how ethnicity, culture and wealth can affect verbal and non verbal communication

Ethnicity- 

verbal- 

• may have different words for things
• different slang 
• different language 

non-verbal- 

• different greetings 
• different acceptable haptics e.g when its appropriate to touch someone. 

Culture

verbal- 

• different language 
• words meaning different things 
• different ways of expressing emotion through speech 

non-verbal 

• have different rules about proper  behaviour e.g if you are allowed to look someone in the eyes. 
• different ways of showing emotion 

Culture can have different ways of perceiving the world/ seeing, hearing and interpreting the world. 

Wealth

Verbal-

• words can mean different things 
• way of speaking is more formal 
• different register 

Non-verbal- 

• normally look down on people not in their social class (act superior) 
• different greetings 
• different attitudes to things 

Class notes

In class we had a discussion about the differences between men and women in the sense of their verbal and non-verbal communication.


men-                                                                                    
more upfront(direct)                                                           
hesitant                                                                                
swear more                                                                         
siting- more relaxed e.g. spread legs, slouched                     
less haptics(hand gestures)                                                 
less emotion                                                                      
not good at noticing non verbal cues             

women- 
more considerate of what they are saying to others 
fluent 
RP 
siting- more upright e.g. legs together or crossed 
more haptics (hand gestures)
more emotion 
good at noticing non verbal cues 
                     

Female and Male Language

Women's language-

Crawford (1997) stated that the three main objectives of female speech as:

1. To create and maintain relationships of closeness and equality.
2. To criticize others in acceptable (indirect) way.
3. To interpret accurately and sensitively the speech of other females.  

Mulac et al (2001) said that women use language that is more cautious and concerned not to offend or put the woman in an embarrassing situation.


Women will have a greater usage of intensive adverbs, qualifying clauses, emotional references, longer sentences,initial adverbials, uncertainty, hedging, negation, simultaneous opposites and questioning.

Poynton (1989) noted that women

• Are generally more polite in their speech (though are no different in sincerity) 
• Use politeness markers such as please and thank you 
• Use super-polite 'multiple modalities' eg/ "i was wondering if you could possibly just do me a small favour, if you wouldn't mind" 
• Tend to use more tag questions 
• Use more intensifiers 
• Use more adjectives 
• Use euphemisms rather than swearing 

Males language-

Crawford (1997) notes the three main objectives of a male's speech as:

1. To assert one's position of dominance 
2. To attract and maintain an audience 
3. To assert one's self when someone else has the floor

Mulac et al (2001) say that men tend to use language that reflects a more dominant and certain position.

men will have a greater usage of quantitative references, judgmental adjectives, commands, location words, brief sentences and self- references

Poynton (1989) note that men, in comparison with women:

• use more slang 
• swear more often 
• use fewer intensifiers 
• use few adjectives 

Tony Robbins- "To effectively communicate, we must realise that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others."

I am who i am because of everyone

I am my friends who gave me confidence 

i am my parents who said i have to try 

i am my piano got me through grade one 

i am my brother who told me i was good enough

i am the first piano i played and

 my farther who gave me my passion for music

i am the people who told me i was a failure 

and would never achieve anything 

i am the GCSE results that cause me to retake English, 

but also the result that allowed me to 

finally do my A-Levels. 

i am my family who told me to never give up 

i am who i am because of everyone.

Gender Key Vocab

• Innate - something your born with
• Conform - to follow or go along with
• To challenge/rebel - opposite to conforming 
• Stereotype - characteristics that belong to a certain group of people
• Nature - your born with it
• Nurture - you have developed it through your environment or the way you've been brought up.
• Gender equality- women and men being equal 

AS Key Concepts

Communication
culture
context
code
value
identity
representation 
power