Language And Communication Flashcards
Language (verbal communication)
Language is a communication system where words and systematic rules for organising those words are used to transmit information from one individual to another. Constructed with two fundamental components: lexicon and grammar
Lexicon: or vocabulary encompasses the words used within that language forming the building blocks for communication. Formed by combining phonemes which are the smallest unit of sound in a language. English has 44 phonemes. Phonemes combine to make morphemes the smallest meaningful units of language. Included whole words and prefixes and suffixes
Semantics is the process by which meaning is derived from words
Grammar; consists of a set of rules governing how words from the lexicon are combing to convert meaning. Syntax a subset of grammar is the set of rules and processes that govern sentence structure
Haptics - touch
A powerful nonverbal communication that can convert comfort, threat or intimacy. From infancy humans rely on touch as a fundamental form of communications. Haptics the study of touch communication emphasises the importance of touch and social interactions from functional-professional to love-intimacy levels. It plays a significant role in shaping interpersonal relationships and initial impressions. Navigating touch requires sensitivity to avoid misunderstanding or breaches of boundaries. How gestures are taken are dependent on cultural norms and individual preferences. Understanding the nuances of touch communication is essential for effective interpersonal communication and relationship building.
Kinesics - bodily movement
Gestures; categorised into adaptors, emblems and illustrators convey internal meaning and verbal messages through hand, arm and head movements. Adaptors such as self touching (fidgeting) may signal anxiety. Emblems such as OK sign or thumbs up may have agreed upon meanings in certain cultures (may differ between cultures). Illustrators the most common gestures to complement verbal messages by illustrating size, shape or emphasis.
Facial expressions: convey emotions and set tone for communication. A genuine smile not only convey happiness but fosters rapport and connection. A frown may signal concern or scepticism or sadness. Even subtle cues like pursed lips offer insight into emotional states or reactions. Matching facial expression to speech content is importantly to enhance comprehension.
Posture; sitting or standing serve as nonverbal cues to acknowledge others and express interest or dominance. Leaning forward during a conversation signals interest stand with hands on hips conveys assertiveness
Eye contact helps to regulate interaction monitors feedback and conveys interest or intimidation. It is different from culture to culture some culture find eye contact engaging and positive while other consider it aggressive and confrontational. Pupils dilation reflects arousal, attention or emotional states. Consider cultural differences and neurodivergence
Vocalics - vocal qualities
Study of paralanguage focuses on vocal qualities such as pitch, volume, rate, vocal quality and verbal fillers. They convey meaning, regulate conversation and express emotion. Variation in pitch can distinguish a question from a statement, volume and speaking rate influences perception of intensity and credibility. Vocal qualities contribute to individual vocal signatures. Verbal fillers such as um can help maintain conversation but undermine credibility in formal settings vocalics serves various communicative functions;
Repetition
Complementing
Accenting
Substituting
Regulating
Contradicting
Proxemics - space and distance
The study of how space and distance influence communication. Feeling close indicates comfort and attraction whereas distance suggests lack of connection.
Personal presentation and environment
Encompasses physical characteristics and the artefacts we use to adorn and surround ourselves. While ideals of attractiveness vary across cultures, research shows attractiveness provides advantages in various aspects of life. Clothing, accessories, hairstyles, body art and symbols can also convey messages about identity, culture and social affiliations. The environment we create adds to our non verbal communication as objects and spatial arrangements convert messages about formality, intimacy and status. Through personal presentation and environmental cues we communicate volumes about ourselves without uttering a word.
B.F Skinner (1957)
Proposed that language acquisition occurs through operant conditioning
Noam Chomsky (1965)
Believed that children have innate abilities for language acquisition terming this ability as the language acquisition device. Children learn language without formal instruction displayed a consistent pattern across cultures suggesting a biological predisposition to language acquisition. There also seems to be a critical period for language
Stages of language development
Pre linguistic: nonverbal communication through facial expressions and gestures. By approx 1 they start focusing on phonemes after the first few months they enter the babbling stage “ba-ba-ba”
Holophrastic stage (one word stage):
Between 12-18months children utter their first word. During this stage children have a greater understanding of words than ability to produce them. Although limited to singular words they often carry broader meaning
Two word stage:
Between 18 months - 2 years children begin combining words to form simple two word utterances often involving nouns and verbs or nouns and adjectives
Telegraphic stage:
Start constructing telegraphic sentences consisting of three or more words. 2-2.5 years, sentences lack grammatical complexity and the focus is on key content words
Multi word stage:
Typically at age 3 children begin to construct more complex sentences and begin using conjunctions to connect ideas and begin to be able to express thoughts and experiences more effectively
The classical model (Wernick-Lichtheim Model)
Identifying the Broca’s area, responsible for speech production and Wernickes area associated with language comprehension as the key regions of language.
Contemporary research has revealed language processing involves a distributed network across brain regions challenging the models simplicity it is also limited to the lexical level and does not inform how we understand and produce speech.
Dronkers et al. (2007) re-examined Broca’s historical cases using MRI and discovered that the brain lesions extended beyond the cortical areas intially identified. Specifically they found the superior longitudinal fasciculus a fibre tract that conducts the frontal and parietal lobes was involved. Broca’s aphasia actually occurs when the injury extends past the Broca’s area with injury to just that region leading to milder aphasia
Dual stream model
More recent studies show language areas in the frontal, Templar and parietal lobes. The dual stream model outlines two major pathways
The dorsal stream : responsible for phonological processing, supported by SLF and actuate fasciculus
The ventral stream; dedicated to semantic processing supported by the inferior fronto- occipital fascicules
It is suggested the initial stages of soeasch processing occur bilaterally in the two auditory regions; the dorsal superior temporal gurus and the superior temporal sulcus. After that it splits. Into two streams one in the temporal lobe that’s helps us understand speech and another in the dorsal stream mostly on the left side of the brain which connects what we hear with how we talk. This stream involves parts of the parietal temporal junction and the frontal lobe. The idea is that understanding speech involve many parts of the brain including, inferior frontal gyrus, inferior temporal sulcus, middle temporal gyrus, pre motor cortex and Sylvian parietal temporal area
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Hypothesised that language shapes out thoughts, suggesting for example that individuals without past tense verbs in their language might struggle to think about the past.
Linguistic determinism
Suggest that language determines our thought processes. Evident in the distinctions between how English and mandarin speakers talk about and conceptualise time.
Linguistic relativity
Suggests that language influences our thought processes supported by research where the perspective of English speakers compared to Dani people regarding colour. Researchers hypothesised that due to the Dani having limited number of colour terms they conceptualisation of colour might be restrained except they showed a similar ability to English speakers. Recent reviews can shape perceptual processing especially on the left side of the brain. (More linguistic side)
