Language and Communication

Question 1

Language evoltion and culture

Answer 1

Evolution of human cultures coincided with the evolution of abiltiy for verbal language
- facilitates creation of shared intentionality
- aids the communication of intentions and beliefs
- existence of human cutures is based on this ability
–> language differences help reinforce culture

Question 2

Lexicon

Answer 2

Words contained in a language

Question 3

Syntax and grammar

Answer 3

System of rules governing word forms and how words should be strung together to form meaningful utterances

Question 4

Phonology

Answer 4

System of rules governing how words should sound in a language

Question 5

Semantics

Answer 5

Meaning of words

Question 6

Pragmatics

Answer 6

System of rules governing how langauge needs to be used and understood in social contexts

Question 7

Culture and laguage acquisition

Answer 7

Humans have an ability to acquire language
- infants produce the same range of phonemes across cultures
–> culture provides the rules of phonology, syntax and grammar, semantics and pragmatics

Question 8

Relation between culture and language

Answer 8

Culture influences thoughts, feelings and motives
Culture influences language
The use of language reinforces culture

Question 9

Lexicon differences

Answer 9

Self-other referents:
- english: you
- dutch: u en je
- japanese: elaborate system depending on status and intimacy

Question 10

Pragmatic differences

Answer 10

High context: most of the information is already in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicitly transmitted part of the message
Low-context: the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code

Question 11

Pragmatic differences

Answer 11

Low context: direct message (what before how)
High context: read between the lines (how before what)

Question 12

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Answer 12

Speakers of different languages think differently because of the differences in their languages –> linguistic relativity

Question 13

Challanges to Sapir-Whorf

Answer 13

Berlin and Kay: suggested 11 basic color terms
Breugelmans and Poortinga: 1 word for guilt and shame in Mexico
Pinker: thoughts can be formed without words and language

Question 14

Nonverbal communication

Answer 14

• facial expressions and vocal characteristics
• gestures and body postures
• interpersonal distance
• touching behaviors
• gaze and visual attention

Question 15

Speech illustrators

Answer 15

Nonverbal behaviors that accompany speech

Question 16

Emblems

Answer 16

Culture-specific gestures that convey meaning without words

Question 17

Process of communication

Answer 17

Encoding a message
Channel the message to the other
Decoding the message from the other

Question 18

Intracultural communication

Answer 18

Occurs among people of the same cultural background

Question 19

Intercultural communication

Answer 19

Occurs between people of different cultural backgrounds

Question 20

Obstacles in intercultural communcation

Answer 20

• assumption of similarities
• language differences
• nonveral misinterpretation
• stereotypes
• tendency to evaluate
• stress and anxiety
• uncertainty and ambiguity

Question 21

Mindfulness

Answer 21

Allows people to be conscious of their own habits, mental scripts, and cultural expectations concerning communication
- components that affect intercultural effectiveness (motivational, knowledge and skill factors)

Question 22

Uncertainty reduction

Answer 22

Efforts to reduce the level of uncertainty and anxiety that one feels when decoding intercultural messages

Question 23

Face

Answer 23

Concerns with one’s appearance in public or reputation, and the potential embarrassment or shame associated with a threat to the apprearance

Question 24

Emotion regulation

Answer 24

• involves the ability to control one’s negative emotional reactions
• enables one to engage in a more constructive intercultural process

Question 25

Frame-switching

Answer 25

People maintain multiple self-concepts and switch between them depending on context
- such self-concepts are represented by a network of ideas in the mind

Question 26

Personality and behavior in biliguals

Answer 26

Different responses on big five in Chinese/English

Question 27

Bilingual advantage for cognitive performance

Answer 27

Studies demonstrate that bilinguals selectively attend to stimuli better than monolinguals
- early exposure promotes effective communication