Communication Misinterpretation

Misinterpretation of Communication and Language Difference; A Position Paper

By; Mr. Danilo C. Siquig Jr., AB English III

First Semester, S.Y. 2010-2011

            “Can we just stop and talk a while get to know each other knowing who we are…” That is a line in one of the sweetest songs of Jose Marie Chan. Whenever I hear this song I am always reminded of the importance of communication in man’s life. There are times that I am asking myself. What if God did not give us this gift or ability to communicate with others? What if there is no communication at all? What if we are not talking or exchanging our ideas or views with one another? Just imagine a life without communication.

            In a wider perspective, “communication is a prerequisite element in the fulfillment of man’s existence” (Feztin, n.d.). Without communication, life will evidently be meaningless. Man will not be able to exercise completely his sense of rationalism if he will not communicate to his fellow creatures. Perhaps, we may say that, one of the precious attributes given to man is his ability to have this what we called “verbal and non-verbal language” (Sumera, 2001). Thus, because of these factors, man has the capacity to interact and socialize with others. He has the strength and power to exchange ideas, to speak for his own rights, to fight for what is a right and good, and other thing than he can do using his communicative ability. By communicating to other people, we may also see and realize more ourselves as the highest being ever created. Furthermore, as the highest being ever created, man is also considered as a “Social Being.” By social being, I mean that, man cannot go away with his environment, particularly in his relationship with the other persons and for this reason we may say that, “communication is an integral part of man’s social beingness” (Feztin, n.d.). Whether it is verbal and non-verbal, man is always subject to what we call communication. Everywhere he goes he is bound to communicate. He cannot go away with it. However, despite of the reality that man is a communicative being, man is also faced with the problems that lie within the communication process. An article in the internet states that;

Social conflicts often involve some misunderstanding. Conflict parties communicate by what they say (or do not say) and how they behave toward one another. Even normal interaction may involve faulty communication, but conflict seems to worsen the problem. The higher the level of conflict, the more costly misunderstandings may be. All communication has two parts: a sender and a receiver. The sender has a message he or she intends to transmit, and she puts it in words which, to her, best reflect what she is thinking. But many things can intervene to prevent the intended message from being received. If the communication is verbal, tone of voice can influence interpretation. Nonverbal cues also are important. All new information we learn is compared with the knowledge we already have. If it confirms what we already know, we will likely receive the new information accurately, though we may pay little attention to it. If it disputes our previous assumptions or interpretation of the situation, we may distort it in our mind so that it is made to fit our world view, or we may dismiss the information as deceptive, misguided, or simply wrong. If the message is ambiguous, the receiver is especially likely to clarify it for herself in a way which corresponds with her expectations. Given our tendency to hear what we expect to hear, it is very easy for people in conflict to misunderstand each other. Communication is already likely to be strained, and people will, most likely, want to hide the truth to some extent. Thus the potential for misperceptions and misunderstandings is high, which can make conflict management or resolution more difficult. (www.commfacts.com.)

           Thus, this only shows that as man communicates, communication problems are also existing realities. As man cannot go away with communication, he cannot also go away with problems. Communication problems are inevitable parts of communication process (www.commidea.com.). Why? It is because man is a dynamic being. In his dynamicity exists the reality of clashing of ideas against the others. Man is a rational being who can classify what is right and wrong especially in a communication process. Truly enough, the idea of misinterpretation of communication and language difference are really indeed some of the communication problems that exist. They exists because of some factors such as poor communication, tone of voice, non verbal cues, ambiguous message, and the reality that people are diverse from each other. Thus, these problems often develop because people in conflict do not communicate with each other as frequently, as openly, and as accurately as they do when relationships are not strained. On the part of language difference, as I have said a while ago, man is a social being that tends to communicate with others even if to a person who has a different language from him. On these parameters, I firmly believe that misinterpretation of communication and language difference are indeed examples of communication problems that exist in every communication process and these are evident within my day to day living.

           Misinterpretation often exists because of the unfair judgment of our senses. What we see, hear, smell, and others are what we judge without any broad understanding of the subject matter or situation. I also remember myself doing and making some misinterpretations on some of the things that I observed. For example, judging my classmate Arvin that he does not know how to become serious or to think deeply. I judged him in such an unfair way of simply basing things according to his actuations. However, after listening to Arvin and after having such intimate conversation with him I found out that I was totally wrong and to be honest, I was really shy to myself and to Arvin. I see myself as an unfair person who only judge according to what my senses dictate me. I found out that Arvin could be more serious than what he shows in our everyday classes. I also found out that within Arvin’s undisciplined actions and verbal pronouncement, he also thinks deeply. I was really surprised hearing him saying these words, “Kuya Jun bago mo isipin na higitan iyong tao na iyon, bago mo ipakita sa kanya na mahusay ka, higitan mo muna ang sarili mo. Ipakita mo muna sa sarili mo na magaling ka at kapag nakita mo na iyon sa sarili mo makikita mo na wala ka palang dapat patunayan sa kanya.” From honest to goodness, I was really mad when I said these words. However, I felt shy to myself and to Arvin because first and foremost I judge him in an unfair basis. Secondly, he is correct and upon hearing those words from him, I immediately talked to myself and I said “oo nga noh.” Indeed, misinterpretation comes within our human nature of using our senses. On the part of language difference, I believe that this is but a obvious problem in any communication process. For this I also have my own experience to relate. As a boy coming from another province who eventually decides to study in another province who has different language, it is very difficult for me to adapt the nature of talking to my colleagues in the school especially when they are talking in Ilokano dialect. Sometimes I ask them to teach me how to speak even the basic Ilokano words just to cope up with their conversation. Indeed, language difference is an obvious example of communication problems in any communication process.

            In the end, I believe that in these problems the most basic things that one must do to have this what we call solution is for one to listen. Listen to others first before making any conclusion or judgment. Listen to what others are saying. Listening implies that you understand your opponent as you understand yourself and in doing such way harmony may come into reality. “Listening is the one of the greatest gift that man could ever give to his fellowmen” (Wotyla, 1998).