{"id":61,"date":"2015-08-24T22:44:50","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T22:44:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/introductiontocommunication1xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=61"},"modified":"2016-11-03T17:47:40","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T17:47:40","slug":"defining-verbal-communication","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/alamo-introductiontocommunication-1\/chapter\/defining-verbal-communication\/","title":{"raw":"Defining Verbal Communication","rendered":"Defining Verbal Communication"},"content":{"raw":"When people ponder the word communication, they often think about the act of talking. We rely on verbal communication to exchange messages with one another and develop as individuals. The term verbal communication often evokes the idea of spoken communication, but written communication is also part of verbal communication. Reading this book you are decoding the authors\u2019 written verbal communication in order to learn more about communication. Let\u2019s explore the various components of our definition of verbal communication and examine how it functions in our lives.\r\n\r\nVerbal communication is about language, both written and spoken. In general, verbal communication refers to our use of words while nonverbal communication refers to communication that occurs through means other than words, such as body language, gestures, and silence. Both verbal and nonverbal communication can be spoken and written. Many people mistakenly assume that verbal communication refers only to spoken communication. However, you will learn that this is not the case. Let\u2019s say you tell a friend a joke and he or she laughs in response. Is the laughter verbal or nonverbal communication? Why? As laughter is not a word we would consider this vocal act as a form of nonverbal communication. For simplification, the box below highlights the kinds of communication that fall into the various categories. You can find many definitions of verbal communication in our literature, but for this text, we define Verbal Communication<\/b> as an agreed-upon and rule-governed system of symbols used to share meaning.<\/i> Let\u2019s examine each component of this definition in detail.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n
<\/th>\r\nVerbal Communication<\/th>\r\nNonverbal Communication<\/th>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
Oral<\/b><\/td>\r\nSpoken Language<\/td>\r\nLaughing, Crying, Coughing, etc.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n
Non Oral<\/b><\/td>\r\nWritten Language\/Sign Language<\/td>\r\nGestures, Body Language, etc.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n
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A System of Symbols<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\nSymbols<\/b> are arbitrary representations of thoughts, ideas, emotions, objects, or actions used to encode and decode meaning<\/i> (Nelson & Kessler Shaw). Symbols stand for, or represent, something else. For example, there is nothing inherent about calling a cat a cat.\r\n\r\nRather, English speakers have agreed that these symbols (words), whose components (letters) are used in a particular order each time, stand for both the actual object, as well as our interpretation of that object. This idea is illustrated by C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richard\u2019s triangle of meaning. The word \u201ccat\u201d is not the actual cat. Nor does it have any direct connection to an actual cat. Instead, it is a symbolic representation of our idea of a cat, as indicated by the line going from the word \u201ccat\u201d to the speaker\u2019s idea of \u201ccat\u201d to the actual object.\r\n\r\n\"IllustrationSymbols have three distinct qualities: they are arbitrary, ambiguous, and abstract. Notice that the picture of the cat on the left side of the triangle more closely represents a real cat than the word \u201ccat.\u201d However, we do not use pictures as language, or verbal communication. Instead, we use words to represent our ideas. This example demonstrates our agreement that the word \u201ccat\u201d represents or stands for a real cat AND our idea of a cat. The symbols we use are arbitrary<\/b> and have no direct relationship to the objects or ideas they represent<\/i>. We generally consider communication successful when we reach agreement on the meanings of the symbols we use (Duck).\r\n\r\nNot only are symbols arbitrary, they are\u00a0ambiguous<\/b> -- that is, they have several possible meanings<\/i>. Imagine your friend tells you she has an apple on her desk. Is she referring to a piece of fruit or her computer? If a friend says that a person he met is cool, does he mean that person is cold or awesome? The meanings of symbols change over time due to changes in social norms, values, and advances in technology. You might be asking, \u201cIf symbols can have multiple meanings then how do we communicate and understand one another?\u201d We are able to communicate because there are a finite number of possible meanings for our symbols, a range of meanings which the members of a given language system agree upon. Without an agreed-upon system of symbols, we could share relatively little meaning with one another.\r\n\r\n\"Chart.\r\n\r\nA simple example of ambiguity can be represented by one of your classmates asking a simple question to the teacher during a lecture where she is showing PowerPoint slides: \u201ccan you go to the last slide please?\u201d The teacher is half way through the presentation. Is the student asking if the teacher can go back to the previous slide? Or does the student really want the lecture to be over with and is insisting that the teacher jump to the final slide of the presentation? Chances are the student missed a point on the previous slide and would like to see it again to quickly take notes. However, suspense may have overtaken the student and they may have a desire to see the final slide. Even a simple word like \"last\" can be ambiguous and open to more than one interpretation.\r\n\r\nThe verbal symbols we use are also abstract<\/b>, meaning that, words are not material or physical. A certain level of abstraction is inherent in the fact that symbols can only represent objects and ideas<\/i>. This abstraction allows us to use a phrase like \"the public\" in a broad way to mean all the people in the United States rather than having to distinguish among all the diverse groups that make up the U.S. population. Similarly, in J.K. Rowling\u2019s Harry Potter\u00a0<\/em>book series, wizards and witches call the non-magical population on earth \u201cmuggles\u201d rather than having to define all the separate cultures of muggles. Abstraction is helpful when you want to communicate complex concepts in a simple way. However, the more abstract the language, the greater potential there is for confusion.\r\n
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Rule-Governed<\/span><\/h2>\r\n<\/div>\r\nVerbal communication is rule-governed<\/b>. We must follow agreed-upon rules to make sense of the symbols we share<\/i>. Let\u2019s take another look at our example of the word cat. What would happen if there were no rules for using the symbols (letters) that make up this word? If placing these symbols in a proper order was not important, then cta, tac, tca, act, or atc could all mean cat. Even worse, what if you could use any three letters to refer to cat? Or still worse, what if there were no rules and anything could represent cat? Clearly, it\u2019s important that we have rules to govern our verbal communication. There are four general rules for verbal communication, involving the sounds, meaning, arrangement, and use of symbols.\r\n
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Case In Point<\/b><\/h2>\r\n

Sounds and Letters: A Poem for English Students<\/i><\/h3>\r\nWhen in English class we speak,\r\nWhy is break not rhymed with freak?\r\nWill you tell me why it's true\r\nThat we say sew, but also few?\r\n\r\nWhen a poet writes a verse\r\nWhy is horse not rhymed with worse?\r\nBeard sounds not the same as heard\r\nLord sounds not the same as word\r\n\r\nCow is cow, but low is low\r\nShoe is never rhymed with toe.\r\nThink of nose and dose and lose\r\nThink of goose, but then of choose.\r\n\r\nConfuse not comb with tomb or bomb,\r\nDoll with roll, or home with some.\r\nWe have blood and food and good.\r\nMould is not pronounced like could.\r\n\r\nThere's pay and say, but paid and said.\r\n\"I will read\", but \"I have read\".\r\nWhy say done, but gone and lone -\r\nIs there any reason known?\r\n\r\nTo summarise, it seems to me\r\nSounds and letters disagree.\r\n\r\nTaken from:http:\/\/www.ukstudentlife.com\/Ideas\/Fun\/Wordplay.htm<\/a><\/small>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n