Language Experiment

Part 1

     This experiment wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I did pretty well using facial expressions alone. My conversation partners were able to tell when I was happy, displeased, angry and unsure. I did throw in a few loud grunts when my dog started to bark at the door. Funny thing was he even knew what I was saying to him without using the word “No”. The conversation had to be very generic. We talked about my husband and me looking at apartments. I was unable to go into detail about price and location but they were able to tell how I felt about it. What I liked and didn’t like. It didn’t take long before they realized they could only ask certain questions and not others. Questions that only required a yes or no answer. If I was a different culture than them I think they would have the advantage in communicating complex ideas. I could only grunt Use body language and hand gestures. My culture wouldn’t even be able to ask them where the bathroom was.  I think the speaking culture. After time, would get frustrated with my culture. Talk to me like I was a child because that’s the only way I could communicate. They wouldn’t be able to ask me where I’m from or what my name is. There would always be a disconnection between us. There are many examples of this issue today. The deaf society has always struggled to communicate with others. They would only be able to agree or disagree, yes or no. People treat them like they are children and some even try to speak louder and slower like that would help.  Another example, in a way, is immigrants. They have their own language but if it’s not the same as the other culture you would see the same issues. Questions would have to be simplified and there would always be a disconnection between the two cultures. I believe for the most part, Prejudice is just people reactions to not understanding.

Part 2

     Personally this was the hardest experiment out of the two. People have told me my whole life that I’m an open book with my expressions. I use facial expressions even when I don’t realize it. So we spent a lot of time on this conversation but, after starting and stopping repeatedly, I was unable to go 15 minutes without moving my eyebrows. My conversation partners knew I would have difficulty with this one. So at first they asked questions that they knew would get a reaction out of me. But when I was able to keep a straight face and arms down to my sides, they were a little freaked out because it violated a norm. Even the word creepy was thrown around a few times.

     I think that if you were able to speak, kinesics isn’t that important in a conversation if you really think about it. But, now it’s such a norm in our society that it seems unnatural when we don’t use it. True, I wouldn’t be able to point and tell you it’s over there. But, I would be able to describe the location of it.

Part 3

     If both cultures shared the same written language than, yes, it would have made the first conversation easier. I could have just written down any answer that required details. They would have been able to read how much the rents were and what the addresses were. They would have had to simplify their questions. Written language is so important to the cultures that use it. Not only is it a way of communicating when you are not around. It’s a way of recording your culture and documenting things past and present. When no one is left from that time period, we would be able to read and be able to look back on past events.   It helps the families of those who have passed to be able to deal with one’s estate and belongings. It lets doctors go back and know your past medical history and procedures to better treat you. The internet allows us to read about and understand other cultures all around the world. If it wasn’t for the written word and the internet’s ability to reach all over the word. I wouldn’t be able to write my Ethnography project. I would have had to travel to South Africa to study and spend months to years understanding a particular culture. But now I’m able to read up on and understand better through another’s research.