Part 1:
My cousin and I did this assignment together. I was to use no symbolic language and I found this to be difficult because there’s couple of time that I have spoken out the word. My cousin had a hard time figuring out what I was talking about in our conversation. It’s even harder to stick to the assignment because of laughter of this whole situation. He didn’t have any idea of what I was trying to say to him. Communication without symbolic language is very difficult because I’m not use to communicate without speaking. Had we been two different cultures meeting for the first time, I would think that he would have the ultimate advantage of communicating complex ideas than I do. Speaking culture attitudes have toward the culture that does not use symbolic language would be that the symbolic culture would look down and have more power than culture that does not use symbolic language. People who came from other countries might have difficulty communicating with spoken language. Those who speak the language will have difficult time communicating. They will have to use other form of “signs” such as hand signals, or body movements to help with communication.
Part 2:
I’m not able to last for the full 15 minutes of using only speech for communicating with my cousin. He said that I looked motionless and like a dead spoken person. He found it very boring and also funny. He can understand me but can’t tell my emotion or how I feel about the conversation. My monotone communication has been a boring process for my cousin and his attention was soon lost. He felt disconnected with me and I felt like a boring person. This experiment showed that the use of “signs” in our language is very important and essential in communication. None-speech languages are also important techniques in our ability to communicate effectively. There are indeed people who cannot read body language. The blind for example; they cannot see the emotions that are set forth through body and physical gestures. I found both of these experiments equally hard and frustrating to properly communicate with one another.
My partners also became bored. Alot of the posts that I have read so far are very similar in reaction. It's great that you chose a family member because he can see how dramatic the change was.I could understand why he would think it was funny. If I were on the other end I would find it amusing to.
ReplyDeleteYes, the blind would have an inability to read body language, though they would still be able to sense vocal intonation.
ReplyDeleteCan you think of any circumstances where there might be an advantage to no reading body language?
Great post.
I also found this assignment to be difficult. At one time i actually duck taped my mouth shut because i kept vocalizing. It seemed like a good idea at first. Everyone's blog that i have read stated that they did not last the full 15 minutes for part 2. i did not last the full 15 minutes either. I will have to try it again another time. i liked how u mentioned that the blind would not be able to see the emotions and body gestures; i did not even think of that.
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