A Rubber is Always a Rubber

By KristinNador Kristin Nador

Try to communicate without using symbols. I did not realize before that without symbols, there is no communication.  But symbols are arbitrarily assigned a meaning by a culture and can vary greatly.My husband is from Austria and his native language is German. He learned British English in his home country. In one of his first classes at the University of Northern Iowa, a student in front of him dropped his eraser on the floor. My husband picked it up and said, "Excuse me, you've dropped your rubber on the floor." Instantly all heads in the class turned to look at the object in question. In England an eraser is called a rubber. Just a little misunderstanding. The meaning of symbols is transferred from one person to another. In order for communication to be effective, both must be culturally literate. The image of bird for a person from the Midwest is much different that someone from Australia. The image also conveys so much implied knowledge. Understanding the schemata will help teachers develop effective lessons.