Writing for Business Success/Delivering your message/What is language

“	A different language is a different vision of life.	”
—Federico Fellini

Readings

Read Chapter 2 Introduction and 2.1 in Business Communication for Success. Successful business communication involves writing and speaking in an articulate way. The words we use influence both our own and others’ interpretations of our meanings. These readings discuss language as a system of concepts and symbols, and how word choice, and context can influence audience interpretation. You will also be introduced to the semantic triangle model, which describes how our word choices influence audience understanding of our messages, especially in culturally diverse contexts. You will encounter the semantic triangle again when we examine message emphasis strategies later in the course, especially in relation to visual image choices.

Recommended: Do the two Introductory exercises, which invite you to test your knowledge of Western slang words, and reflect on your own language usage in different situations. Also do the five chapter exercises, which ask you to consider other aspects of language usage, and practice your writing skills by developing a one-to-two page essay describing how thought influences language. The fifth exercise invites you to think about word or phrase translations that don’t sound right when translated from English into another language, or vice-versa. Can you think of an example? What might a better translation be? Why? Please share your response in the WENotes.

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