1. The Nature of Language Language is symbolic.
Words are arbitrary symbols that have no meaning in themselves.
How can it be that words, in and of themselves, have no meaning?
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2. The Nature of Language Language is subjective Triangle of Meaning
There’s an indirect relationship between a word (symbol) and what it represents (referent).
Meanings are in people, not words.
Remember that how we punctuate a statement can affect it’s meaning. (see page 143 table 5.1)
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3. The Nature of Language Language and worldview Linguistic relativism:
Worldview of a culture is shaped and reflected by the language its members speak.
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is the best-known declaration of linguistic relativity
What does the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis indicate about the impact of language on worldview?
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4. Power and Politeness
Powerless speech: tentative, indirect, hedges, hesitations
Powerful language: direct, forceful, declarations, assertions
Politeness: saves face for both sender and receiver
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5. Sexism and Racism
Sexist language: language that unnecessarily differentiates between females and males and excludes, trivializes, or diminishes either sex
Ways to eliminate sexist language:
Eliminate sex-specific terms or substitute neutral terms
Mark sex clearly—to heighten awareness of whether the reference is to a female or male
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6. Sexism and Racism
Racist language: reflects a worldview that classifies members of one racial group as superior and others as inferior
Ways to eliminate racist language:
Eliminate offensive labels and slurs.
Eliminate “innocent” uses of racist language that are not meant to be taken seriously but maintain solidarity.
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7. Precision and Vagueness
Ambiguous language: words and phrases that have more than one commonly accepted definition
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8. Precision and Vagueness
Abstraction: generalizing about similarities between several objects, people, ideas, or events
The abstraction ladder: the higher the level of abstraction, the more vague the statement becomes
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9. Precision and Vagueness
Problems with abstractions:
Hard to understand meaning of a message
Leads to stereotyping
Thinking in generalities, self- fulfilling prophecies
Can lead to serious misunderstandings
Avoid abstractions by using behavioral descriptions
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10. Precision and Vagueness
Euphemism:iInnocuous terms substituted for blunt ones
Softens the impact of unpleasant information
Be as kind as possible without sacrificing your integrity or the clarity of the message
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11. Precision and Vagueness
Relative language: gains meaning by comparison.
How big is Medford?
Fails to link the relative word to a more measurable term
Avoid relative language by turning words into numbers (e.g., pain on a scale of 1–10)
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12. Precision and Vagueness
Static evaluation: mistaken assumption that people or things are consistent and unchanging
People can be relatively stable in some ways, but change in others.
Avoid static evaluation by showing capability of change
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13. The Language of Responsibility
“It” statement: replaces the personal pronoun
Changes a statement from an opinion to a “fact”
I think its cold vs. It’s cold
“I” with the less immediate construction “it’s.”
“It” statements deflect responsibility away from the sender.
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14. The Language of Responsibility
“But” statement: cancels the thought that precedes it
Face-saving strategy worth using sometimes
Deliver the central idea without distractions that come with “but” statements
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15. The Language of Responsibility
“I,” “You,” and “We” Statements
“You” statement: expresses judgment of another person
“I” language: assertive, more accurate, less provocative
Complete “I” statement:
Describes other person’s behavior
Describes your feelings
Describes the consequences of the other person’s behavior for you
“We” language”: implies that the issue is the concern and responsibility of both the speaker and receiver of a message
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16. Consider this . . .
“When your ‘I’ language reflects your position without being overly self-absorbed Your ‘you’ language shows concern for others without judging them Your ‘we’ language includes others without speaking for them You will probably come as close as possible to the ideal mix of pronouns!”
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17. The Language of Responsibility
Evaluative (emotive) language
Seems to describe, but announces the speaker’s attitude toward something
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18. Section 3 GENDER AND LANGUAGE
Interplay
Section 3 GENDER AND LANGUAGE
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19. Section 4 SOCIAL MEDIA AND LANGUAGE
Interplay
Section 4 SOCIAL MEDIA AND LANGUAGE
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20. Social Media and Language
Online language and impression management
How do people manage impressions online (e.g., texting, dating websites, Facebook, )?
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