“‘Intermediate-Level’ Communication: A Model of Communication for Multiple Cultures”
by Travis Daniel Griffin | Xchanges 9.2
Background and Literature Review
Contribution to the Field
While there has been a great deal of work done in facilitating effective cross cultural communication, much of this work has been focused on predetermined audiences. One of the concepts that continually arises in the current work is the use of effective audience analysis to shape communication between two cultures. While this work is indeed important, technical communication is a field that is growing beyond the boundaries of American companies and universities. For example, there are already successful technical communication programs located in China that are taught in English (Ping & Weiping, 2005).
In addition to programs located outside of the United States, technical communicators are often given the responsibility of preparing webpages and online documents that serve many people from many different cultures. These webpages are often written to purely American standards (Schaffer, 2009). It is important for the field of technical communication to grow beyond the established concepts and adopt new strategies in communication (Amant, 2002).
Reviewing websites for organizations and companies that have learned to create effective communication for multiple cultures could be helpful in creating an effective model of communication. Organizations like the Helen Keller International (HKI) are already creating websites that are built to communicate to audiences from many cultures to address issues from around the globe. Using rhetoric that respects the reader and clearly defining the concepts contained within the website allows HKI to reach many cultures in their pursuit to combat the health problems faced by the impoverished members of our global society.
Looking outside the confines of the United States may help technical communicators find the keys to unlocking this new method of intermediate-level communication. Companies like Zensho in Japan have been required to effectively communicate information on the web that originated from a High-Context culture and make it readable by Low-Context cultures. This move has been made effective by means similar to those explored in this paper: sentence shortening, respectful overtones that are designed to build relationships with the users, and clear definitions of terms.
Current Technical Communication Concepts
Current publications on cross-cultural communication focus on “High Context vs. Low Context” cultures and the inherent audience analysis that is done to bridge the gap between various cultures. Much of the work is focused on specific audience analysis. While this type of analysis and subsequent modeling of communication is effective when a writer knows exactly what culture he or she will be communicating with, communicators do not always know with whom they will be communicating (Niemeier et al., 1998).
Individuals from “High-Context” cultures, such as those from China, Japan, and France, place a high value on forming working relations with those with whom they communicate. Trust must be built through the communication with these individuals from these cultures. They are often referred to as “group” oriented, and individuals identify themselves as members of a group. Often non-confrontational, these individuals are people oriented and put a strong focus on building and maintaining relationships. It is therefore important to focus on communicating the importance of the relationship between the writer’s company or organization and the target audience (Andrews, 2001).
From the perspective of a “Low-Context” culture, communication can be frustrating because individuals from these cultures are very open to forming new relationships quickly. They are action and solution oriented. Often times, individuals from a “Low-Context” culture distinguish between any conflict and the conflicting parties, and therefore building the relationship between the writer and the reader comes second to the message being conveyed. Communication is often very procedural in nature, so adding content into communication can seem unnatural and superfluous. Writers must write in a way that may feel uncomfortable and alien to them (Andrews, 2001; Niemeier et al., 1998).
Technical communicators are encouraged to write very direct messages for the web. Information must be easy to read. Writers design pages with the expectation that readers will “skim and jump” through content while searching for the specific information they are trying to find while navigating. While visual elements in web design are important, websites for higher content cultures are written knowing that high context cultures are both more sensitive to advertising and wary of images or distractions from the content of the message. Visuals can be used to quickly convey information from writer to reader, but caution should be used to ensure that the visual adds to the context of the message rather than distracting the reader away from the message (Andrews, 2001).