Ambiguity in English

Secondly, range of similarities and differences are perceived in the sets of rules constraining the language structure of Auslan and English. In comparison to English, sign languages are visual languages, hence it is distinct in modality and word-ordering structure (Damian, 2011). To illustrate, the words of spoken languages are delivered in a fairly linear pattern, both in time and on paper (Bejan, 2001). This linear sentence structure is observed in English, but the same is not demonstrated in Auslan. However, despite this distinction, the order of signs remains of importance to produce meaningful sentences. This is because Auslan conveys many grammatical features found in the English language at phonological, morphological and syntactic levels (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). An individual’s poor English grammar is attributed for sentence fragments. These poorly formed English sentences occur when a sentence lacks a subject, a verb or do not express a complete thought (Schuster, 2006). In the same manner, the wrong ordering of signs will affect the fluency of the language. For instance, the linear English sentence ‘many black cars have disappeared’ will be signed as MANY-BLACK-CAR-DISAPPEAR (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). In this example, it is important that the determiner (MANY) and adjective (BLACK) are situated before the noun (CAR) (Johnston & Schembri, 2007). This is done for the purpose of identifying the noun within the sentence, which subsequently lead to the formation

Ambiguity is a concept I came across while reading The Book Thief, by Marcus Zusak. The novel discussed numerous paradoxes of the human experience, and thus stimulated my mind into exploring branches of philosophy previously unknown to me. Though the concept is a simple one, the source of ambiguity is much more complicated. From my reading of this story and study in a psychology class, I learned that one’s natural instinct and nurturing environment is what affects one’s perspective. Equally important, no matter how similar common the human condition is, everyone is different. No person has the same life experiences, and thus has a different perspective. These conflicting perspectives are what lead to ambiguity, which leads me to quite a harsh

After identifying the basic structure of a message, a critical thinker must ask, “What words or phrases are ambiguous?” (p. 40) An ambiguous word or phrase is one that has multiple possible meanings. Ambiguous words or phrases in an argument create the need for clarification of the meaning before a reader can fully evaluate the argument.

It is vital the practitioner considers the different ways they communicate bearing in mind the different background, cultures, linguistic knowledge and styles of their parents and children. If people do not have the same shared experiences they could interpret things in a different way. Some people’s preferred way of communicating may not be face to face as they may be uncomfortable with eye contact, in

Language is a very important and significant part of individuals’ life. It is considered as one of the best device of social behavior. Language is a means with the help of which people communicate and send a social message to one another. But language does have very special characteristics according to which it changes and very depending on many factors. According to the researchers there are no two people who speak identically. Their languages vary as per their geographic location, age, gender, ethnicity, social background etc. many a time, it is observed that even the members from same family speak differently due to differences in their location ( Biber & Conrad, 2014). For example, in my neighborhood, there is a difference in the ways of

     Chapter seven begins by explaining an example that would make the case against using ambiguity. In fact, the title of chapter seven is “Avoid Ambiguity”. While it is true that vague statements leave questions unanswered, the traditional idea behind gathering information is to find specific details and clear communicated

Communication is the interaction between individuals that allows us to deliver and receive information, thoughts and feelings. Communication can be seen to have three components: verbal (spoken words), non-verbal (body language) and paralinguistic (tone and pitch of spoken words) (Mehrabian 1981). This shows the complexity of communication in that variance in one ‘component’ could potentially alter or distort the desired meaning being conveyed to the recipient. Similarly Arnold, Undermann Bogss (2015) states that communication could be seen to be a combination of verbal and non-verbal actions being used in unison to exchange and strengthen ideas or share life experiences through means of posture, spoken words or personal symbolism.

Being ambiguous is having more than one interpretation of a person. It is unclear of what choice is being made between two alternatives. The story The Kite Runner, takes place in Kabul, Afghanistan. The author of the selection is Khaled Hosseini. The main Characters are Amir (the narrator), Hassan, and Amir’s father, Baba. Hosseini adds morally ambiguous characters to leave the reader wanting more. Because it makes the reader scratch their head wondering why the character makes the decisions that they do, and why they live a life like they do and so on and so forth. Amir would be a perfect choice for being ambiguous because he has a friend in Hassan, But has somewhat jealousy towards him.

According to Browne and Stuart (2018), ambiguity refers to the existence of multiple possible meanings for a word or phrase. There are several ways a writer can do to decrease the likelihood that any ambiguous words or phrases are detracting from the communication. They are as follows: locate key terms or phrases in the issue and conclusion and define and or explain them; locate key terms or phrases in the reason and define and or explain them; and identify abstract words in the core argument. The more abstract the word, the more likely the author will need to clarify it (Browne & Stuart,

It does so because when we cannot clearly communicate through language we are apt to be misunderstood by others or express meaning that is other than we desire. Expression of our thoughts is a complex process and language remains central to clear expression. However, there are different forms of language other than words or voice expression. As one instructor asked of her students, "How do we pass information along without using voices, letters, or numerals" (Language, 2004, p. 11). One answer would be the use of nonverbal language, which is often conveyed through body movements, posture, facial expression and other techniques. Once more, such facets of language are symbolic and differ across diverse cultures. However, when students learn to understand the different and broad meanings of language across cultures even, then they have a better grasp of communicating and receiving communication. All too often, as one educator maintains, "When thinking about what language means, younger children often make connections to oral language or the learning of a foreign language" (Language, 2004, p. 11).

It is difficult enough to interpret words accurately, in fact, there are no doubt more misinterpreted messages than not (Cherney and Tynan, 1990). When the element of nonverbal is incorporated, the rate of misinterpretations increases dramatically (Elgin, 1980).

Based on the use of language,the kinds of adjustments that I can make about is that the whole time while he was talking to Sonia, his actions towards her screamed out what social sciences call, the “horns effect.” A negative judgement about a person based off of your first impression of them. mick continues to talk to Sonya very pushy. And most of the time she listens silently. Which is a nonverbal cue that she doesn't want to talk to him or see him. His syntax is the workings of a jerk. For instance telling the waiter “Hey, honey, bring me a cup of this, would ya?” Also by saying hey baby, don't forget about that coffee. Nother judgment about Nick is that he has poor listening skills. Sonya tells him more than once that she would like to be

Key features of language include its words and their sub structures such as morphemes, graphemes and syllables at the writing level as well as reading or speaking, words, their meanings and contexts in which the words get spoken or read. Language has to be interpreted as a whole, and not just as the specific word. There must be an explicit pattern or structure. In order for language to be understood correctly, the meaning of words must be arranged in a given context. This is what constructs language; even though words are arbitrary themselves, in order to integrate as a language, they must be used in the appropriate context. This pre-established cultural context is what will enable effective communication. (Daniel Willingham, 2007, p. 1).

Scholars attribute that communication phenomenon involves the exchange of information from a communicator to the recipient. The exchange requires a contextual understanding of the message between the recipient and communicator. The message is usually encoded in the means of communication and has to be decoded by the recipient to understand. Subsequently, a phenomenon that is located in an interaction-oriented by a speaker to a recipient can be deemed as a communication phenomenon (Goldhaber,20). A common question that communication phenomenon scholars ask is that, how do people communicate? People communicate through talking and behavioral bodily gestures accompanying that talk. Talking is thus regarded as the primary

In order to verbally communicate language is needed. Using the English language we use sounds, words, and grammar to send a message to another person. The words have meaning and use grammar to set guidelines on the structure. We learn how to use sounds to form words that have definitions. We use these words to form sentences to help explain the thoughts and ideas we want to send to another person. We use language as a bridge to carry our thoughts and ideas from the mind and brain to oral messages. On occasion verbal communication can be confused with an unintentional meaning. Occasionally people say words they do not know the correct meaning which will confuse the listener. Other time words have the same sound but different meaning such as the two words: fore and four.