15 - Language and Communication Flashcards
Communication?
Transfer of meaningful information from one person to another
Gestures?
Meaningful body movements and postures
Language?
A system of sounds that convey meaning because of shared grammatical and semantic rules
Utterance?
Sounds made by one person to another
Locution?
Words placed in sequence
Illocution?
Words placed in sequence and the context in which this is done
Five primary purposes for intentionally using language to communicate?
- say how something is signified
- get someone to do something
- express feelings and attitudes
- make a commitment
- accomplish something directly
Linguistic relativity?
View that language determines thought and therefore people who speak different languages see the world in very different ways
Essentialism?
Pervasive tendency to consider behaviour to reflect underlying and immutable, often innate properties of people or the groups they belong to
Linguistic category model?
Words can be placed in one of four linguistic categories that vary from very concrete to very abstract
Paralanguage?
The non-linguistic accompaniments of speech
Speech style?
The way in which something is said, rather than the content of what is said
Social markers?
Features of speech style that convey information about mood, context, status and group membership
Matched-guise technique?
Research methodology to measure people’s attitudes towards a speaker based solely on speech style:
1. solidarity variables (close, friendly, warm)
2. status variables (intelligent, competent, powerful)
Received pronunciation (PR)?
Standard, high status, spoken variety of english.
Research: standard varieties more favourably evaluated on status and competence, non standard on solidarity dimensions
Ethnolinguistic identity theory?
Application and extension of social identity theory to deal with language behaviour of ethnolinguistic groups.
Ethnolinguistic group?
Social group defined principally in terms of its language
Speech accommodation?
Modification of speech style to the context (e.g. listener, situation) of a face to face interindividual conversation
Speech convergence?
Accent or speech-style shift towards that of the other person
Speech divergence?
Accent or speech style shift away from that of the other person
Communication accommodation theory?
Modification of verbal and nonverbal communication styles to the context of a face to face interaction - an extension of speech accommodation theory to incorporate nonverbal communication
Ageism?
Prejudice and discrimination against people based on their age
Speech?
Vocal production of language
Nonverbal communication?
Transfer of meaningful information from one person to another by means other than written or spoken language
