Blog Post 10

For your final blogpost, I'd like you to reflect on the material we've covered in class -- regarding language, interpersonal communication, non-verbal communication, small groups, organizations, and (you should read this by the end of the week) public communication.  Which of the concepts mentioned in these chapters has the most relevance to your life?  Which concepts and theories might be most helpful to you as you go on in school and into your career?  With your romantic, friendly, family, and work relationships?  As usual -- properly use the concepts and vocabulary covered in the textbook and in class.

Every concept we have learned in this class has had some sort of significance to my life. The most important concepts that have helped me were non-verbal, interpersonal, and language.

Learning about how the language shapes the way of how different cultures view life, has helped me communicate better with the people around me. Especially with the help of Sapir-Whorf hypothesis theory that says if we remember the linguistically, it stands to reason that the nature of our language affects the nature of our thought.  Knowing the origin of different word and whether they are feminine or masculine can help you understand someone’s outtake on life. Not only learning about another culture, but also the one that shapes my own life. This reminds me of another theory we learned this semester, the social constructivist approach. This theory suggest that we never experience the world directly, but to take significant parts of a culture, recognize them, connect them to other “facts” that we know, and then respond to them. The parts that make up this approach are: symbolic codes, cognitive customs, cultural traditions, and shared roles and rules.

Studying non-verbal communication has also helped me to communicate better. Learning that it is not just the basic facial expressions we use and the physical appearance, but other factors as well. Factors such as: kinesics, paralanguage, chronemics, and proxemics. By knowing these non-verbal codes can help someone deal with conflicts in interpersonal relationships. Also by knowing negative and positive face and what threatens them. The very upmost concept of importance we learned about was interpersonal communication. Mark Knapp’s steps of coming together and falling apart in relationships was very helpful. It helped me evaluate the different relationships in my life and to decide who I needed to keep and to let go.

From learning all these different communication terms has enlightened my skills as a communicator. Now I am more aware of the language I use, the non-verbal cues, and the factors of interpersonal communication.