Conversations with Communicative Limitations

With a partner, I have performed two conversations. One where I cannot use symbolic language and must rely on gestures, and one where I can use spoken, symbolic language, but cannot use embellishments such as gestures, facial expressions, or changes in tone. For both conversations my partner was to speak as normal, with no restrictions on speaking or embellishment. The first conversation, where I only used gestures, felt like a game of charades. I was the person doing the acting and trying to depict my words while my partner was deciphering them. I felt like the speaker had the power in this situation. During the conversation I realized that asking a question without using symbolic language is difficult, with my best attempt being vague gestures. Asking something like how my partner’s day was was particularly difficult, as conveying what a day is feels very abstract with gestures. Consequently, my partner asked most of the questions while I answered them. Even when my partner asked questions, they were mostly to confirm whether or not the interpretation of my gestures was correct. If a culture that does not use symbolic language made first contact with a culture that does, the people that do use symbolic language would have a major advantage at communicating among themselves. Depending on the disposition of the symbolic language culture, they might even look down on the culture that does not use symbolic language. Cultures that did have symbolic language were looked down upon by others in the past for supposedly being less advanced. I would imagine one that did not, that still as a whole relied on sign language, would be considered with even less regard. Even for a relatively progressive society, there would probably be confusion over how the culture has yet to develop a symbolic language. Those that cannot use spoken language are still capable of symbolic language, either through symbolic sign language or written language. Despite this they are still at a disadvantage of power due to having to go through alternative means to communicate with others who can speak verbally. For the second conversation we could both speak, but I would not use any physical embellishments. We could not last for the full fifteen minutes, as we kept laughing. Somehow it was harder to keep a straight face and speak monotonically when actively trying to do so. My partner said the conversation felt unnatural, less natural than when I could only use gestures. The conversation was missing emotion and expression. This suggests that the use of gestures, expressions, and tone shifts are important in effective symbolic language communication. When there is a contradiction between a person’s body language and spoken language, it is seen as unnatural, with deeper connotations. That connotation could be sarcasm or the attempt to hide one’s intent and opinions. This indicates that body language in part serves to reinforce the meanings of spoken language, or to fill in the gaps of communication that cannot be put into words. There are many people who have a hard time reading the body language of others. For some people, this might actually be beneficial. Some people can be anxious or self conscious, and worry about the way other people see them. I would imagine that in some cases, giving less attention to those non-verbal cues could help people deal with those issues, to care less about what other people think. The first conversation would definitely have been easier if I had used written language. Writing is a form of symbolic language, often just the spoken language in visible form, so using it would have allowed a more traditional conversation. Written languages can have many advantages, such as allowing the storage and transfer of information beyond memory and oratory tradition. Put on paper or stone, words can be stored and transferred without direct verbal communication. This has allowed for the proliferation of ideas across the globe. When once ideas could only spread by word of mouth, now people can receive ideas from across the globe as long as a copy of the text reaches them.