We communicate with a lot more than our mouths. Think of communication as an art. An artist has a number of tools they use to produce their art. A painter uses many different brushes, spatulas, and pigments to create a painting. A poet uses words and phrases with punctuation and page space to create a poem. A good communicator uses their mouth and upper airway as well as facial expression and gesture to share their ideas. Gestures enhance spoken communication.

Gestures are movements, usually of the hands, that enhance the meaning of spoken communication. You probably do not have to think very long to come up with an example of gestural communication, whether you happen to know American Sign Language or you’re trying to merge onto I-77 at midday.
Many gestures are fairly universal, such as the hand out, palm up gesture. Other gestures are culture-specific, such as the OK sign – whose meaning varies from the United States, where it means, “all okay,” to Argentina and Greece it is more offensive.

We can use our hands as an addition to spoken communication, to help our listeners understand us. In order for gestures to be understood, they should be produced within clear view of the listener, usually in front of the upper torso or face. Unless you are using a specific gesture that your listener is familiar with, keep it simple. The simpler the gesture, the more likely your listener will understand what you mean to say.

What are you saying with your hands?

The position of your hands has an impact on your message.

Hands open with the palms up is a more positive gesture, and is inviting – especially with outstretched arms.

When hands are in fists or face down, it tends to be received by the listener more negatively, and may serve to give you more time to speak during your turn in a conversation.

Hands up with the palms forward is a limit-setting gesture. It communicates to your listener to stop what they are doing.

Take a moment to think about how you use your hands when you speak. What is the message you’re communicating to others, beyond what comes out of your mouth?

A dialect is a form of a language. Languages can have one or many dialects, differing in pronunciation, vocabulary, grammatical features, and that fuzzy stuff that laypeople refer to as “reading between the lines” and linguists refer to as pragmatics. Dialects are usually shared by a subgroup of people with something in common, be it ethnicity, geographic region, social class, or something else. Usually, people who speak different dialects of the same language can understand each other.Dialects represent the beauty of language: it’s so fascinating that two people who use different communication systems can not only understand one another, but also share, learn, and laugh together about the eccentricities of their respective dialects. The first time someone used the Southern phrase “slap your mama good” to describe some tasty food I laughed for a week.

Unfortunately, dialects can also be at the root of injustice. All over the world, people face discrimination based on their dialect. Again and again, we see that when an individual has an accent that is different from that of a superior – a hiring manager, for example – chances are disturbingly good that they will be seen in a negative light.

It seems that dialect discrimination affected the court proceedings following the 2012 shooting of Trayvon Martin. One of the key witnesses in the trial was Rachel Jeantel, a friend of Martin’s who had been on the phone with him before and during his fatal run-in with George Zimmerman. John Rickford, linguistics professor at Stanford, pointed out that had there been another speaker of African American Vernacular English serving as judge, transcriber, attorney, or jury member, Jeantel’s critical testimony would have been understood, and the outcome of the trial would likely be very different. Marguerite Rigoglioso with Stanford News published an excellent article on this topic here.

According to the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association (ASHA):

Given that SAE [Standard American English] is the linguistic variety used by the government, the mass media, business, education, science, and the arts in the United States, speakers of other varieties of American English may find it advantageous to be able to speak SAE. In these cases, the role of the speech-language pathologist is to assist in the acquisition of the desired competency in the second dialect without jeopardizing the integrity of the individual’s first dialect.

Being able to speak the mainstream dialect of English can, without a doubt, open up a whole new world of possibility for native speakers of other dialects. However, as ASHA indicates, the goal is not to replace the way you walk with the language they speak on television. It’s about code-switching, communicating in the most appropriate dialect, given the situation.

However, when it comes to the topic of dialect/linguistic discrimination, the solution cannot be focused on the behavior of the speaker. While there is certainly no single, simple solution, and linguistic discrimination is just a part of the systematic discrimination that occurs against minority groups every minute of the day, part of the solution must be to listen to and learn more about the different dialects of speakers you know and are likely to meet. The more you hear these dialects, the more you will understand. In short, listen more.

If you are interested in code-switching, let us know. People should hear your ideas, not your dialect.