Media and Information Languages
Explain the quote “ Language is a source of misunderstanding”. Despite our usual notion that language is a form of communication that would help individuals understand each other easily, there are instances that language can be confusing and its users would have different interpretations, hence being the source of misunderstanding. For instance, a certain word can have different connotations that can be inferred by an individual or another. Does the user’s own background/experience affect the interpretation of the message? Yes. The user's background or experience can affect the interpretation of a message. This is what we call as "schema theory" which relates the user's background or past knowledge of a specific topic to the piece of information received by him or her. The user will connect his previous knowledge to the idea and can affect the interpretation of the message itself. For instance, a doctor's opinion about death would be different from...