LESSON 3: COMMUNICATION THROUGH VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL

MESSAGES

OBJECTIVES:
At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:
a. Distinguish verbal communication from non-verbal communication;
b. Discuss the varieties and registers of spoken and written English; and
c. Employ the appropriate varieties, registers, and expressions in
spoken and written discourse.

TASK:
Read carefully the line below taken from the book Overcoming Fake Talk:
How to Hold Real Conversations that Create Respect, Build Relationships and
Get Results by John Stoker.
“93/7 Rule: 93% of Communication occurs through non-verbal behavior and
tone; only 7% of communication takes place through the use of words.”
1. What does non-verbal behavior mean?
2. Why do you think communication occurs more frequently non-verbally thn
verbally?
3. Do you agree with Stoker`s claim?
4. What does the 93/7 rule suggest?

VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

VERBAL COMMUNICTION- uses of spoken or written words to communicate a
message.
NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION- is the use of body language, gestures, facial
expressions, and even posture to communicate.
VERBAL COMMUNICATION: LANGUAGE VARIETY AND REGISTER
LANGUAGE- is a set of arbitrary symbols which create possible combination of
utterances primarily used for communication. It is arbitrary not because a symbol
and the object or idea it represents have a one-to-one correspondence.
LANGUAGE REGISTER- refers to the level and style of spoken and written
discourse depending on the context you are in.
THREE TYPES OF LANGUAGE REGISTER:
1. FORMAL-this type of register is used in professional context. It is highly
structured, impersonal, and more serious in its tone, vocabulary, and
grammar. It is common in the workplace, academe, business, trade, and
other industries.
2. INFORMAL- is casual, personal, and more intimate in its tone, sentence
structure, and choice of words. This is appropriate when communicating
with people you know very well such as your family, relatives, and friends.
3. NEUTRAL- is a more factual and non-emotional type of language register.

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION
-refers to the cues that are sent through body language, posture, gesture,
movements, facial expressions, and appearance that are used in place of or
simultaneously with verbal messages.
As categorized by Verdeber et.al. (2015), non-verbal messages are grouped
into four: KINESICS, PARALANGUAGE, PROXEMICS, AND CHRONEMICS.
I. KINESICS: USE OF BODY
-The technical name for the interpretation that comes along with motions
when someone communicates is KINESICS.
-This includes gestures, movements, posture, eye contact, facial
expression, and touch.

II. PARALANGUAGE:USE OF VOICE

-The voice should have intelligibility, variety, and understandable patterns.
-Intelligibility pertains to the loudness of your voice, rate of your speech,
pronunciation, and enunciation.
-Variety refers to your pitch, force, and pauses.
-Stress is the emphasis put on a certain syllable or word/s.

III. PROXEMICS: USE OF SPACE

-The technical term used to study how space and distance communicate is
proxemics. (Hall, 1968).
 There are three types: personal space, territorial space, and acoustic
space.
a. Personal Space- this is the distance one consciously maintains when
interacting with others.
b. Territorial Space- this is the physical space which implies your sense of
authority and ownership.
c. Acoustic Space- this is the area where the voice of the speaker is
either heard or not.

IV. CHRONEMICS: USE OF TIME

-As previously discussed, chronemics refers to how people perceive and
value time.
- In a monochronic culture, “time of the essence.” Thus, when you see
people start looking at their watch or at the clock every now and then in a
classroom it may mean that the class may already by running over time.

TASK: Read the following questions carefully and answer them concisely.
1. What is the difference between verbal and non-verbal communication?
2. How can the use of non-verbal cues contribute to or redeem a breakdown
in communication?
3. Do you agree with this quotation: “Action speaks louder than words?
Explain your answer.