Professor Joshua Belknap | Co Req ML | Spring 2022

5/11/22 Freewrite: Effective Language and Modality Strategies

Part of the final Unit 3 research project is thinking about audience, and how to best communicate with that audience. Using different vernaculars/dialects/registers with different audiences can make for more effective communication, depending on context.

Respond in writing to the following:

  • How many languages do you speak? Here I mean, not necessarily foreign languages but languages you speak with friends, languages you speak with family, languages you may speak with people with whom you share a hobby like a sport.
  • To whom do you speak those different languages?

  • How do you feel about speaking different languages to different people in different contexts?

  • How does your intended audience impact how you speak to someone and the word choice you use?

  • How does the purpose for your communication impact what you say and how you say it?

  • How can you have a similar message or purpose for different audiences but use different word choice based on your audience?
  • How do you integrate all the languages you speak?
  • What kind of language or register or discourse are you going to use in your final project (Unit 3 research)? Explain, in detail, why this is the most effective mode of communication or register.
  • What genre is your project? If it is a traditional written academic essay, explain in detail why you decided that this is most effective. If it is a video presentation, explain why a video is most effective.

Post your comment here below. If you have any questions, let me know.

9 Comments

  1. Aleksandra Patyra

    In terms of English I speak 3 languages – when I talk with friends, coworkers and patients on the dental chair. I feel that talking to different people in different language makes sense because I cannot talk to my patients in the same language I speak with the dentist that I work with. When talking to patients I have to use a simple language, I have to remember not to use dental terminology because it might confuse and scare them away. Dental language helps me quickly communicate with my coworkers because I can use some abbreviations that makes sense for us, but if heard by “outsiders” they won’t have any idea what are we are talking about. In my final project I will use the same language as if I would talk with my patients. I want it to be clear and easy to understand by everybody. The genre for the Unit 3 assignment will be a traditional academic essay. I think, for me, it is the easiest way to introduce and explain the problem that is important to me and I want it to become important for other people too.

  2. Adam Bajwa

    I speak 3 different languages.With friends, family, classmates I use simple/casual language and when I’m talking to a college professor I try to be formal and when talking in public I just use the language the other person is trying to use, if the other person is using street language I will also use street language and if the other person is using formal language I will talk to him in formal language and if the other person is using the language I speak I will talk to him/her in that language.I don’t feel hard speaking 3 different languages to different people in different contexts. In my unit 3 project I will use simple language so the message that I’m trying to convey is clear to everyone. If I use hard language they have to look for meanings and it will also not make sense to them. My genre for unit 3 is Article/blog. I chose this because it will be easier for me to write and nowadays people believe in blog/article more than anything else so that is why I chose this genre.

  3. Geovany Flores

    I speak about 3 different ways I believe because when I’m with my friends we kinda curse a little bit , then I’m college I try to speak as formal as I can and I try to show respect to everyone, in my house I also try to speak formal because I have a little brother and my family is very decent and won’t even hear a bad word so I try to speak very soft. It feels really good to be speaking in different ways since you change your mood or sense of humor because you be joking with your friends cursing at them and all that stuff, but when it comes to college professors, family or people that know they are serious I always try to speak as formal as I can because it feels good when people listen to your ideas and listen to their ideas as well. The words I chose to use in my project are very formal and I’m trying to use simple words but at the same time want them to understand what’s my main point of that specific objective. The purpose of my communication is to let people know what my objective is and I want them to question themselves or question my work either good or bad way because I want to improve my work everyday the best way possible. I am trying to use different words but also to have the same meaning so that way my audience won’t feel like I’ve changed my topic or the meaning of it. I want to integrate all the ways I speak into one only because I won’t be using bad words in my essay when I’m thinking about kids reading this project and then facing a bad word then it will be my fault that these kids learned something bad for something I’ve done. I’m thinking of using simple language that everyone can understand and say uhh! I really understand this and it’s really interesting rather than making them search the words to find the meaning because then they are not going to understand what I’m trying to communicate. My gente for this project is a slide show. I think this is the most effective way to do this since I’m trying to also show images. I think this is the best way to do it and I feel like it’s going to be something that catches people’s attention.

  4. Tayef Rahaman

    I speak about 3 language but my brothers are currently growing up in an English speaking country. My father does not speak English fluently but I think he is trying his best.It is utterly depressing because I know my brothers will never bond with my father, at least to the level that I have. They will never fully understand the funny stories and funny jokes that he tells us in our native language which is Bangla and I think my brothers are haphazardly translated or just entirely left out. They will always wistfully watch as he carries on conversations, missing out on all they could learn from him.Of course my dad’s English could get better. But what about the rest of our family? They will never come to know the people that I know and love. They will not understand the advice given to them by our grandmother, Or get detailed recounts of my grandfather’s adventures.It saddens me for them. And it saddens me even more for my father. Every time I watch him struggle to carry on a conversation, my heart shutters. I’m almost always on the brink of tears when I see the desperation in his voice and watch as he frowns and laughs nervously.For now, I’m thankful that they can still somewhat understand the language. But I know that years, maybe months from now, that won’t be true anymore.And it breaks my heart. That is what it feels like to speak a different language from your parents.

  5. Laziza

    I speak two to three languages and these are standard, slang, and regional dialect. I speak stardard language with my family, teachers, relatives and tutors. And I speak slang language with my friends and brothers. Finnally, I speak regional dialect with everyone in my society in back home. I feel comfortable about speaking different languages to different people in different contexts. I believe that my intended audience does not impact how I speak to someone and the word choice I use. I think the purpose for my communication will impact what I say and how I say it because before I speak with certain people I think and I ask myself “Which language should I use with that particular person?”.
    Probably I will look at the audience and see, if my audience is teenagers than I will not use the standard English, however, if my audience is adults than I will use standard English.
    The way I do integrate all the languages I speak will be by taking each language and combining the similar words that are more into stardard language and use them altogether.
    So for my project, I am going to use the second person point of view and I believe that this is the most effective mode of communication with my audience because my final project is a public lecture and I would like to address my audience by using second person point of view.
    The genre I chose to write in my project is the public lecture and I chose this genre instead of a conventional research essay because I felt that the public lecture is a good way to bring physics (and science in general) concepts to individuals who normally would not have exposure to these, to excite people about physics, to encourage people to become more interested in physics and finally as I mentioned I would like to give my opinion about how pandemic affected people of faith and people who believe in science.

  6. Sabina Akhi

    I am speaking two languages I come from another country l am not American English is not my first language Bangla and my second language is English. The first time comes to America I am not toking English too much that’s why I’m not going outside l stay s home all the time.
    I speak different languages to my classmates and workplaces I speak different languages to everyone except my family.
    I used to feel very bad for speaking different languages but now I feel good.
    I want my audience to understand my language in the language I speak
    the purpose for your communication impact to inform, to express feelings, to imagine, to influence, and to meet social expectations. Each of these purposes is reflected in a form of communication.
    i have a similar message or purpose for different audiences I used to work in a nursing home. I have many patients. I use different languages to talk to different patients I will use simple language so the message that I’m trying to convey is clear to everyone. The genre for the Unit 3 assignment will be a traditional academic essay. I think this is the best project.

  7. Emely

    I speak four different languages with both of my families, friends, and school. Two of my languages vary depending on which family I’m talking to. As an example, I don’t speak to my parents’ family the same way I do to my aunts or uncles from my mother’s family. I may sound more respectful with my dad’s side and more informal with my mom’s side. If I were at a room with my mom’s brothers, my uncles, I would just say enter and say “hi”. But, if it were the opposite, with my dad’s brothers. I would have to ask for their blessing (something that we are used to doing to show respect for that person) . I would say: “sion tia” or “sion tio”. Besides, there are different forms of communication when it comes to different audiences. For instance, my siblings, cousins, and friends are most likely to send text messages and FaceTime video calls instead of direct phone calls like most of the adults from my family are used to. When I need to talk to one of the adults from both of my families, my mom’s side, or my dad’s side, I would have to meet up in person to dialogue instead of a text message or phone call form of communication. I don’t speak to my friends the same way I speak to my professors and those two languages vary constantly. I feel stressed because it’s something that I must change every time I’m with different audiences. It feels as if I were a completely different person or as if I have different personalities. The audience impacts the way you say or the word choice you use since you’ll have to choose the right word choice based on the person you’re referring to. I consider that it’s not the same when the audience varies. I don’t speak to my sisters or cousins the same way I do to my aunts or grandparents. The purpose of my communication impacts what you say and how you say it because you’re choosing the right genre to address your message and the proper word choice depending on the audience that you’re addressing the message to. In terms of addressing a similar message for different audiences, you may have the same message and purpose, but your genre would have to change along with your word choice. You’ll have to choose the most appropriate or most comfortable word choice and genre for that specific audience. For my final project, I’ll use school language which is the most appropriate for my intended audience. The genre I’m planning to use is a video presentation. It’s the best way to clarify to my intended audience (diabetic adults) the impact of diabetes on a patient’s oral health and ways to prevent such diseases from spreading or developing.

  8. Esmeralda Ensaldo

    I would say 3-4 languages.
    I speak these different languages to my friends, my family, school classmates, and to my coworkers.
    I actually feel satisfied about speaking different languages different people in different context because I can express myself the way I want to. Also, when speaking to someone in a specific context there is a different feeling I want the other person to notice and the way or the language I speak to that person allows me to better express and communicate what I want to.
    The intended audience impacts a lot in how I speak and the word choice I use, for instance I can think about me talking to my sisters and mom and the particular way and word choices I use. Our language has evolved as time has passed because years ago I wouldn’t say some words or refer to things the way I do now with them. However, if I’m talking to my friends I wouldn’t do the same world choice because it’s just not the way I talk to them.
    The purpose of my communication also impacts what I say and how I say it because going back to my previous example of the way I talk to my family, depending on the purpose I might shift my language or have a different word choice. Even though I speak a different language to my family, which most of the time is fooling around but with specific word choices, depending on my purpose is what will also shape/determine what I’m going to say and how I will say it. It might not be appropriate say some words even though I use them most of the time with them. So I might change to a different language or integrate the different languages I speak depending on how the situation or context changes as I communicate my message.
    I will use formal language in my project.

  9. Soufiana Togola

    I personally speaks and communicate in 3 different languages. When I talk to family members, friends, classmates and many other people. I feel like knowing how to speak fluently multiple languages to different type of people is a really good advantage that will be helpful for you and other people you may interact with in life to wherever you go. The purpose of languages is to understand people well on what they are speaking and know to exchange conversation with them in the way that could be helpful in terms in the don’t speak the foreign country language. Even though I speak many different languages I’m still learning some other language to be able to speak it fluently because the known of multiple different language is very important, not only to you but to the person you may be translating for. Personally I think, languages is a good task that has to be learn as much you could because it helps you communicate with many different peoples from multiple countries in the World and explain how you feel about it easily and be much helpful for other people too.

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