With people of a professional group, it is often difficult and sometimes even impossible to communicate effectively and accurately using normal everyday language. They use jargons to primarily to convey their ideas and their technical utterances among themselves. A jargon is a form of a specialized or technical language which acts as shorthand between groups of like-minded people especially professionals. This is a form of communication that aims to eliminate the need for lengthy explanations since the parties to this communication already comprehend what the terms mean (Tyagi,Kavita&Padma 112). Jargons exist in almost all forms of occupations ranging from a cobbler to a brain surgeon. Therefore, jargons are very efficient tools of communication that can be used to either include or exclude various individuals from a conversation. In this paper I will seek to deeply discuss the use of Jargon as a form of communication and also explain some of the advantages and disadvantages that may result through the use of this form of communication.
In regard to communication, before using a jargon or making a choice of which vocabulary to use, one should first asses their audience and determine if it would be possible for them to easily understand what they intended to communicate when they use jargons. Although Jargons are immensely helpful in communication between specific groups of individuals, it becomes a problem when the specialist tries to communicate with a non-specialist. However, the use of jargons has become widely misused by professionals, organizations and even by the government. Most documents from the government are written using jargons especially from the legal field thus making it hard for the general populace to clearly understand the intended message. It is for this reason that the use of Jargons sometimes acquires a negative reputation.
In their scientific Journal The Uses And Misuses Of Quantum Jargons, Jahn and Brenda clearly explains how beneficial the use of jargons in communication can be to a particular group of people while at the same time sounding irrelevant to a different group of individuals. They for instance give an example of the use of the Jargon ‘Chlorophyll’ which can easily be understood by biologist as being the element that enables photosynthesis to take place in plants; but to a layman, more explanation is required to enable them understand that it simply means that green leaves makes their food through the use of light. This example shows a negative feature of jargons. It is considered unprofessional and also a characteristic of poor communications when a specialist intentionally uses Jargons when talking to an individual or a group of persons who through basic knowledge, he or she can easily know that they would not be able to grasp what the jargon means.
Jargons become offensive when they are being used by certain individuals with the aim of inflating the importance of whatever they are doing or in the quest to impress. Some individuals tend to use this form of communication in order to maintain a level of power or positions of influence (Wurm & Stephen 12). They tend to exclude other people from the parties that they belong by capitalizing on use of a language which will not be understood. They tend to use unnecessarily complicated words and phrases that can be simply explained through simple and short words. For instance a finance officer or an accountant may at a time replace the word ‘salary’ with a more technical jargon ‘personal remuneration package’ when talking to a client. This is a jargon language and should only be used between like-minded specialists.
Jargon language and slang are sometimes thought to be similar. Teenagers also invent their own form of communication which is also intended to exclude other people especially their parents and teachers from understanding their conversations. This form of language is referred to as slang. The major difference between jargon language and slang is the aspect of professionalism associated with the use of jargons. In most cases, the use of certain jargons circulates widely that the vocabulary used becomes fashionable and are ultimately converted into substitutes for expressions and clear thinking. However, there have recently emerged some activists who advocate for an alternative to the jargonized language and prints by organizations and governments.
It is usually not advisable for one to use jargon language where simple and perfectly ordinary language can be used. Jargon language should strictly be used only between people of the same field or who clearly understand what the jargon means. In order to avoid the misuse of jargons, an individual should consider their audience and the complexity of the vocabularies that they include in their communication. It is therefore evident that jargon language is immensely essential and effective when used by professionals in a particular field but at times can become a barrier to communication when being used between people from different groups.
Works cited
Jahn, Robert J., and Brenda J. Dunne. "The Uses And Misuses Of Quantum Jargon." Journal Of
Scientific Exploration 25.2 (2011): 339-341. Academic Search Premier. Web. 31 May 2013.
Wurm, Stephen A. Atlas of Languages of Intercultural Communication in the Pacific, Asia, and
the Americas. Berlin [etc.: Mouton de Gruyter, 2007. Print.
Beck, Andrew, Peter Bennett, and Peter Wall. Communication studies: the essential
introduction. Psychology Press, 2002.
Tyagi, Kavita, and Padma Misra. Professional Communication. , 2011. Print.Bottom of Form
Sharma, Sangeeta, and Binod Mishra. Communication Skills for Engineers and Scientists. New
Dehli, India: PHI Learning, 2009. Print.
