Verbal Communication and Culture Essay

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High Context And Low Context Cultures

High-context cultures are the type of cultures where their rules of communication are transmitted through the elements such as body language, the tone of voice and person's status. (Guffey, 2009). Contrarily, low context cultures communicate information through rules and languages, which are explicitly spelled out. However, no culture is entirely low context or high context, nevertheless, cultures contain some elements of low context and high context. In the United States, low context cultures are predominant in the American culture, however, family gathering tends to be characterized with high culture context.

The objective of this study is to compare and contrast high culture context and low culture context in term of verbal communication and individualism and collectivism.

High Culture Context vs. Low Culture Context with Reference to Verbal Communication

One of the fundamental features of high culture context is its low level of verbal communication where many things are left unsaid, and allow culture to explain itself. People in the high context culture use few words to explain themselves making word choices becoming critical in the verbal communication. In the high context communication, few words are used to communicate complex words. However, a communicator in a low-context culture tends to be much more explicit in their verbal communication. For example, people in the Middle East, South America, Asia and Africa use the high context communication to emphasize on interpersonal relationships.

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Typically, words are not important in conveying their messages, rather, they use gestures, facial expressions to convey messages. A Japanese manager in the United States asserts that Japanese are homogenous people, they do not need to speak many words to convey their messages, rather, Japanese use one word to understand ten words. Thus, in the high-context communication, few words can be used to elaborate complex message.

On the other hand, people in Western Europe and North America are low context communicators and they value directness, and straightforward in the level of communication. While communicators in high context culture use an indirect and allusive method to communicate, however, communicators in low context culture use the direct and explicit methods to communicate, and the meaning of their communication are entrusted in words. For example, Germans are low context culture because they spell out words clearly, fully and entirely. However, Japanese are high context culture where communicators use the ambiguous message to convey messages and the meaning of the messages is implied in contexts. Members of low context culture express their thoughts in words thinking that thoughts are not the same as words and will not be understood completely or correctly if used thoughts to replace words. However, members of low context culture do not trust in words they lay emphasize on contexts to clarify their complete messages.

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