Cross-cultural communication

2. Eating quietly is a social ___________ in America.

3. Wearing turbans is a cultural ___________ of Arabic countries.

4. In China, setting off fireworks are a New Year’s ___________.

5. ___________ are a group of social norms that form a country’s moral standards.

6. It was difficult for Tony to ___________ to life in Japan.

Hometask: Cultural Clashes

Cultural clashes and misunderstandings occur most often from misinterpreting contextual information. Different cultures place varying degrees of emphasis on contextual information. Contextual information is gathered from the environment during communication.

There are generally two types of context cultures: high-context cultures and low-context cultures. High-context cultures, like those in Japan, China, or Arab countries, assign a lot of importance to the environment surrounding a message; consequently, the meaning of the message itself is often implicit. In order to understand what is being said, the speakers must first understand the situation and the participants’ relationship to each other. These cultures place less value on words, so words are used generously.

In contrast, low-context cultures, like Germany or America, place importance on the message itself, which must be quite explicit. For low-context speakers, communication is more detailed and specific, since external factors are not emphasized nearly as much. Every word is meaningful.

The effects of contextual differences are very apparent in the business world. For example, a business contract from Japan would tend to be short, since much of the information is implied and understood within the high-context Japanese culture. This culture would expect you to understand its “unwritten” rules. A contract from America, however, would not take anything for granted. It would tend to be longer and much more detailed. More explanation would be needed to make sure that there were no misunderstandings.

Discuss the following questions.

1. Have you ever experienced, or heard about, a culture clash? What happened?

2. What steps should companies take to avoid cultural clashes in the future?