Page 162 - Handbooks of Applied Linguistics Communication Competence Language and Communication Problems Practical Solutions

140 Susanne Günthner

similar genres. In German, proverbs are treated as the ‘wisdom of the little
man’, and books on style advise against using them (Günthner 1993). In the
Chinese context, however, to ‘ornament’ one’s argumentation, academic thesis
or speech with quotes from proverbial sayings (especially ‘chengyu’; i.e. figu-
rative proverbial sayings in tetragram form) is highly valued and appreciated as
a sign of good education. Various studies in spoken Chinese, numerous Chinese
language books for foreigners and collections of Chinese proverbs stress the
fact that the culture of proverbs in China is very lively. They are considered to
be ‘shuoguo jiaoyu’ – a sign of being well educated. Studies in Chinese rhetoric
report that much of Chinese power to convince relies on analogies and on ci-
tations of recognized authorities, anecdotes and fables (Granet, 1985: 39–41).
In Chinese argumentation, for instance, proverbial sayings fulfil an important
function in the backing of arguments: they allow speakers to demonstrate their
classical knowledge and to present their own assertions as being part of tradi-
tional and still valid collective wisdom. The use of proverbs, however, is not
restricted to oral genres. Chinese writers of academic texts often support their
arguments by referring to traditional wisdom in the form of a proverbial saying
(Günthner 1991, 1993). Furthermore, Chinese students of German often use
German proverbs in similar ways (in many Chinese universities the teaching of
foreign languages includes teaching of proverbs in the respective languages):
German theses or other academic papers written by Chinese students often start
with German proverbs such as ‘the first step is always the most difficult’ (‘Aller
Anfang ist schwer’), ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’ (‘Was Hänschen
nicht lernt, lernt Hans nimmermehr’). Chinese teachers of German simply
transfer onto the German language their culturally shaped attitudes towards the
genre of proverbs which enjoys such a high status in China.
Thus, in intercultural situations we are not only confronted with clashes of
various expressions of communicative genres but also with differences in the
stylistic assessment of particular genres (Kotthoff in this volume). Knowing
how to use these genres belongs just as much to communicative competence as
does knowing which genre is appropriate for doing particular interactional
work.

3.4. The emergence of new, hybrid forms in intercultural communication

When members of different cultural groups come to communicate with one an-
other, they hardly ever do so without some knowledge about the other culture
and their etiquette of language use. This knowledge may have been acquired
from other members of their own culture, it may have been picked up from
vague hearsay, or it may stem from previous experiences with members of the
other cultural groups. Even if this knowledge is acquired in ‘official’ instruc-
tion – such as intercultural training programs – it is no guarantee of its accuracy.