Functions of Communication

Functions of Communication Nature and Scope Examples/Situations

 Being able to use language, gestures and emotions to manage
Control or Regulation Function individual or group activities
 Speaker’s purpose is to control others by managing their behavior
 Occurs when an individual is quite uncertain towards another’s
expected behaviour that may be unusual from the usual friendly,
initial encounters.
1. Most initial encounters are expected to involve polite,
friendly interaction.
2. In order to create a more pleasant environment, people may
increase the frequency and duration of various nonverbal,
immediacy behaviors (talk initiation, gaze,
smiling/laughter, friendly facial expression)
 The regulatory function comprises three developmental stages:
1. The regulation of self by others ( a person is being controlled by
others);
2. The regulation of self by self ( a person is controlling
himself/herself);
3. The regulation of others by self (a person is controlling others).
 Regulation/Control is observable if we focus on the Verbal and
Nonverbal cues used by the Speaker to achieve his/her purpose.
a. Verbal cues
 Are the specific words chosen and used
 The speaker and the listener, when using verbal cues,
should be respectful of each other’s culture as well as
of their age, gender, social status, and religion.
 The words are usually directives, orders, requests,
etc., meant to regulate and control other people’s
behaviour.
 Nonverbal cues
 Include hand gestures, bodily action (including
posture), vocal tone (paralanguage), and eye contact.
 Making an announcement that the community
will start segregating their garbage
 Telling someone to be quiet or encouraging some
to continue discussing the topic
 A policeman directing pedestrians not to jaywalk
but cross on the pedestrian lane
 Your parents guide, reprimand you when you
seem to lose control over studies, schedule , and
relationships, among others
 Teachers and administrators use communication
to direct your efforts to positive channel in order
to new skills, gain more knowledge, develop
competencies and imbibe good values
In a job interview, a sensitive applicant in this
situation is likely to manage his/her behaviour very
carefully in order to create a desirable impression to
the employer.
 The media use communication to urge the public
to patronize a new product or service, to support
an advocacy or rally against a cause, or even to
remove government officials from office.
  The speaker and the listener, when using nonverbal
cues, should be respectful of each other’s culture as
well as of their age, gender, social status, and
religion.
 The tone and the bodily action that accompany the
words are authoritative and firm.
 Eye contact is direct
 The most familiar and the primary reason why people communicate  Greeting the people around us and exchanging
Social Interaction and  The most obvious, the most often used, and the most popular pleasantries with them
Emotional Expression  Conversation with one another gives the people involved pleasure 
while passing the time in an entertaining way
 Social Interaction allows people to be connected with one another
 Emotions coordinate social interaction
 Emotional expression has facilitated several new insights into
human emotional communication through facial muscle
movements, vocalization, posture and touch
 Emotional expression is the basic element of social interaction
a. Lack of emotional expression provides others with less
information on their mental state and receives less social
interaction
b. Lack of perception of emotion can be a problem to social
interaction
 Our nonverbal language tells the other person that we are using
communication in order to stop communicating with him/her