“‘Intermediate-Level’ Communication: A Model of Communication for Multiple Cultures”

by Travis Daniel Griffin | Xchanges 9.2

Background and Literature Review (Continued)

Merging the Concepts

Valerie Goby suggests in her Journal of Business and Technical Communication article, “All Business Students Need to Know the Same Things!: The Non-Culture-Specific Nature of Communication Needs” that there is a non-culture specific root to the needs of modern communication. These roots of communication include being articulate, assertive, and persuasive in writing. Goby suggests focusing communication on concepts that are familiar and common to readers and writers all around the world. She also points out that professionals in the globalized world are familiar with the concepts of low and high context cultures and are willing to bridge the gap when communicating. Her conclusions focus on the premise that there isn’t a need to focus so intently on audience and culture analysis but instead search for good, common communication techniques shared by multiple cultures (1999).

Goby has touched on some important topics. However, completely disregarding all the concepts that are taught and practiced in technical communication would have many hazards that would prevent bridging communication gaps. There is promise in understanding that readers have some level of comprehension of the workings of the global workplace and the cultures that they will be dealing with. If a foreign company is looking at a U.S. website, they are making a conscious decision to assimilate the knowledge contained in that website. This allows communicators to prepare “generic” information designed to appeal to multiple cultures (St. Amant, 2002).

Hutchinson and Waters discuss the concept of “instrumental motivation” — the concept in teaching English as a foreign language described as learning a language because the learners need to learn as opposed to wanting to learn. This is an important concept to explore due to the fact that readers of technical documents and business communication are usually in a position that they must read a document for a work reason (1987). Hutchinson and Waters’ focus is on moving from “instrumental motivation” to “integrative motivation” wherein the subject gets a desire to become more involved for joy of learning. It is necessary to design documents with this in mind because readers learn in leaps and bounds. They describe important points of knowledge as “towns” which alone serve little purpose until they are connected by networks of roads and bridges (1987).

In order to facilitate this move from instrumental to integrative motivation, we must design a model specifically designed to transform the English in the document into a unique Lingua Franca that the reader can easily become comfortable with. The logical method of establishing a Lingua Franca is to integrate a model of communication that can allow a writer a standard way to write documents that readers can be comfortable with while providing a contextual environment within the document that the reader can find enjoyable and reliable, and thus form a relationship with the writer.

While there are many concepts that must be addressed in establishing a Lingua Franca for an organization, there are perhaps key concepts from ESP teaching that can be effectively utilized. These concepts are as follows:

• Intermediate-Level Context – Designing generic English Language based on the premise that the reading culture may be from a high or low level context society. This may include overtones of respect or more formal use of English.
• Etymology – Breaking key concepts down to the root words as part of building context to help facilitate understanding.
• Visualization – Providing the opportunity for readers to visualize what the language being used means to them.
• Sentence Shortening – Using the simplest sentences possible when explaining key concepts that the writer wishes to convey to the reader.

While this may be a revolutionary step into developing a pattern of communication during the beginning of a business relationship, it is in no way designed to be a substitute for established practices for prolonged communication practices between two cultures. Most important to the integration of ESP and technical communication is the use of visualization and etymology. By effectively integrating these concepts into communication produced, we can establish an effective “Intermediate-Level Context.” In effect, Intermediate-Level context will serve as a meeting point between two cultures.