Finally! Something I can understand! Linguistic cognitive domains refers to how we link to each other and ourselves through language. Through language, we explain things to ourselves and others. Everything we say has an impact on others. If we are conscious of this, we can be more aware of how our words will influence others.

This plays out all the time in my marriage. My husband will often respond to me by saying “I don’t like your tone”. To which I reply, “What tone? I wasn’t using a tone. You’re the one using a tone.” Moments later, we are both annoyed and confused, watching TV in separate rooms. We go through the same song and dance with misinterpreted text messages to each other. If he is having a bad day, the most mundane “When are you coming home?” text message can be completely misunderstood. Clearly, the ability to communicate effectively is extremely important in all of our relationships.

At work, I find myself becoming annoyed not so much by what people are saying, but how they are saying it. If something is said in a condescending tone, I am not likely to respond positively to it. My principal deserves a medal for always saying the wrong things or in the wrong way. This creates a very uncomfortable atmosphere of “us vs them” at work. As a “young” teacher, I don’t think I am often taken very seriously by older teachers and today’s discussion made me think about being careful how I phrase things if I want to be make a serious point or create lasting change.

This reminds me of a TED Talks clip we watched just this morning in a different class. A wannabe slam poet, Lemon Andersen, recounted how he stalked his hero relentlessly until he was finally told that the problem with his poetry was with the way he was saying the words. “My hunger and thirst was, and still remains: How do I get people who hate poetry to love me?…I learned how to pull the mic away and attack the poetry with my body.” It wasn’t until he changed the way he was delivering his poems, that he became a successful poet.