Binalonan, Pangasinan

First Semester, A.Y. 2021-2022

MODULE 1
LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION
Course Title: PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATIOM
Course Code: GE 5
Date and Time August 16, 18, 20, 2021
Allotment:

I. Lesson Objectives
At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to:
1. Demonstrate an understanding of the key ideas in language;
2. Describe the nature of communication; and
3. Relate themselves with personal experiences with the input presented

II.
DISCUSSION
THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE

WHAT IS LANGUAGE?
Together with the creation of human life is the creation of a wonderful and dynamic
human capacity ---
language. Animals are said to be able to communicate with each other. Whales sing, wolves
howl, dogs bark, and birds chirp. The sounds these creatures produce often reflect the state of
their emotions. While it may be true that animals communicate, only human beings are truly
capable of producing language.
What exactly is language?
Linguists agree that a language can only be called a language if it has a system of rules
(also known as
grammar) a sound system (phonology), and a vocabulary (lexicon). These are the requirements
for identifying a means of communication as a language. A monkey may be able to signal to its
partner that it is sharing food. The monkey will produce sounds and gestures but will not be able
to organize the sounds into a meaningful system with rules. What the monkey is producing is not
a language in the strictest sense of the world. Human beings on the other hand, are able to
communicate their desire to share food through several ways that are understandable to other
human beings. They may utter a word (Food!), raise a question (Want some food?), or give a
statement (I’d like to share this food with you).
When people use language, they can understand each other because they belong to the
same speech
community. They can understand each other because in their speech community, people share
the same set of rules in the language system. While growing up, people acquire the languages
used by those in the community. This is the process of language acquisition. The languages
acquired while growing up are known as mother tongues, which may also be referred as first
languages. People discover later on those other languages are needed for various reasons.
These other languages may be referred to as second languages. People learn these languages
by studying formally in school or informally on their own. This is the process of language
learning.

WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?
 Communication is the process of
sending and receiv
ing messages
Communication is the sometimes through spoken or written
process ofusing words, and sometimes-verbally
non Broadly speaking, communication
messages to gener
ate , gestures is a process of sharingnions
through facial expressions opi and
meaning. and voice qualiti
es. information, ideas and feelings.
(Person, et al., 2011, p.
10) (Ober & Newman, 2013,
5) p. (Jimenez &Aliparo, 2000, p. 1)

Communication is a systemic In its simplest form, Communication is therocess

process in which pe
ople interact
with and throu
gh symbols to crea
te
and interpret meanings.
(Wood, 2012, p.3)
p of
communication is the sending information oneself
to or
transmission ofa another entity usually via
message from a language.
source to receiver.
(Palta, 2007, p. 1)
(Baron, 2011, p.4)

It is the dual or two-way process of transmitting messages from one person to another. It
is the symbolic interaction between two or more people that influences each other’s behavior.
With it, not only does one make his/her own self understood, he /she also get to understand
others.

Depending on what is being considered, communication as a term takes on different

contexts resulting in people having different views on communication types. Since
communication is generally defined as the exchange of thoughts, ideas, concepts, and views
between or among two or more people, various contexts come into play. Context is the
circumstance or environment in which communication takes place. Such circumstance may
include the physical or actual setting, the value positions of a speaker/listener, and the
relevance or appropriateness of a message conveyed. It focuses on certain communication
processes and even groupings of people that constitute a communication situation.
Different contexts can impact one’s communication. Each communication type is
governed by a particular circumstance. Thus, it is essential to pay attention to the interplay of
factors surrounding the context of communication, which may be physical, cultural, social and
psychological in nature. Communication may then be classified according to: (1) communication
mode (2) context, and (3) purpose and style.

FOUR KEY TERMS ON THE DEFINITION OF COMMUNICATION

There are four key terms that should be defined to fully understand
communication: process, systems, symbols, and meanings (Wood,2012).
1.PROCESS
Process implies continuity. In the context of communication, one never stops from
communicating as it is an ongoing activity. It is dynamic as it continually changes.
Communication is never static. You might start communicating the moment you wake up even
up to the time you close your eyes. Communication can even extend in deep slumber (as in
talking to someone in your dreams). The moment you open your eyes the following day, you are
confronted again with similar communication opportunities. However, it is difficult to tell when
communication starts and stops. Communication does not necessarily start in uttering the first
word and stop in saying the last word of a sentence. The circumstances that occur before
starting a conversation and even the incidents that follow it may still affect future conversations.
This indicates that communication is a process that is constantly moving and continuously
changing.
Communication is considered a process because it is an activity in itself. It is not an
object that you can just simply perceive using one of your senses, but it is an activity in which
you participate (Pearson et al., 2011).
Now, take a look at a situation that demonstrates communication as a process. Think of
the communication that happens inside the classroom. You might say that communication starts
when the professor greets the students and ends the moment, he or she bids goodbye. What
about the students might have consulted with the professor about the course requirements or a
couple of students might have passed by the professor along the corridor? How about the
consultation that might occur after the class? Going beyond, how about the interactions that
would transpire between the professor and the students after the semester? In this scenario,
communication is not limited to what happens during that single interaction in the classroom.
Therefore, communication as a process is continuous, moving, and ever changing.
2.SYSTEM
In the definitions of communication presented at the beginning of this chapter, phrases
such as “oneself to another entity, “from a source to a receiver,” and “people interact” suggest
that communication operates within a system.
Wood (2012) defined system as interrelated parts that affect one another. It is a
collection not of random parts but of organized wholes. For instance, in classroom
communication, each student of the class is part of the system. Even the type of classroom, the
strategies employed by the teacher, and the curriculum are part of the system. These parts
interplay with each other as the communication process happens. A small classroom with a
large number of students, the teacher might have a different strategy to effectively communicate
the lesson to the students. In this case, the teacher's communicative process is affected by the
system in which he or she is a part of.
Communication is likewise affected by the larger system within which it operates. For
example, culture is considered a large system, the way people understand and interpret verbal
and non-verbal behavior differs depending on their culture. Filipinos do not give an outright “NO”
to an invitation from a friend. The usual response is “I'll check” or “Let me see.” The response is
rooted in being courteous enough so as not to reject someone by turning down an invitation right
away. This is common among many Asian cultures. In contrast, Westerners would boldly say
"No" or "J am busy so I can’t attend. "Are they being rude? Probably not. Their response is
rooted in their upfront and straightforward culture orientation, In Bulgaria, quite differently, a nod
means "no” (Munter,1993).
Thus, to effectively communicate and interpret a message, it is important to understand
the system (culture, religion, ethnicity, nationality, socio-economic status, age, sex, political
affiliation, and others) within which communication takes place.
3.SYMBOLS
Another common term among the definitions is symbols. Wood explicitly used this term
in her definition. In Palta's definition, symbol is represented by language and in Ober and
Newman's, it is indicated by spoken or written words and facial expressions, gestures, and voice
qualities. For others, it is embedded in the term message.
All these suggest the use of symbols in communication. When people communicate, they
rely on symbols-a concrete representation of something abstract. It is a tangible counterpart of
something intangible. The use of symbols allows people to perceive abstract, arbitrary, and
ambiguous representation of things using the senses. For instance, “love” is not an object that
can be seen or touched, but when a man gives flowers and chocolates to a lady or when a man
offers a ring to his future wife, love is expressed. In the same scenario, if the lady turns her back
on the man who is giving flowers and chocolates, it might mean rejection of the love being
offered. On a different note, if the lady extends her hand to the man offering a ring, then it can
be a symbol of acceptance of marriage. Hence, communication is symbolic as it involves
interaction with and through symbols.
4.MEANINGS
At the heart of communication is meaning. It can be viewed as an “end” in itself. This
means that when people
communicate, they attach meaning to the symbols they use (either verbal or non-verbal) with the
intent that the person/s they are communicating with share the same meaning as intended. In
other words, the goal is to generate common meanings through the messages provided or
received.
Communication has two levels of meaning: content level and relationship level (Wood,
2014; Pinker, 2008; Watzlawick, Beavin & Jackson, 1967).

TYPE MEANING EXAMPLE

It refers to the literal meaning
of the message. It is parallel
Content Level to the denotative meaning of
the message.
It expresses the relationship
between the communicators,
Relationship Level this can be the connotative
meaning of a message.
If someone asks. “May you
attend the meeting?” The
content-level meaning is that
the person is simply
requesting your presence in
the meeting.
However, if the same
question is asked by your
boss, you might interpret the
relationship level meaning as
delegating the task to you
being the top performer or
someone can be trusted in
your team.

In both examples above, the content-level meaning is the same but the relationship-level
meaning varies depending on the type of relationship of the persons involved in communication.
Meaning also refers to the understanding of the message. Ideally, your message should
be understood in the same manner you intend it to be. Similarly, the people who send you a
message expect that you understand it in the same way they do. However, it is a reality that all
of the messages you generate are not shared by others with whom you try to communicate.
Accordingly, the message is open to different interpretations. When you raise your eyebrow,
others might interpret that you are annoyed or irritated but probably as far as you are concerned,
you incidentally raised it because you had a hard time thinking of a better title for your research
paper. Yawning during a lecture might be understood by your professor as a sign of disinterest
in the lesson, but for you, it just really means you are sleepy because you only slept for two
hours and you could not contain yourself to be further awake in class.
Putting the concepts and other definitions together, communication can be defined as a
continuous activity (process) that operates within a certain context (system) in which people
exchange words, gestures, and other verbal and non-verbal (symbols) behavior to create and
understand information or messages (meaning).

REFERENCES

• Ambida, Roger S., Galicha, Josephine P., Oandasan, Richard L., Purposive
Communication, C&E Publishing Inc. 2019
• Madrunio, Marilou R.,Martin, Isabel P., Purposive Communication, Using English in
Multilingual Contexts, C&E Publishing Inc. 2018