Angelica Abalos September 10, 2021

Section 26 (T/F; 12:00-13:30) Speech Communication

Formative Assessment #2
Misconception: “Meanings are in words.”

“Meanings depends on one’s understanding”

People from various backgrounds can think in different ways based on the culture from
which we originated. “Meanings are in people, not in words.” Unconscious social and cultural
signals, also known as schema, play a significant role in our learned process of communicating
with others. (Why We Communicate: Meanings Are in People, Not in Words, 2019). Like in
the Philippines, with many dialects, there are words in Tagalog that have a different definition
in other places. People from other areas, for example, who constantly speak their mother
tongue, would eventually relocate to Manila, where Tagalog is the most widely spoken dialect.
That person may mistakenly misinterpret the message. When you ask a seller if they have this
particular item and they respond "wala" it means "none" or "nothing" in Tagalog, while "wala"
implies "there is" in Pangasinan. The same may be said for other countries, which have similar
terminology but have different meanings.

Also, one factor that can lead to misunderstanding is tone. According to Team (2021),
even though the tone is only one minor part of communication, it should never be overlooked.
People can usually control the types of words they use while talking with others, but their tone
is more difficult to control. When speaking with others, your tone clarifies and transfers
message. To add to this, a simple "hello" or any greeting might have a variety of meanings.
When you say "hello" in a monotone, the person you're speaking to can get the impression that
you're not pleased to see them or that you don't want to communicate with them. Furthermore,
this generation's use of social media as a means of communication can have an impact on one's
understanding. Since I've already indicated that tone is a factor that might lead to
miscommunication, how much more so in social media, where your audience can't hear your
voice or tone? My friends often misinterpret my jokes on our group chats as sarcasm, based
on my own experience. As the message's sender, I will first consider how I will convey the
message. Wherein both the sender and the recipient of the message must have the same
understanding of the message communicated.
Angelica Abalos September 10, 2021
Section 26 (T/F; 12:00-13:30) Speech Communication

References.
Team, A. (2021, March 11). Why is Tone so Important When it Comes to Communication in
Business? Afterburner. https://www.afterburner.com/why-is-tone-so-important-when-it-
comes-to-communication-in-business/n

Why We Communicate: Meanings Are in People, Not in Words. (2019, August 14).
COMMUNITEA BOOKS. https://www.communiteabooks.com/column/why-we-
communicate-meanings-are-in-people-not-in-words