Instructor Resource
Neuliep, Intercultural Communication, 8e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Discussion Questions
Chapter 7: The Verbal Code
1. How does your language affect the way you think?
2. When you hear people speak a dialect that is different from yours, how do you feel about
them?
3. List five words that you and your friends use that few other people would recognize.
4. List five of your favorite phrases that you use repeatedly every day. How do these phrases
define you?
ETHICS AND THE VERBAL CODE
Below are some situations for your students to consider that take into account concepts from
Chapter Seven.
1. There is a debate across the country as to whether Ebonics and/or Spanglish are valid
languages. Some argue that they are legitimate languages. Others argue that they are slang or
jargon used by groups too lazy to speak Standard English. What do you think?
2. Create a sentence that your students have never heard before, such as “I’m having Amelia
Earhart over for lunch today, we’re going to make tacos, and then she and I are going hand