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1.2 Structure of the Thesis
Chapter one begins with the introduction which talks about the research objective and method, and then introduces the structure of the paper.
Chapter two is a brief review of studies on intercultural communication, and introduction of concepts of context. Different linguists have different idea about context, Halliday (1975) pided context into elements while Hall (1976) regarded context as the whole environment of communication. This paper adopts Hall’s perspective.
Chapter three is the introduction of the pision of cultures and intercultural communication: high-context culture and low-context culture, then introduces the differences between high-context and low-context cultures and some reasons that might cause those differences.
Chapter four exemplifies the differences between high-context and low-context cultures via case study, and then tries to analyze the reasons for the differences.
Last chapter serves as a conclusion. It points out the results of the paper, its significance and limitation.
2 Literature Review
2.1 A Brief History of Intercultural Communication
The publishing of The Silent Language written by Edward Hall in 1959 is regarded as a start of intercultural communication researches. Intercultural communication can be defined as communication between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to alter the communication event (Porter, Samovar & Stefani, 2011). Intercultural communication can take place either between people from different countries, for example communication between Chinese and Americans, or between people from the same country, for example communication between American white men and native Indians (Hu Wenzhong, 2002). In academics, intercultural communication involves both communication between people from different nations that speak different languages and have different cultural traditions, and communication between people from different nations that speak the same language but have different cultural traditions. Wang Zongyan said in Self-Conscious and Intercultural Communication published in 1993 that successful communication happens when you talk to others and others understand what you said, and communication failure happens when others cannot understand what you said.
2.2 A Brief History of Studies on Context
Context is the environment for communication. It’s an important concept for intercultural communication and pragmatics researches. It is pided into verbal context and nonverbal context in pragmatics. Halliday’s theory (1975) categorizes context elements into three parts: circumstances, speakers and ways of communication, which means that context involves the time and circumstance of communication; current social, literal and political background; speakers and their logical recognition; speakers’ facial expressions, body movement and so on. If any element changed, the meaning of sentences might also change. Therefore, context decides language units’ choosing, expression and understanding.
Edward Hall (1976) regards context as actual social communication environment, internalized communication and so on, including all ways of expression that contribute to correct understanding of dialogues and texts. He defines context as the information that surrounds an event; it is inextricably bound up with the meaning of the event. In detail, context involves people who take part in communications and their relationships; when and where communications take place and their backgrounds; ways of expression and understanding; aims of communications and so on. Language is not the only thing that people exchange in communication; any detail may have its deep meaning both within and beyond languages.
The word context, as it is used by Hall (1976), needs to be understood if one is to appreciate the link between context and communication. He offers an effective means of examining cultural similarities and differences in both perception and communication. He categorizes cultures as being either high or low context, depending on the degree to which meaning comes from the settings or from the words being exchanged.