Effective Communication:
A Review 07 SEPTEMBER 2021
”The art of communication is the
language of leadership.”James Humes
OUTLINE
I. Review of Grammar Rules and Forms
A. What ‘effective communication’ means
1. using correct diction
2. writing clear sentences
3. building strong paragraphs
B. What professional writing entails
II. Q & A
WHAT DOES ‘EFFECTIVE
COMMUNICATION’ MEAN?
● is a process of exchanging ideas, thoughts, knowledge,
and information such that the communicative purpose
or intention is fulfilled in the best possible manner;
● is the presentation of views by the sender in a way
BEST UNDERSTOOD by the receiver
● effective communication may be extra-challenging for
people using English as a second language.
5Cs OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
● CLEAR – not vague or ambiguous
● CORRECT – free from factual and grammatical errors
● CONCISE – brief; avoids flowery language
● COMPLETE – contains only relevant information
● COURTEOUS – considers the culture, relationship, and
levels of formality among participants
CLEAR?
CLEAR?
CORRECT?
CONCISE?
COURTEOUS?
USING CORRECT
DICTION
CORRECT DICTION MATTERS
Speakers of English as a Second Language (ESL) are
challenged when it comes to the ‘choice of words’ or
diction, specifically in the use of
● homophones
● phrasal verbs
● word collocation
● clichés
● big words
● Filipinisms
1. HOMOPHONES
● are words that sound the same but are spelled differently
and have different meanings (eg two, to, too);
(eg homonyms (match/match); homographs
HOMOPHONES
HOMOPHONES
HOMOPHONES
HOMOPHONES
(AND PUNS)
*pun is a play on words, in
this case on ‘missed’ and
‘mist’
PROBLEMATIC HOMOPHONES:
●your & you’re
●it’s & its
●we’re, were, where & wear
●their, they’re, & there
●who’s & whose
(and others)
2. PHRASAL VERBS
● are compound verbs (more than one word)
that come out of combining a verb with an
adverb or a preposition. The resulting
compound verb is idiomatic where its meaning
cannot be derived from the dictionary meaning
of its parts (eg take out VS take down VS take
up)
PHRASAL VERBS
●TAKE OUT
A. go on a date
B. kill
C. eliminate from choices
D. bring outside (vs
dine-in)
TAKE UP =
BRING
TAKE UP = PICK
UP
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
TAKE UP =
ENROLL
TAKE UP =
DISCUSS
FREQUENTLY
USED PHRASAL
VERBS AMONG
SECOND
LANGUAGE
LEARNERS
https://www.skypeenglishclass
es.com/english-phrasal-verbs/
DEFINITIONS OF ‘CUT OFF’
1. to stop supply, as in “MERALCO cut off our electricity last
week.”
2. to prevent someone from receiving your money or property, as
in “Her father cut her off without a single peso”
3. to make a place difficult or impossible to enter, leave, or
communicate with, as in “The floods completely cut off the
town.”
4. to remove something by cutting it, as in “Why did you cut off
all your hair?”
5. to stop someone from going somewhere, especially by
blocking their way, as in “A second policeman cut off their
DEFINITIONS OF ‘CUT OFF’
6. to prevent someone from continuing what they are saying,
as in “Don’t cut me off when I’m talking.”
7. to stop having a close or friendly relationship with someone,
as in “Why did all his friends suddenly cut him off?”
8. (American, INFORMAL) to not allow someone to buy any
more alcoholic drinks in a bar because they have already
drunk too many
9. (Idiomatic, INFORMAL)
cut off your nose to spite your face MEANING to do
something intended to harm someone even though you
know that it will harm you too.
3. WORD COLLOCATION
● refers to the ‘company that words keep’; words
that are habitually placed together or tend to
co-occur because of their propositional
meaning;
● words that belong to the same semantic field
are more likely to be found together (eg steak is
more likely to co-occur with salad or fries than
with books)
● collocation often reflects cultural differences
TWO TYPES
● collocations of conventions (such as
wreak havoc, abject poverty, breaking
news, hidden agenda)
● grammatically-prescribed collocations
(such as involved in, result in, in search of,
at risk for).
American,
British,PH idioms
‘dies with’?
‘dies of’?
‘dies from’?
WORD COLLOCATION
● break rules (or engagement) BUT violate
norms and regulations
● grill meat BUT toast bread (even if you use the
same grill for toasting)
● blink your eyes AND shrug your shoulders
● land a deal OR close a deal (NOT win a deal)
● open an account (NOT establish an account)
compared to? compared with?
* ‘compared with’ was often used in the past century on practically any
occasion that calls for comparisons; now, one is bound to see ‘compared to’
used more often
● use ‘compared with’ when referring to two objects of similar
classifications (dogs to dogs), and ‘compared to’ when pointing out
similarities in different classifications (dogs to cats)
Ex. Fewer than 1% of the public sector employees lost their jobs in 2013,
compared with 3.3% in the private sector.
Ex. Despite the heavy decline in its share price, this stock is still more
expensive (when compared to its current earnings) than most other
companies in its industry.
Exercise: BIG, GREAT, LARGE ?
● admiration
● joy
● disappointment
● mistake
● accomplishment
● pride
● donation
● scale
QUICK QUIZ 1:
4. CLICHÉS
● are once effective words and phrases but over time
have become hackneyed expressions (‘gasgas na’);
● lose some of their power when used in inappropriate
contexts or when used over and over;
● who here cringes when hearing these?: game-changer, at
the end of the day, think outside the box, one size fits all,
uphill battle, costs an arm and a leg, time immemorial,
calls the shots, new ballgame?
● while for some they may sound ‘new’, but to more
seasoned writers, these phrases are already ineffective.
CLICHÈ
WHAT TO DO
● When unsure, look up the meaning of a phrasal
verb in a dictionary (Longman’s is a good
dictionary for phrasal verbs) or google meanings
of troubling words/phrases;
● check out the link for the 390 most frequently
used (and useful) phrasal verbs;
● avoid clichés by using more specific/concrete
terms;
● take note of the context when you come across
phrasal verbs or word collocations; then, try them
out the next time you write.
5. BIG WORDS
● Choose familiar words, especially if the alternative is a
‘big word’ which would turn off your audience. Unless
truly indispensable, use concrete, specific, and exact
words.
● Why use ‘ameliorative’ when one can use ‘helpful’?
● Why use ‘consummate’ when one can use ‘close’ or
‘bring about’?
BIG WORDS
IMPRECISE
DICTION
6. FILIPINISMS
● a coined terminology for loosely translated English
phrases that are used by most Filipinos; used during
informal conversations but not in business-related
communication which can cause unanticipated
misunderstandings;
● words, like commute, traffic, bottomless, tuck out, CR, etc
are unique to the Philippine experience
● phrases, like fill up the form (one fills out a form and fills
up the gas tank, cope up with (we cope with hardships)
6. FILIPINISMS
Instead of Use
next next week week after next
last September 15, 2019 on September 15, 2019
with regards to with regard to; as regards
for the meantime in the meantime
despite of despite (word); in spite of
discuss about discuss (what?); talk about
based from based on
one of the reason one of the reasons
WRITING CLEAR
SENTENCES
QUICK QUIZ 2 (via Google Forms):
1. He bet me that I couldn’t run five miles without stopping. I ______ him
wrong.
A. prove B. proved C. had proved D. will prove
2. By the time I arrive, my husband ________ cooking.
A. will finish B. would finish C. had finished D. will have finished
3. If I ______ about her financial situation, I would have helped her out.
A. know B. knew C. had known D. have known
1. TENSES in the English language
●The tense of a verb demonstrates when a person did
something, or when something existed, or has
happened;
●There are three main tenses in the English
language--past, present, and future, but there are also
aspects, such as perfect and progressive (or
continuous).
Four PRESENT Tenses and their 10 uses
1. Simple Present
2. Present Perfect
3. Present Continuous
4. Present Perfect Continuous
1. Four Present Tenses and their uses
Supply 3 context-dependent verbs in
correct tense
(3 minutes)
Which ‘present’?
Four PAST Tenses and their 10 Uses
1. Simple Past
2. Past Continuous
3. Past Perfect
4. Past Perfect Continuous
The writer who --- the rise of the totalitarian state
The nineteenth-century Russian novelist Fyodor
Dostoyevsky ____ about characters who justified
murder in the name of their ideological beliefs.
For this reason, John Gray argues, he __________
relevant ever since, through the rise of totalitarian
states of the 20th century, to the “war against
terror”.
(foresee, write, has/remain)
Supply the correct tense of the verbs
(5 minutes)
Six FUTURE Tenses and their 12 Uses
1. present continuous
2. simple present
3. simple future
4. future perfect
5. future perfect continuous
6. future continuous
Supply the correct tense of the verbs
(3 minutes)
TikTok: US halts app store ban
TikTok has avoided a government-ordered block
on new downloads in the US after a judge issued a
temporary injunction. The video-sharing app has faced
being removed from Apple’s App Store and Android’s Google Play
marketplace at midnight local time in Washington, DC.
Existing US-based users would have been able to have
continued using it. But they would not have been able to have re-
download the app if they had deleted it from their
phones, nor have been offered software updates.
TikTok: US halts app store ban
Judge Carl Nichols of the US District Court for the
District of Columbia issued the injunction on Sunday
evening after having held a 90-minute hearing earlier in
the day.
Tiktok welcomed the intervention, and vowed to keep
defending its rights.
It (argue) that forcing it off the iOS and Android
phones (violate) the First and Fifth Amendments of the
United States Constitution.
2. MOOD in the English language
Mood is a grammatical feature of verbs that allow speakers to
express their attitude toward what they are saying. There are three
main kinds:
● INDICATIVE - used when stating a fact.
● IMPERATIVE - used when issuing commands/demands
● SUBJUNCTIVE - used when declaring wishes, counterfactual
events
A. THE INDICATIVE MOOD
● tells the reader/listener something factual. This mood
is generally used in making a statement or asking for
a statement by a question. The statement can be
factual or presumed to be factual.
Example:
● He is resigning soon.
● What is history but an agreed upon myth?
A. THE INDICATIVE MOOD
We have to know what are the guidelines.
We have to know what the guidelines are.
We’d like to find out how do those things impact our
productivity?
We’d like to find out how those things impact our
productivity.
B. THE IMPERATIVE MOOD
● makes a verb into a command or request. It always uses the
second person as the subject of the sentence and most of
the time the subject remains hidden.
Example:
● Never admit a mistake.
● Make me a cup of coffee, please.
● Let her make her own decisions. (Here, ‘let’ is the verb of
this sentence, not ‘make’
C. THE SUBJUNCTIVE MOOD
● The SUBJUNCTIVE mood in English is used to form
sentences that express wished-for, tentatively assumed, or
hypothetical states of affairs, rather than things that the
speaker intends to represent as true and factual;
● includes statements that express an opinion, belief, purpose,
intention, or desire;
● words such as suggest, advise, demand, prefer, require, ask,
insist, propose, stipulate, command, recommend, decree,
order, urge, request, move, etc take the base form of the verb
regardless of the number;
Let’s try our hand!
In the chat box, write what mood is employed in the title.
● a statement such as “She suggests that he speak
English” contrasts with the indicative mood which is
used for statements of fact, such as “He speaks
English”.
Examples:
● Her job requires that she know about carbon footprint.
● If his temperature rises, they suggested that he go to
the ER.
Let’s try our hand!
In the chat box, re-write the sample sentence into the
subjunctive by integrating the clause found in the
parentheses.
For example:
● What did the Democrats demand of William Barr? (To
make the Mueller Report fully public.)
Answer:
● Democrats have demanded that William Barr make the
Mueller Report fully public.
Let’s try our hand!
In the chat box, re-write these sample sentences into the
subjunctive by integrating the clause/s found in the
parentheses.
● What did the hostage-takers demand of the police?
(For police to surrender their weapons)
● What did the company require that she do? (To
undergo medical tests prior to signing of the contract)
Answers
● The hostage-takers demanded that the police
surrender their weapons.
● The company requires that she undergo medical tests
prior to the signing of the contract.
CONDITIONAL
●generally uses the
subjunctive mood
MODALS
Also called modal verbs, modal auxiliary verbs, modal
auxiliaries, modals are special verbs that behave irregularly
● They are different from normal verbs like work, play, visit;
● They give additional information about the function of the
main verb that follows it;
● They have a great variety of communicative functions, such
as ability, permission, obligation, prohibition, advice,
possibility, probability, etc.
MODALS
3. REPORTED SPEECH
● also called indirect speech;
● is usually used to talk about the past, using
‘reporting’ verbs, such as say, tell, ask, and may (or
may not) be preceded by that.
Tense in reported speech
● the tense in reported speech is one step back in
time from the tense in direct speech—called
‘back-shifting’;
● Thus, “I am tired” becomes, in reported speech,
“She said (that) she was tired.”
REPORTED SPEECH
REPORTED SPEECH
WATCH!
●https://youtu.be/quXqD18
XA2Q
REPORTED QUESTIONS
In reported questions, back shifting is used again, do/does is eliminated,
wh-question is retained, and if/whether is inserted, thus:
● Direct Speech Reported Speech
●“Where do you live?” She asked me where I lived.
●“Where is Jacob?” He asked me where Jacob was.
●“Who was that fantastic girl?” He asked me who that fantastic girl had
been.
●“Are you living here?” They asked me if (whether) I was living here.
●“Will you sit down?” She asked me if I would sit down.
REPORTED ORDERS
In reported orders, back shifting is used again, thus:
● Direct Speech Reported Speech
●“Don’t sit down!” She told me to not sit down.
●“Come on time.” He told us to come on time.
●“Don’t post that picture!” She told us to not post the picture.
SUBJECT-VERB AGREEMENT
It is easy enough to decide when singular or plural subjects are needed.
And yet problems still arise.
● Agreement with multiple subjects
President Leyco and professors meet with students frequently.
● Agreement with multiple possible subjects
Either the President or the professors meet with students
frequently.
● Agreement across a phrase
The number of on-campus trees grows each year. (BUT. A number
of them have been cut down over the years.)
PRONOUN-ANTECEDENT
AGREEMENT
● A pronoun and its antecedent must agree.
“A nursing student must study hard if she wants to
succeed.”
● Treat collective pronouns as singular unless the
meaning is clearly plural.
“The committee granted its permission.”
The committee affixed their signatures on the
document.”
5. COMMON SENTENCE PROBLEMS
● A sentence fragment is an incomplete sentence. (Length
is not an indication whether a sentence is complete or
not.)
Because some students work part-time while taking a full
load of courses and are not well-motivated.
Because some students work part-time while taking a full
load of courses and because they are not well-motivated, they
normally suffer academically.
5. COMMON SENTENCE PROBLEMS
● A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more
independent clauses are written one after another with no
punctuation (fused sentences) or with incorrect punctuation
(comma splice).
Learning a new language is similar to learning to swim it
takes a lot of practice. (FUSED SENTENCE)
Learning a new language is similar to learning to swim; it
takes a lot of practice. (OR Learning a new language is similar to
learning to swim, which takes a lot of practice.)
5. COMMON SENTENCE PROBLEMS
● A run-on sentence is a sentence in which two or more
independent clauses are written one after another with no
punctuation (fused sentences) or with incorrect punctuation
(comma splice).
Learning a new language is similar to learning to swim, it
takes a lot of practice. (COMMA SPLICE)
Learning a new language is similar to learning to swim; it
takes a lot of practice. (OR Learning a new language is similar to
learning to swim, which takes a lot of practice.)
5. COMMON SENTENCE PROBLEMS
● a dangling modifier happens when the sentence is unclear
about what is being modified. Place the subject
immediately after the modifier.
After reading the great new book, the movie based on
it is
sure to be exciting, too.
After reading the great new book, Anna thought that
the
movie based on it is sure to be exciting, too.
Stuck standing in line, the elevator was keeping
people from getting to their floors.
Stuck standing in line for the elevator, people were
getting impatient to get to their floors.
5. COMMON SENTENCE PROBLEMS
● A choppy sentence is a sentence that is too short. Although
short sentences can be effective, overuse of them makes for
difficult reading.
Wind is an enduring source of power. Water is also an
unlimited energy source. Dams produce hydraulic power. They
have existed for a long time. Windmills are relatively new.
Both wind and water are enduring sources of power. Dams
have produced hydraulic power for a long time, but windmills are
relatively new.
5. COMMON SENTENCE PROBLEMS
Our results were inconsistent. The program obviously
contains an error. A revision of the program is required.
A revision of the program is required because it has
produced inconsistent results.
5. COMMON SENTENCE PROBLEMS
● Non-parallel structures are parts of a sentence which are
listed as a sequence, but do not follow the same
grammatical or structural principle. Parallelism in writing
means that each item in a list or comparison should follow
the same grammatical pattern.
The teacher wanted to know which country we came from
and our future goals.
The teacher wanted to know which country we came from
and what our future goals were.
This report is an overview of the processes
involved, the problems encountered, and how they were
solved.
This report is an overview of the processes
involved, the problems encountered, and the solutions
devised.
QUICK QUIZ 3:
BUILDING STRONG
PARAGRAPHS
Review of the elements
FOUR (4) ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
UNITY. Every paragraph should have one single, controlling
idea that is expressed in a topic sentence, typically the first
sentence in a well-developed paragraph. The paragraph is
unified around this main idea, with the supporting sentences
providing detail and discussion.
FOUR (4) ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
ORDER. Refers to the way one organizes the supporting
sentences. Whether one chooses chronological order, order of
importance, or another logical presentation of detail, a solid
paragraph always has a definite organization. In a
well-ordered paragraph, the reader could follow along easily,
aided by the pattern that has been established at the outset.
FOUR (4) ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
COHERENCE. Describes the quality that makes one’s writing
comprehensible. Sentences within a paragraph connect to
each other through the use of transitional devices. These
words create bridges from one sentence to the next, such as
transition words that show order (first, second, third), spatial
(above, below, outside), logical (in addition, in contrast to,
nevertheless). A consistent verb tense and point of view
(POV) complete the ingredients for ensuring coherence.
FOUR (4) ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS
COMPLETENESS. A well-developed paragraph where all
sentences clearly and sufficiently support the main idea. If
there are not enough sentences or enough information to
prove your thesis, then the paragraph is incomplete. Three
supporting sentences, in addition to a topic sentence and a
concluding sentence, normally complete a basic paragraph.
The concluding/last sentence of the paragraph either
re-states or re-phrases the topic sentence.
EXERCISES
UNITY. Eliminating an irrelevant sentence
The Japanese automobile industry uses robots in many
stages of its production process. In fact, one large
Japanese automotive factory uses robots in all of its
production stages. Some Japanese universities are
developing medical robots to detect certain kinds of
cancer. Another automobile factory in Japan uses them
to paint cars as they come off the assembly line.
Furthermore, most Japanese factories use robots to
weld the parts of the finished car together.
COMPLETENESS. Concluding a paragraph
Credit cards provide a lot of advantages. First of all, credit
cards are convenient because you don’t have to carry a lot
of cash around. You can buy products and services
immediately even if you do not have the cash in your
pocket, and could do over the internet. In addition, credit
cards work well during emergencies, such as for use as
deposits in hospitals. Lastly, you can become a better
money manager as you learn to use credit cards
responsibly. ______________________________________________
HOW DOES A PROFESSIONAL STYLE SOUND?
PROFESSIONAL STYLE
● Adopting a professional style means adopting a reader
perspective in writing, or, as Locker and Kienzler (2013)
assert, is a “style of writing which looks at things from the
reader’s point of view, emphasizing what the reader wants
to know, respecting the reader’s intelligence, and
protecting the reader’s ego”.
READER-CENTERED: ‘You’ vs ‘I’
PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE
● Emphasizes the positive in order to build a positive
image and goodwill. All information should be stated
positively, which means that there is a focus on what
the reader can do, rather than on what the writer will
not or cannot let the reader do.
POSITIVE
PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE
● Professionals should use language that does not
discriminate on the basis of “sex, physical condition,
age, race, or any other category” (Locker & Kienzler,
2013).
BIAS-FREE LANGUAGE
PROFESSIONAL LANGUAGE
Guidelines for achieving bias-free
communication
● Be aware of words, images, and situations that suggest that all or most
members of a group are the same. Stereotypes often lead to
assumptions that are unsupportable and offensive.
● Avoid qualifiers that reinforce stereotypes. “A group of intelligent Black
students were guests as part of the orientation program.”
● Identify people by identity characteristics only when relevant. Very few
situations require such identification. “Twenty-two House
representatives, led by transgender Geraldine Roman, voted no to the
measure.”
● Be aware of language that, to some people, may have questionable
racial or ethnic connotations. “Non-white or people of color (POC) are
routinely discriminated against in the US.”
● Avoid patronizing language and tokenism toward any ethnic groupings.
“The resilience and thrift of the Ilocanos are known far and wide.”
DIPLOMATIC LANGUAGE BUILDS RAPPORT
● Diplomacy refers to interacting with others in a way that
fosters good relationships. It involves tact and skill in handling
interpersonal communication especially in the writing of
emails and letters, so that good relationships are maintained
and there are no (or few) bad feelings. Being diplomatic
involves using phrases to soften our statements when we
deliver bad news or negative judgements. The use of these
softening phrases conveys an awareness that our judgments,
while probably necessary, are not meant to harm.
There are four ways we can do this:
DIPLOMATIC LANGUAGE BUILDS RAPPORT
Instead of Use
1. Avoid using negative adjectives. Instead, use not + very + a positive
adjective
The sales associate was unhelpful. The sales associate was not very
helpful.
2. Use qualifiers which minimize the certainty of a statement.
I’m going to be late. I’m going to be a little late.
We had a disagreement. We had a bit of a disagreement.
DIPLOMATIC LANGUAGE BUILDS RAPPORT
3. Use hedges that lessen the impact of a statement or express uncertainty.
There’s a problem with our There seems to be a problem with our
water bill. water bill.
4. Invite agreement by asking a question that is negatively phrased.
The restaurant is too expensive. Isn’t that restaurant kind of expensive?
We should wait for John. Shouldn’t we wait for John?
PARTING WORDS
● Communication reflects one’s thinking: sloppy writing,
sloppy thinking.
● The purposes of grammar are for clarity, readability,
and credibility.
● To write effective sentences, organize your thought,
control your emotions, and express yourself in the
best way possible.
● Do not be scared to edit or revise until you get to the
desired thought.
Select References
Biased language. Stony Brook University.
https://www.stonybrook.edu/commcms/studentaffairs/pledge/resour
ces/biased-language.php
Secrets to good paragraph writing.
https://www.time4writing.com/writing-resources/paragraph-writing-se
crets/
Uychoco, M. T. A. & Santos, M. L. (2017). Communication for Society.
Manila: Rex.
---. (1982). Without bias: A guidebook for nondiscriminatory
communication. 2nd ed. Wiley & Sons.
(Some select pictures were taken from Facebook and used for
illustrative purposes only.)
sample writing activity
Sample text Eliminate wordiness.
