Chapter 6

Reflection

Language plays an important role in intercultural communication, but it is also a barrier of communication when people do not speak the same language.  The nominalist position is the view that perception is not shaped by the particular language one speaks. The relativist position on the other hand is the view that the particular language individuals speak, especially the structure of language, shapes their perception of reality and cultural patterns. The qualified relativist position is the view that the particular language we speak influences our perception but does not completely determine our perception.

There are types of ways in which we communicate, high context and low context. High context communication is a style of communication in which much of the information is contained in the texts and nonverbal cues rather than expressed explicitly in words. Low context communication is the style of communication in which much of the information is conveyed in words instead of nonverbal communication.

When communicating we often tend to use slangs. Slangs are an informal way for communicating and we often only use it to selective groups or individuals we feel comfortable around. An example of this would be the fact that I use slangs “sup” when talking to close friends and I would refrain from slangs when talking to someone like my lecturers.

In a community like Lincoln Nebraska there can be many different languages spoken but there is usually one language which is dominant that everybody can understand. For example English. This language will be known as the Lingua Franca.