During a face-to-face interaction, identifying and understanding the various methods of communication is crucial to decoding the emotional complexities of the conversation. Take for example the meeting that occurred between Lieutenant Olivia Benson and her son’s teacher, Mrs. Smiley, on the TV show Law and Order: SVU. The meeting took place to discuss a bruise found on the arm of Benson’s son, Noah. This seemingly normal parent-teacher conversation took a turn early on when Mrs. Smiley revealed that Noah had told the school nurse that Benson caused the bruise on his arm; creating tension throughout the rest of the meeting. The communication codes used during this interaction help to display the effects that these codes have on real life conversation.
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During the conversation, Mrs. Smiley suddenly changed speech repertoires by “code switching.” Code switching is when a communicator changes verbal behaviors or styles as the situation warrants (O’Hair et al., 2015, p. 80). In the beginning of the interaction, Mrs. Smiley claims she called the meeting only to comply with school rules. The use of this type of language is consistent with what would be expected in a parent-teacher conference. However, as the meeting continued, Mrs. Smiley spoke to Benson in a much different way. She discussed the personal life of Benson and how it could relate to Noah’s bruises. Mrs. Smiley even suggested that “stress can cause people to act out physically.” This alternate style of language utilized by Mrs. Smiley was much more comparable to an investigator interrogating a suspect than to a traditional parent-teacher interaction. This change in speech repertoire had a powerful effect on the conversation. One important role of a communicator’s speech repertoire is to both demonstrate and create the context of a conversation (O’Hair et al., 2015, p. 80). In the beginning of the meeting, Mrs. Smiley defined the relationship between herself and Benson as parent and teacher through the use of her language, but as the meeting continued, she altered her language in a way that drastically changed the context. Following the code switch, Benson spoke defensively while Mrs. Smiley interrogated her about the alleged physical abuse. The contextual change caused by the altered use of language created additional feelings of tension between the characters. By introducing the meeting with the “language” of a teacher and continuing with the “language” of an investigator, Mrs. Smiley intensified an uneasy exchange between her and
During the conversation, Mrs. Smiley suddenly changed speech repertoires by “code switching.” Code switching is when a communicator changes verbal behaviors or styles as the situation warrants (O’Hair et al., 2015, p. 80). In the beginning of the interaction, Mrs. Smiley claims she called the meeting only to comply with school rules. The use of this type of language is consistent with what would be expected in a parent-teacher conference. However, as the meeting continued, Mrs. Smiley spoke to Benson in a much different way. She discussed the personal life of Benson and how it could relate to Noah’s bruises. Mrs. Smiley even suggested that “stress can cause people to act out physically.” This alternate style of language utilized by Mrs. Smiley was much more comparable to an investigator interrogating a suspect than to a traditional parent-teacher interaction. This change in speech repertoire had a powerful effect on the conversation. One important role of a communicator’s speech repertoire is to both demonstrate and create the context of a conversation (O’Hair et al., 2015, p. 80). In the beginning of the meeting, Mrs. Smiley defined the relationship between herself and Benson as parent and teacher through the use of her language, but as the meeting continued, she altered her language in a way that drastically changed the context. Following the code switch, Benson spoke defensively while Mrs. Smiley interrogated her about the alleged physical abuse. The contextual change caused by the altered use of language created additional feelings of tension between the characters. By introducing the meeting with the “language” of a teacher and continuing with the “language” of an investigator, Mrs. Smiley intensified an uneasy exchange between her and