Outline

Verbal & Nonverbal Communication

• Verbal Communication (Part 1)
• What is language?
• Language to avoid
• How can language skills be improved?

• Nonverbal Communication (Part 2)

Communication Skills
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What is language?
VERBAL LANGUAGE (PART 1)

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What is language? Characteristics of Language

• A collection of symbols, letters, or words with arbitrary meanings that
are governed by rules and used to communicate (Pearson, 2012).  Language has rules

• A collection of symbols governed by rules and used to convey  Language is abstract

messages between individuals (Adler and Rodman, 2006).

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 Language has rules Language is abstract
1. Phonological rules
 Govern how words sound when pronounced  Words stand for ideas and things.
2. Syntactic rules  The word is not the thing.
 Govern the structure of the language, the way in which words are arranged
3. Semantic rules  Hayakawa introduced the
 Deal with the meaning of specific words
“ladder of abstraction” which illustrate
4. Pragmatic rules
 Govern how people use language in every day interaction that words fall somewhere between a
continuum from concrete to abstract.
Hayakawa’s Ladder of Abstraction
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Language To Avoid When Speaking 1. Slang

• Informal, casual street language
1. Slang
• Among members who share a common interest
or belong to a similar co-culture group
2. Jargon
• Develop relational closeness
3. Euphemisms Examples:
• Don’t make waves at the office.
4. Gender-biased
• I can’t go out with you tonight. I’m ass out!
American slangs
5. Equivocal language • Two big guns showed up from the head office.
6. Relative words • Slang at the workplace: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmOKwjgYcG4

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How about Malaysian slangs? Internet Slang

Do you know what they mean??:
• New language of texters
1. Leng chai/ leng lui • Internet language: LOL, YOLO, brb
• Many rules of grammar, styles and spelling
2. Boss are broken.
3. Yum cha • Some communications experts regard this
new language of texters as incorrect,
4. Bo jio deficient or inferior.
• Although this shorthand is convenient in
5. Perasan cyberspace, using it in other setting could
be problematic.
6. Potong stim
(Verderber, Verderber & Sellnow, 2010)
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 2. Jargon
• Language particular to a specific
profession, work group, or culture.
• It is not meant to be understood by
outsiders
Examples:
• Medical: EDD, ECT, MRI, contusion,
edama, cardiac.
• Aviation: 77R get off the runway!, ILS,
taxiway

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3. Euphemisms Can you guess what these refer to?

• A polite, pleasant expression used instead of a less pleasant/ socially
unacceptable form 1. Vertically challenged
• Euphemism can be pretentious/ confusing 2. Kicked the bucket
• Examples:
3. Tinkle/take a leak
Less Pleasant Form Euphemism
Garbage collector Sanitation engineer 4. The little boys' room / the little girls' room
Retarded Mentally challenged
Old people Senior citizen
Prison Correctional facility
Died Passed away
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4. Gender-biased 5. Equivocal language

• Have more than one correct
• Gender-biased language: Language that dictionary definition.
privileges a certain gender over another.
• Can lead to misunderstandings
• Avoid gender specific compound word
e.g. Chairman VS. Chairperson
Examples
• Avoid language that unintentionally suggests • Period
gender • Cookies
e.g. A nurse has to be efficient in her job. • Hot
• Book
• Table
Video
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 Equivocal language 6. Relative word
• Relative word gain their meaning by
comparison
Examples:
• big
• small
• expensive
• cheap
• Soon

cheap or expensive ?
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Relative word “Cheap” turns out to be…

 Without proper explanation, communication
problems can occur.
OK! Sounds
Hey man, you
great.
should really try
out this
restaurant. The
food is really
cheap there.

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How Can Language Skills Be Improved? 1. Be Descriptive

1) Be Descriptive • The practice of describing observed phenomena instead of

offering personal reactions or judgements.
• Ways to be descriptive:
 Check your perceptions
2) Be Concrete
 Paraphrase
 Use operational definitions
 Define you terms
 Use figures of speech

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 2. Be Concrete 2. Be Concrete
 Use words/statements that are specific rather than abstract or  Indexing: Identify the uniqueness of objects, events, and people
vague (opposite of stereotyping)
 Dating: Specify when you made an observation (opposite of frozen  Avoid generalisations.
evaluation)
 Necessary as things change over time. e.g. “All Hondas get good gas mileage – I know, I own one.”

e.g. “John is a quiet and withdrawn person.” “I have a Honda that uses very little gas.
How does your Honda do on gas mileage?”
“John seemed quiet when I dated him two years ago, but I
haven’t seen him since.”
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References
Adler, R. B. and Rodman, G., 2012. Understanding human
communication. 11th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc.
Pearson, J.C., Nelson, P. E., Titsworth and S. Harter, L., 2013. Human
communication. 5th ed. New York: McGraw Hill.
Verderber, K. S., Verderber, R. F. and Sellnow, D. D., 2010. Communicate!
13th ed. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

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