Friday, August 26, 2011

Spin Cycle: What's in a Word?

Ok, so this week's Spin Cycle?  Is on language.  I could totally go with the easy one here.  I mean, I curse like a sailor on leave on a regular basis.  It's probably a habit I need to break what with the little one on the way.  Hell, I have enough damn time for that anyway, right?  Shit yes, I do.

No, I thought I'd blog about something I've learned a little bit about this week.  (the reason why I didn't blog yesterday)  I went to this two day conference on Bridges to Poverty (a model developed by Ruby Payne) about the cultural barriers/differences between members in generational poverty and middle class - the barriers in language, ways of viewing the world, education, financial management, etc., and I'm sure I am totally butchering the whole premise of the book and classes, but suffice it to say I found it incredibly enlightening and really enjoyed it.  And I think it'll be very helpful in communicating with our clients and in explaining the legal system to them. 


So how does this relate to language, you ask?  Well, it does.  I learned there is a difference between casual register and formal register.  It's all how you communicate and understand others.  See, we lawyers have this serious problem.  We talk in legal-ease.  We're formal.   We assume that everyone around us understands what we say.  We use big legal words (sometimes to sound important) but mostly because we were brainwashed to do so in law school.  You can't be traumatized brain-washed forced happy to read boring, old case law for three straight years and not walk around talking like you wear a white wig and wear a black robe.  For some, it's intentional (to sound smarter than the person they are speaking to).  but those people are jerks.  For me, it's because it's ingrained.  I can't help it.   But I'm trying to work on it.


Part of what I do in my job is to help people who come to our office to seek legal help understand the court system and prepare them for court.  More importantly, I try to prepare them for what to say to the judge and what to understand when reading legal documents.  Because let's face it - with words like Petitioner, Respondent, Wherefore, Heretofore, Bequeath, etc., it can feel like you are reading a foreign language.  And it's intimidating.  And scary.  So something I'm working hard to do is to explain it in a way that is easy to understand.  Read through the legal document and explain exactly what it is saying and explain that it's not as bad as it sounds when first reading it. 


Part of that is also preparing a client for testifying.  Something in a casual register might be acceptable to say in just regular conversation with friends or family...might not be the best thing to say in court when in front of a judge.  It can be hard, but it can be done.  And it does take practicing or going through question and after question so there are no surprises when someone is on the stand.  (Surprises in court are bad, bad, bad.  Trust me.)  And it's not to be mean, but it's to help.  Because nothing is more frustrating to someone when you're in an unfamiliar situation and feel like people are patronizing you and talking over your head.  And like surprises...a frustrated witness is a bad thing, too.  Plus, I want the client walking away from the whole legal experience feeling good about it.  Not feeling stupid or taken advantage of or used. 


So to me, when I hear the word language, I don't just think of English, Spanish, French, or (insert another language here.)  It also means a way of communicating, a person's speech.  And I need to find some way to end this rambling blog.  Because I could go on and on about this, but...I might be boring you all.   So in the words of Forest Gump "that's all I have to say about that." 


Therefore, I hereby order this blog post terminated henceforth. 



 
 

9 comments:

  1. Do not terminate the blog! I beseech you! :-)
    Or in other words, "I object!"
    I actuall do understand most legalese, but only after spending a few years in Crim Justice courses and concentrating on court documents. (Fun!)
    I'm glad you do what you do. So many people benefit from your services.
    You're linked!

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  2. I agree that in given career's most of us do not understand the language and the alphabet soup from different professions. It is good to have someone explain things clearly and concisely. (In fact many leaders of communication believe that if we can't explain things in simpler terms we don't fully understand our own professions. I'm on the fence about that assessment but I can see the value in it).

    OK I'm giving a disclaimer here, I hope I don't make you angry, but personally I take Ruby Payne with a grain of salt. She has a few valid points regarding the un or under-educated, all you have to do is watch an episode of Cops to see the communication break down; but she absolutely has no grasp of culture. . I do believe we have to be aware of the language registers but we must be careful to avoid low expectations.

    Plus I just have trouble with people from different socio-economic and cultures explaining how other SES and cultures are. Unless a person has lived it or worked closely (as in immersed in) the culture I don't feel I'm getting an accurate read. This is a major pet peeve of mine.

    Here is a good article that explores the problems with Payne's approach: http://www.indiana.edu/~iplacc/docs/Educational%20Brief-Trouble%20with%20Ruby%20Payne.pdf I don't agree with everything in the article but overall the author makes valid arguments regarding Payne's approach to education.

    I hope you still like me. =>


    Lily

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  3. I love it - such a unique way to look at language!

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  4. I understand English/Spanish legal terms, because I had to study them in my degree (I'm supposed to be able to translate all kind of legal documents.) But I don't like them. Legal terminology and syntax is so boring and complex.

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  5. I bet you would love David Foster Wallace's article about just this topic. It's called "Tense Present."

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  6. Being a computer programmer I have the same challenges. However, I also used to do computer support and learned how to rephrase things in order for those who do not understand technology to know what I'm talking about.

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  7. It's all in the communication part of language. Failing to communicate is never good, no matter how much language you use.

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  8. In management interpersonal savvy is always something I have to coach my supervisors on within the first month. It's so hard to teach peopl how it's not what you're saying it's how you're saying it. That speaking to one person plain, simple and straightforward isn't how you can speak to everyone. Either way it's an interesting subject. I often tell my supervisors intentions are not reality, you can say something with the best of intentions. It's how what your saying is perceived that matters. You can have all the knowledge inthe world, but if you can't present it in a way people will want to hear and learn from, then you light as well have no tongue.

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  9. This was fascinating to read! Truly. I wasn't bored :-)

    Language is so interesting. also, I love how you ended your post, so funny!

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