Communication Term Paper

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CN 101 W3 D3

Verbal Communication I Intro (2 minutes) Last Time

• Communication, Identity, and Perception o How we transact identities

Things Due § Discussion post is due

Today § Verbal Communication

o What is considered verbal communication? o How is verbal communication symbolic? – Part 1

We’re in a Movie! (10 minutes)

§ We have our actors. Now, we need to pick what genre of music we want in our soundtrack.

§ So, in your small groups, introduce yourself and share what kind of music you’d like to hear in the film.

Lesson: Verbal Communication

• Talk to me. What words immediately come to mind when you hear the phrase “verbal communication?”

o Talking o Speaking o Presenting o Conversations o Using your voice o Making sounds with your mouth

• According to our textbook, verbal communication is all about the use of language. And guess what? It’s not just about speaking! The written word is verbal communication, too, because it involves the use of language.

• So, if we expand our understanding of verbal communication to include written communication, what other kinds of communication come to mind?

o Texting o Literature o Advertisements o Instagram posts and comments o Tweets

• Now, we might think, “but if we include text, how does communication differ from English, for example, or a Literature course?

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o We aren’t looking at language structures when studying verbal communication. We’re interested in how people USE language. We’re interested in how we take language, which is a collection of symbols, and put it into practice.

• We read that verbal communication has some specific characteristics. Specifically, verbal communication

o Is symbolic o Has meaning o Is relational o Is cultural o Involves frames o Is presentation o And is transactive

• Hey, does that sound familiar? These are THE SAME characteristics of communication that we talked about in week 2. However, instead of focusing on communication broadly, we’re going to examine what these characteristics look like in verbal communication specifically.

• We’ll talk about the first four today. Verbal Communication is Symbolic.

• We talked earlier this semester about symbols. Can anyone remind me what a symbol is?

o It’s a representation of ideas, objects, people, relationships, and cultures. When we see a deer crossing sign on the road, we don’t necessarily see a deer crossing the road, but we know that there could be one.

• Think of the word “cat.” Is the word an actual cat? No. It’s three letters that form a word that we associate with the animal. Words don’t have meaning themselves, but we apply meaning to them. Hence, we say that verbal communication is symbolic. It’s made up of symbols.

Verbal Communication Also Has Meaning.

• That brings us to the second characteristic. But verbal communication involves multiple kinds of meaning. It involves denotative meaning and connotative meaning.

o Denotative meaning: Can anyone tell me what that means? § The identification of something by pointing it out: “Look! There’s a cat!” § Think of it as the meaning associated with a dictionary definition. § When interacting, we need a common denotative meaning to be able to

understand what the other person is saying. o Connotative meaning: Can anyone tell me what that means?

§ The overtones, implications, or other meanings associated with a word or object: “You cool cat, you!”

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§ Think of it as the non-literal meaning. Your friend probably isn’t a cold cat. You’re saying that the friend is a neat person. Other example: “Hissy fit.” Your friend probably isn’t hissing at you.

o So, while denotation is the literal definition meaning of a word, connotation is the additional meaning that’s hiding under the surface. You have to have specific knowledge about it in order to recognize it.

o And we can use a single word both denotatively and connotatively. o We develop denotative and connotative meanings of words by using them in our

society. § Over time, we have both positively and negatively loaded words. When

we hear the word, love, we might get a warm and fuzzy feeling because it’s a positively loaded word. But if we hear the word “violence,” we might feel a bit anxious because it’s a negatively loaded word.

§ The reason we have those reactions is because those words have been socially shaped to have connotative meanings that come to mind when we hear the word.

§ Take a minute to reflect and write down a word or phrase that gives you a positive feeling when you hear it and a word or phrase that gives you a negative feeling.

§ Would anyone like to share the positive-feeling word/phrase they thought about?

• Springsteen – memories with a speech team § What about negative-feeling words/phrases?

• Tractor – Over the course of my life, I’ve had several scary experiences working with and around tractors. I’m not going into detail on those experiences, other than to say that as a result, when I hear the word “tractor,” I feel a little tightness in my chest because I remember those moments.

Verbal Communication is Relational

• Our verbal communication changes based on the relationships we have with people. • For example, how you greet a friend is different than how you treat a work supervisor or

a professor. • Similarly, our relationships influence how we use verbal communication. If we have a

respectful relationship with a work supervisor and they have a concern with our job performance, they will probably say, “Hey, could you drop by my office when you have a minute?” If there’s a power-heavy relationship between you and your supervisor (or you don’t get along), you might get a more abrupt, “My office. Now.”

• A great example of this entire notion is the phrase, “I love you.” That phrase offers affection, but the level of affection differs depending on the kind of relationship you have with the other person. If a good friend surprises you with a cup of coffee between classes, you might say, “oh my gosh, I love you!” to express your appreciation. But

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saying “I love you” to a romantic partner is much more intimate. Same phrase, but different meaning depending on the relationship involved.

• Plus, our different relationships have different meanings for words because you have different shared experiences with different groups of people. Ever had a get-together where you had multiple friend groups present at once and you noticed that the conversation felt a little awkward? That’s because not everyone in the room has the shared history from which to launch conversations.

• For instance, I have a nickname for one of my close friends and she has one for me. But when she and I are interacting with other folks who weren’t part of our college history, we don’t use those nicknames. And if we accidentally do, we then have to explain where we got them because people don’t know who we’re talking about.

• There’s a lot of hypertext between people who know each other, coded messages within conversations that only certain people will understand. I can look at my friend and say, “acorn squash,” and she starts laughing. That makes no sense to anyone else. Similarly, if I say to refer to “Duck and McMahan,” you know I’m referring to our textbook. Someone outside of the class would have no idea what a “Duck and McMahan” is. That’s hypertext.

Verbal Communication is Cultural.

• As with many aspects of communication, verbal communication shapes culture and culture shapes verbal communication.

• And by culture, we’re meaning groups of people who share distinct meanings. That doesn’t just include folks in different nations. Athletes have a culture. Artists have a culture. Kansans have a culture. College students learning during a pandemic have a culture. In addition to having different meanings and styles of communication, cultures’ communication reflects their values and beliefs.

• Cultures are formed by communication and other kinds of symbolic activities. Yet they also regulate how we use verbal communication. You might find that the way you write an email to a friend differs from the way you write an email to a scholarship committee.

• The way you talk on campus might even differ from how you talk when you leave campus.

• And even within a culture, those communication norms can change. o Take gender pronouns, for example. For years, the word “they” was treated

mostly as a plural word (although the singular “they” actually dates back to 1375 where it appeared in a piece of romance literature called William and the Werewolf). But in recent years, it has become more publicly recognized and accepted as a gender pronoun.

o Sharing pronouns and being respectful of pronouns helps us avoid making presumptions about people.

o You might notice that I add (she / her) to my Zoom name and list it on my email. o I do that for several reasons. The more personal reason is that I was

misgendered in an editorial that praised one of my research articles and, as a woman who years ago wouldn’t have been allowed to get a PhD, I found that

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assumption troubling. Yes, I have a gender neutral, borderline masculine first name, but a simple Google search would have clearly illustrated my academic profiles which include my pronouns. Instead of doing that, though, the person writing the editorial made an assumption about my identity. So, I started making my pronouns much more visible.

o The most substantial reason is that, as someone who studies communication, I know that in order to normalize communication in society, we have to actively practice it in society. And I want to live in a world where people are respectful of each other’s identities and where we don’t assume people’s identities. Where it’s normal to ask, “Hey, nice to meet you! What are your pronouns?” rather than it being an anomaly.

Small Group Chat

• In small groups, I want you to chat about the following items. o What surprised you the most about the material today? o What’s one thing you hadn’t thought about before? o What are you interested in learning more about?

Questions?

Next time:

• Verbal Communication II – Chapter 3 (pp. 47-55) • Group A, you can attend in-person and Group B, I’ll see you online on Monday.