COMM 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Tag Question, Paralanguage
Effects of Language
- Language can signal our group identities -- Age, culture, gender, social status, etc.
- Accommodation (from comm accommodation theory)
- adjust/switch our language use with others -- can facilitate understanding
- Adjustment usually based on group identity -- toward: to gain acceptance;
est. belonging (“us”) -- away: to distinguish group or power (from “them”)
- Language influences judgements of people -- perceptions of traits, motivations, abilities,
etc.
- “Equivocal” language -- intentionally imprecise language -- helps to manage
“face” for self and other
- “Power” of language - degree of fluency and directness…
- “Powerless” lang: uses lots of hedges, hesitations, intensifiers, tag
questions, disclaimers
- “Powerful” lang: fluent, direct, and doesn’t use the above “powerless”
markers
- Studies show… use of powerless lang: lowers impression of →
competence, trustworthiness, dynamism, social/economic status,
message effectiveness
- BUT: can also be seen as more polite, likeable, good-natured
Nonverbal Communication
Relationship to verbal comm
- Common misperceptions:
- Nonverbal comm is its own “body language”
- “Truth” is in the nonverbal
- Nonverbal comm can:
- Complement verbal
- Substitute for verbal
- Regulate verbal
- Contradict verbal
Importance of Nonverbals
- Demonstrate “immediacy”
- Gauge others’ reactions/feedback
Nonverbal Codes (Ways of Sending Nonverbal Messages)
- Paralanguage (paralinguistics)
- Vocalizations (crying, laughing, grunting)
- Voice qualities
- Pitch and volume
- Rate and fluency
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