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Chapter7
Symbolic Communication and
Language
Chapter Outline

Language and Verbal Communication
 Nonverbal Communication
 Social Structure and Communications
 Conversational Analysis
Communication and Symbols

Communication is the process whereby
people transmit information about their ideas,
feelings, and intentions to one another.
 Symbols are arbitrary forms used to refer to
ideas, feelings, intentions, or any other
object.
Language and Communication

Spoken language is a socially acquired
system of sound patterns with meanings
agreed on by the members of a group.
 Words are the symbols around which
languages are constructed.
Advantages of Language
Frees us from the constraints of the here
and now.
2. Allows us to communicate with others about
experiences we do not share directly.
3. Enables us to transmit, preserve, and create
culture.
1.
The Encoder-decoder Model

Views communication as a process:
– An idea or feeling is encoded into symbols
by a source, transmitted to a receiver and
decoded into the original idea or feeling.
The Encoder-Decoder Model
Communication Process

The basic unit of communication is the
message, which has its origin in the desire of
the speaker to communicate.
Communication Accuracy

Refers to the extent to which the message
inferred by the listener matches the message
intended by the speaker.
 According to this model, the primary influence
on accuracy is codability, which is the extent
of interpersonal agreement about what
something is called.
Intentionalist Model

Argues that communication involves the
speaker’s desire to affect the listener, or the
transmission of an intention.
“Get me a drink of lemonade.”
Get me a glass of lemonade.
2. Can you get me some lemonade?
3. Would you get me some lemonade?
4. Would you get me something to drink?
1.
“Get me a drink of lemonade.”
5.
6.
7.
8.
Would you mind if I asked you to get me some
lemonade?
I’m thirsty.
Did you buy some lemonade at the store?
How is that lemonade we bought?
Speech Act Theory

Utterances both state something and do
something.
The Cooperative Principle

A speaker must cooperate with a listener by
formulating the content of speech so it
reflects the listener’s way of thinking about
objects, events, and relationships.
The Perspective-taking Model

Communication involves the exchange of
messages using symbols whose meaning
grows out of the interaction itself.
– Views the process of communication as
both creating and reflecting a shared
context between speaker and listener.
Intersubjectivity

Successful communication depends on
intersubjectivity.
 Each participant needs information about the
other’s status, view of the situation, and plans
or intentions.
Linguistic Intergroup Bias

Members of a group share a linguistic
intergroup bias.
 There are subtle and systematic differences
in the language we use to describe events as
a function of our group membership and the
group to which the actor or target belongs.
Types of Nonverbal Communication

Paralanguage
– All the vocal aspects of speech other than
words.
 Body language
– The silent movement of body parts.
Types of Nonverbal Communication

Interpersonal spacing cues
– Positioning ourselves at varying distances
and angles from others.
 Personal effects
– What a person wears that communicates
information about that person.
Types of Nonverbal Communication
Type
Example
Paralanguage
Loudness, speed, pauses
in speech
Body language (kinesics)
Gestures, facial
expressions, eye gaze
Intimate closeness, facing
head-on, looking away,
turning one’s back
Clothing, makeup, room
decorations
Interpersonal spacing
(proxemics)
Choice of personal effects
Combining Nonverbal and
Verbal Communication

Multiple cues convey added information,
reduce ambiguity, and increase the accuracy
of communication.
Multiple cues also resolve inconsistencies, so
the messages can be evaluated separately
and weighed (i.e. facial cues first, then
paralanguage and verbal cues).
Social Structure and
Communications

The ways we communicate with others reflect
and influence our relationships.
– The impact of gender depends on the
interpersonal, group, or organizational
context.
– Speech that adheres to vocabulary,
pronunciation, and grammar rules is
preferred.
Speech Styles

Standard speech is characterized by diverse
vocabulary, proper pronunciation, correct
grammar, and abstract content.
– Speakers take the listener’s perspective
into account.
 Nonstandard speech is characterized by
limited vocabulary, improper pronunciation,
incorrect grammar, and directness.
– The speaker is egocentric.
Flirting

Flirting includes nonverbal facial expressions
and behavior that serves to attract the
attention and elicit an approach.
 Flirting is an important component of the
development of relationships.
Communicating Status and
Intimacy

Status is concerned with the exercise of
power and control.
 Intimacy is concerned with the expression of
affiliation and affection that creates social
solidarity.
 Verbal and nonverbal communication express
and maintain particular levels of intimacy and
relative status in relationships.
Theory of Speech Accommodation

Individuals who wish to express liking shift
their own pronunciation, speech rate, vocal
intensity, pause lengths, and utterance
lengths to match those of their partner.
 Individuals who wish to communicate
disapproval modify these vocal behaviors in
ways that make them diverge from their
partner’s.
Normative Distances for
Americans

Public distance (12–25 feet) is prescribed for
interaction in formal encounters, lectures,
trials, and other public events.
 Social distance (4 –12 feet) is prescribed for
many casual social and business
transactions.
Normative Distances for
Americans
Personal distance (1 1⁄ 2– 4 feet) is
prescribed for interaction among friends and
relatives.
 Intimate distance (0 –18 inches) is prescribed
for giving comfort, making love, and
aggressing physically.

Reactions to Violations of
Personal Space
Initiating Conversations

Conversations must be initiated with an
attention-getting device.
 A summons-answer sequence initiates the
mutual obligation to speak and to listen that
produces conversational turn taking.
Regulating Turn Taking

To regulate turn taking, people use verbal and
nonverbal cues, singly and together, with
varying degrees of success than in
spontaneous conversations.
Feedback and Coordination

Through feedback, conversationalists
coordinate what they are saying to each other
from moment to moment.
 Back channel feedback are small vocal and
visual comments a listener makes while a
speaker is talking, without taking over the
speaking turn.