Unit 1: Verbal and Non-verbal Codes

Verbal Codes (Language)
Non-verbal Codes

Identity and self presentation

Group Communication

Reading Images and products

Codes are made up of a combination of signs. A sign is something which stands for something else.

A WORD can be a sign - we use it to represent something else. When we put words together we make a VERBAL code, called Language.

A GESTURE or a FACIAL EXPRESSION can be a sign - we use it to communicate - a smile is a sign of happiness. We call these NON-VERBAL signs - signs WITHOUT words.

The exam will expect you to focus on these ideas:

• Role, register, perception, culture, context
• form, function, role, relationship
• Language
• Social implications of VC/NVC

Sample Unit 1 Exam Questions

1. Personal communication is much influenced by the gender of both senders and receivers. Consider gender’s specific influence on one of the following:
• Body Language
• Paralanguage
• Appearance

2 Which of the following statements best reflects your understanding of the relationship between verbal and non-verbal communication in personal communication. Use examples to support your example.

2a) Verbal communication dictates the meanings of personal communication.
2b) Verbal and non-verbal communication are entirely complementary: they work together to ensure effective communication.
2c) ‘Actions speak louder than words’. Most social meanings are carried non-verbally.

NON-VERBAL CODES

There are three categories of non-verbal (without words) communication:

Appearance
Clothing
Hairstyle
Jewellery

Body Language
Facial Expression
Gesture
Posture
Orientation
Proximity
Touch

Paralanguage
Tone
Emphasis
Pace
Volume
Intonation

Definitions of Language

Language is notoriously difficult to define in a very precise way. Lots of people have tried and here are some of the suggestions:

• Language is a complex sign system . It is a set of written symbols or sounds which are supposed to stand for thoughts, objects, emotions etc. In Module 2 you will have learnt about Ferdinand de Saussure's work on sign systems. He was a linguist, studying language and observed that words worked in a highly symbolic way - in other words, if you didn't know a word or it's meaning, nothing was conveyed to you. There is no actual connection between a word and its meaning.
  Look at these words: pachyderm, hegemony, picket, notoriety.
  Do you know what they mean? Someone has assigned these 'words' or labels to various things and ideas but if they don't convey anything to you, they don't work as signs, do they?
  De Saussure said that there were two versions of language - langue and parole .
  Langue is the underlying rules and codes we use to control our language
  Parole is the language actually being used and spoken every day.
  
• Language has also been defined as a ' unique capacity of human beings' . In other words, language is a skill or ability which only humans have.
  
• The body of words (vocabulary) and ways of combining them (grammar) of a nation, people or race.
  
• Language is a way of naming the world
  
• Language is a way of expressing thoughts that exist in the head.

What can we express without language/words?

Try miming three short messages to your partner using no verbal communication (words) at all - you cannot mouth or act out words.

1. Last year I had much shorter hair than this year.
2. Meet you after this lesson in the foyer at 4.00
3. Freedom is essential to human happiness

Which messages were difficult to convey without words (language/verbal comm.) and why?

What are the characteristics of each method of communication - verbal (language) and non-verbal?
Finish the statements below on a piece of papger.

Non-verbal communication can..

Verbal communication/language can

Non-verbal communication cannot ...

Verbal communication cannot...

Compare your list of statements with the chart - click here