Interesting

One of the most interesting concepts I found in this class was nonverbal communication. I found this concept intriguing because it is something we are doing all the time. I enjoyed learning about the nonverbal codes, messages, and cues. I related to the emblems because I see my friends and I using them often. Emblems are, as the book states, “kinesic behaviors whose direct verbal translations are known to all of the members of a social group, emblems are like silent words (pg. 115).” Examples are “what time is it?,” “shame on you,” “wait a minute,” “I cant hear you,” etc. I also enjoyed reading about the regulators, which “consist of head nods and eye and hand movements that allow us to maintain, request, or deny others a turn to talk (pg. 116).” I again use these all the time.
It is funny to think that everything we do gets analyzed in the communication field and than we get to learn about them. It is very interesting to read about things I have done or do and learn more about what I am actually using them for.

The Class

Wow, what have I learned throughout this class is a broad question. I have learned so much in such a short time it is unbelievable. I have reviewed the history of communication, some important people in communication and some concepts about communication. I have learned many new things, such as, more about group communication, organizational communication, how truly small and big our world is, factors of communication, characteristics of communication and so much more. I am leaving this class with a greater understanding of the study of human communication. I have many new theories under my belt and a great new addition to my collection of resources for communication.
My favorite thing about this class could also be my least favorite thing about this class, the class being online. I loved the class being online because I was able to read and get insight from everyone in class. It was nice to be able to go over everyone’s thoughts and opinions oppose to just hearing the select few who overpower people in a physical classroom. I also like the class being online because it helped me open up more about the concepts of the class through my blog. I enjoyed the teacher’s feedback and attitude and I especially liked that I was still able to have a summer while taking this course. I was able to travel while being an active student. :D
My least favorite thing about the class again is that the class is online. I like being able to put the faces to the words I read. I like being able to discuss things face to face and learn through nonverbal communication. But really that is the only thing I could say I disliked about the class. I really enjoyed this class and found it both interesting and challenging. Great class! I am glad I was able to add! ☺

Favorite Concept :D

My absolute favorite concept of this semester would have to be the idea of our world being a global village. It is my favorite because it rings so true in my eyes. I feel as though because of the technologies of our society we are able to connect to people all around the world in just seconds, thus us being a global village.
I agree with the book when it says that our world is “shrinking daily,” and that “intercultural encounters are commonplace (pg. 348).” An example of living in a global village is taking place right now. I am in Hawaii for a family vacation and it is very interesting to see all the different cultures around me. I hear many different languages all day that I am able to listen to as well as observe.
I also agree our sense of distance and place changes with the technologies of today. If I continue on the topic of my family vacation, I was able to be in San Francisco, CA in the morning and in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in Honolulu, HI in the afternoon. Due to this being a possibility our perception of distance and place has changed from years ago. As our technologies advance, our mind sets advance. We are able to physically go see where history was made instead of just reading it.
Living in a global village is very true. I love the concept and am happy to be able to share it with the people in my life. I know I will use this idea for the rest of my life and continue to revisit it on an every day basis.

Pragmatic Perspective

I do agree with the Pragmatic perspective to a certain extent. When the book discusses the interdependence of each other when communicating, I understand this analogy. I feel as though when communicating with one another we are dependent on the others moves. We read their moves, or cues, in order to continue the conversation or relationship, just as we read the moves of our opponent when strategizing for a game. Here our communication “consists of a system of interlocking, interdependent behaviors that become pattered over time (pg. 32).”
But there are more aspects to communication than just playing a game. A game is something we do to entertain ourselves for a certain length of time and than finish and continue with our every day life. We can use communication for the same way except the communication we use can affect our every day life in a greater way than winning or losing a game. This also brings me to the point of winning and losing a game. In life we are not communicating in order to win or lose, unless you have a goal such as a sales pitch, but we are communicating to understand or learn more about something or each other. How we communicate affects every aspect of our lives where winning or a losing a game does not. Communication may have some characteristics of a game but its long-term affects are much more broad.

Dilemas

Some moral dilemmas that ethnographers face occur with the idea of being “undercover.” Ethnographers face the dilemma of feeling as if they are lying to the group they are observing. As the book expressed, it may feel as if they are deceiving the, for lack of a better word, culture they are trying to belong in.
To resolve this issue, they just need to think about how they are not necessarily deceiving anyone. They have to think about how they are doing research for themselves and that if they are changing for the culture they are trying to belong in, they are just adapting to their surroundings. This is something that everyone does. We adapt to our surroundings and in many cases we change our actions in order to feel as though we belong. I feel as though most ethnographers are observing a certain group because they are interested in that group, they are not observing to make fun of or be mean to that group. But they are observing and researching because they are trying to make sense of that particular group. This is not something that everyone is willing to do, especially with an open mind. Ethnographers are not judging or putting biases on the group, but they are observing and analyzing. They should not feel as though they are doing any thing morally wrong, unless they are truly doing something mean.
Although our actions may change, who we are does not necessarily change. When adapting to our surroundings we can pretty much fit into a certain group or culture by still being ourselves, just adding little kinks to be able to make sure we are acting appropriate for that culture. This is not mean. It would be a harder situation if the ethnographer makes up huge elaborate lies about themselves and have people depend on them just to go away and deliberately hurt the culture. So in other words, Ethnographers can resolve the issue of feeling as though they are being deceptive by still being themselves just adapting to their surroundings. They need to realize they are doing the research to better understand, not to hurt, the culture.

Ethnography

Out of all the research methods listed in table 13.3 I find ethnography the most interesting. I got my first glimpse of the ethnography method last semester in my Comm100W class, and ever since found it interesting. I did not take the opportunity to research using the ethnography method because I was unsure of what it was, but once I learned (both in my Comm100W class and in this chapter) I have been intrigued. The idea of being able to be a part of my research and immersing myself into a new, or old, culture to observe is exciting to me. Having the option of taking one of two roles helps to not over stress one self in the researching situation. I also like the idea of conclusions emerging from the observations being made.
Assuming I want to study an aspect of deception I would ask, “What are the primary uses that deception is used for in a college classroom?” I would use ethnography for my method because I would be able to be a part of a classroom environment without disturbing the natural feel of the class. I would be able to observe and find my conclusions through taking part of the class.

Commonsense ways of knowing

I enjoyed reading the section about problems with commonsense ways of knowing. I didn’t realize the analysis of how we go about thinking or interpreting events on a day-to-day basis. But reading this section I kept saying in my head, oh my gosh that is so true. The section starts off by explaining how in everyday life we usually adopt the first plausible explanation as a final answer without looking further into it. This is true in so many instances, some people will just ask a friend or an acquaintance about an issue and if the answer sounds about right, they accept it without any further explanation. Next came the idea that “our everyday models of human behavior are often models of our own behavior (p.368).” This again hit me over the head how when discussing things with friends, if friends have not seen it with their own eyes, they are not wiling to believe. Lastly, the heuristics, “rules of thumb that allow us to avoid careful information processing (p. 369),” rang just as true. When reading the examples of the simple cues, the status cues, and formal aspects, I recognized each and every one of the sayings. I have said or heard those exact examples due to my simplistic ways of thinking. It was interesting to see in more detail the way in which we think on a day-to-day basis. It made me feel like I am too simple of a thinker.

face 2 face and cyberface

I have not made friendships exclusively from cyberspace, every friend I have contact with on the Internet I’ve had some type of f2f relationship with beforehand. There have been some relationships that have grown through cyberspace, such as people who I have met on vacation or some type of trip. Our relationship may have started as a quick acquaintance while on vacation and grew into a full on friendship by keeping in touch through email, facebook and AIM. It is really useful to be able to have cyber relationships now a days especially because, like it has said in our book, our world is turning into a global village. With so many every day transactions that are being made from city to city the internet helps make it easy to keep in contact with those we meet while either at work or on vacation. The Internet has been a huge turning crutch in my long distance relationship with my boyfriend. He is in the Marine Corps and although he has not had to deploy yet, he has gone to schooling and been stationed all around the country. At times the best way for us to communicate was the Internet and thus propelling us into the cyberspace relationship.

"I heard it through the grapevine."

3). Pick one concept from Chapter 8 that you found useful or interesting and discuss it.
I found it really interesting to read about the history of the saying “I heard it through the grapevine (pg.224).” I have used this phrase many times in the past without even knowing the story behind it. I found it amusing that the saying came from the Civil War telegraph lines. Also, it was funny to read that information on the grapevine is usually 75 to 95% accurate. I assumed that a lot of the information one hears through the grapevine was false rumors. Especially after reading about the example of the game telephone. I found that example to be useful because information does get distorted when being shared through many links. I felt that the information on the grapevine could be like information in telephone but now once I think about it, it makes sense that information can be incomplete and still accurate.
The grapevine is an informal communication structure and I feel, through both reading the book and my experience, that the informal structures are the most effective. Just as the book discusses dissatisfaction of employees with downward communication, formal communication runs with the same stride. People can take formal information worse than they would informal information, especially because with informal communication information comes out smoother and can be situational. More formal communication is less situational and personal.

Filters

I found Duck’s filtering theory very interesting to read. It was easy to relate his theory to my life and it was fun to think about how I filter people into my life. I did however find that the physical proximity part true and false at the same time. The example he gave made sense to me with the houses which face inward becoming closer than the houses that did not. But the idea of that is situational as well. Also, with our world becoming a global village (as our book would call it) our proximity is not as important or relevant any more. Long distance relationships have become a lot easier than before, this I know from experience.
Thinking about the filters I use to eliminate people from consideration as potential romantic partners was fun for me. Characteristics that lead me to judge others as unattractive would be rudeness, self-centeredness, and close mindedness. I cannot stand when people are rude to others for no apparent reason, being rude is one of the biggest things one can do to make themselves ugly. To be confident and aware of yourself is good but to be all about yourself and not care for any one else is very unattractive. You may be important but you are not the only person living on this planet. And lastly I try to be as open minded as I can be so I find it very attractive for someone to be open. When people are so closed minded that they wont even listen to a different idea I find it incredibly rude which as I said before is ugly (in my eyes).
I have eliminated people before using sociological and pre-interaction cues only to reconsider them based on interaction and cognitive cues. I see now the sociological cues were due to stereotypes I had given to people from certain places. I am very happy that I was able to open my eyes and see people for who they were oppose to their sociological and pre-interaction cues because some of them are my closest friends now.

Culture and perception

When I was reading the section about culture and perception it reminded me of when I lived in San Diego. I had just moved down and was living with three other girls who I had only just met. Two of he girls grew up with different cultural backgrounds than me. I had to keep an open mind to some of the things the girls would do. One girl in particular would always yell at her parents when speaking to them on the phone. This was extremely odd to me and the other girls especially because we would have gotten in big trouble if we spoke to our parents the way she was . It wasn't until I had gone up to her house to visit that I realized this was how her family was. She grew up with different norms than I did and the way she spoke with her parents was completely acceptable.
Another thing that this chapter seemed to repeat a few times was the "us" and "them." I feel like this is a problem I see all over. It is sad but true. People feel as though they are of higher value than other people from different cultures. My very own cousin falls victim to this way of thinking and as much as I try to educate her and open her mind she is very stuborn. It is something we need to start teaching our children from a young age so that they don't become the people seperating themselves into the "us" and "them."

"Creatures of culture"

I do agree with Ruth Benedict that we "are creatures of our culture" and our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities are shaped by our culture. I agree because, like I have previously touched upon, I feel as though our culture is what shapes us. And like Benedict has stated it is our habits, beliefs, and impossibilities that are shaped by our culture, it is even when our habits, beliefs, or impossibilities differ from our culture, it is our culture that makes us come to those conclusions.
As to how we can break through the limits of our cultures, I feel, once again, it is through openness. Like the book discusses it is often overlooked that the way someone acts may be due to his or her culture, and in turn we label people. It is when one has an open mind to the idea of people growing up with different norms and habits is when we can break away from the limits of our cultures. Realizing peoples different backgrounds and cultures helps to identify why a person is the way they are.

Chapter five: Personal Space

Personal Space
Personal Space stood out to me because it is a funny concept yet one that holds true. Personal space is what makes people comfortable or uncomfortable in certain situations. One instance is in elevators. It is always very amusing to see how uncomfortable many people seem to get when they are all smooshed into one small confined place such as an elevator.
Another instance that came to my mind was the gender roles with personal space. Has anyone ever noticed when taking pictures of guys and their friends you have to tell them to get closer and act like they know each other? Haha This has happened many times in my life and it cracks me up every time. It is just funny how girls huddle together as close as possible but guys seem to stand very far away, until pushed together. This is another reference of gender roles with language.

Perception

1.) Is it possible to perceive others without, in some way, judging or categorizing them? If so, how? If not, how can we make the judgments we do make, more fair?
I feel as though it is not possible to perceive others without, in some way, judging or categorizing them. Now, just because I do not think it is possible does not mean that I particularly like the idea of it, I just feel as though it is not possible. In our society we have stereotypes and generalizations, as unfair as it may seem it is something our society builds upon. I am not saying that everyone necessarily does, but our society as a whole does. One example of our society building upon our stereotypes and generalizations is with comedy through comedians, and TV shows such as Family Guy or the Simpsons. It has become acceptable to play with the stereotypes and poke at them for our enjoyment but us poking fun at it and continuing to show it helps us keep the stereotypes around.
I liked at the beginning of chapter 3 it where it stated, “when we listen, we are not passive receivers but active creators of meaning (p. 45).” This was very compelling to me and it rings true. When we are listening, even if it is just through our eyes when we first meet someone we are creating a meaning. For example when we first see someone we may create a meaning for their appearance and this in turn can start our judgment and categorizing.
In order to make judgments and categorizing more fair I think we need to be able to keep our minds open. We may perceive someone one way but if we are open minded our perceptions are able to change and our judgments or categorizing may fade. It is hard not to judge someone when you first meet but it is easy to change those judgments once you get to truly know a person. I cannot tell you how many of my closest friends are people I once judged as being bithcy and completely opposite of who they really are.

Gender Language

2). Do you agree that men and women use language differently? In what areas? Use specific examples.
Even before this class, and reading chapter 4, I had thought about the languages of men and women and how they are different. I do agree that men and women use language differently. I feel that men and women’s use of language differs in ways such as delivery and meaning as well as use in general. One example of a difference in the delivery and meaning of language would be the use of the word bitch. Some men seem to use the word as just another version of women, for instance talking about the bitches they met, whereas women seem to see the word bitch as a derogatory term.
Just as the book discussed in chapter 4, the use of language is used differently with men and women. When the book discussed Maria asking Tom a lot of questions when he came home from work, it rang a bell for me. I don’t necessarily bombard my boyfriend with 21 questions all the time but I do definitely ask him a lot of questions that he seems to think are pointless and are things he didn’t pay attention to. Also, when I do talk to my boyfriend about things going on at his work I seem to ask more personal questions on how some of his buddies are doing and a lot of his answers seem to be short and to the point, such as “he’s fine.” I get a feeling that at work when he talks with his friends they mostly joke around whereas women, myself included, seem to enjoy “gossiping.” I feel as though my friends and I enjoy discussing things in more detail than my boyfriend and his friends. It is just a different use of conversations.

Chapter 10: Delivery

From chapter 10 the first thing I really related to was the managing delivering. This is something I have continuously been working on to improve. There have been many classes in which I have been able to work on my delivery. One was last semester; in my presentation and persuasion class my first speech was very monotone. I was unaware of my monotone voice, but when my teacher pointed it out I worked on the different tones of voice I used throughout my next few speeches. I improved one part of my speaking and continue on working on more parts. Also, when reading the impromptu speaking I was reminded of when I had to take part in this kind of speaking for a class. It was a very scary experience but one that helped me a lot. When one works on their impromptu speaking skills they are not only working on their formal speaking but also their everyday language and encounters.
Delivery is a very important part of our speech, without a good delivery one will not get a good response.

Speakers

Although I am a communication major, I find myself lacking in this area of watching speakers other than classmates. I am now intrigued to begin a new hobby, of looking for both speakers online and live to listen to. ☺ But on another note, when I think of the best speaker I have heard, I would have to go with Martin Luther King Jr. He is a legend and although there have been many speakers since him; he is traced in my memory as one of the best. He really knew how to capture an audience with his voice control and his gestures. Martin Luther King Jr. was someone who knew how to make everyone in his audience relate to his words and feel his words from the inside out. He captured your attention and held it to the end with his passion for what he was saying. Our current President, Barack Obama, is another amazing speaker. He knows how to convey a message and grab his audience.
The worst speaker I have heard would probably be some of my classmates’ speeches. I feel bad for saying this about my peers, but some of their speeches were drawn out and boring. There was one girl who had no passion in her speech, actually no feeling whatsoever in her speech and she just rambled so fast you could not hear or take in what she was saying. She basically got up to the front, read her speech from her paper as fast as possible and than sat down. Another student went up and had a glazed look in his eye the entire time and spoke about nothing. Although these students were the worst speakers I have heard, I give them credit for getting up in front of the class. I am aware they were only speaking because they had to, but I just wish they would have put a little more effort in trying to capture their audience.

Discussion: Social Constructionist Perspective

When thinking about the Social Constructionist Perspective I relate it to childhood. As we grow, our world is truly built through communication. We know only what our parents and other people from our world tell us and show us. We learn to talk from hearing our parents speak and we learn our core values and beliefs through the ones communicated to us by our parents. It is up until the point where our own curiosity takes over us that we may, or may not, merge away from our parents beliefs. But than even when we leave our parents teachings behind we still deal with the construction of our societies beliefs and values, and we learn from them. We build our worlds through communication whether we agree or disagree with one another or society by communicating what we, or society, feel towards different ideas. We build thoughts and opinions based upon what we see in the media, what we see on the streets and what we see in school.

Concepts that we in America may have that other cultures don’t have are the rights of our women and the idea of what beautiful is. Of course we have many different beliefs on each of these topics within our culture but we are also free to express our beliefs. With the rights of women, America is very open to women having a voice for themselves. As a woman I find this a strength for our country allowing women to make a life based on her own values and beliefs and not behind those of the man in her life. Also the idea of what beautiful is in our country is very different than those of other countries. I know there are many different definitions of beauty in our country but I want to discuss the idea of the definition our media gives to it. In the media girls, and even boys, are learning that beauty is tan and skinny with perfect teeth and hair. Although this may be beautiful to some, it is not the only thing in which makes a woman, or man, beautiful. In other countries some woman want to stay as white as possible, and in others some woman fatten up for their men. And although the media is trying to change the image of beauty a bit it has a long way to go.

So for all my rambling, what I am trying to say is that within the media the social constructionist perspective is in play. Media plays a big part in some peoples image of the world. It is a strength that we can send messages out to our culture through such a bug medium, but it is a weakness when people use this form of medium as their only medium of reality and worldviews.

Intro

Hello Hello!

My name is Stephanie and I am joining you all late but am still excited for this class! So lets see, I am a senior here at SJSU hoping to be graduating in the fall with a BA in Communication Studies. I have had quite the journey in my undergrad years starting at SFSU, moving to San Diego attending community college down there, and than moving back up home to attend SJSU. I love Comm studies and can not take enough Comm classes, I will be continuing my education most likely in the comm field for my grad studies :). I live on the peninsula and enjoy everything life has to offer, both simple and not so simple. I love love love food and travel and learning new things. I look forward to spending the summer with you all and let the journey begin...

Much Love,
Stephanie