Abstract：The TV shows for marriage or friendship have become popular both in China and English-speaking countries. First, this paper will conclude which countries have taken this measure for marriage or friendship. And then this paper will be an attempt to find out the similarities and differences between Chinese and English TV shows for marriage or friendship. The similarities are classified from the aspects of purpose, content and means, while the differences are analyzed more deeply. There are the differences in style, the differences in external requirements, and the differences in internal requirements. And then more emphasis is placed on the following parts: the causes of the differences from the cross-cultural perspective: collectivism versus individualism and the Face Theory. This study will be of great help to improve understanding and bridge the cultural gap between China and English-speaking countries in some ways so that we can make a better cross-cultural communication.

Keywords: TV shows for marriage or friendship in Chinese and English ；cross-culture ； collectivism, individualism ；the Face Theory

Contents

摘要

Abstract

Chapter 1 Introduction-1

1.1 The history of TV shows for marriage or friendship.-1

1.2 Reasons for the popularity.-1

1.3 introduce some TV shows for marriage or friendship-2

1.4 Different effects of this kind of TV show-2

1.5 Outline of the study-2

Chapter 2  Compare hit shows in China and western countries-3

2.1 Similarities-3

2.2 Differences-3

2.2.1 Different values of marriage-3

2.2.2 Parents involved or not-4

2.2.3 The atmosphere of the hit show-4

Chapter 3 Reasons-5

3.1 The Face Theory-5

3.1.1 Brief introduction of the Face theory-5

3.1.2 The Face in western countries-5

3.1.3 The Face in China-6

3.1.4 The difference of Face in culture perspective-6

3.1.5 The face differences in perspective of speech act-7

3.2 Individualism and Collectivism-8

Chapter 4 Evaluation and Improvement-11

Chapter 5 Conclusion-12

References-13

Acknowledgements-14