Exploring Language: NPR This website provides an interesting historical perspective on human language research. According to the site, “For centuries, scholars and thinkers have tried to unravel the nature of human language. Our understanding of language has grown immensely, especially in the past 50 years. But there are still huge gaps in our knowledge. Here, a timeline of how experts from fields as diverse as anthropology, neuroscience, genetics, psychology, evolutionary biology, linguistics and artificial intelligence have shaped our thinking about language.”
National Center for Learning Disabilities This website is a useful source of information about the problems that have to be dealt with by someone who is dyslexic and does not see symbols in the same ways other people see them. It makes many points that are supportive of our analysis in the book concerning the context (“frame”) and the way in which it influences your understanding of what is communicated.
Activities
Communication Model. The following website provides a detailed view of the linear (communication as action), interactional, and transactional models of communication. On the right side of the graphic, there is a “Next” button to move you from one model to the next. You can follow the path of a message as it moves through the transaction.
Social Construction. Visiting this site will afford you an opportunity to learn more about social constructs, such as gender and social class.
Symbols This website provides a visual complement to the textbook’s discussion of symbols and the arbitrary nature of symbols.
