GED 106- Purposive Communication (MIDTERMS)
Lesson 1: Communication Principles and Ethics
Communication- putting words into thoughts and
emotions. It is done effectively when information is
transmitted without changing both the content and
the context of the message.
-is the art of creating and sharing ideas for a
specific purpose.
Forms of Communication:
1. Verbal Communication- includes the use of
language, sounds, and tone of voice.
2. Non-Verbal Communication- includes body
language and facial expressions.
3. Written Communication- through journals,
emails, blogs, and text messages.
4. Visual Communication- involves signs,
symbols, pictures, graphics and emojis.
Effective Communication is dependent on how rich
those ideas are, and how much of those ideas are
retained in the process. In order to be an effective
communicator, a number of skills have to be
utilized. Which skill one chooses greatly varies and
is dictated by the situation, the content or the actual
information a person needs or wants to convey,
and the intended recipient of that information.
Audience Analysis
A key element in effective communication is
audience analysis. “Audience” here does not only
refer to the people listening to you in a public
speech. Rather, it refers to anyone who is expected
to receive the message you are sending.
Knowing the audience, understanding their level
and how they need to receive the information – also
known as skills on audience analysis – are
extremely important in “packaging” the message
and sending it across.
Audience analysis is therefore one skill an effective
communicator must have. It is imperative that you
find out who the audience is – who will actually
receive your ‘message’ – and what they need to
know. Only in doing so can you properly adjust all
the other elements of communication, such as your
words or registers, your tone, and your
expressions.
Communication Barriers
Another aspect that needs consideration in
analyzing the audience is identifying and trying to
overcome possible communication barriers.
These are not confined to physical noise (cars
passing by, someone pounding on the table) and
physiological issues (an upset stomach), but could
also include cultural difference, varying levels of
expectations and experiences, and difference in
perspectives and communication styles.
Principles of Effective Communication
 CLARITY- This pertains to both the
message and the purpose why the message
has to be sent. The message should be
clear by using appropriate language and
communication channels
 CONCISENESS- The message should be
as brief as may be required depending on
one’s purpose.
 COMPLETENESS- the message should still
be complete and accurate.
 ORGANIZATION- ensure the systematic
flow of ideas and transition from one point to
another.
 EMPATHY- The sender of the message
should be sensitive to the needs and
interests of the receiver.
 FLEXIBILITY- to adapt to the varying needs
and expectations of their audience, and
modify the message or the way the
message is sent to avoid misunderstanding
or misinterpretation.
COMMUNICATION and GLOBALIZATION
Globalization has been regarded as the key to the
worldwide integration of humanity, where there is
an increased economic, political and cultural
integration and interdependence of diverse cultures
We Filipinos have increased our awareness and
acceptance of the notion that we belong to a
diverse, global community. It is therefore
imperative that we learn to communicate effectively
with people regardless of age, gender, race, ability,
religion, sexual orientation, income, marital status,
or ethnicity.
Communication in the modern world must be
anchored on the concept of diversity, since
effective communication and the ability to
understand cultural differences are skills that have
become requisites not only for a meaningful social
life but also for a successful professional career.
Digital technology has erased territorial
boundaries among countries and among people
with varying cultures.
Multiculturalists – those who are engaged with
and respectful of people with different cultures.
ETHICS in COMMUNICATION
Effective communication is ethical communication.
Communication is ethical only when it is genuine,
open, cooperative and sensitive to one’s cultural
and social beliefs and practices. If there is an
intent to conceal the truth, or bring damage to any
organization, group or individual person,
communication is considered unethical. Even in
situations when there is no intent to harm, but
damage to a certain group is inevitable because
of the message or the channel used to relay the
message, it is still considered unethical.
How past Experience and Prejudice Affect
Communication
 Past experiences inevitably affect people’s
communication styles in the future. When
their audience responded positively to their
message, chances of them repeating the
same style are relatively high. However,
when they were turned down or given
negative feedback, this will definitely
influence how they deliver the message
next time.
 Prejudices happen when people isolate an
experience with one “type” of person or one
group of people, then behave as if all
encounters with people of the same “type”,
or at least with the same characteristics, will
lead to the same experience. This
eliminates a people’s personal identity and
individuality. There can be prejudice as
regards to age, gender orientation, religious
belief, race, social-economic status, and
physical conditions.
Effective communicators view people as separate
from any preconceived notions others may have
about them. They see the value of the individual as
a person of worth, and thus will respect that
individuality.
Showing Commitment and Genuine Interest
 A key component of ethical communication
is showing commitment in the
communicative situation.
 Being committed means giving sufficient
time and resources to any discussion or
conversation, and being open about any
issue that may arise.
 Commitment also involves volunteering
important information, even if it puts a
person’s own short-term interests at risk, as
long as it is for the benefit of the majority
especially in the long run.
 Encouraging a communicative environment
of trust can go a long way in promoting
ethical communication in any academic or
business setting.
“NAVAL LANGUAGE” or the Belly Button
Psyche (1930s)
Two major elements affecting ethical
communication are:
 the use of words or language, and
 One’s behavior or body language.
The second element – body language – may be
enhanced through the ‘Belly Button Psyche’, or
the belly button rule, which is believed to
communicate true interest while engaging in face-
to-face communication.
Dr. Albert Mehrabian, professor of Psychology at
UCLA said that the belly button rule is the most
important indicator of reading a person’s intention.
Simply put, the belly button rule means the
direction of a person’s navel reflects his/her true
interest.
Respecting Socio-cultural Beliefs and practices
of others
Globalization also entails changing the way people
communicate to others, especially those with
different norms, cultures and belief systems.
Ethical communication requires people to respect
socio-cultural beliefs and practices of others, while
at the same time avoiding all kinds of stereotypes.
COMMUNICATION
 Productivity
  Facts
 Teamwork
 Plan
 People
 Idea
 Strategy
Lesson 2: Local and Global Communication in
Multicultural Settings
Communication Styles in Various Multicultural
Contexts
Communication style- refers to the choices
people make and the strategies or tools they use in
the process of communication.
The model, developed by Dr. Eileen M. Russo,
shows four different communication styles:
1. Spirited = High Expressiveness + High
Assertiveness
2. Considerate = High Expressiveness + Low
Assertiveness
3. Direct = Low Expressiveness + High
Assertiveness
4. Systematic = Low Expressiveness + Low
Assertiveness
 HA- tend to tell or instruct others what to do
and sometimes even how to do it.
 LA- tend to be in the receiving end, often
asking for guidance, instructions or
directions.
 HE- show their feelings and emotions
through facial expressions, tone of voice, or
language used.
 LE- tend to either hide their feelings or exert
some effort for those feelings not to show.
Tips for People with a Spirited Communication
Style
1. Respect decisions and agenda that have been
agreed upon, as well as time limits during
meetings or any communicative situation.
2. Try to limit your sharing of personal anecdotes
that may take the discussion off-topic.
3. Make sure you are allowing others to contribute
their ideas and suggestions – and that you are
genuinely listening to them.
4. Be certain that any request you make is clear
and that you convey the reason for such
request.
5. Communicate your appreciation for others’
work and input.
Tips for People with a Spirited Communication
Style
1. Respect decisions and agenda that have been
agreed upon, as well as time limits during
meetings or any communicative situation.
2. Try to limit your sharing of personal anecdotes
that may take the discussion off-topic.
3. Make sure you are allowing others to contribute
their ideas and suggestions – and that you are
genuinely listening to them.
4. Be certain that any request you make is clear
and that you convey the reason for such
request.
5. Communicate your appreciation for others’
work and input.
Tips for People with a Direct Communication
Style
1. Make an effort to listen carefully to others.
Avoid interrupting.
2. Allow time for ‘chatting’ at the beginning of a
meeting.
3. Recognize that others may also feel the
need to express themselves.
4. Recognize that brainstorming can be
effective and is not a waste of time.
5. Take some time to show your appreciation
for others’ contributions.
Tips for People with a Systematic
Communication Style
1. Recognize that for good working
relationships, consideration for others’
feelings is important.
 2. Learn to ask qualifying questions that will
help you get the information you need.
3. Make sure you understand the background
of the discussion or scope of the
conversation so no time is wasted.
4. Politely ask other questions about
themselves if you want to build rapport.
5. If you need to ask for more time to know,
analyze or discuss something, explain the
benefit of the information you need to know.
VARIETIES and REGISTERS of Spoken and
Written Language
In a multicultural society, people must use
culturally-appropriate terms, gestures, expressions
and images in any communicative situation.
Language Varieties
Also called “lects”, these refer to the different
variants of a language that can be sufficiently
delimited from one another in terms of social,
historical, or geo-spatial factors, thus forming
language clusters.
a) PIDGIN- It refers to a new language that
develops into situations where speakers of
different languages need to communicate
but do not share a common language
b) CREOLE- It is a pidgin that becomes the
first language of the children, or the mother
tongue of a certain community.
c) REGIONAL DIALECT- It is not a language
that is not distinct from a national language,
but rather a variety of a language spoken in
a particular area of a country.
d) MINORITY DIALECT- This is a variety used
as a marker of identity, usually alongside a
standard variety, by the members of a
particular minority ethnic group.
e) INDIGENIZED VARIETIES- These are
spoken mainly as second languages in
former colonies with multilingual
populations.
LANGUAGE REGISTERS
-Is characterized by the way a speaker uses
language differently in different social
circumstances.
-These are determined by such factors as social
atmosphere, purpose of communication, audience,
and the general context of the discourse.
a) FORMAL. These registers are used in
professional, academic, or legal settings
where communication is expected to be
respectful, uninterrupted, and restrained to
specific rules. Slang is never used and
contractions are rare.
b) CASUAL. These registers are used when
communicating with friends, close
acquaintances, colleagues, and family
members.
c) INTIMATE. Intimate language registers are
reserved for special occasions, usually
between only two people and often in
private.
d) FROZEN. It refers to historic language that
is intended to remain unchanged.
e) CONSULTATIVE. It is used in
conversations when people are speaking
with someone who has specialized
knowledge or is offering advice.
Language Registers can also be classified as:
 FORMAL- are appropriate for professional
situations, such as when speaking to a
supervisor or writing an invitation letter.
 INFORMAL- are conversational and
appropriate when speaking or writing to a
friend or to someone you know quite well.
The use of one or a combination of these registers
highly depends on the audience (person/s for
whom the message is intended) and the context
(nature of the communicative situation).
 NEUTRAL- are non-emotional and laden
with facts. These are most appropriate for
research or technical writing.
Improving one’s Ability in Communicating in a
Multicultural Setting
 Refrain from forming expectations based
solely on your culture. Knowing and
accepting the validity of cultural differences
are key in communicating with people
having diverse communication styles. Being
an effective communicator requires allowing
yourself to be immersed in the multicultural
society and embracing diversity.
 Remove personal biases or any
stereotype that may impede
understanding. You do not want to be at
the receiving end of a biased judgment,
 right? You don’t want people avoiding you
just because of how they see other
members of your group or culture.
Determine how much your family, friends
and colleagues have ‘dictated’ how you
view or feel about other people or other
groups, and identify which among these
pre-judgments are stereotypes that can
damage relationships.
 Make a personal commitment to develop
communication skills appropriate in
multicultural settings. Your ability to
develop intercultural communication skills
largely depends on how many – and how
much – of these promises you are willing to
make:
a) I will make a commitment to seek
information from persons whose
cultures are different from my own.
b) I will try to understand how the
experiences of persons from
different cultures leads them to
develop perspectives that differ from
mine.
c) I will pay attention to the situation
and the context when I
communicate with persons from
different cultures.
d) I will make every effort to become a
more flexible communicator.
e) I will not insist that persons from
other cultures should communicate
with me on my terms
Lesson 3: Evaluating Messages and Images of
Different Text Types
EVALUATING MESSAGES AND/OR IMAGES OF
DIFFERENT TYPES OF TEXTS REFLECTING
DIFFERENT CULTURES
The effects of cultural and global issues to
communication were highlighted in previous
discussions, as well as the impact of effective
communication to society and the world. This has
highlighted the importance of exploring the concept
of World Englishes, or as defined by Celce-
Murcia (2014), the regionally distinct varieties of
English that have arisen in parts of the world where
there is a long and often colonial history of English
being used in education, commerce and
government. Examples of World Englishes are
Indian English, West African English, Singapore
English, and Filipino English.
Kirkpatrick (2007) proposes a scale with two
extremes:
Extreme 1: The goal of national or regional identity.
People use a regional variety of English with its
specific grammar, structure and vocabulary to
affirm their own national or ethnic identity
Extreme 2: The goal of intelligibility. Users of a
regional variety should ideally still be readily
understood by users of English everywhere else in
the world to fully participate in the use of English as
an international language
The challenge is to find a good balance between
the identity-intelligibility extremes. Hence, speakers
of the English language may resort to code-
switching (i.e., using English and another
language in the same statement).
Multimodality
-is a fairly new concept in the general academic
setting, but can be a very powerful tool in light of
digital and multicultural communication
- A text or output is considered multimodal if it uses
two or more communication modes to make
meaning.
It shows different ways of knowledge
representations and meaning-making, and
investigates contributions of semiotic resources
(language, gestures, images) that are co-deployed
across various modalities (visual, aural, somatic,
etc.). Most importantly, multimodality highlights the
significance of interaction and integration in
constructing a coherent text.
A multimodal text can either be one of the following:
 Paper (books, comics, posters, brochures)
 Digital (slide presentations, blogs, web
pages, social media, animation, film, video
games
 Live (performance or an event)
 Transmedia (A story is told using multiple
delivery channels through a combination of
platforms, such as comics, film, and video
games all working as part of the same story
with the same message.)
The creation of multimodal texts and outputs
requires a creative design concept that
orchestrates the purposive combination of text,
color, photo, sound, spatial design, language,
gestures, animations and other semiotics, all with
the unitary goal of bringing meaning to life.
In creating a multimodal text, the Purpose,
Audience, Context must all be considered.
 PURPOSE- the creator of the text must be
clear on the message and the reason(s)
why the message has to be delivered.
 AUDIENCE- the nature, interests and
sensitivities of the target audience must be
considered so the text will not be offensive
and hurt people’s sensibilities.
 CONTEXT- the message should be clearly
delivered through various semiotic
resources, and in consideration of the
various situations where and how the text
will be read by different people having
different cultural backgrounds.
Lesson 4:The Rise of New Media and Technology
Aids in Communication
Social Media Use
The exponential rise in the use of social media can
be partly attributed to the emergence of
technologies that enable modern communication
(that is, FAST, CONVENIENT, INTERACTIVE
communication).
These include computers, laptops, and smart
phones, among others. In addition, the rise of social
media is a unique manifestation of how quickly and
drastically patterns of social behaviors change.
Responsible Use of Social Media
1. You may not agree with everything or everyone
you encounter on social media networks, but treat
each person with dignity and respect. The Golden
Rule of treating others how you want to be treated
is a good practice.
2. Do not turn to social media as a way to harass,
demean, or bully someone else. Sitting in front of a
computer screen does not give you license to
embarrass, intimidate, or spread hurtful rumors
about others.
3. Regardless of your privacy settings, keep in mind
that anything can possibly be seen by anyone at
any time, even by that person that you did not want
to see it. Pause before you post, think before you
click.
4. Whether you're concerned with maintaining good
friendships or future job prospects, be responsible
in what you post and how it could affect your
reputation. Many employers now check up on job
candidates' social media accounts for evidence of
bad behavior.
English Language and the New Media
New media -refer to highly interactive digital
technology. These are very easily processed,
stored, transformed, retrieved, hyper-linked,
searched for, and accessed.
Generally, these can be classified as:
 Blogs
 Social media
 Online newspaper
 Virtual reality
 Computer games
Language in new media is sometimes referred to
as Computer-mediated communication (CMC),
though it may also be called any of the following:
 Netspeak
 Computer-mediated discourse
 Digital discourse
 Electronic discourse
 E-communication
 Digitally mediated communication
 Keyboard-to-screen communication
This type of discourse or computer-mediated
communication (CMC) can be described as:
CMC is VERNACULAR- means it uses language
that is common to people regardless of age, social
class, gender, or race.
Examples:
 Acronyms (Lol, yolo, fomo, bae)
 Initialisms (atm, rotfl, brb, btw, hbd, idk, jk,
af, nvm, tmi, tldr, ftw, g!)
 Emoticons/ Emojis
 Expressive Punctuations o
Hello? VS Hello?!? , No. VS No? VS No!!!
CMC is INTERPERSONAL- It is relationship-
focused rather than subject-oriented. This can be
explained by the number of Group Chats (GCs) a
person has, and the number of individuals and GCs
a person engages simultaneously.
The interpersonal nature of CMC is characterized
by the following:
 Turn-taking
 Topic development
 Back-channels
 Repairs
CMC is SPONTANEOUS- It is usually unplanned,
unstructured, and sometimes impulsive. This
spontaneity also gave rise to Net Neologisms
through Lexical Creativity such as:
 B4n
 F2f
 Terms such as trolls, meme, hashtag, and
meh.
These can be described as mediatized stylization
and popular representation.
CMC is DIALOGICAL- It carries expectation of
continuous exchange. This is why most media
platforms have a “Reply” or “Comment” option,
while some have a “Leave a comment” button, to
ensure continuous interaction.
The English language in the New Media is:
a) Brief
b) Multimodal
c) Ideological
BREVITY. How much people put premium on
length and on the time it would take for them to
read an article
MULTIMODALITY. This refers to the layering of
different digital media.
IDEOLOGICALLY- MOTIVATED. New media is
inherently ideological, especially in terms of their
political-economies of access and control.
Communication Planning
Communication Planning Process- involves
defining the types of information you will deliver,
who are the intended recipients of that information,
the format for communicating it, and the timing of
its release and distribution.
The key goal is to make sure everybody gets the
right message at the right time. It serves various
purposes:
1. To inform
2. To persuade
3. To prevent misunderstanding
4. To present a point of view or reduce barriers
Steps in Communication Planning:
1. Research and analyze current situation.
2. Establish goals and objectives (short and
long term).
3. Identify the target audience (what they
know, what influences them, communication
impediments, etc.).
4. Conceptualize on key messages
5. Strategize on communication styles and
platform(s)
6. Evaluate and anticipate.
Communication Strategies in Tech-based
Communication
1. Keep it simple. Avoiding including too much
information in a graphic or in one slide. The
message should be immediate and clear. By
keeping the visual material simple, you also
maintain maximum personal contact with your
audience
2. Emphasize only on key ideas. When you call
attention to ideas with a graphic presentation, make
sure the graphic clearly illustrates your essential
points and the important supporting data.
3. Show what you can’t say. The best use of
visual media is to reveal material you can’t easily
describe orally or with written text. Graphics,
photos, charts, and illustrations can accomplish this
objective.
4. Keep the number of images you present
manageable. Too many images will tire your
audience (so will too much text). Eight to ten
images should be the maximum number for most
presentations.
5. Combine variety with coherence. If you use
several images, vary the design to make them
interesting, but keep them aesthetically consistent.
6. Use large lettering. Use large text font sizes
with minimal use of serifs so the audience can read
the text easily. In addition, do not flood your
presentation with text.