Communication Commons

Communication: Forms and Settings

Intrapersonal Communication

Intrapersonal communication is the conversations we have with ourselves when reflecting on our experiences. When we talk to ourselves, we use an internal voice that is influenced by our native language, life experiences, and cultural values.

Reflect: Think about the last time you had an interview.

• Did you have an internal conversation with yourself once it was over?

You may have said: “I did really well!” or “That was horrible. You should have practised more!”

Did you notice the difference in narrationnarration in the examples above?

When people reflect on their experiences, they tend to use first-personfirst-person intrapersonal communication .“I did really well!” is an example of this.

Second-person pronouns are used when people feel the need to self-regulate or overcome difficult situations perhaps (Zell, Warriner, & Albarracín, 2012) “That was horrible. You should have practised more!” is an example of using second-person narration to overcome a difficult situation—in this case, an interview that may not have gone well.

Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication involves two or more people. This type of communication can range from being formal to informal depending on the topic of conversation and the relationship we have with the person we’re speaking to.

The following chart describes the differences in structure, style, and tone between formal, semi-formal, and informal written communication. This can also be applied to other means of communication.

Reflect: Think about the last difficult conversation you had.

• Who did you talk to?
• What was the conversation about?
• What type of words did you use? Was your tone formal? Informal?
• What was your body language like?

Group Communication

Group communication occurs between a small number of people who may share similar goals.

Here are two examples of college students expressing their frustration during a group meeting.

Reflect: Think about the last time you had a conflict with a group member.

• What was the conflict about?
• What did you do to resolve the conflict?
• Did you express yourself in a clear, collegial, professional manner?

Learn more about respectful group communication here.

ActivistsActivists often engage in public communication to advocate for social, political, economic, or environmental changes. In this video, Tamika Mallory, an American activist, speaks about the Black Lives Matter movement in a news interview. Pay close attention to her vocabulary, tone, pace, and facial expressions. How are these appropriate to her topic and this setting?

Black Lives Matter is an international organization and movement fighting anti-black racism. You can click here to learn more about the Canadian Chapter: https://blacklivesmatter.com/

Other examples of public communication include: managers explaining benefits to a group of employees; principals and deans speaking at convocations; and religious leaders speaking at places of worship.

Reflect: Think about the last time you had to give a public communication.

• What was your purpose?
• Who was your audience?
• What techniques did you use to engage your audience?
• What did you do to prepare?

Mass Communication

Public communication becomes mass communication when information is given to the audience through print or electronic media. Some examples include television, blogs, social media, radio, podcasts, and books. Requiring technology to transmit the message is what distinguishes this type of communication from others. Unlike in the case of interpersonal, group, and public communication, in mass communication, there isn’t immediate conversation or feedback (“Introduction to Communication Studies,” 2012).

Reflect: What was the last big news story you consumed?

• How did you consume this story (social media, TV, magazines)?
• Was there a speaker? Were they engaging?
• What aspects of the story and its presentation did you enjoy?

Communication Settings

Where we communicate affects how we communicate. Communication settings influence the way we use tone, words, body language, and facial expressions. In this section, we will explore how we communicate in academic, professional, personal, and civic settings.

Academic

An academic setting is an educational environment—such as a college classroom—where people impart and exchange knowledge and experiences. You may communicate with professors, classmates, and administrators in academic settings.

Now look at these two ways of asking for an extension in an academic setting. Pay attention to the address, tone, and language used.

Communication in academic settings can vary in tone depending on the relationship you have with the receiver.

See the “Develop Voice” section for more

Reflect: Think about the last time you had an academic conversation.

• What was your purpose? Who was your audience?
• Do you feel you delivered your message effectively?

Professional/Workplace

In professional or workplace settings, communication ranges from semi-formal to formal depending on the relationship between the individuals. For example, you may use more formal language and tone when speaking to your employer or conducting a meeting than when speaking to colleagues during lunch.

When communicating in professional settings:

Be familiar with the policies and code of conduct at your place of employment. It is important to follow these in private and public—this means on social media platforms as well.

Reflect: Think about the last time you had to communicate with someone on the job.

• What was your purpose?
• Who was your audience?
• Do you feel you had a professional exchange?

Personal

In personal settings—such as in our homes or over our phones—we communicate informally with family members, co-workers, or friends. Generally, this communication is not published or made public, so we are free to express ourselves as we wish.

In these two examples of personal communication, someone is informing another person they’re on their way.

Example 1:

“Hey, mom, where are you? I’m on my way.”

Example 2:

“S’up, where you at? OMW”

Even in personal settings, it is important to consider your audience when crafting your communication.

Here are some other common communication mistakes that people make.

Reflect: Think about the last time you had a personal conversation.

• Who did you talk to?
• What did you say?
• Did you feel confident about the way your message was received?

Civic

Civic settings are places where we engage in political processes or advocate for positive change for our communities, particular groups, or the public at large. Civic communication can take many forms: town halls, protests, meetings, phone calls, voting.

Exercise your right and stand up for what you believe by attending a town hall, joining a protest, or simply speaking out. Let your voice be heard respectfully.

Choose one type of communication and match it with the setting for each scenario.

Click here for effective public speaking competencies https://courses.lumenlearning.com/atdcoursereview-speechcomm-1/chapter/speaking-competencies/

Read this excerpt about bucket lists from the post “Brain Haemorrhages and Bucket-lists” on the travel blog Danflyingsolo.com.

The word ‘ Bucket listBucket list’ might as well have no meaning any more. I mean, we use it so much in the travel world you can find it hashtaggedhashtagged on the greyest and drab beach shots. In the film that made it famous, we see those experiences one man dreamt of being lived out before cancer took his life. But what if it hadn’t? What would be on that second chance bucket list? When you escape death twice what list do you start writing then?

(“Brain Haemorrhages and Bucket-lists,” 2018)

When we read, we also make personal, textual, and cultural connections.

In his blog, Dan talks about his travels using videos, pictures, and articles. He has unique global stories that are simply breathtaking!

What came to mind when you read this excerpt from Dan’s blog? Think about your life experiences, movies you’ve seen, books you’ve read, and your cultural beliefs. Write down your responses below:

Make Individual Connections

We use our individual experiences, morals, and values when we are reading, writing, speaking, and reflecting. Making individual connections makes your communication unique. There isn’t anyone in the world who has the same experience or voice as you.

Here are two examples of celebrities who use their social media platforms to make personal connections to important issues.

Reflect:

Think of a cause about which you care deeply.

• What is the cause?
• What values or experiences caused you to take up this cause?
• How have you shared and communicated this cause to others?

You may have noticed that having a personal connection to an idea or cause helps you understand it and communicate it to others. For this reason, when you encounter new ideas, you may want to look for how they connect to your life experience and values.

Connect to Other Texts

When we communicate, we also make connections to other sources we have encountered. News stories, famous books, eye opening social media posts, poetry, and song lyrics are all examples of texts we use to make connections.

In his 2007 New York Times article “Facebook’s Frankenstein Moment,” author Kevin Roose compares Facebook to a character in Mary Shelley’s book Frankenstein.

He writes, “[Sandberg, Facebook’s manager, gave] a candid admission that reminded me of a moment in Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” after the scientist Victor Frankenstein realizes that his cobbled-together creature has gone rogue.”

In this example, Roose is saying that Facebook’s initial purpose of connecting people has morphed monstrously. Ironically, Facebook now divides people and promotes hate. The author uses another text, Frankenstein, to make his point by providing readers with a visualization of Facebook as grotesque and monster-like. This visualization will keep the reader interested and engaged.

Making connections to other texts is a great way to engage your reader.

Reflect:

• When was the last time you used a quote or referred to something you read or saw?
• Why did you make this connection?
• What effect were you going for?
• What effect did this connection have on your audience?

Connect to Global and Community Events and Issues

In our communications, we connect to and reflect on real-world events and issues. These issues may be local, national, or global.

These children books offer examples of how authors make global-, national-, and community-level connections in their stories.

Little Feet, Big Steps by Brit Sharon is a coming-of-age story about creating awareness and support for important global causes such as AIDS.

What Does It Mean to Be Global? by Rana Diorio teaches children about respecting other children’s cultures, values, and traditions.

The Mishomis Book: The Voice of the Ojibway by Edward Benton-Banai draws from traditional teachings of the elders to share Ojibway creation stories and legends with young readers.

Reflect: Think about the last news item you read.

• What was the issue explored?
• Was it a local, national, or global issue?
• How could you personally connect with the issue?

Let’s revisit Dan’s travel blog. Here are two more excerptsexcerpts from the entry “Brain Haemorrhages and Bucket-lists.” Make as many individual, national, community, global, and literature connections as you can. Here are some prompts you can use for guidance.

“I can relate to this because…”

“This reminds me of…”

“The global/national/community issue this relates to is…”

“I read something similar and…”

“Sure, my ‘bucket list’ still has the Northern Lights on it, sailing on a yacht and visiting Antarctica but it is also now littered with social change and making a difference on my travels. I guess the real question isn’t what should be on our bucket list but, simply, what do I want to be remembered for?”

(“Brain Haemorrhages and Bucket-lists,” 2018)

Connecting to your own experiences, other texts, and the world allows for deeper, meaningful communication and understanding. Use these prompts the next time you engage with a source:

1. The character/voice makes me think of…
2. If I were in the same situation as the character/person I would…
3. I can relate to this because…
4. Something similar/different happened to me…
5. This reminds me of something else I read…
6. This reminds me of what is happening in my community/country because…
7. This is similar to what is happening in the world today in that… (Simon, n.d.)

Making connections can help you hear what isn’t being said.

This module looks at social, relational, and cultural contexts. Other examples of context such as audience, purpose, tone, and timeliness are explored in the Absorb and Toolkit topics.

If you are interested in finding out the answers to the questions above on Kiva, visit https://www.kiva.org/.

Social Context

Social context is the social, environmental, and physical settings that influence the way we communicate. Social environments often have common rules for communication that people follow.

How Social Context Influences Communication

Social context and how we interpret social cuessocial cues change based on the society we are part of.

For example, how we greet someone varies depending on social context.

In Sri Lanka, people from Tamil communities often put their palms together under the chin and in front of the chest while slightly bowing the head and say “Vanakam.” In contrast, Canadians often wave at one another or shake hands. In Japan, a bow is customary to greet someone.

How we interpret social cues through body language, facial expressions, eye contact, and other gestures also differs based on social context.

For example, eye contact is a sign of respect in certain Northern parts of the world. In contrast, certain countries in the Eastern part of the world perceive direct eye contact as a sign of disrespect.

Social Context in Texts

When looking for the social context of a text or other communication, consider:

• When it was written
• Where it was written
• What social normssocial norms it follows or describes

In his book A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry uses life in India in 1979 and the emergency lockdown of the country as the social context for his story. During this time, there was economic trouble, a divide between the rich and the poor, violent riots, and widespread protests. This social context influences the way his characters act, the setting, and the plot.

In addition, this social context allows him to make a commentary on poverty. In his book, four strangers are forced to share a cramped apartment as a result of the riots and upheaval. A widow, a student, and two tailors face uncertainty and try to relate to one another during a scary, turbulent time—the 1979 State of Emergency in India.

Click here to read more about this historical moment in India.

Read this source for an interview in which Mistry discusses the social context in his book.

Think of social context as another way to uncover the author’s message.

Relational Context

Our relationship to the topic and person we are communicating with changes the way we communicate. Considering these relationships can give us valuable information about what is being communicated, how it is being communicated, and why it is being communicated.

When looking for relational context for a text or other communication, consider:

• The relationship between the writer/speaker and their topic
• The relationship between the writer/speaker and their audience
• The relationship you have with the writer/speaker
• The relationship you have with the topic

Now consider relational context using two different types of sources: an autobiography and a biography.

Autobiographies are written through a more intimate lens because the author is writing their own story. Biographies, on the other hand, may not be as intimate because someone else is writing the story. The relational context between the author and the topic changes the overall tone and feeling of the story.

Consider Michelle Obama’s autobiography Becoming and Isabel Wilkerson’s New York Times article “Isabel Wilkerson on Michelle Obama’s ‘Becoming’ and the Great Migration.”

QUOTE

Relational Context

“I was old enough now to realize that all the hours my mother gave to me and Craig were hours she didn’t spend on herself” (Obama, 2018).	Since Obama is writing about her own life, her tone and language are authentic. Here, she is reflective. Her experiences in adulthood have helped her realize the depth of mother’s selflessness.
“Her father, Fraser Robinson III, worked for the city tending boilers for a water filtration plant, and her mother, Marian Shields Robinson, stayed at home looking after Michelle and her older brother, Craig” (Wilkerson, 2018).	Isabel Wilkerson’s relationship to the topic of “Michelle Obama” is not a personal one. She may have referred to secondary sources to research Obama’s history before writing the article. As a result, this excerpt is factual in tone. It represents a recollection of events and facts rather than a personalized narrative.

Cultural Context

Culture refers to the beliefs, customs, arts, traits, and institutions of a specific nation, people, or social group. Communication reflects and interacts with the culture in which it occurs.

Paying attention to the cultural context of sources can provide a more thorough understanding of the main ideas.

When looking for the cultural context in a text or other communication, consider the following:

• The underlying beliefs, traditions, and values
• The arts, food, and institutions depicted
• The behaviour and traits of cultural group(s)
• The writer’s claim or argument
• Defining cultural events

The Culture Wheel represents some of the various facets of culture that may influence communication.

Reflect: Think about the last movie you saw.

• What was the cultural context?
• What type of music, food, arts, and values did you observe?

Activity

Respond to the questions below to find the social, relational, and cultural context of the article: “I Don’t Think We’ll Be Nicer After COVID-19, But We Might Be Wiser. That’s More Important” by Chris Kutarna.

Read the excerpt and the full article before you begin:

The strength of a community isn’t rooted in how nice we are to one another. It’s rooted in us each realizing how much we depend on one another for our own well-being.

To exit this pandemic into a better, brighter future, we don’t need to hold onto a stronger sense of compassion for others. All we need is a stronger sense of our own fragility… My well-being depends on you and so your well-being makes me stronger. If we each hold on to this newfound wisdom, then as a community we will become much stronger and more resilient to the next shock that none of us will see coming. (Kutarna, 2020)

Click here to continue reading.

If you can read and write, you have foundational literacyfoundational literacy skills (LINK 1, LINK 2). This means you can sound out words, understand vocabulary, and figure out an author’s literal message. You will learn more about foundational literacy in the Absorb topic. To learn more about foundational literacy, click here:

Let’s practise foundational literacy skills. Read the poem and respond to the questions.

Dragonflies

by Felix Jung

It’s Thursday evening when my mother calls
and she’s exhausted, up before the dawn,
back home well after dusk. We talk around

her day: the trays and drinks, sore feet that need
a salted water rub. Like any son
I think my mother works too hard for me
(but I am young, and childless). When I

was young, she says, in China we would tie
a length of string to dragonflies, to see
them buzz and spark about. The smallest ones
would tug our hands until we set them free.

Her voice against my ear is soft, the sound
made weary from its traveling along
a twisting line, that finds its way through walls.

(Jung, n.d.)

Who … is the passage referring to?

What … is the main idea?

Where … does it take place? Sometimes the settingsetting is not stated, so you may have to guess.

When … does it take place?

Critical Literacy

We use critical literacy when we try to make meaning out of and challenge messages we encounter in text and/or other media. We actively analyze and uncover underlying messages. Visit the Critique topic for more on critical literacy techniques.

Asking questions is a great way to deconstructdeconstruct sources we encounter. Questions you may ask include:

• Is there a one or multiple perspectives? Is there a bias?
• Who is the audience? Are there groups left behind? Will others understand it differently?
• What qualifications does the author have? Are they credible?
• What types of evidence is there? Facts? Statistics? Anecdotes?
• Did the author consider the other side? What points were left out? Was this on purpose?
• Who do you think will benefit from this text? Who would be placed at a disadvantage?
• Do you see any political, religious, social undertones?

Here is a sample student deconstruction of Northrop Frye’s article “Don’t You Think It’s Time to Start Thinking.” The student practises critical literacy by responding to important questions about the text.

The example is based off of this excerpt:

A society like ours doesn’t have very much interest in literacy. It is compulsory to read and write because society must have docile and obedient citizens. We are taught to read so that we can obey the traffic signs and to cypher so that we can make out our income tax, but development of verbal competency is very much left to the individual. (Frye, 1986)

You can read the full article here:

https://search-proquest-com.ezcentennial.ocls.ca/docview/435373839?accountid=39331

Is there a bias?	There is bias in the first sentence. He is assuming that all people aren’t interested in literacy. How does Frye know that the majority of people don’t have an interest in literacy? Did he look at statistics? Is it from personal experience? In this passage, he says we are only taught to read in order to do simple daily tasks. This is not true at all. I personally read because I enjoy it. Reading lets me imagine and explore other countries, time periods, cultures. People go to school to do this professionally. I see a lot of generalizations here. I had some amazing teachers who showed me how to be “verbally competent in high school” and not just basic reading tasks, so he is wrong in saying verbal competency is left to the individual. My parents also always encouraged me to read for fun instead of playing video games. From reading this particular paragraph, I see bias for sure, but I’m going to find out more about the author and read the entire article before I can conclude for sure.
What is the purpose? Who is the audience? How do you know this?	I think he is trying to encourage people to read more, so the audience could be the public … but the language is not every day-type language, so maybe it isn’t the public… It seems like the audience must be someone who understands this type of language and vocabulary … maybe a professor, a teacher, another academic? He uses vocabulary that people don’t use on a daily basis like “docile,” “cypher,” and ”competency.”
Will others understand this reading differently?	I think a sociology researcher with background knowledge will understand it differently. I also think someone from a different society that loves to read and write might understand this reading differently. The perspective seems to be North American because in certain rural communities, there aren’t traffic signs. A teacher might interpret this differently and think “I need to teach my students more about reading.” A politician might look at it differently as well. The politician might think Frye is an anarchist when he says, “Obey the traffic signs.” A politician might think, “We have traffic signs to protect the safety of people, is this meant to be sarcastic?” I also think that my grandma whose first language is not English will understand it very, very differently because the words are a bit difficult. She might not understand the sarcasm. She thinks it is our moral duty to follow laws.
Is the author credible?	I just Googled Frye and came across this on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northrop_Frye I’ll continue to look for more information on other websites. He is actually a literary critic and considered one of the most influential people in the 20th century. I think I should re-read this article again … maybe he has a point? He seems pretty credible to me.
Were there factual resources or evidence present?	I can’t find any statistics.
What points did he leave out? Was it on purpose?	He left out an analysis of other societies and the way they approach literacy. He also left out people who have a love for learning. He didn’t use facts or evidence. I think it was on purpose. I don’t think he found any facts or statistics to support his claim … so maybe his claim isn’t true?
Do you see any political, religious, social undertones?	I see some interesting social and political influences. Like I mentioned before, the fact he is saying “We are taught to read so that we can obey the traffic signs and to cypher so that we can make out our income tax” makes me think that he has a conspiracy theory that we are controlled by the government and only taught to read in school to pay our taxes? Maybe he hates paying taxes? I wonder where he is from or where he grew up? Maybe that gave him a bad taste of governments or even following the rules. I’m going to do more research on this.

Information Literacy

Media Literacy

Canada’s Key Concepts of Media Literacy (Pungente, 1999)

1. Media is constructed; it is not a 100 percent portrayal of reality. Don’t believe everything you see in media to be true.
2. Media influences our reality to some extent. We use the media to build our understanding of the world. It influences a lot of our attitudes, interpretations, and conclusions about life.
3. We make meaning of the media based on individual context. Our culture, values, morals, and beliefs affect our understanding of media. You might understand something completely differently than your friend.
4. Media has “commercial implications” (Pungente, 1999). In other words, most media productions are businesses making a profit. Therefore, we need to ask: How is the media trying to profit and who is controlling the message (government officials, private for-profit companies, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, etc.)?
5. Media messages have ideologiesideologies associated with them; for example, they communicate views on the “nature of the good life and the virtue of consumerism, the role of women, the acceptance of authority, and unquestioning patriotism” (Pungente, 1999).
6. Media messages have social and political influences (positive and negative). For example, social media is being used as a great tool for activism (#BlackLivesMatter, #Climatechange, #MeToo). It keeps us updated on national and global issues.
7. Media messages change in form, display, and content to give different impressions. For example, Twitter has a word limit to create impactful messages. In contrast, Facebook allows for long paragraph-type content.
8. Each mediummedium allows for artistic, creative display (poetry, prose, etc.).

When you encounter media, ask yourself:

1. Who created the message?
2. What is the purpose of the message (entertain, persuade, convince), and who is the audience?
3. Who is paying for it?
4. What techniques are being used to capture our attention?
5. Whose views and values are being included in this message? Who is being left out?

(Adapted from Common Sense Education, 2015)

Fake news is a term that recently became popular and refers to false information spread through media. Click here to find strategies for spotting fake news.

Digital Citizenship

Digital citizenship is when we are respectful, responsible, and safe with our online consumptionconsumption and use. Being digitally literate is an important skill in the 21^st century.

View the source for an introduction to digital citizenship.

Now let’s look at key elements of digital citizenship and best practices as defined by the Learning Portal (2017).

Review by watching the videos below.

You’ve just learned a lot about literacy. Match the following examples with the type of literacy represented.

Sung Jun checks his phone continuously and is on social media all the time. His family is upset with him because he keeps spreading fake news and sometimes bullies them if they have a different opinion than his own on important social and political matters. What they don’t know is that Sung Jun is secretly being bullied at school by his classmates, so he takes his frustration out on his family. One day the family computer crashed because of a virus. Sung Jun’s father knew it was because his son was downloading movies and video games on websites that were not reliable. What type of literacy does Sung Jun need?

Cecilia loves to shop. Every time she gets a notification of a sale from a store like Sephora, she logs onto her computer and purchases products she does not need. Her husband is extremely irritated with her because last month she spent $300 on beauty products. What her husband does not know is that Cecilia has been feeling a little down lately. She has also been feeling insecure and she doesn’t really know why. Her husband always tells her she is beautiful inside and out. Last week, her husband had enough because Cecilia spent $600 on a curling machine—the Dyson Airwrap. Cecilia had the urge to buy it after watching a review by a blogger. The influencer said it changed her life and saved her so much time. At first she ignored the urge but then she saw the Dyson Airwrap ad come up on her Facebook. What Cecilia doesn’t know is that the blogger was actually paid to promote the product. It was an advertisement for Dyson. What type of literacy should Cecilia look into?

Andrew and his partner are moving to Canada from America. Andrew needs to find a new place to live that is within their budget, in a safe neighbourhood, relatively close to their jobs, within a good school district. He began searching on Google but was overwhelmed with the amount of information he had to read. He asked his partner, Rahul, to help with the search. Eventually, they both realized they were going about this the wrong way. They needed to vary their search and look at other resources instead of Google. So they started to read blogs and join Facebook groups. They decided to narrow their search to two places in Canada, Scarborough and Pickering. Once they started reading reviews on blogs, they become extremely confused because there were multiple perspectives about Scarborough and Pickering. They needed to think about their search once again because they weren’t getting the information they needed. What would help Andrew and Rahul?

Dr. Tasha Eurich is an organizational psychologist, researcher, and New York Times bestselling author of the book Insight. In this video, she explains why we may not be as self-aware as we think.

The Self-awareness Framework

Being self-aware, knowing who we are and how others see us, can help us develop our unique voices as communicators. While Dr. Eurich’s strategies can be used in all facets of daily life, here we will use them specifically in relation to communication.

Take a look at Dr. Eurich’s (2017) framework for developing self-awareness:

Here is a summary video of her strategies.

Being self-aware has numerous benefits for your communication skills:

1. Helps you become open to feedback
2. Helps you recognize your biases and blind spots
3. Widens your perspective so you can build closer relationships with others

Dr. Eurich’s self-awareness framework and approaching communication as a vessel for creating community are concepts that can be universally applied.

This example shows the internal and external conversations of an individual who recently went for an Early Childhood Education job interview.

Apply Dr. Eurich’s three-step self-awareness framework to your last piece of communication. It could be a phone call, a social media exchange, an essay submitted for a class, a presentation, or an interview. Respond to the questions below:

1. What can you learn from the experience?
2. Reflect on the experience and ask yourself: What went well? What didn’t go well? What can I learn to do better tomorrow?

Identify three things you have in common with the following people:

Looking for the “In Common” Element

We communicate most often with people with whom we share common goals or interests. John Swales (1990) calls these groups “ discourse communitiesdiscourse communities.” People in these groups have six things in common:

1. Common public goals
2. Specific methods to communicate
3. Share information and feedback in a participatory manner
4. Share genres and conventions
5. Lexis: specialized words/vocabulary
6. Specific level of knowledge needed for membership (Swales, 1990, pp. 471–73)

We all participate in many discourse communities. Some discourse communities you may be part of include:

Family and friend groups

Sports teams

School communities

Specialized social media groups

Now, take a look at an example of a specific discourse community.

Nurses

Considering what you have in common with others can help you solve points of disagreement and resolve difficult situations.

Take the example of a disagreement between a nurse and a patient’s family. The family is concerned about the way the nurse is handling the care of their loved one. What should they do, and how might finding the “in-common” element affect their communication?

Regardless of whether you share a discourse community, it is possible to find elements in common, and doing this ensures respectful and effective communication.

Reflect: Think about the last time you had a disagreement with someone.

• What was the disagreement about?
• Were you from the same discourse community?
• What in-common element did you have?
• How did the conflict resolve?
• What could you and the other person do differently next time?

Members of discourse communities use specific types of communication known as rhetorical modesrhetorical modes. For example, a chef may use process analysis to write a recipe for a magazine. Click here to learn about the various types of rhetorical modes.

Civil Discourse

Civil discourse is when we listen and have gracious discussions with someone whose ideas are different than ours. It involves removing our assumptions and demonstrating mutual respect, open-mindedness, humility, and integrity.

Watch this source for an introduction to civil discourse.

Andrea Leskes in her “A Plea for Civil Discourse: Needed, the Academy’s Leadership” (2013) shares effective ways to engage in civil discourse:

• Focus on the issue and not the person (avoid personal attacks).
• Thoughtfully listen to the other perspective.
• Look for areas of disagreement and points of commonality.
• Concede/admit the validity of the other side.
• Defend your ideas with verified information.
• Treat other ideas with respect.
• Avoid violence (physical, emotional, and verbal).
• Be humble, open-minded, and willing to change.

Our communication is inspired by our individual experiences, values, traditions, and native language. Civil discourse allows us to use our unique voices and showcase our perspective while respecting the opinions of others as well.

Using Leskes’s framework can be an effective brainstorming exercise when planning your communications.

Let’s practise using Leskes’s framework.  

First, choose a claim that you believe to be true:

Post-secondary education does prepare students for daily life or “the real world.”

Post-secondary education does not prepare students for daily life or “the real world.”  

Second, respond to the prompts below:

• Focus on the issue and not the person.

Imagine someone has argued for the opposite side you’ve taken. Would you criticize the person or their claim? Write down what you would say.

• Thoughtfully listen to the other perspective.

Write down what “thoughtful” listening looks like and sounds like. In other words, if you were listening to someone argue the other side, what would you be doing?

• Look for areas of disagreement and points of commonality.

Write down two points of disagreement and two points you can agree with. For the “agree with” portion, you will have to think about what aspects of the other argument resonate with you.

• Concede/admit the validity of the other side.

Write down points from the other side you agree with.

• Defend your ideas with verified information.

Look for verified information on the internet to support your claim. Refer to the Research subtopic on evaluating sources.

Diverse Voices and Stories

We live in a globalized reality where powerful stories told by authors, activists, researchers, scientists, artists, and other leaders transcend borders.

Effective communication occurs when we listen to experiences and stories that are different from our own. When we question our assumptions and bias and expand our filter bubblesfilter bubbles, we can discover what we have in common.

Storytelling

Stories are powerful communication tools. They are impactful and reveal emotions that allow others to connect with them in a meaningful way.

Kevin Eikenberry (2010) in his blog post “Five Reasons Stories Are a Powerful Communication Tool” says stories are powerful because they…

1. Make a point memorable
2. Make it personal, meaningful
3. Create and reveal the audience’s emotions
4. Build a connection to the audience

Reflect:

• What was the last story you encountered?
• Was it from a perspective different than your own?
• Did you agree with this perspective?
• What did you learn?

Watch and then analyze the communication between NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and an attendee at his rally.

See if you can identify elements discussed in this topic by answering these questions:

Are the speakers self-aware or aware of the other person? How do you know this?

Does either of the speakers have a collegial exchange of words or speak about the “in common” element they have with one another?

Do the speakers use elements of civil discourse?