Navigating Pragmatic Barriers: Cross-cultural Communication Challenges between High-context and Low-context Cultures

In cross-cultural communication, different cultures’ ways of interpretations of information can result in significant communication barriers. The disparities between high-context cultures, exemplified by Chinese, and low-context cultures, exemplified by English, are typically evident in the context of language use rather than the surface meaning of words. The same words can be interpreted differently across cultural contexts, leading to frequent misunderstandings. These communication misunderstandings can be categorized into three situations: different approaches to handling ambiguous language, the use of referential and non-referential language in different cultures. By deeply analyzing and comparing the pragmatic manifestations of high-context and low-context cultures in these aspects, it is evident that cross-cultural communication problems often stem from distinct cultural backgrounds and language habits. Solving these problems requires not only understanding the words themselves but also deeply grasping the underlying cultural logic and practices.