Fundamentals of Interpersonal Communications week 4 ind
Week 4: Week Four - Individual Work
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Instructional Objectives for this activity:
· Illustrate the symbolic nature of language.
· Demonstrate the connection between language and perception. |
As you read in this week's chapter, all language is symbolic. Our ability to use symbols allows us to think about the world of ideas and meanings.
Consider what you have read about the symbolic nature of language, and discuss the following points:
- How does language:
- allow self-reflection?
- organize perceptions?
- allow hypothetical thought?
- Explain the connection between language and perception. Use a specific example to illustrate this connection.
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Page Chapter 4, "The World of Words," pages 89-116.
In the Book:
100,101,102
Language Allows Self- Reflection:
Just as we use language to reflect on what goes on outside of us, we also use it to reflect on our-selves. According to Mead (1934), there are two aspects to the self. First, there is the I, which is the spontaneous, creative self. The I acts impulsively in response to inner needs and desires, regardless of social norms. The Me is the socially conscious part of the self socially conscious part of the self that monitors and moderates the I’s impulse. The Me reflects on others. The I is impervious to social conventions and expectations, but the Me is keenly aware of them. In an argument, your I may want to hurl a biting insult at someone you don’t like, but your Me censors that impulse and reminds you that it’s impolite to put others down.
The Me reflects on the I by analyzing the I’s actions. This means we can think about who we want to be and set goals for becoming the self we desire. The Me can feel shame, pride, and regret for the I’s actions, an emotion that is possible because we self- reflect. We can control what we do in present by casting ourselves forward in time to consider how we might we do in the feel about our actions. Elyse makes this point in her commentary.
(ELYSE) I volunteer at the homeless shelter. Sometimes, When I’m talking to the people who come there for food or to sleep. I feel like shaking them and telling to make any effort to change their situations. But I know that everybody puts them down all the time- the last thing they need is to hear more of that from a college kid who never experienced real hardships. So I KEEP my frustration to myself. I guess that’s the Me part of me controlling my I.
Language Organizes Perceptions:
We use symbols to organize our perceptions. As we saw in Chapter3, we rely on cognitive schemata to classify and evaluate experiences. How we organize experience affects what they mean to us. For example, your prototype of a friend affects how you judge particular friends. When we place someone in the category friend, the category influences as teasing if made by a friend but a call to battle if made by an enemy. The words don’t change, but their meaning varies depending on how we organize our perceptions of words and those who speak them.
Language Allows Hypothetical Though:
Where do you hope to be 5 years from now? What is your fondest memory from child-hood? Do you think you’ll have an e-mail from your friend when you go online tonight? To answer these questions, you must think hypothetically, which means thinking about experiences and ideas that are not part of your concrete, present situation. Because we can think hypothetically, we can plan, dream, remember, set goals, consider alternative course of action, and imagine possibilities.
Reference:
Wood, J. (2013).
Interpersonal communication: Everyday encounters, (7th Ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning