This reading offered interesting insights into explicit and implicit use of communication. Furthermore, it discussed the ways that indirect communication styles are often misunderstood or viewed as less effective and why these assumptions may be incorrect or unfair.

Discussion Questions:

How are communication styles established?

Are more direct communication styles in women rewarded the same way they are rewarded for men? Why or why not?

In considering Tannen’s discussion on how people in subordinate positions often default to indirect communication when speaking with authority: are women predisposed to take on more indirect communication styles (especially when communicating with men) because of the long-standing effects of sexism?

In the reading last night, the author uses the “Black Box” recordings from an airplane crashing. The way these recordings are made, is that the cockpit records what the pilots talk about throughout the flight using a recorder in an extremely secure box. These recordings are erased if the flight is successful, but the recording is shown if the flight encounters an accident as we saw in the reading. This reminded me of a website I saved a few years ago. This site, grimly but appropriately titled “Last Words” provides a list of black box recordings, from 1962 t0 2010. The recordings detail all that is said during the flight, and there may be translation errors. Regardless, this may be an interesting stouce for a project or for someone who wants to satisfy a morbid curiosity. Just a heads up, some of the content may be disturbing, so take caution in your readings should decide to explore the site.

The site can be found here:

http://www.planecrashinfo.com/lastwords.htm

“Indirectness” is apparently one of the “signs of a bad boss”…or is it? The article argues otherwise, noting that individuals have their own preferences; some prefer indirect speech as they perceive it to be more polite, while others appreciate being told to do things directly.

P.S. The image overall is very accurate!

In this chapter, the authors discuss the relationship between gender and language. Specifically, evidence of inequality between men and women was explored in the context of word order, tag questions, and gossip. Were any of the examples brought up in the chapter surprising or unfamiliar to you? Also, this chapter focuses mainly on sexism. Can you think of other examples were language trends have developed as a result of systematic or cultural inequality?

In chapter six of H. Samy Alim and Geneva Smitherman’s Articulate While Black, we are introduced to a high school teacher’s defense for teaching standard English in school. Alim analyzes the argument and points out the ways in which it perpetuates the dominance of “standard” English in American society. What did you think of the teacher’s argument? Should her students learn standard English in order to fit into the workplace?

Tuesday, Feb 20: Reading due: Chapter 6 of Language, Society, and Power

Research due: Conduct an informal interview with a parent, grandparent, or “older” adult with whom you feel comfortable. Ask them about changing cultural perceptions toward gendered terms and pronouns: he/she/ze/they, use of the generic “he,” use of “Ms” instead of “Mrs.” or “Miss,” and changing use of actor/actress, stewardess/flight attendant, etc. Questions you might ask would target: do they remember the first time (or when people started to) use the term “flight attendant”? Use of “Ms”? Use of singular “they”?  Did they notice any feelings or attitudes among their peers or in the media toward changing gender-loaded terms? If they feel comfortable, what was their own thoughts? (Not see the point at first? Afraid to get it wrong?)

 

Thursday, Feb 22: Reading due: Tannen, “Indirectness at Work”: Link

Research due: Complete your speech event observation and fill out one of these two surveys to document your findings:

Number and Length of Speech Acts Observation: https://wooster.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5cdM0CaVzxtkMzr

Interruptions: https://wooster.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_81zQPUHCc1ytr0x