Language Blog

Part 1: You were asked to engage in a conversation for 15 minutes where you were not allowed to use any version of a symbolic language (no speaking, writing, or ASL).

Holding a conversation with someone when you are unable to speak makes the conversation very difficult. In an effort to communicate without saying anything, I turned to acting out my responses during the conversation. This was hilarious to my husband, which whom I was speaking to, but very aggravating for me because I could not get my point across unless my husband was patient and paid very close attention. It turned into more of a game then a conversation, and then the game quickly became more of an annoyance. The conversation was no longer a conversation because neither one of us wanted to try and talk about anything that would be too hard to discuss. By the end of the 15 minutes, the only thing accomplished was a good laugh. My husband thought it was funny to watch me struggle through my efforts of communication; however, if this had been a long term project, I believe we would end up learning how to communicate with one another by learning each other’s language.

In a scenario where these were two separate cultures, the culture that can speak would have the advantage in explaining the complex ideas. The speaking culture usually becomes impatient with the other culture because speaking has such a quick response, where other means of communication take time and effort. Individuals in our culture that have difficulty with spoken language are the deaf. My next door neighbors are deaf, and at first, it was very difficult to speak with them, but eventually, we learned how to communicate with one another. They were very patient with me and my husband and we were very patient with them. It’s been 2 years since we’ve been neighbors, and communicating has become much easier, but we still do not get to talk about larger scale things because of the complications in our communication. The most important thing is to be understanding and patient. If patience is shown, and the effort is given, the language barrier can be broken.

Part 2: You were asked to spend 15 minutes communicating without any physical embellishments, i.e., no hand signals, not vocal intonation, not head, facial, or body movements.

Holding a conversation with someone when you are unable to show any type of emotion or movement in correlation with your conversation is also very difficult, but not as difficult as the first experiment talked about above. The conversation was easier than the first because we understood each other’s communication, but following the guidelines was much harder. Immediately, I failed this experiment by raising my eyebrows when I responded to a question. I soon failed again from the tones of my voice, then a hand gesture, and so on. I continued through the 15 minutes with miserable success. It is so deeply embedded in my character to talk with my hands, and to annunciate questions or statements with a clear question or excitement in my tone.

My partner in this experiment wasn’t affected during our conversation; however, had he not been aware of what I was doing, there was a great potential of him feeling unappreciated, under-valued, etc. because I was not able to show any reaction or emotion. To me, I felt very robotic and removed from the conversation.

The use of signs in our language is very important. Body language is a very big key in understanding one another. Slouching, slumping, eye contact, etc. are all very important in the messages. Some people don’t pick up on body language as easily as others, but it is a natural instinct to recognize a person’s body language. The benefit of reading body language is a key to our daily lives. For example, the certain look from a parent to their child when they are interrupting a conversation, the co-worker that is yawning and not keeping eye contact while being informed of a new process. Aside from reading body language, it is important that we also pay attention to our own. I can’t think of a scenario where it would be a good idea to not read body language, but it is so important to be in tune with your own, for example, body language in a job interview to show confidence, not nervousness or showing the enthusiasm during someone’s conversation. Overall, body language is its own unique form of communication that we must use in our daily lives.