Chapter 1
Perspectives of
Communication
I. Definition
A Communication
refers to the process of creating or sharing meaning in private, social,
or public settings. The textbook definition is that "Communication
is the process of creating or sharing meaning in informal conversation,
group interaction, or public speaking." (p. 4)
B Meaning creating
or sharing is generally intentional.
C Meaning creating
or sharing sometimes can be unintentional as meaning comes out of the negotiation
of communicators involved. Sometimes you cannot not communicate as
you cannot regulate others' interpretation of your behaviors.
II. Communication
Competence
A. Communication
competence is a combination of 1) motivation (cognitive complexity), 2)
knowledge, 3) skills, 4) credibility (a perception of a speaker's knowledge,
trustworthiness, and warmth p. 20), and 5) social ease (communicating without
nervousness and anxiety p. 20).
B Competence is situational, relational, and culturally bound.
III. Elements of
Communication
A Participants
- people in communication
B Messages consist
of four elements: meanings, symbols, encoding and decoding, and form or
organization.
The encoding and decoding of meaning are conducted through verbal and nonverbal
symbols.
Messages can be spontaneous (without much conscious thought), scripted
(learned behavior),
or constructed messages (prepared with careful thought).
C Contexts regulate
or influence our communication behavior and action
1. physical context - location and distance
2. Social context - occasion and relationship
3. historical context - previous episodes
4. psychological context - moods and feelings
5. Cultural context - beliefs, values, attitudes, roles, sense of history,
etc.
D Channels -
transportation of symbols containing messages
E Noise - physical, psychological, semantic interference (slurs, profanity, and vulgar speech) to the conduct of communication
F Feedback - response to a message
IV. Communication
Types or Settings
A Interpersonal
communication
B Small group
communication
C Public communication
D Mass communication
E Intercultural
communication
F Computer-mediated
communication
V. Functions of
Human Communication
A Practical Needs:
daily necessities that need to be satisfied through communication
B Social Needs:
love, companionship, escape, influence, etc. that can only be expressed
through communication
C Identity Needs:
developing and maintaining our sense of self through communication
D Physical Needs:
Cohen et al, Journal of American Medical Association 277 (1997):
1940-44
Healthy associations with other people or loving, caring, supportive relationships
help us to maintain good health. Communication is our human health
insurance.
VI. Ethical Implications
A Truthfulness
and honesty - refrain from lying, cheating, stealing, or deception
B Integrity -
consistent belief and action in communication
C Fairness -
impartiality or lack of bias
D Respect - showing
regard to a person and for that person's rights
E Responsibility
- being accountable for one's actions
Chapter 2
Perception and
Communication
I. Definition
Perception is the
process of selectively attending to information and assigning meaning to
it.
II. Framework of
Perception: we select our perception upon these three major factors
A biological
and psychological needs
B interests
C expectations
--- we see what we like to see
III. Organization
of Stimuli
A
Principles of simplicity: the use commonly recognized form in assigning
meaning to stimuli
B
Principle of patterns: a set of characteristics used to differentiate one
entity from another
C
Interpretation of the input - make stimuli meaningful for one's cognitive
process
IV. Perceiving the
Self
A Self-concept
(reflected appraisal)
1. We develop our own sense of ourselves in terms of identity, skills,
abilities, knowledge,
personality, and probably many more.
2. We learn to form impressions about ourselves through communicating with
others.
3. We use other people's comments to confirm or dis-confirm our perceptions
of ourselves. "Self-monitoring is the internal process of observing
and regulating your own behavior based on your analysis of the situation
and others' responses to you." (p. 35)
4. The shaping forces of the Self includes these elements:
Individuals in our immediate life circle
Groups we belong to
Society we live in, especially cultural and gender influences upon one's
self - perception
Self-labeling "A role is a pattern of learned behaviors
that people use to meet the perceived demands of a particular context."
(p. 34)
B Self-esteem
Self-esteem is our overall evaluation of our personal worthiness - it is
our positive or negative
evaluation of our self-concept
C Self-fulfilling
prophecies
Self-fulfilling prophecies are subliminal messages that make the expected
outcome likely to happen. "Self-fulfilling prophecies are events
that happen as the result of being foretold, expected, or talked about.
They may be self created or other imposed." (p. 36)
V. Perceiving Others
A In perceiving
others communicators use one or more the following constructs
1. Physical
construct - race, gender, age, appearance, other physical features
2. Social
construct - "personality traits" (friendly, warm, easy-going, outspoken)
3. Competence
construct - skills, talents, knowledge, abilities in general
4. Membership
construct - social and economic status
B Implicit personality theory: we start with one construct and then build other constructs associated with the primary construct. Or we form our primary impression and associate other qualities based upon the primary impression. This theory explains the "halo effect" and the "horn effect" in perception.
C Danger in Perception
1. Stereotyping
- simplified and standardized conceptions about the characters or behaviors
of
members of an identifiable group
2. Prejudice
- a belief or opinion that a person unfairly holds without sufficient grounds
3. Discrimination
- unfair or harmful way of treating a group of people, e.g. racism, ethnocentrism,
and sexism
D Emotional Status
VII. Improving Perceptions
A Question the
accuracy of one's perceptions and seek more information to verify perceptions
B Pay attention
to the cues and clues from the context and the use of language
C Realize that
perceptions may need to be changed over time
D Use perception
checking to verify conclusion one has drawn
Chapter 3
Verbal Communication
I. The Nature of
Language
Language is a collection of symbols, governed by a variety of rules, and
used to convey messages
between people.
II. Rules of Language
A phonologic
rules - pronunciation
B semantic rules
- meaningful combination of words
C syntactic rules
- grammar
D Pragmatic rules
- interpretation of meaning according to the situation or the relationship
Pragmatic
rules differentiate
1.
Content message - the literal meaning of the message
2.
Relational message - the implied meaning about the relationship itself
III. Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis: power of language
"Language allows
us to perceive certain aspects of the world by naming them and allows us
to ignore other parts of the world by not naming them." (p. 56)
A Language makes
it possible to make knowledge (designate, label, define, or limit experience)
and pass knowledge from one generation to another generation (to preserve
human civilization).
B Language makes
it possible for human beings to coordinate and cooperate, especially on
a large scale.
C Language describes,
shapes, and reflects our perception of the reality.
1. Gender Differences
in Verbal Communication: masculine style and feminine style
"According to Wood
(2007), feminine styles of language typically use words of empathy and
support, emphasize concrete and personal language, and show politeness
and tentativeness in speaking. Masculine styles of language often use words
of status and problem solving, emphasize abstract and general language,
and show assertiveness and control in speaking."
purpose: relational
function in comparison with instrumental function
styles: rapport
talk in comparison with report talk
function: "talk
it out and move forward" in comparison with "bury it and forget about it"
2. Cultural Differences
in Verbal Communication: low-context and high-context
* Direct or Indirect
- how straight forward in conveying the meaning
* Elaborate or
Succinct - how detailed in explanation
* Formality or
Informality
IV. Speech
Community
A speech community is a group of people who share the same language and
the cultural reference of the language.
V. Speaking More
Clearly
A Use specific
words (more particular), concrete words (more sense related), and
precise words (more accurate)
B Provide details
and examples
C Dating information
D Indexing generalizations
- acknowledging that individual cases can differ from the general trend
when drawing generalization
V. Speaking Appropriately
A appropriately
formal to the situation and relationship
B appropriately
sensitive to participants of communication: avoid belittling language
by virtue of sex, race, age, and handicap
C appropriately
decent to the context: avoid profane and vulgar expressions.
Those expressions usually only indicate that the individual is unable to
express his or her thoughts or feelings at any but the most ignorant level.
D Do not use
hate speech.
Chapter 4
Nonverbal Communication
I. Definition
Textbook
Definition: Actions and vocal qualities that typically accompany a verbal
message (p.78)
More
inclusive definition: Communication without words
II. Sources of Nonverbal Communication
Kinesics: Use of Body
A. Eye contact
B. Facial expression
C. Gesture: movements
of hands, arms, fingers
D. Posture: position
and arrangement of body
E. Touch (Haptics,
the interpretation of touch p. 81))
1. Importance of touch in Infants physical health and mental development
2. Montagu, The Human Significance of the Skin: human contact has
curing effects
Vocalics: Use of Voice
A. Paralanguage
- how something is said
pitch - highness or lowness of tone
volume - loudness or softness
rate - the speed of speaking
quality - a distinct timbre (e.g. nasal, soft, harsh)
silence - Can silence communicate?
Proxemics: Use of Space
A. Territoriality
(Space) primary, secondary, and public
B. Distance
in America
1 Intimate (touch
- 18 inches)
2 Personal (18
inches - 4 feet)
3 Social (4 feet
- 12 feet)
4 Public (12
feet +)
Self-presentation
Cues
A. Clothing and personal grooming
B. Poise and Composure - assurance of manner
C. Body shapes - endomorphs (round and heavy), mesomorphs (muscular and
strong), and ectomorphs (lean with little muscle development)
D. Artifacts: all things, natural as well as made, can be used as symbols
for communication
Chronemics: Use of
Time
A. Duration - appropriate time for certain events or activities
B. Activity - what should be done in a given time period
C. Punctuality - how strict towards the appointed or regular time
D. Monochronic time orientation or polychronic time orientation
III. Cultural
and Gender Variations in Nonverbal Communication
A. eye contact
B. facial expressions
C. gestures
D. paralanguage
E. territory and space
F. chronemics
Chapter 5
Intercultural Communication
(COM 202)
I. Definition
A. Intercultural communication refers to the communication between people
of different cultural background. "In other words, when communicating with
people whose attitudes, values, beliefs, customs, and behaviors are culturally
different from ours, we are communicating across cultural boundaries, which
can lead to misunderstandings that would not commonly occur between people
who are culturally similar." (p. 103)
II. Culture within
a Society
A. A dominant culture is a shared system of attitudes, values, beliefs,
and customs (way of living) commonly held by a majority of people of a
society.
B. Co-cultures are culture groups categorized for their group identity
within a dominant culture. In American society, gender, race, ethnicity,
sexual orientation, religion, social class, and age are the major contributors
of co-cultures (pp. 103 - 106)
II. Cultural Identity
A. "Cultural identity is determined by the importance that we assign to
our membership" in our cultural groups (p. 106).
B. Cultural identity is an interactive communication process.
One's cultural identity is not a self-labeling process, but a negotiation
process with others. We define our own culture in the interaction
with others of different culture.
C. The importance of a group membership changes to interests, needs, expectations,
and circumstances and therefore cultural identity is a dynamic process.
III Five Major Dimensions
of Culture that Affect Communication
A. Individualism - collectivism
"Individualistic cultures emphasize
personal rights and responsibilities, privacy, voicing one's opinion, freedom,
innovation, and self-expression." (p. 107) "Collective cultures emphasize
community, collaboration, shared interest, harmony, the public good, and
maintaining the avoidance and embarrassment." (p. 108)
B. Uncertainty Avoidance
Low uncertainty - avoidance
cultures in comparison with high uncertainty - avoidance cultures
C. Power distance
In a high power distance culture
"inequalities in power, status, and rank are viewed as 'natural' and these
differences are acknowledged and accentuated by all members of the culture."
(p. 110) In a low power distance culture "inequalities in power,
status, and rank are underplayed and muted." (p. 111)
D. Masculinity and femininity
"Cultures that Hofstede called masculine culture expect people to main
traditional sex roles and maintain different standards of behavior for
men and women." (p. 111) "Feminine cultures expect that people,
regardless sex, will assume a variety of roles depending on the circumstances
and their own choices, rather than any sex-role expectations." (p. 112)
E. Confucian dynamism
In East Asian countries and regions where Confucian values and norms of
hierarchical power positions, relations, and responsibilities become productive
and motivational in working relationships.
IV To Study a Culture
A. Culture
Shock
Cultural shock is the psychological discomfort (p. 103) and/or cognitive
incongruence one experiences in a new cultural environment. Ethnocentrism,
incompatible communication codes, and incompatible norms and values can
all contribute to cultural shock.
B. To study
a dominant culture, one can proceed with
1. country or regional profile,
2. the cultural profile of the country or region,
3. and the communication profile of the people.
C. To study
a co-culture one can proceed with
1. the descriptive features of the culture
2. the qualifying characters of the culture
3. and the relationship between the co-culture and the dominant culture
Chapter 7
Listening and Responding
I. An Art of Communication
"Listening
is the process of receiving, constructing meaning from, and responding
to spoken and/or nonverbal messages." (p. 146) Listening is not a
natural process. Hearing is natural. Listening is an art of
communication.
II. The Process
of listening and responding
A. Attending:
1. get physically and mentally ready to listen
2. give the floor to the speaker
3. let a person speak before you react
B. Understanding
1. decode a message by assigning appropriate meaning to it
2. "Empathy is intellectually identifying with or vicariously experiencing
the feelings or attitudes" (p. 147) of the speaker. In other words
it is to take the speaker's perspective, way of thinking, emotional status,
and attitude. Compare "empathetic responsiveness" with "sympathetic
responsiveness".
C. Questioning
1. to get further information or to clarify information already received
2. to make sure the nonverbal cues convey genuine interest and concern
D. Paraphrasing
to put into your words the ideas or feelings you have perceived from the
message
1. Content paraphrase: the denotative meaning of the message
2. Emotion paraphrase: the emotional attachment of the message
E. Remembering
to retain information and recall it when necessary
III. Faulty
Listening Behaviors
A
Pseudo listening: fake the listening
B
Selective listening: only listen to what one likes to hear
C
Defensive listening: take others innocent remarks as personal attacks
D
Ambushing: listen for the sole purpose of finding fault with the speaker
E
Stage hogging: interrupt or change topics of conversation to oneself
IV. Types of Listening
A. Entertaining
Listening
B. Informational
Listening
C. Critical Listening: listen to judge a speaker's ethos, logos, pathos. In other words, critical listening is to listen in order to judge a speaker's character in terms of credibility, his/her reasoning ability or use of logic, and his/her emotional appeals towards the audience.
D. Empathetic Listening:
listen to support, not to judge
1
Providing comfort by supporting the speaker emotionally (not necessarily
the content)
2
Providing comfort through clarifying supportive intentions, addressing
a person's face needs, encouraging a speaker to elaborate, reframing the
situation, or giving advice. "Positive face needs refer to the desire
to be appreciated and approved, liked, and honored. Negative face
needs refer to the desire to be free from imposition or intrusion." (p.
159)
Chapters 6 &
8
Relationships
I. Types of Relationships:
all our interpersonal relationship can be organized into the following
two categories
(A)
Of Destiny
Of Choice
Destiny &
Choice Mixed
(B)
Frequency
Intimacy
High
High
High
Low
Low
High
Low
Low
Any relationship
can change from one type to another
II. Dimensions of
Intimacy
A Physical Intimacy
B Intellectual
Intimacy
C Emotional Intimacy
D Shared Activities
Intimacy
III. The Johari
Window
A Johari Window is a demonstration or measurement of any interpersonal
relationship
*Open
*Secret
*Blind
*Unknown
Can you draw three
Johari window to represent three interpersonal relationships you are having?
IV. Self - Disclosure
Self - disclosure
is to purposefully or deliberately reveal or provide one's confidential
information for one or more of the following functions.
Tension reliever - catharsis
Relationship developer
Relationship maintenance
Control or manipulation
V. Dialectical Tension
between association and independence
Willa Cather says, "Human relationships ar the tragic necessity of human
life; they can never be wholly satisfactory, every ego is half the time
greedily seeking them, and half the time pulling away from them." - Jane
Juska. (2003). Round-heeled Woman. New York: Villard. P. 271
We need the association and independence at the same time. The key
notion is to keep the appropriate boundary, balance, and degree of intimacy
and intensity.
VI. Stages of Relationships
A Beginning and
developing relationships
1. initial contact
2. experimenting stage
3. intensifying stage
B Stabilizing
and maintaining relationships
1. integrating stage
2. bonding stage
3. circumscribing stage
C Disintegrating
relationships
1. stagnating stage
2. disengaging stage
3. ending stage
VII. Conflicts
A. Types of Conflicts
1 Simple Conflicts: conflicts of different needs, goals, and information
2 Value Conflicts: conflicts of differences in values and beliefs
3 Ego Conflicts: conflicts of perceived attacks on the mechanism of our
self-worth
B. The Aggressive
Behavior of Conflicts
1. Direct Aggression: Forcing with hostility
2. Passive Aggression: crazy-making or pushing buttons indirect
hostility
C. Styles of Managing
Conflicts
1. Avoiding: withdrawing or ignoring
2. Accommodating: meet other's needs
3. Compromising: both parties give up some to gain some
4. Collaborating: to aim for win-win, to be assertive
To be assertive
is to act in these ways:
clarify your needs (what you want or how you feel)
analyze the cause of your needs
identify your real preference and rights
describe feelings and behavior skills
D. Conflict Expression
1. Be descriptive rather than evaluative
2. Be tentative rather than dogmatic
3. Learn to use "I" instead of "you"
VIII. Confirming
Verbal Communication in relationship
A. Praise
1. identify the behavior or accomplishment
2. describe the behavior or accomplishment
3. describe the positive feelings or outcomes as the result of the behavior
or accomplishment
4. reflect the significance of behavior or accomplishment by appropriate
level of praise
B. Constructive
Criticism
1. ask for the permission first
2. be descriptive
3. attend to positive face needs
4.
make suggestions when possible
IX. Online Relationships
A Advantages:
1. much broader scope of choice
2. other constructs come before physical constructs
3. help to overcome shyness
B Disadvantages:
1.
abuse of anonymity
2.
dishonesty
3. addiction
Chapters 12 &
13
Preparations for
Speech
I. Selecting a
Topic
A Identify subjects
B Examining your experiences
family life, educational life, working life, social life, citizenship,
etc.
C Research: books, journals, magazines, Internet, etc.
II Analyzing the
Audience
A Age
B Education
C Gender
D Occupation
E Culture
F Geographic identity
G Group affiliation and Income
III. Considering
the Setting
A Size of the audience
B Time of the day and time limit
C Place of delivery
D Special expectations of the speech
IV. Purpose (Goal)
Statement in comparison with Thesis Statement
Goal: I would like the audience to understand the major criteria for evaluating
a diamond
Thesis: Diamonds are evaluated on the basis of carat, color, clarity, and
cutting.
V. Library Research
A Books & Periodicals
B Encyclopedias
C Statistical sources
D Biographical sources
E Books of quotations
F Newspapers
G United States government publications
VI. Internet and Other Electronic Database
VII. Other Sources
of Information
A Personal experiences or observations
B Interviewing
C Surveys
D Interviewing
VIII. Verbal Forms
of Information
A Examples
B Statistics
C Expert opinion
D Anecdotes and narratives
E Comparisons and contrast
F Quotations
IX. Citing Sources
in Speeches
Failure to cite sources, especially when you are presenting information
that is meant to substantiate a controversial point, is unethical.
X. Outlining Main
Points
A Would they make sense to the audience?
B
Are they parallel in structure?
C Are they meaningful to the whole speech?
D Are they limited in numbers?
XI. Order of Organization
A Topic Order
B Chronological Order
C Logical Reason Order
D Use transitions: words, phrases, or sentences that show a relationship
between points.
XII. Introductions
Startling statement
Rhetorical question
Story
Personal reference
Quotation
XIII Conclusions
Summary Conclusion
Story Conclusion
Appeal to Action Conclusion
Emotional Impact Conclusion
Outline
A sample outline: the required format: pp. 334 - 335.
Chapters 14 &
15
Preparation for
Delivery
I Audience Adaptation
Audience
adaptation is the active process of verbally and visually relating material
directly to
the
specific audience.
A. Developing Common
Ground
1 Use personal pronouns
2 Relating to common experiences
3 Personalize Information
B. Creating and
Maintaining Audience Interest
(See Joan Gorham
- Fashion in Classroom II & III as references)
1 Timeliness - immediate usefulness
2 Proximity - relating to personal space
3 Seriousness - significance or impact
4 Vividness - appealing to senses
C. Audience's level
of understanding
1 Orienting listeners: review old information
2 Presenting new information:
---define key terms
---support generalization with examples
---compare and contrast with old information
II. Build Your Credibility
A knowledge and expertise
a fully-prepared speech
citation of researches
personal experiences
B Trustworthiness
moral & ethical traits
motives as described by Maslow (p. 458)
C Personality
verbal & nonverbal manners
friendliness
III. Adapting to
Cultural Differences
A Values
B Beliefs
C Attitudes
D Life styles or ways of living
IV. Using Visual
Aids
A Yourself
B Objects
C Models
D Photographs
E Graphs
F Drawings
G Maps
H Charts
I Handouts
V. Styles of Delivery
1 Extemporaneous Delivery
2 Scripted or Manuscript Delivery
3 Impromptu Delivery
4 Memorized Delivery
VI. Verbal Effectiveness
A Simile: direct comparison of dissimilar things
B Metaphor: figurative identity between things in comparison
C Emphasis through proportion, repetition, and transition
VII. Nonverbal Effectiveness
A. Varieties of Voice
B. Articulation
C. Facial Expressions
D. Gestures
E. Posture
F. Poise
G. Movement
VIII. Conversational
Quality (Being Extemporaneous)
A Enthusiasm
B Spontaneity
C Fluency: decrease and devoid hesitation and vocal interference such
as
you know, okay, well, like, etc.
D Eye contact and body language
IX. Communication
Apprehension
A. anticipation reaction
B. confrontation reaction
C. adaptation reaction - the gradual decline of one's anxiety level
James McCroskey has categorized communication apprehension in this two
categories
state apprehension
trait apprehension
D. Coping with
Nervousness
1 Despite nervousness, you can make it through your speech
2 Listeners are not as likely to recognize your fear as your might think.
3 Be better prepared and do more exercises
4 Control your food & beverage
5 Positive self-fulfilling messages
X. Elements
of Delivery
A. Voice - pitch, volume, rate, quality
B. Articulation - tongue, palate, teeth, jaw movement, and lips to shape
vocalized sounds that combine to produce a word
C. Bodily action - facial expressions, gestures, movement, and posture
XI. Criteria for
Evaluating Speeches
Content
Organization
Presentation
Refer to our textbook as reference
Chapter 16 &
17
Informative and
Persuasive Speaking
I Principles of
Informing
intellectual stimulation
creativity
relevance
emphasis
II. Methods of
Informing
Description
Narration
Definition
Demonstration
Comparison and contrast
III. Common Types
of Informative Speeches
A. Process Speeches
B. Expository Speeches
IV Persuasive Speaking
A
persuasive speech is an act of communication to influence the beliefs and/or
behavior of audience members (p. 444).
A. These are some
ways to persuade:
1. statement of reasons pattern
2. comparative advantage pattern
3. Problem solution
4. Criteria satisfaction pattern
5. Motivated sequence pattern
6. Motivation through incentives pattern
B. Possible Audience
Attitude toward your persuasion
1. In Favor: go to the action
2. No Opinion: uninformed, neutral, apathetic
3. Opposed: Slightly opposed or hostile towards the topic or the speaker
V The Elaboration
Likelihood Model (ELM)
1. the central route
2. the peripheral route