Manual for Students

to the tendency of one persons self-disclosures to prompt the other also to self-disclose. Be responsive to the dyadic effect; if it’s not operating (when you think it should be), ask yourself why.

135.Effect – the outcome or consequence of an action or behavior; communication is assumed always to have some effect.

136.Emblems – non-verbal behaviors that directly translate words or phrases – for example, the signs for OK and peace.

137.Emotion – the feelings we have – for example, our feelings of guilt, anger, or love.

138.Emotional Communication – the expression of feelings – for example, of feelings of guilt, happiness, or sorrow. Before expressing your emotions, understand them, decide whether you wish to express them, and assess your communication options. In expressing your emotions, describe your feelings as accurately as possible, identify the reasons for them, anchor your feelings and their expression to the present time, and own your feelings.

139.Emotional Contagion – the transferal of emotions from one person to another, analogous to transmission of a contagious disease from one person to another.

140.Empathy – the sharing of another person’s feeling; feeling or perceiving something as does another person. In expressing empathy, demonstrate active involvement through appropriate facial expressions and gestures, focus your concentration (maintaining eye contact and physical closeness), reflect back the feelings you think are being experienced, and self-disclose as appropriate

141.Encoder – something that takes a message in one form (for example, nerve impulses) and translates it into another form (for example, sound waves). In human communication the encoder is the speaking mechanism; in electronic communication one en­coder is the telephone mouthpiece. Encoding is the process of putting a message into a code – for example, translating nerve impulses into speech sounds. See also

Decoder.

142.Encoding – the translation of experience into a sign or code.

143.Enculturation. The process by which culture is transmitted from one generation to another.

144.Equality – a goal of effective communication; recognition that

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each individual in a communication interaction is equal, that no one is superior to any other; encourages supportiveness. Opposed to

Superiority. To communicate with equality, talk neither down nor up to others but as equals, share speaking and listening turns, and recognize that all parties in communication have something to say.

145.Equity Theory – a theory claiming that you experience relational satisfaction when there is an equal distribution of rewards and costs between the two persons in the relationship.

146.Ethics – the branch of philosophy that deals with the rightness or wrongness of actions; the study of moral values; in communication, the morality of message behavior.

147.Ethnocentrism – the tendency to see others and their behaviors through your own cultural filters, often as distortions of your own behaviors; the tendency to evaluate the values and beliefs of your own culture more positively than those of another culture.

148.Euphemism – a polite word or phrase used to substitute for some Taboo or less polite term or phrase.

149.Evaluation – a process whereby a value is placed on some person, object, or event. Avoid premature evaluation; amass evidence before making evaluations, especially of other people.

150.Expressiveness – a quality of interpersonal effectiveness; genuine involvement in speaking and listening, conveyed verbally and non-verbally. Communicate involvement and interest in the interaction by providing appropriate feedback, by assuming responsibility for your thoughts and feelings and for your roles as speaker and listener, and by appropriately using variety and flexibility in voice and bodily action.

151.Extensional Devices – linguistic devices proposed to make language a more accurate means for talking about the world. The extensional devices include Etcetera, Date, and Index.

152.Extensional Orientation – a point of view in which primary consideration is given to the world of experience and only secondary consideration is given to labels. Opposed to Intensional Orientation.

153.Eye Contact – a non-verbal code, eye gaze, that communicates meanings about respect and status and often regulates turn-taking during interactions.

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154.Face – a person’s social need to both belong to a group and be independent of that group.

155.Facework – the social strategies required to protect people’s

face.

156.Facial Expressions – facial gestures that convey emotions and attitudes.

157.Facial Feedback Hypothesis – the theory that your facial expressions can produce physiological and emotional effects.

158.Facial Management Techniques – techniques used to mask certain emotions and to emphasize others, as when you intensify your expression of happiness to make a friend feel good about a promotion.

159.Fact-Inference Confusion – a misevaluation in which one makes an inference, regards it as a fact, and acts upon it as if it were a fact. Distinguish facts from inferences; respond to inferences as inferences, not as facts.

160.Factual Statement – a statement made by the observer after observation and limited to what is observed. Opposed to Inferential

Statement.

161.Family – a group of people who consider themselves related and connected to one another and among whom the actions of one have consequences for others.

162.Feedback – information that is given back to the source. Feedback may come from the sources own messages (as when you hear what you’re saying) or from the receiver(s) – in forms such as applause, yawning, puzzled looks, questions, letters to the editor of a newspaper, or increased/decreased subscriptions to a magazine. Give clear feedback to others, and respond to others’ feedback, either through corrective measures or by continuing current performance, to increase communication efficiency and satisfaction. See also

Negative Feedback, Positive Feedback.

163.Feedforward – information that is sent prior to a regular message telling the listener something about what is to follow; messages that are prefatory to more central messages. In using feedforward, be brief; use feedforward sparingly, and follow through on your feedforward promises.

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164.Feminine Culture – a culture in which both men and women are encouraged to be modest, oriented to maintaining the quality of life, and tender. Feminine cultures emphasize the quality of life and so socialize their people to be modest and to emphasize close interpersonal relationships. Opposed to Masculine culture.

165.Flexibility – the ability to adjust communication strategies and skills on the basis of the unique situation.

166.Focusing – anthropological concept referring to the process by which stereotypes are formed by selectively focusing on certain classificatory concepts prevalent within a certain discourse community, for example, individualism vs. collectivism.

167.Footing – a term coined by sociologist Erving Goffman to denote the stance we take up to the others present in the way we manage the production or reception of utterances.

168.Force – an unproductive Conflict strategy in which you try to win an argument by physically overpowering the other person either by threat or by actual behavior.

169.Foreign Accent – carryover of the pronunciation of sounds in language A into the pronunciation of sounds in language B.

170.Frame – culturally determined behavioural prototype that enables us to interpret each other’s instances of verbal and non-verbal behaviour.

171.Friendship – an interpersonal relationship between two persons that is mutually productive, established and maintained through perceived mutual free choice, and characterized by mutual positive regard. Adjust your verbal and non-verbal communication as appropriate to the stages of your various friendships. Learn the rules that govern each friendship; follow them or risk damaging the relationship.

172.FundamentalAttribution Error – the tendency to overvalue and give too much weight to the contribution of internal factors (i.e., the person’s personality) and Undervalue and give too little weight to the contribution of external factors (i.e., the situation the person is in or the surrounding events).

173.Gender Display Rules – сultural rules that identify what are and are not appropriate forms of expression for men and for women.

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174.Gender Identity – the identification with the cultural notions of masculinity and femininity and what it means to be a man or a woman.

175.Global Village – a term coined by Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s that refers to a world in which communication technology unites people in remote parts of the world.

176.Gossip – oral or written Communication about someone not present, some third party, usually about matters that are private to this third party. Avoid gossip that breaches confidentiality, is known to be false, and/or is unnecessarily invasive.

177.Grammatical Interference – use of features from the grammar of language A in the production of language B.

178.Grapevine Messages – messages that do not follow any formal organizational structures; office-related gossip.

179.Genre – a socially-sanctioned type of communicative event, either spoken, like an interview, or printed, like a novel.

180.Great Divide – theory advanced by humanist Eric Havelock according to which the invention of writing created an irreducible difference between oral and literate cultures, and their ways of thinking.

181.Halo Effect – the tendency to generalize a person’s virtue or expertise from one area to other areas.

182.Haptics – the study of touch.

183.Heterogeneity – сonsisting of different or dissimilar elements.

184.Heterosexist Language – language that denigrates lesbians and gay men.

185.High-Context Culture – a culture in which much of the information in communication messages is left implied; it’s “understood”. Much information is considered to be in the context or in the person rather than explicitly coded in verbal messages. Collectivist Cultures are generally high context. Opposed to Low-Context Culture.

186.Home Territories – territories for which individuals have a sense of intimacy and over which they exercise control – for example, a teacher’s office.

187.Hypercorrection – overapplication of a rule in an inappropriate fashion due to mistaken belief in its correctness; overgeneralization of a rule.

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188.Iconic – a meaning of words based on resemblance of words to reality, for example, onomatopoeia (‘bash’, ‘mash’, ‘smash’, ‘crash’, ‘dash’).

189.Illustrators – non-verbal behaviors that accompany and literally illustrate verbal messages – for example, upward movements of the head and hand that accompany the verbal “It’s up there”.

190.Imessages – messages in which the speaker accepts responsibility for personal thoughts and behaviors; messages in which the speaker’s point of view is stated explicitly. Opposed to You-

Messages.

191.Immediacy – a quality of interpersonal effectiveness; a sense of contact and togetherness; a feeling of interest and liking for the other person. To communicate immediacy use inclusive terms, give appropriate and supportive feedback, maintain eye contact, use an open body posture, and maintain physical closeness.

192.Implicit Personality Theory – a theory of personality, complete with rules about what characteristics go with what other characteristics, that you maintain and through which you perceive others.

Be conscious of your implicit personality theories. Avoid drawing firm conclusions about people on the basis of your theories; instead, treat these theories as hy­potheses.

193.Indirect Speech – speech that hides the speaker’s true intentions; speech in which requests and observations are made indirectly.

Use indirect speech (1) to express a desire without insulting or offending anyone, (2) to ask for compliments in a socially acceptable manner, and (3) to disagree without being disagreeable.

194.Indiscrimination – a misevaluation caused by categorizing people, events, or objects into a particular class and responding to them only as members of the class; a failure to recognize that each Individual is unique. To avoid indiscrimination, index your terms and statements to emphasize that each person and event is unique; avoid treating all individuals the same way because they are covered by the same label or term.

195.Individualistic Culture – a culture in which the individual’s goals and preferences are given greater im­portance than the group’s.

Opposed to Collectivist Cultures.

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196.Inevitability – a principle of communication holding that communication cannot be avoided; all behavior in an interactional setting is communication.

197.Inferential Statement – a statement that can be made by anyone, is not limited to what is observed, and can be made at any time. See also Factual State­ment.

198.Informal Time Terms – terms that are approximate rather than exact; for example, soon, early, and in a while. Recognize that informal time terms are often the cause of interpersonal difficulties; when misunderstanding is likely, use more precise terms.

199.Integrating Style – a conflict management strategy characterized by the open and direct exchange of information in an attempt to reach a solution acceptable to both parties.

200.Integration – a type of cultural adaptations in which individuals maintain both their original culture and their daily interactions with other groups.

201.Intensional Orientation – a point of view in which primary consideration is given to the way things are labeled and only secondary consideration (if any) to the world of experience. Respond first to things; avoid responding to labels as if they were things; do not let labels distort your perception of the world. Opposed to Extensional

Orientation.

202.Interaction Management. A quality of interpersonal effectiveness in which the interaction is controlled and managed to the satisfaction of both parties; effective handling of conversational turns, fluency, and message consistency. Manage the interaction to the satisfaction of both parties by sharing the roles of speaker and listener, avoiding long and awkward silences, and being consistent in your verbal and non-verbal messages.

203.Intercultural – 1. Refers to the meeting between people from different cultures and languages across the political boundaries of nationstates. 2. Refers to communication between people from different ethnic, social, gendered cultures within the boundaries of the same nation.

204.Intercultural Communication – сommunication that takes place between persons of different cultures or persons who have different cultural beliefs, values, or ways of behaving.

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205.Interpersonal Communication – сommunication be­tween two persons or among a small group of persons as distinct from public or mass communication; communication of a personal nature as distinct from impersonal communication; communication between or among connected persons or those involved in a close relationship.

206.Intercultural Conflict – сonflict between two or more cultural

groups.

207.Intercultural Identity – identity based on two or more cultural frames of reference.

208.Interdisciplinary – integrating knowledge from different disciplines in conducting research and constructing theory.

209.Interference – deviations from the norms of either language that occur in the speech of bilinguals as a result of their familiarity with more than one language.

210.Intermediary – in a formal setting, a professional third party, such as a lawyer, real estate agent, or counselor, who intervenes when two parties are in conflict. Informal intermediaries may be friends or colleagues who intervene.

211.Interpersonal Competence – the ability to accomplish one’s interpersonal goals; interpersonal communication that is satisfying to both individuals.

212.Interpersonal Conflict – a disagreement between two connected persons. To manage interpersonal conflict more productively: (1) Become an active participant; don’t avoid the issues.

(2)Use talk rather than force. (3) Enhance the self-esteem, the face, of the person you’re arguing with. (4) Be supportive of the other person. And (5) focus as objectively as possible on the points of disagreement; avoid attacking the other person.

213.Interpersonal Effectiveness – the ability to accomplish one’s interpersonal goals; interpersonal communication that is satisfying to both individuals.

214.Interpersonal Perception – the Perception of people; the processes through which you interpret and evaluate people and their behavior.

215.Intimacy – the closest interpersonal relationship; usually a close primary relationship.

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216.Intimacy Claims – obligations a person incurs by virtue of being in a close and intimate relationship. Reduce the intensity of intimacy claims when things get rough; give each other space as appropriate.

217.Intimate Distance – the closest distance in Proxemics, ranging from touching to 18 inches.

218.Involvement – the second stage in Relationship Development in which you further advance the relationship, first testing each other and then intensifying your interaction.

219.Irreversibility – a principle of communication holding that communication cannot be reversed; oncesomethinghas been communicated, it cannot be uncommunicated. To prevent resentment and ill feeling, avoid saying things (for example, in anger) or making commitments that you may wish to retract; you won’t be able to.

220.Language – the rules of syntax, semantics, and phonology by which sentences are created and understood; the term a Language refers to the sentences that can be created in any language, such as, English, Bantu, or Italian.

221.Language Crossing – the switch from one language code or variety to another, or stylization of one variety, or creation of hybrid varieties of the same code, as an act of Identity or resistance.

222.Lateral Communication – сommunication between equals – manager to manager, worker to worker.

223.Leave-Taking Cues – verbal and non-verbal signals that indicate a desire to terminate a conversation. Become sensitive to the leave-taking cues of others, and communicate your own leave-taking desires tactfully so as not to insult or offend others.

224.Leveling – a process of message distortion in which the number of details in a message is reduced as the message gets repeated from one person to another.

225.Lexical Interference – changes in the lexicon of language B due to contact with the lexicon of language A.

226.Lingua Franca – a commonly shared language that is used as a medium of communication between people of different languages.

227.Linguicism – term coined by Robert Phillipson to refer to discrimination and prejudice on the grounds of language, analogous to racism, sexism.

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228.Linguistic Nationism – association of one language variety (standard or national language) with membership of one national community.

229.Linguistic Relativity Principle – a hypothesis advanced by the linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf, according to which different languages offer different ways of perceiving and expressing the world around us, thus leading their speakers to conceive of the world in different ways.

230.Linguistic Rights – a concept promulgated by the UN and other international organizations to defend the right of peoples to develop and promote their own languages, in particular the right of children to have access to education in their languages; d. linguistic imperialism.

231.Listening – an active process of receiving aural stimuli that consists of five stages: receiving, understanding, remembering, evaluating, and responding. Adjust your listening perspective, as the situation warrants, between active and passive, judgmental and nonjudgmental, surface and depth, empathic and objective, and active and inactive listening.

232.Literacy – the cognitive and sociocultural ability to use the written or print medium according to the norms of interaction and interpretation of a given discourse community.

233.Literacy Event – interaction of a reader or community of readers with a written text.

234.Literate – characteristic of the use of written language. See

Literacy.

235.Loanshift – a change in the meaning of a morpheme in language A on the model of language B.

236.Loan Translation – a type of lexical interference consisting of translation of morphemes of language A into language B.

237.Low-Context Culture. A culture in which most of the information in communication is explicitly stated in the verbal message rather than being left implied or assumed to be “understood”. Low-context cultures are usually Individualistic Cultures. Opposed to High-

Context Culture.

238.Manipulation – an unproductive Conflict strategy that avoids open conflict; instead, one person attempts to divert the conflict by being

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