Negative-Positive Connotation

Because words can elicit powerful emotional reactions, they are often said to have negative or positive connotations for people. Today many people prefer to be called "senior citizens" rather than "elderly." And though parents may take equal pleasure in hearing their children referred to as "brilliant'' or "gifted", those with "retarded" children are sensitive to the many negative connotations of the word. Increasing efforts to avoid the stigma such a word seems to carry have resulted in terms with more positive associations- "slow learners" is an example as is "special education" students. The connotation of "special" has also changed with the use of such terms as "Special Olympics"

Some interesting research on word connotations can be cited. One study investigated male and female responses to sex-related terms in an attempt to identify differences in response. Not surprisingly, it was found that women tended out your central idea more explicitly," and "Try to be a little more enthusiastic" are all instances of metacommunication.

Metacommunication is not always so explicit. Sometimes discussions that begin at the content level become forms of metacommunication. We can best illustrate with an anecdote. A young man and woman, dressed for a night on the town, have just stepped out of a cab. As they stand at the corner waiting for the light to change, they rapidly become involved in a heated argument:

Wife: Next time try to get home earlier so we can be on time.

Husband: It's only a party. Next time tell me beforehand if you think it's so important to be there at eight sharp. And don't sound so annoyed.

Wife: But you're always late.

Husband: I'm not always late. Don't generalize like that.

Wife: Well, you're late a lot of the time. Why do you always put me down when I say something about you?

Husband: I don't "always" put you down. There you go again, generalizing.

Although they may well remember it simply as a quarrel about lateness, this couple is arguing about how they communicate with each other. The husband tells the wife not to sound so annoyed, the husband informs her that she makes too many generalizations, she counters that he puts her down, and so on. Think of their situation in terms of the Johari window discussed in Chapter 3. As they make these disclosures, they bring information from the blind quadrant into the open quadrant. But disclosures about the blind quadrant have to be made with some discretion. Moreover, because these disclosures take place in a defensive atmosphere, there is little chance that they will improve the relationship between husband and wife.

When there are serious conflicts about relationships rather than content, metacommunication is often especially difficult (Sillars and Weisberg, 1987). Two people may lack the skill to use metacommunication; and the source of the conflict, as was noted in Chapter 3, may be "diffuse and selectively perceived. Attempts to communicate are therefore frustrated by a failure to agree on the definition of the conflict and by an inability to metacommunicate" (p. 151).

In a more supportive situation, the use of metacommunication might help people become aware of ways in which their communication practices are ineffective. For example, one teen-age girl finally confided to her mother that she was embarrassed when the mother tried to sound "hip" in front of the daughter's teen-age friends. It is sometimes awkward to provide such feedback. When given in a kind rather than a hostile way, however, it can be a valuable impetus to self-improvement.

SUMMARYSummary

Our analysis of verbal communication began with a consideration of the concept of meaning. In discussing the symbolic nature of language, we saw that symbols and referents are associated with each other only by convention and that it is human beings who assign meanings to words. We reviewed the traditional distinction between denotation and connotation and went on to suggest that it might be more useful to distinguish between private and shared meanings. In this connection we discussed overlapping linguistic codes and code switching.

Our second subject was message encoding, which we approached through comparison of the encoding abilities of children and adults. Piaget's research 01 socialized and egocentric speech made it clear that the message sender's perceptions and expectations about the receiver affect his or her ability to communicate accurately. While Piaget viewed the child's speech as predominantly egocentric most theorists and researchers have come to view the child as sociocentric from birth with competence in communication developing through interaction that begins in infancy. In this alternate view, the adult caretaker (the mother, in most-Western cultures) plays a critical role in developing the child's conversation abilities.

Our next concern was the relationship between thought and language, and after examining the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, we considered several language problems created through abstracting, inferences, dichotomies, euphemisms, and equivocal meanings. We went on to observe that when people of different culture communicate, they may be separated not so much by grammar or vocabulary a by frame of reference.

To study words in action, we examined sexist language, differences between males and females in their use of language (these seem to be context-bound), and the language forms perceived by others as powerful or powerless. In closing, we saw that metacommunication (communication about communication) is potentially a means of improving one's relationships.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What is intended by the statement "The word is not the thing"?

2. What is the difference between denotation and connotation?

3. What is the Semantic Differential? Give an example of a differential.

4. Explain the difference between private and shared meanings.

5. What are the concepts of overlapping codes and codeswitching?

6. Explain Piaget's theory about how the child uses language.

7. Discuss the current view that the child is sociocentric from birth and that communication develops out of interaction.

8. What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?

9. Discuss two ways in which language affects thought.

10. Describe the concept of abstracting and give examples.

11. Describe at least four problem areas in our use of language. Give an example of each.

12. What is the influence of viewpoint or frame of reference (as distinguishec from grammar and vocabulary') on communication between cultures? Give two examples.

13. Discuss the use of sexist language and give two examples.

14. What are some of the differences between how males and females use language?

15. Specify the difference between the way males and females use language on the job.

16. Identify powerful and powerless language and explain its relationship to communication style.

17. What is metacommunication? Give an example.

EXERCISES

1. a. Construct a Semantic Differential consisting of ten bipolar adjectives. Assess the potential marketability of a fictitious product name by asking several classmates to react to two or more names using the Semantic Differential.

b. How do the responses on the Semantic Differential reflect the difference between denotation and connotation; between private and shared meaning?

2. Construct a two-column list with proper names in one column and stereotypical occupations associated with those names in the second. Mix up the order of names and occupations in each column. Present the lists to several people and ask them to match the names and occupations. A sample list appears below:

Miss Flora Ballet dancer

Spencer Turnbull Teacher

Harry Hogan Car thief

Speedy Banker

Dominique Dubois Hairdresser

Ken Sharp Wrestling coach

a. To what extent do people agree in their responses? How do the results relate to the statement "The word is not the thing"?

b. How do the results relate to the three factors that affect stereotype perceptions (see Chapter 2)?

c. What implications do these results suggest about the relationship between language, stereotyping, and communication effectiveness?

3. Interview two people who are ostensibly very different—a local politician and an artist, for example. Ask each of them to make a list of adjectives describing (a) himself or herself and (b) a member of the other group. Compare the lists to see how differently each group member perceives himself or herself from the way he or she is perceived by the other person. Notice how the perceptual differences are manifested in the words chosen for the descriptions.

4. Prepare an oral persuasive message in two forms. Use the most tactful language possible in one and the most inflammatory terms you can think of in the other. Give the messages to two groups, and try to assess their reactions on an attitude scale. Which message is more effective? If the audiences are similar and your messages alike except for word choice (and assuming the nonverbal cues are similar), any difference in your results should be due to the difference in the language you use.

5. In a chance conversation deliberately assume that individual words have only one meaning and try to interpret them in a way that the other person does not intend. What are the results?

6. Prepare a short presentation in two forms. In the first, use words that are high on the ladder of abstraction (i.e., vague); in the second, use much more concrete, highly specific words. Discuss class reactions to these different presentations.

SUGGESTED READINGS

Becker, Carl."Reasons for the Lack of Argumentation and Debate in the Far East." In Intel-cultural Communication: A Reader. Edited by Larry A. Samovar and Robert Porter. 5th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1988. pp. 242-248. One of several excellent articles about language and intercultural communication appearing in this popular reader.

Bruner, Jerome.Actual Minds, Possible Worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. 1986. A collection of essays by an outstanding psychologist. Part Two, "Language and Reality," will be of special interest to advanced students.

Haney, William V.Communication and Interpersonal Behavior. 5th ed. Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1986.

This classic book presents an excellent overview of general semantics. Although the book's slant is on the business environment, its principles apply to most everyday situations. The cases that are included are fine class discussion starters.

Haslett, Beth."Acquiring Conversational Competence.' Western Journal of Speech Communication 48 (1984):107-124.

The author of this article discusses how a child develops the ability to communicate through language. Interaction with the primary caretaker—usually the mother—is seen as essential to this development.

Kaufmann, Charles."Names and Weapons." Communication Monographs 56 (1989):273-285.

The author's thesis is that the names given to weapons structure the situations in which they are used. He illustrates his argument with examples of how nuclear weapons have been named and renamed during the last decade.

Scotton, Carol M."Self-Enhancing Codeswitching as Interactional Power." Language

Communication 8, no. 3/4 (1988): 199-212.

This is a somewhat technical but fascinating article on the use of codeswitching as a strategy for gaining power.

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 1010