Question

What role does language play in the development of self-consciousness? What role does self-consciousness, as mead uses the term, play in social interaction?

Answer 1

Self-conscious :

Self conscious helps to construct a sequence of experiences by introspection. During introspection a person talks to his mind for which the language is important. This language generates the needed story with the pre-reflective self consciousness and the perceptions. Language has a close relation with cognition and therefore it reports all the experiences, feelings and perceptions to develope self-conscious by being a "window-to-the-mind".

Social interaction :

According to Mead observations, a language starts with visceral gestures which initiate the social interaction. This interaction happens through the communication and effortless expression of thoughts in the form of speech by language. Thus the language has a major influence on psychology of a person which is in turn instrumental in shaping one's personality. This personality is reflected during social-interactions.