No Language!

I let my friend in on what the assignment was on. He was very excited to see how I’d respond because I’m a very talkative person or at least always have something to say. For the next fifteen minutes, he talked to me in our car ride about how his day went and then started talking about the latest episode of True Blood. There was so much I wanted to say in regards to that topic and when he would ask questions all I knew was so shrug my shoulders, nod my head, and smile. He then asked me what I thought of the episode and I gave thumbs up. He asked me why I gave it thumbs up and I had such a hard time figuring out how to answer this without using language. At first I made my eyes really big because that’s what I thought of the question. I took a long pause because all I could think of was writing my answer down but I knew I couldn’t. In the end all I could manage to do was extend my hands and then with my index finger point to my neck pretending as if I’m slitting my throat. What I was trying to say was “There was a lot of killing going on”.

For the next fifteen minutes it felt good to talk and express how I felt about the episode. I kept getting interrupted because my friend would tell me to stop moving my hands or changing my tone. When I would think of something exciting that happened, my tone would get high. So then I tried talking in a monotone voice and not looking at him because I figured that was the only way to show no expression. It was pretty funny at first but then it got boring and complicated to talk with no expression or feeling in my voice. I asked my friend how he felt talking to me and he said that he felt like he was talking to a robot and that after awhile he lost interest in listening to me.

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

At first when I read this I figured this was a very easy assignment. Going into it I wasn’t quite as right. Not being able to use my voice to answer questions was a bit annoying and complicated for me but it made me appreciate language.

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.

My partner didn’t make it easy on me. He wanted to challenge me and have me figure out ways to answer difficult questions.

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 its) 

If my culture and my partner’s culture met for a meeting, I feel like he would have the upper hand. Everyone there would understand him over me. They would think my way of communicating is too slow and would be impatient. I feel like their culture would look down on us for not using language and would feel like my culture is a burden because they would have to go out of their way to have ways to communicate with us to make the process easier. In our culture there are those who are deaf that have no way of communicating with others except in sign language. For someone that doesn’t sign, the only way to communicate with them is by jotting everything down in a sheet of paper. I have taken an ASL course and have learned that facial expressions are very important in signing.

1. 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.
• Ø  Were you able to last for the full 15 minutes of using only speech for communicating? What made this experiment difficult for you? (5 its)

I wasn’t able to last at first. Every time I would change my tone or use my hands to express myself, my partner made sure I’d start all over. It was very difficult because I am always using my hands.

How were your partners in this part of the experiment affected by your communication limitations? Explain. (5 its)

After awhile I was speaking in a monotone voice and my partner wasn’t engaged in the conversation. He said it bored him and he lost interest.

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 its)

I feel like it’s very important because it makes us better understand those who can’t use language. It grows a whole new respect for them and also when we meet people who speak another language, we would have to communicate with them through sign.

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 its) 

People with Asperger’s Syndrome and Autism have a difficult time picking up on body language. It is very useful to be able to pick up on that because sometimes there are things that people can’t communicate through language but their body language says it all. Like if someone is uncomfortable because you’re too close. They won’t say it but their body language will. I feel like it is a benefit in any environment to read body language.