Thinking Critically About Language: How to make language work for you.
- Depending on who we communicate or the situation people decide, consciously and unconsciously what type of language to use
A Call for Common Sense
- We must take into consideration what type of language to use with who and when. How you would talk to your boss and how you would talk to your friends would be both very different.
- We use common sense to identify what is socially acceptable in how we use our speech. You would know to talk to your boss with respect. You would use words that are appropriate as well as articulate and talk professionally. If you were talking to a friend however, you may use slang to get your point across and in this case slang would be socially acceptable. If you used slang with you boss you may come across as disrespectful and offensive thus hurting your job persona.
A Call For Clarity
- When using language it is imparative to be clear in what you are trying to get across
- Jargon should be kept to a minimum so that bypassing does not occur
- Subcultures have sub-languages which someone who is not part of that subculture would not understand. For example in Dance there are names for all the particular moves, if you are not a dancer and someone tells you to do a specific move with out explaining it you would not know what that means, so it is important to be clear and aware of the community you are communicating with
