8.USING LANGUAGE

Language has evolved upon the realization that the more abstract the word, the more difficult it is to represent visually. Human beings need to communicate at a level far above what can be shown by pictures. But for language to work, there must be a common understanding of what words mean.
Language Is Important
o Good speakers respect language and how it works. How well do you use language? Regard these:
o Advertisement outside a jewellery shop:
- 'Special Offer - Have your ears pierced and get an extra pair to be taken home!"
- (Sounds great. Would an extra pair of ears make me a better listener?)
o A manual for cafeteria staff at the Pentagon:
- "It is necessary at all times to maintain an adequate supply of wooden interdental stimulators."
- (In plain English, "Don't run out of toothpicks.")

Meanings Of Words
o Denotative meaning is precise, literal & objective. The dictionary definition.
o Connotative meaning is more variable, figurative & subjective. It is what the word suggests of implies; gives words their intensity & emotional power.
- school(noun)=(d)a place/institution/building where instruction is given; (c)includes all the feelings, associations & emotions that the word touches off in different people.
Compare these 2 excerpts:
o Terrorists neither listen to reason nor engage in reasoning with others, their aim is to generate fear - to frighten people into submission. They measure success by the magnitude of the fear they generate through brutal, savage acts of violence. Terrorists are prepared to kill to further whatever cause they claim to be pursuing. And the heinousness of these murders is accented by the fact that terrorists murder without passion. They murder with cool deliberation and careful planning. They are utterly amoral.

Compare these 2 excerpts:
o Terrorists do not seek to negotiate with their opponents. They seek victory by using political and psychological pressure, including acts of violence that may endanger the lives of some people. To the terrorist, ultimate objectives are more important than the means used to achieve them.

Functions of Language
o 1. Language communicates ideas
- ...an infinite number of ideas! Why? Because it has a structure of separate words.
- However, a speaker's language is only effective if it communicates to the listeners (both parties attach similar referents to the words they use).
Functions of Language
o 2. Language sends messages about the speaker
- Our vocabulary reveals aspects of our educational background, age & origin, among others.
- Language expresses speaker's feelings or emotions. Words we select communicate how we feel about both listeners & topic.
- e.g. Fire Blaze Inferno
- Crisis Dilemma Problem
Functions of Language
o 3. Language strengthens social bonds between groups of people
- It serves a social function precisely because it communicates ideas & emotions between people.

o 4. Language can be an instrument of play
- our language not only works, it also entertains
- we use language for the pleasure of its sounds

Functions of Language
o 5. Language checks & controls our use in language
- When in doubt, we sometimes check with our listeners to see whether they are decoding a message similar to the one we intended.
- As listeners during interpersonal communication, we may even interrupt a speaker to signal our misunderstanding.
Principles of Effective Language Use
o 1. Use Language Correctly
- a speaker's first obligation. Select the right word for the thought to be conveyed, phrase the thought correctly.
- incorrect language may communicate unintended message & undermine credibility
- good ideas can be evaluated as poor ideas just because they are poorly worded.
1. Use Language Correctly
o Some common language errors:
o a) The first criteria for selecting a good wine is to experience its bouquet.

o b) If our school is to remain financially solvent, we must choose between three options: increasing tuition, laying off faculty and staff employees, or forgoing the planned construction of a new athletic complex.
1. Use Language Correctly
o c) Because she failed to wear her seat belt, she was hurt bad: a broken leg, fractured ribs, and a mild concussion.

o d) Because they conduct most of their missions at night, a drug trafficker often alludes our understaffed border patrol.

o e) Members of our legislature voted theirselves a pay raise at the same time they voted down an increase in the state's education budget.

1. Use Language Correctly
o Simple guidelines to speaking correctly:
o make a note of grammatical mistakes you hear yourself make and other people make in casual conversation;
o when you're unsure of a word's meaning, consult a dictionary;
o if you have a question about proper grammar, refer to a handbook for writers;
o when practicing your speech, record it and play it back, listening for mistakes unnoticed as you were practicing;
o practice your speech in front of your friends and ask them to point out mistakes.

Principles of Effective Language Use
o 2. Use Language Clearly
- Language use must not only be correct, it must also be clear. To achieve clarity, use language that are specific and familiar.
Principles of Effective Language Use
o 3. Use Language Vividly
- Speakers should also choose colourful and picturesque language.
- Vivid language engages the audience & makes the task of listening easier.
- Just as you can be accurate without being clear, so can you be both accurate & clear without being interesting.
- Consider this example...
3. Use Language Vividly
o Martin Luther King might have phrased part of his great "I Have A Dream" speech this way:

o Turning back is something we cannot do. We must continue to work against police brutality, segregated housing, disfranchisement, and alienation. Only when these problems are solved will we be satisfied.

3. Use Language Vividly
o Here is what King actually said...
o We cannot turn back. There are those who ask the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities...
3. Use Language Vividly
o ...We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.