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Thread: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

  1. #131
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    Hi there!
    I started filling out the survey but I got a bit mixed up and stopped it.This is why I got confused:
    You have five possible ratings about the politeness of a post the middle one being "perfectly appropriate". Does this mean that if I rate a post as "very polite", I think that it shouldn't being so polite? Or should I translate the word "appropriate" as "average"?

    Sorry about not finishing the survey now. If you get me straight on the issue above, I promise to do it soon. I just want to understand the questions correctly so that my answers might be useful.

  2. #132
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    Quote Originally Posted by Irihapeti View Post
    I find it fascinating how so many people find it "obvious" what another poster meant, and start an argument based on that certainty. They may be close to the mark about the original poster's meaning, or they may be miles off.
    Yes, for me that is also the most interesting phenomena: a speaker has a certain intention/attitude that he tries to communicate, using language. He can do it as carefully as he might, the success still depends on the hearer who interprets the message, trying to "decode" the intention/attitude. Ideally, intention and interpretation match, but often enough they don't - and then it can get complicated.

    Quote Originally Posted by Irihapeti View Post
    I've learned that not jumping to conclusions about other people's motives, and being more thoughtful about how I communicate, have made life a lot more fun than it used to be. Fewer angry people around, for one thing
    Same here - found myself thinking often enough over Emails I was writing or had received, trying to make clear what I want to say or to decipher what was meant by the writer

    Quote Originally Posted by Irihapeti View Post
    That may not be the original reason why you did this research, but it looks as though some other people might be taking this message from it.
    It is not the original reason for the research, but the reason why I wanted to do it on ubuntuforums.org. Free Software communities essentially depend on intercultural communication, with contributors from all over the world. And I think great part of Ubuntu's success stems from the fact that, from the beginning, "social excellence" was regarded as important as technical excellence. Which, in 2004, was something new in the Distro-World, I guess.


    Quote Originally Posted by Irihapeti View Post
    Which sounds like a wonderful side-effect to me.
    Would be cool if there was - I think it is pretty important to keep this "understanding spirit" in a growing community, and if this small survey can help a little bit to show how different we all see the world, that'd be great

  3. #133
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    Quote Originally Posted by aguafuertes View Post
    Yes, for me that is also the most interesting phenomena: a speaker has a certain intention/attitude that he tries to communicate, using language. He can do it as carefully as he might, the success still depends on the hearer who interprets the message, trying to "decode" the intention/attitude. Ideally, intention and interpretation match, but often enough they don't - and then it can get complicated.
    That is a good observation.

    In face-to-face conversations, we have extra clues, such as body language, to help us "decode" intent and meaning. When you add other factos as well (e.g. I tend to be literal minded) it can get complicated trying to figure things out.

    Yes, effective communication is a rich subject.
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  4. #134
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    Quote Originally Posted by montres View Post
    Hi there!
    I started filling out the survey but I got a bit mixed up and stopped it.This is why I got confused:
    You have five possible ratings about the politeness of a post the middle one being "perfectly appropriate". Does this mean that if I rate a post as "very polite", I think that it shouldn't being so polite? Or should I translate the word "appropriate" as "average"?
    Thanks for the feedback! And yes, the category labels are not ideal - but the best I could come up with without having to write a long introduction.

    "Very polite" is not meant to be negative - it does not mean that you think the post is too polite.

    "Perfectly appropriate" is neutral - it means that you think that, in the current situation, the post is perfectly normal, nothing "special", positive or negative, about it. I'm not sure if "average" would be the right translation, though.

    Quote Originally Posted by montres View Post
    Sorry about not finishing the survey now. If you get me straight on the issue above, I promise to do it soon. I just want to understand the questions correctly so that my answers might be useful.
    Really glad you asked instead of "just" filling it out Hopefully I could make it clearer how the categories are meant - I just realized again how hard it is to describe these things clearly.

    Thanks for participating!

  5. #135
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    Quote Originally Posted by lisati View Post
    In face-to-face conversations, we have extra clues, such as body language, to help us "decode" intent and meaning.
    Right, this is all missing in an Internet forum, where all we have is text. Ok, there are emoticons, but still

  6. #136
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    I notice that when I'm reading emails or posts, I tend to imagine the tone of voice that the poster would be using. Of course, I don't know what the poster would sound like, so I have to make something up. If the post seems hostile to me, then I'm likely to imagine the sarcastic tones of one of my parents. That then colours the meaning I take from it.

    And it's all got little to do with how I would be hearing the poster if he/she were in the same room. No wonder misunderstanding arises!
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  7. #137
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    Finished! Hope it helps.

  8. #138
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    Quote Originally Posted by montres View Post
    Finished! Hope it helps.
    Great, thanks!

  9. #139
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    Quote Originally Posted by forestpixie View Post
    I just wondered if it was because you perceived that there were more american users here.

    Personally, of course, being English, imo the English used here is correct and everyone else is just being different
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    Re: Linguistic survey on ubuntuforums.org

    You release that source code yet? /kick

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