Week 7: Language Experiment

PART 1:
My partner for this experiment was my Dad. My Dad usually can talk for hours to any one, so when i asked him to talk to me about anything for 15 minutes, he said "Sure!" Me on the other hand, i knew i would be bored and i was. I wanted to say something back just so he wouldn't be the one speaking this whole time, but i almost did. I held myself back. I even wrote on a post it note, "Don't talk" because i knew i would forget about the experiment. I was listening the whole time while he was blabbing and i was waiting until this was over! This assignment was difficult because i normally would want to respond and say something i would want to talk about, but i couldn't, so that was hard. My dad did not alter anything because i couldn't talk, he just kept on speaking and speaking. Occasionally though, i would smile and try to look interested, but after a while i didn't remember what he was talking about.
My dad was definitely in control of the conversation, he never gets the chance to speak this much and he took advantage of it. He didn't even stop or take a breather and he didn't look at me like if i was going to speak. He talked the whole time and i think i didn't do the experiment right, but this was the results. He would change topics, talking about work to sports to the neighbors. At one point, he did ask me some questions like yes or no and he kind of answered for me, when some of the answers were wrong. He asked and i answered. If i did this experiment with more people i would be excluded, they wouldn't even know i am there and they would not ask me anything. My partner had the power because i did not speak as much as he did and he asked me questions were i just said a simple answer.
The spoken language people would have the advantage because they can talk and say anything and make things happen were as the silent ones cannot say their feeling and we would not know what they like or dislike. It is like they are not apart of this. The spoken language can say anything even complex messages to other people and they would understand even if the citizens cannot talk, the other ones can. That is why we need some to listen and some to speak, so things would not be chaotic and i think that is why they did that so they can work well together and eventually get to know each other to understand each other. The attitudes the speaking language can have is they can be frustrated and can feel awkward at times, because they don't know if something is right because the other cannot speak. It is hard sometimes to communicate when one cannot speak back and we do not know what they feel and can hurt the whole culture. A modern situation can be a mother and baby. The mother speaks to her child as if he talks, but the baby does not speak words only cries and that is a sign they want something otherwise she does not know what the baby wants and probably does a million things to make a baby happy when it cries.


PART 2:

In the second experiment me and my dad did it and it was hard. I usually speak with my hands and a couple of times i almost raised my hands and i then stopped myself. It is weird to think why do i use my hands. i do not even need them. I do not understand why i talk and use hand gestures, it is just weird. It wasn't hard for my dad, he just crossed his arms the whole time and i was trying to put my hands under my legs but for some reason i almost took them out the talk and explain things, but i do not need hands too to talk! My dad even said why are you wanting to use your hands, you are talking to me. He was shocked and thought i was weird, he doesn't need his hands, maybe he is older and knows he does not need them but it is natural for him, i guess. My dad understood me, i looked in her eyes when i spoke and i felt like he was not listening and watching TV. I think he would have thought i was a freak if i used hand movements. He understood me though.
Non speech language i think is important to understand and it can be difficult, because it can be misread, but we need this because some cannot speak and can be an alternative to speaking. We can use it for secret messaging and decoding our own movements. Some even use movements when they talk because they want to explain something with hands to fulfill some need. We should have movements as something so clear as speaking to help us all. Types of information a person gets through movement can be a help, yes or no or things that are simple that anyone can comprehend. It is hard to communicate with movement but some things we can understand if we are in certain situations, one can understand you because they are actually thinking and knowing what they would do in their situation.
Benefits in reading body movement is when someone is in danger and they read someone by their hand gestures and then you get it because you use common sense. It can be another form of talking when someone you know cannot speak at all and maybe point at things or create things that they will understand. Ultimately we can learn many things from using it an we will defintely use these movements in the future. When one reads body language it can help someone by being able to use movement as communication instead of speaking, which maybe in a certain situation they cannot speak. For example if i was trapped by someone and im tied up and i see someone i know i would use my eyes or try to send them a message with hands or legs and really my eyes and they should be able to read me to save me. We may need this in the future, it can really resourceful and can be taught and learned.
So many people do have problems understanding body movements, some people in harsh situations freak out and just do not know what you are talking about because fear can talk over. Some people can do hand gestures and another person may not understand it because they do not know that persona and interpret this movement as many meanings. An example can be if someone was is danger like if a robber was in the house and the person was under a table and sees the neighbor come in, the person under the table will use his hands to tell her something like the robber is behind you with her hands pointed at the neighbor and the neighbor takes this as press something or there is something on your face. They can misinterpret and can potentially be in huge danger. So we must use our brains and understand the body movements and using the resources around us to figure this out, we may need to use this in times of need.