Fundamental Concepts of Language

Part One: Fundamental Concepts on Language

Objectives

• Describe the nature of language
• Explain the various functions of language

What is Language?

• Language requires a system of rules (grammar), a sound system (phonology), and a vocabulary (lexicon) to be considered a language
• Dialect is a regional variety of language distinguished by vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation from other regional varieties forming a single language

What are the Functions of Language?

• Halliday (1975) identified seven functions of language demonstrated by children in their early years

• The first four functions of language are instrumental, regulatory, interactional, and personal

• These functions help children address physical, emotional, and social needs

• The next three functions are heuristic, imaginative, and representational

• These functions help children adapt to their environment

• According to Roman Jakobson, language has six factors for successful communication

• The six factors are context, addresser, addressee, contact, common code, and message

• A message is sent by the addresser to the addressee, understood within a context with a common code

• Contact is the physical and psychological connection required for communication between addresser and addressee

• Each of the six factors has a different function of language

• The diversity in these functions results in a hierarchical order of functions

• Referential function is a denotative, cognitive function oriented toward the context.

• An example would be "The earth is round." or "Water boils at 100 degrees".

• Emotive function, also known as expressive function, focuses on the addresser

• An example would be "Yuck!" or "Ouch!" or "Oh!".

• Conative function is the orientation towards the addressee

• It finds its purest grammatical expression in evocative and imperative sentences like "Drink!" or "Go away." or "Don't do that."

• Phatic function sets for "contact" establishes, prolongs, or discontinues the communication

• The purpose is to maintain contact with the person we are talking to, such as "Hello!" or "Are you listening?" or "Do you hear me?".

• Metalingual function relies on code for what it might be considered

• Whenever the addresser and addressee need to check whether they use the same code. For example by saying "What do you mean by "krill’?"" or "What is plucked?".

• Poetic function is the orientation toward message and the focus on the message for its own sake

• For example, when someone says "horrible Harry" instead of “terrible Harry" or “dreadful Harry.”

Part Two: Fundamental Concepts on Communication

What are the Functions of Language?

• Discuss the fundamental concepts on communication
• Describe the different components of the communication process
• Explain the various types of communication models introduced by experts
• Identify the causes of communication breakdown
• Discuss the ways of achieving successful communication

What is Communication?

• Communication is the process of meaning-making through a channel or medium

• Communicare means to share or make ideas common

• Communication is the exchange of ideas, concepts, and views between people within various contexts

• Communication begins with the sender conceptualizing ideas and transmitting a message through a channel

• After a message via the channel, the receiver gives feedback as message or signal in the time frame

What are the Components of Communication Process?

• Source is the sender who crafts the message carefully

• Message is the meaning shared between the sender and the receiver

• Channel is the means by which a message is conveyed; may also be termed as the medium

• Receiver is the person who receives, comprehends, and interprets the transmitted message

• Feedback is essential to confirm recipient understanding and can be written, spoken, or acted out

• Environment is the place, feeling, mood, mindset, and condition of both the sender and receiver

• Environment includes the physical setup of a location where communication happens, surrounding objects

• Interference is any barrier or noise that prevents effective communication

What are Samples of Communication Models?

• Aristotle's Model of Communication includes the speaker, speech, occasion, audience, and effect
• Lasswell's Model includes the sender, message, channel, receiver, and feedback
• Shannon-Weaver's Communication Model starts with the information source and ends with the destination.
• Berlo's SMCR Model describes the source, message, channel, and receiver
• Each has communication skills, attitudes, knowledge, social system, and culture.

What Causes Communication Breakdown?

• Ineffective communication can result from a lack of proficiency in the language of communication
• Other causes are the frequent use of idioms, jargons, unfamiliar terms, stage fright, and insufficient knowledge on the topic
• A lack of opportunity for clarification or further explanation can also cause a breakdown

How Do We Achieve Successful Communication?

• Know your purpose, audience, and topic

• Assess your context and feedback

• According to Osborn (2009), the 9 C's of effective oral and written communication are:

• Clarity: avoid unfamiliar terms that make writing incomprehensible

• Concreteness: messages must be supported by research data, statistics, figures

• Courtesy: be polite in terms of approach and manner of addressing an individual

• Correctness: avoid glaring mistakes in grammar as these obscure the meaning of a message

• Consideration must be geared towards the audience by considering the the interests, age, ethinicity, and level of education of the audience.

• Creativity: craft interesting messages in terms of sentence structure and word choice

• Conciseness: avoid lengthy expressions and words that may confuse the recipient of the message; be simple and direct

• Cultural Sensitivity: gender equality and cultural sensitivity should be important standards for effective communication

• Captivating: strive to make messages interesting to command more attention and better responses from the audience