Understanding and Shaping the World through Verbal Communication

1. 5 Understanding and Shaping the World through Verbal Communication

2. Understanding and Shaping the World through Verbal Communication • Verbal Communication and Meaning • Understanding the Meaning of Words • Communicating Culture through Language • Ethical Challenges in Verbal Communication • Communicating Responsibly: Managing Nonverbal Cues Effectively

3. Verbal Communication and Meaning • Words are symbolic, arbitrary, ambiguous, and changeable • Words are symbolic that allow us to talk about things without being the things themselves • Represent ides or objects and allow us to talk about them • Allows us to talk about things that do not exist

4. Verbal Communication and Meaning • Words are Symbolic, Arbitrary, ambiguous, and Changeable (continued) • Words are ambiguous when they do not have clear meaning • Ex: “Good” has different meanings to different people • Words are changeable if they are based on social, political, and cultural contexts, and the historical time in which they are located • Ex: “Lift” means a ride, to pick up, or an elevator

5. Verbal Communication and Meaning Figure 5-1. Triangle of Meaning

6. Verbal Communication and Meaning • Words Imply Actions and Attitudes • Words carry with them conventional meanings that are inescapable and conventions only change when groups with enough clout adopt new meaning so that shared understanding can occur • Words have a powerful capacity to influence our thoughts and actions • Words tell us how to think and act in the world around us

7. Verbal Communication and Meaning • Words Influence the Way We Think • The community that agrees to use words in similar ways often shares beliefs, attitudes, and values • Linguistic relativity hypothesis states that our thoughts are influenced by the words we know and the patterns of language that dominate our culture • Suggests that language can expand the range of our thinking

8. Verbal Communication and Meaning “The choice of what words we may use determines what dreams we are able to express”—Gloria Steinem, author and activist

9. Understanding the Meaning of Words • Denotation is the most concrete, specific, and objective meaning of a word • Often called concrete words because they come as close as possible to an objective description of reality

10. Understanding the Meaning of Words • Connotation refers to the meaning of words based on individual or cultural experiences or values • Connotative meanings for words vary based on the relationship of participants and the cultural context in which they are communication • Analyzing the common understanding of such words is also the first step in changing their meaning and gaining access to the potential power of language

11. Understanding the Meaning of Words • Codes are a set of conventions or rules that is shared by members of a culture and which governs the use of words and symbols • Ex: it takes more than an understanding of the English language to understand what a “diamond ring” represents. • Help us make sense of words and the context in which they are uttered • Ex: codes for phone conversations, lectures, first dates, etc. • Once we understand the codes that govern our use of language, we can decide whether violating them is necessary or ethical • Special codes based on our membership in groups help to define our identity

12. Understanding the Meaning of Words • Exploring Communication Concepts • Communication Codes and Talk Shows • Do you think that television viewers are interested in seeing talk show guests as social outcasts? As individuals responsible for their own circumstances? • Does the talk show format, or code, promote connections or divisiveness among the people?

13. Communicating Culture through Language • Communication and Co-Cultures • The language we use to describe our personal identities necessarily includes names and labels for the groups to which we belong • The groups with which we most strongly identify function as reference groups. Such as groups based on gender, ethniciity, soicoeconomic status, age. For example, a heterosexual, female, nonwhite, upper class… • The language used by members of co-cultures when talking with one another can also help to create and maintain boundaries, provide a means of identification, and ensure privacy • The specialized language of a co-culture is called argot

14. Communicating Culture through Language • Communication and Co-Cultures (continued) • Because of this discrepancy [between co-cultures’ codes], members of co-cultures often learn code-switching, or the ability to adopt a preferred code based on the group with which one is interacting • Groups with lower social status must become more adept at code-switching • Recognizing the codes of co-cultures promotes learning about the expression and identity of others

15. Ethical Challenges in Verbal Communication • Deception • Effective verbal communication requires trust among participants, but deception has the potential to destroy trust • Euphemisms is a socially accepted word or phrase substituted for an uncomfortable or unacceptable one • We use euphemisms to make others comfortable • Doublespeak occurs when we use language to intentionally obscure, confuse, equivocate, or deceive • Doublespeak goes beyond politeness to mislead and confuse

16. Communicating Responsibly: Managing Nonverbal Cues Effectively • Qualifying Inferences • Indexing and dating help to counter the potential confusion and damage caused by some inferences • Indexing ties evaluations to a specific circumstance to make them unique • Dating places observations in a specific time frame to suggest that change is possible

17. Communicating Responsibly: Managing Nonverbal Cues Effectively • Including Others • Verbal communication often establishes boundaries of identity and acceptance, implying who is acceptable and who is not • Inclusive language addresses this imbalance and enhances the quality of communication by demonstrating respect for others by using language that values them as individuals • Jargon is technical language often associated with a particular profession

18. Communicating Responsibly: Managing Nonverbal Cues Effectively • Practicing Civility • Speaking appropriately and effectively requires thought and effort • Practicing civility also means keeping teases and taunts in check

19. Communicating Responsibly: Managing Nonverbal Cues Effectively • Speaking with Cultural Sensitivity • Cultural sensitivity requires the knowledge, awareness, and skills to communicate effectively and appropriately with diverse people

20. Summary • Words are symbolic because they allow us to talk about thins without being the tings themselves • Language is never neutral; words have the ability to influence our thoughts and actions • According to the linguistic relativity hypothesis, our thoughts are influenced by the words that we know and the patters of language that are dominant in our culture

21. Summary • Words have both denotative and connotative levels of meaning • Codes establish rules or norms that guide our use of language, depending on the context in which verbal communication takes place and the culture of the communicators • Effective communication depends on trust