Chapter 5 intercom Flashcards
language
symbolic; only arbitrary connection between words and the ideas or things to which they refer; the indirect relationship between symbols and the things they represent lead to communication problems— because no one uses symbols in the same way.
semantic rules
the ways in which users of a language assign meaning to a particular linguistic symbol, usually a word; with out these rules, communication would be impossible, because each of us would use symbols in unique ways, without sharing meaning
equivocal language
statements that have more than one commonly accepted definition…. “Family Catches Fire Just in Time”; “Man Stuck on Toilet; Stool Suspected”
relative language
these words gain their meaning by comparison; words such as fast, slow, stupid, smart, etc
static evaluation
statements that contain or imply the word “is” lead to the mistaken assumption that people are consistent and unchanging
abstract language
language that is vague in nature; can cause people to think in generalities instead of uniqueness.
behavioral language
refers to specific things that people do or say
syntactic rules
govern the grammar of a language
pragmatic rules
help us decide how to interpret messages in a given context; govern the way speech operates in everyday interaction; almost always unstated but still very important; help us make sense of one another’s messages
coordination
the way conversation operates when everyone involved uses the same set of pragmatic rules.
convergence
the process of adapting one’s speech style to match that of others.
divergence
speaking in a way that emphasizes difference from others.
fact-opinion confusion
combining fact and opinion statements –“That was a dumb thing to say…” “Spending that much on a pair of shoes is a waste of money”
fact-inference confusion
combining factual statements with inferential statements -(conclusions arrived at from an interpretation of evidence) – trying to read someone else’s mind – “Why are you ma at me?”
emotive language
seems to describe something but actually announces the speaker’s attitude toward it. — beating around the bush verses being tactful <— example; context changes with whether you agree or disagree.
“It” statements
statements that replace I with less immediate word, it; when used, avoids taking responsibility for thoughts/feelings
“I” statements
these statements clearly identify the speaker as the source of a message; take responsibility for thoughts and feelings
“But” statements
“X-but-Y”… can be confusing, but these statements also explain why. “You’ve done great work for us, but we’re going to have to let you go.”
questions
sometimes used to avoid making a declaration; sometimes this indirect approach is tactful when subject would be difficult to address head-on
“You’’ language
expresses a judgement of the other person; positive judgments rarely cause problems (You look great today), but critical statements implies that subject of complaint is doing something wrong (You left this place a mess!); negativity can also be implied (doesn’t directly say you in sentence)
“we” language
implies that the issue is the concern and responsibility of both the speaker and receiver of a message; research shows that these kind of statements combined with “I” have a good chance of being received favorably
low context cultures
these types of cultures typically value using language to express thoughts, feelings and ideas as directly as possible; look for meaning of statement in words spoken…. North America
high-context cultures
these types of cultures value using language to maintain social harmony; rather than offend through directness, communicators in this type of culture learn to discover meaning from the context in which a message is delivered - nonverbal behavior, history of relationship, general social rules, etc…. Asian and middle eastern cultures
linguistic relativism
the worldview of a culture is shaped and reflected by the language its members speak.
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
hypothesis of linguistic relativism formulated by Edward Sapir and Benjamin Worf; different languages describe the world/reality differently.
