Part 1
I found part one to be infinitely easier to execute than part two. I found that although it was difficult to resist the urge to answer a question in language form my body language would suffice for simple yes or no questions. Because of this, My partner completely changed the way she spoke to me and resolved to only ask me yes or no questions that could be easily answered with a nod or a shrug. This proved to be to very time consuming as she would have to ask about ten questions to get the answer one simple question that needed an explanation.
I believe that if my partner and I represented two different cultures, my partner would definitely be able to communicate her ideas and thoughts by actually speaking. She might get the impression that I lacked intelligence since I would not be able to articulate my thoughts into spoken words. The speaking culture would be able to explain complex ideas while the non speaking culture would be limited to ideas that could be explained physically.
I believe that in our culture the deaf and the mute experience the most adversity communicating with people that can speak. Although they have learned sign language the truth is, most people who can speak and hear never learn sign language and are forced to communicate with them like my partner had, by asking simple yes or no questions and relying on hand gestures. I imagine this experience to be most frustrating because the person may not suffer from any other disability, and is fully aware of how a person who can speak and hear is interacting with them.
Part 2
I found that speaking with no physical embellishments was almost impossible as I only lasted a few minutes before I got frustrated. My frustration was caused primarily by the fact that I constantly found myself changing my tone or including a physical gesture partly because it is second nature to me.
I felt that my partners were confused by what I was saying, since I monotone they could not understand if I was being serious or funny. I felt that I had no means to display emotion other than the words that I used, and even that did not suffice.
This experiment revealed that humans are indeed very dependment on the use of signs when speaking. By using non speech language we are able to communicate things that cannot be explained by words alone. For example, someone might not know that I feel uncomfortable talking about a certain subject if I was unable to show an expression on my face.
I definitely do believe that people who have difficulty reading body language suffer greatly in terms of communication. As a culture we depend on our use of signs and body language to communicate when words fall short of the intended interpretation. I believe that reading body language may always be beneficial to the observer but can reveal more about the person being observed than they intended. For example, someone on an interview may not want the employer to know how nervous he or she is, but if the employer can read body language they will quickly pick up on how the interviewer is feeling. Overall I feel that our cultures use of signs and body language is useful, otherwise I don’t think we would have adapted to be so dependent on it.
Rebecca, you make a great point about employers and nonverbal communication. Most people realize that they have one chance to make a good impression during a job interview. But, I think they have no idea the importance of nonverbal communication is having on their fate during that interview or how prepared the person conducting the interview is to observe that behavior.
ReplyDeletePart A turns into a game of 20 questions, doesn't it? Good discussion on the cultural implications of a conversation between a speaking and non-speaking group.
ReplyDeleteNot only are we accustomed to speaking with body language, we are also accustomed to looking for it in others we are talking to. That's why this part really seems to be difficult for our partners.
Can you identify a specific group of people who might have difficulty reading body language?
Great post.
I think it’s interesting you had more trouble with the second part of the assignment than the first. I had the opposite experience. The second conversation ran quite smoothly, while the first was nearly impossible. My partner kept misunderstanding my signals because she attempted to ask some questions that would be difficult to explain solely with hand and body movement. I was unable to have a fully cohesive conversation in the first experiment. It’s rather odd that such a simple task yielded different results for everybody. Reading your results and others, I have changed my view of the subject. I thought that signs were not important, as it would seem from my results from part 2. Most of the other students found that signs were very important, however, so now I think that for most people, nonverbal signs and physical embellishments are key to communication.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this assignment really emphasized the importance of emotion and body language in our communication, but I think what is really remarkable is how the two function with each other. On their own, each are weak tools of communication, but together they can specify the vast amount of ideas necessary to function in our society.
ReplyDeleteProfessor Rodriguez,
ReplyDeleteIt completely turns into 20 questions! I think that anyone with a visual impairment would have trouble reading body language, not just someone who is blind, but legally blind and low vision people would not be be able to fully decipher body language.