{"id":43,"date":"2019-01-16T00:10:41","date_gmt":"2019-01-16T00:10:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-oneonta-communication\/chapter\/1-4-communication-competence\/"},"modified":"2019-01-16T00:10:41","modified_gmt":"2019-01-16T00:10:41","slug":"1-4-communication-competence","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-oneonta-communication\/chapter\/1-4-communication-competence\/","title":{"raw":"1.4 Communication Competence","rendered":"1.4 Communication Competence"},"content":{"raw":"\n
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Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n
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  1. Define communication competence.<\/li>\n
  2. Explain each part of the definition of communication competence.<\/li>\n
  3. Discuss strategies for developing communication competence.<\/li>\n
  4. Discuss communication apprehension and public speaking anxiety and employ strategies to manage them.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n

    Communication competence has become a focus in higher education over the past couple of decades as educational policy makers and advocates have stressed a \u201cback to basics\u201d mentality (McCroskey, 1984). The ability to communicate effectively is often included as a primary undergraduate learning goal along with other key skills like writing, critical thinking, and problem solving. You likely haven\u2019t heard professors or university administrators use the term communication competence<\/em>, but as we learn more about it in this section, I am sure you will see how communication competence can benefit you in many aspects of your life. Since this book focuses on communication in the real world, strategies for developing communication competence are not only limited to this section. A \u201cGetting Competent\u201d feature box is included in each chapter, specifically to help you develop communication competence.<\/p>\n

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    Defining Competence<\/h2>\n

    We have already defined communication<\/em>, and you probably know that to be competent at something means you know what you\u2019re doing. When we combine these terms, we get the following definition: communication competence<\/a><\/span> refers to the knowledge of effective and appropriate communication patterns and the ability to use and adapt that knowledge in various contexts (Cooley & Roach, 1984). To better understand this definition, let\u2019s break apart its components.<\/p>\n

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    \n \"1.4.0N\"<\/a>\n

    Developing communication competence can bring many rewards, but it also requires time and effort.<\/p>\n

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    Paul Shanks - Communication<\/a> - CC BY-NC 2.0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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    The first part of the definition we will unpack deals with knowledge<\/em>. The cognitive elements of competence include knowing how to do something and understanding why things are done the way they are (Hargie, 2011). People can develop cognitive competence by observing and evaluating the actions of others. Cognitive competence can also be developed through instruction. Since you are currently taking a communication class, I encourage you to try to observe the communication concepts you are learning in the communication practices of others and yourself. This will help bring the concepts to life and also help you evaluate how communication in the real world matches up with communication concepts. As you build a repertoire of communication knowledge based on your experiential and classroom knowledge, you will also be developing behavioral competence.<\/p>\n

    The second part of the definition of communication competence that we will unpack is the ability to use<\/em>. Individual factors affect our ability to do anything. Not everyone has the same athletic, musical, or intellectual ability. At the individual level, a person\u2019s physiological and psychological characteristics affect competence. In terms of physiology, age, maturity, and ability to communicate affect competence. In terms of psychology, a person\u2019s mood, stress level, personality, and level of communication apprehension (level of anxiety regarding communication) affect competence (Cooley & Roach, 1984). All these factors will either help or hinder you when you try to apply the knowledge you have learned to actual communication behaviors. For example, you might know strategies for being an effective speaker, but public speaking anxiety that kicks in when you get in front of the audience may prevent you from fully putting that knowledge into practice.<\/p>\n

    The third part of the definition we will unpack is ability to adapt<\/em> to various contexts<\/em>. What is competent or not varies based on social and cultural context, which makes it impossible to have only one standard for what counts as communication competence (Cooley & Roach, 1984). Social variables such as status and power affect competence. In a social situation where one person\u2014say, a supervisor\u2014has more power than another\u2014for example, his or her employee\u2014then the supervisor is typically the one who sets the standard for competence. Cultural variables such as race and nationality also affect competence. A Taiwanese woman who speaks English as her second language may be praised for her competence in the English language in her home country but be viewed as less competent in the United States because of her accent. In summary, although we have a clear definition of communication competence, there are not definitions for how to be competent in any given situation, since competence varies at the individual, social, and cultural level.<\/p>\n

    Despite the fact that no guidelines for or definitions of competence will be applicable in all situations, the National Communication Association (NCA) has identified many aspects of competence related to communication. The primary focus has been on competencies related to speaking and listening, and the NCA notes that developing communication competence in these areas will help people in academic, professional, and civic contexts (Morreale, Rubin, & Jones, 1998). To help colleges and universities develop curriculum and instruction strategies to prepare students, the NCA has defined what students should be able to do in terms of speaking and listening competencies by the time they graduate from college:<\/p>\n

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    1. State ideas clearly.<\/li>\n
    2. Communicate ethically.<\/li>\n
    3. Recognize when it is appropriate to communicate.<\/li>\n
    4. Identify their communication goals.<\/li>\n
    5. Select the most appropriate and effective medium for communicating.<\/li>\n
    6. Demonstrate credibility.<\/li>\n
    7. Identify and manage misunderstandings.<\/li>\n
    8. Manage conflict.<\/li>\n
    9. Be open-minded about another\u2019s point of view.<\/li>\n
    10. Listen attentively.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      These are just some of the competencies the NCA identified as important for college graduates. While these are skill focused rather than interpersonally or culturally focused, they provide a concrete way to assess your own speaking competencies and to prepare yourself for professional speaking and listening, which is often skill driven. Since we communicate in many different contexts, such as interpersonal, group, intercultural, and mediated, we will discuss more specific definitions of competence in later sections of the book.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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      Developing Competence<\/h2>\n

      Knowing the dimensions of competence is an important first step toward developing competence. Everyone reading this book already has some experience with and knowledge about communication. After all, you\u2019ve spent many years explicitly and implicitly learning to communicate. For example, we are explicitly taught the verbal codes we use to communicate. On the other hand, although there are numerous rules and norms associated with nonverbal communication, we rarely receive explicit instruction on how to do it. Instead, we learn by observing others and through trial and error with our own nonverbal communication. Competence obviously involves verbal and nonverbal elements, but it also applies to many situations and contexts. Communication competence is needed in order to understand communication ethics, to develop cultural awareness, to use computer-mediated communication, and to think critically. Competence involves knowledge, motivation, and skills. It\u2019s not enough to know what good communication consists of; you must also have the motivation to reflect on and better your communication and the skills needed to do so.<\/p>\n

      In regards to competence, we all have areas where we are skilled and areas where we have deficiencies. In most cases, we can consciously decide to work on our deficiencies, which may take considerable effort. There are multiple stages of competence that I challenge you to assess as you communicate in your daily life: unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, and unconscious competence (Hargie, 2011). Before you have built up a rich cognitive knowledge base of communication concepts and practiced and reflected on skills in a particular area, you may exhibit unconscious incompetence<\/a><\/span>, which means you are not even aware that you are communicating in an incompetent manner. Once you learn more about communication and have a vocabulary to identify concepts, you may find yourself exhibiting conscious incompetence<\/a><\/span>. This is where you know what you should be doing, and you realize that you\u2019re not doing it as well as you could. However, as your skills increase you may advance to conscious competence<\/a><\/span>, meaning that you know you are communicating well in the moment, which will add to your bank of experiences to draw from in future interactions. When you reach the stage of unconscious competence<\/a><\/span>, you just communicate successfully without straining to be competent. Just because you reach the stage of unconscious competence in one area or with one person does not mean you will always stay there. We are faced with new communication encounters regularly, and although we may be able to draw on the communication skills we have learned about and developed, it may take a few instances of conscious incompetence before you can advance to later stages.<\/p>\n

      In many introductory communication classes that I teach, a student usually says something like \u201cYou must be really good at this stuff since you study it and have been teaching it for a while.\u201d At the same time students assume that I have a high level of communication competence, they are hard on themselves for being at the stage of conscious incompetence, where they catch themselves communicating poorly in regards to a concept we recently studied. In response to both of these comments, I say, \u201cJust because I know the concepts and definitions doesn\u2019t mean I always put them to good use. We\u2019re all imperfect and fallible, and if we expect to be perfect communicators after studying this, then we\u2019re setting ourselves up for failure. However, when I do mess up, I almost always make a mental note and reflect on it. And now you\u2019re starting to do the same thing, which is to notice and reflect on your communication more. And that already puts you ahead of most people!\u201d<\/p>\n

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      \n \"1.4.1N\"<\/a>\n

      Becoming more mindful of your communication and the communication of others can contribute to your communication competence.<\/p>\n

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      Free Stock Photos<\/a> - public domain.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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      One way to progress toward communication competence is to become a more mindful communicator. A mindful communicator actively and fluidly processes information, is sensitive to communication contexts and multiple perspectives, and is able to adapt to novel communication situations (Burgoon, Berger, & Waldron, 2000). Becoming a more mindful communicator has many benefits, including achieving communication goals, detecting deception, avoiding stereotypes, and reducing conflict. Whether or not we achieve our day-to-day communication goals depends on our communication competence. Various communication behaviors can signal that we are communicating mindfully. For example, asking an employee to paraphrase their understanding of the instructions you just gave them shows that you are aware that verbal messages are not always clear, that people do not always listen actively, and that people often do not speak up when they are unsure of instructions for fear of appearing incompetent or embarrassing themselves. Some communication behaviors indicate that we are not communicating mindfully, such as withdrawing from a romantic partner or engaging in passive-aggressive behavior during a period of interpersonal conflict. Most of us know that such behaviors lead to predictable and avoidable conflict cycles, yet we are all guilty of them. Our tendency to assume that people are telling us the truth can also lead to negative results. Therefore, a certain amount of tentativeness and mindful monitoring of a person\u2019s nonverbal and verbal communication can help us detect deception. However, this is not the same thing as chronic suspicion, which would not indicate communication competence. This is just the beginning of our conversation about communication competence. Regarding the previous examples, we will learn more about paraphrasing in Chapter 5 \"Listening\"<\/a>, conflict management in Chapter 6 \"Interpersonal Communication Processes\"<\/a>, and deception in Chapter 4 \"Nonverbal Communication\"<\/a>.\n

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      \u201cGetting Competent\u201d<\/h4>\n

      Getting Started on Your Road to Communication Competence<\/p>\n

      The \u201cGetting Competent\u201d boxes throughout this book are meant to help you become a more confident and skilled communicator. While each box will focus on a specific aspect of communication competence, this box addresses communication competence more generally. A common communication pitfall that is an obstacle on many students\u2019 roads to communication competence is viewing communication as \u201ccommon sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

      Many students note that some of what we learn in communication classes is \u201ccommon sense.\u201d I agree with this observation in some cases but disagree with it in others. As I\u2019ve noted before, this class builds on knowledge that you have already gained, through experience and observation as a person with many years of communication under your belt. For example, a student might say that it is \u201ccommon sense\u201d that conflict avoidance can lead to built-up tensions that eventually hurt an interpersonal relationship. But many of us avoid confronting what is causing conflict in our relationships even though we know it\u2019s better to talk about our problems than to let them build up. In order to put that \u201ccommonsense\u201d knowledge to competent use, we must have a more nuanced understanding of how conflict and interpersonal communication relate and know some conflict management strategies.<\/p>\n

      Communication is common in that it is something that we spend most of our time doing, but the ability to make sense of and improve our communication takes competence that is learned through deliberate study and personal reflection. So, to get started on your road to competence, I am proposing that you do two things. First, challenge yourself to see the value in the study of communication. Apply the concepts we are learning to your life and find ways to make this class help you achieve your goals. Second, commit to using the knowledge you gain in this class to improve your communication and the communication of those around you. Become a higher self-monitor, which means start to notice your communication more. We all know areas where we could improve our communication, and taking this class will probably expose even more. But you have to be prepared to put in the time to improve; for example, it takes effort to become a better listener or to give better feedback. If you start these things now you will be primed to take on more communication challenges that will be presented throughout this book.<\/p>\n

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      1. What aspects of communication do you think are \u201ccommon sense?\u201d What aspects of communication do you think require more formal instruction and\/or study?<\/li>\n
      2. What communication concept has appealed to you most so far? How can you see this concept applying to your life?<\/li>\n
      3. Do a communication self-assessment. What are your strengths as a communicator? What are your weaknesses? What can you do to start improving your communication competence?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
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        Overcoming Anxiety<\/h2>\n

        Whether you will give your first presentation in this class next week or in two months, you may be one of many students in the introduction to communication studies course to face anxiety about communication in general or public speaking in particular.<\/p>\n

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        \n \"1.4.2N\"<\/a>\n

        Communication apprehension and public speaking anxiety are common but can be managed productively.<\/p>\n

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        Ana C. - day 339 butterflies<\/a> - CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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        Decades of research conducted by communication scholars shows that communication apprehension is common among college students (Priem & Solomon, 2009). Communication apprehension<\/a><\/span> (CA) is fear or anxiety experienced by a person due to actual or imagined communication with another person or persons. CA includes multiple forms of communication, not just public speaking. Of college students, 15 to 20 percent experience high trait CA, meaning they are generally anxious about communication. Furthermore, 70 percent of college students experience some trait CA, which means that addressing communication anxiety in a class like the one you\u2019re taking now stands to benefit the majority of students (Priem & Solomon, 2009). Public speaking anxiety<\/a><\/span> is type of CA that produces physiological, cognitive, and behavioral reactions in people when faced with a real or imagined presentation (Bodie, 2010). Research on public speaking anxiety has focused on three key ways to address this common issue: systematic desensitization, cognitive restructuring, and skills training (Bodie, 2010). Communication departments are typically the only departments that address communication apprehension explicitly, which is important as CA is \u201crelated to negative academic consequences such as negative attitudes toward school, lower over-all classroom achievement, lower final course grades, and higher college attrition rates\u201d (Allen, Hunter, & Donohue, 2009). Additionally, CA can lead others to make assumptions about your communication competence that may be unfavorable. Even if you are intelligent, prepared, and motivated, CA and public speaking anxiety can detract from your communication and lead others to perceive you in ways you did not intend. CA is a common issue faced by many people, so you are not alone. We will learn more about speaking anxiety in Chapter 12 \"Public Speaking in Various Contexts\"<\/a>. While you should feel free to read ahead to that chapter, you can also manage your anxiety by following some of the following tips.<\/p>\n

        Top Ten Ways to Reduce Speaking Anxiety<\/strong>\n

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        1. Remember, you are not alone. Public speaking anxiety is common, so don\u2019t ignore it\u2014confront it.<\/li>\n
        2. You can\u2019t literally \u201cdie of embarrassment.\u201d Audiences are forgiving and understanding.<\/li>\n
        3. It always feels worse than it looks.<\/li>\n
        4. Take deep breaths. It releases endorphins, which naturally fight the adrenaline that causes anxiety.<\/li>\n
        5. Look the part. Dress professionally to enhance confidence.<\/li>\n
        6. Channel your nervousness into positive energy and motivation.<\/li>\n
        7. Start your outline and research early. Better information = higher confidence.<\/li>\n
        8. Practice and get feedback from a trusted source. (Don\u2019t just practice for your cat.)<\/li>\n
        9. Visualize success through positive thinking.<\/li>\n
        10. Prepare, prepare, prepare! Practice is a speaker\u2019s best friend.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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          Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n