Oral Communication in Context

First Quarter
(Pointers)

Definition
 Communication is the process of sending and receiving messages
through a channel.
 Communication is a process of sharing and conveying messages or
information from one person to another within and across channels,
contexts, media, and cultures (McCornack, 2014).
Nature
1. Communication is a process.
2. Communication occurs between two or more people (the speaker and
the receiver).
3. Communication can be expressed through written or spoken words,
action, or both at the same time.
Principles
1. Schemata-driven
Schemata or schema proved a basis on how we relate to ideas,
concepts, and events based on past experiences.
2. Interpretative Act
The exact meaning of the message being transmitted is known
only by the sender or speaker.
3. Active, Forceful, Powerful
What is rude in one culture can be perceived as something
acceptable in another.
4. Symbolic
Signs, symbols, letters, graphs, pictures, etc. are concrete
objects that stand or represent an idea. Non-verbal communication,
on the other hand, expresses ideas through gestures, voice pitch,
posture, facial expression, time, and space.
5. Always results in something
As a transactional process, communication creates an effect on
the involved parties. It will elicit either a verbal or non-verbal
response.
6. Irreversible
With oral communication, the moment you utter the words to
convey your message already creates an impact to listeners.
7. Contextual
Idea exchanges between the sender and the receiver involves
communication setting like time, occasion, purpose or manner of
communication.
8. Progressive
Communication is a process you learn from birth and continues
to evolve as time passes by.
9. Process
Several stages of communication take place when people
convey and exchange ideas with one another.
10. Ethical
A communicative event is expected to follow rules, values, and
beliefs agreed upon by members of society.
11. Influenced by technology and media
Communication in the current age of technology is
characterized by the instant, real-time exchange of knowledge,
messages, and services.
Process

Elements of Communication
1. Encoding - the process of converting the message into words, actions,
or other forms that the speaker understands
2. Receiver - the recipient of the message, or someone who decodes the
message
3. Context - the environment where communication takes place
4. Message - the environment where communication takes place
5. Sender - the source of information or message
6. Channel - the medium or the means, such as personal or non-
personal, verbal or nonverbal, in which the encoded message is
conveyed
7. Decoding - the process of interpreting the encoded message of the
speaker by the receiver
8. Barriers/Noise - the factors that affect the flow of communication
9. Feedback - the reactions, responses, or information provided by the
receiver

Kinds of Communication
1. Non-verbal Communication
- Audio Signals
- Visual Signals

 Visual Signals – appeal to the eyes

a. Kinesics - The language of the body and facial expressions
b. Proxemics – The language of space and distance
c. Haptics – The language of touch
d. Chronemics – The language of time
e. Appearance – The language of looks

 Audio Signals – appeal to the ears

*Paralanguage - The various nonverbal cues we can hear in our
voice.
a. Vocal Quality - how pleasant or unpleasant a person’s voice
sounds.
timbre or tone color
b. Pitch - lowness or highness of tone
c. Tempo - how fast or slow someone speaks
d. Volume - the force of the voice or how loud or soft it goes
e. Junctures - breaks or pauses applied at the end of utterances or
between thoughts

2. Verbal Communication (words)

- Spoken
- Written
 Basic Features
a. Phonology - Phonology is the study of the system of sounds
including how sounds are organized and structured to convey
meaning.
b. Semantics - Semantics deals with the meaning of words, phrases,
and sentences in a language.
- Connotations (associated meaning)
- Denotations (dictionary meaning)
c. Morphology - Morphology studies the formation of words.
- Content (has meaning by their own; nouns, verbs, adverbs,
adjectives)
- Function (doesn’t have meaning on its own; pronouns,
prepositions, conjunctions, interjections)
d. Syntax - Syntax is the study of how words are put together to form
grammatically correct sentences in language.
e. Pragmatics - Pragmatics touches on how language is used. It is
concerned with how words can be interpreted in various scenarios.

Speech Context
Speech context talks about the number of participants involved in a
communicative act.
1. Intrapersonal Communication
This refers to communication that centers on one person where
the speaker acts both as the sender and the receiver of message.
Examples:
 Thinking about what to eat for dinner
 Deciding on what to wear for a party
 Talking to yourself in front of the mirror

2. Interpersonal Communication
This refers to communication between and among people and
establishes personal relationship between and among them.
*Types of Interpersonal Contexts
a. Dyads – The communication that occurs between two people.
b. Small Groups - This refers to communication that involves at
least three but not more than twelve people engaging in a face-
to-face interaction to achieve a desired goal.
- Everyone in the group has the chance to become sender and
receiver. There is an exchange of ideas between the members.
c. Public - This type refers to communication that requires you to
deliver or send the message before or in front of a group.
 d. Mass Communication - This refers to communication that
takes place through television, radio, newspapers, magazines,
books, billboards, internet, and other types of media.

Speech Style
Speech style refers to how a message is delivered. This also talks
about the use of language; the kinds of language used in specific situations.
1. Intimate
- The style is private and occurs between close family members or
individuals.
- The language used in this style may not be shared in public.
Examples:
 Talking to family members
 Sharing secrets with your best friends
2. Casual
- This style is common among peers and friends.
- Jargon, slang, or the vernacular language are used.
Examples:
 Talking with classmates and strangers
3. Consultative
- This style is the standard one.
- Professional or mutually acceptable language is a must in this style.
Examples:
 Talking to a teacher
 Consulting a doctor
4. Formal
- This style is used in formal settings.
- Unlike the consultative style, this is one-way.
Examples:
 Delivering speeches
5. Frozen
- This style is “frozen” in time and remains unchanged.
- It mostly occurs in ceremonies.
Examples:
 Saying prayers
 Pledge of Allegiance
 Models of Communication
The models of communication serve to illustrate the process of
communication.
1. Linear Model
 In linear model, communication is considered a one way
process, where sender is the only one who sends message and
receiver doesn’t give feedback or response.
 The message is encoded and transmitted through channel in the
presence of noise.
 The sender is more prominent in linear model of
communication.
Characteristics:
a. Unidirectional
- Linear model of communication is one-way.
- Senders can only transmit while receivers can only
receive.
- No feedback is expected to happen.
b. Simple
- It doesn’t look like a process.
- There is only a beginning and end.
- There is no exchange of roles between sender and
receiver.

c. Persuasion
- Promotes advice and influence rather than
understanding from both sender and receiver.
- The emphasis is on lack of feedback.
d. Psychological effects over Social
- This focuses on psychological effects (understanding the
messages) rather than social (establishing
relationships).
 Shannon-Weaver

 Sender (Information source)

Sender is the person who makes the message, chooses the
channel and sends the message.
 Encoder (Transmitter)
Encoder is the sender who uses machine, which converts
message into signals or binary data. It might also directly refer to the
machine.
 Channel
Channel is the medium used to send message.
 Decoder (Receiver) –
Decoder is the machine used to convert signals or binary data
into message or the receiver who translates the message from
signals.
 Receiver (Destination)
Receiver is the person who gets the message or the place where
the message must reach. The receiver provides feedback according
to the message.
  Noise
Noise is the physical disturbances like environment, people,
etc. which does not let the message get to the receiver as what is
sent.
Example:
• A businessman sends a message via phone text to his worker about a
meeting happening about their brand promotion. The worker does not
receive the full message because of noise. It goes like this:
Businessman: We have a meeting at the office (“at 8 am” goes missing due
to phone network disruption or noise)
Worker (feedback) : At what time?
Here,
Sender: Businessman
Encoder: Telephone network company
Channel: Mobile network
Noise: Phone network disruption
Decoder: Mobile phone
Receiver: Worker

Berlo’s SMCR
 The model also focuses on encoding and decoding which happens
before sender sends the message and after receiver receives the
message respectively.
 Berlo’s Model has mainly four components to describe the
communication process. They are sender, message, channel and
receiver. Each of the component is affected by many factors.

Factors that affect SMCR

 Sender
- Communication skills
o Refer to how the sender/receiver delivers the
message in communication. (e.g. stuttering,
clearness)
- Attitude
o Attitude towards communication
- Knowledge
- Social Systems
o Sex, social status, preference
- Culture
 Message
- Content
o The whole message from beginning to end is the
content.
- Elements
o The non-verbal things that tag along with the content
like gestures, signs, language, etc.
- Treatment
o Treatment is the way in which the message is conveyed
to the receiver.
- Structure
o The structure of the message or the way it has been
structured or arranged.
- Code
o Code is the form in which the message is sent.
 Channel
- Sight
- Hearing
- Smell
- Touch
- Taste
  Receiver
- Communication skills
o Refer to how the sender/receiver delivers the
message in communication. (e.g. stuttering,
clearness)
- Attitude
o Attitude towards communication
- Knowledge
- Social Systems
o Sex, social status, preference
- Culture

2. Transactional Model
 Transactional model of communication is the exchange of
messages between sender and receiver where each take turns
to send or receive messages.
Dance’s Helical Model

 Helical model of communication introduces the concept of

time.
 Communication is taken as a dynamic process in helical
model of communication and it progresses with age as our
experience and vocabulary increases.
3. Interactive Model
 Interactive model (also known as convergence model) deals
with exchange of ideas and messages taking place both ways
from sender to receiver and vice-versa.
Schramm’s Model

 Sender
 Encoder
 Decoder
 Receiver
 Message
 Feedback
 Medium
 Noise
 Field of Experience
 Functions of Communication
1. Control behaviour
2. Social Interaction
3. Motivation
4. Expression of emotions and feelings
5. Information dissemination
Features of Communication (7 C’s)
1. Completeness
Communication should include everything that the receiver
needs to hear for him/ her to respond, react, or evaluate properly.
2. Conciseness
Conciseness does not mean keeping the message short, but
making it direct or straight to the point.

3. Consideration
To be effective, the speaker should always consider relevant
information about his/her receiver such as mood, background,
race, preference, education, status, and needs, among others.
4. Concreteness
Effective communication happens when the message is
concrete and supported by facts, figures, and real-life examples and
situations.
5. Courtesy
The speaker shows courtesy in communication by respecting
the culture, values, and beliefs of his/her receivers.
6. Clearness
Clearness in communication implies the use of simple and
specific words to express ideas.
7. Correctness
Correctness in grammar eliminates negative impact on the
audience and increases the credibility and effectiveness of the
message.
Barriers of Communication
1. Emotional Barriers
- You are having a bad day or you feel frustrated.
o Recognize these kinds of emotions, and politely ask the
other person to give you a moment so you can relax or
calm yourself.
2. Use of Jargons
- You are a scientist discussing a certain weather phenomenon
with your neighbor who does not know much about the topic.
o To avoid communication breakdown due to lack of
clarity, adjust your language; use layman’s terms or
simple words.
3. Lack of Confidence
- You are asked to share something about your day or weekend,
but you are hesitant because you are shy.
o Develop self-confidence by joining organizations where
you can share and develop your interests. Look for
opportunities in your school or community that will help
you find your strengths and improve your abilities.
4. Noisy Environment
- You are having a conversation with some friends when a song
was played loudly.
o Make some adjustments by asking someone to minimize
the volume or by looking for a quiet area where you can
resume the conversation.

He who studies will pass. He who listens will survive. He who

believes will rule.