Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Language Blog

Part 1
1.      This was funny and interesting activity.  My partner was talking like he normally does and I communicated with facial expression and gestures.  But it got hard because he was asking me a questions and it was hard for him to understand my response.  Yes at the end my partner did alter his communication because he said I look ridiculous and we were just laughing the last few minutes.

2.      My partner was in control of the conversation. He brought up the subjects and started the conversations.  I tried answering which was easy for yes or no question or what my opinion was on something.  I asked a couple questions my pointing to my partner like what do you think and he understood that.  But he definitely had the power of the conversation and I felt the opposite because I just couldn’t put my responses in body language.


3.      .   The culture with the language is the one who has the advantage communicating complex ideas to a population through signs is very hard.   The speaking language probably find it difficult to understand those that do not use the symbolic language.  For me this felt like a person who came from a different country and knows no English, they try to communicate and make their message come out through this way. It is hard for the person because they don’t understand what the person is saying nor can they tell them what their feeling as well.

Part 2
1.      I am the type of person who talks with facial expressions and my hands all the time, so this was difficult.  My partner found it amusing the lack of body language I had, I was very mono tone and I was having a slow conversation because I was trying hard to concentrate not to do anybody language.  My partner was also concentrating on what I was saying as well and he said it was weird that I wasn’t showing emotions but understood me.

2.      This show how the importance of body language and facial expression.  Non speech is important to communicate effectively like my partner said I was emotionless.  Non speech and language goes together it tells the story and the non-speech gives the story feelings to it.  Humans receive information about your words through the tone (high, low, loud, screaming, quiet, etc.)  And facial expression.


3.      Body Language shows a person’s feelings and emotions.  Facial expressions shows whether there happy or sad, your tone shows if your serious or angry or excited, or your body show that as well more reserved people have their arm crossed, etc.  It helps a person survive because it shows them if the person is trying to deceive you if they are saying something and their emotions show something else.  It also helps you reproduce as well because it shows if the person is welcoming or not.


4.      There are definitely people out there who have a hard time reading body language.  One big example is guys and girls.  Guys tend to read girls smile as flirting and take it the wrong way, when probably a girl just has a friendly smile.  Or it can be where the girl is interested and maybe has her eyes down and looks to herself because she is shy.  

2 comments:

  1. Hello,
    We seem to share some similar situations. When i did the assignment with my brother, he too had a difficult time understanding what i was trying to communicate to him. He was also in control of the conversation because he could understand what i was trying to say so he would either move onto another topic or ask more questions to figure what i was trying to say. It is both amusing and frustrating to not use words when having a conversation. Strangely, for part 2, it was not too difficult to communicate because I was very descriptive with my words. It may have looked awkward at some points but i was able to express my feeling and ideas without body language. I also agree that some people take body language the wrong way and it is safe to assume that the first impression someone gives off to you may not be the complete idea they are trying to express.

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  2. Very good description of your first experiment and good, clear discussion on this issue of power in the interaction.

    "For me this felt like a person who came from a different country and knows no English, they try to communicate and make their message come out through this way."

    That is precisely correct. Good observation.

    For the second experiment, isn't it interesting that your partner felt that he had to concentrate so much to understand you? You were able to use spoken language, so why was it so difficult for him to follow your words? What was missing that he was looking for in your communication?

    "It helps a person survive because it shows them if the person is trying to deceive you if they are saying something and their emotions show something else."

    Ah, now that was the point I hoped students would take from this. Body language goes beyond basic information. Humans use body language as a lie detector. If the words they hear don't match the body language, they know that the person is not telling the truth and not to trust them. We use this all the time, when buying things, listening to politicians, talking with family member... Think about how important this would be in a survival situation, particularly with someone who you don't know. Good observation on your part.

    I agree that there are differences in the ability to read body language between the genders, but I suggest that misinterpretations may actually have a selective reproductive advantage for the men. There are actually people who have great difficulty reading body language, such as those in the autism spectrum and (to a certain extent) those who are blind.

    Missing the last question? Can you think of a situation where body language might mislead you? Do all cultures use the same system of body language?

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