Module 3 - How do we communicate

Question 1

What is paralanguage?

Answer 1

The non-linguistic accompaniments of speech (e.g. stress, pitch, speed, tone, pause).
(p. 601)

Question 2

What is ethnolinguistic vitality?

Answer 2

Concept describing objective features of an inter-ethnic context that influence language, and ultimately the cultural survival or disappearance of an ethnolinguistic group.
(p. 604)

Question 3

What is speech convergence?

Answer 3

Speech convergence occurs when a speaker shifts their accent or speech style towards that of the other person in a conversation.
(p. 606)

Question 4

What is speech divergence?

Answer 4

Speech divergence is the opposite of speech convergence. It occurs when a speaker shifts their accent or speech style away from that of the other person in a conversation.
(p. 606)

Question 5

What is speech accommodation theory?

Answer 5

Speech accommodation theory posits that people modify their speech style to the context of a face-to-face inter individual conversation. Modifications can be made to suit the listener or the context of the situation. For example, I would speak very professionally and properly in a job interview with a senior practitioner, but much more informally when talking to teenagers as a youth worker.
(p. 606)

Question 6

What are the functions of gaze?

Answer 6

Gaze allows us to make inferences about people’s feelings, credibility, honesty, competence and attentiveness.

Obscuring our own gaze can increase our own feelings of security and privacy.

We look more at people we like than people we don’t like.
(p. 620)

Question 7

What are the six basic emotions that can usually be distinguished when observing facial expressions across different cultures?

Answer 7

Anger, happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, disgust.

p. 616

Question 8

Ekman conducted a 1973 study of facial expressions. How did the facial expressions differ between the American and the Japanese students?

Answer 8

In private and public, American students displayed negative facial expressions. The Japanese students displayed negative facial expressions ONLY in private. The study showed that these two different cultures have different display rules about when to show negative emotions.
(p. 619)

Question 9

What are Hall’s four interpersonal distance zones?

Answer 9

Intimate distance (up to 0.5 metres)
Personal distance (0.5 - 1.25 metres)
Social distance (1.25 - 4 metres)
Public distance (4 - 8 metres)
(p. 627)