UNIT 1: Introduction to communication and characteristics of normal communication

Question 1

What does communication compose of?

Answer 1

Speech, language and hearing.

Question 2

What is communication?

Answer 2

Any form of interaction where meaning is conveyed successfully and someone responds appropriately.
Communication using lots of language isn’t always effective in conveying the message. Sometimes gestures and sounds are more effective.

Question 3

Describe the steps of communication.

Answer 3

1. Receive and perceive the message.
2. Interpret the message and formulate a response through language.
3. Respond appropriately (in a way that’s understood), using a modality such as speech.

Question 4

What is language?

Answer 4

Language is a socially shared code that uses a conventional system of arbitrary symbols to represent ideas about the world that are meaningful to others who know the same code.

Question 5

Name and describe main points in the definition of language.

Answer 5

1. Language is a code: It’s not a direct representation of the world as a photo or a drawing would be.
2. Language is socially shared: To qualify as a language, a group of people must know the same code and they must use the same conventions/rules to generate/understand the symbols of the language.
3. Arbitrary symbols: Words and their components and their combinations bear no physical resemblance to the concepts they represent (except onomatopoeic words e.g. meow and sizzle).

Question 6

What are the components of language?

Answer 6

• Phonology (form)
• Morphology (form)
• Syntax (form)
• Semantics (content)
• Pragmatics (use)

Question 7

What is phonology?

Answer 7

Aspect of lang concerned with the rules governing the structure, distribution and sequencing of speech-sound patterns.

Question 8

What is morphology?

Answer 8

Aspect of lang concerned with the rules governing the change in meaning at the intraword level.

Question 9

What is syntax?

Answer 9

Organisational rules specifying word order, sentence organisation and word relationships.

Question 10

What is semantics?

Answer 10

Aspect of lang concerned with the rules governing the meaning/content of words or grammatical units.
(Think: vocabulary/ lexicon and attached meaning)

Question 11

What is pragmatics?

Answer 11

Aspect of lang concerned with lang use within a communication context.

Question 12

What does “principle” refer to?

Answer 12

A basic generalization that is accepted as true and that can be used as a basis for reasoning or conduct. A basic truth on how things work.

Question 13

Name the principles of development.

Answer 13

1. Development is predictable.
2. There are developmental milestones.
3. Developmental opportunities need to be there.
4. There are developmental phases.
5. Individuals differ greatly.

Question 14

What factors influence influence normal development?

Answer 14

Genetics, gender, ethnicity, prenatal conditions, socio-economic conditions, emotional and physical health, nutrition and intelligence.

Question 15

Describe language.

Answer 15

• Ideas are coded into words, therefore words represent concepts that speaker wants to convey
• Without attached meaning, speech-sounds are only grunts, groans and meaningless strings of sounds.
• The only representation is the brains of the people who know the lang.
• Cannot be observed directly because its merely a representation of body of knowledge shared by people who know the same code.
• Lang gives meaning to speech.

Question 16

Describe speech.

Answer 16

• Verbal means of communication/ conveying the message
• It’s ONE modality (they are others) through which lang can be expressed
• Other ways of communication incl. writing, drawing and manual signing
• Can be recorded with audio/ videotaped while produced
• Speech develops and uses lang
• All cultures learn to speak and understand speech if their auditory, motor and CNS are intact
• All it takes is minimal exposure
• Written lang is result of formal training (not learned spontaneously)
• Note: Not all cultures have systems of literacy

Question 17

How do speech and language work as a unit?

Answer 17

• To assess lang it must be observed as a behaviour produced by users of the lang
• Speech is the verbal modality for speaking and listening

Question 18

Why is it that sometimes language is learnt without speech?

Answer 18

• There factors may make it difficult to learn to speak, although speech can be understood/heard
• e.g. severe motor impairments with normal cognitive skills
• Speech therapists implement Augmentative & Alternative Communication (AAC)

Question 19

Name the sub-systems of speech.

Answer 19

Respiration, Phonation, Resonance and Articulation.

Question 20

-Describe the process of speech.

Answer 20

• Speech is the physical process of being able to generate air that’s transferred to the laynyx by vibrations of the vocal folds which turn into sound.
• Sound is transferred to resonators in the mouth and cavities, where sounds are shaped into words (using articulators and muscles of the face)

Question 21

What is respiration?

Answer 21

Process of inhalation and exhalation and the resultant gaseous exchange.

Question 22

What is phonation?

Answer 22

Process of producing low-pitched hum/ buzz from the vibration of the vocal folds.

Question 23

What is resonation?

Answer 23

Process of modifying the laryngeal tone by altering the shape of the pharyngeal, oral and nasal cavities.

Question 24

What is articulation?

Answer 24

Dynamic process of producing speech sounds by movement of speech organs and the resultant modification of the laryngeal tone.

Question 25

Name the extralinguistc components.

Answer 25

• Nonlinguistic communication
• Paralinguistic communication
• Metalinguistic communication

Question 26

Describe nonlinguistic communication.

Answer 26

• Gestures
• Body lang
• Eye contact
• Head and eye movement
• Head and body movements
• Some are universal
• Some are culturally bound

Question 27

Describe metalinguistic skills.

Answer 27

• Ability to use lang to talk about and analyse lang
• Thinking about lang
• Using lang to judge to correctness thereof and to correct it
• Involves awareness of the components of language
• Seeing lang as a tool & controlling how we use lang

Question 28

Describe paralinguistic communication.

Answer 28

• Related to speech
• Produced using vocal tract, but not as articulated speech sounds or words
• Called suprasegmental devices
• provides the ‘melody of speech’
• aka prosody
• pitch, loudness, stress/emphasis, speed and rhythm
• signal attitude/emotion
• Rather than resulting in words, these devices modify utterances to convey more meaning