Chapter 1
The first chapter addresses the weaknesses in the form of presumptions made by the conduit metaphor. The conduit metaphor asserts that communication is basically the relaying of information through such a suitable medium as language. In this chapter, the article has revealed the examples in terms of language models that seek to illustrate some of the weaknesses in the conduit metaphor. Besides addressing the weaknesses associated with the conduit metaphor, this chapter does a practical analysis of what communication really is. The article has been used effectively in taking a deeper look at the components of communication. It was revealed that communication actually arises from habitual engagements. Moreover, this chapter also draws an important link between the communication and culture, which is very helpful in terms of defining the real components of communication. Culture is generally defined as a set of practice and beliefs that can be used to identify a unique group of people. In essence, culture is basically people’s habitual engagement. Bearing in mind the link existing between the communication and habitual engagements, it becomes clear that communication is also directly linked to culture. In addition to establishing the link between the culture, habit and communication, this chapter also analyses the impact of signs in communication. It is clearly noted that the way of signs interpretation is very significant when it comes to the analysis of communication.
Chapter 2
The second chapter is devoted to the aspect of language. The author has managed to breakdown the definition of language presenting the readers with different view points on this important aspect of communication. The chapter also recognizes the importance of sounds in analyzing language, because variations in sounds produced can be very helpful in linguistic analysis. In addition to the sounds produced, another aspect of language that has been clearly addressed in this chapter is semantic analysis of language. In fact, each language has sounds and each sound is associated with a specific meaning. Semantic analysis is therefore important in deciphering the meanings of various sounds produced by various languages. Finally, the chapter has addressed the issue of parallelism in language description and connotation clearly explaining how it impacts language development.
Chapter 3
The third chapter analyses the observable variations in language when it comes to the analysis of language and various language aspects among different cultures. The chapter clearly explains the effect of comparing various aspects of language such as semiotic structures, semiotic practices and metasemiotic models. The chapter also explains how such comparison reveals to a great extent the diversity in the cross-cultural analysis of language. According to this chapter, the diversity in language can be attributed to the three specific language constituents, namely semiotic structures, semiotic practices, and metasemiotic models. Another aspect of language that reveals diversity is language morphology. The chapter accurately illustrates the various morphological structures of different languages including English, Spanish and Finnish. Moreover, the analysis of these three languages has been very instrumental in illustrating the impact of morphology on the diversity of language.
Chapter 4
The fourth and the final chapter analyses several issues in relation to language and its use. One of the issues revealed in this chapter is how language and specific language use can impact mental activity. Actually, it is true that use of language in communication (bearing in mind the fact that communication is a habitual process) can have a big impact on mental activity. The fourth chapter has employed the use of various aspects of language in revealing this impact. A good example is the relationship between human beings’ cognitive development and the development of literacy skills. The chapter also points out that cognitive development is directly linked with language use including the development of writing as a form of language use.