978-1337406703 Chapter 4

Unlock access to all the studying documents.

View Full Document

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

4-2

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

4-4

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

4-6

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

4-11

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

4-14

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