For this assignment, I chose to watch an
episode of Modern Family because I
have never seen this show. The
assignment was tough relying on only the nonverbal cues to figure out
relationships and the plot of the show.
I had a feeling based on the name of the show that most of the
characters were related in some way.
However, I was unable to pick up on the relationships. I did not know the main characters were
a dad and his adult son and daughter.
I
was also wrong in my assumptions based on non-verbal behavior in two
scenes. One of the opening scenes
I thought one of the guys was upset with the other based on his body language. It turns out when watching it with
sound that the guy was upset with the person on the phone and not his
partner. In another scene, I
thought a woman was yelling at another woman on the phone. Her eyes were big and furrowed. Her mouth was moving quickly and she
was animated with her arms. It turns
out she was not angry with the other woman on the phone. She was actually giving her advice on
how to handle a situation.
Through
body language, other visual cues and situational contexts, I was able to get a
general idea of the plot. However,
I missed out on some background information that aided in the plot. Since it was a sitcom, I also missed
out on the comedy and humor that the show provided.
My
aha moment and insight I had through this assignment was how much we depend on
verbal communication to accompany non-verbal communication. While watching the show without the
volume, I was desperately trying to lip read so I could understand what people
were saying. It was driving me
crazy not being able to hear what they were saying. I also learned I am a very bad lip reader. It reinforced the idea from our reading
that non-verbal communication is not completely accurate. Also while watching the show muted, I
started thinking that this must be what deaf people experience. All they see is non-verbal
communication and try to read lips to get an understanding of what is being
said. I know that most shows can
be turned so there are captions for people who cannot hear. But again, these are words and one
cannot understand the tones that are being used with each word. The tone can affect the meaning behind
the word.
I am glad you talked about deaf people; while I was reading your post this situation came to my mind. How many deaf people cannot read our lips and see our body languages and might get the wrong impression of what we are really saying. You are right, even though they can see any show with captions it is not the same as hearing their tone of voice. Assignments like these are the one that make you think of the things you get for granted and how sometimes we might get the wrong impression of a situation.
ReplyDeleteMyra,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you pointed out how much we rely on verbal communication to help us interpret and make meaning out of nonverbal communication. I was desperately trying to lip read to make sense out of the show I watched too, and it was very unsuccessful for me too. I also appreciate how you pointed out that watching the show with the sound muted can be a simulation of how the experience might be for a deaf person. Understanding the tones used with the accompanying gestures, facial expressions and other body language is very important to making meaning from the words being said. Without the tone, it is nearly impossible to discern if the person is being serious or is being sarcastic. This is definitely something important to consider in all of our communication.