Lesson Guide

I. Objectives:
● Explain the effects of shift in communicative strategy.
● Demonstrate effective use of communicative strategy in a variety of
speech situations.

II. Subject Matter:

“Types of Communicative Strategy: Topic Control, Topic Shifting, Repair and
Termination”

III. Motivation:
● Pass the bottle
- In this game, you are going to pass the bottle while the music is on,
whoever holds the bottle when the music stop he/she will be the
one to answer the question provided by the reporters.

IV. Lesson Proper:

Types of Communicative Strategy: Topic Control, Topic Shifting, Repair and

Termination

Topic Control
- It covers how procedural formality or informality affects the development of topic
in conversations.
- Regardless of the formality of the context, topic control is achieved cooperatively.
This only means that when a topic is initiated, it should be collectively developed
by avoiding unnecessary topic interruptions and topic shifts. You can make
yourself actively involved in the conversation without overly dominating it by
using minimal responses like “Yes”, “Okay”, “Go on”; asking tag questions to
clarify information briefly like “You are excited, aren’t you?”, “Its was unexpected,
wasn’t it?” and even by laughing.

Topic Shifting
- It involves moving from one topic to another. In other words, it is where one part
of a conversation ends and where another begins.
- When shifting from one topic to another, you have to be very intuitive. Make sure
that the previous topic was nurtured enough to generate adequate views. You
may also use effective conversational transitions to indicate a shift like “By the
way”, “In addition to what you said,” “Which reminds me of”, and the like.
Repair
 - It refers to how speakers address the problems in speaking, listening, and
comprehending that they may encounter in a conversation.
- It is the self-righting mechanism in any social interaction (Schegloff et al, 1977). If
there is a problem in understanding the conversation, speakers will always try to
address and correct it. Although this is the case, always seek to initiate the
repair.

Termination
- It refers to the conversation participants’ close-initiating expressions that end a
topic in a conversation. Most of the time, the topic initiator takes responsibility to
signal the end of the discussion as well.
- Although not all topics may have clear ends, try to signal the end of the topic
through concluding cues. You can do this by sharing what you learned from the
conversation. Aside from this, when soliciting agreement from the other
participants usually completes the discussion of the topic meaningfully.

Shift in Speech Context, Speech Style, Speech Act and Communicative Strategy
affects the following:

● Roles and responsibilities of the speaker

- These serve as the lifeline of the quality of interaction in communication
because the speaker handles the pros and cons of the feedback received.
When these are met, he creates a diversified way of thinking.

● The Message
- This is the core concept of the interaction. When the speaker is able to
answer all the questions of the listener beforehand and received by them
positively, then the message is correct and acceptable.

● The Delivery
- This is affected whether the listeners are able to fully understand the
concept implied or creates doubtful remarks. Proper delivery requires
techniques which demand the speaker to express thoroughly.

V. Assessment

I. Write True if the statement is true, and if it is false, change the underlined word to
make the statement true. Write your answer on the blank before each number.
__________1. Repair refers to how speakers address the problems in speaking,
listening, and comprehending that they may encounter in a conversation.
__________2. Topic control involves moving from one topic to another. In other words,
it is where one part of a conversation ends and where another begins.
__________3. Termination refers to the conversation participants’ close-initiating
expressions that end a topic in a conversation.
__________4. Topic shifting covers how procedural formality or informality affects the
development of topic in conversations.
__________5. Most of the time, the topic initiator takes responsibility to signal the end
of the discussion as well.
__________6. Soliciting agreement from the other participants usually completes the
discussion of the topic meaningfully.
__________7. You can make yourself actively involved in the conversation without
overly dominating it by using minimal responses like “Yes”, “Okay”, “Go on”.

II. Identify what kind of communicative strategy is used in the sentence. (Topic control,
Topic shifting, Repair and Termination)
__________1. I’m sorry, the word should be pronounced as pretty not priti.
__________2. In addition to what you said about the beautiful girl is that she is also
smart.
__________3. Best regards to your parents! See you around!
__________4. One of the essential lessons I gained from the discussion is the
importance of sports and wellness to a healthy lifestyle.
__________5.That’s all for today class, goodbye!
__________6.By the way, there’s a new shop opening at the mall.
__________7.Good to see you. Anyway, I came to visit to tell you that I won’t be able to
attend the meeting tomorrow.
__________8.“Your car may break down, too, Luna, right? So you have to find another
means of getting to school. We all do not want to be late for class. Yes?”
__________9.Excuse me, but there are five functions of communication not four.
__________10. Sorry. I’m so busy right now. Let’s talk later, okay?

III.
1-7. Types of communicative strategy.
8-13. Factors that is affected by shift.

Topic Control
- keeping the interaction going by asking questions and eliciting response.
- This is a simple question-answer formula that moves the discussion
forward. This also allows the listener or the participants to take turns,
contribute ideas and continue the discussion.
 Ex.
1. In meetings, you may only have a turn to speak after the
chairperson directs you to do so. Contrast this with a casual
conversation with friends over lunch or coffee where you may take
the conversational floor anytime.
2. “Your car may break down, too, Luna, right? So you have to find
another means of getting to school. We all do not want to be late for
class. Yes?”

Topic Shifting
- introducing a new topic followed by the continuation of that topic
- Also used in repair communicative strategy
Ex.
1. “By the way, there’s a new shop opening at the mall.”
2. “In addition to what you said about the beautiful girl is that she is
also smart.”

Repair
- overcoming communication breakdown to send more comprehensible
messages
Ex.
1. “Excuse me, but there are five functions of communication not
four.”
2. “I’m sorry, the word should be pronounced as pretty not priti.”

Termination
- using verbal or nonverbal signals to end the interaction.
Ex.
1. “Best regards to your parents! See you around!”
2. “It was nice meeting you, bye!”
3. “That’s all for today class, goodbye!”