While in the western countries people tend to talk about weather. According to the result of this question, it is obvious that students lack knowledge in this field. Question 9 is based on a traditional virtue in China, which is helping the old people in public voluntarily. However, western countries emphasize equality. So if people from other countries do something ignoring their equality, they will feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. So it is better to ask the old people if they need help before we give them help. Question10 focuses on the interpretation and translation skills during foreign tourism activities, which seems to be the other difficulty during intercultural communication. 40% of the students choose “names of cuisine” as the most difficult one to be interpreted, which coincides with my opinion. In addition, 25% of the students believe that traditional legends are the most difficult part in interpretation, and 20% of them choose historical events and individuals and 15% of them choose scenic spots. The data tells us that the difficulties in interpretation during intercultural communication activities increase together with complexity of the tradition.
The last one is an essay question, which means students can answer freely. All of the students mention that they should carry out social practice activities to improve intercultural communicative competence, which shows students regard practice as the most useful way to solve the problem. While 60% of the students think taking related classes to improve their intercultural awareness is also very pivotal. 50% of the students think watching foreign movies or speeches can be useful, because they can get familiar with the foreign culture and the people’s behaviour. 35% of the students think chatting with foreign teachers can be a good way to improve one’s intercultural communicative competence; however, it seems a little superficial simply chatting without any other deeper contacts. What is more, some other students think going abroad or living with foreigners can be useful. But it seems a little impractical, because not everyone can afford it.
Through the questionnaire investigation, the author finds that most students are interested in intercultural communication, and are willing to strengthen their intercultural communicative competence by doing jobs related to foreign tourism. Here are the insufficiencies the English major undergraduates have in their intercultural communicative competence according to the investigation.
1) English major undergraduates lack intercultural communication practice activities. They have the intercultural communication awareness and related knowledge, but they may be poor in interaction with foreigners, and deal with situations happening during intercultural communication.
2) English major undergraduates are confused with the cultural barriers in foreign tourism activities.
3) English major undergraduates are not confident with their interpretation or translation skills during foreign tourism activities.
3.2 Interview
As the disseminator of culture, the foreign language tour guides should obtain not only a certain degree of knowledge about foreign language and tourism, but also the competence of intercultural communication. Only by knowing about the characteristics and differences of cultures between China and western countries, improving the sensitive sense to the foreign culture, can they play well during the intercultural communication.
The author interviewed some foreign language tour guides in the CYTS, asking them to talk about the functions of tourism activities, and introduce some ways to improve the intercultural communicative competence.
3.2.1 Foreign language tour guides’ functions
Foreign language tour guides should be in charge of reception, tour guide, and interpretation. In the part of tour guide and interpretation, foreign language tour guides should introduce the scenic spots in English, and help to interpret in the visit and meeting. In the part of reception, they should receive the tourists, take care of their daily lives, take charge of their safety, and keep in touch with their next tour guides. Foreign language tour guides can make contact with the foreign tourists directly and frequently, which have a big influence on t he whole tourism activities. Thus, to improve the social communication is the most important function to foreign language tour guides.
3.2.2 Ways to improve the intercultural communicative competence
    During the interview, the foreign language tour guides recommend three ways to improve the intercultural communicative competence. The ways are as follows.
1) Strengthen the sensibility to foreign cultures.
The difference of culture and customs between China and western countries will easily cause misunderstandings in communication and conflicts in culture during tourism activities. Some greetings in China, such as “Have you had your meal?”, or “Where are you going?” are just a kind of formulaic speech to show one’s kindness. However, the westerners will think the Chinese are inviting them to have dinner, or they are invading their privacy. So it is necessary to learn more about other cultures.
2) Be tolerant of the foreign cultures.
Foreign language tour guides should respect other countries’ traditional cultures, religious beliefs, and customs. For example, they should respect Muslims’ custom that they do not eat pork and drink alcohol.
3) Strengthen the native culture consciousness.
Foreign language tour guides are the cultural messenger, whose main duty is to introduce and transfer their native culture. So they should get to know their native culture deeply, keep native cultural information as much as possible when interpreting, and introduce the special culture behind the scenic spots.

4. Reasons English major undergraduates lack intercultural communicative competence

Based on the investigation and interview of the foreign language tour guides, some main reasons of English major undergraduates lacking intercultural communicative competence have been summarized.
4.1 Cultural barriers in communication between China and western countries
Such cultural barriers in communication can be divided into two parts: cultural barriers in verbal communication and in non-verbal communication.
4.1.1 Cultural barriers in verbal communication
According to the communicative channel, communication can be divided mainly into verbal communication and non-verbal communication. [18] The former refers to human communication by verbal means, i.e. through the oral and written use of words to create and maintain human relationships. Verbal communication always plays an important role in intercultural communication, for it is the main vehicle used by human beings to interact with their social surroundings.
Cultural barriers in verbal communication can be found at lexical, idiomatic, syntactic, discourse and pragmatic levels.
4.1.1.1 Lexical level
Words can reflect traditional culture, everyday life and some great events in history. In any culture, many words usually have two layers of meanings: denotation and connotation. Denotation is the definition given by a dictionary while connotation is the extended meaning or associated meaning of a word. It is true that the certain words in English and Chinese have similar connotation, but many more words have different connotations. If people do not know these differences, they are likely to cause misunderstanding and even hostility to people from other countries, which are actually cultural barriers.
For instance, kinship terms often present some problems in Chinese-English intercultural communication.

Chinese Term English Term English Explanation If Needed
祖父（母） grandfather
grandmother paternal grandfather (grandmother)
外祖父（母）  maternal grandfather (grandmother)
父 Father 
母 mother 
兄弟 brother elder brother, younger brother
姐妹 sister elder sister, younger sister
伯父 

uncle paternal uncle father’s brother elder brother
叔父    younger brother
姑父  husband of father’s sister
舅舅  maternal uncle mother’s brother
husband of mother’s sister
姨夫   
姐夫 brother-in-law husband of elder sister
妹夫  husband of younger sister
Cultural barriers in lexical level can be found in other fields, such as animal words, colour words, numbers, abstract ideas, etc. For example, in China the word “Pornographic” is often translated as “yellow” while in English “blue”. Besides, “blue” is also associated with sad feelings in English, such as “a blue mood”, “a blue Monday”. For another example, to the Chinese, “red” conveys the meaning of prosperity, success, and popularity. At a traditional Chinese wedding ceremony the bride and bridegroom are dressed in red. However, westerners often relate “red” to something dangerous, threatening, cruel and bloody.
4.1.1.2 Idioms, proverbs and sayings level
These set phrases or sentences have been constantly used for a long period, so they convey not only the experience of life in common, but also the deep cultural deposit of a nation.
Because of similar human experience and observation s of the world, a number of idioms, proverbs and sayings in Chinese and English are equivalents or close. For instance, “Constant dropping wears away stones” （水滴石穿）, “Strike while the iron is hot”（趁热打铁）, etc. [19] Nevertheless, many of these are rather culture-specific, depending on their social and cultural backgrounds.
4.1.1.3 Syntactic level
Syntax is the study of rules governing how words and phrases are put together to form sentences in a language or the study of the relationship between elements in sentences structure.
The subject is one of the basic functional terms in syntax. One’s choice of pronouns as subjects often leads to different cultural interpretations. In China, people tend to use “we” to express group views as well as personal ones while Americans usually use “I” in their talk. The reason is that Chinese people live in a culture of collectivism value, while Americans think highly of individual expression because individualism is one of the basic orientations of American culture.
4.1.1.4 Speech Act Level
Speech act theory is mainly the research domain represented by the English philosopher and linguist Austin (1969) and Searle (1969).  Usually, a speech act is performed by a speaker in uttering a sentence such as “requesting”, “apologizing”, “commanding” and “questioning”. Such speech acts vary greatly in different societies or even among different groups of the same society.
4.1.1.4.1 Greeting and farewell
Chinese people may often greet others by saying “Have you had your dinner?” which may be interpreted in American culture as an indirect invitation to dinner or a young man’s interest in dating a girl. The Chinese also greet each other by asking “Where are you going?” which can be understood by westerners as an invasion or their privacy instead of warmth and concern and make them feel embarrassed and offended. When two Chinese meet each other for the first time, they may ask about each other’s age, marital status, children, occupation and even income. The Chinese think they are being polite by showing concern for the others and that asking such questions will shorten the social distance between themselves. But westerners would feel uncomfortable and embarrassed.
Concerning farewell, the Chinese will always use phrases like “I’m sorry to have wasted your time”, or “You must be very tired” which may be understood by westerners as “entertaining guests is not a pleasure but a business on which I have to spend a lot of time, money and energy”.
4.1.1.4.2 Thank and response
The expression “thank you” is used both in English and Chinese to show gratitude or appreciation. English people say “thank you” for objective entities while Chinese people say “thank you” focusing mainly on subjective favours. In English, “thank you” is also uttered to those who have performed service for the speaker. However, in China, it is seldom to express one’s gratitude in commercial transactions between salespeople and customers.
The response to thanks is distinguished in English and Chinese. In English, when people recognize the object by saying “You’re welcome, that’s quite all right”, while in China by saying “Nothing, nothing”, which will make westerners think their gratitude is rejected.
4.1.1.4.3 Compliment and response
Unlike China, people from English-speaking countries tend to verbalize their compliments to others and accept compliments from others. For example, a Chinese girl in the U.S. was complimented by her American friends for her beautiful dress. In typical Chinese way, she replied, “Oh, no, it’s just an ordinary dress.” She said this only out of modesty, which is regarded as a merit in Chinese culture, but it puzzles her American friends. In fact, such responses seem ungrateful, insincere, and a bit impolite to most native English speakers as if they cannot make correct judgement or evaluation.
4.1.2 Cultural barriers in non-verbal communication
Samovar et al. (2000) pointed out that learning about the underlying relationship between non-verbal messages and cultures behind them can assist the students in avoiding potential culture shocks or embarrassment. [20]
4.1.2.1 Clothing
The styles and patterns of traditional dresses are varied from different countries. For example, the kimono is thought of as the national traditional costume of Japan, while the cheongsam is the traditional costume of China.
4.1.2.2 Posture and gesture
In Egypt, the posture of showing the bottom of the foot is the worst kind of insult, while such behaviour in English culture is quite common. So ignorance of such knowledge may result in conflicts. Standing with arms akimbo is common in English-speaking countri es with neutral meaning, while such a posture is regarded as a threat in China.
In the field of gesture, there are five items which easily occurs cultural barriers: [21]
1) The circle sign made by the thumb and forefinger. In America it means OK; Europeans regard this gesture as an obscene action; In China, it means agreement; In France, people take it as a “zero”; in Japan and South Korea, it turns out to be the sign for “money”.
2) The thumbs-up gesture. In America, it means “progressing smoothly”; In the U.K., Australia and New Zealand, it has the meaning of sign rider or an insult sign to people; In Greece, it means “get out”; In China, it’s a way to show praise.
3) The little finger stretching upward. In China, it means “small”, or the “worst”; In Japan, it means “women”, “girls” or “lover”; In the U.S., it means “weak men” or “bet”; In India, it means “I want to go to the toilet.”
4) Shaking the head. In most countries it’s accepted as disagreement, but in Bulgaria and some parts of India, they regard it as agreement.
5) Putting the palm flat under the neck. In English-speaking countries, it means “I am full”, while in China it denotes “to be beheaded”.
4.1.2.3 Facial expression
There are seven universally recognized emotions shown through facial expressions: fear, anger, surprise, contempt, disgust, happiness, and sadness. The same expression from a specific facial expression may be recognized by a culture, but the same intensity of emotion may not be perceived. In some countries it may be ruder to display an emotion than in another. For instance, Latin and Arab cultures use more intense facial expressions, whereas East Asian cultures uses more subdued facial expressions.
4.1.2.4 Proxemics
People all have a certain personal space around them, which varies in size depending on the culture. It is reported that American people need more personal space than Chinese people do. When standing in a queue, unlike some people in China who are likely to stand very close to the proceeding person, American people prefer to keep a certain distance. When passing through a crowd, American people will make their way by touching others’ shoulders to give way, whereas some Chinese people just squeeze out by pushing and shoving. This is due to the fact that American people consider the space around them their territory, while to Chinese people, their body is the territory. [22]
4.2 Deficits in major courses arrangement
According to the Teaching Syllabus of English Major of Institutions of higher learning，there are three main parts composing English major courses, that is English major skills courses, English major knowledge courses, and other related major knowledge courses. [23] Although the three parts cover most of the skills and knowledge English major undergraduates should learn during the four years, some deficits still exist, which cannot keep pace with the time. On the other hand, it somewhat ignore the practical competence of English major undergraduates, which weakens their competitiveness when seeking jobs.
4.3 Poor practical competence of English major undergraduates
A teacher’s role in China is a dominator and instructor. The teaching process is teacher-centered with excessive emphasis on the transmission of knowledge, while students just receive knowledge passively. They are expected to listen quietly in class and hand in homework in time after class. However, they hardly take part in other activities out of the class to strengthen their practical competence, so do the English major undergraduates. [24]
Most English major undergraduates are hard-working. They tend to make notes carefully in the class, do exercises in the library after class, and read a lot of reference books. They may have enough knowledge for communication; however, they seldom seek opportunities to practice, which makes it difficult to improve their intercultural communicative competence.

5. Ways to improve intercultural communicative competence of English major undergraduates during foreign tourism activities
 

During the foreign tourism activities, the biggest challenge to foreign language tour guides is not the introduction of the scenic spots, the reception process, or the language itself, but the intercultural communication. To be a qualified foreign language tour guide, one should know about not only the culture in his or her own country but also the culture in other countries, thus eliminate the cultural barriers, and promote the development of foreign tourism. In general, the intercultural communicative competence of English major undergraduates can be improved from four aspects.
5.1 Overcome cultural barriers
Cultural barriers occur frequently during foreign tourism activities. If cultural barriers cannot be overcome approp riately, misunderstanding and even conflicts will happen, thus ruining the whole trip no matter how considerate the service is, and how wonderful the introduction is.
5.1.1 Learn more knowledge of cultural barriers
The author has stated the verbal and non-verbal aspects in cultural barriers, so students can strengthen their knowledge according to the above two parts.
5.1.1.1 Verbal aspect
In the lexical level, it is unwise to translate the words or expressions into English simply, because they are not always equivalent.
Chinese kinship terms are more complicated than that in western countries. For example, in the male-dominated Chinese culture, the parents of one’s mother are not considered a member of one’s extended family; however, in western countries, they are just the same. So if the students or tour guides want to introduce some relationship between people to foreigners, they had better follow their kinship terms, avoiding unnecessary confusion or misunderstanding.
Color words can also cause misunderstanding because of their different cultural connotations in different languages. On the basis of retaining our own traditional views on color, one should acknowledge and respect foreigners’ views on color. For example, red conveys the meaning of prosperity, success, satisfaction to Chinese people, while westerners often relate red to something dangerous, cruel and bloody.
Numbers also have different connotations in different cultures. To Chinese people, four is believed to be connected with death, while to the westerners, thirteen is unwelcome because of its relation to the betrayal and death of Jesus Christ after the Last Supper. So one has to avoid the unwelcomed number when booking rooms or choosing dates.
In the speech act level, we should pay attention to the greeting and compliment aspects. Just like the investigation, when Chinese people meet each other, they usually ask, “have you had your dinner”, which is just a kind of small talk. However, in western countries, it’s an invitation for dinner. In order to avoid such embarrassment, it is better to talk about the weather when we meet foreigners.
5.1.1.2 Non-verbal aspect
It is common that some misunderstanding or conflicts may occur because of some gestures or facial expressions. So particular attention should be paid to the ways of managing non-verbal behaviors. The following are three suggested measures which are most often put forward by scholars.
1) To build awareness
It is said that observation can help one notice and question non-verbal subtleties and changes especially in response to one (one’s behavior, inquiry, or confrontation), and help one consider what the other person may be feeling. [25]
2) To get rid of stereotypes and ethnocentrism
It is advisable not to doubt or misunderstand your guests’ improper non-verbal behaviors during foreign tourism activities. The higher your degree of tolerance, the fewer difficulties you will encounter in intercultural communication. What is more, unnecessary anxiety and fear will be eliminated, and intercultural communication will be easier and better.
3) To make remedies
Some of the good-manners and education in our own culture may be viewed as rudeness, disrespect and ill-manners in other cultures. As long as the students come to realize the emergency of such kind of disharmony, a flexible attitude should be maintained on our part, and the students should adjust ourselves and adopt pertinent remedies as soon as possible, in order to make the communication move forward smoothly in the foreign tourism activities.
5.1.2 Use flexible ways and skills of interpretation and translation
According to the questionnaire investigation, the names of cuisine, the traditional legends, the historic events or individuals and the scenic spots are the four most difficult things to interpret during foreign tourism activities. So based on the specific characteristics, students need to apply flexible ways to interpret, such as transliteration, transliteration with explanation, literal translation, literal translation with explanation, and liberal translation. [26]
5.1.2.1 Transliteration
In foreign tourism interpretation, transliteration is usually applied to the translation of the names of people and places, and a part of cultural vacancy words, such as clone, bungee, mosaic, Internet, talk show, cool, AIDS, SARS, and other English loanwords. If students meet up to some traditional Chinese words with deep cultural meanings, they can also adopt transliteration, such as 阴阳 (Yin and Yang), 风水 (fengshui), 叩头 (kowtow), 太极 (taichi), 胡同 (hutong), etc. Transliteration can present national culture directly and vividly.
5.1.2.2 Transliteration with explanation
Some names of places, people, and dishes cannot be simply transliterated, for most of them belong to cultural vacancy. So students can adopt transliteration with explanation, so it can not only i ntroduce our culture with origin flavour, but also make our culture easily understood. For example the famous tourist attraction“九寨沟”can be translated as “Jiuzhaigou, the Ravine of nine Tibetan village”, “秦始皇”can be translated as “Qinshihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty”, the famous dish“佛跳墙” can be translated as “Fotiaoqiang, assorted meat and vegetables cooked in embers”, etc. [27]  
5.1.2.3 Literal translation
It is all known that literal translation can not only preserve original culture, avoiding misunderstanding but also promote cultural exchange and enrich the vocabularies of target language. Among the “Top Ten” of West Lake, many names of scenic spots are literal translated. For example, “三潭印月”can be translated as “Three Pools Mirroring the Moon”,“双峰插云” can be translated as “Twin Peaks Piercing the Cloud”,“平湖秋月” can be translated as “Autumn Moon Over the Calm Lake”, etc. [28]
5.1.2.4 Literal translation with explanation
Literal translation can preserve our national characteristics; however, to most foreigners, it is difficult to understand the meanings of the expressions. So students can adopt literal translation with explanation to solve this problem. For example, the traditional festival in Yunnan Province“泼水节”is popular among the Ethnic Dai Chinese. People prey for happiness and harmony by pouring water. If students simply translate it as “Water Sprinkling Festival”, it will make foreign tourists think it is just a day to pour water on others without any meaning. So students should adopt literal translation with explanation, and translate it as “Water Sprinkling Festival, a big festival for the Dai nationality to wish everyone happiness by sprinkling water to one another”.
5.1.2.5 Liberal translation
It is very common to use liberal translation when students interpret cultural expressions. It can make foreign tourists totally understood and comfortable. For example,“开门见山” can be translated as “to come straight to the point”, “不要杞人忧天” can be translated as “Don’t cross the bridge till you get to it”.
5.1.3 Experience different cultures in person
Practice is the sole criterion fortesting truth. In order to improve our awareness of intercultural communication, keep sensitive about the cultural barriers, students should experience the different cultures by themselves. Students can seek more opportunities to receive foreign tourists, chat with them, and get closer to foreign culture. It is unwise to acquire all the knowledge from textbooks; students need more social practice activities to broaden our horizons.
5.2 Reform English major undergraduate education
The goal of ZUST is to educate and cultivate high-level applied students. Thus developing students’ practical capability should be given top priority. English major undergraduate education in the university of science and technology should focus on its practicability, differing itself from other research universities.
5.2.1 Transformation of ideas
Traditionally, the job choices for English major undergraduates are relatively narrow. Most English major students choose to be English teachers or translators, or go on with graduate education. However, with the reform and opening up, China has become an important part in global communication, which needs a number of high-quality English major students to throw themselves into the intercultural communication activities. Working in foreign tourism is a good choice for English major students’ employment. As a basement of providing high-quality applied English major undergraduates, our school should open more related courses, and carry out more practical activities to strengthen students’ intercultural communicative competence.
5.2.2 Education and cultivation of inter-disciplinary talents
Inter-disciplinary talents are those people who occupy two or more than two majors’ knowledge and skills. English is a skill and carrier, and it should be connected with some other majors or skills. It is very common that we connect English with literary or linguistics; however, it cannot keep pace with the times. Compared with other industries, tourism has been the fastest growing industry in the world. China has become the fourth largest country to receive the foreign tourists in the world, and the largest country to provide the native tourists to foreign countries in Asia. So foreign tourism English have been a wonderful choice in inter-disciplinary education for English major undergraduates.
5.2.3 Reform of teaching mode and methods
The reform of teaching mode and methods is the guarantee in reform of English major undergraduate education. The reform ought to be carried out towards individuatio n, initiative, and utility. The traditional passive teaching mode restricts students’ competence. English is a tool of communication, so practice should be put in the first place, especially for the students who want to work in intercultural communication circumstances. In my opinion, school should increase the percentage of social practice, seeking more opportunities for English major undergraduates to interact with foreigners, and experience intercultural communication in person.
5.3 Seek Society’s support
The society should also make contributions to the improvement of intercultural communicative competence of English major undergraduates. For example, the local travel agency should provide more internship opportunities for English major undergraduates to take part in the reception of foreign tourists, and let them improve their intercultural communicative competence through practical activities. So the school authorities should make great efforts to seek support for these units to offer more practical opportunities.

6．Conclusion

The above discussion of intercultural communicative competence during foreign tourism can serve our purpose to increase the practical capability and strengthen job competitiveness of English major undergraduates. To be an applied-oriented university, such research can be a proper reference for it to educate and cultivate students to be practical applied talents. The purpose of this paper is to find out the major intercultural communication problems during tourism, and to put forward constructive suggestions to overcome the cultural barriers by students themselves, and advise school to take action to reform English major undergraduate education, improving intercultural communicative competence of English major undergraduates.
 

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I want to give my sincere thanks to my supervisor Zhu Jimei, who offers me
constructive advice or suggestions. Without her help, I could not have finished this
dissertation.
I am also very obliged to other teachers, my classmates, the investigated students, and my foreign collogues who have not only offered me their support and warm encouragement but also shared with me their ideas and books. They are Liu Chenye, Wu Yan, Luo Meijun, Corin, Traci and many others.
At last I want to thank my university, Zhejiang University of Science and Technology. All of my teachers in the school not only give me chance to acquire knowledge but also teach me to be honest and creative, which helps me a lot while I write my thesis.
 
References

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[2] Sapie, E. Language[M]. New York: Harcourt Brace，1921: 15 - 21
[3] Chomsky, N. Syntactic Structures[M]. The Hague: Mouton，1957: 293 - 299
. Harmondsworth: Penguin.1970: 167 - 180
. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Researching Press，2000: 102 - 206
[8] Chaika, E. Language the Social Mirror[M]. New York: Newbury House Publishers，1989, 79 - 92
[9] [15] Samovar, L. A., & Porter, R. E. Language and Culture: Sound and Action[A]. In Du Ruiqing, et al (eds). Selected Reading in Intercultural Communication[C]. Xi’an: Xi’an Jiaotong University Press，2004: 265 - 342
[12] 景花. 涉外导游跨文化交际能力探究[D]. 硕士学位论文，浙江师范大学，2008.
. Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2007b: 97-116
[14] 贾玉新. 跨文化交际学[M]. 上海：上海外语教育出版社，1997: 55-88
[15] 程前光. 浅谈影响跨文化交际的障碍性因素[D]. 硕士学位论文，齐齐哈尔医学院，2008.
[16][17] Samovar, L. A., & Porter, R. E. Intercultural Communication: Reader[M]. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth，1973: 186 - 248
[18][21] Ruesch & Kees. Nonverbal Communication[M]. CA: University of California Press，1969: 24 - 30
[19] 王佐良. 翻译：思考与试笔[M]. 北京：外语教学与研究出版社，1989: 67 - 68
[22] Ting-Toomey, Stella. Communicating Across Cultures[M]. New York: The Guilford Press，1999: 156 - 163
[23] 高等学校英语专业英语教学大纲. 高等学校外语专业教学指导委员会， 2000
. 硕士学位论文，首都师范大学，2003
. Jinan: Shandong Normal University Press，2008: 78 - 82
[26][27] 宋静,于惠清. 试论旅游口译中克服文化障碍的方法[D]. 硕士学位论文，南通大学外国语学院，2008
. Zhejiang: Zhejiang Photographic Press，2006: 31 – 44

诚 信 承 诺

我谨在此承诺：本人所写的毕业论文《从涉外导游角度看英语专业本科生跨文化交际能力的培养》均系本人 独立完成，没有抄袭行为，凡涉及其他作者的观点和材料，均作了注释，若有不实，后果由本人承担。
 
                承诺人（签名）：      
                           年    月    日

 
英语专业本科生旅游活动中跨文化交际能力调查问卷
Questionnaire on Intercultural Communicative Competence
Of English Major Graduates
学校_______________  专业_______________   年级_________  性别__________

1. 您曾经有过跨文化交际的经历吗？
A 经常        B 偶尔       C 从没      

2. 您认为学校在提高英语专业本科生跨文化交际能力方面做得如何？
A. 成效显著    B. 一般   D. 很缺乏    E. 我不是很关心

3. 你认为学校应该通过哪些方式提高英语专业本科生跨文化交际能力?（可多选）
A. 开设跨文化交际相关课程    B. 安排外教与学生进行交流   
C. 开展社会实践活动（比如参与接待国际入境旅游团）          
D. 其他_____________________________________

4. 您有意向从事涉外旅游业方面的实践或实习工作吗？
A 很有兴趣    B. 可以尝试    C. 没什么兴趣   

5. 您认为在涉外旅游活动中产生文化障碍的最根本原因是什么？（可多选）
 A 中西价值观差异    B 中西历史文化背景差异    C 中西宗教观念差异  
D 旅游者个人行为修养差异    E 涉外导游文化素质不高

6. 以下是几种在涉外旅游活动中常见的文化障碍案例，请根据您的观点回答：
1）旅游大巴上有几位年长的英国旅游者，上下车时行动很不灵活。作为导游，您会怎么做？
A. 主动上前帮助   B. 经过询问后看情况予以帮助    C. 不提供帮助，请周围亲友帮助
2）与一个美国旅游团约好早上8点半集合，作为导游，你在什么时候到比较合适？
A. 7:30      B. 7:50     C. 8:00     D. 8:10
3）在与外国旅游团的游客交谈时，以下哪些话题应该尽量避免涉及？（可多选）
A.健康     B. 家庭    C. 收入    D. 政治   
E. 兴趣爱好     F. 宗教     G. 名俗风情     H 其他____________________   
4）如果旅游团中的外国客人问你，“Are you hungry?”, 这实际上是？
A. 想邀请你吃饭     B. 出于客套    C. 向你打招呼     D.其他____________

7. 在涉外导游讲解口译过程中，你认为哪方面最困难？
A. 菜名   B. 景点   C. 典故传说   D. 历史事件或人物  

8. 作为英语专业本科生，你认为该如何提高自身的跨文化交际能力？

感谢您百忙中抽空完成此调查问卷！

Result of the Questionnaire Investigation
1) Do you have the experience of intercultural communication?
A. Always  5

B. Sometimes     11

C. Never     4

2) Do you intend to do some jobs or practice related to foreign tourism?
A. I’m quite interested in it.   5

B. I can have a try.     8

C. I’m not interested in it.       7

3) What do you think of the job our school has done in improving the intercultural communicative competence of English major students?
A. Great     4

B. Not bad     7

C. Bad  6

D. I don’t care  3

4) What action do you think our school should take to improve the intercultural communicative competence of English major undergraduates? (multiple-choice)
A. Setting up relevant courses about intercultural communication in school   10

B. Inviting foreign teachers to communicate with students      16

C. Carrying out social activities (participating in the receptions of foreign tourists).    20
D. Others       8

5) What do you think is the fundamental reason causing the cultural barriers in  foreign tourism? (multiple-choice)
A. Differences in values between China and foreign countries   20

B. Differences in cultural and historic backgrounds between China and foreign countries  20

C. Differences in religions between China and foreign countries   13

D. Bad behaviours of the tourists     6

E. Poor qualities of intercultural knowledge of tour guides  5

6) If you set the time to meet at 8:00 am. with a group of American tourists, when is appropriate for you to arrive?
A. 7:30  2

B. 7:50    10

C. 8:00     8

D. 8:10  0
7) When talking with foreign tourists, which topics should be avoided? (multiple-choice)
A. Health    5

B. Family   8

C. Income  12

D. Politics    15

E. Interests and hobbies     2

F. Religions   18
G. Traditions    6

H. Others    2

8) If a foreign tourist asks you “Have you eaten your dinner?”, what does he/she mean?
A. He/she wants to invite you to the dinner.    5

B. It’s a kind of greetings.      10

C. He/she really cares about your dinner.      3

D. Others    2

9) If there are some old foreign tourists on the bus who have trouble getting on and getting off the bus, as a tour guide what will you do?
A. Help them voluntarily     8

B. Ask first, and help according to the concrete situation    7              

C. Don’t help them, and ask other tourists to help them     5

10) During the interpreting or translating process of foreign tourism, which one is the most difficult for you?
A. Names of cuisine     8

B. Scenic spots   3

C. Traditional legends   5

D. Historic events or individuals     4

11) As an English major undergraduate, what can you do to improve your intercultural communicative competence? (essay question)
Taking part in more social practice activities.    20

Taking classes related to foreign countries’ culture, history, religions, etc.   12

Watching foreign movies or speeches.  10

Chatting with foreign teachers.    7

Going abroad.   4

Living with foreigners.