Language

By the end of the presentation, audience

should be able to:
Understand the nature of language.
Compare non-verbal communication aspects: among
animals and humans.
Define language.
Recognize of what language consists.
Identify how children acquire it.
Identify some of its functions.
 How is behavior elicited?

Psychologist note that behavior is elicited

by cues. Some cues are learned; these are
called signs.
 Signs can be natural or conventional.

Have different meanings in different contexts.

Conventional signs are symbols
An unintentional sign that
communicates a message.
 E.g. the whistle of a policeman directing
 E.g. Smoke is a sign of fire. traffics, and the whistle of the referee in
 black clouds…… a football game, sound exactly the same,
 smell of something burning… but they convey different meanings due
to the difference in context of use.
 Signifier/ signified
Signifier: any material thing that signifies words on page, a facial expression,
image, sound…
Signified: the concept that a signifier refers to.
 Types of signs
• Iconic signs: is one that bears a resemblance to that it
represents.
e.g. a picture of your face is an icon of you.
• Indexical signs: signs where the signifier is caused by the
signified.
e.g. smoke signifies fire.
• Symbolic signs: are signs where the relation between signifier and signified is
purely conventional and culturally specific (most words)
Example: the word love  Spanish =“amor”– French=“amour” – Greek= “eros” and
thousands of words.
Arbitrary: no direct relationship
to the idea or object they
represent.
Symbol
s are
Abstract: they are not
Ambiguous: material or physical. They
several meanings just represent ideas and
objects
The incredible world of nonverbal communication
1. Among animal
Why do animals communicate?
To find mates.
To establish dominance.
To defend territory.
To coordinate group behavior.
To care for young…
 Do they have the same way of
communication as humans?
• Animals communicate, but they are limited to the use of
natural signs, NOT symbols.
• They are limited to the here and now.
• They understand basic commands that you give them and
they communicate some basic messages to you when
they are hungry or thirsty, they let you know.
 Case study
The two main categories of animals that have relevance to social psychology
1. They have complex form of social organization.
2. And relatively sophisticated level of communication.
3. They both live in big communities with a high degree of division of labor.
4. They have both communication devices.
5. They have developed astounding ways to transmit messages they
indicate to each other where and how far the food source through dances
or touches
• All insects communication is biosocial, that is instinctual or insofar as
learned and nontransferable to younger generations.
• There is no culture among insects, no symbols, merely natural signs. 
new babies and inexperienced bees automatically understand the
signals of other bees of its kind.

• Chimpanzees too are known for their highly social and cooperative and
that they enjoy adorning themselves and playing with human.
However, they are no more capable of culture and language than
insects.
• Animals communicate with non linguistic
means.
Since they do not use symbols, they cannot
transmit their experiences to one another and
therefore they can’t accumulate culture.
 N.V.C Among humans

• Research have shown that body movement or kinesics, timing,

distance, postures, gestures, facial expressions, proxemics, hairstyle
are culture-bound.
 verbal Language
«  Only man can be stimulated by symbols »
George H.Mead.
“Language determines perception, thought and
therefore human reality itself”
Kando.
 Of what does language consists?
1. Descriptive linguistics: phonology, morphology- paralanguage (voice
quality- pitch…) syntax- grammar- …
2. Meaning: words are not limited to one single meaning. most words have
multiple meanings, which are categorized as either denotative or connotative.

a. The denotation of a word is its explicit definition as listed in a dictionary.

e.g. home.
(Is a place where one lives, a residence.)
b. The connotative meaning is related to the subjective and cultural
experience of individuals.
e.g. home
(Is a place of security, comfort, family. “There is no place like home”)
 Learning Language: children case study
• Sociologists divide the acquisition of language into 2 stages: Pre-linguistic
and linguistic.
• In the pre-linguistic phase children:
1. Produce complex crying vocabulary with maybe 7 different cries: pain,
anger, hunger, discomfort…
2. The babbling stage: mamama, gugha, 

3. The holophrastic stage: children use one word as a complete sentence.

4. Two words stage.
5. Telegraph to infinity: children can utter more than 2 words together
with a sentence-like structure.
 How do children acquire language?
• Imitation: children memorize words and sentences they
hear.
• Reinforcement: children learn to speak by being praised
or corrected by adults.
• Input/experience: children figure out and learn
grammatical patterns from hearing adult language
patterns….
Piaget said that ‘children follow logic, a logic that is quite different from
that of adults’. Children use mental processes to solve problems rather then
relying solely on perceived information
• Many scholars argue that a person’s verbal development
cannot take place outside a social group. It reflects the specific
group and culture in which it occurs.
Functions of language

Consciousness
The self
 Consciousness (mind/ thought)
Can you imagine being able to think and remember without the use of
words?

• The relationship of language and thought has

been of concern to many scholars (Sapir/Whorf).
• They found that language and thought are
inseparable
Our mind is fully dependent on language.
 The self
• Language is responsible for a person’s self-concept,
identity, personality, social and emotional
adjustment  self.
• The development of a mature, healthy and
competent self requires adequate mastery of the
language used by one significant group. Failure to
adequately master a language is the major aspect of
inadequate socialization.
How do the absence of language or restrictions in linguistic proficiency
affect the human self?
• Aphasia.
• Schizophrenics.
• Feral children.
 What do they have in common?
1. Their inadequate mastery of language.
2. Their inability to take the role of others.
3. Their consequently asocial existence.
4. Their asocial nature.
 By living partially outside society, they are not social
and have no developed selves.
 Conclusion
• We have examined the nature of language.
• We dealt with nonverbal communication among
humans and animals, then verbal communication.
• We dealt with the acquisition of language by
children.
• Finally, we discussed some functions of language.
If you have any question, please
ask Pr. Mediouni.