SPCOM100 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5-6: Public Space, Personal Pronoun, Paralanguage

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Speech Communication
• Course: SPCOM100
• Professor: Karen Lazar

Document Summary

Abstraction ladder a range of more to less abstract terms describing an object or an event. Ambiguous language consists of words and phrases that have more than one commonly accepted definition. But" statement a statement where the second part of the statement cancels the thought that precedes it. Convergence the process of adapting one"s speech style to that of others with whom the communicator wants to identify. Divergence the process of adapting one"s speech in ways that emphasize differences between the speaker and others from whom the speaker wants to distance themselves from. Emotive language language that expresses the sender"s attitude rather than offering just an objective description. Euphemism a pleasant term substituted for a blunt one in order to soften the impact of unpleasant information. Factual statement a statement that can be verified as true or false. High-context culture a culture that relies heavily on verbal and non-verbal cues to maintain social harmony.