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Verbal Communication This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program. PowerPoint™ Presentation by: Lauren Amaro Arizona State University

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  The importance of verbal communication  What is verbal communication?  Influences on verbal communication  The individual, verbal communication, and society  Ethics and verbal communication  Improving your verbal communication skills  Become aware of the power of language Overview of Themes

 A diversion Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

 Verbal Communication relatively recent development  Cro-Magnon people were the first to speak ◦ 90,000 to 35,000 years ago  Language likely emerged about 30,000 years ago

 Writing  Printing  Mass Media

1.Arbitrary 2.Conventional 3.Culturally transmitted

Principle of arbitrary selection ◦ Words are selected in random ways ◦ Words have histories, but often their origins are capricious ◦ Words are not the things they represent ◦ Once a word is used, its relationship to what it represents seems to be fixed

It is a teddy bear!

Water Fountain Bubbler

He died He passed away

“Choo-Choo” Train Natural? Learned?

 A consequence of arbitrariness  A stable relationship between a symbol and its referent is a convention  A rule that people in a language community agree to follow  Verbal symbols are often conventionalized by being placed in dictionaries

Conventions are the rules of our particular language community that stabilize the meaning triangle Meaning SymbolReferent C1 A specific pattern of internal experiences is the expected way of perceiving that aspect of reality C2 Perception of the symbol will arouse the same meaning as does the referent itself C3 Symbol will stand for and be the label of the referent

SymbolReferent Thought/Reference I.A. Richards/C.K. Ogden (1923) Story What I learned School Telling what I learned at school

Connotative ◦ Personal Denotative ◦ Public ◦ Dictionary

A long-list of symbol-referent conventions used to communicate about the physical, social, and abstract world. VocabularyAntonymsSynonyms Words about this or that

Phonetics is the study of all the sounds that the human voice is capable of creating whereas phonology is the study of a subset of those sounds that constitute language and meaning. Pronunciation is the conventional or standard way to say words in a language. heed head hid had

 Rules for constructing conventional patterns Fish swim effortlessly. verbadverb noun I ain’t never done nothing like that there.

 The architecture of language

 More words are used to express a thought than are necessary These findings posed a great number of problems. These findings posed many problems.

 Passed from one generation to the next  Language is not inherited  Language is learned

 Some people are better artists than others  Some people are better dancers than others  Some people have a better command of language than others

 Swell  Groovy  Rad  The Bomb

 We utter an indefinite number of messages made up of a few vocal sounds.  Mathematical possibilities of combination  Different cultures use different sounds but complexity is a key to all languages

Know what I Mean!

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Importance of Verbal Communication

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Verbal communication ◦ The foundation through which meaning is created ◦ Crucial to the development of identity and relationship The Importance of Verbal Communication

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. What is Verbal Communication?

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  The written or oral words or sounds that we exchange  Language functions in several ways: ◦ Instrumental – get what you need/want ◦ Regulatory – control behavior of others ◦ Informational – report facts ◦ Heuristic – acquire knowledge ◦ Interactional – builds/defines relationships ◦ Personal language – expresses self ◦ Imaginatively – expresses creativity What is Verbal Communication?

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Language is composed of: ◦ Phonology – sounds ◦ Lexicon - words ◦ Syntax – rules of word order ◦ Semantics – study of meaning of words  Denotative meanings - literal  Connotative meanings – figurative/associative ◦ Pragmatics – rules of use  Speech act theory – we create actions with language What is Verbal Communication, cont.

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Influences on Verbal Communication

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Men and women are more similar than different  Perceptions of gender differences are hard to combat  Differences may result from power, status, and expectation discrepancies Gender

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Language use varies by age  Cohort effect may create unique verbal communication patterns across generations Age

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Verbal differences developed when people were separated by a boundary (geographical or social)  We speak similarly to those we live near  Globalization affects how often we can speak with each other, but dialects remain strong Regionality

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Ethnicity can influence ◦ Accent, word choice, and syntax ◦ General verbal style  Example: Ebonics as separate language or “substandard English”? Ethnicity and Race

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Experiencing similar education or professional interaction makes language patterns more similar for individuals ◦ Jargon is one manifestation of this convergence Education and Occupation

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Individual, Verbal Communication, and Society

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Language influences perception, but how? ◦ Nominalist – any idea can be expressed ◦ Relativist – language shapes ideas Language and Perception

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  People in power determine what language is spoken ◦ Those who speak appropriately can increase their power  Co-cultural theory ◦ Societal hierarchies privilege certain groups ◦ Privileged groups set the norms ◦ Language maintains privilege ◦ Acceptable language is different in private relationships ◦ Dominant language slows less dominant groups’ language progression Language and Power

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  The words we use structure power ◦ “Fireman” ◦ “Chairman” ◦ Mr. and Mrs. (one by sex, the other by marital status) Power and Words

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  We associate certain accents with status and power ◦ Focusing on these perceptions can elevate one group and denigrate others Power and Accent

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  People in power assign language labels for other groups  Power of labels can change over time Power and Identity Labels

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Ethics and Verbal Communication

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Unethical use of verbal communication to ◦ Attack others based on a social category ◦ Threaten an entire group ◦ Incite violence against members of these groups Hate Speech

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Strive to do as little harm as possible ◦ Disconfirming – comments that reject or invalidate a positive self-image of another person ◦ Confirming – validation of a positive self-image Confirming and Disconfirming Communication

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Improving Your Verbal Communication Skills

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  “I” statements help positively communicate negative feelings/experiences  3 part message that describes 1. The other person’s behavior 2. Your feelings about that behavior 3. The consequences that behavior has for you “I” Statements

Copyright © 2013, 2010, 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.  Words can hurt  You have the power to improve your verbal communication  Start by being aware of what your words can do Become Aware of the Power of Language