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Culture differences in communication
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High context
According to anthropologist Edward T. Hall’s theory, high context cultures are “relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative” which emphasize interpersonal relationships. The people within these cultures are more concerned about the emotional aspects rather than the rational. When explaining high context words aren’t significant however, aspects which include; the speaker’s tone of voice, body language and even the individual’s history and social status are may be relevant. High-context communication tends to be more indirect and more formal. Extravagant language, humbleness, and elegant act of remorse are typical.
Low context
According to anthropologist Edward T. Hall’s theory low context is associated with being logical, direct and distinctive. Individuals within low-context cultures tend to value reason, facts, and sharpness. Issues within this culture are resolved once the facts have been faced and assessed individually the results are constructed on fact rather than sensitivity. Communication is likely to be direct, brief, and effectual to clearly outline what action is to be taken. In high-context cultures individuals depend less on language accuracy and authorized documents, whereas low context involves the use of rational content and based on facts.
Haptics
Haptics refers to sensing and
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Ethnocentrism is a commonly used word in terms of social issues, ethnicity and ethnic relations. According to Anthropologist Ken Barger, “Ethnocentrism" is used to define an individual’s way of thinking and/or the judgements as to one group being inferior to their own. Everyone is ethnocentric as it cannot be avoided, however ethnocentrism can also be negative and defined as: making false assumptions about others ways based on their limited experience and cultural
Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's ethnic group or culture is superior (Leeder, 2004). In order to gain citizenship David Aldwinkle was subject to investigation by inspectors to prove he was culturally Japanese. These investigations included interviewing his neighbors,
The term “ethnocentrism,” meaning the sense of taken-for-granted superiority in the context of cultural practices and attitudes, described the way Europeans looked at their “culture” as though they were superior to all others. Westerns even stated that non-Westerns had no culture and that they were inferior to the culture that was building in Europe.
People in different countries still have the high culture or low context culture. (High vs. low context culture mean that low culture relies more on explicit verbal communication. High context culture is more collectivist, it values more interpersonal relationships.) In the case study Shame and Making Truth Cameron has relied on high context culture values to solve the case. He ignores their cultural beliefs and focuses more on his.
(1) Ethnocentrism is looking at one’s own culture and placing it above other cultures, constantly comparing it to the other cultures “below”. In America today, many people look at conflicted areas in the globe such as the Middle East and wonder why their system cannot keep a stable democracy. This idea of constantly comparing other cultures to one’s own and expecting them to be alike or follow the example is a problem in reading historical documents and understanding history as a whole. Nomadic invaders such as the Mongols were described as horrible savage people in the written accounts of the sedentary peoples. This must not be taken quite as literally because accounts tend to be biased more often than not. In examining ethnocentrism, one must always remember that few, if not none, cultures behave extremely irrationally as they may seem. For example, referring back to the views of Middle East today, one must remember that the system of Islamic law and customs has held for centuries, and would not have survived that long if they truly are as irrational as they might seem. Referring back to the example of the Mongols, the attacked people were obviously biased and the Mongols would not have had ruled for so long if they were cruel, savage, irrational monsters. Ethnocentrism is extremely difficult to avoid and is apparent in many documents, such as Columbus’s description of the American Natives (in comparison to the “civilized” Europeans), and should be dealt with carefully. In order to understand all sides of an account, one must look at what is written with deference and understanding.
Ethnocentrism by definition is the “evaluation of other cultures according to preconceptions originating in the standards and customs of
According to the textbook a high context culture is, “Culture in which people derive much information from nonverbal and environmental.” In high context culture the nonverbal and the environment are vital when it comes to communication with other people in that culture. Low context culture is, “Culture in which people derive much information from the words of a message and less information from nonverbal and environment.” Low context culture, words are more essential than the nonverbal
Ethnocentrism can be defined as an individual’s belief that the ethnic group or cultural they identify with is superior to all others. “The ethnocentric person judges other groups and other cultures by the standards of his or her own group” (Schaefer 34).
People have all different kinds of values, wants, needs, long-term goals, and short-term goals. Their differences come from many places such as religion or age. These differences are what makes each individuals values, wants, and needs make them unique to each person individually. My values, wants, needs, long-term, and short-term goals are all unique to myself.
Context is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as either being “the words that are used with a certain word or phrase and that help to explain its meaning” or “the situation in which something happens: the group of conditions that exist where and when something happens” (Merriam-Webster). These definitions refer to the way a word or phrase is said or to the place in which an action or group of actions occur which help define something and give it meaning to others. Edward T. Hall in his book Beyond Culture then used these definitions to formulate a theory for developing a basis upon which others could use to describe different cultures and features of those within (Hall, 1976). High context cultures are those in which the population tends to use many subtle actions and the environment to convey messages to others whilst low context cultures depend mainly on written and verbal communication that is explicitly stated. Much of the meaning is thought to be associated with the relationships that the people have who are in contact with one another. The stronger the bond, the easier it is to develop a relationship where context can be used to relate ideas, thoughts or meanings without a word being said. Take for example when friends talk to each other. Not everything has to be explicitly stated because prior experiences between the two or more allows for subtleness to be used. In comparison, when two strangers are discussing an issue they are a lot more prone to use explicit ways in which they can both convey and understand each other. Imagine this example on a large scale. Here we have the development of high and low context cultures. This idea is especially apparent when...
There are many things that can happen when one wants to go out shopping. Some of those things can sometimes influence the way that shopping experience goes. In this short essay, situational influences are defined and described with clear examples. Furthermore, the psychological influences that one may have are also discussed. Lastly, it is important for one to understand how these types of influences work through a personal example.
The opportunity for universal application of the Communication Accommodation Theory gives the field of Communication Studies a method of objectively analyzing conversational strategies and motivations both of which are considered to be overwhelmingly subjective. The ways in which communicators of different cultures perceive one and other [as individuals or members of a group] varies greatly even in a two-person interaction. The number of cultural identifications one certain individual might possess may be numerous, and already makes structured analysis of their communication choices in an interaction difficult. By guiding the process of conducting research with CAT, researchers are able to analyze the communication behaviors of any set of cultural communicat...
Ethnocentrism, as stated above, means the belief that one’s own culture is above and beyond all other cultures. Although this is somewhat of a shallow definition, it still provides an adequate explanation of a very complex issue. We see ethnocentrism every single day, in all aspects of life. The United States of America is a prime example of ethnocentrism is action. The people of this country have a tendency to disregard other cultures, instead believing that American culture is the only way to go. This is not to say that this is how everyone thinks, although most people, at one time or another, have had thoughts along these lines.
Everyone in the world communicates interpersonally at one point of his or her life. Some use interpersonal communication more often than others and some are able to do so more effectively than others. Culture can play a large part in interpersonal communication and occasionally needs to be taken into consideration. The act of “members of two or more cultures [exchanging] messages in a manner that is influenced by their different cultural perceptions and symbol systems” (Adler 33) is known as intercultural communication. However, I have learned that communication does not always have to be referred to as intercultural communication even between people of different cultures. When it is, there are varying degrees, or salience, of intercultural
Therefore, it is essential to study nonverbal and verbal communication Nonverbal communication is all forms of communication other than words themselves, which includes “body motions; vocal qualities; and the use of time, space, and even smell” (Neuliep, 2011, p. 269). On the other hand verbal communication or language “consists of symbols in the form of spoken or written words (Wood, 2014, p. 67). Thus cultures have different representations of symbols and what one culture interprets another may define or view differently. Communication is closely related to culture because communication expresses and alters culture. In a culture you learn behaviors and acceptable ideologies. This can be seen in verbal and nonverbal communication. For example, the tone of your voice is based on culture. Without communication you are unable to establish cultural differences. Your own culture directly shapes how one communicates, such as when it is appropriate to make eye contact. We are not born knowing when and how we should speak; this is a learned behavior that is taught by interaction with others. This is not an easy task because nonverbal signals differ from culture to culture. Charles Braithwaite stated, “One of the fundamental components of cultural and linguistic competence is knowing how and when to use silence as a communication tactic” (Neuliep, 2011, p. 64). Before one can communicate effectively one must understand the context in which the culture exchanges information. One must have a working awareness of how each society conveys meaning, hence high vs. low context cultures. According to the Central Michigan University text, organizational dynamics and human behavior (2009), to become a successful international manager one must develop “cross-cultural skills”. One part of the skill set involves the comprehension of the difference between high-context and low-context
Humans have been communicating since four million years. On the other hand, the birth of culture is estimated to have taken place about 35,000 years ago. Today, both culture and communication have evolved considerably and have become interdependent of one another, to the point that communication is considered to be a product of culture. Thus, our own culture has a deep impact on our thoughts and behaviors. Since each culture has its distinct aspects, intercultural communication can be the cause of conflict and disorder. There are three main issues which are at the root of the problem of intercultural miscommunication : language as a barrier, cultural diversity and ethnocentrism. I will analyze these three notions in situations in which intercultural communication is frequent such as : the workplace, the classroom and vacation trips.