1. The concept I found very interesting in chapter 5 is communication contexts. A high communication context means, “that less of the meaning needs to be explicitly stated” (90). On the other hand, a low communication context means, “meanings need to be explicitly communicated” (91). Basically, in a high context situation, the real meaning of the message is hidden somewhere in the actual message, and the receiver has to acknowledge that on their own. In a low context situation, the real meaning of the message is transparent. In the Western culture, communication is leaning towards low context and people like to be directly informed without any hidden messages. In the other hand, in the Eastern culture, communication pattern is definitely more high context. The reason is that, being too direct is consider rude in the Eastern culture, therefore, people communicate in a much more indirect way to avoid rudeness and embarrassment.
Your example between Western and Eastern culture is clearly stated and I agree that Western culture tends to be direct, especially to avoid misunderstandings. In Eastern culture as well as other cultures, such as the Arabic culture, being direct is considered both disrespectful and arrogant. In high communication context, the culture speaks for itself and people within the culture have to communicate in a way where they are clear in their message. In high context communication, there is room to have the message interpreted in any way. For example, an individual might use body language, non-verbal language, or imply something without actually stating the message. However, in low context communication, there is no room to misinterpret the message because it has been pronounced word by word. It was interesting to read that individuals can perform both low and high communication context at given times. Great Job!
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