A Crosscultural Study of Daily.docx
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ACrossculturalStudyofDaily
AsianSocialScienceOctober,2008
151
ACross-culturalStudyofDaily
CommunicationbetweenChineseandAmerican
--FromthePerspectiveofHighContextandLowContext
JianengWang
ForeignLanguagesCollege,ZhejiangGongshangUniversity,Hangzhou310018,China
E-mail:
jianeng101@
Abstract
Incross-culturalcommunication,ignoranceofcontextsusuallyleadstomisunderstandingandconflicts.Basedon
Edward.T.Hall’snotionofhigh-contextandlow-context,thispaperaimstogeneralizethebasicdistinctive
characteristicsofthetwocontextsbyanalyzingtheactualcasesindailycommunicationbetweenAmericanandChinese.
Thispaperalsotriestoconcludesometipsforcommunicationcrossingthetwocontextsinaccordancewiththecase
analysis.
Keywords:
High-context,Low-context,Communicatio,Culture
1.AboutHall’shigh-contextandlow-context
Contextisimportantinallcommunication,butitisrelativelymoreimportantinsomesituationsthaninothers.There
arealsosignificantdifferencesacrossculturesinthewaysandtheextenttowhichpeoplecommunicatethroughcontext.
Oneofthemaindistinctionsbetweencultureshasbeenthenotionofhighandlowcontextcultures,proposedbythe
AmericananthropologiesEdward.T.Hallinhis1976classic,BeyondCulture(Hall,2000).
1.1Whatishigh/low-context?
EdwardT.Hallhasdescribedculturaldifferencesintheuseoflanguageandcontextincommunication.Hecalls
communicationthatoccursmostlythroughlanguagelowcontextandcommunicationthatoccursinwaysotherthan
thoughlanguagesashighcontext.
Ahigh-context(HC)communicationormessageisoneinwhichmostoftheinformationiseitherinthephysical
contextorinternalizedintheperson,whileverylittleiseitherinthephysicalcontextorinternalizedintheperson,while
verylittleisinthecoded,explicit,transmittedpartofthemessage.Alow-context(LC)communicationisjustthe
opposite;i.e.,the,massofinformationisvestedintheexplicitcode.
Anytransactioncanbecharacterizedashigh,lowormiddlecontext.HCtransactionsfeaturepreprogrammed
informationthatisinthereceiverandinthesetting,withonlyminimalinformationinthetransmittedmessage.LC
transactionsarethereverse.Mostoftheinformationmustbeinthetransmittedmessageinordertomakeupforwhatis
missinginthecontext.
Althoughnocultureexistsexclusivelyatoneendofthescale,somearehighwhileothersarelow.Americanculture,
whilenotonthebottom,istowardthelowerendofthescale.AndChineseculture,whilenotonthetop,istowardthe
higherstartpointofthescale.
1.2Distinctivecharacteristicsbetweenhigh-contextandlowcontext
Hallobservedthat"meaningandcontextareinextricablyboundupwitheachother"(Hall,2000,p.36),andsuggested
thattounderstandcommunicationoneshouldlookatmeaningandcontexttogetherwiththecode(i.e.,thewords
themselves).Bycontext,werefertothesituation,background,orenvironmentconnectedtoanevent,asituation,oran
individual.WhencommunicationisHC,itisnotonlythenon-verbalandpara-verbalcommunicationthatcomesinto
play.HCcommunicationdrawsonphysicalaspectsaswellasthetimeandsituationinwhichthecommunicationtakes
place,nottomentiontherelationshipbetweentheinterlocutors.Theclosertherelationship,themoreHCthe
communicationtendstobe,drawingonthesharedknowledgeofthecommunicatingparties.
ByusingscalesmeanttoconceptualizethedifferencebetweenHigh-andLow-Contextcommunications,Gudykunstet
al.(1996)identifiedHCcommunicationtobeindirect,ambiguous,maintainingofharmony,reservedandunderstated.
Incontrast,LCcommunicationwasidentifiedasdirect,precise,dramatic,open,andbasedonfeelingsortrue
intentions.
Vol.4,No.10AsianSocialScience
152
Thusbasicdistinctivecharacteristicswithinthetwocontextscanbegeneralizedintothewaybywhichpeopleexpress
themeaningandthinkaswellasthemediathroughwhichpeoplecommunicatei.e.directnessorindirectness;lineror
circular;verbalornonverbal.
Detailedanalysisaboutthesethreedistinctivecharacteristicswillbegiveninthefollowingpart,usingtheactualcases
indailycommunicationbetweenChineseandAmerica,toillustratetheimportanceofrecognizingthedifferencesof
contextincross-culturalcommunication.
2.CasesanalysisbasedonHall’sviews
A.directnessvs.indirectness
HalladdsthatthosewhouseLCcommunicationstyleare"expectedtocommunicateinwaysthatareconsistentwith
theirfeelings,"whereasapersonfromaHCculturewillsetthecontextandthesettingandletthemessageevolve
withoutreferringtotheproblemdirectly.Intheeventofaconflictarising,HCculturestendtouseindirect,
non-confrontational,andvaguelanguage,relyingonthelistener'sorreader'sabilitytograspthemeaningfromthe
context.LCculturestendtouseamoredirect,confrontational,andexplicitapproachtoensurethatthelistenerreceives
themessageexactlyasitwassent.Thefollowingdialogisatypicalcommunicatingfailurehappingbetweenpeople
fromthetwocontexts.
Case1
Mr.Jones:
Itlookslikewe’regoingtohavetokeeptheproductionlinerunningonSaturday.
Mr.Wu:
Isee.
Mr.Jones:
CanyoucomeinonSaturday?
Mr.Wu:
Yes.Ithinkso.(withahesitativetone)
Mr.Jones:
That’llbeagreathelp.
Mr.Wu:
Yes.Saturday’saspecialday,didyouknow?
Mr.Jones:
Howdoyoumean?
Mr.Wu:
It’smyson’sbirthday.
Mr.Jones:
Hownice!
Ihopeyouallenjoyitverymuch.
Mr.Wu:
Thankyou.Iappreciateyourunderstanding.
AnalysisandDiscussion:
OneoftheproblemsinthiscasestudyisthatMr.JonesisbeingdirectinhisquestionwhileMr.Wuisbeingindirectin
hisrefusal.Firstly,aChinesepeoplewillchoosetoaskindirectlyasakindofsuppose:
“youdon’thaveany
arrangementinSaturday?
”insteadofasking:
“CanyoucomeinonSaturday?
”sinceSaturdayisnotaworkdayandask
someonedirectlymakesitasakindofforce.Mr.Liontheotherhandwantstorefusetherequirementatthevery
beginning,andsupposeshisbossjustoffersakindofeuphemisticrequirement.AndtoaChinese,hewillneverrefusea
boss’srequirementdirectly.SowhenthebossaskswhetherhecancomeonSaturday,Mr.Lihaven’tansweredno
directly.Consideringthe“face”oftheboss,Mr.LitellshimSaturdayisthebirthdayofhissonasahintofrefusing.
However,asonecomesfromalow-contextculturewhoexpressesmeaninginadirectwaydoesn’tcatchMr.Li’s
indication.That’sreasonwhythecommunicationfailseventually.
B.linervs.circular
Thoughtpatternisanotherdistinctivecharacteristicwithinthetwocontexts.LCculturestendtoemphasizelogicand
rationality,basedonthebeliefthatthereisalwaysanobjectivetruththatcanbereachedthroughlinearprocessesof
discovery.HCcultures,ontheotherhand,believethattruthwillmanifestitselfthroughnon-lineardiscoveryprocesses
andwithouthavingtoemployrationality.Inconversations,peopleinLCcultureswillshiftfrominformationalready
statedtoinformationabouttobegiven,whileHCcommunicationwilljumpbackandforthandleaveoutdetail,
assumingthistobeimplicitbetweenthetwointerlocutors.Alsocaseanalysiswillbegiveninthefollowingpartto
exemplifythetwothoughtpatterns.Thefollowingcasewouldbeagoodexampletoillustratehowthetwocontexts
distinguisheachotherontheaspectofthoughtpatterns.
Case2
GeorgeHallwasattendingatradefairandlookingforanopportunitytodobusinessinChina.Hehadbeenvery
successfulinUSandpridedhimselfonhisability“togetthingsmoving”.FinallyheapproachedMr.Li’scompany
whichhethoughtwouldbemostresponsivetohisproducts.SincehehadreadthatChinesefindgettingdownto
businessimmediatelytooabruptandrude,hebeganacasualconversation,eventuallyleadinguptothetopicofhis
productsandsuggestinghowMr.Li’scompanymightbenefitfromusingthem.Georgethensuggestedthathecould
AsianSocialScienceOctober,2008
153
arrangetogettogetherwithMr.Liandprovidemorespecificsanddocumentationonhisproducts.
Mr.LirespondedinfairlygoodEnglish,“Thatwouldbeinteresting.”
KnowingthathehadonlyafewdaysleftinBeijing,Georgewantedtonaildownatime.“Whencanwemeet?
”
“Ah.Thisweekisverybusy,”repliedMr.Li.
“Itsureis,”saidGeorge,“Howabout10o’clock?
Meetyouhere.”
“Tomorrowat10o’clock?
”askedMr.Lithoughtfully.
“Right,”saidGeorge,“I’llseeyouthen?
”
“Hmm,yes;whydon’tyoucomebytomorrow,”wasthereply.
“OK,”respondedGeorge,“Itwasnicemeetingyou.”
Thenextdayat10o’clockheapproachedMr.Li’scompany’sexhibitonlytofindthatMr.Lihadsomeimportant
businessandwasnotabletomeetwithGeorge.HecalledbacklaterinthedayandwastoldthatMr.Liwasnot
available.
AnalysisandDiscussion:
Inthiscase,besidesthedifferenceofdirectnessandindirectness,thefailurealsoresultsfrompeople’spatternof
thoughtfromthetwodifferentcontexts.GeorgeHall,comingfromacultureoflow-contexthassethispurposeatthe
verybeginningoftheircommunication.Thusallthewordsheusedtoconveyhismeaninggoestotheobjectdirectly,
andinhiscontext,thepurposeofcommunicationorwhatthetwotalkingaboutisinvolvedinthesituationthatthey
mayhaveacooperationinthefuture.Sowhenhearing:
“Thatwouldbeinteresting.”“Whydon’tyoucomeby
tomorrow.”Hetakesitasanindicationofallowance.However,forMr.Li,whocomesfromalow-context,hedidn’t
taketheirtalkingseriously.Forhimonet
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