Week 3 Blog Post: 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).

• From my perspective I found it to be pretty difficult to communicate without any version of a symbolic language. I performed this experiment with my boyfriend who found it odd that I was not speaking. I am usually a very big talker so it was pretty out of the ordinary. My boyfriend was shocked, and honestly it was pretty hard for me to keep quiet. 

• I would say when one person is not speaking and one is, the “power” is possessed by the speaker. I say this due to the fact that they have the ability to continue the conversation. For the non-speaker it is harder to start a new topic or change the discussion, therefore the power is held by the speaker. 

• I feel as if our conversation represented two different cultures meeting for the first time, it would be apparent that one culture is the more dominant. As far as who has the advantage in the conversation, I think it depends on the understanding the other culture has on their language. Obviously in our experiment I understood what was being said to me, however my form of communication wasn’t always easily understandable. The non-speaking culture may have their own form of communication using signals understood by only them. Therefore, if the spoken language is understood by the other culture I would think the non-verbal culture has the advantage in communicating within their culture. Nevertheless, I think that the speaking culture may have some attitude toward the non-speaking culture as they may feel superior to them. In current times there are many who are non-verbal, or deaf who use American Sign Language. Personally, I work with a lot of children who are non-verbal, and their experiences mirrored a lot of how I felt my conversation was lacking. Working with these individuals we do often try to use ASL, however in this experiment we were prohibited. Making communicating that much harder this also mirrors my experience as I felt less power, I often feel as the kids may feel like this too as they struggle to effectively communicate their emotions and needs. 

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.

• For me, the difficult part of this experiment wasn't talking, it was making sure I wasn’t using any facial expressions and hand signals. When reviewing the experiment I assumed part 2 would be easier for me, however I found this task to be quite difficult. I had a few slip-ups within the 15 minutes, by accidentally using my facial expressions or a quick hand motion. Keeping my body completely still while in conversations was very tricky for me as I often tap my toe, twiddle my thumbs, and do other normal movements. The process of eliminating that normality for 15 minutes in a conversation proved to be rather difficult. 

• After completing the experiment I made sure to reflect with my boyfriend on how this type of communication made him feel. He said the conversation felt bland, and seemed to be missing a major component of what a normal conversation has. He said that engaging with me felt boring, and it made him feel off as our usual conversations don’t feel like that. 

• This experiment proved to not only me but my boyfriend the importance of non-speech language. When that type of communication was eliminated, the conversation felt lacking, bland, and abnormal. When our body language does not match our spoken language I think that could be confusing and draw the focus from the conversation. This goes to show that one of the functions of body language is how non-verbal communication can be effective in expressing emotions and opinions. 

• I would say there are most definitely individuals who have a difficult time reading body language and in general social cues. I would say a benefit of not being able to read body language would include being more focused on the conversation, instead of letting your mind wonder what a simple hand motion or head tilt may mean. I also think it would make the individual's mind more at ease, in tough conversations like job interviews as their main focus is the verbal language and not the physical embellishments. 

Part 3:  There is a third component of language which we did not test in this experiment, and that is the importance of written language.

• I think that using written language would have made part 1 of the experiment much easier. I think using written language would've helped with the flow of the conversation and given me some of the “power” that I felt like the speaker had in part 1 of the conversation. 

• One advantage written language provides to a culture that uses it is preservation and accessibility. Written language allows a culture to keep records of their conversations as it can be stored and remembered. It also allows for accessibility for non-verbal communication to occur with many, regardless of their language. If it is taught and developed, this form of communication can help a culture spread knowledge. 

• Written language has had a huge positive impact on globalization as it allowed for communication across the world. Written forms of communication such as letters allowed for one country to express and convey ideas to another. This helped spread ideas worldwide, therefore having a positive impact on globalization.