ORALCOM Q2 WEEK 2-3

DISCUSSION
Communication entails a delicate balancing in order to sustain connection and transact
successfully. Let us dig in a little deeper and examine the factors involved in this balancing act.
As you have learned in the previous modules, each speech style - intimate, frozen, consultative,
casual or formal - or the way language is used, will greatly depend on the speakers’ relationship,
purpose of the conversation and the speech context - dyad, small group, public, and mass
communication - which, in turn, will also determine what type of utterance or speech act will be
used. While communication is on-going, communicative strategies such as repair, topic shifting,
restriction, topic control, turn-taking, nomination and termination, will be used to maintain the
connection in order to successfully impart the message and achieve the purpose of communication.
The table below enumerates and briefly explains the factors affected when there is a change or
shift in speech context, speech style, speech act, and communicative strategy.

Table 1: Factors affected by a shift in Speech Context, Speech Style, Speech Act, and
Communicative Strategy
Language Form This refers to the formality or informality of the
language used and it involves the choice of
words and how sentences or utterances are
structured. Formal language is used when
talking with professionals or persons in authority
in a formal, official or ceremonial occasion,
situation, gathering or event. Talking with a
lawyer, a doctor or even with your teacher often
creates a formal ambiance in communication.
Informal language, on the other hand, is used
without much consideration to rules of
convention or etiquette. It is casual and mostly
not well-thought-of or prepared because it is
used to communicate with people with whom
you have close association with like parents,
siblings and friends.
Duration of Interaction This refers to the amount of time a conversation
takes between and among communicators.
Relationship of Speaker This refers to the speech style used by the
speaker suited to his/her relationship to the
person with whom he/she is communicating.
Styles can be classified as intimate, frozen,
consultative, casual or formal.
Intimate style – the speaker talks to family
members, best 9 friends or romantic partners.
This may comprise private conversations or
personal interactions.

Frozen – the speaker addresses an audience in

a formal gathering such as ceremonial events,
Eucharistic celebrations or even court hearings.
The style is “set” or “fixed” and thus, it rarely or
never changes. Audience feedback is not
required.

Consultative – the speaker communicates with

a person whom he/she may have to clarify
things, discuss a problem, or seek advice.

Casual – the speaker shares close and

personal information with friends, classmates or
colleagues. This ordinarily occurs in everyday
life.
Formal – the speaker has to deliver a pre-
planned or written speech to address a crowd of
people such as giving opening remarks during a
seminar, or the president making a public
announcement or delivering SONA.
Role and Responsibility of Speaker This refers to the role and responsibility of the
speaker which will depend on the purpose and
 context of communication. The speaker may be
a person who gives information and additional
knowledge to another person or an audience,
someone who convinces others for a cause or
an individual who provokes laughter for
diversion and fun. Hence, his responsibility
depends on his purpose for communication
which may be to inform, to persuade, or to
entertain
Message This involves the content of the message. The
message may be facts, opinion, feelings, order,
suggestions, and questions.
Delivery This refers to the manner of delivery involving
verbal and nonverbal cues made by the
speaker. Delivery can be classified as:
 extemporaneous – speaking with limited
preparation and guided by notes or
outline;
 impromptu – speaking without
advanced preparation or unrehearsed
speech;
 memorized – planned and rehearsed
speech;
 manuscript – reading aloud a written
message.

Communicative Competence
In order to achieve communicative competence, we must consider the following: speech
context, speech style, speech act and communicative strategies.

Speech Context
This accounts for the background and purpose of a discourse. Speech context assumes a more
or less direct relationship between situational, societal, political or cultural “environment” in which the
communication transaction occurs. The type of audience, circumstances and setting are taken into
consideration.
Speech context may be intrapersonal, interpersonal and public. Intrapersonal communication
is a communication with oneself. It is the basic form of communication where the ‘self’ is the only
consideration. This is true in moments of self-reflection or introspection when you contemplate and
internalize things that happened or may happen, or maybe think of what may be done to solve a
personal problem.
Sharing your experiences with a friend or discussing a topic within a group are examples of
interpersonal communication. This kind of communication involves the transmission of messages that
is deliberately extended to others.
Public communication addresses a large number of people. For example, when you discuss to
a large group online about the effects of Covid19 and the precautionary measures in the time of
pandemic, you engage in public communication. In this way, you communicate to a crowd of online
viewers and so your message may be heard by many. Another example of public communication is a
preacher passionately delivering a sermon and a leader emphatically persuading the people to support
a cause in a mass gathering.
As communication changes its context, language form, choice of words, delivery, and duration
of interaction are some of the factors that may also change. Various speaking engagements will always
entail different environments, situations, or circumstances. The people that we talk to, the physical
setting we find ourselves in, and the circumstances that surround the communication transaction may
alter. And when it does, we as speakers may incorporate the necessary changes in order to adapt to
the changed context.

Speech Style
Another factor that affects the attainment of communicative competence is speech style. A
person may choose what style or form of language to use in communicating with others; however,
personal preferences may not work at all times. There are controlled instances when one may just go
with the flow of the communicative process because that is what is required in the situation.
Speech style has the following types: intimate, casual, consultative, formal and frozen.
Intimate communication happens between or among family
members because they are bound by close affinity. There are things
that are kept only within themselves which other people do not or
can not know. Intimate communication may be private or
confidential.
 Friends and acquaintances often use casual communication. They feel comfortable and at ease
with one another. They have no inhibitions to share their feelings because they consider their friends
next to their family. They laugh without ceasing over not-so-funny things and at times, not even getting
sensitive to one another’s criticisms.
Consultative means of communication is giving pieces of
advice as in a guidance counselor and a client who needs it. This can
be between a doctor and his patient or parents who consult with a
teacher about their child’s academic performance.
The President delivering his SONA and a principal presenting a
school’s financial report to teachers, parents and other stakeholders
are both examples of a formal communication. This type of
communication is well-planned in terms of structure, sequence and
coherence of ideas.
Finally, those activities which are not changeable in nature fall
under frozen type of communication. Saying a prayer like Our Lord’s
Prayer or the Hail Mary and reciting the Patriotic Oath during flag
ceremonies are just two of the examples. These are routinely done
and may only be changed once amended in the Philippine constitution.
Frozen communication is set, and it is very rarely or almost never
altered.
Do you talk to your little brothers or sisters? How often do you tell your
life’s stories with your parents? Have you experienced interviewing a
sidewalk vendor for an entrepreneurship class task or talk to a doctor
to clarify some medical proceedings for your Science activities?
The scenarios above will probably get you adjust your words
according to the type of audience you deal with. Your approach to the
little ones will drastically change as you talk with your parents who have authority over you. Your
language will vary as you interview a sidewalk vendor and a doctor for your class tasks.
As in context, a change in speech style also causes other factors in the communication process
to change. This is because we try to adapt our style or language form depending on the degree of
formality and familiarity that we have with our audience.

Speech act
Speech act refers not only to the utterance (Locutionary act) but also to the intention
(Illocutionary Act) and response (Perlocutionary Act) to a specific situation for an intended discourse
impact. The choice of words to use has to be considered to suit the need of the occasion or the kinds of
audience to be addressed. This is also done to help express the intention of the speaker and to elicit a
response from the listener.
In linguistics or the scientific study of language, a speech act refers not only to a word or group
of words spoken by a person but also to the action that is elicited from the audience due to the words
spoken. For example, the question, “May I use your pen?” is considered a speech act because the
speaker’s desire to use another person’s pen is expressed while also seeking permission to use it. The
actual saying of the words or the utterance of “May I use your pen?” is the locutionary act, the implied
request of “Can you hand me your pen so I may use it” is the illocutionary act, and the actual handing
over of the pen as permitted or given by the owner of the pen is the perlocutionary act.

To begin a conversation and keep it going, we should employ strategies that will help maintain
its smooth flow.
You may consider nomination wherein you as the class president or your classmates suggest
a topic or agenda to talk about. Nomination starts the conversation process. You also put restriction or
limitation to the topic to be discussed in order to meet the arranged and allotted time.
Turn-taking is where you employ rules of engagement regarding the procedure or sequence of
each participant’s turn to talk. This also refers to the alternate turns that speakers adapt when having a
conversation. Making sure that the discussions remain in the confines of the agenda is the next
consideration. This may be hard to achieve but topic control is possible through the cooperation of all
the attendees of a group meeting or of all participants in the discussion. Everybody should ensure that
the conversation will not veer away from what has been planned.
Topic shifting makes the transition from one topic to another occur smoothly. This happens
when one discussant manages to move to the next topic subtly. This next topic may not necessarily be
the same as the previous but definitely, it is related to it. Before the meeting is adjourned, you may
repair or fix all the problems that arouse in the course of the meeting by answering all the questions
and clarifying the attendees’ understanding of the agenda discussed. The termination is the last part of
the process where the meeting is successfully ended.