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ING105 Effective Communication

ING105 Effective Communication. Lecture 6: Language. Objectives. Explain the concept of symbols Define denotative and connotative meaning Understand content and relationship levels of meaning Describe how language influences our thoughts

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ING105 Effective Communication

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  1. ING105 EffectiveCommunication Asst. Prof. Dr. Emrah Görgülü Lecture 6: Language

  2. Objectives • Explaintheconcept of symbols • Define denotativeandconnotativemeaning • Understandcontentandrelationshiplevels of meaning • Describe how languageinfluencesourthoughts • Explaintheconcept of rhetoricalsensitivity • Analyzeyourownuse of rhetoricalsensitivity

  3. Language Lupita (Spanish) Anita (American) Overweightguy Anita: Wow! Look at thatcouchpotato! Lupita: What?! I can’tseeany sofa orpotato!

  4. Language (cont’d) John: How wastheexam? Sarah: Itwasa piece of cake David: Sue has a leadfoot! Angela: Really, I didn’tknowthat.

  5. Language (cont’d) Q: What is languageanyway? A: Language is thecommontooleveryoneusestocommunicate in theirdaily life. • In a basiccommunicationcourse it is importantforyoutounderstandthefundamentals of thelanguageprocess. • Thatwayyou can usethelanguageeffectively, maketheappropriateremarks in yourspeechandavoidmisunderstandings. • Communication is a dailyprocessandsolidlanguageskillsareessentialforeveryone.

  6. Symbols • Weusesymbolstocommunicatewithothers. Allwordsaresymbols. Symbolsarearbitraryrepresentations. • Wechoose a wordtorepresent an objector a conceptandthensendthewordthrougha channeltosomeone else. horsefriendship at arkadaşlık equusamicitia

  7. Symbols (cont’d) • Therearesomewordsthatmeanwhattheydescribe. Thesewordsarecalledonomatopoeicwords. • meow – Thecatmeowedallday. • honk– Do not honkthehorn • clink– Thecoinsclinkedtogether • murmur – He murmuredsomething

  8. Symbols (cont’d) • Evenwhenwecarefullyselectsymbols, we can runintoproblemsconveyingmeaningbecausesymbolsarearbitraryandambiguous. • Symbolsarearbitrarybecausethere is no innateconnectionbetween an objectorthoughtandthewordusedtorepresent it. • Sometimessymbolusedto define objectsorthoughtsmayvaryfromregiontoregionorfromcountrytocountry. Thismightcause a problem in communication. • Whatdoespastamean in EnglishandTurkish? • Howaboutsympathetic? • Whataboutcamera?

  9. Symbols (cont’d) (a) (b) (c) (d)

  10. Symbols (cont’d) • Can youthink of a time whensomeoneused a symbolthatwasunfamiliartoyou? • Do youknowwhatthesewordsmean in Turkish? • Teyyare • İşkilli • Alengirli • Gafakoçanı • Martaval • Nüktedan • Nobran

  11. Symbols (cont’d) • Another problem in tryingtocreatemeaningforanotherperson is thatsymbolsareambiguous. • Becausemeaningsare in peopleand not in words, thislanguagevaguenessmakeseffectiveommunicationquite a challenge. • Eachcommunicatordecideswhatcertainphrasesmean. • Thinkaboutthephrasessuch as: • a lot of • expensive • Suchwordsareambiguouswithouta context. (do TryIt p. 39)

  12. Symbols (cont’d) • Emrah: That sure is a tallbuilding! • Speakersshoud be carefultochoosethemostconcretetermsthatareavailablewhencreatingtheirmessage.

  13. Symbols (cont’d) Creativeambiguity • Therearetimeswhenspeakersspecificallychoosecreativeambiguityto mask a messagethatmight be aggressiveandhurtful. • Yourfriend: What do youthink of mynewshirt? You: Oh, it is reallyinteresting! / Theotheronelooksbetter on you. • You do not wantto say theshirtdoes not lookgood, soyouaredeliberatelyambiguous. • Ifthereceiver is perceptive, themessageallowsbothpartiestogetout of theexchangewithoutany hurt feelings. (do CriticalTh. / handout on p. 38)

  14. Symbols (cont’d) • Somespeakerschoosecreativelyambiguoustermstomisleadthereceiver. • Student A: I have a familyemergency. • What is familyemergency? • Nine timesout of 10, it meansthatthestudentwantstomissclass but does not wanttoadmitwhy. • Typicallyifthere is a trueemergency, youprovidedetailssuch as “Myverycloseuncle is in thehospitaland his condition is life threatening. I needto be there.”

  15. DenotativeandConnotativeMeanings • Symbols (i.e. words) havedifferentmeanings. A word has a denotativemeaningandmayhave a connotativemeaning. • A denotativemeaningis thedictionarydefinition of a word. • Theprimarymeaning • Themostusualmeaning • Thewordswimmeanstomoveyour body throughthewaterbymovingyourarmsandlegs. • Thewordfamemeansthestate of beingwellknown. • An actorof internationalfame

  16. DenotativeandConnotativeMeanings (cont’d) • A connotativemeaningincludesthefeelingsandemotionspeopleattachto a word. Theconnotation of a word has positiveornegativeassociations. • Moist / dump: (slightlywet) havethesamebasicmeaning • Moist has favorableconnotations: a moistchocolatecake • Dumphas unfavorableconnotations: a dumpcake • slender / skinny • snake • A scaryleglessreptile • Dangerorevil(watchtheclip)

  17. ContentandRelatonshipLevels of Meaning Thereare at leasttwolevels of meaningforeverystatement. • Contentlevel: Itreferstothefactualinterpretation of words. Ifyou say toyourfriendorspouse: • “I seeyoudid not do thedishes.” • Thecontentlevel of themeaning is thattherearedirtydishes in thesink. • Relationshiplevel: On therelationshiplevelthestatementmeans “Youlazyperson, whathaveyoubeendoingallday?” • Therelationshiplevel of meaning is ambiguousand can leadtoseriousmisunderstandings. Evenwhenthemessage is clear, peoplemaylookfor ‘hidden’ meaning.

  18. ContentandRelatonshipLevels of Meaning (cont’d) Letsexaminethescenariobelow • LauraasksScottif he is mad at her. Laura: Areyou mad at me? Scott: No! • Instead of acceptingthecontentlevel of meaning, Laurabegins an analysis in her head. “Well, he said it in a funnyway, I wonderif he is really mad.” Laura: Areyou sure youare not mad at me? Scott: (raises his voice) No, I am not mad. • WhenLaurahearstheraisedvoice, sheinterpretstheirritatedtone as evidencethat her doubtswerecorrect. (watchtheclip)

  19. ContentandRelatonshipLevels of Meaning (cont’d) Determine at leasttworelationalmessagesforeach of thecontentmessagesfrom an employerormanager. Explainyouranswerfortherelationalmessagesyouidentify: • Seeme in myoffice in a half-hour. • Howdidyoucomeupwiththatanswer? • Letmecheckthatout! • What time didyou say themeetingbegins?

  20. TheInfluence of Language • Thelanguagewechooseinfluencesthewaywethinkaboutthings. • As wemakesymbolchoices, it is imperativetothinkabouthowweviewtheworldbased on thewordsweusetodescribe it. Example • Think of a personwho is on a diet. Thispersoneatssixchocolatechipcookies a day. There is a bigdifference in howthepersonwillviewthesituationiftheychoosethewords. • I cheated • I made an unhealthyeatingchoice

  21. TheInfluence of Language (cont’d) • I cheated • Thisone has moral connotations. Itmakesthepersonfeelunethical (i.e. immoral, wrong), weakandappalling(i.e. verybad). • I made an unhealthyeatingchoice. • Itfocuses on theeventitselfratherthanmaking a judgment. • An individual can peceivetheevent as evidence of personalityflawor an unfortunateincidentunder his control. Thechoice of languagewillinfluencehowthepersonthinksabouthimself.

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