Tugas CCU_Opinion Essay

Low VS High-Context Culture

In many Western cultures like American and European countries, people generally speak in a low-context communication style. They ordinarily explain the intended message in a straightforward manner, clearly and explicitly, so that the listeners will understand them easily. These types of exchanging information are good for a number of reasons.

First of all, I think that exchanging ideas in a low-context culture can avoid some misunderstanding between the speakers from different cultural background. It is obviously true because in a low-context communication, people will typically clarify what they really meant and say the precise words instead of being uncertain and ambiguous. Therefore, this types of communication could prevent confusion and misinterpretation among the listeners. Moreover, in my personal opinion, speaking in a low-context culture allows both speaker and the listener for more flexibility and adaptability. For example, if there are uncertainty to what the other party are talking about, the listener would then be able to ask directly and the speaker could reiterate the subject more openly and plainly. In addition, speaking in a low-context culture could help foster mutual understanding among people across cultures. However, some people think that speaking in high-context communication is better because they speak economically and just say what is needed to say without being particulars. Although it may be true in some respect, it is really difficult to expect other people to understand us without being told what we really want, unless we come from similar cultural background. So, speaking clearly and explicitly is a good alternative of communicating with others.

In conclusion, I personally believe that communicating in a low-context culture are good in a sense that it could prevent some confusion and misunderstanding between the speakers, it allows both speaker and the listener for more flexibility and adaptability and I also think that it could help foster mutual understanding among people across cultures.