AN EXAMPLE OF HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY What is the difference between a low-context culture and a high-context culture? Give an example of a country that is an example of each type, and provide evidence for your answer.

ANSWER E. Hall has suggested the concept of high and low context as a way of understanding different cultural orientations. In a low-context culture, messages are explicit; words carry most of the information in communication. In a high-context culture, less information is contained in the verbal part of a message. Much more information resides in the context of communication, including the background, associations, and basic values of the communicators. In general, high-context cultures function with much less legal paperwork than is deemed essential in low-context cultures. Japan, Saudi Arabia, and other high-context cultures place a great deal of emphasis on a person's values and position or place in society. In such cultures, a business loan is more likely to be based on who you are than on formal analysis of pro forma financial documents. In a lowcontext culture such as the United States, Switzerland, or Germany, deals are made with much less information about the character, the back-ground, and the values of the participants. Much more reliance is placed on the words and numbers in the loan application. In a high-context culture, a person's word is his or her bond. There is less need to anticipate contingencies and provide for external legal sanctions because the culture emphasizes obligations and trust as important values. In these cultures, shared feelings of obligation and honor take the place of impersonal legal sanctions. This helps explain the importance of long and protracted negotiations that never seem to "get to the point." Part of the purpose of negotiating for a person from a high-context culture is to get to know the potential