ORAL COMM

Non-verbal Communication
Type Vocal Non-vocal
Verbal Communication Spoken words Written words
Non-verbal Communication Sighs, screams, laughs, fillers, vocal Bodily motions, facial expressions,
qualities, and features (tone, eye contact, gestures, postures,
loudness, pitch, speed, and pacing) touch, use of space and time,
personal appearance
Characteristics of Non-verbal Comm
 Non-verbal cues show interaction among people.
Ex: hailing a taxicab, smiling, or nodding
 Non-verbal suggest how people feel
Ex: slumped posture, breaking eye contact, and glazed eyes can already show how you feel
 Non-verbal cues provide clues, not facts.
 It is impossible to interpret non-verbal messages accurately. Real meanings still need to be
verified.

Functions of Non-verbal Comm

1. Complementing
o Non-verbal behavior complements the verbal message to express meaning.
2. Contradicting
o Sometimes used to oppose the meaning of the verbal message.
o Ex, a woman yawns while saying that your story is interesting
3. Accenting
o Can help emphasize oral messages.
o Ex, a public speaker may raise his/her hands or bend his/her fingers on the table to stress an
important point of what he/she is trying to tell
4. Substituting
o Is also used to express something without saying anything
o Ex, the outcome of the job interview, a person can smile to tell that it went well
5. Regulating
o To control the flow of verbal communication
o Ex, intonation pattern of speaker, nodding slightly, making eye contact
6. Repeating
o Repeated non-verbal cues have specific meanings
o Ex, when one waves repeatedly to say hello, repeated shaking of head means disagreement

Types of Non-verbal Symbols

Kinesics Bodily Motions
 It is the study of body language as a form of non-verbal communication. Body language includes eye
contact, facial expressions, gestures, and postures.
1. Eye contact
o Maintaining eye contact signifies that you pay attention to the conversation
2. Facial expression
o You can always choose which expression you can show or hide. Ex: people keep a poker face,
or a neutral face expression, to hide how they feel or to save themselves from embarrassment
3. Gestures
o Gestures refer to any purposive movement of fingers, arm, hands, head, or shoulders to
emphasize or suggest something
4. Postures
o Your posture also conveys message to your listener. For example, standing or sitting on an
erect but relaxed posture indicates self-confidence or friendliness. In the same vein, changes in
posture also convey messages.
Paralanguage (use of voice)
 It refers to the non-verbal sounds accompanying oral language. These elements can help shape the
meaning of the message or completely change it.
1. Tone (Vocal Quality)
o Tone is the distinct sound of one’s voice. Most of the time, you know someone is complaining
because of his whiny nasal tone, or is angry because of the harsh and strident tone.
2. Speed
o Speed refers to the rate of speed or how fast you are talking. Increased speed may mean that
the speaker is tensed. Slow speech may mean sadness or caution in stressing a point.
3. Pitch
o Pitch refers to the highness and lowness of voice. Raising or lowering the pitch may signify
the speaker’s emotions.
4. Volume
o Volume refers to the loudness or softness of voice. A loud voice often signifies a need to
stress a point while a soft voice may mean that the information is confidential.

Haptics (use of touch)

 Haptic is the study of how touch is used to deliver a message.
 Functional/professional
 Social/polite touch
 Friendly/warm touch
 Love/intimate touch
 Sexual touch

Proxemics (Use of Space)

o It refers to the way use space to convey meaning. This includes permanent structure, movable objects
within space, and informal space.
1. Permanent Structure
o It refers to immovable places in which we live or work in. for example, a person who wishes
to express his/her need for solitude chose to live near a forest or on a thinly populated area.
2. Movable Objects
o The types of objects and their arrangement in a room depend on the intended message.
3. Informal Space
o It is a person’s invisible comfort zone, an intimate space around him/her at any given time.
Coming close to a person’s informal space may indicate closeness and comfort, while standing
a good distance away from someone indicates detachment.

Personal Appearance
o A person’s appearance depends on his/her age, gender, race, educational attainment, and profession.
The way you dress and groom also communicates your social and cultural roles and personal
qualities.
1. Clothes
o The type of occasion or context often suggests what a person’s personality is still evident. A
person’s clothing choice and grooming can also differentiate him/her form or associate
him/her with other groups.
2. Hairstyles
o Your hairstyle also gives off message. A girl with a short hair could be seen as simple and
unfussy, while a person with hair dyed a striking color such as pink or blue could be seen as a
unique and bold.
3. Accessories
o Such as piercings, jewelry, and the like tell something about status. Some people who wear
expensive or elaborate jewelry are perceived to be of high social status.
4. Tattoos
 o Some cultures also use tattoos as a way of distinguishing ranks and showcasing their cultural
heritage.
Intercultural Communication
Intercultural is connected to international business. In international business, the failure to
understand international cultural differences can bear serious consequences.
Intercultural Communication is the sending and receiving of messages across languages and
cultures (Arent, 2009)
Culture is not only made up of shared languages or countries; it also refers to different social groups
in the same setting.
A Cultural Grid is a framework of understanding for processing verbal and non-verbal cues specific
to a particular culture. For example; When you interact with an Indian, you will use your cultural grid to be
appropriate. You use this framework to understand their gestures.

Each person is a cultural being. The values, traditions, and the social and political views shared by
a group of people are also part of an individual’s culture. Also, culture can be made up of people’s common
shared history, geography, language, gender, and sexuality: this is Cultural identity.

Cultural Identity is learned. What you think and learn and how you interpret and react to messages
are affected by the social influence brought about by your family, friends, and community. Cultural identity
also varies in strength and content, since its usefulness differs according to the setting.

No individual belongs to just one group, as each cultural group may interact with another.
Each individual identifies themselves to a race, language, gender, religion, sexual orientation, generation,
and so forth. Moreover, since cultural identities are embedded in ourselves, individuals relate to the group
they belong to.

Intercultural competence enables a communicator to understand and interact with other cultures by
applying attitudes and values, and understanding interaction skills (Huber and Renolds, 2014). It entails
acceptance of and respect for one’s cultural identity and open-mindedness and sensitivity to others.

8 Basic behaviors for intercultural competence:

Describes the attitudes and behaviors needed for an intercultural mindset.
1. Display of Respect.
o Respect simply means seeing the value of other cultures regardless of their difference from your own
culture.
o Showing respect demonstrates awareness of different cultural rules and knowledge of acceptable
norms or standards of behavior.
2. Orientation of Knowledge.
o You must determine the context which shapes the person’s thinking and behavior.
3. Empathy.
o You emphatize when you put yourself in other people’s shoes so you know what and how they feel.
o Empathy aids in building trust and establishing connections with people from other cultures.
o It is essential for effective communication so that you can see the perspective of the other person and
know why they think the way they do.
4. Interaction management.
o Refers to knowing how and when to talk appropriately and effectively.
o Body language and facial expressions.
o Be attentive, receptive, and responsive during the interaction.
5. Task Role Behavior.
o Task role behavior is essential since it lessens any group conflict that may possibly arise.
o Harmony, teamwork, and productivity are shared goals in intercultural communication.
6. Relation Role Behavior.
o Relational role behavior aims to take part in establishing and preserving a personal relationship that
promotes trust, harmony, and support among participants of intercultural communication.
7. Tolerance of Ambiguity.
o Tolerance refers to openness to differences while ambiguity means confusion.
o Tolerance for ambiguity is encouraged to avoid hostility and anger.
8. Emotional Expression and Interaction Poster.
o A part of culture’s feature is how different people express their emotions. To ensure intercultural
competence, you should recognize the unique social behavior that develops in any culture.
o Barriers to Intercultural Communication.
o People who are exposed to many cultures can clash in various ways. Lehman and Dufrene (2012)
identify the following barriers which lead to communication breakdown when people with different
cultural background interact.

Barriers to Intercultural Communication:

1. Ethnocentrism.
 Ethnocentrism is the tendency for people to believe that their own cultural norms are the right way of
doing things.
 They mistakenly assume that the specific patterns of behavior desired in their own cultures are
universally valued.
 Learning about other cultures and developing sensitivity will help minimize the ethnocentric reaction
when dealing with other cultures.
 The Ku Klux Klan, which was formed in 1866 in Tennessee, was a racist and anti-Semitic group
that aimed to promote white supremacy. They often resorted to violence.
2. Stereotypes.
 Mental pictures that one group forms from the main characteristics of another group. They usually
involve generalized ideas of people in a certain group.
 It can also arise internally; gender, religion, social class, and age stereotypes abound even inside a
certain culture.
 These generalizations interfere with communication when people interact on the basis of the
imagined representative and not the real individual.
3. Prejudice.
 The word prejudice refers to prejudgment making a decision before becoming aware of the relevant
facts of a case or event.
 The word has commonly been used in certain restricted contexts, in the expression 'racial prejudice'.
 Initially referred to making a judgment about a person based on their race, religion, etc., before
receiving information relevant to the particular issue on which a judgment was being made.
4. Discrimination.
 In general, discrimination, in a non-legal sense, is the discernment of qualities and recognition of the
differences between things.
 We all have the power of discrimination, which is essential for us to be able to make decisions and
judgments about things. And this ability is more commonly referred to as differentiating.
 However, in a legal sense, discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of a person or a group of people
based on certain characteristics.
5. Interpretation of Time.
 Prejudice is a negative attitude toward a cultural group based on little or no experience. It is a
prejudgment of sorts. Whereas stereotypes tell us what a group is like, prejudice tells us how we are
likely to feel about that group.
 The behavior that results from stereotyping or prejudice- overt actions to exclude, avoid or distance
oneself from other groups- is called discrimination. Discrimination may be based on racism or any
other “isms” related to belonging to a cultural group (sexism, ageism, elitism).
 Chronemics is defined as the study of how cultures perceive time and its use. The difference in the
perception of time may affect how people view each other, therefore, it also influences how they
interact.
 o Example: In Western cultures, such as in America and Canada, time is viewed as important so
people make it a point to keep appointments. In other cultures, time is the cheapest commodity
and an inexhaustible resource. To these cultures, engaging in long, casual conversations prior
to serious discussion or negotiations is time well-spent in establishing and nurturing
relationships.
6. Personal Space Requirements.
 Proxemics is the study of cultural space requirements. Space operates as a language just as time does.
In all cultures, the distance between people functions in communication as “personal space” or
“personal territory.”
 In the United States, for intimate conversations with close friends and relatives, individuals are
willing to stay within about a foot and a half of each other; for casual conversations, up to two or
three feet.
 In other cultures, such as in Japan, it is essential for people not to step into a person’s personal space.
7. Body Language.
 Body language is not universal, but is learned from one’s culture. Even the most basic gestures have
varying cultural meanings.
 North American symbol for “okay” means zero in France, money in Japan, and is an expression of
vulgarity in Brazil.
 Eye contact, posture, and facial expressions carry different meanings throughout the world.
8. Translation Limitations.
 Words in one language do not always have equivalent meanings in other languages, and the concepts
the words describe are often different as well.
 “gigil” no exact meaning.
 Translators can be helpful, but working with a second language and mentally casting the words into
another language is not only difficult, but it also does not completely eliminate cultural barriers.

Overcome Barriers to Intercultural Communication:

1. Increase intercultural communication competence.
2. Understand national cultures with notice of individual differences and personal multiple identities.
3. Apply effective communication skills!
Intercultural Communication Balances:
1. Knowledge (About other cultures, people, nations, behaviors).
2. Empathy (Understanding the feelings, and needs of other people).
3. Attitude (Compassion, trust, openness, honesty, Non-judgmental).