Communication and Socialisation Questions

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1. How important is gender in understanding communication?
   
2. What part does communication play in helping us to become active and useful members of society?
   
3. What relationship is there between socialisation and perception? To what extent does what we ‘see’ depend on how we are socialised?
   
4. “Male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication. [. . .] From the time they’re born, they’re treated differently, talked to differently, and talk differently as a result”. Deborah Tannen
   Do you agree? Provide examples to support your answer.
   
5. The philosopher Aristotle suggested that human beings are social animals.
   What role does communication play in making people “social”?
   
6. What do you consider to be the most significant agents of socialisation? In your answer you should consider groups, individuals and social institutions.
   
7. Basil Bernstein claimed that “socialisation is a process for making people safe”.
   In what ways does communication help to make us “safe”?
   
8. “The way we communicate also influences our life opportunities.” Peter Hartley: Interpersonal Communication
   Write about some of the ways in which “the way we communicate” might influence “our life opportunities”.
   
9. Evaluate the influences of the mass media on your socialisation.
   
10. “Communication becomes gendered when sex or gender begins to influence your choices of what you say or how you relate to others.” D.K. Ivy and P. Backlund,
    By this definition, how much of our communication is “gendered”?
    
11. Shaw’s play Pygmalion tells the story of a Cockney flower seller who is transformed into a society lady by the removal of her dialect and the refinement of her language.
    To what extent is the way in which we acquire language part of our socialisation?
    
12. The ‘Hidden Curriculum’ is a phrase used to describe all the information that we get from schools and colleges beyond lessons. Analyse the specific ways in which your school or college is active in your socialisation.
    
13. It has been said that, ideologically speaking, growing up is a dangerous business.
    What are the ideological implications of growing up in Britain today?
    
14. Explore the different ways in which mass communication has an impact on the socialisation of young people.