VERBAL COMMUNICATION

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 Meaning of...
 Ubiquitous
 Eclectic
 Fortuitous

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 George Carlin
 How many of you write a letter and say:
– “See you soon”
– “Pretty soon”
– “Fairly soon”
– “Just a moment”
– “Two moments”

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 WORDS ARE AN
ELEMENT OF
CONFUSION IN OUR
COMMUNICATION

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 Language is a major means of
communication, but
 through our use and lack of understanding
 it is also an obstacle to effective
communication
 one reason is that our language has many
components from sounds, to words, to
sentences to utterances

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 Symbols are
 Arbitrary
 Ambiguous
 Abstract

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 Language is learned....
 We are born with the capacity for language
 But, our environment shapes particular
aspects
 Issue of innateness (Chomsky) vs.
behavioralism (Skinner)
 Cultures/sub-cultural influences

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 These elements
 Place restrictions on language
 and reduce the effectiveness of this
language
 Examples, which serve the purposes of
isolation and identification are
– slang
– jargon

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 Structure and Culture
 Society STRUCTURES the language used
by its members
 Example--primitive and industrialized
cultures
 some societies do not allow for divorce, no
word for divorce in their culture

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 Structure and Culture
 Language STRUCTURES the culture
 defines the level of formality of the
situation
 defines the social classes
 structures through division of labor, keeps
groups of people separate because of the
language, back to jargon

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 This is a circular process--
both language and society are
inextricably related. They
work on each other, affecting
each other.

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 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Our perception of reality is determined
by our thought processes.

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 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Our perception of reality is determined
by our thought processes.

Our thought processes are limited by

our language.

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 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Our perception of reality is determined
by our thought processes.

Our thought processes are limited by

our language.

Therefore language shapes our reality .

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 Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
 Language shapes our perception of
REALITY
 words we use to describe our physical
reality determine how we will perceive it
– for example colors
 gender issues
 also a circular process

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 Words
Experience Reality

Reality Experience

Words

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 Meanings are in people, not in
words
 because of experience, we have different
meanings and interpretations
 Denotative
 Connotative

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