COURSE MODULE !

Chapter 1: COMMUNICATION PROCESSES, PRINCIPLES, AND

ETHICS

Everything that revolves around us is communication. Spoken or not, every act

conveys meanings and various interpretations because all of us come from diverse backgrounds.
As such, it is necessary if we give and provide accurate message so that misinterpretation will be
minimized.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter you will be able to:
1. Describe the nature, elements, and functions of verbal and non-verbal
communication in various and multicultural contexts
2. Have a thorough understanding of communication processes
3. Understand the importance of ethics in communication and academic writing

Introduction
Trivia: Human beings spend almost 70% of daily time communicating.
Quote: “ The art of communication is the language of leadership.” - James Humes
Before reading questions:
1. Why is communication important to you?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

2. Why is communcation important to society?

____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

3. Why do you think communication skills are considered to be essential is being good
citizens?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

The next section is the content of this chapter. It contains essential information of the topics
based on the learning outcomes. Please comprehensively read the content and enjoy
accomplishing different activities prepared.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !2

Content

What is communication?
• Is the exchange of thoughts, feelings, expressions and observations among people.
• Is about two people talking such as with a sibling, a parent, a teacher, or a friend, face-to-face
in real ife or even via internet.
• Any communication involves a transaction: a person wants to talk to someone about
something beacuse that person needs something from that someone.
• Stirring up ideas in the mind of another. It is the sharing of ideas among a group of people.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

I. Verbal Communication
• Includes the use of symbols that have universal meanings and can be classified as
spoken or written

Types of Vebal Communication

1. Intrapersonal Communication
• is communication expressed through self-talk.
• ex. listening to inner voice that lives in your mind.

2. Interpersonal Communication
• is communication between two people (dyadic) or small group of individuals.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !3

3. Public Communication
• Is one person speaking in front of an audience. The magnitude or size may be limited
or numerous. The speaker delivers that message in a formal setting, giving a topic
that is thematic. Feedback from the audience may be available or not.

4. Mass Communication
• is communication that takes place through a technology such as the social network/
internet, television, radio, and newspaper.
• less personal and more controlled

II. Non-verbal Communication

• Consists of gestures, eye movements, tone of voice, the use of space and touch.
• These non-verbal cues are not shared universsaly, they may give a different meaning to
another culture and thus, considered as ambiguous.
• Regulates interaction since non-verbal action may indicate who will speak or not.
• It serves as a substitute in the absence of words.

Types of Non-verbal Communication

1. Silence
• conveys meaning to the spectators that can be seen in a person who is quiet yet busy,
a person who is contemplating, grieving, not to be disturbed, or being in a difficult
situation.

2. Semiotics or Sign Language

• used in the absence of spoken words
• 2 types of sign language.
a. Alternate (is a system of hand signals created by individuals with limited
communication or used by the deaf community.
b. Primary (is the first language of a group of individuals who do not use a
spoken language with each other)

Check this link to discover different hand gestures that are rude in other countries: https://
tinyurl.com/y5a37mgh

3. Body Language
• Kinesics comes from the word kinesis which mean movement.
• It is the study of the hand, arm, body, and face movement.
• Classifications of Gestures:
a. Adaptors ( pertain to the self, indicating internal states related to stress,
anxiety, or when things are not in control of the surroundings. ex. clicking of
pens, shaking of legs
b. Emblems ( signify agreement, ex. raising thumb)

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !4

• Body Language (gesture) - unconcious movement (ex. biting the fingernails) / conscious
movement (ex. saluting to national flag). Facial Expression (is manisfested to evoke certain
emotions such as happy, joyful, sad, frustration and etc. )

4. Paralanguage
• or use of voice, is detected in loud, or faint sounds to provide authority or emphasis
to the volume of the words.

5. Touch
• in some culture is a symbol of affection but may not be allowed in certain communities.
• is essential for social development which can either be welcoming, threatening or
persuasive.
• Kinds of touch
1. Functional-professional level touch
2. Social-polite level
3. Friendship-warmth level
4. Love-intimacy level
5. Sexual-arousal touch

6. Proxemics (Space and Distance)

• indicate the importance of a person.
• distance signifies the intimacy and personal acceptance in some culture and in other
not.
• Americans, personal space of 18 inches.
• Intimate (0-18 inches)
• Personal (18 inches to 4 feet)
• Social (4 feet-10 feet)

Types of Territories in Proxemics

a. body territory - personal space the individual maintains with other people
b. primary - home, vehicle or other living spaces of the person
c. secondary - school, office, or church where entry is reserved for specific
individuals and norms are expected and looked up
d. public - open space where everyone visits such as the park, market, shopping
mall and many others

7. Clothes and Physical Appearance

• provide a quick personal serveillance of the person’s age, interest, personality, sex,
attitude, social standing, or religious affiliation.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !5

8. Symbols
• are general graphical presentation so that people will be guided accordingly such as
traffic signs, mathematical problems, medical and etc.

III. Formal Communication

• involves the use of public speaking or mass communication, a combination of both
verbal and nonverbal messages.
• Language is more precise and the speaker is careful with grammar.
• A dress code, proper posture, and eye contact are being taken into consideration.

IV. Informal Communication

• involves interpersonal and small group communication were people can be at ease and
b e more comfortable.
• During the interaction, less attention is given to nonverbal, cues like clothing, posture
and eye contact.

3 SPECIFIC CULTURES BASED ON COMMUNICATION STYLES BY RICHARD

LEWIS

1. Linear-active
• are communicators who are composed. analytic, determined (non-contact), direct and
at times impatient.
• reserved and engage in factual information like the Americans and most cultures in
Northern Europe

2. Multi-active
• communicators who are warm, spontaneous (contact), enthusiastic, willingly to
express emotions and favor personal tales than information.
• speakers from Brazil, Mexico and Greece may have the tendency to interrupt between
dialogues and manifest impatience vocally

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !6

3. Reactive
• communicators from Vietnam, China and Japan are accomodating and non-
confrontational (non-contact)
• are patient listeners who value diplomacy over facts or emotions and remain reserved
in their body gestures and expressions

Elements of Communication

1. The Source/Encoder
• This is the first element of the communication process. The speaker chooses his/ her
purpose, crafts the message accordingly, and decides how to deliver it. Everyone can
become a speaker from time to time (but not at the same time!)

2. The Message
• Is what need to be delivered or imparted to somebody else. This is central to the
process because the point of communicating is to say “something”. There is always a
message in communication, even in informal communication.

3. The Channel
• Are the means by which the message is sent.
• There are only five channels; ears, eyes, skin, mouth and nose.
• The message is sent via senses.

4. Receiver/Decoder
• Receives the message.
• It is the listener who make sense of what is said and reacts to it-by clapping, nodding
the head, replying, asking a return question, following the Speaker, falling asleep or
walking out. Speaker is one-half of the communication, then the listener is the other
half.

5. Response
• Is the only way the speaker knows that the message has been received. The response is
based on the interpretation of the message by the listener.
• Positive interpretation listeners will say Yes, nod their heads, smile or clap their hands.
• Negative interpretation listeners will frown, boo, refuse to clap, even walk out or walk
away.

6. Feedback
• Is the result of monitoring by the speaker of the listener’s response. Making sure of
what the Feedback is will help the speaker in continuing with the next message.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !7

7. Noise
• Is any barrier to communication. It could be;
• physical “noise”- Actual noise such as loud music or the irritating engine of a
motorcycle.
• Second type of noise is physiological- when the body become a hindrance to good
communication.
• The third type is psychological “noise” which occur when one is thinking deeply
about something or is suffering from an emotional condition, which discourage
participation in a communication situation.

8. Communicative Situation
• Has two components: the physical location and the psychological setting.
• Physical location- usually chosen for the purpose it will serve.
• Psychological setting- depends on the participants.

Activity # 1
Directions: Watch a speaking engagement downloaded in youtube or any talk show on tv/
internet. Cite the elements of communication present in the video. Justify the presence of
absence of each element in the said activity.

Title: _______________________________________________Date aired: ______________

Link: _______________________________________________________________________

1. What is the communicative situation?

___________________________________________________________________________________

2. Who/what is the speaker/source of the message?

___________________________________________________________________________________

3. What is the message being sent?

___________________________________________________________________________________

4. Who is the intended listener or receiver?

___________________________________________________________________________________

5. Is feedback possible?
___________________________________________________________________________________

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !8

PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATION

In addressing a formal or informal speaking engagement, it is necessary to know

the following:

A. Know your audience

• is necessary to know whom you are taking because your speech has to match the
interest of the listeners
• by gauging what they need, your speech is tailored perfect to the discussion

B. Know your purpose

• know the reason why you are placed in such speaking engagement
• it will help you outline on what you are going to say

C. Know your topic

• the key and heart of your discussion
• the topic knits all the information into a cohesive whole so that your speech will have
significance to the listeners
• speaking without preparations is like going to the war field and so having a topic
enables you not to go off tangent from the theme

D. Anticipate objections
• difficult to handle but presenting an idea to everyone does not necessarily give
acceptance to the listeners
• during the open forum, be prpared to answer challenging questions, try to ask possible
queries before presenting your speech to an audience and frame credible answer to the
list of questions.

E. Achieve credibility to your audience

• by sharing information that are first hand and authentic
• share personal inspiring stories that will motivate the listeners and therefore provide a
lasting impression among themselves

F. Present information in several ways

• best technique in storytelling
• as speaker, you must be very creative and must not follow the linear way of telling
your tale
• you may start from the middle, beginning, middle, end and so forth
• be like a camera whose eyes can go 360 degrees, detailing all angles and knitting the
illuminating parts of the storyline.
• perform a drama, sing a song or dance, anything unpredictable catches attention

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !9

COMMUNICATION ETHICS

Communication ethics takes place when a behavior of a person or group is subjected by

their moral thereby affecting interpesonal, mass mediated, and digital communication. There
should be a balance in speaking and listening, validity of emotional appeal, the level between
praise and criticism. The imbalance of communication results in unfavorable circumstances
between two parties and so honesty on both groups must be maintained (Sygaco, 2018).

The Golden Mean

• Aristotle, founder of communication discipline. He believes that ethics is embedded in the
character than overt behaviors.
• Each virtue is the “mean”
1. truthfulness would be the mean between false modesty and boastfulness.
2. courage would be the mean between the extremes of fear (deficiency) and
overconfidence (excess)
3. justice would be the mean between distributing too few goods (or
punishments)

The Categorical Imperative

• Highlighted by German Philosopher Immanuel Kant “act only according to that maxim by
which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”
• Kant emphasizes that a categorical imperative under certian circumstance may be not
acceptable by others. ex. truth vs lying

Utilatarianism
• Philosophers Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill put a strong emphasis on the
consequences and outcomes of our actions.
• “Actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as theytend to
produce the reverse of happiness.”

Veil of Ignorance

• American philosopher John Rawls.

• “allowing people to free themselves from bias
and self-interest.”
• No individual in his or her status should use it
to his or her benefit.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !10

Lying and Interpretation

• Telling a lie and making it as truth is dangerous for people in providing information

Secrets Disclosures and Privacy

• In mass media, the ethical issue on the right to privacy is very important.
• ex. school paper

Whistleblowing
• It requires great courage since the whistleblower speaks out his or her status in a risk that will
compromise his or her safety.
• When someone violates the group’s norm by revealing an evidence or activity that is
considered dishonest, unethical, forbidden within an organization that can be private or public.

Leaks
• These are unknown information shared to others like information disclosed to the press by a
concealed identity who is a familiar source.
• It protects the source and avoid confirmation of the truth.

Activity # 2
Directions: Introducing oneself in a creative manner. Introduce yourself in a creative manner.
Give a discourse about yourself in two minutes coupled with a one minute of talent (can be
singing, dancing, drawing, acting, making a collage and explaining the pictures). Do the
activity through video recording.

Criteria Points (5)

Preparation and Presentation
Presentation of Character
Content
Use of Non-Verbal Cues (voice, gesture and eye contact)
Imagination & Creativity

Total Points

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !11

Summary
It is a mistake to believe that communication is a simple process. Although people
communicate with one another every day, the real question is whether the ideas one has
expressed are trylu understood by another.

To construct ideas and bring people to believe in one’s vision, it is important to be able to
communicate in an effective, articulate manner. On a personal level, honing one’s
communication skills can also bring about success to one’s personal and professonal life.

To lead nations or corporations, communication skills are essential. To work smoothly as a

team, communication is indispensable. And to create a vision that people will believe in, one
needs to learn how to communicate purposefully in today’s society.

“You certainly did well, high five!”

If you have not completed the tasks, or you have difficulty in accomplishing the
activities, please send me a message to my e-mail, messenger, or you may ask
clarifications through a text message or phone call during scheduled consultation days
on the contact number included in your syllabus. You may write your insights or
thoughts about the activity on the space provided below.

You had just completed this chapter. You are now ready to take Chapter 2.

Feel free to express your insights here:

___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !12

Chapter 2: COMMUNICATION AND GLOBALIZATION

“Globalization is not the only thing influencing events in the world today, but to the extent that
there is a North Star and a worldwide shaping force, it is this system.” - Thomas Friedman

Individuals have to understand the dynamics of long-distance collaboration, the outcome

of non-verbal cues in different cultures and the use of technology in connecting people.

“While the dream of a global vilage holds great promise, the reality is that diverse people
have diverse opinions, values and beliefs that clash and too often result in violence. Only through
“Intercultural Communication” can such conflict be managed and deduced.”

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter you will be able to:
1. Explain how cultural and global issues affect communication
2. Appreciate the impact of communication on society and the world

Introduction
The table below gives an example of some differences of American and British English

Aspect American English (US) British English (UK)

Punctuation She said, “I’ll be at work at 8 She said, “I’ll be at work by 8
a.m.” am”
Date April 11, 1991 11 April 1991
Spelling center, color, organize, program centre, colour, organise,
programme
Words elevator, pants, diaper lift, trousers, nappy
Expression/Local Idiom ruffled feathers knickers in a twist
Grammar Do you have that book? Have you got that book?
Pronunciation VEYZ VAHZ

For further awareness of World Englishes, watch David Crystal talk about the topic in a video
posted by the British Council Serbia on Youtube. Search for “David Crystal - World Englishes”
or access the video via this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9byYqGRY

The next section is the content of this chapter. It contains essential information of the topics
based on the learning outcomes. Please comprehensively read the content and enjoy
accomplishing different activities prepared.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !13

Content

Culture
• Summation of values, beliefs and behaviors from group of individuals having shared history
of verbal and non-verbal cues. (*note: this explains why intercultural communication is
contextual)

Supplemental
Watch this video on Youtube about “Intercultural Communication” https://tinyurl.com/
y695krdw

“Globalization may be seen as an interconnectedness of economic relationships,

political units as well as digital networks.”

The fusion of cultural, micro-cultural, enviromental perceptual, socio-relational

topics can be seen among two individuals who are interacting with each other. In the course of
their discourse, the message relayed may not be the message received.

5 Assumptions about Intercultural Communication

1. Mesage relayed are not usually the message received

• When two speakers from different cultures interact, their values, emotions, perceptions, and
behaviors greatly affect the interpretation of their messages
• Intercultural communication is symbolic activity where the thoughts and ideas of one are
encoded into a verbal/or nonverbal message format, then transmitted through some channel
to another person who must decode it, interpret it, and respond to it.”
• Cultural noise is filled with encoding, decoding, and interpreting making culture a
smokescreen of all the messages. This allows speakers to think that one’s own culture is the
center of everything.

2. A nonverbal act between individuals

• Intercultural communication is a nonverbal procedure where articulation or power, intimacy
and status being combined with “paralanguage cues, proxemics and haptics.
• Ex. An individual’s position in Korea is manifested through vocal tone and pitch, Therefore,
when a lowly perosn receives an important document, this person grasps with both hands and
then associated with a moderate head nos and indirect eye contact
• Different sensory is shared by different culture.

3. Involvement of style in communication among speakers

• There are communication gaps and only wisdom tells as whether to when to speak or not.
Interpretation of silence differs from across cultures.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !14

• Expression of intimacy in relationship is best demonstrated without words according to

Japaneses and some native Americal tribes “They believe that having to put one’s thoughts
and emotions into words somehow cheapens and discounts them”
• True understanding is implicit, coming not from words but from actions in the environment
where speakets provide only hints or insinuations.

4. Group phenomenon experienced and shared by individuals

• Communication is subject to the speaker’s background and knowledge. In other words, we
have a tendency to see others not as individuals with unique thoughts, ideas, and goals, but
rather than as an “Asian”, or a “woman”, or an “old person”, or a “ cab driver.” We don’t see
the person, we see the groups to which the person belongs.
• That is why people must not prejudge a person just beacuse this individual is associated to a
specific group. When this happens, miscommunication cannot be avoided.

5. A circuitous of adaptation and stress

• It is normal to feel anxious, apprehensive, and uncertain when one mingles and speaks to
another person from a different culture.
• It is important to be flexible and adapt a communication style to be able to make the other
individual comfortable. Being able to recognize that people from various cultures are
different is really an advantage. This will lead the speaker to adjust the verbal and nonverbal
symbols appropriately to the individual from another culture.

The Impact of Communication in Society and the World

1. Make health care distribution quicker

reaching remote areas in the world as reported
by the United Nations Foundation.

2. Rescue missions are made possible

3. Protecting the environment

4. Companies worldwide transact business fast

5. Everyone with smartphone is capable of

potential news reporter.

6. Wireless communication can revolutionize

and create social change.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !15

Cultural Context
• Not innate
• Teaches individuals to think and behave
• Associated with Geograpy
• May be low and high which demonstrates the magnitudes and degree of how a person
affiliates the self.

Low ———————————————————————High

Individualism

• In Harry Triandis, individualistic culture focus

on individual goals.

• Disconnected from the in-groups such as the

family and ironically belong to several groups
but their stay is short-lived.

Collectivism
• Groups blend well by serving the in-group (family, neighbors, or occupational)
• People are not viewed as isolated individuals but rather they are identified by their
membership.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !16

Types of Cultural Orientation

Horizontal Individualism Speaks of an autonomous self that values the individual more
and indepedence is being highlighted.
Vertical Individualism Values the automous self by seeings it as different and unequal
to others. It also emphasizes status and competition.
Horizontal Collectivism Notes the self as a member of an in-group sharing the same
values and interests. The self is reliant and equality is
expected.
Vertical Collectivism Believes that the self is an integral part of the in-group if the
members are different from the other. It also specifies the
group’s interdependence and inequality.

Activity # 1
Directions: Read the essay “Flight from Conversation,” by Sherry Turkle and answer the
following guide questions substantially.
1. Why would you prefer the traditional way of communicating through face to face with
someone or do you think that using the social media is the best way to relay message?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

2. Translate communication in sips from your own experience as portrayed in the essay
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

3. Why you think social media and the internet revolutionize your life?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !17

Reading Material

THE FLIGHT FROM CONVERSATION BY SHERRY TURKLE

WE live in a technological universe in which we are always communicating. And yet we have sacrificed
conversation for mere connection.
At home, families sit together, texting and reading e-mail. At work executives text during board
meetings. We text (and shop and go on Facebook) during classes and when we’re on dates. My students
tell me about an important new skill: it involves maintaining eye contact with someone while you text
someone else; it’s hard, but it can be done.
Over the past 15 years, I’ve studied technologies of mobile connection and talked to hundreds of people
of all ages and circumstances about their plugged-in lives. I’ve learned that the little devices most of us
carry around are so powerful that they change not only what we do, but also who we are.

We’ve become accustomed to a new way of being “alone together.” Technology-enabled, we are able to
be with one another, and also elsewhere, connected to wherever we want to be. We want to customize
our lives. We want to move in and out of where we are because the thing we value most is control over
where we focus our attention. We have gotten used to the idea of being in a tribe of one, loyal to our
own party.
Our colleagues want to go to that board meeting but pay attention only to what interests them. To some
this seems like a good idea, but we can end up hiding from one another, even as we are constantly
connected to one another.

A businessman laments that he no longer has colleagues at work. He doesn’t stop by to talk; he doesn’t
call. He says that he doesn’t want to interrupt them. He says they’re “too busy on their e-mail.” But then
he pauses and corrects himself. “I’m not telling the truth. I’m the one who doesn’t want to be
interrupted. I think I should. But I’d rather just do things on my BlackBerry.”

A 16-year-old boy who relies on texting for almost everything says almost wistfully, “Someday,
someday, but certainly not now, I’d like to learn how to have a conversation.”

In today’s workplace, young people who have grown up fearing conversation show up on the job
wearing earphones. Walking through a college library or the campus of a high-tech start-up, one sees the
same thing: we are together, but each of us is in our own bubble, furiously connected to keyboards and
tiny touch screens. A senior partner at a Boston law firm describes a scene in his office. Young
associates lay out their suite of technologies: laptops, iPods and multiple phones. And then they put
their earphones on. “Big ones. Like pilots. They turn their desks into cockpits.” With the young lawyers
in their cockpits, the office is quiet, a quiet that does not ask to be broken.

In the silence of connection, people are comforted by being in touch with a lot of people — carefully
kept at bay. We can’t get enough of one another if we can use technology to keep one another at
distances we can control: not too close, not too far, just right. I think of it as a Goldilocks effect.

Texting and e-mail and posting let us present the self we want to be. This means we can edit. And if we
wish to, we can delete. Or retouch: the voice, the flesh, the face, the body. Not too much, not too little
— just right.

Human relationships are rich; they’re messy and demanding. We have learned the habit of cleaning
them up with technology. And the move from conversation to connection is part of this. But it’s a
process in which we shortchange ourselves. Worse, it seems that over time we stop caring, we forget
that there is a difference.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !18

Con't

We are tempted to think that our little “sips” of online connection add up to a big gulp of real
conversation. But they don’t. E-mail, Twitter, Facebook, all of these have their places — in politics,
commerce, romance and friendship. But no matter how valuable, they do not substitute for
conversation.

Connecting in sips may work for gathering discrete bits of information or for saying, “I am thinking
about you.” Or even for saying, “I love you.” But connecting in sips doesn’t work as well when it comes
to understanding and knowing one another. In conversation we tend to one another. (The word itself is
kinetic; it’s derived from words that mean to move, together.) We can attend to tone and nuance. In
conversation, we are called upon to see things from another’s point of view.

FACE-TO-FACE conversation unfolds slowly. It teaches patience. When we communicate on our

digital devices, we learn different habits. As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections,
we start to expect faster answers. To get these, we ask one another simpler questions; we dumb down
our communications, even on the most important matters. It is as though we have all put ourselves on
cable news. Shakespeare might have said, “We are consum’d with that which we were nourish’d by.”

And we use conversation with others to learn to converse with ourselves. So our flight from
conversation can mean diminished chances to learn skills of self-reflection. These days, social media
continually asks us what’s “on our mind,” but we have little motivation to say something truly self-
reflective. Self-reflection in conversation requires trust. It’s hard to do anything with 3,000 Facebook
friends except connect.

As we get used to being shortchanged on conversation and to getting by with less, we seem almost
willing to dispense with people altogether. Serious people muse about the future of computer programs
as psychiatrists. A high school sophomore confides to me that he wishes he could talk to an artificial
intelligence program instead of his dad about dating; he says the A.I. would have so much more in its
database. Indeed, many people tell me they hope that as Siri, the digital assistant on Apple’s iPhone,
becomes more advanced, “she” will be more and more like a best friend — one who will listen when
others won’t.

During the years I have spent researching people and their relationships with technology, I have often
heard the sentiment “No one is listening to me.” I believe this feeling helps explain why it is so
appealing to have a Facebook page or a Twitter feed — each provides so many automatic listeners. And
it helps explain why — against all reason — so many of us are willing to talk to machines that seem to
care about us. Researchers around the world are busy inventing sociable robots, designed to be
companions to the elderly, to children, to all of us.

One of the most haunting experiences during my research came when I brought one of these robots,
designed in the shape of a baby seal, to an elder-care facility, and an older woman began to talk to it
about the loss of her child. The robot seemed to be looking into her eyes. It seemed to be following the
conversation. The woman was comforted.

And so many people found this amazing. Like the sophomore who wants advice about dating from
artificial intelligence and those who look forward to computer psychiatry, this enthusiasm speaks to how
much we have confused conversation with connection and collectively seem to have embraced a new
kind of delusion that accepts the simulation of compassion as sufficient unto the day. And why would
we want to talk about love and loss with a machine that has no experience of the arc of human life?

Have we so lost confidence that we will be there for one another?

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !19

Con’t

WE expect more from technology and less from one another and seem increasingly drawn to
technologies that provide the illusion of companionship without the demands of relationship. Always-
on/always-on-you devices provide three powerful fantasies: that we will always be heard; that we can
put our attention wherever we want it to be; and that we never have to be alone. Indeed our new devices
have turned being alone into a problem that can be solved.

When people are alone, even for a few moments, they fidget and reach for a device. Here connection
works like a symptom, not a cure, and our constant, reflexive impulse to connect shapes a new way of
being.

Think of it as “I share, therefore I am.” We use technology to define ourselves by sharing our thoughts
and feelings as we’re having them. We used to think, “I have a feeling; I want to make a call.” Now our
impulse is, “I want to have a feeling; I need to send a text.”

So, in order to feel more, and to feel more like ourselves, we connect. But in our rush to connect, we
flee from solitude, our ability to be separate and gather ourselves. Lacking the capacity for solitude, we
turn to other people but don’t experience them as they are. It is as though we use them, need them as
spare parts to support our increasingly fragile selves.

We think constant connection will make us feel less lonely. The opposite is true. If we are unable to be
alone, we are far more likely to be lonely. If we don’t teach our children to be alone, they will know
only how to be lonely.

I am a partisan for conversation. To make room for it, I see some first, deliberate steps. At home, we can
create sacred spaces: the kitchen, the dining room. We can make our cars “device-free zones.” We can
demonstrate the value of conversation to our children. And we can do the same thing at work. There we
are so busy communicating that we often don’t have time to talk to one another about what really
matters. Employees asked for casual Fridays; perhaps managers should introduce conversational
Thursdays. Most of all, we need to remember — in between texts and e-mails and Facebook posts — to
listen to one another, even to the boring bits, because it is often in unedited moments, moments in which
we hesitate and stutter and go silent, that we reveal ourselves to one another.

I spend the summers at a cottage on Cape Cod, and for decades I walked the same dunes that Thoreau
once walked. Not too long ago, people walked with their heads up, looking at the water, the sky, the
sand and at one another, talking. Now they often walk with their heads down, typing. Even when they
are with friends, partners, children, everyone is on their own devices.
So I say, look up, look at one another, and let’s start the conversation.

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !20

Rubrics for Grading

Traits Masterful Able Developing Actual

(5) (3) (1) Score
I. Focus & There is one clear, well There is one main The topic and main
Details focused topic. Main topic. Main ideas are idea are not clear
ideas are clear and are somewhat clear.
well supported by
detailed and accurate
information.
2. Organization The introduction is The introduction states There is ni clear
inviting, states that the main topic. A introduction, structure
main topic and conclusion is included. of conclusion
provides an overview
of the paper.
Information is relevant
& presented in a
logical order. The
conclusion is strong.
3. Voice The author’s purpse of The author’s purpose The author’s purpose of
writing is very clear, of writing is somehwat writing is clear.
and there is strong clear and there is
evidence of attention evidence of attention
to audience. The to audience. The
author’s extensive author’s knowledge/or
knowledge and/or experience wit the
experience with the topic is/are limiteds
topic is/are relevant
4. Word Choice The author uses vivid The author uses words The writer uses a
words & phrases. The that communicate limited vocabulary.
choice & placement of clearly, but the writing Jargon or cliches may
owrds, seems accurate lakcs variety. be present & detract
natural & not forced from the meaning.
5. Sentence All sentences are well Most sentnces are Sentences sound
Structure, constructed & have constructed but they awkward, are
Grammaer, varied structure & have a similar distractingly repetitive,
Mechanics & length. The author structure and/or or are difficult to
Spelling makes no error in length. The author undertstand. The author
grammar, mechanics makes several errors makes numerous errors
and/or spellin in grammar, in grammar, mechanics,
mechanics, and/or & or spelling that
spelling that interfere intefere with
with understanding undertstanding.

Total Score

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !21

Activity # 2
Measuring Horizontal and Vertical Individualism-Collectivism
(This exercise is totally taken from the Intercultural Communication. A Contexrual Approach by James W. Neulip, 2015,pp. 61-61)

Directions: Consider the following situations. Place a check next to the response that most
closely first how you would act.

1. You and your best friends decided spontaneously to go out to dinner at a restaurant. What
do you think is the best way to handle the bill?
_____A. Split it, without regard to who ordered what.
_____B. Split it according to how each person makes.
_____C. The group leader pays the bill or decides how to split it.
_____D. Compute each person’s charge according to the what the person ordered.

2. Which of these four book topics are you likely to find interesting?
_____A. How to make friends
_____B. How to succeed in business
_____C. How to make sure you are meeting your obligations
_____D. How to enjoy yourself inexpensively

3. When you buy clotjing for a major social event, you would be most satisfied if…
_____A. your friends like it
_____B. it is so elegant it will dazzle everyone
_____C. your parents like it
_____D. you like it

4. When people ask me about myself, I…

_____A. talk about my friends and what we like to do.
_____B. talk about my accomplishments
_____C. talk about my ancestors and their traditions
_____D. talk about what makes me unique

5. Suppose your boyfriend/girlfriend and your parents do not get along very well. What would
you do?
_____A. Tell my boyfriend/girlfriend that he/she should make a greater effort to “fit in with my
family.”
_____B. Tell my boyfriend/girlfriend that I need my parent’s financial support and he/she
should learn to hand them.
_____C. Remind my boyfriend/girlfriend that my parents and family are very important to me
and he/she should submit to their wishes.
_____D. Nothing

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !22

6. Suppose you had one word to describe yourself. What should it be?
______A. Cooperative
______B. Competitive
______C. Dutiful
______D. Unique

7. Happines is attained by…

______A. linking with a lot of friendly people
______B. winning in competition
______C. gaining a lot of status in the community
______D. keeping one’s privacy

8. You are at pizza restaurant with a group of friends. How should you decide what kind of
pizza to order?
______A. We select the pizza the most people prefer.
______B. We order the most extravagant pizza available.
______C. The leader of the group orders for everyone.
______D. I order what I like

Scoring
Indicate the number of times you selected letters A,B,C and D. The frequency that has the
highest score, represents your general HC, VI, VC, or HI orientation.

___________A. Horizontal Collectivism (HC)

___________B. Verical Individualism (VI)
___________C. Vertical Collectivism (VC)
___________D. Horizontal Individualism (HI)

Purposive Communication
COURSE MODULE !23

Summary
Because of technology, our world has transformed into a global village. Communication
becomes faster and in a split of a second, an event is shared to the entire world through the use
of social media. Today, individuals have to understand the dynamics of long-distance
collaboration, the outcome of non-verbal cues in different cultures, as well as the use of
technology in connecting people.

“Wow, just like that and you did great one more time!”

If you have not completed the tasks, or you have difficulty in accomplishing the
activities, please send me a message to my e-mail, messenger, or you may ask
clarifications through a text message or phone call during scheduled consultation days
on the contact number included in your syllabus. You may write your insights or
thoughts about the activity on the space provided below.

You had just completed this chapter. You are now prepared to take Chapter 3.

Feel free to express your insights here:

___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________

Purposive Communication