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Chapter 4
Verbal Communication
CHAPTER OUTCOMES
• Describe the power of language—the system of symbols we use to think about and
communicate our experiences and feelings
LECTURE NOTES
• Language is the system of symbols (words) we use to communicate and think about
experiences and feelings.
ƒ Language is governed by grammatical rules, is influenced by contexts, and always
includes a nonverbal component (pauses, tone, and body movement).
ƒ Chapter 4 explores language’s nature, function, context, and inherent problems.
• The Nature of Language examines the concept that language is symbolic, filled with
multiple meanings, informed by our thoughts, ruled by grammar, and bound by context.
ƒ Language Is Symbolic
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Words are symbols that represent persons, ideas, and things that are agreed upon by a
language-using community.
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Thinking affects the language we use, but language also influences our thoughts.
ƒ Language Is Ruled by Grammar
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Grammar is a system of rules for a language that are used to create words, phrases,
and sentences.
Ɠ Grammar ensures communication clarity.
ƒ Language Is Bound by Context
• The Functions of Language explores the five functional competencies (controlling,
informing, feeling, imagining, ritualizing) of how language behaviors work or function for
people.
ƒ Communication acquisition requires that we not only learn individual words in a
language but also how to use that language appropriately and effectively in various
contexts.
ƒ Using Language as a Means of Control
Ɠ Withholding information
ƒ Using Language to Express Feelings
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The expression of feelings is primarily relational as it allows us to let others know how
much we do or don’t value them through emotional expression.
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Competence in expressing emotions requires doing so appropriately and effectively.
ƒ Using Language to Express Creativity
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Imagining is the complex ability to think, play, and be creative in communication
throughout all areas of life.
ƒ Using Language as Ritual
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Ritualizing involves learning the rules for managing conversations and relationships.
• Problems with Language explores the ways in which language may lead to confusion,
misunderstanding, anger, and other unintended consequences.
ƒ Abstraction and Meaning
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Language works on various levels of abstraction that range from vague to specific.
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Linguist S. I. Hayakawa’s abstraction ladder shows how a word can work from high-
level abstractions, which are general and vague, to more specific lower-level
abstractions.
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group.
Ɠ Jargon (technical language specific to professions or interest groups) can be abstract
to those outside of the group but clear to group members.
ƒ Situation and Meaning
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Semantics involves the relationship among symbols, objects, people, and concepts and
ƒ The Limits of Labeling
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The labels we choose for ourselves affect how we communicate with others and how
ƒ The Dangers of Biased Language
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Biased language carries subtle meanings that influence our perceptions about a
subject.
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Politically correct language is an attempt to be more inclusive through the use of
neutral terms, such as police officer or chairperson.
Ɠ Critics argue that “PC” language replaces clear focus on real issues with euphemisms
and rhetoric.
ƒ Profanity, Rudeness, and Civility
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Profanity refers to words or expressions that are considered insulting, rude, vulgar, or
disrespectful according to a culture’s language conventions.
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Civility is the social norm for appropriate behavior within a culture.
Ɠ Offensive language can lead to unproductive or uncomfortable relationships and
work environments.
Ɠ Following are cultural guidelines for engaging in civil language:
Ƈ Use no words rather than offensive ones.
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• Language in Context considers how language works within our relationships, situations,
and cultures and in mediated settings.
ƒ Language reflects the context a person is in.
ƒ The Relational Context
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Language reflects and creates the relational context.
ƒ The Situational Context
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Different situations call for different speech repertoires.
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High language is a more formal mainstream language that would be used in business
contexts or in the classroom.
ƒ The Cultural Context
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It is important to recognize the communication differences that exist between speakers
of different languages and between people of different cultures.
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Culture, Words, and Thought
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The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis holds that the words a culture uses (or does not use)
influence the thinking of people from that culture.
Ɠ Linguistic determinism says language influences how we see the world.
Ɠ Linguistic relativity holds that speakers of different languages have different views
of the world.
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Gender and Language
Ɠ Researcher and author Deborah Tannen found that women primarily saw
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Ɠ Men use more direct language, or resistance messages, when resisting a situation,
while women use indirect language.
Ɠ While biological sex has some influence on communication style, gender, which is
the cultural meaning of sex, has far more influence.
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Geography and language refer to the way in which the location of where people live
affects their language and understandings of the world.
ż
Accommodation involves changing communication behavior to adapt to another
person.
ƒ Mediated Contexts
ƒ Written messages can be interpreted differently without the help of nonverbal cues.
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Language that is more intense can be seen differently by different groups.
CLASS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Has your language changed throughout your life? Have you moved to another
geographical area? Changed jobs? Switched schools? Do you remember trying to learn
parts of that “new language”?
• Consider talking to students who have moved to different parts of the country (or even
2. How is your communication style different in the classroom than when you are with your
friends? What about with your romantic partner? Your parents? Why do we make
changes in our communication style depending on who we are with?
• It would be interesting to focus on profanity. Ask students if they use profanity in their
3. How does the way you use language shape how you see things? For example, if you are a
skier, do you talk about snow differently than a non-skier? If you sew, do you talk about
fabric differently?
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4. What are some geographic terms that are common for your area but not for other areas?
For example, in Wisconsin, a drinking fountain is called a “bubbler.” In the southern
United States, people ask for “tea;” to get the same drink in the northern United States,
one must order “sweet tea.”
5. What are examples of “text language” that you use in your everyday life? Why are those
terms generally acceptable in texting but not in conventional written conversation?
• The Web site www.netlingo.com/acronyms.php has a phenomenal list of acronyms
PERSONAL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS
1. Google the Label
Have students go to “Google Images” and “Google” each of the following terms:
feminist, teacher, ditzy, liberal, conservative, atheist, professor, and goth. Next, ask them
2. Don’t Call Me That!
Have students write journal entries on the following prompt: Is there a term, a label, or a
name that you dislike being called? For example, does the term “sweetie” set you on
3. Textionary
Have students identify ten terms (beyond LOL) that are used when texting and define
4. Gendered Communication
Have students keep a journal for a day, paying attention to the gendered aspects of their
own language as well as the gendered language of others. Have them write a one-page
description of what they notice. Ask them to address whether they had noticed this
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previously. If not, why not? Do they see gendered communication differently after
seeing it in action?
5. Bad Translations!
Have students search online for examples of “bad translations” from organizations. For
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Jargon/Slang Challenge
Goal: To demonstrate the prevalence of jargon and slang as part of normal
communication; to understand how jargon and slang, when taken out of context, can lead
to miscommunication
Time Required: 10 minutes
Materials: Blank paper and writing implements for students
Directions:
1. Ask students to write down jargon or slang that they use regularly. (Consider
3. Have students pass their papers to another student, preferably someone they do not
4. Have students return the papers to their original owners.
2. Grammar Race
Goal: To demonstrate a cultural understanding of grammar
Time Required: 10 minutes
Materials:
1. Scissors
2. Enough copies of the handout “Grammar Race Sentences” (found at the end of this
3. An envelope for each sentence that contains the words. (Note: Each team requires
four envelopes.) Number the envelopes in the same order they are listed on the
“Grammar Race Sentences” sheet.
Directions:
2. Distribute one set of four envelopes to each team.
3. On your signal, have students open the first envelope and arrange the words into a
5. Repeat these steps for the remaining three envelopes. It is likely that as the sentences
get more complex, students will have a harder time explaining why each sentence is
3. Vocabulary Lessons
Goal: To understand the process of word acquisition
Time Required: 15 minutes
Materials:
1. One copy of the Vocabulary Handout (found at the end of this chapter) per student
3. Classroom reference resources such as dictionaries, thesauri, Internet access, and
other reference books
Directions:
1. Distribute the Vocabulary Handout.
3. Call time, and then have students work together in pairs to see if they can define any
of the terms they did not finish independently.
Debriefing: Talk to students about communication acquisition. How did they learn these
terms? If they didn’t know the terms, what tools did they use to define them? How did
they come to learn about these words and/or tools?
4. Writing a Dialogue
Goal: To understand how language changes based on a situation
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials:
1. Blank paper and writing implements for students (if you choose to assign the writing
portion as an in-class exercise)
2. Whiteboard or projector for sharing the following scenarios:
• Grandchild talking to grandparent
• Two romantically involved people talking
• Boss talking to employee
• Student talking to professor
• Two siblings talking
Directions:
1. Ask each student to write a dialogue between the two fictitious people. The dialogue
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3. Have students rewrite the other student’s dialogue (or make notes in the margins) to
4. Have students return the revised dialogues to their original owners. Have students
read both dialogues out loud.
Debriefing: How did the dialogues change? Why did the dialogues change?
5. Necklace Charades
Goal: To understand how labels that are placed on each other (in this case, career labels)
help us to interact with one another
Time Required: 20 minutes
Materials:
1. Black marker
3. Yarn or string
4. One index card per student. Using the marker, write the name of a different life
“role” on each card. Examples include teacher, priest, firefighter, diplomat,
president, CEO, mother. Punch a hole on both ends of each card and insert a piece of
string or yarn to make a “necklace.”
Directions:
1. Pass out one necklace to each student, keeping the words on the card hidden. Tell
2. Have students walk around and interact with each other. Have them talk to each
Debriefing: Lead class discussion about what cues the students took from others to
determine what their roles were. How do these roles affect our language choices in
everyday life?
6. Battle of the Sexes
Goal: To understand how gender affects language
Time Required: 15 minutes
Materials: Existing trivia questions from a “gendered” board game, such as “Battle of the
Sexes.” Divide the questions into those that are more stereotypically male and those that
are more stereotypically female.
Directions:
2. Have each group answer questions that are coded as being the opposite gender. For
example, males would be asked questions about soap operas, while females would be
asked questions about car repair.
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Debriefing: Ask students what they thought about the “gendered” questions. For example,
how did it feel to answer a question that was intended for the opposite sex? Do students
think men and women speak different languages, or do they feel that we all speak
basically the same language?
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
REVIEW QUESTIONS
1. What does it mean when we say that language is symbolic?
2. What is the difference between the denotative meaning and the connotative meaning of
a word?
3. How can language be used as a ritual? Provide examples.
HANDOUTS
Grammar Race Sentences
The following sentences should be used to complete the classroom activity Grammar Race.
• See the big fish.
• The dog ran into the yard.
• At what time will you come home tomorrow?
• For no continuity of social act is possible without a corresponding social status and the
many different kinds of acts required in an industrial state, with its high degree of
specialization, make for a corresponding classification of status.
Vocabulary Handout
The following words should be used to complete the classroom activity Vocabulary Lessons.
• Multifarious
• Enervate
