TYPES OF

COMMUNICATIV
E STRATEGIES
 People communicate every day to establish and
maintain relationships, know and understand
themselves, and find meaning in the daily grind.

Successful communication requires

understanding of the relationship between words and
sentences and the speech acts they represent.

It is only when we willingly cooperate and speak

in socially-approved ways that we can make a
conversation meaningful.
Types of Communicative Strategies

Since engaging in conversation is also

bound by implicit rules. Cohen (1990) states
that strategies must be used to start and
maintain a conversation. Knowing and
applying grammar appropriately is one of the
most basic strategies to maintain a
conversation.
1. Nomination
A speaker carries out to nomination to
collaboratively and productively establish a topic.
Basically, when you employ this strategy, you try to
open a topic with the people you are talking to.

When beginning a topic in a conversation,

especially if it does not arise from a previous topic, you
may start off with news inquiries and news
announcements as they promise extended talk. Most
importantly, keep the conversational environment open
for opinions until the prior topic shuts down easily and
initiates a smooth end. This could efficiently signal the
beginning of a new topic in the conversation.
2. Restriction

Restriction in communication refers to any

limitation you may have as a speaker. When
communicating in the classroom, in a meeting, or
while hanging out with your friends, you are
typically given specific instructions that you must
follow. These instructions confine you as a speakers
and limit what what you can say.
3. Turn-taking
Sometimes people are given unequal opportunities
to talk because others take much time during the
conversation. Turn-taking pertains to the process by
which people decide who take the conversational floor.
There is a code of behavior behind establishing and
sustaining a productive conversation, but the primary
idea is to give all communicators a chance to speak.
4. Topic Control
Topic control covers how procedural formality
or informality affects the development of topic in
conversations. For example, in meetings, you may
only have a turn to speak after the chairperson
directs you to do so. Contrast this with a casual
conversation with friends over lunch or coffee where
you may take the conversational floor anytime.

When the topic is initiated, it should be

collectively developed by avoiding unnecessary
interruptions and topic shifts.
5. Topic Shifting
Topic shifting, as the name suggests, involves
moving from one topic to another. In other words, it is
where one part of a conversation ends and where
another begins.

When shifting from one topic to another, you may

have to be very intuitive. Make sure that the previous
topic was nurtured enough to generate adequate views.
You may also use effective conversational transitions to
indicate a shift like “By the way,” “In addition to what
you said,” “Which reminds me of,” and the like.
6. Repair
Repair refers to how speakers address the
problems in speaking, listening, and comprehending
that they may encounter in a conversation. For example,
if everybody in the conversation seems to talk at the
same time, give way and appreciate other's initiative to
set the conversation back to its topic.
Repair is the self-righting mechanism in any social
interaction (Schegloff et al, 1977). If there is a problem
in understanding the conversation, speakers will always
try to address and correct it.
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.

Although not all topics may have clear ends, try to

signal the end of the topic through concluding cues. You
can do this by sharing what you learned from the
conversation. Aside frm this, soliciting agreement from
the other participants usually completes the discussion
of the topic meaningfully.
Identify the type of communicative strategy in each
statement.
1. “Do you have anything to say?”
2. “One of the essential lessons I gained from the discussion is the
importance of sports and wellness to a healthy lifestyle.”
3. “Excuse me? I think we should speak one at a time, so we can
clearly understand what we want to say about the issue.”
4. “Go on with your ideas. I'll let you finish first before I say
something.”
5. “Have you heard the news about the latest achievement of our
government?”
Identify the type of communicative strategy in each
statement.
6. “Hey, how are you? I missed you!”
7. “Best regards to your parents to your parents! See you around!”
8. “Good to see you. Anyway, I came to visit you because I want
to personally offer apologies for what I did yesterday.”
9. Sorry, I can't decide on that now. I am still focused on my
writing assignment. Let's talk next time, okay?”
10. “Now, it's your turn to ask questions.”