II. Cultural Comparison: China and the United States
The renowned American anthropologist and cross-cultural researcher Edward Hall has stated “culture is communication and communication is culture” (Pennycook, 1985, pp. 269). Accordingly, a thorough study of the communicative patterns of any group provides a window into that group and vice versa. This section will compare the culture and communication patterns of China with those present in the United States of America. This comparison will be accomplished by examining four cultural dimensions or aspects of communication. For convenience and clarity, the presentation of these dimensions will be broken down into four subsections: power distance, individualism/collectivism, high-context/low-context communication, and proxemics.
It should be noted upfront that the cultural dimensions discussed in this paper represent general tendencies determined through study and observation, but these characterizations obviously do not apply to every member of that particular culture. Variation within cultures prohibits all-inclusive categorizations, but most of the tendencies used in this paper have been confirmed by scholars and experts as referenced.
Power Distance
Neuliep (2012) borrows from the well-known social psychologist Geert Hofstede in defining power distance as “the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally” (pp. 76-77). Stated another way, power distance is the degree by which everyday people accept inequality in their society or culture. This dimension of intercultural communication varies greatly from society to society and can often lead to difficulties in communication. Ho...
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...explicit verbal communication in favor of reading facial expressions, posture, or the speed of the interaction in order to communicate. For the Chinese, “contracts are not considered as binding…as the trust between those involved” (p. 287). Conversely, American negotiators are focused on achieving maximum economic gain and view socialization during the negotiation process as inefficient and unnecessary.
The distinction between US American low-context and Chinese high-context is easily demonstrated by the following description of American communication:
The American way of life, by contrast, affords little room for the cultivation of ambiguity. The dominant American temper calls for clear and direct communication. It expresses itself in such common injunctions as “Say what you mean,” “Don’t beat around the bush,” and “Get to the point” (Levine, 1985, p. 28).
Immigration, the act of coming to live permanently in a foreign country. Throughout the United States’ history, immigrants faced various challenges and especially after 1880. Most immigrants moved to achieve the American dream of having a better life and pursuing their dreams. But, this experience as they moved, was different for every immigrant. Some lives improved while others did not. Immigrants such as Catholics, Italians, and the Chinese were not welcomed into America in the late 19th century and early 20th century because of their differences in beliefs and cultures.
As culture is being learned and transmitted from one generation to the next, there is the question as to how it is being learned? And does it change? Banking on the simplified definition of (Samovar, Porter, & McDaniel, 2012) culture is learned through communication. This entails social interactions among people with common understanding of symbols, shared values and beliefs, and rules as a product of reciprocal information processing (Lustig, 2006).
According to report “The Lewis Model Explains Every Culture In The World” written by Gus Lubin, the culture is divided into three categories in terms of their behavior and the way to interact with other people. The three categories are Linear-actives, Multi-actives and Reactives. In his view, the categorization of national norms does not change significantly over time due to governments and multinational conglomerates pressure even though the development of global integration . He also tells us that it is very important to focus on the cultural roots of national behavior and divide culture into three categories. The aim of the survey is to understand how to interact with people from different cultures.
Communism is a system of government, a political ideology that rejects private ownership and promotes a classless, stateless society based on common ownership of all property and the means of production, where by all work is shared and all proceeds are commonly owned. Communism is practised in China, North Korea, Vietnam, Laos and Cuba. However most of the world’s communist governments have been disbanded since the end of World War II. Soon after the Japanese surrendered at the end of World War II, Communist forces began a war against the Kuomintang in China. The Communists gradually gained control of the country and on the 1st October, 1949, Mao Zedong announced the victory of the Communist party and the establishment of the People's Republic of China. China has been ruled by the Communist party ever since.
Communication pattern is the structures in which communication flows in an organization. There are different kinds of communication pattern and assumption of cultural difference. The majority of people living in this United State has a different communication pattern which they are used to. But the challenges in this communication difference is that miscommunication will likely occur because there is a significant cultural difference between the communicators. The most important aspect of this communication pattern is the ability to understand another person’s pattern. For me, I am identified with African American culture. The communication pattern of African American is different from other people culture, and the one that fit me very well
Mentioned earlier, Stella Ting-Toomey is the individual who developed the Face-Negotiation theory and she is also a communication professor at California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Ting-Toomey was born in Hong Kong and came to the United States to attend the University of Iowa in 1972, a decision based on chance decision (Rindelre “Doctor Stella”). As of today, Dr. Ting-Toomey is a very well-known theorist, prolific author and professor at California State University, s...
Selecting a gift for a person with a different nationality is always difficult because in order to select an appropriate gift, you should understand their culture which is perhaps slightly or very different yours.
The United States and China are two very large countries that have cultures that are well known throughout the world. There are many differences between the United States and China, but there are many contributing factors that shape the cultures of these two countries. Language is universal, but there are different meanings and sounds, which vary from one culture to another. In China, citizens speak many languages, but about 94% speak the Chinese language. The difference in dialects was overcome by the written word and eventually a version of Mandrin became the “official speech” (The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, 1996, p.304).
Americans try to avoid miscommunication by being very clear and direct about what they are trying to say (Western Washington University, 2011). In typical day-to-day social interactions, people in the U.S. tend to be less formal and polite and are more physical than the Japanese (AngloINFO, 2014).
China's development is praised by the whole world. Its developments are not only in the economic aspect, but as well in its foreign affairs. Compared with other developed countries, China is a relatively young country. It began constructing itself in 1949. After 30 years of growth, company ownership had experienced unprecedented changes. Entirely, non-state-owned companies can now be more involved in sectors that used to be monopolized by state-owned companies.
The difference between American and Japanese ways of speaking can cause us some bad experiences at first; however, once we get accustomed to the direct speech of Americans, it is more convenient than the Japanese way. First, we can say what we want. Second, we do not have to hesitate to tell the truth in order to be polite. Finally, it frees us from unnecessary misunderstandings. The third point makes us happy because it makes us feel we have adjusted ourselves to American society at last. Compared to Americans trying to learn the Japanese way of speech, we are supposed to have much less difficulty learning the American way. At first, it might seem to be difficult, but in a few months, we will find ourselves comfortable in the direct speech of the Americans and may be in trouble when speaking with newcomers from Japan.
Any negotiation challenges the parties involved in a variety of ways, but parties with conflicting interests face important additional difficulties when attempting to negotiate an agreement across culture lines. Not only will the difficulties arising from the known similarities and differences of opinion be more pronounced, but also unsuspected factors could easily enter the picture and condition perceptions of the situation. In cross-cultural negotiations, a reasonable second acknowledgment should be that the hidden factors that are always at work are more likely to interfere with reaching an agreement. It is especially important that this acknowledgment be understood to apply not only to the dynamics of interactions across the table, but those of individuals on the same side of the table. [At times, it may be tempting to attribute the outcomes of negotiations to a single variable (such as the culture or the relative power of a country).] The term culture has taken on many different meanings but basically it reflects the shared values. Culture affects negotiations in different ways. In this paper, we are going to discuss the American and Jap...
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
The way people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language usage. Language has always been perceived as a link between people but it can also constitute a barrier. Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of "yes" varies from "maybe, I'll consider it" to "definitely so," with many shades in between . Furthermore, communication between cultures which do not share the same language is considerably more difficult . Each culture, has its distinct syntax, expressions and structure which causes confusion in intercultural communication. For example , in Asian countries the word “no” is rarely used, so that “yea” can mean “no” or “perhaps”. Therefore, an American traveling to Japan might be considered impolite if he ignores this rule. Furthermore, individuals who are not comfortable with a certain language may not be taken seriously. Such is the case in the classroom, where a student who has a perfect knowledge of the subject in question may have difficulty expressing his idea due to his inability to write properly and therefore he would not receive the grade he truly deserves. Similarly intercultural communication is dominant in the workplace. In the past, many companies and organizations could operate entirely within their country of origin and conduct their activities exclusively in their own native language. But now, due...
unknown. (n.d.). The relationship between Culture and Communication. Retrieved November 20, 2010, from jrank.org: http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/6491/culture-and-communication.html