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Chapter 1
A Connection of Brains
Chapter Overview
This first chapter is designed to pique the reader’s interest in speech and language as processes within the broader
process we call communication. As a future educator, the reader will be in a unique position to observe and facilitate
Learning Outcomes
• Define and relate the terms communication, language and speech and their components.
• Compare the design features of the human communication system.
• Examine the elements of the speech chain connecting a speaker’s thoughts to a listener’s understanding of those
thoughts.
Key Terms and Concepts
• Communication, p. 3
• Language, p. 4
• Receptive Language, p. 4
• Expressive Language, p. 4
• Pragmatics, p. 4
• Directional Reception, p. 11
• Rapid Fading, p. 12
• Total Feedback, p. 13
• Specialization, p. 14
• Arbitrariness, p. 14
• Duality of Patterning, p. 19
• Recursion, p. 20
• Prevarication, p. 20
• Reflexiveness (Metalinguistic Ability), p. 21
• Learnability, p. 21
• Speech Chain, p. 22-23
Points of Emphasis
1. Speech and language are separate but related processes within the larger process of communication.
3. Language is a system of abstract symbols and rule-governed structures, the specific conventions of which are
learned. Receptive language is thinking through an idea or listening and understanding the language of others,
4. Speech is the oral expression of language and is a highly complex physiological process requiring the
5. In people with normal communicative abilities, speech and language are integrated parts of the same process
because speech combines phonated and articulated noises and the rule-governed structures of language.
7. The characteristics of human speech can be compared to the other communication systems of animals using the
13 design features of language, which was originally described by Hockett in 1960. Since then, additional
features have been identified.
8. The speech chain is a 6-step chain that allows the brains of a speaker and listener to connect through
communication.
Discussion Topics
• Identify as many different methods of human communication as possible.
• Are the terms language and speech interchangeable? If so, how? If not, why not?
• What characteristics of different methods of communication affect its convenience and/or efficiency?
• Is speech a more convenient and efficient form of communication than other forms – why or why not?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of speech in comparison to written language? Gestural language?
Suggested Activities
• In small groups, create unique definitions of speech, language and communication and ask groups to present the
major differences and similarities between these terms.
• Select a public place (e.g. cafeteria, mall, park, airport, etc.) and observe the various types of verbal and
nonverbal communication occurring. Which is more prevalent? Which appears more effective?
• Using Hockett’s Design-Features chart in Table 1.2 (p. 10), brainstorm specific ways that different animal
species exhibit the various communication characteristics that aren’t limited to humans.
Assignment Suggestions
• Video Reflection 1.1 (p. 3): Readers may watch this video of a speech-language pathologist using the nonverbal
signals of a student to assist her in using her communication device, then answer the question.
• Video Reflection 1.2 (p. 4): Readers may watch the video of a parent using strategies to encourage the use of
polite language from her child, then answer the question.
• Video Example 1.1 (p. 22): Readers may watch the video to see human language characteristics in action while
observing the dynamic ways the first-graders think about the topic, react and share with each other, use gestures
to enact concepts, and apply information. Review reflexivity, recursion, productivity, and duality of patterning
as you consider their interactions.
Websites to Explore
• The Dolphin Communication Project is dedicated to increasing knowledge of communication behaviors
between and among all dolphin species. The website includes a description of general communication, dolphin
communication and current research regarding dolphin communication.
• The Cornell Lab of Ornithology offers research regarding bird, elephant and whale communication.
• The Whalesong Project offers recordings of whale communication.
