TON DUC THANG UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
001174 – INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
CHAPTER 5
Cultural Patterns and Communication:
Taxonomies
Designed by Vu Cong Danh
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Taxonomies
HALL'S HIGH- AND LOW-CONTEXT
CULTURAL TAXONOMY
1. Use of covert and overt messages
2. Importance of ingroups and outgroups
3. Orientation to time
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HIGH-CONTEXT V.S. LOW-CONTEXT
• High-context: presumed meaning through physical
setting, (beliefs, values, norms, social practices)
• Low-context: explicit information
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Taxonomies
USE OF COVERT AND OVERT MESSAGES
• High-context messages covert
• Low-context messages overt
• Depending on situation, background knowledge
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Taxonomies
IMPORTANCE OF INGROUPS AND
OUTGROUPS
In high-context cultures:
• Much meaning embedded in rules, rituals
• Strong, deep commitment between people
Easy to recognize members of groups
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ORIENTATION TO TIME
• High-context Time open & flexible
• Low-context Time highly organized
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HOFSTEDE'S CULTURAL TAXONOMY
• Power distance
• Uncertainty avoidance
• Individualism v.s. collectivism
• Masculinity v.s. femininity
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HOFSTEDE'S CULTURAL TAXONOMY
• Long-term v.s. short-term time orientation
• Indulgence v.s. restraint
• Monumentalism v.s. self-effacement
• Comparing Hofstede's dimensions
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Taxonomies
POWER DISTANCE
• Degree of unequally distributed power
• Decisions to be challenged
• Small power distance: Austria,
Denmark, New Zealand, etc.
• Large power distance: Malaysia,
Guatemala, Japan, etc.
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Taxonomies
UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE
• Ambiguity tolerance
• Attitude toward changes
• Low uncertainty avoidance: Denmark, Jamaica,
Ireland, Singapore, etc.
• High uncertainty avoidance: Greece, Guatemala,
Portugal, Uruguay, etc.
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INDIVIDUALISM v.s. COLLECTIVISM
• Degree of individual autonomy
• Independence or conforming
• Highly individualistic: Austria, Belgium, the
Netherlands, the U.S., etc.
• Highly collectivist: Guatemala, Indonesia, Pakistan,
West Africa, etc.
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MASCULINITY v.s. FEMININITY
• Cultural values
• Masculine behaviors: assertiveness, acquisition of wealth
• Feminine behaviors: caring for others
• Masculinity: Austria, Italy, Japan, Mexico, etc.
• Femininity: Chile, Portugal, Sweden, Thailand, etc.
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LONG-TERM v.s. SHORT-TERM
TIME ORIENTATION
• Point of reference about life and work
• Long-term: persistence, thriftiness, humility
• Short-term: expectation of quick results
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INDULGENCE v.s. RESTRAINT
• Indulgence: pleasure, enjoyment, spending,
consumption, etc.
• Restraint: control of hedonistic gratifications, pleasures
and enjoyment
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MONUMENTALISM v.s. SELF-EFFACEMENT
• Stability v.s. change
• Monumentalism: pride, stability, resolution
• Self-effacement: humility, flexibility, comfortability with
paradoxes and inconsistencies
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Taxonomies
COMPARING HOFSTEDE'S DIMENSIONS
• Look at table 5.2 (pp. 121 – 123)
• Compare Vietnam with other countries
• Discuss the similarities & differences
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THE GLOBE CULTURAL TAXONOMY
G = Global
L = Leadership
O = Organizational
B = Behavior
E = Effectiveness
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THE GLOBE CULTURAL TAXONOMY
• Power distance
• Uncertainty avoidance
• In-group collectivism
• Institutional collectivism
• Gender egalitarianism
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THE GLOBE CULTURAL TAXONOMY
• Assertiveness
• Performance orientation
• Future orientation
• Humane orientation
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COMPARING THE GLOBE DIMENSIONS
GLOBE clarifies cultural patterns:
• Separate cultural practices and values
• Explain complex nature of cultural patterns
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Taxonomies
CULTURAL TAXONOMIES AND
INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCE
• Cultures vary systematically in choices about solutions
to basic human problems
• Taxonomies: lenses through which cultural variations
can be understood and appreciated
• Taxonomies help use culture-specific knowledge to
improve intercultural competence
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HOMEWORK
Read the assigned materials :
[3] Pages: 86 – 95, 120 – 122
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