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CHAPTER 6
LANGUAGE
Objectives
After studying the material in Chapter Five of Looking Out/Looking In, you should understand:
1. Analyze a real or potential misunderstanding in terms of semantic or pragmatic rules.
2. Describe how principles presented in the section of this chapter titled “The Impact of Language”
operate in your life.
3. Construct a message at the optimal level of specificity or vagueness for a given situation.
4. Recast “you” statements into “I” or “we” statements to reflect your responsibility for the content
of messages.
5. Rephrase disruptive statements in less inflammatory terms.
6. In a given situation, analyze how gender and/or cultural differences may affect the quality of
interaction.
Notes on Class and Student Activities
1. Misunderstood Language (6.2 in Student Activities Manual)
Objective
Analyze a real or potential misunderstanding in terms of semantic or pragmatic rules.
Construct a message at the optimal level of specificity or vagueness for a given situation.
Instructions
Assign the activity Misunderstood Language (6.2 in Student Activities Manual) as an individual activity.
In class, have students break into groups to compare answers and discuss the following questions:
Discussion Questions
1 Which of the language types: relative language, static evaluation, or equivocal language, were the
most challenging to rewrite?
2 . How might taking the time to revise your language in a similar fashion affect your
communications?
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2.Behavioral Language (6.3 in Student Activities Manual) or Down-to-Earth Language (MindTap Ch 6:
Understandings and Misunderstandings -Skill Builder)
Objective
To give students practice using lower abstractions.
To help students describe behavior effectively.
Instructions
Assign the activity Behavioral Language (6.3 in Student Activities Manual) or Down-to-Earth Language
(MindTap Ch 6: Understandings and Misunderstandings -Skill Builder) as an individual activity. In class,
have students break into groups to compare answers and discuss the following questions:
In order to help them construct useful behavioral descriptions, it may be helpful to ask students “what does that
behavior look or sound like?” or “what did that person do or say, specifically?”
Option
This exercise can be a good precursor to coping with criticism in Chapter 9, as it may enable students
to criticize specifically and constructively themselves before having to cope with the criticism of others
later.
Discussion Questions
1.Is the less abstract language always the best choice?
2.How might communication outcomes change in each situation with the use of less abstract language?
Why? Explain.
3. Your Linguistic Rules (MindTap Ch 6: Understandings and Misunderstandings - Pause and Reflect)
Objective
To give students awareness of their own and others’ linguistic rules.
Option
Conduct either as an individual online activity or as an in-class group activity and follow up with
discussion questions.
Discussion Questions
1. Are there familiar syntactic rules that are commonly broken? Give examples.
2. What types of semantic misunderstandings occur frequently, and why?
3. Give examples of pragmatic rules that are shared by most of you.
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4. Give examples of pragmatic rules that operate differently today than they may have in the past.
5. Give examples of individualized sets of pragmatic rules that operate in some of your relationships.
4. Conjugating Irregular Verbs (MindTap Ch 6: The Impact of Language - Pause and Reflect)
Objectives
To give students some practice using emotive words.
To help students become sensitive to the frequent practice of using words that we think describe
something or somebody but really announce to the receiver our attitude about it.
This particular exercise seems to be one that the students like. It is, therefore, quite easy to get them to come up
with their own “I am ____________” and then pass it on to the next person in line for the “You are ___________”
and to a third person for the “He is ___________” responses.
Option
Conduct either as an individual online activity or as an in-class group activity and follow up with
discussion questions.
Discussion Questions
1. To what degree did word choices change meanings? Explain.
2. Think of a few situations in which you have unconsciously used emotive language. How did words
affect the interaction?
3. What are some problematic outcomes of using emotive language?
5. Effective Language, (6.4 in the Student Activities Manual)
Objectives
Analyze a real or potential misunderstanding in terms of semantic or pragmatic rules.
Describe how principles presented in the section of this chapter titled “The Impact of Language” operate
in your life.
Discussion Questions
1. Which parts were easy? Difficult? Why were some parts easier than others?
2. What does “I” language do for us? What’s the purpose of using “I” instead of “you?”
6. Words That Hurt and Heal
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Objective
To help students identify words that have powerful effects on themselves and others.
Instructions
1. Make two columns on the board: Words that Hurt, and Words that Heal.
2. For each column, have students brainstorm words that they or others respond to strongly. If the
Hurt column seems longer than the Heal column (this is usually the case), challenge students to
turn the Hurt column words into kinder terms.
Discussion Questions
1. Which list was easier to come up with? Why?
2. What impact do these words and phrases have on us and others?
3. Make suggestions about how to talk about things and behaviors that concern and bother you without
using hurtful words.
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7. Sample Dialogues
Objective
To give students practice at identifying, analyzing, and evaluating gender and/or culture differences in
actual dialogue.
This activity requires some prep time on the instructor’s part.
Instructions
1. Create a few short sample dialogues illustrating problems that can occur as a result of gender and/or
cultural differences. Copy to transparency for display in class.
Ideas for illustration:
• Frustration between a husband and wife that occurs because she wants to talk about the details
of the day, and he doesn’t see the point.
• Frustration between a girlfriend and boyfriend that occurs because he offers advice to her about
a problem she’s discussing, and she only wants him to listen and acknowledge her.
• A misunderstanding between a mother and son based on her misinterpretation of his
competitive communication style.
• A misunderstanding between a male and female coworker based on her misinterpretation of his
direct conversational style.
• A business deal gone wrong due to high and low context style differences.
• Frustrations between class project group members due to culturally different verbal
communication styles
.
2. Have students identify the specific communication style differences that appear in the dialogue and
describe how these differences led to problems.
3. Be sure students understand that language styles can be easily misinterpreted, especially if someone
is not familiar with or doesn’t take these differences into account during the interaction.
4. Have students make suggestions about skills from earlier chapters that can be used to “bridge” these
differences and communicate effectively (e.g., perception checking, empathy, avoiding thought
fallacies, metacommunication, etc.).
8. Swearing in the Workplace (MindTap Ch 6: The Impact of Language - On the Job )
Objective
To give students awareness of the implications of swearing in the workplace.
Option
Use this reading feature as the basis for a class discussion.
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Discussion Questions
1. What have been your experiences with swearing in the workplace?
2. What are the accepted practices in your past and current work situations?
3. How can you go about determining what is and isn’t appropriate in current and future work
situations?
Sample Quiz
1. Equivocal words are words that can be interpreted in more than one way.
2. Linguistic relativism is a notion that holds that our cultural worldview is shaped and reflected by the
language spoken by its members.
3. There are never times when equivocal language can be useful.
4. Pragmatic rules are stated rules that help us make sense of another’s messages.
5. Researchers have found that “I/we” combinations have a good chance of being received favorably.
6. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is the best known declaration of
a. convergence.
b. linguistic relativism.
c. identity.
d. emotive theory.
e. pragmatism.
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7. . In a low-context language culture, you will notice
a. indirect expression of opinions.
b. use of silence admired.
c. less reliance on explicit verbal messages.
d. self-expression valued.
e. ambiguity admired.
8. Making an inference is a reasonable thing to do relationally as long as
a. you make a number of them.
b. you wait for the other to infer also.
c. the other person understands you.
d. you identify the inference to the other person.
e. you first describe the observable behavior that led to the inference.
9. If you take an “easy” class your friend recommended and find it “hard,” you have had semantic
problems due to
a. euphemistic language.
b. relative words.
c. equivocal words.
d. fiction terms.
e. semantic distracters.
10. “Frank is lazy” is an example of which semantic problem?
a. equivocation
b. relative language
c. abstraction
d. static evaluation
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e. none of the above
INSTRUCTIONS for questions 11–15: Identify each of the following statements as fact or inference.
a. inference
b. fact
11. You are trying to hurt me.
12. You told Jimmy that I didn’t want to go out with him.
13. Why are you mad at me?
14. Jim wrote me a letter to help me get that job.
15. Your children are disruptive.
15. Describe what abstract language is and how you use unnecessarily abstract language that causes
communication problems. Give at least five examples. Tell how you could lower the level of
abstraction in each of the examples you have given or provide reasons why the higher-level
abstraction is justified and relationally beneficial.
Answer: will vary Type: E The Impact of Language Synthesis
16. In your own words, explain the statement “meanings rest more in people than in words.” Cite
examples from your own experience.
Answer: will vary Type: E Language Is Symbolic Application
17. Your text identifies three areas where language shapes our perceptions: through naming and identity,
affiliation, and power. Choose two areas and explain how they have shaped your perceptions. Include
specific examples in your discussion.
Answer: will vary Type: E The Impact of Language Synthesis
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18. Explain how the ideas expressed in the section “Finding the Words to Talk About Disability” are
related to the concept of self-fulfilling prophecies described in Chapter Two.
Answer: will vary Type: E The Impact of Language Synthesis
19. Explain how cultural differences in language use might affect intercultural business exchanges. Give
examples.
Answer: will vary Type: E Culture and Language Evaluation
1. Compare and contrast your use of language with that of someone else you know, pointing out the
similarities or differences in: 1) verbal communication style (direct/indirect, elaborate/succinct,
formal/informal) and 2) worldview. Cite specific examples.
Answer: will vary Type: E Culture and Language Synthesis
