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Indonesian Culture Communication Patterns

Communication in Indonesia Zanae A. Brown Grand Canyon University: Elements of Intercultural Communication August 31, 2021

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Communication Culture

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A few words to described Indonesian culture: family oriented, committed, indirect, and diverse. Indonesians are one of the largest group of Muslims in the world. They are also one of the most diverse cultures as there are more than 100 ethnic groups that are considered to be Indonesians. With various ethnic groups comes many different varieties of culture meaning language, religious practices, and standards of communication. Excellent communication is the steppingstone of Indonesian culture. Knowing and understanding their cultural communication practices is a tremendous show of respect. In Indonesia intercultural competence is expected in everyone as it is a way to build and maintain social harmony (Weda, Atmowardoyo 2018). Communication in Indonesia Indonesia is made up of various different groups and ethnicities each with a variety of belief systems, values, and most importantly methods and terms for communication. As a whole in Indonesia with everything comes a basis for etiquette, from eating to communication styles. In this instance etiquette is a standard set of rules that is not necessarily written down but still known and understood. Standards for Indonesian etiquette range from not using your left hand for anything other than the bathroom and maintaining a friendly face. Communication etiquette in Indonesia goes a long way. The basics for this are ensuring a greeting is presented when meeting people, actively listening, and even just simply remaining polite. In Indonesia greetings are very important as they are a great way to maintain a show of respect. When greeting an Indonesian, most of the time it is done by way of handshake and people are greeted in order of age, Communication in Indonesia may come across a little different than in most places. One of the best ways to describe them in regard to the way they communicate would be to classify them as a high context culture. Being apart of a high context culture means that most of the

Communication Culture

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communication done within in the group is done nonverbally or indirectly. This means that in most conversations, words are said but there is also the use of hand motions and gestures along with other nonverbal cues. Members of high context cultures rely heavily on nonverbal cues that include facial expressions and even tone of voice to interpret the true meaning of the words being said. With high context cultures even communicating face to face means using nonverbal cues to interpret the meaning of the few words being said (Wurtz 2005). Communication can happen both verbally and nonverbally. In Indonesia communication generally relies on nonverbal things to help correlate what was said and what was meant. Silence plays an important role in communication; it signifies politeness and respect (Evason 2016). In Indonesia the presence of silence in conversation is seen as a good thing, a way to maintain harmony in conversation. It gives the two people talking a chance to actually think about what is being discussed. It is a sign of respect for a person to become silent and pause throughout communicating with another person, it ensures that there is some sort of thought being put into the conversation. Other important aspects of nonverbal communication between Indonesians include maintaining personal space as a means for privacy, eliminating long periods of eye contact, and using only your right hand for gestures within communication. Maintaining harmony is an important factor in communication. Rasa is very important along with harmony, an important cultural value in Indonesian communication culture (Panggabean 2004). Rasa means that a person is able to feel empathy which help to ensure harmony is maintained. Harmony in Indonesia is the base of everything, social harmony included. This means avoiding doing things that will bring attention to yourself. This could include being loud or aggressive in public. Ensuring that harmony is present in conversation explains why Indonesians are hesitant to say no if they do not like something or even express

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their difference of opinion during conversation. Not directly saying no helps to avoid conflict in conversation, instead most of the time Indonesians will try to come to soke sort of compromise. In Indonesia you are held at a higher standard if you are able to keep your composure, you are more respected. Indonesians are naturally indirect communicators. This means that they say things without saying them and tend to They generally communicate with both verbally and nonverbally. The main reason for communicating is to remain polite and avoid conflict. When it comes to indirect communication, in order to understand and interpret this way of communication and why one must first understand the culture itself (Joyce 2012). Indonesian culture is all about maintaining peace, even within communication. Communicating indirectly enables one to be able to say something without saying it, whether the conversating be good or bad. Indonesian communication culture is all about face. Face is another important cultural concept. Maintaining and giving face are a detrimental part of communicating. One’s face reputation has a lot to say about their respect, dignity, and honor status. When saving face is said it is meant that conflict is always completely avoided, and reputation upheld especially in conversation, hence the reasons for being labeled indirect communicators. This applies in not only everyday communication but other social aspects such as business and family as well. Indonesian communication culture has two main concepts: harmony and face. One could say they have a neutral way of communicating. A lot of the way Indonesians communicate has to do with maintaining honor and dignity even with communication, and saving face is the way to go. They do this by communicating indirectly to avoid conflict in conversation, instead of saying exactly what they mean they use gestures to allude to the meaning of their words. This is done by other aspects of communication but nonverbal and verbal. Face is a huge component of

Communication Culture communication. Your face reputation is what others know you as. When Indonesians communicate the goal is to say what needs to be said while maintain the peace within the conversation. Respect is earned through saving face. Ironically enough this can be said about may Asian cultures as well.

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Communication Culture References

Evason, N. (2016). Indonesian culture - communication. Cultural Atlas. Joyce, C. (2012). The impact of direct and indirect communication. Journal of the International Ombudsman Association. Panggabean, H. (2004). Characteristics of Indonesian intercultural sensitivity in multicultural and international work groups. Weda, S., & Atmowardoyo, H. (2018). Cross-cultural competence (ccc) and cross-cultural understanding (ccu) in multicultural education in the efl classroom. The Journal of English as an International Language, 13(2.2), 9-31. Würtz, E. (2005). Intercultural communication on web sites: A cross-cultural analysis of web sites from high-context cultures and low-context cultures. Journal of computer-mediated communication, 11(1), 274-299....