MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY NGUYEN TONG HUONG TRA 443020 LOW AND HIGH CONTEXT CULTURES: A CROSS - CULTURAL COMPARISON IN FAMILY GRADUATION PAPER Hanoi-2023 MINISTRY OF JUSTICE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HANOI LAW UNIVERSITY NGUYEN TONG HUONG TRA 443020 LOW AND HIGH CONTEXT CULTURES: A CROSS - CULTURAL COMPARISON IN FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN AMERICANS AND VIETNAMESE SUPERVISOR Nguyen Thi Hong Thu, MA. Hanoi-2023 DECLARATIONS I hereby state that I am Nguyen Tong Huong Tra, class 4430, being a candidate for the degree of Bachelor of Arts accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Bachelor’s Graduation Paper deposited in the library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library should be accessible for the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the librarian for the care, loan or reproduction of the paper. Supervisor Student Nguyen Thi Hong Thu Nguyen Tong Huong Tra April 04", 2023 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation for my wonderful Supervisor, Ms.
Nguyen Thi Hong Thu M., for her enormous support towards my research with great patience, devotion, valued advice, profound insight, and experience. I have completed all the various obstacles and finished this thesis thanks to her constant encouragement throughout the writing process. Besides my supervisor, my sincere thanks go to all the Members of the Thesis Committee, and the teachers who work hard and fair to evaluate this research of mine to give perceptive comments and questions, as well as provide me with detailed feedback to help my future studies. I would also like to extend my gratitude to all the administrative personnel and staff members of Hanoi Law University and particularly the Department of English for their generous assistance and services.
Last but not least, I am particularly grateful for my family members and close friends who have been supportive and caring throughout the journey with their unconditional love and kindness. il ABSTRACTS In the process of globalization, culture plays an important role in people’s lives. This process has made cross — cultural a research topic that attracts many scholars. The purpose of this paper is to clarify similarities and differences in low and high — context cultures and the perception of the Vietnamese and American people, namely in the family relationship.
To achieve that objective, through qualitative and quantitative methods, information, and data were obtained from 101 participants, including Americans and Vietnamese. The questionnaire was mainly used to obtain analytical information showing differences between two low and high — context cultures. According to the results, with a low context culture, in family relationships, Americans experience fewer misunderstandings and have a simpler way of communicating. Meanwhile, in a culture with a high context, Vietnamese people need ingenuity and understanding in family communication.
In addition, the results of the interview express the perception of participants in this issue. In the future, the difference between low and high — context cultures in family relationships should be further analyzed to limit communication problems. Moreover, the information to behave in accordance with each cultural context not only to avoid misunderstandings but also to contribute to stronger family relationships. Keywords: Cultural context, cross — cultural communication, low — context culture, high — context culture, family relationships il TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Declarations Acknowledgements il Abstracts iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations List offigures/tables Vĩ INTRODUCTION r%œe CHAPTER 1: THEORITICAL BACKGROUND 1.
Definition of culture 1. Manifestations of culture 1. Cross — cultural communication l6 1. High — and low — context culture 18 1.
High — context culture 20 1. Definition of high — context culture 20 1. Characteristics of high — context culture 20 1. Low — context culture 22 1.
Definition of low — context culture 22 1. Characteristics of low — context culture 23 1,5. Theories of family relationships 24 1. Definition of family 24 1.
Theories of family relationships 25 1. Summary 28 iv CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 29 2. Summary 32 CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 33 3. Comparison of family relationships between Americans and 33 Vietnamese 3.
Perception of participants of the difficulty in intercultural 44 communication and recommendations 3. Perception of participants of the difficulty in intercultural 44 communication 3. Recommendations of participants 47 3. Discuss similarities and differences in family relationships of 48 two cultural contexts 3.
Discuss the perceptions and solutions proposed of the 51 participants 3. Summary 52 CHAPTER 4: RECOMMENDATIONS 53 4. Recommendations for people from low — context culture 53 4. Recommendations for people from high — context culture 54 4.
Summary 55 CONCLUSION 56 REFERENCES APPENDICES Appendix I: The survey questionnaire Appendix II: Transcription of interview LIST OF TABLES Table 1. The association between family members in America and Vietnam 33 Table 2. Responsibility between family members in America and Vietnam_ 36 Table 3. Confrontation between family members in America and Vietnam 38 Table 4.
Communication between family members in America and Vietnam 39 Table 5. Improvisation between family members in America and Vietnam 43 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Manifestation of Culture at Different Levels of Depth 10 Figure 2. Diagram comes from Lloyd E.
Kwast’s article Understanding Culture 12 Figure 3. The frequency of facing communication difficulties in the context of participant culture 45 Figure 4. Differential assessment of cultural contexts is a cause of conflict in presonal 46 vi INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale for the study At the present time, issues of cross — cultural occupy the interest of not only many researchers but also people all over the world.
It is straightforward that, people from different countries tend to communicate in different ways, especially in family relationships. These differences are more related to different communication cultures than other differences (Hall (1976)). It is most obvious that the low and high culture context cultures will have similarities and differences in communication in the family. This can hinder communication as well as human life if not studied and understood.
Being aware of these differences usually leads to better comprehension, fewer misunderstandings and mutual respect. Regarding culture, it is ingrained in human life since it can impact all aspects of life. According to Hall (1976), communication in culture is based on a continuum from high to low context!. “High — context people tend to get intolerant and irritated when low — context people urge giving them the information they do not need.
Contrarily, low — context people feel lost when high — context people do not provide enough information’”. In a cross — cultural situation, the difference would be intensely revealed because there is an extensive gap between one culture and another. Communication, culture, and the correlation between them have become a topic of great interest to many researchers. Among them, Trudgill (1983), Richards et al.
(1985, 1992), Saville — Troike (1986, 1996), Ting — Toomey (1988, 2005), Blommaert (1991), Chick (1996), Samovar & Porter (2001), Gibson (2002), Quang (2002, 2003), Thomson (2003), Wierzbicka (2003) are just a few popular names. Several theoretical models have been ! Hall, E. Hidden differences: Doing business with the Japanese Garden City, New York: Doubleday. | devised to apprehend how culture impacts communication.
Two of the most frequently cited theoretical frameworks in communication are Hofstede’s cultural dimensions? (1980, 2001) and Hall’s context theory* (1976, 1990). In Hall’s context theory, different cultures have various ways of communicating; if some are communicated implicitly (high — context culture), others are communicated explicitly (low — context culture). The cultural context of individuals influences how well they can comprehend messages (Hall and Hall 1990, p. In fact, studies on low — context culture and high — context culture in the comparison of family relationships still have much to explore.
Thus, for different cultures, the communication context is different. In countries like the US, Canada, Switzerland, communication is not affected by context, they directly understand and communicate the problem they need to discuss. Meanwhile, in countries like Japan, Vietnam, Greece. If the speaker does not understand the context, the speaker will have inappropriate responses.
For example, when parents in these countries want to remind their children about their studies, they rarely say it directly, but through a story about a certain brilliant relative, with great admiration. Children must understand that their parents are comparing them to those people and reminding them to study hard to achieve better results. The main point of this article focuses on comparing the differences in family relationships of two countries representing two cultures with different contexts, namely the US and Vietnam. The issue related to the cultural context has been mentioned a lot, but there is not much research related to the family scope, especially in these two countries.
America is a culture of low — context, this is a country with cultural diversity, 3 Hofstede, G. Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. SAGE Publications, Incorporated. Culture ’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations.
Understanding Cultural Differences: Germans, French and Americans. ethnicity, known worldwide for its advancement in thought. Meanwhile, Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country, although it has been influenced by culture in the process of becoming a colony of many countries (China, Japan, France) but still has bold characteristics of a high — context culture. Aims of the study 2.
Overall purpose In this thesis, the discussion revolves around the issue of intercultural communication in the family relationship between Vietnamese and Americans. In particular, the study will compare and contrast these two low and high — cultural contexts to find out the similarities and differences in the family relations of the two cultures. The overall aim of the study is that people of two cultures can better understand the culture in which they live and accept the differences of the culture other than their origin. Specific aims To achieve the overall purpose, the study is aimed: Firstly, find out the similarities and different manifestations in the family relationship of the two participants through the survey based on the criteria that are said to be characteristic of the low and high cultures contexts.
Namely, what methods do they use to communicate? Does context affect how family members communicate and think? These conclusions were drawn from a field survey with American and Vietnamese participants. Second, in the next section, the article analyzes the perceptions of Americans and Vietnamese about the difficulties they think they may face when in a personal relationship. At the same time, assess the level of awareness and solutions to overcome those difficulties. The author will give reasons to explain the difference in expression of the two cultural contexts, as well as the level of awareness of survey participants on this issue.
Finally, the article will offer some solutions to deal with the characteristics of each cultural context. These are reminders to help Vietnamese and American people have better improvements in family relationships, or knowledge if they meet or become a family member of a cultural context other than their origin. Research questions Low — context culture and high — context culture are not absolutely separate from each other. This is proven when pointing out the similarities and grounded through the survey using quantitative methods.
From the similarities, the author highlights the characteristics of each cultural context. How cultural context affects how family members communicate, how people treat each other and their thoughts. The research aims to answer the following research questions: 1. In terms of low and high — context cultures, what are the differences in family relationships between Americans and Vietnamese? 2.
What is the perception of Americans and Vietnamese of the difficulty in intercultural communication between low and high contexts and recommendations? 4. Scope of the study This study involved 101 participants, including 26 Americans and 75 Vietnamese. The participants were of different ages, genders and occupations, as well as from different cities of the two countries.