Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

LSPU Self-Paced Learning Module on GEC 105: Purposive Communication

Course Purposive Communication

Sem/AY First Semester/2020-2021

Module No. 1

Lesson Titles HUMAN COMMUNICATION

COMPONENTS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION
LANGUAGE: VERBAL & NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Week Duration 4

Date September 14- October 2

Description of the This lesson discusses the features human communication, its components, and the language
Lesson used in human communication.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Intended Learning 1. Define what is human communication.
Outcomes 2. Differentiate the various definitions of communication and identify common ideas and/or
contrasting features.
3. Explain communication as a process.

4. Identify the different components of human communication.

5. Define what is language and enumerate its functions.

6. Discuss abstraction and accommodation and their usage in communication.

7. Explain verbal communication and the factors that influence it.

Targets/Objectives 1. Explain the different features of human communication.

2. Enumerate the types of human communication.

3. Discuss the factors that may affect the process of communication.

4. Differentiate the various models of communication.

5. Discuss non-verbal communication and identify the various studies governing it.

6. Explain visual communication and identify its elements and principles.

 Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

STUDENT LEARNING STRATEGIES

Online Activities Online Discussion via Google Meet 1 hour of class discussion per lesson shall be
(Synchronous/ conducted to properly present the lessons. Click the link: ____________________ to access
Asynchronous)
the online class.

Scheduled date of lecture is on __________

Learning Guide Questions

1. What is the definition of communication?
2. What is human communication?
3. What are the different types of human communication?
LECTURE GUIDE
Offline Activities (e-Learning/Self-Paced)

HUMAN COMMUNICATION
Human Communication is a transactional process in which people generate meaning through the exchange of verbal and
non-verbal messages in specific context, influenced by individual and societal forces and embedded in culture (Alberts,
Nakayama, Martin, 2012). Individuals use communication to meet people and develop professional and personal
relationships. It allows people to establish themselves to others and at the same time help them vision themselves.
Communication is transformative. It has the potential to transform life—both for the better and for the worse. It
prepares people for so many professions.

Communication is a Package of Signals Communication behaviours usually occur in “packages;” that is a

combination of verbal and non-verbal languages which reinforce or support each other. In most cases, much (55%) of
communication is non-verbal, more than a third (38%) is para-verbal, and the remaining (7%) is verbal (Millon, Abella, &
Guiao, 2014). Problems may occur when there is incongruity with both languages which results to mixed messages.
Credibility, sincerity, and honesty of an individual may be in question if these languages don’t work together.

Communication is a Process of Adjustment Communication can take place only to the extent that the
communicators use the same system of signals or language. Part of the art of communication is understanding or
learning the other person’s signals. By adjusting or accommodating an unfamiliar language we develop an attraction and
gain a variety of benefits—believablity, social approval, and communication efficiency.

Communication is Inevitable, Irreversible, and Unrepeatable Communication messages are continuously being
sent, even thou an individual does not think he or she is communicating or does not want to communicate. There is no
means either to un-communicate what has already been communicated. A person may try to reduce the effect of the
message, but the initial response can never be taken back. Likewise, a person cannot recapture the exact same situation,
frame of mind or relationship dynamics that defined the previous communication act.
 Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

Communication is Ambiguous All messages are ambiguous to some degree. One never communicates his or her
meaning exactly and totally, but with some reasonable accuracy—giving enough clear sense of what one means. Human
communication uses symbols (words people speak and gestures used) which are arbitrary, or without any inherent
meaning. Meanings are derived upon agreed definitions by the communicators. Different groups of people may have
contrasting interpretations of those symbols, which may also result to ambiguity.

TYPES OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

1. Intrapersonal Communication is “communicating with one- self” or self-talk. The information is based on one’s
own experiences.
2. Dyadic/Interpersonal Communication is the interaction between two people and the most common
communication setting.
3. Small Group Communication or team communication is communication among groups of five to ten people.
This communication serves both relationship and task needs.
4. Public communication is communication between a speaker and an audience.
5. Computer-mediated communication is a general term that includes all forms of communication that take place
through some kind of computer.
6. Mass communication refers to communication from one source to many receivers with the aid of mass media
such as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and film.

COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Communication is a complex process due to the variety of factors that compose and influence it. The seven basic
components are message creation, meaning creation, setting, participants, channels, noise, and feedback.

Message Creation The process of taking ideas and converting them into messages is called encoding and the
receiving a message and interpreting its meaning is decoding. The encoding and decoding of messages are performed
by the Source and the Receiver.

Meaning Creation The goal of exchanging symbols is creating meanings. Experiences, beliefs, and values in messages
help shape the meaning of it. Messages carry two types of meanings, Content and Relationship. Content meaning is
its denotative and connotative meanings; while Relationship meaning describe the connection between parties
embedded in the message.

Setting The physical surrounding that affects the communication interaction is called the setting or the environment. It
includes the location, environmental conditions, time and day, and proximity of the communicators.

Participants The people interacting during the communication—sender (speaker) and receiver (listener) of the
message, are the participants. The number, characteristics, mood, and emotions of the communicators influence
interaction. Likewise, the type of relationship and the history shared also affect their communication.
 Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

Channels A channel is a means through which a message is conveyed. People started to communicate face to face
before writing was invented. Today people heavily relay on technology as a means to transfer information. The type of
channel used affects the how the message is perceived and its impact on the relationship.

Noise This refers to any stimulus that can interfere with, or degrade, the quality of a message. It is also referred to as
Barriers of Communication. Noise can be physical (nature of environment, time, and distance), physiological
(speech problems, memory, and hearing), semantic and language (meanings of language), organisational (status
relationship and information gap), cross-cultural (difference in values and norms), and psychological (group
identification and self image).
Feedback The response to a message is the feedback. The feedback tells if the message was received and how it was
interpreted. Thus the feedback serves a a message to the sender.

Figure 1. Synergetic Model (Alberts, Nakayama, Martin, 2012)

COMMUNICATION MODEL
Models have shown that communication occurs when two or more people create meaning as they respond to
each other and their environment. The Synergetic model illustrates the importance of individual roles and societal
forces, contexts, and culture in the communication process.
The people's identity affect how they communicate and how their communication is perceived by others. These include
demographic characteristics (age, race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, sex, and socioeconomic class), personality,
cognitive, and physical ability as well as education and experience. Societal forces (political, economic, and social
structures) also dictate how individuals talk. Varying cultural groups bring their beliefs, values, norms, and attitudes to
each interaction. These cultural beliefs and the culture in which a communication takes place affect how people expect
and influence how they communicate. Communication is also influenced by context. Context includes the setting, or
 Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

aspects of the physical environment—the circumstances. It includes which and how many participants or the specific
occasion during which the interaction unfolds.

LANGUAGE
Language is a system of arbitrary, symbols which permit all people in a given culture, or other people who have learned
the system of that culture to communicate or to interact (Finocchiaro, 1965). These symbols (words) may have
denotative (basic accepted definition) and connotative (emotional or attitudinal response to it) meanings. Language
is also governed by grammatical rules and is influenced by various contexts.
Language plays a central role in communication, and the very language people speak is tied to their identities. Language
is embedded in a specific cultural context. When people learn a language, they also learn the beliefs, values and norms
of its culture.

FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE
1. Instrumental use of language to obtain what you need or desire
2. Regulatory use of language to control the behaviour of others
3. Informative use of language to communicate information or report facts
4. Heuristic use of language to acquire knowledge and understanding
5. Interactional use of language to establish and define social relationships
6. Personal language use of language to express individuality and personality
7. Imaginative use of language to express oneself artistically or creatively

Language can range from being very vague to very specific (level of abstraction). Abstractions can accomplish certain
communication goals. It is a means of evasion, to avoid providing specific details. Equivocation is using words that
have unclear or misleading definitions and euphemisms are inoffensive words or phrases that substitute for terms that
might be perceived as upsetting. Other forms of abstract language that offer information about the affiliation or the
culture of the person is slang (informal and nonstandard language) and jargon (technical language).
Communication behaviour often is changed to adapt to the people involved in the process. This is referred to as
accommodation. Code switching and style switching are types of accommodation in which communication
change their regular language and slang, as well as their tonality, pitch, rhythm, and inflection to fit a particular group.
These language accommodations may be ways to survive, to manage defensiveness, to manage identity, or to signal
power or status (Bourhis, 1985).

VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Verbal communication generally refers to the written or oral communication which includes pronunciation or accent,
the meanings of the words used, and a range of variations in the way people speak. The verbal elements of
communication are the foundation on which meaning is created.
It is believed that speech came into being first for any human language and the writing system came along much later.
How language is used in specific situations to accomplish goals is emphasised in the field of Pragmatics and further
analysed through Speech Acts, Conversational Rules, and Contextual Rules. Speech act theory suggests that when
people communicate, they do not just say things, they also do things with their words (i.e. Functions of Language).
 Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

Speech acts may be direct or indirect. Conversational rules govern the way people communicate, such as turn-
taking. Contextual rules are principles that govern the use of language according to the circumstance or environment
which communication takes place (high and low language).

Communication is influenced by a number of factors and if these influences affect the several aspects of the language, it
creates a distinct dialect — a variation of language distinguished by its vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation.
Factors that influence verbal communication: Gender, Age, Geography, Ethnicity and Race, Education and
Occupation

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
Non-verbal communication is the process of intentionally or unintentionally signalling meaning through behaviour other
than words (Knapp & Hall, 2010). About 65% of communication is non-verbal which includes facial expression, tone of
voice, movement, appearance, eye contact, gesture, and posture. Kinesics is the term used to describe a system of
studying non-verbal communication sent by the body. Paralinguistic is the vocal aspect of no-verbal communication,
which include rate, volume, pitch, and stress.
Non-verbal communication is spontaneous, unintentional, and ambiguous. It reinforces verbal messages and is more
believable. Non-verbal cues can also be used to replace words and may contradict the meaning of the message.
Messages are also conveyed through the use of space and time. Chronemics is the study of the way people use time
as message, while proxemics studies how people use spacial cues to communicate: Intimate (0-18 in); Personal (1-4
ft); Social (4-12 ft); Public (12 -25+ ft). The study of the communicative function of touch is called haptics and
communication via objects made by man (color, clothing, adornments, space decoration, flowers) is artifactual
communication.

VISUAL COMMUNICATION
Visual communication is communication through visual aid (visible and tangible), described as the transfer of ideas and
information in forms that can be read or looked upon. It includes signs, typography, drawing, graphic design, illustration,
colour and electronic resources. As a cultural element, these visuals and “artefacts” have cultural norms and values that
varies among cultures, and interpreted or read like verbal language with its own grammar that works as a string of
sources rather than a list of rules (Dur, B. ,2015).
In this age, communicating visually is at focus with the internet and other multimedia devices constantly generating and
transferring images. With globalization, the influence of dominant cultures on the visual language is faster as seen on
television, clothing, and architecture.

VISUAL ELEMENTS
1. Lines can be horizontal, vertical, dotted, zig-zag, curved, straight, diagonal, bold, or fine. Lines can show direction,
lead the eye, outline an object, divide a space, and communicate a feeling or emotion.
2. Shapes are made by connecting lines. Line creates two dimensional or flat shapes, while shapes that are three
dimensional are called forms.
3. Color can be described with hue, value, and intensity. Hue refers to the name of the color, value is the lightness or
darkness of a hue. Intensity is the brightness or dullness of a hue.
 Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

4. Space refers to the area that a shape or form occupies. It also pertains to the background against which a shape or
form is seen. A positive space of a design is the filled space in the design while the negative space is the background.
5. Texture is the surface quality or how something feels or would feel if touched. It adds variety and interest.

PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
1. Rhythm allows the eye to move from one part of a design to another part such as repetition of color, shape,
texture, and line and variation of sizes and sequence of elements.
2. Proportion refers to the relationship between one part of a design and another part or to the whole design. 3.
Emphasis is the point of interest of a design.
4. Balance gives a feeling of stability. It can be symmetrical (balance on both sides), radial (has a centre point), or
asymmetrical (creates a feeling of equal weight on both sides, even though the sides do not look the same).
5. Unity is when things look right together or in harmony.

PERFORMANCE TASK 1
Identify the main features of human communication being described in the following items.
Process of Adjustment 1. by adjusting we develop communication efficiency

___Package of_ Signals_______ 1. a combination of verbal and non-verbal languages

____Inevitable, irreversible and Unrepeatable 2. messages are continuously being sent

Inevitable, irreversible, Unrepeatable_ 3. there are no means to un-communicate what has been communicated
_____Process of Adjustment___ 4. communication is understanding or learning the other person’s signals
_______Ambiguous___________ 5. no one communicates their meaning exactly

______Package of Signals_____ 6. 55% of communication is non-verbal, 38% is para-verbal, and 7% is verbal

______Ambiguous___________ 7. meanings are derived upon agreed definitions

______Ambiguous___________ 8. words people speak and gestures used are arbitrary

_____Process of Adjustment___ 9. communication takes place only when communicators use the same language

___Inevitable, irreversible, Unrepeatable_ 10. people can't recapture the exact situation of the previous communication
act

PERFORMANCE TASK 2
Research on the following models of communication namely: Laswell’s Communication Model,
Shannon-Weaver
Communication Model, E. Rogers and D.L. Kincaid’s Model, and Carley Dodd’s Intercultural
Communication Model. Using the matrix below, identifying key elements which highlight the focus of
each model.
 Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

PERFORMANCE TASK 3

Answer the following questions clearly. You may use a separate sheet of paper if necessary.

1. What are the uses of abstraction in communication?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

2. How do people adapt to various communication behaviours?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________ 3. What conversational rules are specific to Filipinos?
 Republic of the Philippines

Laguna State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

4. What non-verbal means of communication are particular to your age group?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

5. What images/visuals are perceived equally among cultures? Give at least three.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
__________
 Republic of the Philippines

Lagu na State Polytechnic University

Province of Laguna

REFERENCES
Chase, R. and Shamo, S. (2013). Elements of effective communication. 4th ed. Washington, Utah: Plain and Precious Publishing.

Dainton, M. and Zelley E. (2015). Applying communication theory for professional life. a practical introduction. 3rd ed., Sage Publications.

Lehman, C. & Dufrene, D. (2002) Business communication 13 th Ed., South-Western Thomson Learning: OH, USA

Lehman, C. & DuFrene, D. (2011). Business communication. South-Western Cengage Learning: OH

Madrunio M. and Martin I. (2018). Purposive communication using english in multilingual contexts. C & E Publishing Inc.

Mills, Patrick. (2006). Human communication. Pearson Custom Publishing