Adapting to Audiences
Objectives
- Listening Objectives:
- Understands major elements of the term language pragmatics
- Interprets effects of hedging, value/judgment words, and over-generalizations
- Recognizes verbal and nonverbal signals which introduce supporting details
- Articulates how Americans adapt directness, politeness, and deference to different listeners.
- Discerns salient minor details from listening passages
Speaking Objectives:
Adapting to Audiences
What we say, how we say it, and our nonverbal communication (eye contact, facial expressions, body language etc.) all contribute to our communication being appropriate or not for an interaction. Consider the following situation:
Discuss the following with a partner: Imagine you just had a bad experience with a coworker taking credit for your work. How might your word choice, formality, tone of voice, and body language differ during the following interactions?
- Talking directly with the coworker to address the issue
- Reporting the situation to your boss
- Relaying the situation later to a friend
- Explaining what happened to your child, who noticed you were upset
Hedging
One of the greatest distinctions between spoken American English and many other languages is the tendency to avoid directness with the purpose of being more polite and/or professional. We soften or hedge spoken language in a variety of ways. When expressing an opinion, using hedging devices can help you appear more logical than emotional. They show respectful consideration of varying ideas.
| Hedging | Example | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Modals | can could may might | soften a sentence |
| Adverbs | arguably perhaps likely possibly presumably probably | express uncertainty |
| Distancing verb | appear indicate look like seem suggest tend | softly express that knowledge comes from other source |
| Phrase | looks (un)likely seems reasonable looks probable | express that you are open to other opinions |
Avoiding Value and Judgement Words
Another tendency of American English speakers is to not be direct when an opinion is asked. Value and judgment words are often avoided, as they can cause an emotional response in the listener.
Examples:
Good /Bad
Wrong/ Right
Perfect/Ideal
Ordinary/Outrageous
Unnecessary/Useless
Appropriate/Inappropriate
Nonverbal Communication Tips
Eye Contact
Eye contact is very important to Americans, and can communicate confidence, respect, and honesty. Though in some countries, lack of eye contact can convey respect for an elder or someone with higher social status, Americans may see lack of eye contact as one of the following:
- Evidence of dishonesty
- Lack of confidence
- Embarrassment
Nodding
Americans may shake their head up and down (nodding) a few times while listening. This is a way of showing they are paying attention, and does not always mean they agree with the speaker.
Personal Space :
Americans value their personal space greatly. Observing others around you will help you adjust your spacing for the situation. Watch for the following signs that you are too close when speaking to an American.
- Them taking a step away from you
- Them leaning away
- Them sighing or crossing their arms with annoyance
Exercise 1: Listen
Watch this video about how greetings on a first date differ between cultures.
Speaking Practice
- How might someone from your culture typically greet someone on a first date? From what you know about culture in the United States, describe the similarities and differences.
- How close would someone from your culture stand to someone they had just met or were starting to get to know? From what you know about culture in the United States, describe the similarities and differences.
Exercise 2: Gestures
Watch and discuss this video on cultural differences with gestures with a classmate.
Exercise 3: Pragmatics discussion
Watch the following video and discuss the questions below with your group.
- What does the speaker do with her body language and intonation when she speaks of being flirtatious? (0:23) Is flirting communicated similarly in your language?
- According to the speaker, can babies understand anything about language pragmatics? (0:43)
- Do you think all aspects of language pragmatics can be taught? Do you think some can only be acquired by exposure to native speakers in their home country (i.e. Americans in the United States)?
Exercise 4: Body language expert
There are other ways that people communicate nonverbally. Watch the specified portions of video from a former FBI agent about some myths and truths about nonverbal communication. Watch this video as a class and talk about the questions below.
- Watch from 0:00-1:38 How does the agent interpret arm crossing? What do you think of his interpretation?
- Watch from 1:39-2:30 Does this individual think people are good or bad at detecting deception? Do you agree or disagree?
- Watch from 2:30-3:49 How did this agent know the man they were observing was not from the United States?
- Pay special attention to the section from 9:02-10:15. What did you learn or observe about how a person might communicate that they are not comfortable with the space between them and another person?
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