Transcript Unit 2 Theory and Context Part 1

Journal: “The Box"
Go back in time (about 10-12 years). Did you ever makebelieve with a cardboard box? What things did you
pretend the box was? Details, please!
Unit 1
Theory and Context
Part 1
Communication
• Communication makes us human.
• What we say and do changes us (our personalities).
• We don’t communicate with everyone in the same way.
Facts
• Detect with our physical senses
• Everyone can agree
• Easily verified
Laws
• Pattern (usually mathematical)
• Links set of facts together
Theory
• Helps us explain why things happen
• Tries to make sense, order, and meaning of the facts
Social Construction of Reality Theory
• Words are just symbols, and when we communicate, we use
symbols (words)
• Words can be different but have the same meaning
Example: Lift/elevator, Bonnet/hood, Flat/apartment
• Artist and the Deacon: View the statue of Mary
differently—one as a structure and the other as a
religious symbol
• Words are arbitrary, abstract, ambiguous
– arbitrary: determined by will; selected at random;
autocratic
– abstract: disassociated from any specific instance
(word whiteness is abstract)
– ambiguous: capable of being understood in more than
one way
• Though not perfect, words and language are still the best
way we have to communicate.
Journal: “Relationship Continuum"
Impersonal
(no emotional ties;
barely know)
Intimate
(emotionally close;
relatives and good
friends; most open
and honest)
(1)
Plot four people on the Relationship Continuum.
(2)
How would you answer each of them if they each said,
“How are you?”
(3)
Which of the four would you ask to borrow $20? Why?
(4)
Which of them would you lend $20 if they asked you?
Why?
(5)
Discuss how our relationship with a person impacts our
communication with him/her.
What Makes Us Human?
On January 9, 1800 in southern France, a small boy was
captured when he came out of the woods near a small village.
The "creature" was human in bodily form and walked erect.
Everything else about him suggested an animal. He was naked
except for the tatters of a shirt and showed no modesty, no
awareness of himself as a human person related in any way to
the people who had captured him. He could not speak and made
only weird, meaningless cries. Though very short, he appeared
to be a boy of about eleven or twelve. The doctors were unable
to help him–because the boy had no human sense of being in the
world. He had no sense of himself as a person related to other
persons.
In 1954, a young, naked boy who was starving found his way
to the hospital at Balrampur, India. He showed no ability to
interact with people and had heavy calluses as if he moved on all
fours. In addition, there were scars on the boy’s neck as if he
had been dragged by animals. The boy, named Ramu by the
hospital staff, spent most of his time playing with a stuffed
animal as a wild animal might in its lair. He showed no interest in
communicating; indeed, he seemed to feel no connection with
other people. Only twice did Ramu seem excited. Once was
when he was taken to see wolves at a zoo, and the other time
was when he saw a dog.
Ramu would howl when he smelled raw meat in the hospital
kitchen, over 100 yards from his room (far too great a distance
for the human sense of smell to detect a scent). Ramu also
didn’t eat like a human; he tore meat apart and lapped milk from
a container. Most of the doctors and scientists who examined
Ramu concluded he was a wolfboy who had grown up in the wild
and been socialized by wolves. He had no concept of himself as
a person. Instead, he saw himself as a wolf and was more
interested in interacting with animals than humans, who were not
"his kind." Thus, doctors referred to Ramu as Ghadya Ka Bacha,
the Indian term for wolf boy.
Journal: "Wild Child"
1.
2.
3.
Were these children human? Explain.
What makes us human?
What role does communication play in making us human?
Explain the following quotations. Do you agree or disagree and
why?
4.
5.
Communication makes us who we are.
There is a direct link between the quality of your life and
the quality of your communication.
Journal: “Servant of Allah or Terrorist"
1. How has Kavosh’s group socially constructed the meaning of his
act compared with how our culture has?
2. What words would we use to describe his actions? Why?
3. What would Kavosh call himself and why?
4. How would the majority of Muslims around the world socially
construct Kavosh’s act? Why?
“Social Construction of Reality”
Do your communication skills define you?
Journal: "Socially Constructing the Reality of September 11"
Consider the al Qaida hijackers who forced the jet liners to
crash into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
(a)
Discuss what these men call themselves compared with
what we would call them. (Think about the Islamic concept
of jihad, or holy war.)
(b) How does this relate to the Social Construction of Reality
theory?
Unit 1
Theory and Context
Part 2
We communicate in more ways than one (on different levels)
• Body language
• Tone of voice
• Facial expression
Communication Models help us visualize a concept or theory and
help us see relationships between people and groups.
• Three Models
(1) Linear Communication Model: One direction from senderto-receiver. Example: School announcements
Noise is any force that interferes with communication
•
External/physical noise. Example: blowing nose, body odor,
talking
•
Physiological. Example: sick, hungry, tired
•
Psychological. Example: noise within ourselves
(2)
•
•
•
Interactive Communication Model: Two way process. Person
is either sending or receiving messages, not both.
Example: Interviewing for a job
Feedback: facial expressions, eye contact, the way we sit or
move, or oral responses (uh-huh)
Environment: physical location, individual’s background and
experiences
To achieve a shared understanding in communication, there
must be an overlap of environment between the sender
and receiver.
(3)
•
•
•
Transactual Communication Model: Simultaneously, the sender
and receiver are both participating in the continuous, ongoing
process of communication (in other words, communicating with
someone).
Content Dimension: the words we use in a message.
Content depends on who says it.
Example: “Lacey come here!”
Relational Dimension: How two people relate to one another.
Relational influences how we respond to a message.
Example: Principal vs. little sister
Nonverbal Communication: You don’t even need words to
communicate!
Eye contact, gestures, body language, etc.
Unit 1
Theory and Context
Part 3
Communication Context can be viewed in many ways:
• The setting or situation within which communication occurs or
the surroundings in which communication takes place.
• The different levels of communication, including interpersonal,
small group, organizational, and mass communication.
• Communication Context can occur in cultural, historical, and
relational contexts.
CMM (Coordinated Management of Meaning) gives an even more
complex meaning with each context consisting of communication
rules.
Coordinated Management of Meaning
Context Hierarchy
Cultural Pattern: Sociocultural norms to which members adhere.
Life Scripts: One’s sense of self
Interactants’ Relationship: Episodes can only be
understood within the context of the relationship
between the interactants.
Episode: Situation or activity
in which the communication
occurs.
Speech Act:
Communicating
through words or
actions
(nesting dolls)
Constitutive Rules: We interpret communication by looking at:
• what is being said
• how it is being said
• history between the people saying it
Regulative Rules: Specify the appropriateness of speech act in any
given situation. We communicate differently depending on:
• the situation
• the relationship
• the place
Journal: “Car Loan”
Imagine you are going to ask your dad/mom to cosign with you on
a car loan. How will you naturally use constitutive rules and
regulative rules to decide how to approach this conversation
with your dad/mom?
Social Contexts
Family Members:
• have communication rules
• share past, present, future
• share living space
Friends:
• we choose our friends
• have no set rules
• we invest time, energy, emotion, effort
• we develop closeness (girls talk, guys have activity)
Work:
• Employers are looking for good communicators
• Communication work rules may not be written down
Communicating at work:
• Asking direct questions brings little chance of negative
consequences.
• Asking indirect questions (hinting around) can work, but could
also bring negative consequences.
• Observe other employees to know communication rules.
• Consult someone not involved directly in the situation.
Basic Workplace Rules:
• Obey communication channels (report concerns to the right
person).
• Keep customers satisfied.
• Don’t withhold problems from your boss. Not communicating
usually makes things worse.
• Ask questions to learn answers (reasons for policies and
procedures).
• Don’t embarrass anyone by making a fool of them in front of
others.
• Get approval from someone in authority before taking action.