Language and ethnicity -Ethnic related speech mitigation and PDI effect - Essay Example

This paper will also examine the concept of Power Distance Index, and how it affects speech. In addition to this, this paper will explain the difference between high PDI and low PDI countries. This paper will further analyze the success rate based on the PDI of the community. The idea of speech code came about as a result of the coding principle by Basil Bernstein and the programmatic approach that Hymes adopted to communication. The combination of the two concepts saw to the development of the concept that speech code is.

Basil Bernstein, a British psychologist, noted that different social classes or social differences can exist within one society. While these differences include language features, they also entail coding principles, which dictate communicative conduct. Coding principle, according to Bernstein, refers to the rule that governs what to say, and depending on the context, how to say it (Sadovnik, 2001). Method According to Bernstein’s theory on coding principle, speakers are directed to rely on shared context of communication, other than only the verbal communication.

When this happens, the speaker can communicate more effectively since they are aware that in addition to their words, the signals, and non-verbal cues they use also dictate the meaning they send forth. The coding principles used vary according to the socioeconomic differences of the people involved. Even though, a community shares a similar language, different socioeconomic groups value different ways of communicating; in other words, the coding principle. In his theory, Bernstein claimed that the use, and value placed on the coding of language, is influenced by the socioeconomic conditions (Philipsen, 2007).

Three coding principles are usually used in linguistics, and these are informativity, rigidity, and attenuation. Using these three principles, the same set of words may have different meanings to different groups of persons. The structure and interaction patterns that characterize a family influence the way the members in focus express themselves. The use of language, and the way it is coded is also sensitive to the social organization of the society, and the correlative differences in the family (Sharifian, 2007).

Judith Orasanu and Ute Fischer carried out a study on “Cultural Diversity and Crew Communication.” This study carried out in 1999 involved dialogue between an aircraft officer, and his first officer. In their study, they established that nationality played an important role in influencing communication. This is evident when the modes of communication of different communities are put into consideration. Communication in Korean and Japanese communities is accentuated with symbols, facial expressions, and other gestures.

These are aspects of receiver oriented speech. The main focus is on getting information across to the recipient of the information. In contrast to this, there is transmitter oriented speech. Here, the speaker aims to get out his point without being overly concerned with whether or not the recipient gets the intended information. This is characteristic with Danish, or Swedish communication. The source of information basically uses communication aspects he feels will get his message out in the best way possible.

Focus is on getting the message out, and not across. Performance Distance Index (PDI) A society that records a