Meyer 1 Isaac Meyer Mrs.

Bennett English 11AP 15 September 2011 Literacy Narrative Assignment Different situations and settings in life call for varying actions and behaviors. These traits can include many things, such as body language or dress and appearance. One of the largest forms of communication that must be altered based on the situation is the form of language we employ. I notice these changes in language in my own life based on my environs. The color of my speech changes based on whether I am speaking to friends or a family, writing for a school assignment, or thinking things through in my head. The easiest language to discuss is the language I use in my writings of essay and such. It's the easiest to discuss because it is formulaic and presents itself right in this very essay. This language is almost subconscious as I try to implement words of a higher vocabulary level. "Implement" in the last sentence is a perfect example where I thought of a better word to use than "use". I try to avoid repetition also; almost to the point where having the same word in close proximity to multiples of itself holds the same sense of distaste in my mind as a spelling error. This language would seem too formal in most cases and also takes considerably longer to generate. It is possible for me to text in this fashion, but it is not worth the time and thought it requires. It also would appear out of the ordinary and possibly viewed as an unnecessary display of a presumed intellect. This entire essay itself is an example of this form of communication. Thankfully, in the separate category of verbal communication with family and friends, formalities are less important because no grade is being given. Speaking to my friends and family is done in a manner so that I can convey the most meaning possible in the shortest amount of time. This means that instead of thinking

Meyer 2 thoroughly on how to phrase my ideas, instead I find the simplest way in which to convey my thoughts or feelings about a topic. In this category would be the language I use when texting because I text similarly to the way in which I normally talk. In this language there are words entirely foreign to the others but entirely endemic when found in my conversations with friends and family. The prime example of such a word is yeah. Yeah shows up all the time when I want to agree with something, but will never be found in an essay or any schoolwork of mine for that matter. When texting, for example: Friend: Do you feel like that all the time? Me: Yeah, but not too much though. Teachers would view that kind of writing as lazy and I would quickly lose points. Another contrast between my casual speech and formal writing is the use of one word sentences such as Exactly. Accompanying these one word sentences in texts are occasionally emoticons which of course will ultimately never appear in a paper of mine (except for this one! >.<). This language that I use for everyday communication is responded to with similarly structured phrases. If I am in a situation where it isnt, I will attempt to adjust my speech to more closely match that of the person I am conversing with. The third primary language I use is one that no one ever hears except me. It is the language inside my head. This could probably not be defined as a form of communication because I am the only party involved. This language is filled with masses of haws; one of the most common being ummmmmmm. This language can change based on how tired I am because my thoughts tend to be more distracted when I havent gotten enough sleep. Lack of sleep also leads to me spilling out some of these thoughts in my head that would normally be filtered between my mind and my mouth. Good examples come from my thinking when writing this paper: Should I do this? No. Ummmmm, how about. No. Ok, I need to finish before school in thirty minutes. Now youre just wasting time. Why is this dialogue still going on? When these thoughts do escape, the responses usually show that people thought

Meyer 3 what I said was humorous or simply odd. This language is my most commonly used one because I use it to form ideas which then translate into speech. The development of different languages seems to be part of human nature. Just as animals adapt to their environments for survival, it seems that we too have learned to adapt the presentation of ourselves for different people and events. Exploring the languages I use has been interesting because I have never put much thought into the topic before. I found that I truly do use separate dialects without even being entirely aware of such a change.