Communication Context and Intercultural Communication Competence
Communication Context and Intercultural Communication Competence
Communication Context and Intercultural Communication Competence
Think of the difference this way: Upon meeting a stranger, your verbal
communication with that person is highly explicit—or low context—simply
because you have no shared experiences. You cannot assume anything.
However, when you communicate with your sister or brother with whom you
have shared a lifetime, your verbal communication is less explicit because you
make use of your shared context. For example, the mention of a certain name
can lead to laughter. With the stranger, you would have to explain in language
the story that that name represented. Also, with your sister or brother, a certain
facial expression can have a shared meaning, such as “There Mom goes again,”
but the stranger would have no idea what your facial expression
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communicated. Again, you would have to explain in words that your mother's
specific behavior was characteristic, somewhat irritating, but so uniquely her.
In low-context cultures, verbal messages are elaborate and highly specific, and
they tend to be highly detailed and redundant as well. Verbal abilities are
highly valued. Logic and reasoning are expressed in verbal messages. In high-
context cultures, most of the information is either in the physical context or
internalized in the person. Very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part
of the message. High-context cultures decrease the perception of self as
separate from the group. High-context cultures are more sensitive to nonverbal
messages; hence, they are more likely to provide a context and setting and let
the point evolve.
It has been said that language separates people. When understood from the
perspective of high and low context, that statement makes sense. In high-
context cultures, people are brought closer by the importance of their shared
context. Those meanings are often lost in low-context cultures. I have often
shown films of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony to classes in the United
States. The tea ceremony reflects the Zen and Taoist traditions celebrating the
beauty in the mundane, the superiority of spirit over matter, and tranquility
with busy lives. The ceremony unites the host and guest in a concert of
harmony. Though not as commonly practiced as in the past, the tea ceremony
is an excellent example of a high-context experience. Nothing is spoken; all
the meanings are in the context of shared experience, the teahouse, the flower
arrangement, the calligraphy scroll, and the ceramics. A typical response from
a low-context observer is “Hurry up and drink the tea!” In contrast, your social
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experiences over coffee take little meaning from the context; rather it is the
conversation—the words shared—that give meaning to the experience.
©iStockphoto.com/oluolu3
In some recent studies, European Americans and Japanese were shown scenes,
each with a background scene and foreground objects (Miyamoto, Nisbett, &
Masuda, 2006). These experiments compared perceptions of changes in the
foreground with perceptions of changes in the background. European
Americans were significantly better at detecting changes in the foreground,
while the Japanese were significantly better at detecting changes in the
background. These studies have argued that Europeans (low context) focus
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attention on objects independent of context (i.e., perceive analytically),
whereas East Asians focus on the context (i.e., perceive holistically).
The concept of high and low context also applies to self-understanding. In low-
context cultures, one speaks of a person as having attributes independent of
circumstances or of personal relations. This self is a free agent who can move
from group to group, from setting to setting, without significant changes. But
in high-context cultures, the person is connected, fluid, and conditional.
Participation in relationships makes it possible to act; completely independent
behavior usually isn't possible, nor even desirable (Nisbett, 2003).
Raymond Cohen (1997) provides examples of ways one can lose face:
• A rebuffed overture
• Exposure to personal insult
• Exposure to a derogatory remark or disregard for one's status being
• Forced to give up a cherished value
• Making what may later be seen as an unnecessary concession
• Failure to achieve goals
• Revelation of personal inadequacy
• Damage to a valued relationship
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High-context societies tend to be more hierarchical and traditional societies in
which the concepts of shame and honor are much more important than they are
in low-context societies. High-context cultures thus avoid direct confrontation
or use communication strategies to maintain harmony and reduce the
possibility of conflict. Vargas-Urpi (2013) has shown in one study that Chinese
communicators used forms of smiles and other nonverbal behaviors to avoid
or to soften uncomfortable situations that would threaten a participant's face.
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Topic 2.2 Intercultural Communication
Competence
You've read how high-context and low-context cultures differ and how high
and low context affects perception. Understanding this doesn't mean that we
would automatically know how to communicate to be effective.
Communicating effectively in intercultural settings is known as intercultural
communication effectiveness or intercultural communication competence. For
the purposes of this textbook, let's agree to define intercultural
communication effectiveness as the degree of the source's success in
accomplishing the goals set out for the interaction. (Review the Western model
of communication in Chapter 1.) It would seem that one way to define
intercultural communication competence places emphasis on the two
behaviors of encoding and decoding (Monge, Bachman, Dillard, & Eisenberg,
1982). Encoding includes expressing ability, and decoding includes listening
ability.
Personality Strength.
The main personal traits that affect intercultural communication are self-
concept, self-disclosure, self-monitoring, and social relaxation. Self-concept
refers to the way in which a person views the self. Self-disclosure refers to the
willingness of individuals to openly and appropriately reveal information about
themselves to their counterparts. Self-monitoring refers to using social
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comparison information to control and modify one's self-presentation and
expressive behavior. Social relaxation is the ability to reveal little anxiety in
communication. Competent intercultural communicators must know
themselves well and, through their self-awareness, initiate positive attitudes.
Individuals must express a friendly personality to be competent in intercultural
communication.
Communication Skills.
Individuals must be competent in verbal and nonverbal behaviors. Intercultural
communication skills require message skills, behavioral flexibility, interaction
management, and social skills. Message skills encompass the ability to
understand and use language and feedback. Behavioral flexibility is the ability
to select an appropriate behavior in diverse contexts. Interaction management
means handling the procedural aspects of conversation, such as the ability to
initiate a conversation. Interaction management emphasizes a person's other-
oriented ability to interact, such as attentiveness and responsiveness. Social
skills are empathy and identity maintenance. Empathy is the ability to think the
same thoughts and feel the same emotions as the other person. Identity
maintenance is the ability to maintain a counterpart's identity by
communicating back an accurate understanding of that person's identity. In
other words, a competent communicator must be able to deal with diverse
people in various situations.
Psychological Adjustment.
Competent intercultural communicators must be able to acclimate to new
environments. They must be able to handle the feelings of culture shock, such
as frustration, stress, and alienation in ambiguous situations caused by new
environments.
Cultural Awareness.
To be competent in intercultural communication, individuals must understand
the social customs and social system of the host culture. Understanding how a
people think and behave is essential for communication with them.
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Chen and Starosta's (1996) model of intercultural communication competence
includes three perspectives:
The definition of communication itself reflects the culture defining it. In a like
manner, the understanding of intercultural communication competence reflects
the culture defining it. Consider how it might be defined in high-context,
collectivistic cultures. C. M. Chua (2004) showed that intercultural
communication competence in collectivistic Malaysian culture differs from
Western definitions in that in Malaysia there is more emphasis on relational
issues. Komolsevin, Knutson, and Datthuyawat (2010) explain this by showing
that people in high-context cultures are hesitant to engage in communication—
that is, they are reserved and silent—until they have sufficient information to
encode messages appropriate for the receiver. So being quiet and reserved in
Malaysia and Thailand is a necessary first step for the competent intercultural
communicator. But that same behavior might be evaluated negatively in more
individualistic cultures.