Language Blog
Part 1:
This part of the assignment was very difficult and frustrating because it obviously wasn't easy to communicate with one another. It was very hard because you can be easily misunderstood since we weren't allowed to use language. My partner was getting kind of annoyed as well because they didn't understand a lot of what I was saying. My partner was in control since it was easier for them to switch topics and what not but in a normal conversation of course the power would be distributed but since I was the one who wasn't allowed to say anything they definitely had all of the power. I see different cultures communicating all the time especially when it comes down to deaf and hearing people, they have such different cultures and most of the time a hearing person does not know Sign Language so it is definitely hard for the to understand each other. Ive seen it happen many times especially when I attend deaf event for my ASL class.
Part 2:
The second part of this assignment was definitely a lot more interesting to me because I was the one not showing any facial expressions or body language etc. Im sure my partner had trouble deciding my mood in that conversation I didn't show any expression and my tone of voice was so plain I couldn't imagine myself acting this way all the time. Non speech in language is one of the most important things when you're trying to decide what kind of conversation it is because what if I was trying to be sarcastic and the other person wouldn't be able to tell because my tone of voice stayed the same and not once changed. Reading a persons body language is also a big part of it because you're able to figure out a lot by just watching the way they act. I am honestly one of those persons that doesn't do so well when it comes to reading someone else's body language. I feel like they can show one thing but really be feeling another so it isn't always accurate.
HI Amy,
ReplyDeleteFor Part 1, I am curious to know what kind of body language you used? On Part 2 I am curious to know what type of issues do you have with reading someones body language. I think that body language is important even in verbal communication. I used my son in one of my experiments and he became annoyed as well.
Angela
Sup Amy,
ReplyDeleteI also found that some people become annoyed when you don't talk even if you do in someway communicate non-verbally. I experienced the same thing with my friends little sister who i didn't originally want in the conversation but by then it was to late.
I think that body language does the opposite of how you described it. I mean I usually find that a person may say one thing but their body can show that they are lying or not being entirely truthful. so I think its important to pay attention to body language depending on the conversation your having with someone as like you said it can be inaccurate at times.
Did your partner alter the way they spoke with you during the Part A experiment? The annoyance is understandable, but did they take steps to make the communication with you easier?
ReplyDeleteGood discussion on the issue of control and power.
Good connection between the issue of different cultures and your real life experiences. From those experiences, how to you think the "speaking culture" would feel about the "non-speaking" culture? What attitudes and preconceptions might they form about them and why?
Good description of your part B experiment and you discussion on the information you can gather from body language.
Missing the section on the adaptive benefit of body language (without breaking your post into paragraphs, it makes it hard to parse information out of it... suggest on a paragraph for each point in the guidelines). This was an important section to consider and one of the points I would like you to take on this is related to one function of body language:
Humans actually use body language as a bit of a lie detector. If your words don't match your body language, we tend to believe the body language, which is harder to fake, and assume you are lying. This causes problems if you know the person, but think about the implications if you are meeting a person for the first time. Would you trust them if their body language didn't match their words? Do you think you would trust them to be reliable, to help when asked, to act fairly in a business transaction? Probably not. Reading body language tells us who we can trust and who we can't and it has far-reaching implications throughout our lives and our survival.
The ability to read body language is, like most human traits, highly variable, but there are specific groups that are known for having difficulty reading body language, such as those who are blind or those in the autism spectrum.
Can you think of a situation where body language might mislead you (final question in the guidelines)? Do all cultures use the same system of body language?