Binalonan, Pangasinan

First Semester, A.Y. 2022-2023

MODULE 1
LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Course Title: PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATIOM

Course Code: GE 5
Date and Time Allotment: August 22 – 26, 2022

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

Communication is the
process of using
messages to generate
meaning.
(Person, et al., 2011, p.
10)
sending and receiving messages
sometimes through spoken or written
words, and sometimes non-verbally
through facial expressions, gestures
and voice qualities.
(Ober & Newman, 2013, p.5)
Broadly speaking, communication
is a process of sharing opinions and
information, ideas and feelings.
(Jimenez & Aliparo, 2000, p. 1)
 Communication is a systemic In its simplest form,
process in which people interact communication is the
with and through symbols to create transmission of a
and interpret meanings. message from a
source to receiver.
(Wood, 2012, p.3)
(Baron, 2011, p.4)
Communication is the process of
sending information to oneself or
another entity usually via
language.
(Palta, 2007, p. 1)

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