Language

Part 1: You were asked to engage in a conversation for 15 minutes where you were not allowed to use any version of a symbolic language (no speaking, writing, or ASL).

-Did you find this experiment difficult or easy? Explain. (5 pts)

This experiment was extremely difficult. I truly found myself frustrated because I felt the need to speak as I felt I wasn’t being understood on what I was trying to say; I had to basically act out what I was trying to say which took a lot of time and it was extremely tedious only for one sentence. It was also complicated for people to understand what I needed to tell them.  

-What were the impressions of partners in the conversation? Did they alter their way of communicating with you because of your absence of symbolic communication? Describe. (5 pts)

The impressions on the people involved in the experiment were confused expressions since they did not know majority of the times what I was trying to say, they seemed puzzled but they did not give up because this was only an experiment like I’ve had told them. They did alter their way of communication a little because after so many tries of trying to guess what I was trying to say they seem a little frustrated.

- Imagine that you and your partners in the conversation represent two different cultures meeting for the first time. Which culture has the advantage in communicating complex ideas? What attitudes might the speaking culture have toward the culture that does not use symbolic language? Identify individuals in our culture that have difficulty communicating with spoken language and explore how that affects how those who do speak interact with those individuals. (10 pts)

The culture with a greater advantage is the one who comes from a highly educated culture and advanced since it has different ways to communicate and might have more knowledge on other cultures. The speaking culture might have trouble understanding the culture that does not use symbolic language because 50% of language we express is symbolic to be able to understand what we are trying to express. The individuals that we have difficulty communicating with is the people that are not able to speak because the only way they can communicate is with ASL which not all people like myself know that language even though it’s within our culture.   

Part 2: You were asked to spend 15 minutes communicating without any physical embellishments, i.e., no hand signals, not vocal intonation, not head, facial, or body movements. 

-Were you able to last for the full 15 minutes of using only speech for communicating? What made this experiment difficult for you? (5 pts)

This task was not easy for me since I could not even last 2 minutes without using a body and face expression. Every time I make a statement or a sentence I am used to make a body movement or face expression which I could not be accustomed to not use any expression when talking to my friends. Doing this kind of expressions make me feel like I am making my point through and if I don’t make any kind of expression I feel like they did not understand what I tried to say.
   
- How were your partners in this part of the experiment affected by your communication limitations? Explain. (5 pts)

When I stated speaking to them not making any expressions they found it extremely unusual and kind of weird because they are not used to see me speaking plainly in a way. They also had a hard time paying attention to me because they often dozed off and did not completely understand what my point was.

- What does this experiment say about our use of “signs” in our language, i.e., how important is non-speech language techniques in our ability to communicate effectively? (5 pts)

Both languages verbal and no verbal are important in communication because we are able to make a point more clearly by using both expressions since 50% of the time we use body language and the other 50% of the time is spoken.

- Are there people who have difficulty reading body language? Describe the adaptive benefit to possessing the ability to read body language. Can you describe environmental conditions where there might be a benefit to not reading body language? (5 pts)

There are people who have difficulty reading body language.  The adaptive benefit to possessing the ability to read body language is a big help because many people depend on body language not just words. Body language can be convenient in many cases where not much has to be necessarily expressed via speech. Some things that can be expressed are feelings like anger, happiness, and many more. This can be really helpful in many ways because a person has no need to speak and can be noticeable making the others aware, if they can get close to them or not. I think that where it could be helpful not knowing how to read body language is when someone is going to make a deal or buying something because no one wants to show emotions since price will increase if someone shows they want something so bad.