Week 3 Blog Post: Language
Part 1:
> This experiment was difficult for me. The reason for this is because I don't use hand signs often which made it difficult to get my point across. Since I wasn't able to speak, I was forced to use hand signs which I wasn't familiar with. I began to get frustrated throughout this experiment because I wasn't able to get my point across as quickly as I wanted to.
> I felt that this conversation wasn't going anywhere because the person didn't really understand what I was trying to say. The patterns in the conversation were definitely altered because of my absence of symbolic communication. These patterns were alerted because the conversation didn't flow as easily as I wanted it to. I was able to understand my sister easily because she was able to speak but it took her a while to understand me which meant that I was constantly repeating myself.
>The culture that has the advantage in communicating complex ideas is my partner because she is able to speak. The attitudes that the speaking culture might have toward the one that isn't able to use symbol language is that they may be impatient and rude. The reason for this is because they have adapted to always using language and may not be used to hand signals. They might always be confused because they may not understand it and can possibly become frustrated. The individuals in our culture that have difficulty communicating with spoken language include deaf people. These individuals have difficulty because they don't have a spoken language and rely on their sight to receive the information.
Part 2:
> Yes, I was able to last for the full 15 minutes of only using speech for communication. This experiment was easier for me because I don't use hand signals very often. I usually get my point across by speech communication only. The part of this experiment that was difficult for me was the alteration of my voice. When I talk about a topic that I'm passionate about, I tend to raise my voice. I didn't use any hand or head movements but I definitely altered my voice quite often.
> My partner was affected by my communication limitations because she wasn't use to talking without altering my voice. She said I sounded monotoned and she wasn't very interested in my conversation. Also, she said I showed no emotion and didn't have much energy. She began to feel uncomfortable because I was acting different and it felt like she was talking to someone else.
> This experiment made me realize how frequently signs are used in our daily communication with others. We may not realize how often we use them to get our point across. I also realized that it's very hard to not use them when we are passionate about a certain topic. We think that we will get our point across more easily by raising our eyebrows, moving our head and hands, etc. Signs are very important in our daily lives and believe it's affective in communicating our thoughts.
> The people that would have difficulty reading body language would be deaf people. You can benefit by learning how to read body language because you will be able to understand how the person feels which will help you understand them more easily. You will be able to read is someone is happy, mad, sad, rude, etc. I can't think of any environmental conditions where not reading any body language would be beneficial. I could only think of conditions where it would be beneficial to the person.
Part 3:
> My experiment in Part 1 would be definitely be easier if I had been permitted to using written language. The reason for this is because it would get my point across more effectively. My partner would just have to read it and they would have a clear understanding of what I was saying. There would be no confusion and we would be able to talk about more.
> The advantage that written language provides to the culture that develops and uses it is that they are in control of this type of communication. They develop the rules and are familiar with it which makes it easier for them to use it in their daily lives.
> The impact that written language has on globalization or the spread of ideas around the world because it can easily be translated if it's written. Also, you can send an emil or write a letter to someone far away and still be able to communicate effectively with them. You can also spread your ideas through social media by written communication. It plays an important role in our society today and will continue to.
> This experiment was difficult for me. The reason for this is because I don't use hand signs often which made it difficult to get my point across. Since I wasn't able to speak, I was forced to use hand signs which I wasn't familiar with. I began to get frustrated throughout this experiment because I wasn't able to get my point across as quickly as I wanted to.
> I felt that this conversation wasn't going anywhere because the person didn't really understand what I was trying to say. The patterns in the conversation were definitely altered because of my absence of symbolic communication. These patterns were alerted because the conversation didn't flow as easily as I wanted it to. I was able to understand my sister easily because she was able to speak but it took her a while to understand me which meant that I was constantly repeating myself.
>The culture that has the advantage in communicating complex ideas is my partner because she is able to speak. The attitudes that the speaking culture might have toward the one that isn't able to use symbol language is that they may be impatient and rude. The reason for this is because they have adapted to always using language and may not be used to hand signals. They might always be confused because they may not understand it and can possibly become frustrated. The individuals in our culture that have difficulty communicating with spoken language include deaf people. These individuals have difficulty because they don't have a spoken language and rely on their sight to receive the information.
Part 2:
> Yes, I was able to last for the full 15 minutes of only using speech for communication. This experiment was easier for me because I don't use hand signals very often. I usually get my point across by speech communication only. The part of this experiment that was difficult for me was the alteration of my voice. When I talk about a topic that I'm passionate about, I tend to raise my voice. I didn't use any hand or head movements but I definitely altered my voice quite often.
> My partner was affected by my communication limitations because she wasn't use to talking without altering my voice. She said I sounded monotoned and she wasn't very interested in my conversation. Also, she said I showed no emotion and didn't have much energy. She began to feel uncomfortable because I was acting different and it felt like she was talking to someone else.
> This experiment made me realize how frequently signs are used in our daily communication with others. We may not realize how often we use them to get our point across. I also realized that it's very hard to not use them when we are passionate about a certain topic. We think that we will get our point across more easily by raising our eyebrows, moving our head and hands, etc. Signs are very important in our daily lives and believe it's affective in communicating our thoughts.
> The people that would have difficulty reading body language would be deaf people. You can benefit by learning how to read body language because you will be able to understand how the person feels which will help you understand them more easily. You will be able to read is someone is happy, mad, sad, rude, etc. I can't think of any environmental conditions where not reading any body language would be beneficial. I could only think of conditions where it would be beneficial to the person.
Part 3:
> My experiment in Part 1 would be definitely be easier if I had been permitted to using written language. The reason for this is because it would get my point across more effectively. My partner would just have to read it and they would have a clear understanding of what I was saying. There would be no confusion and we would be able to talk about more.
> The advantage that written language provides to the culture that develops and uses it is that they are in control of this type of communication. They develop the rules and are familiar with it which makes it easier for them to use it in their daily lives.
> The impact that written language has on globalization or the spread of ideas around the world because it can easily be translated if it's written. Also, you can send an emil or write a letter to someone far away and still be able to communicate effectively with them. You can also spread your ideas through social media by written communication. It plays an important role in our society today and will continue to.
Lilly, I really enjoyed reading your post!
ReplyDeleteI was especially interested in the fact that Part 1 of this assignment was more difficult for you than Part 2. For me, I am very animated and use my hands when I talk, so my experiment was the exact opposite of yours. Although, I did find that my speaking partners in Part 1 seemed impatient with me. So much, that they excluded me from the conversation. I can definitely see how some hand gestures could be seen as offensive and rude. I did not even take that into consideration.
For your Part 2, when you raise your voice to speak about something your passionate about, I can definitely see how this could correlate with your partner thinking you are not interested in the conversation or what you may be talking about. I think that our culture relies heavily on expressions in our face, and our body language as well. It tells us where the conversation is heading, or if someone doesn't want to speak to us anymore.
For your part 3, I agree with you, and wrote similar things in my post as well. What was brought to my attention were negative aspects of written language too. Such as reading a text message a certain way...one person may have read a text message as aggressive and rude, while the person who wrote it, could have been making a light hearted joke. I think these could be the negative aspects of written language.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading your post!
Lilly, I loved your post. I mostly loved the beginning part because of the fact that from the experiment that there was struggling in communication for part 1 that it led into understanding of how different cultures have the same problem. I agree with the statement that learning how to read body language makes understanding someones response and if they are lying easier to both comprehend and understand. Overall, the experiment I think had a great result and the summary from each part provided a great explanation.
ReplyDeletePart 1: In general, good descriptions of your experience and your partner's experience. Can you be more specific about how these patterns were altered? Were you able to answer with detail or just "yes" or "no" questions? Could you ask questions? Change the topic of conversation? More detail here would have been helpful.
ReplyDeleteGood discussion on the last section, but I'm wondering about your thought that the speaking culture would think the non-thinking culture "impatient and rude". Is that what hearing people think of people who are deaf? Another example is our non-English speaking immigrant population. How are they treated by native English speakers in our country?
Part 2: Good opening descriptions of your experience with part 2 and your parent's response.
"She began to feel uncomfortable because I was acting different and it felt like she was talking to someone else."
This is actually very interesting and a common response by partners for part 2. There was something about the conversation that made her uncomfortable and it is worth considering what that might be. What is missing when you don't use body language? This might shed some light on the next question.
I don't disagree with your conclusions regarding the importance of body language, but you are only considering the situation where body language matches and supports the information you receive from spoken language. What does it tell you when the body language doesn't match the spoken language? Humans tend to use body language as a type of lie detector. If spoken words don't match with the body language, we are more inclined to believe the body language and doubt the words. Think about how being able to detect liars might help an individual's ability to survive and reproduce.
Yes, those who are deaf would have difficulty reading body language though they could detect vocal intonation. Another group are those in the autism spectrum.
Regarding a situation where it might be good to ignore body language, think about a situation where body language might lie to you. When might body language of others mislead you and it would be better to ignore it? Do all cultures use the same system of body language? If you travel to another country, can you trust the information you get from their body language?
Part 3: "they are in control of this type of communication. They develop the rules and are familiar with it"
How does this make having a written language an advantage? This tells me how you think humans control written language but not how it is used to our benefit. We use it for communicating information to large groups of people, for the purpose of news, education, entertainment and science. We use it to track history. And, as another student pointed out, we use it in our daily lives for things like road signs and restaurant menus. Written language benefits us in multiple ways.
Good last section.