TOPIC 4

VERBAL COMMUNICATION
SCCA2023
HUMAN COMMUNICATION
Course Learning Outcome
 Student is expected to be able to:
 Describe verbal messages
 Describe the principles of verbal messages
 Consider the cultural principles of verbal
communication
Definition: Verbal Communication
 the process of sending a message through a spoken
language that is understood by both the sender and receiver
of the message.
 the process of verbally transmitting information and ideas
from one individual or group to another.
 Examples of verbal communications include face-to-face
talking, listening to a lecture or seminar, and listening to a
television program. In fact, if you are listening to this
lesson, you are engaged in a verbal form of communication
Principles Of Verbal Messages

1. Meanings are in people

2. Meanings depend on context
3. Messages are culturally influenced
4. Language is both denotative and connotative
5. Language varies in directness
1. Meanings are in people
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 To uncover meaning, you need to look into people
and not merely into words
 The same messages can have different meanings
when people change
 The same words are different between people of
different cultures
 Words in themselves don’t have meaning, meaning
is in the people who use those words
Bypassing
 Bypassing is “the miscommunication pattern which
occurs when the sender and the receiver miss each
other with their meanings” (Haney, 1973)
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3a3fgUkw6c
 Thus, it is a mistake to assume that when two
people use the same word, they mean the same
thing OR that when they use different words, they
mean different things
2. Meanings depend on context
 Verbal and nonverbal communications exist in a context which
determines the meaning of any verbal or nonverbal behaviour
 The same words/ behaviour may have totally different meaning
when they occur in different contexts
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRc_7Xk-4is
 In isolation from the context, it’s impossible to tell what
meaning was intended by merely examining the signals
 Even if you know the context in detail, you still may not be
able to decode the meaning of the message
3. Messages are culturally influenced
 A part of verbal messages follow the rules of culture
 Cultural rules focus on the customs and values that
the culture considers important
 When you follow these principles in communicating,
you are seen as a properly functioning member of the
culture
 When you violate the rules, you risk being seen as
deviant or insulting
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 Your task: What are your cultural principles in
communicating, and how do these principles work
in verbal communication?
4. Language is both denotative and connotative

 Denotative= the meaning you’d find in a dictionary;

it’s the meaning that members of the culture assign
to a word. It’s a literal meaning.
 Connotation= the emotional meaning that specific
speakers-listeners give to a word
 What is the word HOSTEL means to you?
5. Language varies in directness
 Direct speech: communicates your meaning explicitly and
leaves little doubt as to the thoughts and feelings you want
to convey.
 Indirect speech: communicates your meaning in a
roundabout way. You don’t really say what you mean but
you imply it
 Indirect messages have both advantages and disadvantages
 YOUR TASK: What are the advantages and disadvantages
of indirect messages in your culture?
Communicating to acknowledge others:
Disconfirmation and confirmation
 What you communicate to other person may be considered as a
disconfirmation, rejection or confirmation.
 Disconfirmation= a communication pattern in which we ignore
someone’s presence as well as that person’s communications.
 Rejection= you disagree with the person; you indicate your
unwillingness to accept something the other person says or
does.
 You deny that person’s significance or you claim that what he/she says
or does simply does not count
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 Confirmation= the opposite communication pattern. You not
only acknowledge the presence of the other person but also
indicate your acceptance of this person, of his/her self
definition, and of your relationship as defined or viewed by
this other person.
 All these can be communicated in various ways.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSHH3eHq474
 Confirmation, most of the time, encourages effective
communication rather than disconfirmation
YOUR TASK
 Based on the stated situation below:
1. Write the 3 potential responses as indicated, then
2. Indicate what effect s each type of response is likely to generate
The situation
 Joe receives this semester’s grades in the mail; they are a lot better than
previous semesters’ grades but are still not great. After opening the letter,
Joe says: “I really tried hard to get my grades up this semester.” Joe’s
parents respond:
 With disconfirmation
 With rejection
 With confirmation