The Advantages of English as an International Language

English is the language of business and offers unique advantages for international commerce and business education. As a communication medium, the ability to share ideas and conduct transactions across multiple continents helps speed up trade and idea sharing that often leads to wealth generation. The building of international relevance in the business world is fostered by connecting people and their ideas.

Consider the purpose of communication and its impact on the transference of information. When two people share similarities of a language, they need fewer feedback loops to understanding the conversation. Using the same language lowers the time it takes to propose and clarify propositions within daily interactions. This process of knowledge sharing speeds up exponentially and can increase the profitability that people will enhance knowledge.

American companies have an advantage because of the commonality English as a business language (Cavaliere, Glasscock, & Sen, 2014). The more English is used around the world, and the more likely the U.S will be advantaged from present and future business contracts. International commerce becomes more plausible when two companies can communicate and integrate easily. A similarity of language can create similarity of thought and purpose.

Language is embedded with codes, symbols, patterns of thinking and values. When a particular language is spoken in different cultures and locations, the people’s culture will begin to align with the values of that language. The more the people speak a particular language, the more they are going to find similarities with others who speak that language.

In the education arena, opportunities for employment in English speaking companies support English education.  English as a business language ensures that the majority of the great ideas and opportunities are supported by using the mental framework set out by the semantic structure of the language itself. Language changes the way we think and understand problems.

Using English as an international business language also helps in educating and employing individuals with American businesses. Graduating students will associate opportunity and education with English speaking companies. The eventual result is the attraction of talent to an opportunity like a magnet is attracted to metal objects.

The way we think is related to the way we talk and use words. Speaking in a particular language activates various centers in our brains and becomes part of our memories and thought processes. Using English as a business language helps people to understand the same perspectives and values that made America an economic powerhouse. Ease of communication speeds up the transference of knowledge, ideas and collaboration with other entities and countries. The commonality of language can encourage higher business theory development and marketing effectiveness.

Cavaliere, F., Glasscock, K. & Sen, K. (2014). The englishization of business: does this help or hinder teaching global business? Education, 135 (2). 

Researchers Find 21 Different Facial Expressions

Researchers at the Ohio State University recently announced that the average human had 21 different facial expressions (1). Previously people thought there was only anger, happiness, disgust, surprise, sadness and fear. These expressions are considered universal across cultures, religions and races. That list has now been expanded to include more subtle impressions.

The recognition is based off of the way the muscles move behind the skin to create an expression (3). People can generally recognize these emotions based upon the expression a person provides in any given circumstance. Finding 21 different expressions changes the amount of information a person can gain from watching anothers face.

Famous philosophers such as Aristotle, Rene Descartes, Leonard Da Vinci and Charles Darwin believed in facial expressions as traits hundreds of years before modern findings. Research has now supported their discoveries originally derived from watching, studying, and artistically recreating people. They were astute reviewers of the world and were able to discern these patterns among varying interactions with people. 

You may be surprised that facial expression is something most of us do and our brains are hardwired to do so with mixed accuracy. Without the ability to discern the social networks in which we live it would be difficult to create trust and accurately understand friend from foe. Reading facial expressions, even if not on a conscious level, is something we are born with like the ability to speak, understand, grow or develop.

Processing of facial expressions is a deep process similar to speech. The human mind can read and understand the meaning of comments and activities through this para-language. The philosophers were deep processors and were able to slowly start understanding the patterns of life and what makes us the same and what makes us unique. 

The practical application can range from anything related to software development, theater, interrogation, psychological research, and much more. It is considered “honest communication” because people are not able to easily hide these emotions as a natural reaction to events within the world. If you question a person’s motives given them new information and see how they react. Go with your gut!

Call for Papers: International Conference on Economics, Social Sciences and Languages

International Conference on Economics, Social Sciences and Languages

Type: Conference

Date: May 14^th & 15^th, 2014.

Topics of interest for submission include, but are not limited to:
Arts
Social Science
Economics
Humanities
Literature
Languages and Linguistics
Management
Applied Science
Finance
Education
Sports
Social Responsibility
History
Religious Studies
Social and Cultural Issues

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Scientists Discover How Deeply the Brain Processes Speech

Language was once thought to be a single side of the brain phenomenon. New technology helps to seek how the brain maps sounds and language to come up with meaning. Researchers at UC San Francisco found that people use both sides of their brain to categorize and understand language. 

This wasn’t the only discovery. Instead of responding to phonemes the brain actually responds to more elemental pieces of information called Features. The difference is profound as the individual sound isn’t as important as the categorization of these sounds at an elemental level. The brain is processing deeper than scientists originally predict. 

The way in which a person uses lips, tongue or vocal cords determines the overall meaning and understanding. If this is true then language has a biological component and is based in deeply held abilities of what makes us fundamentally human when compared to other species. 

The research is important because it can help people with reading and speech problems. It may even adjust how we come to understand and teach the English language. If the speech is associated with the movements of air within the mouth then classifications and history of words can be analyzed on a different level. 

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The Secrets to Successful Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

Spoken language is the medium that allows us to express ourselves and obtain information with other people. Those who can communicate well are likely to find additional success that others are unlikely to realize. A paper by Binod Mishra (2009) helps to define how both verbal and non-verbal components of language interact to create higher levels of communicative skill. 

He argues that social media interferes with our ability to communicate while writing reports and papers improve upon this ability. Social media such as texting might be more like “ttyl” or “brb”. The medium of cell phones limits full expression without significant effort and cost to the user in terms of contracts. Report writing, as seen in college, helps to encourage higher levels of expression. However, nothing compares to the verbal skills and non-verbal we use when communicating with others. 

Verbal Skills:

Verbal skills are the vocal messages we send to others. They can be figurative or literal. How loud we speak, the type of voice, pitch and pronunciation say something about us as a person as well as the message we are sharing. Most of us consciously focus on the verbal words but subconsciously pick up the non-verbal cues. 

Voice: This is the way in which we utilize our voice to give hints about our nature and attitude. 

Volume: People should be knowledgeable enough to lower or raise one’s voice based upon the audience and room acoustics. 

Pitch: Average rate of words between 120 and 175 words per minute. 

Pronunciation: The ability and skill to say the words correctly. 

Non-Verbal Cues:

Sigmund Freud once said, “He who has eyes to see and ears to hear can convince that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chats with his finger tips, betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.”  The way in which we use our body impacts the other true meanings of our messages. When we align our body with our messages we make a more trustworthy communication style. 

Facial Expression: The face creates honest language based within our biological development. Feelings like pain, annoyance, and joy are common. The face also shows confusion, mischief, and many other thought processes. 

Eyes: The eyes are the “windows of our soul” and expresses truthfulness, intimacy, concern naughtiness, joy, surprise, curiosity, affection and love. Make eye contact with the target of your conversation. 

Body Movements: Gestures and postures also contribute to communication even when the speaker doesn’t know it. 

Silence and Pauses: Using pauses and silence can emphasis meanings and interest. 

In my experience, I have learned that it is more important to watch the person than it is to listen to what is literally being said. Each person comes with needs, desires, wants, and goals. Understanding them puts the message within a broader context and this could impact how you respond to such methods. If you watch closely enough and do it long enough you will learn things about people they haven’t yet recognized in themselves. 

Mishra, B. (2009). Role of paralanguage in effective English communication. The Icfai University Press; India

Non-verbal Communication from Mohamed Mahmoud