Introduction to Writing for Global Audiences

In Chapter 2 of this text, I introduced you to the term genre. Remember a genre is a specific kind of document that carries with it a specific set of characteristics. All genres are created according to the cultural values and systems of the society in which they are produced. The reason that societies create genres, systems, and values according to their culture is in efforts to reduce uncertainty by providing and creating institutions, networks, and documents that all citizens can learn to understand and therefore reproduce themselves for various means of communication. With this discussion in mind, it is important to note that each culture will have different legal, economic, and social systems in place that may not reflect formal national boundaries. For example, debates still exist about who controls what shoreline.

As you can imagine from the discussion above, such differences between cultures can make any kind of communication between different cultures and nations complex and even problematic. In order to help ease these concerns, and make communication between different cultures easier, it’s helpful to know what culture is, and how to identify cultural differences. This chapter will help you to understand the role of culture in communication so that you can apply it to real-life situations you may have in the workplace.