Functions on Communication

OBJECTIVE/S:
oDiscuss the functions of
communication briefly
oIdentify the speaker’s purpose and
how it is conveyed
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
1. REGULATION/CONTROL
•used by the speaker if the
purpose is to manage other
people’s behavior, whether in
formal announcements or in the
simple act of telling someone
what to do or what not to do.
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
1. REGULATION/CONTROL
• Language, gestures, and emotions
• Verbal cues: are the specific words chosen and used.
– Age, gender, social status, religion
• Nonverbal cues:
– Hand gestures – unequivocal
– Bodily action – firm
– Vocal tone – authoritative
– Eye contact – direct (except when dealing with elders or superiors)

• Examples: 1. A mother telling her child to behave.

2. “Move on. She doesn’t love you anymore.”
3. Doctor’s prescription to the patient.
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
2. SOCIAL INTERACTION
• Is the most obvious, the most often used,
and the most popular.
• The Speaker’s purpose is to interact with
others, talking to them, and conversing
them and enjoying each other’s company.
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
2. SOCIAL INTERACTION
• Verbal cues: are the specific words chosen and used.
– Age, gender, social status, and religion
• Nonverbal cues:
– Hand gestures – casual
– Bodily action – relaxed
– Vocal tone – friendly
– Eye contact – direct (except when dealing with elders or
superiors)

• eg: Talking to the tricycle driver.

“Would you like to get coffee with me?”
Saying pick up lines as a form of conversation with someone.
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION

3. MOTIVATION
• Is the Function a Speaker uses when the
purpose is to persuade another person to
change an opinion, attitude or behavior.
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
3. MOTIVATION
• Verbal cues: are the specific words chosen and used.
– Age, gender, social status, religion
• Nonverbal cues:
– Hand gestures – emphatic
– Bodily action – firm
– Vocal tone – forceful
– Eye contact – direct (to prove sincerity and conviction)

• eg: A customer convincing the vendor to sell a bigger sized

mango for the same price as a smaller one.
“I need you in my life.”
Persuading your mom to come with you to the mall by
telling her how good you have been in school.
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
4. INFORMATION
• Occurs when the Speaker’s Purpose is to
disseminate data, concepts, and processes,
which may be useful to the Listeners.
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
4. INFORMATION
• Verbal cues: are the specific words chosen and used.
– Age, gender, social status, religion
• Nonverbal cues:
– Hand gestures – casual or formal
– Bodily action – relaxed or firm
– Vocal tone – friendly or authoritative
– Eye contact – direct (to show sincerity and conviction)

• eg: A weather forecaster on TV tracks the path of a low-

pressure area (LPA), which might turn into a typhoon
“I am small but I have big dreams.”
“I don’t know where my crush lives.”
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
5. EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION
• The function that promotes the Speaker’s Purpose
of moving other’s to action by appealing to the
Listener’s feelings.
 FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
5. EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION
• Verbal cues: are the specific words chosen and used.
– Age, gender, social status, religion (most of them depend on the
situation that is presented)
• Nonverbal cues:
– Hand gestures – range from casual to emphatic
– Bodily action – relaxed or stiff depending on how one feels
– Vocal tone – may be friendly, hurt or angry
– Eye contact – direct (except when dealing with elders or superiors)
when relaxed or when angry or looks away when hurt or in pain

• eg: Photos of starving families tug at the heartstrings of a

Filipino person.
“I was there when the typhoon came. I was lost, cold and
hungry… I thought I was going to die until I was rescued from the
river bank. This made me believe that there is hope.”
Watching a vlog of someone expressing themselves in front of the
camera of their hardships of growing up in a family where she was
and her mother were left alone by her father as a toddler.
 DYAD ACTIVITY (BY PARTNER)

1. Answer the following with a partner on a ½ yellowpad

paper.
– What function of communication is used with each and
choose one (or more) to make a short dialogue to present
in class:
• During a house-to-house campaign
• Trying to get someone to hang out with you to the mall
• Asking for blood donation
• Introduce themselves in a student conference
• Friends and classmates converse during break time

2. The two of you will discuss your answers to the class

together and have a short explanation for each in a
creative manner.