Language

             I found the experiment of not using any verbal form of communication really difficult. I was able to make some sentences using my hands and pointing at certain items or parts of my body to explain what I was trying to say. I think most people take for granted the ability to talk and communicate with each other. Until this experiment, I never really thought about how hard it would be to communicate with another person if you didn't know ASL or another form of communication. This experiment was very similar to a game of charades, because in a sense sometimes I acted out what I was trying to say since I couldn't verbalize it. The partners I used in my experiment did not try to alter their way of communicating with me, instead they just took it as a fun game and kept trying to figure out what I was trying to say. I think the partners I used in my experiment found it to be very difficult to communicate with me since I was not verbalizing anything. I had the idea of learning Morse code and use a pen or pencil to tap it on a table to communicate with each other. It is a form of communication and does not require verbal communication, and is not a form of ASL.

            Unfortunately that would take time to learn because you would have to listen closely to each break in between and you would need to study a chart for the Morse code alphabet. I think the culture that would have to most success in a situation like this would be one that can use symbolic language, because they are able to simply speak and ask the other person a simple question. The other culture may have an easy way to communicate as well if you used some form of universal signs or symbols to communicate with the other culture. For example, if you wanted to know how much pain someone had you could use a scale of 1-10 and draw a face at number 1 which is smiling and as you go down the scale you could draw a really sad or upset face at number 10. If you want to asked a question, how much pain do you have?, you would have to get creative to symbolize the first part and then use your scale and drawings for the rest of the question. I think that could be very challenging to express for some people and it would make communication a lot more difficult. I think the culture that speaks would have that same impression as my partners, it was difficult to understand certain questions I was trying to ask. It took several minutes to understand some questions, but other questions or answers were very easy to express.

            The individuals that might have the hardest time are those who are deaf or non verbal. If you don't know ASL then I think it is very hard for that person and the verbal person to communicate with each other, and it is possible that some people who are deaf became deaf over time and can write on paper what they want to communicate. Others that are deaf over time may also have learned how to read lips and can communicate that way as well. For those who are born deaf, you will just need to find a translator unless you can get really creative with what you want to communicate to them and vice versa. People who are non verbal or born non verbal may have to same issue, either they can write it on paper or someone needs to know ASL. I notice that when people who aren't deaf want to communicate with a deaf person, for some reason they always seem to raise their voice which doesn't help at all. I think people like that are viewed as rude because yelling or raising your voice doesn't always help, and if they are partially deaf it might  work sometimes. It can also be offensive toward the family members of that person who may not be deaf. If an individual is able to speak and is communicating with someone who is not it will go two ways, either they are going to get their message across and have success with what they wanted to say or they will become really frustrated and give up on communicating with that person and have someone else try.

            To go 15 minutes without using physical movements, hand signals or vocal intonation, was not as easy as I thought. This experiment lasted a full 15 minutes, but my partners were just as frustrated as they were in the first 15 minutes. I was able to communicate much easier due to the fact that I was able to speak, but to stay in a consistent mono tone for 15 minutes was a little difficult. One of the difficult parts of the experiment was trying to give instructions and not having the ability to actually show them what I was trying to explain. For example, I was trying to show them how to play a couple guitar chords, but without physically showing them how to press on the chord  it became difficult. After about 6 minutes my partners finally were able to play two chords. I found that my partners were having trouble with understanding my instructions so I had to get creative with my instructions, and had to explain all my instructions in specific details instead of my normal routine. The  more common way to teach would be less specific and you would be able to use your hands to physically show the chords. I chose to use my guitar, because I felt it was going to be the most challenging to explain given our rules for this experiment. My partners found this easier compared to the first experiment and they were able to figure out what I was trying to say in a much shorter amount of time.

            These experiments have shown how hard it really is to communicate with another person if we were given these certain limitations. Communicating with our hands, nodding or smiling all help us when talking with other, because it lets the other person know when we agree or disagree with what is being said. Other signs such as a person's body language could also help in identifying what might be going on or what is being said. A person's body language could let you know when someone is angry, sad or happy. Whether we are non verbal or unable to use any physical movements, I think we could still communicate with each other, it would just take a little longer to get your message across to the other person. Some people can understand just verbal commands better than others, and some people are able to figure out body language better than others. I think the most common benefit to "not" reading body language would be when a person is being interrogated and is not showing signs of nervousness. The person maybe guilty but if he shows no signs or nervousness and there isn't much evidence to support that he or she is guilty, then they might just be released. Another example would be a parent who is being accused of child abuse. If the person is crying, we may think they are innocent when really they could be crying because they are scared and regret the decision they made. Body language can be used for many different reasons and without body language it may alter our interpretation about that person.