Looking Out/Looking In Fourteenth Edition 5 Language CHAPTER TOPICS Language Is Symbolic Understandings and Misunderstandings The Impact of Language Gender and Language Culture and Language

2 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Language Is Symbolic The Natural World Smoke means something is burning A fever means someone is ill Language Is Symbolic Connection between words and the ideas or things they represent is arbitrary

3 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Understanding and Misunderstanding Understanding Words Semantic rules “Bikes” are for riding and “books” are for reading Equivocation Statements that have more than one commonly accepted definition Equivocal language: Often words have multiple meanings and if the context isn’t clear than mistaken and sometimes embarrassing misunderstandings can occur

4 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Understanding and Misunderstanding Relative Language Words that gain their meaning by comparison Static Evaluation Statements that contain or imply the word is lead to mistaken assumptions about people

5 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Understandings and Misunderstandings Abstraction Is vague in nature Behavioral language is specific to things people do or say Abstraction Ladder Highly abstract language can lead to blanket judgments Figure 5.1

6 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Understandings and Misunderstandings Syntactic Rules Govern the grammar of language Pragmatic Rules Govern the way speech works in everyday interaction Communication as a cooperative game Coordination

7 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Understandings and Misunderstandings Pragmatic Rules Some rules shared by most people in a culture People in their own individual relationships create their own sets of rules

8 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE The Impact of Language Naming and Identity Names are more than just a simple means of identification They shape the way others think of us They shape the way we view ourselves They shape the way we act They are reflection of our culture, background, family history, etc…

9 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE The Impact of Language Affiliation Speech can build and demonstrate solidarity with others Convergence The process of adapting one’s speech style to match others Divergence Speaking in a way that emphasizes one’s differences from others

10 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE The Impact of Language Powerless Language Hedges Hesitations Intensifiers Polite forms Tag questions Disclaimers Rising inflections

11 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE The Impact of Language Powerless Language Powerful speech is culturally based Language that is too powerful may intimidate In some situations, polite forms of speech can enhance effectiveness

12 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE The Impact of Language Disruptive language Three linguistic habits to avoid Fact-Opinion Confusion Fact-Inference Confusion Emotive Language

13 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE The Impact of Language Language of Responsibility “It” Statements “But” Statements “I” and “You” Language “We” Language

14 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Gender and Language Content Female friends spent more time discussing: Relationship problems, family, health Male friends spent more time discussing: Current events, music, sports, business These differences can lead to frustration when men and women try to converse with one another

15 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Gender and Language Reasons for Communicating Men and women use language to build and maintain social relationships How men and women accomplish these goals is different Men more likely to make conversation fun, use it to problem-solve and spark competition Women’s discussions tend to involve feelings, relationships, and personal problems

16 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Gender and Language Conversational Style The myth that women are more talkative than men does not hold up under scientific scrutiny Women ask more questions in same-sex conversations Men’s speech is more characteristically direct, succinct, task-oriented and non-verbal sensitive Women’s speech is more typically indirect, elaborate, focused on relationships and narrative- oriented

17 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Gender and Language Conversational Style - Female Women typically use statements showing support for the other person The importance of nurturing a relationship explains why female speech is often tentative Accommodating style isn’t always a disadvantage

18 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Gender and Language Conversational Style - Male Men typically use statements that are direct and solution-oriented The importance of establishing a sense of direct and often literal understanding often drive male relationship style Often use a competing style, even in emotional and relational communication

19 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Gender and Language Nongender Variables Ways women and men communicate much more similar than different Male and female supervisors behave the same way and are equally effective Other factors influence language use Gender expectations Gender roles

20 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Culture and Language Verbal Communication Styles Hall’s Dimensions of Communication Low-context cultures Generally value language to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas as directly as possible. High-context cultures Generally value using language to maintain social harmony. Learn to discover meaning from the context in which a message is delivered: nonverbal behaviors, history of the relationship, etc

21 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Culture and Language Verbal Communication Styles Language styles can vary across culture, such as the necessity for clarity versus vagueness. Elaborate - Succinct Formality – Informality In cultures where silence is most valued, succinctness will most often occur.

22 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Culture and Language Verbal Communication Styles Language and Worldview Linguistic relativism The worldview of a culture is shaped and reflected by the language its members speak. The Eskimos has been documented to have the largest number of words for snow, English and Spanish had some of the largest vocabulary for rain. Geography and necessities can shape language Technology constantly shapes and changes language: Text messaging: OMG, LOL, IDK Search engines: to “google” something

23 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Culture and Language Verbal Communication Styles Language and Worldview Linguistic relativism Sapir – Whorf hypothesis: Developed by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf while observing the Hopi Native Americans and their linguistic differences to more familiar formal languages. The theory found a strong connection between cultural philosophy and shaping of thought; the Hopi language has no distinction between nouns and verbs because their culture sees the world in constant motion whereas English has clear distinctions to show a more stationary worldview

24 LANGUAGE: BARRIER AND BRIDGE Videos oY6VUhttp:// oY6VU r7XX5jugY&feature=player_detailpage#t= 149https:// r7XX5jugY&feature=player_detailpage#t= 149