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4.9 SKILL BUILDER: Political Speak
Ask students to find texts of, or excerpts from, recent political speeches, and identify apparent
examples of political “babble.” What information (if any) do the “babble” words actually
convey? Next ask the students to give these terms (and their originators) the benefit of the doubt.
Might any of these words actually be intended to make issues clearer? Might some of them be
designed to provide a “shorthand" for politicians and their supporters?
4.10 SKILL BUILDER: Gasoline Drums
What types of behavior would you exhibit around vats labeled “Gasoline Drums”? You would
probably be careful not to light any matches; if you smoked, you would be certain not to toss
away any cigarette butts.
Would you change your behavior if the labels on the containers read “Empty Gasoline Drums”?
Chances are, you might relax a bit and give less thought to the possibility of starting a fire—
although empty drums are more dangerous because they contain explosive vapor.
Ask students to work in teams to brainstorm additional situations in which language is confusing,
if not dangerous.
4.11 SKILL BUILDER: Culture Talks
People from different cultures often need to relate to and negotiate with one another. However,
their negotiations often fail because they don’t understand how members of another culture
perceive and use verbal communication. Such lack of understanding leads to the creation of a
cultural wall that prevents them from adapting their communication style as needed.
Using a series of role plays, demonstrate the cultural wall concept by showing what could
happen if people from the U.S. or Western Europe, who lacked the knowledge about the culture
of their counterparts, needed to interact or negotiate with (1) Eastern Europeans, (2) Latin
Americans, (3) individuals from the Middle East or North Africa, and (4) East Asians. Then
repeat the role plays, this time showing how knowledge of another culture can prevent a cultural
wall from causing a breakdown in communication.
4.12 SKILL BUILDER: The “N” Word
One sociology professor refers to the “N” word as a WMD—a “word of mass destruction.” She
challenges her students to explore and question the use the “N” word in public discourse and in
the lyrics of hip hop. Let’s do the same.
Who, in your opinion, can use the “N” word? Under what circumstances can they use it? Who
should never use it? What do your answers reveal regarding the word’s effect on you? On people
you know?
Your team may use knowledge of team members, or you may want to Google information about
a particular culture to serve as the basis of the role play.
4.13 SKILL BUILDER: Language in Thought
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Those who favor the use of Indian names, mascots, and rituals in sports and society dismiss calls
to prohibit such use. They assert that those who oppose such use are oversensitive and
humorless. Those who oppose the use counter by saying that supporters are unwilling to grant
Indians full and participatory citizenship, as indicated by their objectifying them, relegating
Indians to the role of mascot or caricature.
Can you imagine a team being called the Cleveland Africans, the Cleveland Asians, or the
Cleveland Hispanics?
4.14 SKILL BUILDER: What’s Said?
1. In the book Slam Dunks and No-Brainers, author and media critic Leslie Savan complains
about the growing use of pop language, words and phrases used to sell oneself as hip or cool.
Savan asserts that phrases such as “Don’t go there,” “Get over it,” “You’ve got that right,” and
others constitute a new subdivision of the English language. She contends that such phrases click
in place without the user’s needing to think. What do you think? Keep a list of the pop phrases
that you use.
4.15 SKILL BUILDER: Language in Action
Interview five males and five females from diverse backgrounds. Ask each:
1. Who tends to take turns more frequently—men or women?
2. Who tends to make references to comments of preceding speakers?
3. Who uses language more cooperatively?
4. Who makes more supportive comments?
5. Who is more polite—men or women?
4.16 SKILL BUILDER AT WORK: Triangle of Meaning at Work
Situation 1: “Congratulations. You have just given birth to a 3.5 kilogram baby.” How do you
respond?
Situation 2: Imagine that you are at an old Western Union telegraph office. The telegraph
operator hears a message and bursts into tears. You hear the same dots and dashes, but have no
reaction at all. Why not?
Situation 3: What difference does it make if U.S. officials refer to North Korea as “the imperialist
aggressor,” a member of the “axis of evil,” or as a “superpower of concern?”
Situation 4: Work with your team to created your own examples of the triangle of meaning at
work.
4.17 SKILL BUILDER: Difficulties
Working in groups, provide examples of difficulties you have had sharing meaning with others.
Then answer the following questions.
1. How can words create walls between people?
2. Who should be in charge of meaning: the speaker or the listener?
3. What should both the speaker and the listener do to help avoid a word wall?
4.18 SKILLBUILDER: Bypassing
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Provide an example of how each type of bypassing caused a problem for you or someone you
know. Then think of instances when being “word minded” rather than “person minded” caused
problems for you.
4.19 SKILLBUILDER: Gasoline Drums
What type of behavior would you exhibit around vats labeled “Gasoline Drums”? You would
probably be careful not to light any matches, and you would likely counsel anyone who smoked
not to toss away an cigarette butts.
Would you change your behavior if the labels on the containers read “Empty Gasoline Drums”?
Chances are, you might relax a bit and give less thought to the possibility of starting a fire—
although empty drums are actually more dangerous because they contain explosive vapor.
4.20 SKILLBUILDER: Orientation
When we are preoccupied with or blinded by labels, we display an intensional orientation. When
we focus on what lies behind the label—the world of experience—we display an extensional
orientation and refuse to let labels fool us.
Provide examples of how advertisers and politicians use labels to their advantage. Advertisers
count on consumers acting as if words and things were he same. While such behavior benefits
advertisers, it usually harms consumers.
4.21 SKILLBUILDER: Translation
Poorly translated reports have economic and political repercussions. For example, one badly
translated version of a Chinese tourism reporter’s speculative musing on how an appreciation of
the Chinese currency might play itself out triggered a trading panic and the potential reevaluation
of world currencies.
Who was to blame? While the reporter blamed the translator’s garbled English the translator
blamed the reporter for putting too many vague sentences in the story, thereby causing the
misunderstanding. What can be done to avoid such problems?
4.22 SKILLBUILDER: Culture Talks
People from different cultures often need to relate to and negotiate with one another. However,
their negotiations sometimes fail because they fail to understand how the members of other
cultures perceive and use verbal communication.
Using a series of role plays, demonstrate the cultural wall concept by showing what could
happen if people from the U.S. or Western Europe who lacked knowledge about the culture of
their counterparts needed to interact or negotiate with (1) Eastern Europeans, (Latin Americans,
(3) individuals from the Middle East or North Africa, and (4) Asians. Repeat the role plays, this
time showing how knowledge of another culture can prevent a cultural wall from causing a
breakdown in communication.
You may want to have your students do some online research about their assigned cultures and/or
interview people from the cultures.
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4.23 SKILLBUILDER: Gender and Language
Work with your team. Do you think gender is a factor in how we use language? Give examples to
support your answer. Then compile a list of differences you believe exist regarding how men and
women use language. Why do you think these differences have developed?
Students will enjoy going online to find examples and reasons for the differences.
4.24 SKILLBUILDER: Generation Text
Some observers believe that the popularity of texting is do to people’s longing for private
conversations. The ability to send silent text messages in public spaces is appealing.
Many people text during movies and sporting events or on subways. Are you one of the many?
Educators believe that we should know where to draw the line between formal and
conversational writing. “Generation Text” members, however, commonly mix rapid fire Internet
English and schoolwork. Do you do this? Do you multitask? What would your life be like if you
could not text your friends?
4.25 SKILLBUILDER: Tech Language
Technological developments are leaving their mark on language. Being uninstalled means being
fired. Doing a bit flip means experiencing a disturbing personality alteration. Engaging in
nonlinear behavior means acting irrationally. A bio-break is a trip to the restroom.
Work with your team online to find other examples of technology and language.
4.26 SKILLBUILDER: Focus on Service Learning
Choose an organization such as the American Cancer Society or a homeless shelter. Do some
preliminary research about the organization, including but not limited to visiting its web site
before approaching it.
Identify issues related to the purposes of the agency that could adversely affect the self concept
of the agency’s clients. What strategies can you suggest the organization use to ameliorate harm
to the client’s self image?
4.27 SKILLBUILDER Listen/View
Ask students to work in groups. The group should select and bring in music and/or films or film
clips that they feel relate to the content of this chapter. Ask them to play the clips and discuss
why they feel they are related to the chapter.
VIDEO SOURCES
The documentary American Tongues takes students on a ride across America. Along the way they
are able to experience a wide variety of language and regionalisms. International students are
often especially intrigued by the variety of language in this country. American Tongues is
available from the Media Education Foundation.
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Mystic Fire Video produced a discussion between Deborah Tannen and Robert Bly titled Men
and Women Talking Together. It focuses on ways in which men and women use language.
Mystic Fire can be reached at 800-292-9001.
The CRM Learning films:
Verbal Communication: The Power of Words (2nd edition) puts language into a work setting.
The Power of Future Conversation is an 18-minute film that shows language at work.
Talking 9-5: Men and Women in the Workplace with Deborah Tannen.
Kantola Production offers three films that are appropriate for this chapter.
Sexual Harassment: Serious Business gives five scenarios to illustrate the language of sexual
harassment.
How to Say It takes effective language into the workplace.
Dining with Confidence is a short film that focuses on what to say and what not to say when
dining in business situations. It goes beyond what and how to order dinner. We find that people
who have several years of experience in the workplace especially like this one (800-989-8273).
Do You Speak American? by journalist Robert MacNeil. The series deals with Up North, Down
South and Out West dialect and other issues such as Hip-Hop, Standard English and more. We
use it to introduce the class to dialects in other parts of the country. Available through Films
Media Group—Films for the Humanities and Sciences. www.films.com
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WORKSHEETS
Worksheet for Semantic Differential Scales
A semantic differential scale is a tool for measuring attitudes toward certain words and the
concepts they represent; or, to put it another way, for determining the connotative meanings a test
taker has developed for these words. It consists of the word being evaluated (our samples here
are marriage, parent, and college); a series of descriptive terms at the left, each with an opposite
at the right; and several blank spaces (seven, here) between a term and its opposite. Each of these
term-and-opposite pairs is one “scale.” To indicate how he or she feels about the “target” word,
the test taker checks the appropriate space on each scale.
To see how this scale works, consider the “good—bad” scale as an example, as follows. Then,
complete the scales for marriage, parent, and college.
For the “good—bad” scale, the seven positions (blanks) should be interpreted in this way. If the
“target word” gives you an extremely “good” feeling or an extremely “bad” feeling, check either
of the positions shown below:
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
If the target word makes you feel quite “good” or quite “bad,” check either of these positions:
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
If the target word makes you feel only slightly “bad” or slightly “good” (but not really neutral),
check either of these positions:
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
The direction (right or left) toward which you check the scale will of course depend on which of
the opposed terms you feel is more descriptive of the target word. If you feel that the target word
is neutral with regard to “good—bad,” check the middle space:
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
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MARRIAGE
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
happy _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ sad
strong _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ weak
honest _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ dishonest
hot _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ cold
active _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ passive
valuable_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ worthless
sweet _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bitter
fast _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ slow
PARENT
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
happy _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ sad
strong _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ weak
honest _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ dishonest
hot _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ cold
active _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ passive
valuable_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ worthless
sweet _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bitter
fast _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ slow
COLLEGE
good _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bad
happy _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ sad
strong _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ weak
honest _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ dishonest
hot _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ cold
active _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ passive
valuable_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ worthless
sweet _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ bitter
fast _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ slow
You have now indicated your connotative meaning for the words marriage, parent, and college.
Unlike denotative (or dictionary) meanings, which are objective, abstract, and general,
connotative (or personal) meanings are subjective and emotional. Thus, your connotative
meanings for a word vary according to your own feelings for the object or concept you are
considering.
To analyze your connotative meanings numerically for each scale, you would number the
positions 1 through 7 from left to right in the following manner:
Good 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bad
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WORD ANALYSIS FORM
Enter your numerical rating for each of the three words into a grid like the following. Total your
ratings for each target word at the bottom of the word’s column. Note overall class averages and
class averages according to gender in the three columns to the right of the grid.
Marriage Parent College Class
Average
Male
Average
Female
Average
Scale (1-7)
Good-Bad
Happy-Sad
Strong-Weak
Honest-Dishonest
Hot-Cold
Active-Inactive
Valuable-Worthless
Sweet-Bitter
Fast-Slow
TOTAL
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