HINT HINT HINT… “POP” Review Test coming up

I won’t say when yet, but your class will be having a “review test” regarding Unit 1 materials (chapters 1-5) in the next week or two. What you should know, if you want to begin preparing:

1. All materials from chapters 1-5 are fair game
2. This bonus point opportunity could improve your Test 1 grade
3. You won’t know until the day I give it when it’s happening

I reserve the right to present this review test on different days, in different formats, and with different questions for each of my sections. It’s a ONE TIME opportunity.

My suggestion to you:

1. Review chapters 1-5 (especially the most-commonly missed questions I covered after your first test)
2. Make a quick reference sheet or note cards for yourself
3. Bring a pencil every day to class
4. Be ready…

Those of you who subscribe to the blog get an advantage of knowing this is going to happen, even if you don’t know precisely when…

Paralanguage

If you want to get a dose of your childhood self while learning a little about our nonverbal aspects of the voice (called “paralanguage”), here’s a relatively brief video from Harry Potter that demonstrates the various aspects of paralanguage, as well as a few extra concepts…

Another thought on Proxemics

As I was perusing videos the other night, I came across this interesting little gem. Take a peek to get another understanding of proxemics.

Proxemics

A very interesting short news story on the concept of proxemics, or the use of space with others. Remember that this use of space is cultural, meaning that based upon your cultural and regional background, you may see a situation which requires closer space than your communication partners.

Review the textbook, but you may also recall that there are basics expectations within our culture for our use of space. Even with those expectations, however, we suspend the rules regularly, especially in public forums. Think about the ways in which we ignore the space “rules” in particular environments, such as:

• Public transportation (buses, subways, airplanes)
• Elevators
• Escalators
• Checkout lines (a.k.a. “queues”)

Even with that, I want to remind you of the basic guidelines. Here’s a small JPEG that will help you kind of remember the format we discuss:

Slang & Jargon, Part 2

I simply couldn’t leave this topic alone when I found another video that I thought might be helpful to you.

This second video stems from a Technical Writing course, but the concepts apply very closely to what we discuss in our course about oral communication. One thing I would STRONGLY recommend is that you pay close attention to the gentleman’s explanation of audience. We must understand the audience to whom we are communicating in order to be most effective in determining our use of language.

Plainly and simply: if you speak with your classmates in the hallway, slang might be appropriate, but the same wouldn’t be true of your boss. Similarly, the terms you use at work may be suitable in that environment, but not logical in a family dinner conversation.

Sometimes, our use of language is dictated by the topic. If you are presenting a speech to your class on a very technical topic, you may NEED to use jargon to be accurate. With that accuracy comes a responsibility, however, to explain that term (or all terms) to your audience in a way they can understand.

Watch this video to learn more!

Helpful tips… Study guide-ish-thing-somewhat

Here’s my plan for the coming week’s portion of my FACE TO FACE classes. My hybrid section has a whole different package, due to the nature of their course. While the formats may slightly vary, they will have similar principles, in terms of material coverage.

That said, I would STRONGLY recommend that learners read every section of the chapters, because a section not included here may contain information that helps you respond more effectively and accurately on another multiple choice or extended response question.

Slang vs. Jargon

Our textbook discusses the importance of better understanding slang and jargon, especially when it comes to our use of verbal language. For this, I might recommend that you watch these two videos separately, then review the concepts outlined by your textbook regarding each component.

Remember that there are similarities in these two uses of language. The most important commonality is that they are derived from sub-groups within the larger culture. Although these may be confusing, you can easily distinguish between them.

Slang is focused on the use of language in a geographic region (where you live) or generational groups (age gaps). This video helps explain it better.

Jargon is primarily focused on the language used within a particular vocation (career field) or a technical area. This video is a helpful, brief explanation of how jargon can be used ineffectively.

Abstraction

Many students are exceptionally confused by the concept of abstraction. I searched around for a way to explain this more effectively. Lo and behold, I found a video presented on YouTube that does a pretty great job of clarifying the concept of abstraction, which is outlined on page 75 of your textbook.

I remind you as always that watching a video or attending a lecture is not a substitute for reading the book. Be a responsible consumer of the course materials, and use these things to supplement your text.

Anyway, here’s the video on Language, Thinking and Levels of Abstraction:

I SHOULD warn you that the best part of the explanation is within the first 3 1/2 minutes, but you can watch the full 6’36” video to better understand the concept.

Time and nonverbal communication

Although nonverbal communication tends to be one of the most interesting chapter for students in the basic course, there are a few concepts that learners occasionally struggle to grasp. The biggest struggle is how time is used in communication. I’m going to focus on that in this post, and hopefully, you will clarify some of this in your mind.

Let’s start with the easiest part of how time is used. We expect to be punctual for some activities, because we know that time is important to certain people (like our bosses, instructors, or doctors). But we don’t necessarily have to be early or on time for meeting our friends for dinner. In fact, when we look at the time named for a party, we often presume people will come much later.

We also view time in our culture as something to be bought or sold, something that we can trade. For example, we ask what hours someone will work at their job, and in return, they will be paid for that time invested in their labor.

As your textbook states, even the words we use to describe our use of time indicate how we view it as a commodity. We invest time with work, or in relationships. We waste time playing games or binge-watching television. We spend time with our family or friends. All of these are the same words we use to describe other things that are tied to money. We waste money on junk food or entertainment, but we save money for a rainy day.

Think more on this concept, because time is such a very cool concept, and a great way we communicate with others.

Oh, by the way, thanks for taking a little of your time to read through this post. Hopefully you have invested it wisely and learned something that might be helpful for your test! By reading this, you have already communicated to me that you find learning important. Comment below that you have read this, so I can see which of my students are taking some extra time…

Connotative and Denotative Meanings

This video is a good, fairly short and simple, explanation of the distinctions between connotative and denotative meanings. Please take time to view this, as well as to read the post on Ogden & Richards Model, posted yesterday. These will help clarify two of the major concepts of chapter 4.