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CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CONSIDERING LANGUAGE
OBJECTIVES
After reading this chapter students should be able to:
1. Recognize language which is clear and concrete;
3. Understand the importance of appropriate language usage;
4. Know how to make ideas meaningful and interrelated.
Additional Skill Builder Exercises
3. Culture and language. Divide your class into small discussion groups of 3 to 5 individuals
each. First have students identify several cultural, ethnic, and geographical differences among
group members. Then describe how these differences will influence the following:
a. specific words and vocabulary used in speeches
4. Gender differences. Divide the class into several groups. In each group, have students discuss
the following issues related to gender:
a. What are the interests, majors and career goals of the men and women in your
group?
b. How should speakers connect topics to the interests of men and women in your
group?
c. Are there speech topics that could be considered exclusively women’s or men’s
topics? If so, list them. Discuss the strategies that a speaker would use to
connect these topics to the audience.
d. Are there issues or topics that should be avoided in speeches because of the r
reaction of one gender or the other? What are they?
e. What kind of language might be considered inappropriate to the men or women
in the audience? Be specific.
f. What issues or topics might be considered interesting and appropriate to both
men and women?
5. Euphemisms. As students to choose one of the role-playing situations listed below and
develop two skits with another student from your class. In the first skit, the individual playing the
professional should communicate using the euphemistic jargon of the occupation. Then repeat
the skit, this time communicating in language that everyone understands. Raise some questions
with the class: Is there a place for euphemistic language? Are their times when euphemisms are
unnecessary? When is it appropriate to use euphemisms?
a. a doctor describing a surgical procedure that a patient must undergo
b. a funeral director describing the types of services offered to the family of the
deceased
c. a lawyer explaining the steps involved in a legal proceeding (obtaining a
divorce, drawing up a contract, writing a will?
6. Viewpoint exercise. Have students prepare a 1-minute speech in which they describe an
incident in neutral or “objective” language. Then have them describe the same incident in
language that makes the incident sound negative. Finally, have them use language that makes the
incident sound favorable. In each description use the same details, only change the language.
Ask these questions: Were any speeches more denotative or connotative? Which presentation
would have been most persuasive to the audience?
This exercise works well if you assign the class a standard set of statistics or cases and ask
students to present them using three different points of view: positively, neutrally, and
negatively. Stress that each viewpoint must be supported with reliable statistics, examples, and
testimonies from credible sources. The exercise can help students to distinguish between
“objective” language used for informative speeches and more evaluative language used in
persuasive speaking. Here is an example:
Fact: There has been a downturn in the economy over the past two
years.
Positive: The fundamentals of the economy are strong. Interest rates are the lowest in years,
buyers are beginning to purchase homes, and the stock market is gaining.
Neutral: Some analysts believe that the economy will improve later this year,
while others say that growth will be flat into late summer and fall.
Negative: In the past, the decline in consumer spending, the increase in unemployment, and
the lack of new spending by business and industry have been a prelude to
sustained economic recessions or even depressions. Government projections have
been overoptimistic in the past and can’t always be trusted.
InfoTrac/Library Database Exercise
Ask students to search in Vital Speeches for the article titled, “Speak with Style and Watch the
Impact” by Carl Wayne Hensley. Once they read the article, have students answer the following
questions and report their findings in your class:
a. Hensley offers “4 suggestions” to improve your language and style. What are
they?
