7 Cs for Creating Effective Communication on Synchronous

Online Discussion in Intercultural Communication

Authors:
Ivo Dinasta Yanuar
Graduate Student at Applied Linguistics
Monash University
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The issue of intercultural communication is an interesting topic to be discussed since

intercultural literacy renders a key in the successful communication especially in writing. In
the written communication, many aspects should be considered by people such as spelling,
choice of words, grammar, punctuation, style (genre), ideas, structure (cohesion and coherence).
Moreover, a context in writing has been an integral part of the key success in intercultural
communication in writing. Meanwhile, the 7 Cs are introduced as an identification of the
quality of the communication skill effectiveness in writing such as Completeness, Conciseness,
Clearness, Consideration, Concreteness, Correctness, and Courtesy. However, the 7 Cs are not
equally applicable to all cultures involved in intercultural communication.

Regarding this research topic, I will conduct a relevant project on intercultural communication
in writing by using qualitative research method. I will examine the awarness of 7Cs on
international students’ writing in their response in online classroom discussion in DR. Zhichang
Xu’s class. According to Lincoln and Guba (1985), the criterion to select participants is not to
generalize but maximize information that can be acquired in the study. In order to maximize
knowledge, qualitative sampling is purposive and conducted in sequence. Thus, the ‘subjects’
of this research are international students who come from different cultural background such
as Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Iran, Oman, Bangladesh, China, and Hongkong in Language and
Intercultural Communication class 2015.

After selecting the subject of this reseach, I will gather the data through an interview related
their culture on writing and through an online discussion forum which is conducted in two
weeks before the end of class or in the 10th week of this class with topic “In/appropriate topics
as the issue in intercultural communication”.

Keywords: intercultural communication, online discussion, 7CS

INTRODUCTION

The globalisation has accelerated rapidly which causes a migration and then emerges cultural
exchange. It is because an intercultural communication among the global people who are from
different cultural background since individual is grown with their own culture. Therefore, this
becomes a challenge on the globalisation era when the exposure to different cultures affects
people’s ability to communicate with different people background.

The development of communication technology results an interactive medium which enable

people to interact whereever they want without any restrictions called as internet. Then, from
internet, we can access everything and keep in touch such as through Moodle. Moodle is
introduced as an online media communication to support a discussion among teacher and
learner to understand the material in-depth. In this respect, a discussion through online media
communication forces the participants to be able a literacy skills since it refers to a reading and
writing communication which encompasses synchronous computer-mediated communication,
asynchronous computer-mediated communication as well as the reading and writing of online
documents via the World Wide Web. Therefore, all participants are required a certain
competence of intercultural communication since the participants on Moodle are from different
cultural background.
Regarding this problem, 7 Cs is developed to achieve a goal of communication to avoid a
communication failure. They are Completeness, Conciseness, Clearness, Consideration,
Concreteness, Correctness, and Courtesy. Then, this theory has been catalised by people as a
competence in an effective written communication. However, every participants in
intercultural communication brings different view, norm, behaviour, and the way of thought
which can influence on the process of intercultural communication. Thus, 7 Cs still be a
questionable thing in its implementation whether it is applicable or not for an effective of verbal
intercultural communication.

LITERATURE REVIEW

7Cs Communication

Theory of 7Cs is developed by Professor Scott Cutlip and Allen Center in 1952. The
purpose is to create a high-quality written or verbal communication. They are:

Completeness
 The primary message must include all the necessary facts and information.
 The message should also take into consideration the intended recipient and their
perception of the world.
 You must ensure that the message contains everything the audience needs to understand
what is being communicated.

Thus, the speaker are prerequist to provide all necessary information by indicating 5W1H by
stating or implying in delivering a message. In other words, answering all question pecisely.

Conciseness
 Communicating what you need to express in the least possible words.
 Message does not contain excessive or unnecessary words or information.
 Briefly worded information that emphasizes the key points of the message.
 Reduces both the time and the cost of communications.

It does mean that a concise message is complete although it is not being wordy. Thus, the
speaker should straight to the point and keep it brief by deleting repetition word, filler words
or unnecessary sentence.

Clearness (Clarity)
 Emphasize one specific message at a time, rather than try to communicate too much
information at once.
 Helps improve the understanding of the entire message and enhances its meaning.
 Makes use of specific, concrete, and appropriate words to fit the goal being discussed.

It is not a simple way to deliver an intended meaning as clear as what being the speaker’s
expectation since every people has various unique interpretation and perception associated with
words. However, the speaker should choose a concrete and familiar word to construct an
effective sentence or paragraphs as the core of clarity.

Consideration
 Takes into account the viewpoint of the audience and gears the message towards their
thinking and beliefs.
 This includes their background, education, experience, and attitudes.
 Ensures that what is communicated does not create negative emotions or a bad reception.
In other words, consideration stands for an attitude and the pronoun of “You” instead “I” and
“we”.

Concreteness
 The message is specific and clear, rather than vague or general.
 Ensure the message is not misinterpreted.
 Increases the confidence of the message and builds on the reputation of the message.
 Support your message with relevant facts, figures, and examples.
So, identifying the concreteness is by whether the hearer has a vivid picture of what the
message intended.
Correctness
 Message is syntactically and grammatically correct with the appropriate use of language.
 Makes use of precise and accurate facts and figures.
 Message is exact and well-timed, which can increase the confidence level of the audience.
A correct message can be identified as error-free communication in which the speaker should
check a grammatical error as well as spelling.

Courtesy
 The message shows respect for the recipient and is considered by them to be polite,
friendly, and enthusiastic.
 Message is positive, unbiased, focused at the audience, and uses language that shows
respect.
 Takes into account not only the viewpoints, but also the feelings of the audience.

A courteous communication creates a polite, friendly, and enthusiastic environment and keeps
the reader’s viewpoint in mind as well as empathetic to the hear’s need.

METHODOLOGY

The research on this paper focuses on online intercultural communication or a synchronous

discussion forum on the Moodle with specific topics. Since this paper is about intercultural
communication, the data were collected from this synchronous discussion forum which is
designed two weeks before the end of the class for both local and international students who
are taking Language and Intercultural Communication in 2015 in Monash University. There
were 23 posts from 12 participants who are from Japan, Chile, Indonesia, Iran, Oman,
Bangladesh, Hongkong, and Australia. The topic is about the issue in intercultural
communication “appropriate or inappropriate topics for small talks from their own cultural
perspective”. Moreover, this research uses a qualitative method in analyzing the data and
interview.
 Data analysis

The data of this research is selected to see the 7Cs as the way to build an effective intecultural
communication which consist of Completeness, Conciseness, Clearness, Consideration,
Concreteness, Correctness, and Courtesy.
1. Completeness
The speakers have to provide all necessary information by indicating 5W1H by stating
or implying in delivering a message. In other wod, answering all question precisely. It
reflects on these examples:

PYL (Hongkong) : ...As I had stayed at my friend's house in Korea, her mother would
always ask questions that seemed a little too personal for me that made me feel
uncomfortable. While it may not be the case for the taxi driver, it is quite appropriate
in Korea to ask someone younger than you these questions, because those who are older
are perceived as wiser and their advice is valuable and they also feel a need to 'take
care' of those who are younger. On a different note, I think the best topic for small talk
is something about the setting – weather.....

YZ (Chinese) : In Chinese culture, whether a topic is appropriate or not depends on

what interlocutor we are talking to. If he/she is my close friend, I guess nothing cannot
be talking about.:) While if I talk with a person I first meet, probably hobbies and
hometown will work well. If the interlocutor is an elder, we are more likely to ask about
their health conditions and chat some healthy-care topics. By contrast, we can ask about
study progress with kids or the youngers. As for inappropriate topics, it may vary from
person to person. Like talking about ages, ....

CL (Chile) : In Chile, it depends on the context. If the small talks are among friends
“real friends” you can talk about everything (for example: boyfriends, girlfriends, sex,
parents, children, husband, wife, family, neighbours, studies, work, etc). In this kind of
conversation there are no inappropriate topics as long as all members listen with respect
and give ‘mature’ opinions. However, if it is a small talk among acquaintances such as
classmates, workmates, parents’ meeting, etc. the conversation will be limited by
general topics with a common interest to all members....
 FA (Bangladesh) : In Bangladesh, there is a difference among gender in relation to
small talks. Some examples are given below:
When two girls are talking their topics are going to be issues like makeup, cosmetics,
their favorite movies and movie stars. However, it is very inappropriate to discuss these
matters with the elder women as they do not feel much comfortable. The elder women
on the other hand discuss on clothes, neighbors, jewelery and the episodes of television
serials. On contrary, these topics are very inappropriate for men and boys to discuss...

On the examples above, the participants showed the awareness of completeness. They
sent the messages containings all informations based on the topics, in/appropriate
topics in intercultural communication. In other words, the speakers answer the question
precisely. In this respect, an incomplete reply is likely to be unfavourable in a
communication since it becomes a bad image for the writer. Being careless by not
answering all the question should be avoided for all participants to make a successful
communication. Thus, giving a satisfactory answer which should also includes what,
where, when, why, who, and how will attract another participants in engaging a
communication.

2. Conciseness
A writing should be concise or without unnecessary words, phrases, and expressions..
For example:

YZ (Chinese) : As for inappropriate topics, it may vary from person to person. Like
talking about ages, it may be fine to most teenagers or elders, but try not to ask a lady
who looks aged 30-50.:)...

ZX (Hongkong) : Yes, for those mature age friends with children, talking about children
is also a common topic in my culture....

HA (Oman) : I do agree with you Carolina. Context is very important in determining

the type of talk. For example, when I am with me my close friends, we talk comfortably
about anything and we share all personal experiences......
 CL (Chile) : In Chile, it depends on the context. If the small talks are among friends
“real friends” you can talk about everything .......

FA (Bangladesh) : In Bangladesh, there is a difference among gender in relation to

small talks. Some examples are given below: When two girls are talking their topics
are going to be issues like makeup.......

The examples above show us that how the participants tried to be concise in their
writing response. They avoid a repetition, wordy expession or filler words and phrases
such as “I think”, “I had an experience or interesting topic”, “I remember” so that the
reader can read effectively and effeciently. Giving briefly worded information will be
a benefit for the writer since the readers may be insulting if they spend much time to
read.

3. Clearness
Clearness or clarity helps the writer to achieve their goal in making a clear vision in
their writing. Such clarity is reflected in these examples:

FA (Bangladesh): In Bangladesh, there is a difference among gender in relation to small

talks. Some examples are given below: When two girls are talking their topics are going
to be issues like makeup, cosmetics, their favorite movies and movie stars. However, it
is very inappropriate to discuss...

CA (Chile) : In Chile, it depends on the context. If the small talks are among friends
“real friends” you can talk about everything (for example: boyfriends, girlfriends, sex,
parents, children, husband, wife, family, neighbours, studies, work, etc). In this kind of
conversation there are no inappropriate topics as long as all members listen with respect
and give ‘mature’ opinions. However, if it is a small talk among acquaintances such as
classmates, workmates, parents’ meeting, etc...

ZX (Chinese) : Yes, for those mature age friends with children, talking about children
is also a common topic in my culture. The common topics about children would be,
what schools they go to, what extracurricular activities they enjoy doing,......
 JL (Hongkong) : I remember when I attended an international student forum, one of the
panelist (Caucasian-Australian) talked about her experience living in Korea. She said
how she felt extremely uncomfortable when the taxi drivers started asking personal
questions such as "how old are you?" "Do you have kids?" etc...

PY (Hongkong) : I had an interesting talk with a Filipino friend who grew up in

Australia. She mentioned how when she went back to the Philippines, she was offended
and annoyed with how her relatives kept commenting on her body with remarks such
as 'you're a little fat', 'you should lose some weight' and 'you have a pretty face, but
you're big'...

YZ (Chinese) : In Chinese culture, whether a topic is appropriate or not depends on

what interlocutor we are talking to. If he/she is my close friend, I guess nothing cannot
be talking about.:). While if I talk with a person I first meet, probably hobbies and
hometown will work well. If the interlocutor is an elder, we are more likely to ask about
their health conditions and chat some healthy-care topics. By contrast, we can ask about
study progress with kids or the youngers...

From the examples above, we can see that the participants attempt to be clear in
delivering their ideas. There are no ambiguous sentences and so easy to be read,
followed, and digested so that the participants are happy to read his/her writing. The
transition such as “On contrary”, “By contrast”, “However”, and “Meanwhile” in their
writing also become one of technic to help the reader understand the intended meaning
of the writer as clear as interprete what being the writer’s expectation since different
people brings different knowledge or perception from their own culture. Moreover, the
participants use the familiar word such as “use’” instead of “utilize” and appropriate
words to construct the effective sentence and paragraph which more help the reader to
fit the purpose being discussed. So, the reader will catch the clear vision or image on
his/her writing easily.

4. Consideration
Consideration in a communication means we should focus on “you” instead of “I” or
“we” or “we” instead of “I” and “you” so that it shows how respectful we are toward
their emotion or benefit. Furthemore, using positive words in a writing is a
consideration. We can see from these examples:
 ZX (Chinese) : This is interesting, Sara ... interculturally. When I was in Beijing, as far
as conversations with taxi drivers are concerned, we could always start by talking about
the traffic jams, and how it was good in the good old days, and then the topic would
shift to air pollution, once again, how clear the sky was in the good old days would be
talked about ... political matters could be talked about, but then people would usually
complain about corruptions

HA (Oman) : I do agree with you Carolina. Context is very important in determining

the type of talk. For example, when I am with me my close friends, we talk comfortably
about anything and we share all personal experiences

FA (Bangladesh) : I absolutely agree with you. However, the other thing that I have
notices social media has become a way of expressing feelings, protesting and promoting
. For instance, five years ago it was difficult for a Bangladeshi parent to find out if their
children are happy or upset in abroad. But now they can understand the feelings in five
minutes by watching the words like "feeling happy", "feeling disappointed" etc on face
book. A persons feelings can be interpreted through the posts they share.

Chun Li (Chinese) : I totally agree with you Jennifer, and I think this may be because
the collective society has changed into individual society somewhat nowadays:).

The examples above show us how the participants try to implement a consideration.
The use of “we” indicates that the writer consider their message toward the audiences’
thinking, belief, and viewpoint. Interestingly, they are aware on the use of positive
expression since there are no negative expression in their response i.g. annoy, do not,
cannot, won’t, contrary, contast, no, not, offended, older, elder, and shocked.

5. Concreteness
A concrete writing shows the reader what is happening. The message is specific and
clear, rather than vague or general. Then, it requires us to ensure whether the message
is misinterprete or not as concrete as we support the message with factual information
and example. It can be seen in these examples:
MY (Japanese) : In Japan, many kinds of divination are popular and many people
especially young females like talking about it. For example, star sign divination, there
are affinities between each star signs and girls concern about affinity with someone they
like...

PYL (Hongkong) : I had a similar experience in Korea as well Jennifer :) As I had

stayed at my friend's house in Korea, her mother would always ask questions that
seemed a little too personal for me that made me feel uncomfortable...

FA (Bangladesh) : I absolutely agree with you. However, the other thing that I have
notices social media has become a way of expressing feelings, protesting and promoting
. For instance, five years ago it was difficult for a Bangladeshi parent to find out if their
children are happy or upset in abroad..

LAZ (Indonesian) : In Javanese culture (the culture running in my hometown), the

appropriate topics for small talks depend on the person whom we are talking to as well
as the age. For example, when I meet my friends we usually discuss about the academic
things and others..

YZ (Chinese) : In Chinese culture, whether a topic is appropriate or not depends on

what interlocutor we are talking to. If he/she is my close friend, I guess nothing cannot
be talking about.:)....

JDL (Hongkong) : .... I remember when I attended an international student forum, one
of the panelist (Caucasian-Australian) talked about her experience living in Korea........

ZX (Chinese) : Now people engage in online communication a lot, such as facebook,

twitter, Wechat, What'sapp etc. it seems that topics vary a lot ... people 'share' food pics,
where they've had their holidays ....

HA (Oman) : I do agree with you Carolina. Context is very important in determining

the type of talk. For example, when I am with me my close friends, we talk comfortably
about anything and we share all personal experiences...
 CL (Chile) : In Chile, it depends on the context. If the small talks are among friends
“real friends” you can talk about everything (for example: boyfriends, girlfriends, sex,
parents, children, husband, wife, family, neighbours, studies, work, etc). In this kind of
conversation there are no inappropriate topics as long as all members listen with respect
and give ‘mature’ opinions...

IY (Indonesian) : I had a topic conversation with my western friend. It is about a level

education for a mother. In Indonesia, a mom no needs to continue her study until Phd
except she will be a carrier woman and seek for a good job........

SA (Iran) : In my country these days talking about political matters is very frequent in
every gathering with almost all age range......

The participants raised an issue about the concreteness in writing as an effective way
to achieve a goal of intercultural communication since they provided an evidence or
example based on their experience. From the example above, it is clear that they
provided a factual information about their own culture. It can be their experience or
their knowledge about their culture so that the reader believe that their writing more
concrete and authentic. Furthermore, their response also draw a vivid picture of what
being intended.

6. Correctness
A concrete writing should use the appropriate language syntactically and grammatically
as well as punctuation. It can be identified as non-error communication to avoid a
miscommunication between the parties. It reflects on these examples:

ZX (Chinese) : Yes, for those mature age friends with children, talking about children
is also a common topic in my culture.......

MY (Japan) : In Japan, many kinds of divination are popular and many people
especially young females like talking about it........

In this respect, there are only two of those participants from different cultural
background who are really aware on a grammatical function and punctuation as one of
 stategies in 7 Cs. Although it does not really influence on communicated message, the
writer will lose their credibility on the readers if they are not aware on corectness.

7. Courtesy.

To enhance the courtesy in a witing response, the writer should take into account how

to be respect, polite, and friendly to the readers. For example:

Cli (Chinese) : I totally agree with you Jennifer, and I think this may be because............

LAZ (Indonesian) : I agree with you Mr Marc! I also 'declare' myself as so called digital

citizen one. However, one thing that we concern is when people are engaging and

feeling much more comfortable to 'speak out' ..............

JDL (Hongkong) : I agree Fariah! In Chinese culture too, expressing of feelings are

quite awkward, if not inappropriate.......

FA (Bangladesh) : I absolutely agree with you. However, the other thing that I have

notices social media has become a way of expressing feelings, protesting and

promoting .......

HA (Oman) : I do agree with you Carolina. Context is very important in determining

the type of talk.......

ZX (Chinese) : It's super interesting to raise the issue of gender-based topics.........

Yes, topics vary from 'friends/real friends' to acquaintances ... among intimate friends,

there's nothing they couldn't talk about, but among acquaintances, some general topics

of common interest appear to be more appropriate.

 The examples above show us how they attempt to be appeciative and omit the

expression which can irritate the readers. The purpose is to strengthen the relationship

since a sentence can hurt the reader coincidentally.

Implication for English Teaching Learning

This research on 7 Cs on online communication has implication for English writing teaching
learning since English writing is the most difficult part in English teaching learning. Using
English as the medium in intercultural communication is not easy as we speak in our mother
tongue because English brings its own culture where it is also as a place of different culture
meets. Moreover, an English writing is only a text without intonation which emerges a conflict
among the participants of different culture. Therefore, English learners will be able to make an
effective intercultural communication while they are trying to build their positive image to
other people. In addition, the English learners are also able to negotiate through English written
communication.

Moreover, it also has a pedagogical implication for teachers to design a Synchronous Online
Discussion for international students. So, both teacher and student will be more aware on
cultural differences and increase a critical thinking skill.

CONCLUSION

This research found that the participants of Chinese culture are the most dominan in all
categories of 7Cs in this data compared with other cultures. It shows that they are able to build
an effective intercultural communication by using this competence. However, the result of
interview shows that other cultures are more aware on spoken communication rather than
written communication in which there is no strict rule in writing for discussion forum except a
formal letter such as a special consideration letter for teacher. Thus, this 7Cs can be applicable
for certain cultures but not for all cultures. Moreover, this research has implication on building
an awareness of intercultural written communication competence such as 7Cs and a
pedagogical implication for teachers to build this online mediated-communication in teaching
learning.
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