Lesson 1 Reviewer: Communication in Multicultural Contexts

Purposive communication is about writing, speaking, and presenting to different audiences and for various
purposes (CMO 20, s. 2013). It is a three-unit course that develops students' communicative competence
and enhances their cultural and intercultural awareness through multimodal tasks that provide them
opportunity for communicating effectively and appropriately to a multicultural context in a local or global
context. It equips students with tools for critical evaluation of a variety of text and focuses on the power of
language and the impact of images to emphasize the importance of conveying messages responsibly. The
knowledge, skills, and insights that students gain from this course may be used in their other academic
endeavors, their chosen disciplines, and their future careers as they compose and produce relevant oral,
written, audio-visual and/or web-based output for various purposes

Communication in Multicultural Contexts

Alexander (1984) stated that communication occurs when a sender expresses an emotion or a feeling,
creates an idea, or senses the need to communicate. The communication process is triggered when the
sender makes a conscious or unconscious decision to share the message with another person—the
receiver. It is a process wherein the exchange of information between two or more people (Bernales,
Balon, and Biligan, 2018). Keyton (2011) supported this notion of communication when he defined it as:
Communication can be defined as the process of transmitting information and common understanding
from one person to another.

For communication to succeed, both the participants must be able to exchange information and
understand each other. If this flow of information is interrupted or blocked, communication fails. The word
communication is derived from the Latin word “communis,” which means common.

In our everyday lives, for communication to be effectively transmitted, elements of communication must
be present, and these include:
a) Speaker
b) Message
c) Receiver
d) Channel
e) Feedback
f) Communicative Situation

Alexander (1984) further explains that every communicative act is based on something that conveys
meaning, and that conveyance is the message. The message may be either verbal (spoken or written) or
nonverbal (body language, physical appearance, or vocal tone). Messages may also come from the
context—or place and time—of the communication.

Moreover, every message is sent and received through one of our five senses—it is seen, heard, touched,
tasted, or smelled. The sensory media through which messages are sent and received are communication
channels.

In a work setting, messages may be seen through body movement, letters, memos, newsletters, bulletin
board notices, signs, emails, and so on. Messages that are heard come through conversations, interviews,
presentations, telephones, radios, and other audio media.

Sight and sound are the two most frequent communication channels used in our society

Verbal and Non-Verbal Communication

“If all my talents and powers to be taken from me by some inscrutable Providence and I had my choice of
keeping but one, I would unhesitatingly ask that I be allowed to keep my power of speech for through it, I
would regain the rest.”
— Daniel Webster
“To speak and to speak well are two different things.”
— Ben Johnson

“We listen a book a day, we speak a book a week, read the equivalent of a book a month and write the
equivalent of a book a year.”
— Walter Loban

Definitions of Communication

1. Communication is a process by which we assign and convey meaning in an attempt to create

shared understanding.
This process requires a vast repertoire of skills:
✓ Intrapersonal and interpersonal processing
✓ Listening
✓ Observing
✓ Speaking
✓ Questioning
✓ Analyzing
✓ Evaluating

2. It can be seen as processes of information transmission governed by three levels of semiotic

rules:
❖ Syntactic - Rules for forming sentences. (how words are arranged)
❖ Pragmatic - What the speaker intends and how the listener interprets it. (how we understand
language based on the situation.)
❖ Semantic - What the sentence means. (meaning of words and sentences.)

3. It is therefore a social interaction where at least two interacting agents share a common set of
signs and a common set of semiotic rules. (Communication happens when two people
understand each other by using the same signs, like words or gestures, and follow the same rules
for how to use them. It’s a way of sharing meaning together.)

4. The Oxford Advanced Learner‘s Dictionary defines communication as: The act of passing news,
information…, the act of sharing or exchanging thoughts, ideas, feelings with others or with a
group; the act of participating with or sharing in common, the “we-belong-to-same-feeling” as in
communication with… or the act of thinking about oneself.

5. Communication is derived from the Latin word “communis,” which means, “Belonging to many”
or “equally” and “communico” – to confer with others. It is the mutual exchange of information,
ideas, and understanding by any effective means (Ballesterros, 2003).

6. Communication refers to the process of human beings responding to the symbolic behavior of
other persons (Adler and Rodman, 1997).
❖ COMMUNICATION IS HUMAN.
❖ COMMUNICATION IS A PROCESS.
❖ COMMUNICATION IS SYMBOLIC.
7. The communication done by animals is relatively different from humans. The manner by which we
communicate or use different gestures, facial expression, etc. to communicate is different from
the dance that is done by bees to instruct their hive-mates on the location of food or the
chimpanzees that have been taught to express themselves using sign language like deaf humans.

8. We often talk about communication as if it occurred in discrete, individual acts. In fact,

communication is a continuous, ongoing process.
Consider, for example, a friend‘s compliment about your appearance. This example shows that it’s
inaccurate to talk about “acts” of communication as if they occurred in isolation.
Communication isn’t a series of incidents pasted together like photographs in a scrapbook;
instead, it is more like a motion picture in which the meaning comes from the unfolding of an
 interrelated series of images.
The fact that communication is a process is reflected in the transactional model.

9. Symbols are used to represent things, processes, ideas, or events in ways that make
communication possible. The most significant feature of symbols is their arbitrary nature.

10. In addition to this, nonverbal communication can have symbolic meaning. As with words, some
nonverbal behaviors, though arbitrary, have clearly agreed-upon meanings.

Other Concepts of Communication

1. Allen Louis – Communication is the sum of all things (telling, listening and understanding). It is a
systematic activity under any given circumstances.

2. Henry Kuntz – Communication is the transferring of information from one person to another
whether or not he/she elicits that confidence.

3. George Terry – Communication is the exchange of ideals, feelings, and emotions between two or
more persons.

4. Keith Davis – The purpose of passing information and understanding between two persons…
without the bridge of communication no one can cross the river of understanding.

Types of Communication According to Mode

A message may be imparted through these types: verbal, non-verbal, and visual. While communication
is often thought of as verbal, the non-verbal mode is equally essential as it enhances one's message.

A. Verbal Communication

• (Linguistics) The process of sending and receiving messages with words, including writing and sign
language.

• It refers to the form of communication in which message is transmitted verbally.

• Communication is done by word of mouth and a piece of writing.

Verbal Communication: Oral

• Spoken words are used

• Includes face-to-face conversations, speech, telephonic conversation, video, radio, television,

voice over internet.

• Influenced by pitch, volume, speed and clarity of speaking.

Verbal Communication: Written

• Written signs or symbols are used to communicate.

• Transmitted via email, letter, report, memo etc.

• Most common form in business communication.

B. Nonverbal Communication

• Sending or receiving of wordless messages (gestures, body language, posture, tone of voice, facial
expressions).

• It is all about the body language of speaker.

Three elements of Nonverbal Communication:

 1. Appearance (Speaker) – Clothing, hairstyle, neatness, use of cosmetics
Appearance (Surrounding) – Room size, lighting, decorations, furnishings

2. Body language – Facial expressions, gestures, postures

3. Sounds – Voice tone, volume, speech rate

Communication Models and Elements

• Speaking and listening are vital elements of communication. Therefore, in any communication
situation, you are both speaker and listener. (Villamarzo, 2003)

• Eugene White (1960) mentions eight stages in the cycle of communication:

❖ Thinking
❖ Symbolizing
❖ Expressing
❖ Transmitting
❖ Receiving
❖ Decoding
❖ Reacting
❖ Monitoring

• Roman Jacobson mentions the following as components of communication:

❖ Addresser (speaker)
❖ Addressee (listener)
❖ Context (situation)
❖ Contact
❖ Code
❖ Message

• Gronbeck defines model as:

“A picture or a representation of a thing or process that identifies the key parts or elements and indicates
how each element affects the operations of all of the elements.”

Communication Model – a sketch that shows the basic elements of the communication process, and
how each element affects the other elements in the entire communication process as a system.

Homework 101

Task:
Research the different functions of communication and prepare for an oral recitation at the next
meeting.

Evaluation Criteria:

• Content: 5

• Grammar: 3

• Delivery: 5

Functions of Communication

1. Informative Function

o We want to inform other people of what we know—facts, information, and knowledge.

 o Informing their subordinates or for the purpose of telling them what to do, how to do, when
to do, etc.

2. Instructive Function

3. Persuasive Function

o Art of influencing others to agree with your point of view, accept your proposal, or take
action on your behalf.

4. Motivation Function

o Motivation refers to giving employees a strong reason to accomplish something.

5. Aesthetic Function

o We use communication for pleasure and enjoyment.

6. Therapeutic Function / Emotional Expression

o Communication is curative and serves to maintain good health.

7. Regulation / Control

o People use communication to maintain control over other people’s attitude and behavior.

8. Social Interaction

o Communication helps us start, maintain, regulate, or even end relationships with other
people.