The Psychology of Language: How Humans Convey Emotion through Speech

by Allie Travis

Scientists define emotional intelligence as “the ability to identify and manage your own emotions and the emotions of others”. The skill of emotional intelligence involves being emotionally aware of the emotions of oneself and others, being capable of harnessing emotions (oneself and others), and managing or regulating emotions to fit situations.

Can being aware of, interpreting, and managing emotions impact language learning ability? You bet. In one study, researchers found that individuals high in emotional Intelligence were better at English language learning because they are more proficient listeners, able to manage their own stresses and can easily adapt themselves within the context of the text they are reading.

Human speech conveys much more than linguistic meaning. Listening to different aspects of speech can also provide useful information about emotion. In fact, the emotional content of speech is perceivable even when the utterance is emotionally ambiguous or when the listener doesn’t know the language. To become more aware of the emotions of others, take note of the following vocal elements of speech delivery:

These verbal elements of speech delivery are used in conjunction with one another to add (or subtract) energy and expression to the spoken word. Language learners can pay closer attention to those around them as they speak – and to their own vocal variety – to become more aware of emotions and increase emotional intelligence.

About the Author

Veranda Hillard-Charleston is Chief Contributing Editor for a popular Psychology Grad portal. Veranda received her Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern State University of Louisiana. With more than five years of experience as a trained mental health professional, she regularly writes for major

Articles

Writing systems | Language and languages | Language learning | Pronunciation | Learning vocabulary | Language acquisition | Motivation and reasons to learn languages | Arabic | Basque | Celtic languages | Chinese | English | Esperanto | French | German | Greek | Hebrew | Indonesian | Italian | Japanese | Korean | Latin | Portuguese | Russian | Sign Languages | Spanish | Swedish | Other languages | Minority and endangered languages | Constructed languages (conlangs) | Reviews of language courses and books | Language learning apps | Teaching languages | Languages and careers | Being and becoming bilingual | Language and culture | Language development and disorders | Translation and interpreting | Multilingual websites, databases and coding | History | Travel | Food | Other topics | Spoof articles | How to submit an article

[top]


Green Web Hosting - Kualo

You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.

 

Talk in Arabic - Learn Egyptian, Iraqi, Levantine, Sundanese, Moroccan, Algerian or Saudi Arabic

If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.

 

Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.fr are affiliate links. This means I earn a commission if you click on any of them and buy something. So by clicking on these links you can help to support this site.

[top]

iVisa.com