WEEK
2
Observing
Communication in Action
As I pondered over this assignment, I sat down with my
children who were about to watch a show that they tend to look at frequently. The
name of the show was Austin and Alley that comes on the Disney channel. I explained
to them that we were going to watch it on silent for a bit. You can only
imagine their looks, which made me flashback to my studying of nonverbal language.
They showed me that they were not really pleased but went along with it, after
explaining to them that it for an assignment. Nevertheless, I went to watch the
show and it seems as if they are all very close. It was two boys and two girls.
They had to be singing because one of the guys was playing his guitar and I knew
this by his actions. They all seemed happy. I can tell by their high-spirited
attitudes and the smiling that they are doing while conversating or singing
with one another. They all seemed to have a wonderful relationship.
After turning the volume back up, I did assume that
they were good buddies and I now can confirm I was right. They were singing a
song that one of the girls had wrote and it sounds pretty good. They were
happy, as I assumed, while viewing the show without sound. O’Hair and Weimann
(2012) states, one “makes sense of your world and decode nonverbal behavior
through schemas and accumulated experiences of people, roles and situations”
(p. 129). I definitely was right on the money, with assuming they were close
friends. I never have watched the show before but it actually was pretty nice. One
‘aha’ moment that I gathered was a person’s facial expressions can actually can
very clearly speak volumes.
Reference
O'Hair,
D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's,
Retrieved November 6, 2014.
Nakita,
ReplyDeleteMy experience with this assignment was a little different than yours, when I watched the program that I chose without sound I observed a family with a mom and her two daughters; the family was close but dysfunctional. The older daughter made poor choices which affected the rest of the family and they were trying to do with the situation. When I watched the program with sound however my assumptions were not as I interpreted; the family unit was actually a mom, her daughter, and her daughter. The daughter did make poor choices as I interpreted however, her daughter made poor choices as well. I enjoyed this assignment, I am learning so much about the many different facets of communication. The “aha” moment for me was how I made assumptions based on my interpretation and then I realized that my assumptions were incorrect; we need all the facts before you make decisions about messages being conveyed.
Hi Nakita,
ReplyDeleteI could only imagine the nonverbal cues you received from you children. Making my son turn down the television, I get all kinds of body movements and strange noises. I must admit it was hard to watch the show with the volume down. We could assume different things from the shows we were watching but, as we know it is not a good idea to assume. We could read their body movements, and see their facial expressions, and that gave us an idea of what they were saying. If the characters had no emotions, we would never know what they were talking about in the episode. Body movements are universal.
LaNea
Hi Nakita
ReplyDeleteIt is so lovely when we see positive shows on television these days because that is very hard to find. Your interpretation paid off, great interpretation. For me,sometimes it does and there are moments when I misinterpret by a huge margin, depending on my thinking and assumptions, and what non-verbal expressions are given. Think of the Cosby show that I watch, Cliff with his different faces, you could interpret one thing and its a totally different thing. My interpretations were way off for most parts, but it was fun and enlightening to how we need to involve more than just one skill to get true meaning from what is being communicated. The kids reaction must have been priceless when you told them that you would watch the television without sound, I can just imagine their faces. Great experience, great post, have a good week.