"'Intermediate-Level' Communication: A Model of Communication for Multiple Cultures"
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About the AuthorTravis Daniel Griffin attended New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and graduated with a B.S. in Technical Communication in May of 2013. Prior to receiving his degree, Mr. Griffin spent ten years working in an international company, addressing the inherent challenges associated with working with multiple cultures. After receiving his degree, Mr. Griffin and his wife moved to Austin, Texas, where he accepted employment h a growing social media management software company. Mr. Griffin works daily with customers from around the world who use his company's software to manage relationships built through social media. Contents |
DiscussionWith the goal of effectively communicating with multiple cultures in mind, the exploration showed a great deal of promise for the “Intermediate-Level” model. The “Western” study group reported no difference between the level of understanding in the control page and the modified research page. These responses indicate that incorporating the model had little to no impact on the overall comprehension level of the “Western” readers. The qualitative results show that most of the group didn’t feel that adding more text into the page with the use of the model had a significant impact. In fact, readers actually suggested that there needed to be more content on the page. This observation suggests that the model does not patronize or trivialize the English level of Western speakers. It also suggests that, when writing documents for unknown audiences, readers from Low-Context societies are not offended or turned-off by the addition of a model of communication designed to reach out to people from High-Context cultures. This successful addition and acceptance of higher-context writing by low-context audiences was a major goal of the project and showed that the “Intermediate-Level” model has promise. There was also evidence that adding more features to the model could have some promise. The results show evidence that readers could be given more content in a document without compromising the delivery of the message in the document. While technical writing , especially for “Low-Context” cultures is often driven to simplify text, explaining words, simplifying sentences instead of content, and use of more formal English may actually add substance to the overall message. The amount of time that people spent on the pages suggest that applying the model can cause readers to spend more time with the content, thereby giving the writer more time with the reader to convey important messages. The results from the Eastern Study group point to the prospect that the model had some level of effectiveness in conveying higher levels of comprehension in readers from High-Context cultures. Those that read the control group felt as if there was not enough content on the pages to facilitate higher levels of understanding. From those that read the research page, some still found there was a lack of trust built between writer and reader, but felt like they understood the pages a better than those that read the control page. The results from the Eastern group also show evidence that there was nothing that was overly misleading about the test model; unless the reader’s English level was too low. Trying to find the correct amount of content may play an important role in establishing trust between the writer and the reader. However, as Wang and Wang suggest in their study of online communication classes, there may be a lack of non-verbal cues necessary for Eastern readers to comprehend some of the concepts being communicated (2012). The “Intermediate-Level” model being tested in this study lacked graphics; this suggests that the model could benefit from the inclusion of visual elements. Visual elements may augment the text on the page and help the reader comprehend more about the page being read and help build the desired trust between writer and reader. The results of this study suggest that construction of a model that steers away from the traditional practice of writing specifically for a High-Context society has some merit in international/intercultural communication. Part of the goal for the Intermediate-Level model of communication is to allow writers the potential to open communication in a respectful and meaningful way with High-Context societies, without completely abandoning Low-Context writing styles or practices in communication with High-Context societies. Use of a model that bridges the gap between a Low and High Content cultures could allow writers the opportunity to open communication between multiple cultures without the initial need to understand the nuances and complexity involved with communicating with a specific culture. Implications for the Field of Technical Communication Audience analysis has always been a major factor of technical communication (Andrews, 2001). With the advent of an interconnected world, and electronic documents that can be seen by readers from more than one nation, it has become increasingly important to tailor documents for multiple audiences. This suggests a need to have a Lingua Franca within an organization to assist writers when preparing documents. By establishing linguistic guidelines, as opposed to simply having format guidelines, it can give writers the tools necessary to efficiently write documents that conform to a desired contextual format. When applying this technique to web documents, great care should still be taken. The Neilson and Norman group, a private consulting group dedicated to helping companies and organizations create excellent user experiences on the internet and in the workplace, report that most people do not read webpages so much as they scan them (Neilson, 1997). If the Intermediate-level model was applied to web documents, it would best to apply it at pages deeper within the website, at a point when reader has committed to finding specific information within the website. The addition of concepts from ESP and ESL teaching could be beneficial to current technical communication programs. In countries like China that have already developed technical communication programs in their universities, ESP training is a necessity (Ping & Weiping, 2005). Because technical communicators are often put into a position where they communicate with other technical communicators, understanding the concepts being taught in ESP programs could assist in facilitating effective communication across international borders. Collaboration between Eastern and Western technical communication programs could further enhance the development of a new model of communication that is tailored to a broader international audience. It may also be beneficial to conduct a literature review of documents written in English authored by writers from Eastern universities. This would allow Western writers to gain an understanding of the work being produced by their peers in other countries. |