An Introduction to Intercultural Communication. Fred E. Jandt
for a U.S. hotel that wants to be positioned to attract Chinese tourists.
1 How would you prepare the hotel staff to deal with the barriers discussed in this chapter?
2 How could you help employees deal with their anxiety when interacting with Chinese tourists for the first time? How would you deal with assumptions of similarity? Consider such things as using both hands when exchanging currency, language use, numbering system, coffee makers, and breakfast foods.
3 How would you deal with employees’ ethnocentrism and stereotypes?
4 How would you use Weibo and WeChat or other social media with Chinese tourists before their trips?
Summary
Sensation is the neurological process of becoming aware of our environment and is affected by our cultures. Perception is usually thought of as having three steps—selection, organization, and interpretation—each affected by culture. Perception and thought are not independent of the cultural environment; therefore, our brains both are shaped by the external world and shape our perception of the external world. The Greek idea of a strong individual identity and the Chinese idea of harmony affected both the sensation and perception process in each culture.
The concept of high-context and low-context cultures was popularized by Edward T. Hall (1976). Individuals in high- and low-context cultures perceive the world differently. Cultures in which little of the meaning is determined by the context because the message is encoded in the explicit code are labeled low context. Cultures in which less has to be said or written because more of the meaning is in the physical environment or already shared by people are labeled high context. High context and low context, respectively, are closely associated with collectivism and individualism. In high-context cultures, people tend to view themselves as part of a community and value harmony. In low-context cultures, individual goals and autonomy are stressed. Low-context cultures, such as the United States, with a greater concern for privacy and autonomy, tend to use direct-face negotiation and express more self-face maintenance, whereas high-context cultures, such as China, with a greater concern for interdependence and inclusion, tend to use indirect-face negotiation and express more mutual-face or other-face maintenance.
Finally, this chapter compares high-context China, a country of 1.38 billion people and the world’s second-largest economy, with the low-context United States, first over the issue of territorial sovereignty concerning Taiwan, Tibet, the South China Sea, and airspace. Then the chapter compares the two countries over the issues of human rights and free speech and of broadcast media and the Internet.
Discussion Questions
1 My veterinarian once said that he wished he could be a cat just for a few minutes to experience how a cat senses the world. He speculated, though, that such an experience would forever change him. Explain in what ways the experience of two realities might be so disconcerting.
2 Even within one culture, perceptions may vary. Compare the diverse perceptions that hunters, vegetarians, and even political parties might have of a moose.
3 Describe how the concept of face can help explain dispute resolution. How might a student confront an instructor over a grading error? What might that interaction look like in a U.S. classroom versus a Chinese classroom? Consider specific countries that have diverse populations and those with fairly homogeneous populations. How does the concept of high and low context help explain political debate, dispute resolution processes, and other forms of public communication?
4 It has been said that China’s people both admire and resent the United States. Explain the possible reasons for that belief and its associated communication barriers.
5 China has been criticized for melamine-contaminated pet food and baby milk formula. International media reported the scandal as China’s rather than as particular companies’. How does this contribute to communication barriers?
6 What are possible consequences to China’s continuing control of access to a global Internet?
Key Terms
Cantonese94
Context effect69
Face85
Facework86
Field dependence73
Gross domestic product (GDP)91
High context83
Hong Kong94
Interpretation76
Low context83
Nongovernmental organization97
Organization76
Perception74
Selection74
Sensation71
Taiwan90
Tibet92
Note
1. The word God is capped throughout this text, but no endorsement of any religion is implied. The intent is to honor all religions.
Descriptions of Images and Figures
Back to Figure
The first map on the left is titled, Greek Empire, and the following areas are highlighted to show the geographical areas of Europe and Africa, that were under the Greek Empire:
Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, Iraq, the southern part of Turkey, Greece, Tunisia, Northern Libya and the northern parts of Libya, Egypt and Sudan.
The map on the right is titled, Roman Empire, and the following areas are highlighted to show the geographical areas of Europe and Africa, that were under the Roman Empire:
The Northern coast of Africa across the countries: Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Egypt and all of Tunisia as well as, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy, half of Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, and parts of Iraq and Iran.
Back to Figure
There are three boxes seen in this figure.
The first box is labeled, the original stimulus and measures 9 inches [as indicated by a double-sided arrow on the side that reads, 9 inches]. This box has a line from the top to a third of the way down. The text below this line reads:
Line = 3 inches/one third of the height of the square.
Two arrows from this box point to two boxes below the first box. Both boxes have a line from the top, each of which is of a different length.
The left arrow labeled, the relative task, points to the box on the second row, with the shorter of the two lines. Text on the left of the left box reads, one third the height of the square, and points to the line in the box.
The right arrow labeled, the absolute task, points to the box on the second row, with the text, 3 inches, seen below the line in that box.
Back to Figure
The poster has an open book which is open to two pages, with pages in between.
Each page has a drawing covering the whole page. The drawing on the left is of men working on a pipeline being installed into a Johnston pump on the ground. An Arab man and a young boy, both in traditional outfits, observe the men at work. The drawing on the right is of water gushing from a Johnston Pump. A man with a turban is crouching beside the pump. Two Arab men in traditional outfits are also seen looking on. A camel is seen in the distance.
The text on top of the poster reads, making the deserts bloom for 50 years. The text below the left and right pages are in English and Arabic respectively. This is an ad for Johnston Pump Company.