Language Use and Conflict - Essay Example

The syntactic rule, on the other hand, must always govern a written message so that the reader gets the very meaning that the writer intended to convey.

            Johnny and Ken, in the course of exchanging words, failed to observe some of these simple rules. The whole conversation, therefore, can be seen as an abuse of language. Johnny opens the talk with an ambiguous statement that gave his roommate leeway to use any language. Johnny asked, “Does your friend has to stay here all the time?”(n.pg).In this question, he did not clearly bring out what he meant by that. This was the ambiguous question that led to the conflict. In response to this ambiguity, Ken employed the use of an inferential statement. He thought Johnny was already very mad at him and his friend. Therefore, Ken turns furious to counteract his supposed temper, Johnny. Ken replied, “You said you were chill with it before” (n.pg). This statement also shows that Ken must have used a static evaluation on Johnny. When Johnny had agreed to accommodate the friend earlier, Ken thought that he had made a permanent decision and could not change his mind whatsoever. The sudden change of mind took Ken by surprise since he had never expected that from Johnny. There was also a lack of euphemism in their tones. Both Ken and Johnny had poor diction. They failed to use pleasant words in place of blunt ones. For instance, Johnny says “…I don’t like it. I am tired of this! You are the worst” Ken also calls Johnny “dumb” n.pg. These are emotive statements.

            If the two had chosen to use polite language (euphemism) on each other, they would have come to an understanding and solved their differences in a smooth way. Johnny, in his first statement, could have avoided ambiguity by politely explaining to Ken why and how his friend had become a burden. Ken could have sat down and listened to the grievances of his roommate. This is how the conversation would have been:-

Johnny: Hey Ken, will you please talk to your friend about staying here all the time?

Ken: I thought you were chill with it Johnny. Do you mind telling me why you changed your mind?

Johnny: well, your friend stays here too often and I don’t find it easy to read

Ken: Sure. I will talk to him. I don’t want him to affect your scores either. Please avoid playing video games too.

Johnny: thanks to you Ken. Now I know I will get a good night's sleep. You are the best roommate EVER.