(Pt1)
My partner in this experiment was my fiancé over skype video. This is a normal form of communication for us so it did not have an affect or alter the experiment. I found this first part of the experiment to be the most challenging. I do tend to use a lot of body language or hand gestures when I speak however not being able to talk at all made it difficult to communicate the "words" to my partner. At first I tried drawing objects in hopes of communicating better however I was questioning whether that'd be breaking the rules of the experiment. After that attempt it basically turned into a guessing game of charades with hand motions and facial expression which did take up a lot of time. Eventually we did give up in the sense that my partner would turn the conversation into yes and no questions so it was easier for me to respond. Initially and for most of this first part of the experiment, my partner's response to my limited communication made in him very unsure of the words or responses I was trying to communicate to him. He'd get frustrated several times because when he'd feel certain about something I was trying to say it'd turn out to be wrong and he'd have to try again with my new attempts of talking to him. Only until the end that we took what I'd say was the easy route did we feel more confident communicating back and forth with each other.
If the scenario were that we spoke two different languages, I assume that the speaking culture, my partner in this case, would have the upper hand in communicating complex ideas. I feel like the speaking culture would struggle more to understand what the other is trying to say or express. They'd have to put some effort and observe the other cultures' language to make better assumptions as to what they're saying.
Not only in our culture but internationally, individuals who have a difficult time communicating with spoken language are the hearing impaired. Incapable of hearing the annunciation of others let alone their own words, sign language is their form of communicating with the rest of us. Learning sign language and the help of a translator are common ways we, speaking culture, interact with them.
Not only in our culture but internationally, individuals who have a difficult time communicating with spoken language are the hearing impaired. Incapable of hearing the annunciation of others let alone their own words, sign language is their form of communicating with the rest of us. Learning sign language and the help of a translator are common ways we, speaking culture, interact with them.
(Pt2)
Although I did catch myself on several occasion using body language in the conversation, I did find this part of the experiment to be a lot easier than the first. Like I said in the first section, I do tend to use hand gestures or body language when I talk but it was easier to stop myself when I noticed that I'd start using that form of communication. The only thing that was probably the most difficult was avoiding the use of expression with my eyebrows. My fiancé's reaction this time was very entertaining to watch as I tried to keep a straight face. We're both very comedic, expressive people so to see one of us talking in a monotonous form was very odd. At several points in the conversation he'd start laughing, he admitted it was hard to take me seriously when I was "speaking like a robot".
The use of "signs" or some form of symbolic language is important when we communicate with one another, it's almost like second nature. I think of way people learn and some learn best with the use of pictures and symbols. I believe that could relate with how we speak, using hand gestures or symbols could make it easier for someone to grasp the whole idea and clearly understand what the other is communicating to them as they speak. I also believe that there are people who have difficulty with understanding body language. In a normal conversation amongst a group or just between two people, the use of symbolic language is very helpful. A scenario I think there'd be no benefit of body language would be on a tour like in a museum for instance. The tour guide would be providing information about each artifact, painting, or sculpture and even the smallest gesture wouldn't make a difference to the attention that the tour group already has towards their observance of whatever object it is.
Reading your experience doing experiment was awesome to read. Yet on your analysis toward body language in a tour I believe might have some flaws. for instance, the tour guide could be giving information about the artifact on the right but what if there are multiple artifacts on the right? It can be confusing to the people taking the tour as to what is being said for which piece. Also, what about written language ? How does that help our society, and hows would it be hard to function without it?
ReplyDeleteGood comment, Abbi.
DeletePart 1: Good description of your own experiences and your partners. I agree that for this experiment, using Skype likely didn't interfere. Sounds like your results are very similar to experiments performed face-to-face.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your conclusion as to which culture has the advantage communicating complex ideas.
With regard to attitude, what you are describing is action, not attitude. Think about the attitude of English speakers here in the US toward the non-English speaking immigrants. Does it tend to be a positive attitude or negative?
Yes, those who are deaf are a good example of a real life situation that mirrors this experiment.
Part 2: Good opening descriptions of your experience with part 2 and your parent's response.
While I agree with your explanation of how we use body language naturally, the question in the next section is regarding the benefit of using body language. How does it help us? Certainly, it helps provide detail and emotion to our words, but it goes beyond this. What does it tell you when the body language doesn't match the spoken language? Humans tend to use body language as a type of lie detector. If spoken words don't match with the body language, we are more inclined to believe the body language and doubt the words. Think about how being able to detect liars might help an individual's ability to survive and reproduce.
Like all human traits, there is normal variation in expression, and the ability to read body language is no different. That is what you are describing here, though I agree it is an interesting social situation. But beyond that, there are groups of people who have great difficulty or an outright inability to read body language due to physical or mental disability, such as those who are in the autism spectrum or those who are blind (though they can read vocal intonation).
I suggest that there is never a good reason to ignore body language as long as the information it communicates is accurate. So when might body language of others mislead you and it would be better to ignore it? Do all cultures use the same system of body language? If you travel to another country, can you trust the information you get from their body language?
Part 3: Missing this section?