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COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Verbal Messages
Goal: To understand and use verbal language effectively
Overview: This chapter looks at language as a system of symbols used for communicating.
It covers how speaking appropriately means using language that adapts to the needs,
interests, knowledge, and attitudes of the listener and how avoiding language that alienates
is unethical. This chapter also asks us to consider how culture and gender influence our
language choices.
Learning Outcomes
4-1 Define a language, a dialect, and an idiolect.
4-2 Link the characteristics of language.
4-3 Compose effective verbal messages based on semantic, pragmatic, and sociolinguistic
meanings.
Key Terms
Concrete language
Connotation
Denotation
Dialect
Direct verbal style
Idiolect
Idioms
Inclusive language
Indirect verbal style
Language
Language community
Lexicon
Linguistic sensitivity
Mindfulness
Phonology
Pragmatic meaning
Semantic meaning
Sociolinguistic meaning
Specific language
Speech act
Speech Communities
Syntax and grammar
Turn-taking
Utterance
Words
Chapter Outline
I. The nature of language
A. Language: a system of symbols used by people to communicate
1. Each verbal language is comprised of a lexicon, a collection of words and
expressions; a phonology, sounds used to pronounce words; and syntax and
grammar, rules for combining words to form sentences
2. Language community: a group of people who speak the same language
3. A dialect is a unique form of a more general language spoken by a specific
culture or co-culture. These smaller groups that speak a common dialect are
known as speech communities
4. Idiolects include our active vocabularies and our unique pronunciations,
grammar, and syntax.
II. Characteristics of language
A. Sharing meaning can be difficult because we speak different languages and use
different dialects and idiolects than those with whom we are communicating
B. The words used to represent things in any language are arbitrary symbols
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
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C. Not only is language arbitrary, but it is also abstract
D. New words are constantly being invented and existing words abandoned or assigned
new meanings
III. The relationship between language and meaning
A. The meaning of words is in people, not in the words themselves. Semantic meaning
is derived from the words themselves and how they are arranged into sentences
B. Words have two levels of meaning
1. Denotation: using dictionary definitions to give meanings to words
2. Connotation: the implicit additional meaning we associate with a word.
C. To improve semantics, choose words and arrange them in ways that both improve
clarity and demonstrate respect
1. Use specific language
2. Use concrete language
3. Use familiar language
4. Use descriptive details and examples
5. Demonstrate linguistic sensitivity by using inclusive language.
D. Pragmatic meaning comes from understanding a message related to the
conversational context of it
1. A speech act is the utterance of a verbal message and what it implies about how
the listener should respond
2. We understand pragmatic meaning based on an assumption that both partners
want to achieve mutual understanding
3. Guidelines for Improving Pragmatics
A. Tell the truth
B. Relate what you say to the topic being discussed.
C. Acknowledge when your message violates a guideline.
d. Assume the best fit.
E. Sociolinguistic meaning varies according to the norms of a particular culture or co-
culture.
1. Sociolinguistic misunderstandings occur when we interact with someone who
operates using different norms regarding how words are combined, how to say
what to whom and when, and verbal style
2. All cultures use idioms, which are expressions whose meaning is different from
the literal meanings associated with the words used in them
3. A direct verbal style is characterized by language that openly states the
speaker’s intention in a straightforward and unambiguous way. An indirect
verbal style is characterized by language that masks the speaker’s true
intentions in a roundabout and ambiguous way
4. Guidelines for improving sociolinguistics:
A. Develop intercultural competence
B. Practice Mindfulness
C. Respect and adapt to the sociolinguistic practice of others
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
4-3
Technology Resources
Merriam-Webster Online
http://www.m-w.com Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary and thesaurus is an excellent
resource that can help you not only at school but also in the workplace.
Slang Dictionary
http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~wrader/slang/ The Online Slang Dictionary is a collaborative
project that features slang contributed by people from all around the world.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
http://public.oed.com/about/
The OED contains present and historical meanings of words and their origins. The OED
contains over 600,000 words traced through 3,000,000 quotations throughout 1,000 years
of English.
Movies
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Rated: PG-13 (Some sensuality)
Synopsis: Andrea (Andy) Sachs moves to New York to be an assistant for Miranda Priestly,
the editor of a famous fashion magazine (modeled on Anna Wintour and Vogue). Andy
struggles to please Miranda while also managing her own identity in relation to her work.
1. In what ways are Andy and Miranda members of different speech communities? What
are some norms of each community?
2. How does Andy’s verbal communication change over the course of the film?
3. Note some of the examples of when the difference between denotative and connotative
meaning are important.
4. Do you think Andy is a fluent member of the fashion speech community by the end of
the film?
Babel (2006)
Rated: R (Nudity, sex, profanity, violence)
Synopsis: This movie tells four different but connected stories that take place in Morocco,
Mexico, the United States, and Japan. These four stories weave together in a way that
demonstrates the way the world is growing closer while also demonstrating how poorly we
communicate even as we become more interconnected.
Questions for discussion
1. What gender, cultural, and generational roles and expectations are demonstrated in this
movie?
2. What misunderstandings occur based on language? What consequences do these
misunderstandings have? Do you see any examples of where these misunderstandings
could have been avoided through the use of specific instead of generic language? What
about through the use of techniques such as dating, index generalizations, and using
language appropriate to the occasion?
Brick (2005)
Rated: R (Language, violence, mature themes)
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
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Synopsis: Young Brendan enters a teenage criminal underworld and its host of miscreants
on his hunt to solve a drug mystery and find his missing girlfriend.
1. Why and how long does it take to catch on to the unique lingo presented mostly by
the young high school students who trade it back-and-forth in casual conversation?
2. What characterizes the language and what are its main historical influences?
3. Compare and contrast the normal, everyday English with the idiolect seemingly
shared by all the high school students in this film.
4. What influence do the teenagers’ language have on the mystery of Emily’s
disappearance and the drug dealing underworld.
Additional suggested movies: Lost in Translation (2003) (intercultural communication,
verbal barriers); Smoke Signals (1998) (relational stages, perception, intercultural
communication, communication competence); About Schmidt (2000) (intergenerational
communication, family, perception); Disgrace (2008) (relational stages, gender, family,
perception); Bringing Down the House (2003) (communication competence, age, race,
gender, code switching)
Other Media Resources
1. Wordsmith Chat with Steven Pinker
http://wordsmith.org/chat/pinker.html
2. American Slang: Adapted, Updated: Interview with Paul Dickson
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6383410
3. UNESCO Red Book on Endangered Languages
http://www.tooyoo.l.u-tokyo.ac.jp/archive/RedBook/index.html
4. English Language Resources
http://www.english-language-school.info/
Diverse Voices
The Language of the Frontier
by Gloría Anzaldúa
The late Gloría Anzaldúa was a writer, poet, activist, and instructor of Chicano studies,
women’s studies, and creative writing at the University of California at Santa Cruz. The
selection below is from her book Borderlands/La Frontera. In this excerpt, Anzaldúa
embraces the use of multiple English and Spanish dialects to express the many cultural and
social influences in her life.
“Pocho, cultural traitor, you’re speaking the oppressor’s language by speaking English,
you’re ruining the Spanish language.” I have been accused by various Latinos and Latinas.
Chicano Spanish is considered by the purist and by most Latinos deficient, a mutilation of
Spanish.
But Chicano Spanish is a border tongue which developed naturally. Change, evolución,
enriquecimiento de palabras nuevas por invención or adopción have created variants of
Chicano Spanish, un Nuevo lenguaje. Un lenguaje que corresponde a un modo de vivir.
Chicano Spanish is not incorrect, it is a living language.
For people who are neither Spanish nor live in a country in which Spanish is the first
language; for a people who live in a country in which English is the reigning tongue but who
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
are not Anglo; for a people who cannot entirely identify with either standard (formal,
Castilian) Spanish nor standard English, what recourse is left to them but to create their
own language? A language which they can connect their identity to, one capable of
communicating the realities and values true to themselves—a language with the terms that
are neither español ni ingles, but both. We speak a patois, a forked tongue, a variation of
two languages.
Chicano Spanish sprang out of the Chicanos’ need to identify ourselves as a distinct
people. We needed a language with which we could communicate with ourselves, a secret
language. For some of us, language is a homeland closer than the Southwest—for many
Chicanos today live in the Midwest and the East. And because we are a complex,
heterogeneous people, we speak many languages. Some of the languages we speak are
1. Standard English
2. Working-class and slang English
3. Standard Spanish
4. Standard Mexican Spanish
5. North Mexican Spanish dialect
6. Chicano Spanish (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California have regional
variations)
7. Tex-Mex
8. Pachuco (called caló)
My “home” tongues are the languages I speak with my sister and brothers, with my friends.
They are the last five listed, with 6 and 7 being the closest to my heart. From school, the
media, and job situations, I’ve picked up standard and working class English. From
Mamagrande Locha and from reading Spanish and Mexican literature, I’ve picked up
Standard Spanish and Standard Mexican Spanish. From los recién llegados, Mexican
immigrants, and braceros, I have learned the North Mexican dialect. From my parents and
Chicanos living in the Valley, I picked up Chicano Texas Spanish, and I speak it with my
mom, younger brother (who married a Mexican and who rarely mixes Spanish with English),
aunts, and older relatives.
With Chicanas from Nuevo México or Arizona I will speak Chicano Spanish a little, but
often they don’t understand what I’m saying. With most California Chicanas I speak entirely
in English (unless I forget). When I first moved to San Francisco, I’d rattle off something in
Spanish, unintentionally embarrassing them. Often it is only with another Chicana tejano
that I can talk freely.
Words distorted by English are known as anglicisms or pochismos. The pocho is an
anglicized Mexican or American of Mexican origin who speaks Spanish with an accent
characteristic of North Americans and who distorts and reconstructs the language according
to the influence of English. Tex-Mex, or Spanglish, comes most naturally to me. I may
switch back and forth from English to Spanish in the same sentence or in the same word.
With my sister and my brother Nune and with Chicano tejano contemporaries I speak in
Tex-Mex.
From kids and people my own age I picked up Pachuco. Pachuco (the language of the
zoot suiters) is a language of rebellion, both against Standard Spanish and Standard
English. It is a secret language. Adults of the culture and outsiders cannot understand it. It
is made up of slang words from both English and Spanish. Ruca means girl or woman, vato
means guy or dude, chale means no, simón means yes, churro is sure, talk is periquiar,
pigionear means petting, que gacho means how nerdy, ponte águila means watch out,
death is called la pelona. Through lack of practice and not having others who can speak it,
I’ve lost most of the Pachuco tongue.
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
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Reflection Questions
1. Can you identify ways you adjust your language choices based on who you are speaking
with?
2. How are these language choices different and similar to what Gloría Anzaldúa describes?
3. What language devices does Anzaldúa use in her own narrative?
4. Why does Anzaldúa begin her essay by repeating an insult directed at her, but spoken in
both English and Spanish?
Excerpted from Gloría Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. (San Francisco,
CA: Aunt Lute Books, 1987, 1999). Reprinted by permission of Aunt Lute Books.
Discussion and Assignment Ideas
I. This exercise works best when you bring a few different dictionaries to class. Divide
students into small groups. Ask the students, working with others in their groups, to
select a common noun such as college, industry, pigeon, or fire. Each person should list
at least five adjectives that he or she associates with the word. When the groups have
finished, compare the results. Ask them to discuss in what ways their connotative
meanings differ? Next pass out a dictionary, or a few different editions of dictionaries, to
each group and have a student read the dictionary definitions of the words they chose
out loud. Discuss how the connotative meanings for words differ from the denotative
meanings. How might the publishing date of the dictionary affect this exercise?
A variation on this exercise: Have students come up with adjectives for the words
woman and man. Use the ensuing discussion as an opportunity to speak about gendered
associations and underlying assumed meanings of these words. What affect does this
have on the way that women and men are seen? How would this exercise be different if
this were a group of all men? Of all women?
Additions to this exercise: The class chooses a single or several abstract nouns. Ask
students to generate more concrete nouns and verbs that have descriptive relationships
with the first nouns they chose. Put nouns and verbs on the board (on post-it notes) and
have students gather in front of the board to group the words together. Tell them they
have just created their own lexicons. Choose concrete descriptions for each lexicon the
students put together. What do their language choices indicate about them as individual
students? As a group of students?
II. Quotes: These can be used to introduce topics, questions perspectives, or gain
individual opinion. Providing students with a quote and prompting them to write or
reflect on their personal feelings about the quote can help to spark discussion and
interest. Suggested prompts may include “Define this concept in your own words”; “Do
you agree with this statement? Explain”; “What text material can be used to support or
refute this idea?” “How can any or all of these quotations be applied concepts from
chapter 4”; “What might these people say to Gloría Anzaldúa (the female author above)
or vice versa?”
Commented [JB1]:
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
4-7
Language is a process of free creation; its laws and principles are fixed, but the
manner in which the principles of generation are used is free and infinitely varied.
Even the interpretation and use of words involves a process of free creation.
—Noam Chomsky
Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of
social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the
particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society.
—Edward Sapir
I understand the fury in your words,/ but not the words.
—Shakespeare, Othello, 4.2
For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await
another voice.
—T.S. Eliot
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was
cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On
some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and
some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.
― Norman Maclean
III. Speaking appropriately is important and often depends upon the communication setting.
What guidelines would you suggest for a retail business setting? For a classroom
setting? For a sporting event, such as a little league game? For a conference religious
retreat? For a hip hop concert? Be specific about how people should or should not speak.
IV. Research is now showing that gender language is not as diverse or problematic as we
once thought. In your opinion, which has a larger influence on speech: gender or
situational context? Do you agree with the assessment that womanly styles of language,
or “women’s language,” appears powerless? If so, will it help women’s social standing in
society to speak in a more male or forceful way? What parts of language reinforce or
undermine gender stereotypes?
Chapter Activities
4.1: Change and Language
Purpose: To demonstrate the arbitrary and dynamic nature of language
Time: 40 minutes
Process: Put students into groups of five. Ask them to discuss the following questions:
1. What are five new words that have become popular in the last five years?
Explain their popularity.
2. What are five old (obsolete) words that are no longer commonly used?
(For example, think of an unusual expressions you’ve heard used by
persons who were raised in the 1930s.)
3. List five words that are derived from a co-cultural group in the United
States
4. List five words that have extremely negative emotional connotations in
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
our society right now. Explain.
5. List five common slang terms. Are your choices affected by your co-
cultural belonging?
6. List five words that are used by mostly young people and explain how the
words characterize specifically young people and how these words might
create divisions with adults.
Have a spokesperson from each group share the lists with the entire class.
Discuss according the following questions: Why do words change? How do
these word changes affect interpersonal communication?
4.2: Semantic and Syntactic Clarity
Purpose: To assist students in recognizing the impact of semantic and syntactic errors
on meaning clarity
Time: 20 minutes
Process: Copy the following sentences for each member of the class. (These sentences
come from actual student papers.) Distribute the copies and ask the students
to work in groups of three to identify whether the problem in each sentence is
syntactic, semantic, or both. Then have students rewrite the sentences for
increased clarity. Try to be as succinct, simple, and clear as possible. This last
requirement effectively demonstrates the degree of ambiguity produced by
problems in these dimensions of language. Have each group report its results
to the class.
1. He remains essentially unfathomable behind his less than sophomorically
insipid exterior.
2. Due to the pressure that society puts on children too much too soon to
become successful by their standards, some children fail because of the
pressure which they bare is too much for them, in a world they are not
ready for.
3. Synonym: a word that can be thought to be another word when spoken
such as well and whale.
4. Most of the speech students there seemed disinterested as I looked
throughout the audience with few exceptions.
5. The professor did rotate between the podium and the chalkboard a few
times as he was making some illustrations.
6. Everyone has weaknesses, including myself, more than I could count on
my hands, whether they be large or small.
7. My parents know that I will not forget to pick up my sister from school,
have a big party, and destroy the house.
8. In other words, I feel our experiences are judges on second level with the
knowledge and brain density it stands in judgment before.
9. My responsibility stems from horses which have been a great attribute in
much of my development.
4-9
4.3: Identifying Effective Practicing Metaphors and Vivid Language
Purpose: To enable students to evaluate and improve their use of metaphor and vivid
language.
Time: 20 minutes
Process: Divide students into small groups of three or four. Have them identify and list
common phrases and words they use daily. Then have each group reflect on
how these word and phrases could be replaced with more innovative
metaphors or more vivid language. Tell students to keep in mind the
importance of concrete, sensual language. Nouns and verbs are in while
adjectives and adverbs are out. Have students share one or two of their
examples with the class as a whole.
Example
Old statement: “I woke up really sick this morning.”
New statement: “When I woke up this morning I was so raspy that it felt like
someone had rubbed sandpaper all over my vocal chords.”
4.4: Understanding the Interrelationship between Language and Culture
Purpose: To help students better understand how language choices reflect cultural
values.
Time: 30 minutes
Process: Divide students into small groups of four or five. Tell the students that each
group is now an independent speech community, with different cultural values
and beliefs than other groups in the class. Pass out the group’s cultural value,
taking care that the groups don’t see each one another’s values. Some
possible values and beliefs:
• A culture that values poverty and thrift
• A culture that loves wealth and excess
• A culture that believes in hard work
• A culture that believes in having fun
• A culture that believes women should be treated as children
• A culture that believes men should be treated as children
• A culture from a region in drought
• A culture that lives off the sea
• A culture that believes in exaggerating the truth
• A culture that believes in precision
After the groups have received their norm, tell them that no other groups in
the class will know their culture: it is up to them to demonstrate their beliefs
and values through their language choices. For the next 10 minutes, their
group must come to an agreement on how to demonstrate their cultural
values through their language choices. Specifically, they must come up with
the following:
• A popular saying or phrase that reinforces their value, such as “Time is
money” for the group that values hard work, or “Men are such boys” for the
group that treats men as children, or “They are out to sea” for the culture
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
4-10
that lives off the sea. (Tell students they cannot use the examples you have
provided, but must come up with their own examples.)
• An expression that is never used because of their value system. For
example, the culture living with no water may never use the expression
“That’s just water under the bridge.”
After each group of students has come up with a way to demonstrate their
cultural values through their choices in language, ask them to send a
diplomatic representative to visit another group. The job of the
representatives is to find out as much as they can about the speech
community they visit in five minutes and report back to their own group what
they think about this group. During these conversations, every group member
must use the popular saying or phrase from their speech community at least
once during the conversation.
After the representatives have visited with the groups for five minutes, have
them report back to their own groups, then repeat the process at least once
so that every group gets to interact with at least two different speech
communities.
Discussion: Our cultural values are often embedded in our language, and as a result it can
be very difficult to uncover our linguistic biases. That is what can make this a
difficult exercise. Here are some questions to help lead students toward this
realization: Was it difficult to come up with the sayings? Which was more
difficult, coming up with the phrases to use, or coming up with the
expressions that would never be used by this speech community? Why do you
think this was the case? In what ways do our language choices shape and
reflect our biases and assumptions?
Skill Building
Clarifying General Statements
Rewrite each of these statements to make it more specific by making general and abstract
words more concrete and precise. Add details and examples.
1. My neighbor has a lot of animals that she keeps in her yard.
2. When I was a little girl, we lived in a big house in the Midwest.
3. My husband works for a large newspaper.
4. She got up late and had to rush to get to school. But she was late anyway.
5. Where’d you find that thing?
6. I really liked going to that concert. The music was great.
7. I really respect her.
8. My boyfriend looks like a hippie.
9. She was wearing a very trendy outfit.
10. We need to have more freedom to choose our courses.
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
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Journal Assignments
A. Analyzing Language Communities
Your textbook states that there are about 3,000 to 4,000 speech communities in the world.
However, over 60 percent of these communities are speaking what is considered a
threatened or endangered language, spoken by 10,000 or fewer people. What do you think
are some of the consequences of so many languages becoming extinct? What would you do
if your language was about to die out?
B. Precision and Language
Write a one-page story about an event that occurred during your first week of college.
When you’re done, rewrite the story using more precise words. Tell the two versions of the
story to a friend and ask for feedback. Write about the feedback in your journal entry.
C. Connotation
List your connotation for each of the following words: assisted suicide, athlete, ballet
dancer, censorship, CEO, criminal, date rape, domestic abuse, family values, government,
feminist, illegal aliens, media, police officer, politically correct, soccer mom, and welfare.
Now look up each of these words in the dictionary. How do your connotative meanings differ
from the denotative meanings of the words? Can you determine the source of your
connotations? In other words, where did you get the connotations you have with these
words?
D. Cultural and Gender Differences
Discuss an experience you’ve had that involved either cultural or gender differences in
verbal communication. Did these differences cause problems in the relationship(s) involved
in this experience? How can verbal communication be improved to avoid difficulties that
gender and cultural differences may bring?
E. Abstract and Concrete Nouns
Select a single abstract noun you find compelling and personally descriptive. Remember,
abstract nouns are not tangible with the senses. “Love” or “ruin” are two examples. Then,
using only concrete nouns and verbs, perhaps in the form of similes and metaphors, seek to
describe that first abstract noun. An example for “Gluttony” may include a sentence like:
“Hank lay on the mattress, his stomach swelling, crumbs caked in his beard and on the
floor.” Trade descriptions with another student and try to guess the abstract noun that your
classmate’s concrete nouns and verbs are describing.
*Students have access to these journal assignments on tear-out cards at the back of their
textbooks.
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
What Would You Do?
A Question of Ethics
One day Heather, Terry, Paul, and Martha stopped at the Student Union Grill before their
next class. After they had talked about their class for a few minutes, the conversation
shifted to students who were taking the class.
“By the way,” Paul said, “do any of you know Fatty?”
“Who?” the group responded in unison.
“The really fat guy who was sitting a couple of seats from me. We’ve been in a couple of
classes together—he’s a pretty nice guy.”
“What’s his name?” Heather asked.
“Carl—but he’ll always be Fatty to me.”
“Do you call him that to his face?” Terry asked.
“Aw, I’d never say anything like that to him—I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings.”
“Well,” Martha chimed in, “I’d sure hate to think that you’d call me ‘skinny’ or ‘the bitch’
when I wasn’t around.”
“Come on—what’s with you guys?” Paul retorted. “You trying to tell me that you never
talk about another person that way when they aren’t around?”
“Well,” said Terry, “maybe a couple of times—but I’ve never talked like that about
someone I really like.”
“Someone you like?” queried Heather. “Why does that make a difference? Do you mean
it’s OK to trash-talk someone so long as you don’t like the person?”
1. Sort out the ethical issues in this case. How ethical is it to call a person you supposedly
like by an unflattering name that you would never use if that person were in your
presence?
2. From an ethical standpoint, is whether you like a person what determines when such
name-calling is OK?
3. Synecdoche is a rhetorical device in which one refers to something by its part. For
example, “all hands on deck” really means “all people on deck” but they are most
important for the work they do with their hands, so we refer to them by that part.
Another example is “Hey, nice wheels. I bet you can go really fast.” Of course,
wheels are important to drive a car, but so is the rest of the car. How is the use of
synecdoche important in this case and in general? What impact does calling
something by its parts really have?
PopComm!
Don Imus’s Three Words
On April 4, 2007, shock jock and member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Don
Imus ignited a firestorm of criticism that eventually led to his firing and a national
discussion of offensive language in music and broadcasting. During his morning program on
MSNBC he called the 2006–2007 Rutgers women’s basketball team a bunch of “nappy-
headed hos.” Lewd and misogynistic language has been a hallmark of both shock radio
personalities and hip-hop artists for years. But Imus crossed a line when, as a white man,
he used words common to hip-hop music to describe a group of highly accomplished young
women, eight of whom were African-American. The Rutgers women’s basketball team had
overcome considerable odds as individuals and as a team and had made it to the finals of
the NCAA tournament. Yet, in discussing them on his program, Imus’s misogynistic and
racist comments demeaned both the women and their accomplishments.
Coach C. Vivian Stringer and the Rutgers’s administration refused to let this hate
speech go unchallenged. Stringer’s coaching philosophy is based on self-respect and
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
4-13
intolerance for disrespect. So it was not surprising that Rutgers’s quickly called a press
conference during which Stringer lambasted Imus for his “racist and sexist remarks that are
deplorable, despicable and unconscionable.” Several of the players also spoke of the
personal pain that Imus’s comments had caused. “This week and last, we should have been
celebrating our accomplishments the past season,” said Heather Zurich, a sophomore
forward from Montvale, New Jersey. “We fought, we persevered, and most of all, we
believed in ourselves. But all of our accomplishments were lost; our moment was taken
away. We were stripped of this moment by the degrading comments made by Mr. Imus.”
Many influential media watchers mirrored Stringer’s reaction and in the days and
months that followed the country debated not only the Imus incident but also the causes,
consequences, and use of crude, demeaning, obscene, racist, and misogynistic speech
found in hip-hop lyrics and on shock talk radio. Within days, the NAACP, the National
Association of Black Journalists, the National Organization of Women, and the Hip-Hop
Summit Action Network all weighed in on the controversy.
The Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, a nonprofit nonpartisan national coalition of
hip-hop artists, entertainment industry leaders, education advocates, civil rights
proponents, and youth leaders was particularly active in the debate. On April 13 Russell
Simmons, chairman of the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network, and Benjamin Chavis,
president, issued a joint statement in which they tried to differentiate between the use of
derogatory and misogynistic speech within the artistic and cultural realm of hip-hop music
and the use of the same language in other contexts: “Don Imus is not a hip-hop artist or a
poet. Hip-hop artists rap about what they see, hear and feel around them, their experience
of the world. . . .Language can be a powerful tool. That is why one’s intention, when using
the power of language, should be made clear. Comparing Don Imus’s language with hip-hop
artists’ poetic expression is misguided and inaccurate and feeds into a mindset that can be a
catalyst for unwarranted, rampant censorship”.
But the following week after hosting a private closed door meeting with executives of
the recording industry, Mr. Simmons and Rev. Chavis appear to have had a change of heart
and they issued three recommendations to the recording and broadcasting industries. In
their communiqué the men were careful to acknowledge that the recommendations were
not attempts at censorship but rather recommendations for “corporate social responsibility
of the industry to voluntarily show respect to African Americans and other people of color,
African American women and to all women in lyrics and images.” The first of the three
recommendations was “that the recording and broadcast industries voluntarily
remove/bleep/delete the misogynistic words bitch and ho and the racially offensive word
nigger. Going forward, these three words should be considered with the same objections to
obscenity as ‘extreme curse words.’ The words bitch and ho are utterly derogatory and
disrespectful of the painful, hurtful, misogyny that, in particular, African American women
have experienced in the United States as part of the history of oppression, inequality, and
suffering of women. The word nigger is a racially derogatory term that disrespects the pain,
suffering, history of racial oppression, and multiple forms of racism against African
Americans and other people of color”.
On Monday December 3, 2007 Don Imus returned to the air with a new early
morning talk show on WABC-AM. And in August 2008 hip-hop artist Ludacris released a
song titled “Politics as Usual” in which he supported Barack Obama’s bid for president while
referring to Senator Hillary Clinton as a “bitch.” Although there was extensive mainstream
media coverage of Imus’s return and his subsequent questionable comments about Adam
(PacMan) Jones, coverage of Ludacris’s misogynistic comment about Senator Clinton
seemed to only be covered by the conservative media like FOX News.
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
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Sources:
Carr, D. (2007, April 7). Network condemns remarks by Imus. New York Times. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/07/arts/television/07imus.htm; C. Vivian Stringer
took the Imus firestorm in stride. (2008, March 1). New York Daily News. Retrieved from
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/arts/2008/03/02/2008-03-
02_c_vivian_stringer_took_the_imus_fi restor.html; Hip-Hop Summit Action Network.
(n.d.). Mission statement. Retrieved from
http://www.hsan.org/content/main.aspx?pageid=7;
Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. (2007, April 13) Differentiating between Don Imus and hip
hop: A statement from Russell Simmons, Chairman, and Dr. Benjamin Chavis, President, of
the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. Retrieved from
http://hsan.org/Content/Main.aspx?PageId=242;
Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. (2007, April 23). Recommendation to the recording and
broadcast industries: A statement by Russell Simmons and Dr. Benjamin Chavis on behalf of
the Hip-Hop Summit Action Network. Retrieved from
http://hsan.org/Content/Main.aspx?PageId=246
Reflection Questions
1. Can you detect any bias in the above statement? How do you think the author feels about
the Imus situation? How do you detect his or her tone?
2. Are race and gender of equal importance in this debate?
3. Was Imus deserving of the criticism and consequences of his words? Should they have
been harsher or more lenient?
4. What key terms and concepts from the chapter are useful in discussing the Imus
situation? (besides gender and race).
Experiential Assignments
Impromptu Speech Activity
Draw a slip of paper from a container provided by your instructor. On it, you will find the
name of a superhero, cartoon character, or comic strip character. Prepare and deliver a 2–3
minute impromptu speech making a case for him or her as either a positive or negative
example of effective verbal communication. Be sure to draw on the principles offered in this
chapter to make your case.
Evaluating Language
Pick an article from a favorite magazine. Read through it, highlighting instances in which the
writer uses specific language, concrete language, and familiar language, and identify
passages in which the writer might improver in each area. Then look for examples of the
writer’s linquistic sensitivity and find places where the writer might have done a better job.
Write a 400–500-word essay identifying strengths and suggestions for improvement based
on your assessment.
Crude Language Audit (see handout below)
For the next three days, keep a log of each incident where you use crude or vulgar language
or hate speech. Record where you were, who you were with, what you said, and why you
chose to use the language you did. At the end of the three days review and analyze your
data. Based on your analysis write a paragraph that describes your crude language
behavior. How pervasive is your use of crude speech? Are there particular settings or certain
people you are more likely to swear in front of? Are there settings or with people you are
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
4-15
less likely to swear? What words are your “favorites.” Why do you use crude speech? Then
evaluate how satisfied you are with the frequency with which you use vulgar language and
with your reasons for using crude speech. Do you think that you are more crude and vulgar
in your speech practices today or has your use of crude language improved? To what do you
attribute any change?
Clarifying General Statements (see handout below)
Rewrite each of these statements to make it more specific by making general and abstract
words more concrete and precise. Add details and examples.
1. My neighbor has a lot of animals that she keeps in her yard.
2. When I was a little girl, we lived in a big house in the Midwest.
3. My husband works for a large newspaper.
4. She got up late and had to rush to get to school. But she was late anyway.
5. Where’d you find that thing?
6. I really liked going to that concert. The music was great.
7. I really respect her.
8. My boyfriend looks like a hippie.
9. She was wearing a very trendy outfit.
10. We need to have more freedom to choose our courses.
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
Experiential Assignment Handouts
Crude Language Audit Log Sheet
For the next three days, keep a log of each incident where you use crude or vulgar language
or hate speech. Record where you were, who you were with, what you said, and why you
chose to use the language you did. At the end of the three days review and analyze your
data. Based on your analysis write a paragraph that describes your crude language
behavior. How pervasive is your use of crude speech? Are there particular settings or certain
people you are more likely to swear in front of? Are there settings or with people you are
less likely to swear? What words are your “favorites.” Why do you use crude speech? Then
evaluate how satisfied you are with the frequency with which you use vulgar language and
with your reasons for using crude speech. Do you think that you are more crude and vulgar
in your speech practices today or has your use of crude language improved? To what do you
attribute any change?
Date and
approx. time
Setting
Others present
Crude language
Reason for
language
COMM5 Instructor Manual Chapter 4
Clarifying General Statements
Rewrite each of these statements to make it more specific by making general and abstract
words more concrete and precise. Add details and examples.
1. My neighbor has a lot of animals that she keeps in her yard.
2. When I was a little girl, we lived in a big house in the Midwest.
3. My husband works for a large newspaper.
4. She got up late and had to rush to get to school. But she was late anyway.
5. Where’d you find that thing?
6. I really liked going to that concert. The music was great.
7. I really respect her.
8. My boyfriend looks like a hippie.
9. She was wearing a very trendy outfit.
10. We need to have more freedom to choose our courses.
