Good communication strengthens relationship. It builds trust,
Topic Shifting
suggests individual’s manner, and may also resolve certain
issue. Since we are addressed as “social being” where it is not
easy for us to live without interaction to one another, there are
ways on how people may communicate effectively and
meaningfully.
Everyone must know the importance of establishing good
communication in order to avoid confusion, misunderstanding
and to gain more others’ ideas, and experiences and to resolve
problems in every situation.
The learners should be able to employ proper communicative
strategy in different situation.
Types of Communicative Strategy
Strategies must be used to start and maintain a conversation
(Cohen, 1990). The strategy may vary according to the need,
situation, or speaker. Below are some strategies that people
use in communication.
1. Nomination
This is a speaker’s strategy in establishing a collaborative
conversation by opening a subject. Commonly, to employ this
strategy without prior conversation, the speaker frequently
asks questions, tell some current news or announcements that
would require his/her listener to respond and have a good start
for conversation.
2. Restriction
Restriction in communication refers to any limitation you have
as a speaker (Sipacio and Balgos, 2016). This strategy limits
the speaker’s content of what to say – mostly only those that
are relevant to the topic presented.
If a teacher gives a topic to collaborate, everyone in the group
are expected to bring out ideas that would only be concerned
with the given topic. Speakers are restricted to sideswipe to
avoid communication breakdown.
3. Turn-taking
To make communication be organized and all ideas are well-
facilitated, people in the circle must be given equal
opportunities to present their ideas during the conversation.
4. Topic Control
Topic control is a communicative strategy used to control and
prevent unnecessary interruptions and topic shifts in a certain
conversation. Topic control is considered a procedural
formality or informality that affects the development of certain
topics in particular discussion or conversation.
Moreover, topic control works along the concept of turn-
taking, where everyone can express related ideas to the
ongoing topic without the need to interrupt others.
5.
Topic shifting is a diversionary tactic in which one person in a
discussion (the shifter) manages to subtly change the
discussion's topic to another, related but different topic,
without explicitly announcing the change of subject or
reaching any kind of mutual agreement that such a change is
appropriate.
6. Repair
Repair refers to how speakers address problems in speaking,
listening, and comprehending that they may encounter in a
conversation. Repair is self-righting mechanism in any social
interaction. Once a problem in communication is not repaired
right away, surely, it would lead into misunderstanding or
confusion.
7. Termination
Termination refers to the conversation participants' close-
initiating expressions that end a topic in a conversation. Most
of the time, the topic initiator takes responsibility to signal the
end of the discussion as well.
Topic Nomination- is choosing a topic and opening or starting
it for discussion.
Topic restriction- is confining or limiting the development of
the topic and keeping it within bounds. This may be done by
interrupting the one speaking or avoiding the topic altogether.
Turn-taking--refers to the exchange of turns or instances when
each speaker talks in aninteraction.
Topic Control-- is directing and regulating the flow or
development of the interaction
Topic Shifting--means changing the topic or its direction and
emphasis.
Repair--- is fixing and correcting anything negative, or
providing any kind of amends and remedyto something that
has gone wrong in the exchange between the two speakers.7.
Topic Termination---is ending concluding, or closing the
conversation or interaction
Closing--and saying “goodbye,” for instance, are culture-
specific. Some cultures have minimal or noclosing
requirements, while others, like American English, have
elaborate ones.
Communicative Strategies
Directions: Read the text below. Extract the observable
communicative strategies from it. Write the statement/s
that represent/s the strategies on a sheet of paper under the
correct heading/label.
The SK Chairperson called for a meeting. After presenting the
agenda for the day, he asked the body to raise other concerns
to be discussed. They put forward two other matters namely:
the upcoming programs for youth development and the
construction of the new SK building. During the open forum,
the Chair instructed his fellow youth to raise their hand if they
want to say something. The attendees waited for their turns in
the process. The meeting progressed and every time the
discussion would get off the track, the Chair would call for
order and remind the group to stay focused. The discussion
flowed smoothly then, and with everyone’s cooperation, the
shift from one topic to the next was done with ease.
Other matters were also clarified. Soon, the chairman asked
everybody if they have fully understood all the issues and
concerns discussed. Everybody nodded and said, “Yes!” in
response. The meeting was adjourned promptly.
1. Nomination
_________________________________________________
2. Restriction
__________________________________________________
_______________________ 3. Turn-taking
__________________________________________________
_______________________ 4. Topic Control
__________________________________________________
_______________________ 5. Topic Shifting
__________________________________________________
_______________________ 6. Repair
__________________________________________________
_______________________ 7. Termination
__________________
The world we live in offers dynamic conditions that drive us
to modify and adjust our behavior and manner of speech
with others. In the same way, exposure to various situations
changes the purpose, manner of delivery, words and strategies
that we apply to the various conversations.
The way you talked with Mr. Reyes, your Oral
Communication teacher was way different from how you
exchanged conversation with Diego, your best friend and
classmate. With your teacher, you behaved as an obedient
student and you were respectful and formal; while with your
best friend, you were more relaxed, and your conversational
tone became more personal and casual. There are times when
we are pressed with inevitable circumstances that make us
react either positively or negatively on matters of
agreement or controversy.
There are moments we stand firm on our belief or concede
when it is necessary. We say something according to what we
hear and respond based on the turn of events or of the story. As
a cousin to Karl and as the situation calls for, you owned a
certain level of authority, yet the language used may be
informal since you are of close affinity. Your voice could be a
little imposing but also respectful as you reminded him about
the surprise gift to be secretly bought for your father. But it
changed the way you talked with your mother who called
you over the phone. Suddenly, your tone became more
endearing as you did not want to displease her.
In just a snap, the loving son that you are, turned into
someone else when your school principal sent you an errand
to Mrs. Caparas, the 60-year old District Supervisor. Your
delivery and choice of words apparently varied. In an instant,
you spoke cautiously and seriously because you adapted to the
fact that apart from age difference, she is a person of high
authority and that formality of language is deemed necessary.
Communicative Competence In order to achieve
communicative competence, we must consider the following:
speech context, speech style, speech act and
communicative strategies.
Communicative strategies
You are the class president and are the one presiding a
meeting. In the middle of the discussion, a heated argument
as to where the class fund goes takes place. What would you
do? To begin a conversation and keep it going, we should
employ strategies that will help maintain its smooth flow.
 You may consider nomination wherein you as the class
president or your classmates suggest a topic or agenda to
talk about. Nomination starts the conversation process.
You also put restriction or limitation to the topic to be
discussed in order to meet the arranged and allotted time.

Turn-taking is where you employ rules of engagement

regarding the procedure or sequence of each participant’s
turn to talk. This also refers to the alternate turns that
speakers adapt when having a conversation. Making sure that
the discussions remain in the confines of the agenda is
the next consideration.

This may be hard to achieve but topic control is possible

through the cooperation of all the attendees of a group
meeting or of all participants in the discussion. Everybody
should ensure that the conversation will not veer away from
what has been planned.

Topic shifting makes the transition from one topic to

another occur smoothly. This happens when one discussant
manages to move to the next topic subtly. This next topic
may not necessarily be the same as the previous but
definitely, it is related to it.

Before the meeting is adjourned, you may repair or fix all the
problems that arouse in the course of the meeting by
answering all the questions and clarifying the attendees’
understanding of the agenda discussed.

The termination is the last part of the process where the

meeting is successfully ended. These various communicative
strategies may be employed by speakers in order to keep the
conversation moving forward. Different strategies entail
different word choice and language forms.

From our discussions earlier, it is clear that the following

elements are affected by a shift in the communicative
processes:

1. language form which could shift from formal to informal

and vice versa,

2. the duration or the length of communication which could be

shortened or lengthened depending on how the
conversation will be maintained,

3. the relationship of the speaker to the receiver of the message

that could be intimate, frozen, consultative, casual, or
formal; and,

4. the role and responsibility of the speaker, the message and

its delivery which could vary depending on the context and
purpose of communication