Objectives:

A. Determine culturally appropriate terms, expressions, and images.

B. Adopt cultural and intercultural awareness and sensitivity in communication of ideas; and

C. Discuss various cultural and intercultural modes of communication.

Verbal Communication Styles and Culture

Culture has been defined in many ways. Some commonly applied definitions view culture as patterned ways of thinking, feeling, and reacting common to a particular group of people and that are acquired and transmitted through the use of symbols. Others view culture as a function of interrelated systems that includes the ecology, subsistence , and sociocultural systems. It is fair to say that culture includes both objective and subjective elements. These interrelated systems do not dictate culture; rather, we can use them as general framework to understand culture and its relation to individual and collective actions.

A number of approaches have been used to describe and explain cultural differences. There are two approaches that are most widely accepted and relevant to our understanding of cultural variations in communication styles: value dimensions and thinking styles. Value can be defined as an enduring belief that a specific mode of conduct is socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct. Values form the basis for judging the desirability of some means or end action.

Thinking style, or cognitive style, can be understood as a way of thinking that influences how we feel and how we act; it is how we process and categorize information, how we select information to store in memory, and how we make inferences or attributions about causality.

High-Context and Low-Context Communication Styles

The concepts of high context and low context refer to how people communicate in different cultures. Differences can be derived from the extent to which meaning is transmitted through actual words used or implied by the context.

High context implies that a lot of unspoken information is implicitly transferred during communication. People in a high context culture such as Saudi Arabia tend to place a larger importance on long-term relationships and loyalty and have fewer rules and structure implemented.

Low context implies that a lot of information is exchanged explicitly through the message itself and rarely is anything implicit or hidden. People in low context cultures such as the UK tend to have short-term relationships, follow rules and standards closely and are generally very task-oriented.

Understanding whether your international colleagues are high context or low context will help you to adapt your communication style and build stronger relationships with them. These concepts are covered during cross-cultural training programs such as Communicating across Cultures and managing international teams. Cultural awareness training which focuses on one or more specific cultures like Doing Business in India or Living and Working in China will also address these concepts.

When doing business in a high context culture such as Mexico, Japan or the Middle East, you might encounter the following:

• Misunderstanding when exchanging information

• Impression of a lack of information

• Large amount of information is provided in a non-verbal manner, e.g. gestures, pauses, facial expressions

• Emphasis on long term relationships and loyalty

• ‘Unwritten’ rules that are taken for granted but can easily be missed by strangers

• Shorter contracts since less information is required

When doing business in a low context culture such as Germany, Switzerland or the US, on the other hand, you might find the following:

• All meaning is explicitly provided in the message itself

• Extensive background information and explanations are provided verbally to avoid misunderstandings

• People tend to have short-term relationships

• People follow rules and standards closely

• Contracts tend to be longer and very detailed

High and low context cultures usually correspond with polychronic and monochronic cultures respectively. The table below shows some general preferences of people from high context and low context cultures.