Chapter 4 How We Use Language
Floyd: Communication Matters, 3e IM-4 | 1
Chapter 4—How We Use Language
At a Glance
The Nature of Language
Appreciating the Power of Words
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter you should be able to:
1. Define language and describe several of its characteristics.
3. Describe the difference between denotative and connotative meaning, and identify
examples when each is utilized.
5. Explain the reasons people use language.
7. Define equivocation and explain how weasel words are related to it.
9. Identify two forms of language that can be harmful.
11. Explain how defamation can harm a person’s reputation.
13. Distinguish opinions from factual claims.
14. Explain the value of communicating at the appropriate level.
Chapter 4 How We Use Language
Lecture Outline
I. The Nature of Language
A. Language is a structured system of symbols used for communicating meaning.
B. Language is symbolic.
2. Different languages often have different words for the same object.
3. We often acquire new words, and new meanings for older words, as
2. Language can be arbitrary precisely because it is symbolic.
3. Because the meaning of most words is arbitrary, the meaning of a word can
2. When you learn a new language, you don’t just learn the words; you also learn
how the words work together to convey meaning.
3. Researchers distinguish among four different types of language rules:
a. Phonological rules deal with the correct pronunciation of a word and
4. As children acquire a language, they gain an almost intuitive sense of its
2. The connotative meaning of a word involves the ideas or concepts a word
suggests in addition to its literal definition.
3. The semantic triangle developed by Charles Ogden and Ivor Richards
illustrates the relationship between words and their denotative and connotative
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4. Loaded language involves words with strongly positive or negative
connotations.
2. A certain amount of ambiguity is inherent in our language.
a. One reason language varies in clarity is that some words are more concrete
than others.
1. Societies and cultures differ in their degrees of individualism and their use of
communication codes.
2. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is a theory that language shapes a person’s
view of reality.
a. Language influences the ways that members of a culture see the world.
b. A society’s attitudes and behaviors are reflected in its language.
c. The hypothesis embodies two specific principles:
i. Linguistic determinism suggests that the structure of a language
determines how we think.
d. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis has been criticized for the following reasons:
i. It is equally possible that our thoughts shape and constrain our
language.
II. Appreciating the Power of Words
A. Language expresses who we are.
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1. Names define and differentiate us.
a. A person’s first name can suggest information about the person’s
characteristics.
2. Language enhances or diminishes credibility.
a. Credibility is the extent to which others perceive us to be competent and
trustworthy
b. Our ability to get what we want is affected by the credibility our language
1. Language expresses affection.
a. Some statements express fondness.
2. Language provides comfort.
3. Language conveys social information.
Chapter 4 How We Use Language
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© 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
a. We often engage in gossip, which is informal and frequently judgmental
talk about people who are not present during the conversation.
i. Many people frown on gossip.
ii. People enjoy hearing negative gossip more than positive gossip.
iii. Gossip serves to strengthen the social bonds between those who
exchange it.
b. The utility of gossip has spurred a proliferation of gossip websites on the
Internet.
C. Language separates us from others.
1. Criticism consists of words that pass judgment on someone or something.
a. Destructive criticism occurs when we feel that someone is criticizing us to
3. Criticisms and threats separate us from others by causing emotional pain and
1. We can use various forms of language to motivate others to think or act in
particular ways.
3. Certain persuasive strategies are effective.
a. The anchor-and-contrast approach is a persuasion technique by which
one precedes a desired request with a request that is much larger.
i. The sweeping request is the anchor.
ii. After people reject the anchor, the contrast seems reasonable by
comparison and thus encourages people to comply.
b. The norm of reciprocity suggests that when someone gives you some
III. Ways We Use and Abuse Language
A. Humor: What’s So funny?
1. The most important aspect of humor is a violation of our expectations.
Floyd: Communication Matters, 3e IM-4 | 6
© 2018 by McGraw-Hill Education. This is proprietary material solely for authorized instructor use. Not authorized for sale or distribution in any
manner. This document may not be copied, scanned, duplicated, forwarded, distributed, or posted on a website, in whole or part.
3. Some effects of humor are negative.
a. Humor can demean individuals and social or cultural groups.
2. In those cases, we might use a euphemism, a vague, mild expression that
symbolizes and substitutes for something that is more blunt or more harsh.
1. Slang is the use of informal and unconventional words that often are
understood only by others in a particular group.
3. Jargon, the technical vocabulary of a certain occupation or profession, is
related to slang.
5. Slang and jargon are neither inherently good nor inherently bad.
6. Using slang or jargon around people who don’t understand it can make them
1. Defamation is language that harms a person’s reputation or gives that person
a negative image.
2. Although there are some exceptions, under most legal systems, a statement
must be false to be considered libel or slander.
1. Profanity is language that is considered vulgar, rude, or obscene in the
context in which it is used.
a. We sometimes call profane terms swear words or curse words.
2. Like other forms of language, profanity is context-specific. What makes a
4. Some social groups have recognized that they can negate the effect of certain
5. Not all effects of profanity are negative.
a. Profanity can act as a social lubricant by maintaining an informal social
1. Hate speech is a specific form of profanity meant to degrade, intimidate, or
2. Even though hate speech is generally detested, efforts to curb it are often
3. The use of hate speech is increasingly common online.
1. A factual claim makes an assertion that we can verify with evidence and show
to be true or false.
3. Opinions and factual claims require different types of responses.
a. Stating that you agree or disagree with an opinion is a competent response.
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4. It is important to keep two principles in mind:
1. Effective communication involves knowing how simple or how complex your
language should be for your audience.
3. Avoid talking down to people, or using language that is inappropriately
1. An I-statement claims ownership of what a communicator is feeling or
thinking.
2. A you-statement shifts responsibility to the other person.
Chapter 4 How We Use Language
Key Terms
language
threat
Chapter 4 How We Use Language
Additional Lecture Ideas
1. Show Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech in class. After students
2. Show The Linguists in class, a documentary on endangered languages that was produced
with major funding by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The widely recognized
Chapter 4 How We Use Language
Classroom Discussion and Activity Topics
1. To reiterate the difference between denotative and connotative meaning, write a list of ten
common words on the board (such as dog, food, college, friend, etc.). Have students write
2. “That Was So Yesterday.” Have students brainstorm a list of 5 to 10 phrases that they
now view as worn-out clichés. Why have the phrases lost their meaning? Remind
3. Challenge students to collect magazine advertisements, billboard postings and newspaper
4. Divide students into small groups and give them a topic that could cause conflict (for
example, your roommate ate all your groceries; your boyfriend was late to pick you up;
5. Discuss the table in Chapter 4 that discusses common abbreviations used for texting and
6. The Dark Side of Communication—Crossing the Line: When Criticism Becomes Abuse.
Individually, ask students to consider the last time they were criticized in a harsh manner.
Ask students to write out how that person could have delivered the criticism more
constructively. What could the critic have said differently to make the message easier to
accept? Challenge students to remember this exercise the next time they have to deliver
Chapter 4 How We Use Language
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For Review
1. What are the defining characteristics of language?
2. For what reasons do people use language?
3. How can you use language more effectively?
Pop Quiz
Multiple Choice
1. The dictionary definition of a word is its _____ meaning, whereas the implication of that
word is its _____ meaning.
a. denotative; connotative
b. connotative; denotative
c. denotative; relational
d. connotative; relational
2. The term for the type of rule that governs the order of words within phrases is
a. phonological.
b. syntactic.
c. semantic.
d. pragmatic.
3. The idea that language shapes our views of reality by influencing how various cultures see
the world is reflected in
a. the semantic triangle.
b. the ladder of abstraction.
c. the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
d. communication accommodation theory.
4. A vague, mild expression that symbolizes something that is blunter or harsher is
a. a euphemism.
b. an equivocation.
c. euthanasia.
d. an ambiguity.
5. Reminding others of favors you have done for them in the past can constitute the persuasive
tactic known as
a. anchor and contrast.
b. norm of reciprocity.
c. social validation.
d. pragmatic rules.
Fill in the Blanks
6. Because language is _____, each word represents a particular object or idea, but it does not
constitute the object or idea itself.
7. A statement that we can interpret to have more than one meaning is an example of _____.
8. _____ rules allow an individual to connect the word lawyer with the meaning “attorney.”
9. The idea that we can conceive of something only if we have a word for it is known as _____.
10. Terms or phrases that are intended to mislead listeners by implying something that they don’t
actually say are known as _____.