Becoming Responsible Communicators

Becoming Responsible Communicators
Before we are born, we can hear the sounds of language. As infants, we hear language as meaningless sounds projected from our parents' mouths. When we realize that one simple word can make our mothers respond, we experience the power of words that can be helpful in communicating. Sometimes this power is abused. Haig A. Bosmajian, a professor of Parliamentary Procedure, Rhetoric, and Freedom of Speech at the University of Washington, uses many examples in his essay, "The Language of Oppression," to demonstrate the use of language and naming to aid in t…