Languages

  • Around 7000 languages worldwide

  • 800 languages spoken in NYC alone

  • different ways of spoken english

    • australian, indian, singlish

  • lingua franca - commonly shared language that is used as a medium of communication between people of different languages

    • e.g english as a dominant world language

  • code-switching: the practice of alternating between languages or dialects within a conversation, often reflecting cultural identity and context.

nominalist position:

  • aka representative view

  • the view that perception is not shaped by the particular language one speaks

  • rather language is a tool

  • e.g “tree”

relativist position:

translation issues (metaphors)

English:

  • piece of cake

  • pain in the neck

Korean:

  • eating cold stew

  • thorn in the eye

  • to have thin ears

slang & humor in language use

Slang:

  • international students’ struggle

  • where do they learn

  • should language be taught

communication style:

high context:

  • a style of communication in which much of the information is contained in the contexts and nonverbal cues rather than expressed explicitly in words

low context

  • a style of communication in which much of the information is conveyed in words rather than in nonverbal cues and contexts

    • email, texting, social media emphasize low context direct and understated written communication

Language and identity:

  • the langauges we speak adn the langauges others think we should speak can create barriers in intercultural communication

code switching:

  • technical term in communication that refers to the phenomenon of changing langauges, dialects, or even accents

  • e.g different accents at the workplace & at home

proxemics: the study of how people use personal space

paralanguage - voice qualities: speaking rate, volume

vocalizations - uhm, hm