UNIT 2

Communication

• How do we communicate with each other?
• How would we communicate if we did not have language?
• Match the words with their meanings.

link symbolic interpret cue posture gesture alter territory contradict substitute

to make something different without changing it completely to say the opposite of something a movement of the hand, head, etc that expresses something replace; take the place of something or someone representing or standing for an idea to understand the meaning of something signal such as a word or gesture something that connects two people or things the way a person sits, stands, walks, etc. area that belongs to someone

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Communication is the process of sharing information. It is a kind of social interaction where at least two people share a common set of signs. Information is sent from a sender or encoder to a receiver or decoder. Feedback links a sender to a receiver. This requires a symbolic activity, such as a language.

There are many different areas of communication. A few are: nonverbal communication, verbal communication, and symbolic communication. Nonverbal communication deals with facial expressions and body motions. 93% of “emotional meaning” we take from other people is found in the person’s facial expressions and tone of voice. The other 7% is taken from what the person actually says. Verbal communication is when we communicate our message verbally to whoever is receiving the message. Symbolic communications are the things that we have given meaning to and that represent a certain idea.

Nonverbal communication is made up of the following parts: Visual, Tactile, Vocal and Use of time, space, and image.

Visual: This is often called body language and includes facial expression, eye movement, posture, and gestures. The face is the biggest part of this. All of us "read" people's faces for ways to interpret what they say and feel. This fact becomes very clear when we speak to someone with dark sunglasses. Of course we can easily misread these cues especially when communicating across cultures where gestures can mean something very different in another culture. For example, in American culture agreement might be shown by the head going up and down whereas in India, a side-to-side head movement might mean the same thing.

We also look to posture to give us cues about the communicator; posture can show self-confidence, aggressiveness, fear, guilt, or anxiety. Similarly, we look at gestures such as how we hold our hands, or a handshake.

Tactile: This involves the use of touch to show meaning as in a handshake, a pat on the back, an arm around the shoulder, a kiss, or a hug.

Vocal: The meaning of words can be altered by changing the intonation of one's voice. Think of how many ways you can say "no" - you could express doubt, terror, amazement, anger, etc.

Use of Time: Use of time can communicate how we view our own status and power in relation to others. Think about how a subordinate and his/her boss would view arriving at a place for a meeting.

Physical Space: For most of us, someone standing very close to us makes us uncomfortable. We feel our "space" has been invaded. People try to widen their territory in many ways to gain power and intimacy. We like to protect and control our territory. For some cultures, the ‘intimate zone’ is about two feet. This zone is for our closest friends. The ‘personal zone’ from about 2 to 4 feet is usually reserved for family and friends. The ‘social zone’ (4 to 12 feet) is where most business dealings take place. The ‘public zone’ (over 12 feet) is used for lectures.

Nonverbal cues can play five roles:

1. Repetition: they can repeat the message the person is making verbally
2. Contradiction: they can contradict a message the individual is trying to convey
3. Substitution: they can substitute for a verbal message. For example, a person's eyes can often convey a clearer  message than words
4. Complementing: they may add to or complement a verbal message. A boss who pats a person on the back in addition to giving praise can increase the effect of the message
5. Accenting: nonverbal communication may accent or underline a verbal message. Pounding the table, for example, can underline a message.

Skillful communicators understand the importance of nonverbal communication and use it to increase their effectiveness, as well as use it to understand more clearly what someone else is really saying.

Choose the correct answer.

1. Communication involves sending information

A. from a sender to an encoder             

B. from a receiver to a decoder

C. from a sender to a receiver                           

D. from a decoder to an encoder

2. Nonverbal communication includes:

A. facial expressions                                        

B. gestures

C. both (A) and (B)                                           

D. neither (A) nor (B)

3. Verbal communication means the use of

A. signs                                                           

B. facial expressions

C. body language                                             

D. words

4. In the visual aspect of communication, the _____________ is the most important.

A. face                                                            

B. eyes

C. posture                                                        

D. gestures

5. If a person wears dark glasses we

A. are unable to see his eyes                            

B. are unable to ‘read’ his expression

C. are able to communicate                              

D. are able to interpret his feelings

6. Posture can show the _________________ of the communicator.

A. attitude                                                        

B. feelings

C. both (A) and (B)                                           

D. neither (A) nor (B)

7. The tone of our voice can

A. change the meaning of our words                 

B. change our intonation

C. provide information                          

D. communicate status

8. A stranger ‘invades’ our personal space if he stands at a distance of ______________ from us.

A. 12 feet                                                         

B. 2 feet

C. 6 feet                                                          

D. 10 feet

9. Communication can be

A. verbal                                                          

B. nonverbal

C. symbolic                                                     

D. all of the above

10. Which of the following is a correct summary of the text?

A. Communication is the sending of information from a sender to a receiver. We take 93% of the meaning from nonverbal cues and only 7% from what is said. Posture and gestures give us many cues about a communicator.

B. Communication is a social interaction in which information is shared. It can be nonverbal, verbal and/or symbolic. Nonverbal communication - which includes facial expressions, eye movement, posture, gestures, touch, and tone of voice - supports verbal communication.

C. Communication can be verbal, nonverbal or symbolic. Of these, nonverbal is the most important. We take cues from people’s facial expressions, gestures, posture, touch and tone of voice.

D. We share a common set of signs in communication. Verbal communication is when we communicate our message verbally while symbolic communication refers to things that represent a certain idea. Nonverbal communication is often called body language.

Answer the following questions.

11. Why do you think nonverbal communication is so important?

12. For some cultures, the ‘intimate zone’ is 2 feet; the ‘personal zone’ is between 2 and 4 feet, while the ‘social zone’

varies from 4 to 12 feet. Is it the same in your culture?

13. Give examples of gestures that are commonly used to underline the meaning of what you say.

Body Language

• What is body language?
• How can you tell if a person is nervous?
• How can you tell if a person is confident?

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The English language currently has around 750,000 words. The average person, however, only has a vocabulary that they understand, of around 5,000 words, and uses only 1,200 each day in regular speech. And yet in the course of a day, we use far more than 12,000 nonverbal signals. Let's look at some basics. 

 Head Nod: a universally positive gesture indicating or showing agreement. When we lower our head we are showing approval, agreement, acceptance. It is a shortened form of a bow.

Head Shake: in the majority of countries this means a negative gesture indicating no, refusal, denial or disagreement.

Finger Shake: moved side to side, it is a shortened form of the head shake, indicating the same meaning.

Open Palms: universally this is used to indicate openness and honesty.

Closed Palms: this is a controlling gesture, used when telling people what to do. It’s an influencing gesture.

Fingers or hands over mouth: shows deceit, holding back.

Raised eyebrows: amazement; surprise; shock; accompanied with a nod, it is a greeting.