Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Language Blog



            As I am not usually talkative, not speaking for 15 minutes was not difficult for me. I’m very effective at using body language, hand motions, and facial expressions already. Nonetheless after fifteen minutes, it was tiring.

            After a few minutes, one of my partners appeared to be getting aggravated with my inability to speak and answer questions. She seemed to be concentrating intensely on my expressions, but for particular responses that were not quite as obvious without communication was more. My other partner seemed as though she was speaking a lot louder than usual, as if I was hard of hearing. I did observe that both my partners during this exercise were using their own body language, hand motions, and facial expressions more frequently.

            I believe when two cultures cross and discuss multifaceted, the culture, which has the advantage, would have to be speaking group. Without the use of signs, expressions, or gestures, the exact point intended may not be perfectly clear. I think the speaking culture might have difficulties when communicating with a group that cannot use symbolic language because they will want to get their point across right away, but instead will need to guess what they mean, and be patient. In our culture, it can get difficult to communicate with people who are deaf and cannot speak or those who are mute. I think when a speaking person communicates with someone who cannot speak; they rely on using their expressions, actions, and gestures more frequently. Although, if a person could speak, but not utilize these while interacting with a person who can use communication but not actually speak, it could make things challenging and unclear.

            Unfortunately, I lasted less than five minutes without utilizing symbolic communication. I am used to utilizing expressions and movements when speaking naturally.  It was difficult as I tried to speak without gestures or expressions for fifteen minutes.

            My partner questioned a lot of what I was saying and at times appeared confused. Usually I’m a humorous person but without being able to use any symbolic communication, my partner was not able to my humor or if I was angry or upset.

            The use of non-speech communication is effective in normal daily communication. Other individuals may not use non-speech to communicate but may also depend on it to clarify meanings of conversations. Expressive communication is natural and allows individuals to convey as well as understand the meaning of the whole conversation.
           
            I think that some people do have difficulty reading body language.  For instance, movements and gestures may be offensive or be miscommunicated by various cultured individuals. If individuals are not used to movements and gestures, they may become confused as to the correct expression of words. The adaptive benefit of reading body language is the ability to feel if someone is sincere with the words they are speaking. The benefit of not being able to read body language is when someone is insincere, they are unable to verbally express themselves and the reader will not be fooled into false communication.


2 comments:

  1. Good opening description of your Part A but let's dig a little deeper here. Since you were working with two other people, did they ever start excluding you? Who had more control over the conversation, you or your partners? Could you initiate or change topics?

    Good discussion on the situation of two different cultures. Yes, people who are deaf are a good example of this scenario but you also see this with people who are not native speakers.

    Good description of Part B. Why was your partner confused about your meaning if you had full access to spoken language? What was she looking for that she wasn't getting in the conversation from you?

    Yes, non-spoken language contributes meaning and clarification, but it also allows people to verify what you are saying, kind of like a lie-detector. If you body language doesn't match the words you are saying, this tells the person that you aren't telling the truth and perhaps can't be trusted. Why would this be beneficial in an adaptive sense? You touch on this a bit in the next section:

    "The adaptive benefit of reading body language is the ability to feel if someone is sincere with the words they are speaking. "

    I'm not sure I understand what you mean in the final sentence:

    "The benefit of not being able to read body language is when someone is insincere, they are unable to verbally express themselves and the reader will not be fooled into false communication."

    If someone is being insincere, don't you want to know about that? Wouldn't you want to read that body language? What about situations where body language would give you false information? Wouldn't it be better to ignore it if it might mislead you? Under what conditions might body language mislead you? Do all cultures use the same system of body language?

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  2. The same thing happened to me! During the second exercise, the entire time I was struggling to restrict myself to only speaking. Great essay! I really loved reading your example of talking to people who are deaf. It is true that when knowing who you are speaking to is deaf, you change how you communicate and tend to rely more on non-verbal expressions.

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