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Chapter 2: Communicating Verbally
Chapter Objectives and Integrator Guide
After reading and thinking about this chapter, students should be able to:
Objective
Resources
1. Name and explain the four
primary functions of verbal
communication.
Key Terms: Verbal
communication, language,
meaning, instrumental function,
creative function, metaphor, simile
hyperbole, alliteration, analytical
function, social function, phatic
communication, trouble talk, and
conflict management.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 22-25
Study Question 1 (p. 40)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 1: Functions of Communication
Activity 2.1: Visitors from Space
Activity 2.2: Words at Work
Mini Prezi: The Creative Function of Verbal Communication and
Figurative Language (http://tinyurl.com/oou6djx)
2. Explain the meanings and
processes by which words
communicate.
Key Terms: Word, symbol,
denotative meaning, neologisms,
and connotative meaning.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 25–27
Figure 2.1: What are Words?
Study Question 2 (p. 40)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 2: Various Meanings in Words
Activity 2.3: The Language of Advertising
Activity 2.4: Word Association
3. Explain the rules that
influence and guide verbal
communication.
Key Terms: Rules of engagement,
turn taking, and code switching.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 27-31
Skill Builder: Practice Effective Verbal Communication and
Listening Skills (p. 28)
Communicating Globally: Focus on Self – Or Not (p. 29)
Study Question 3 (p. 41)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 3: Differences in Conversational Rules
Activity 2.5: Personal Talk
Activity 2.6: Words as Accessible
4. Recognize the categories of
words speakers should avoid
in order to present
themselves as thoughtful and
balanced verbal
communicators.
Key Terms: Profanity, sexist
language, hostile work
environment harassment, racist
language, ageist language,
grammatical errors, slang, cliché,
jargon, euphemism, and
ambiguous words.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 31-36
Table 2.1: Common Grammatical Errors
Table 2.2: Examples of American Slang
Table 2.3: Euphemisms from Various Contexts
Study Question 4 (p. 41)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 4: Inappropriate Language Use and
Perceptions
Activity 2.7: Same Thing but Different
Activity 2.8: Euphemisms and Clichés
Activity 2.9: Who Labels Whom?
5. List and give examples of
strategies that will improve a
speaker’s verbal
communication.
Key Terms: Perception checking,
paraphrasing, description,
observations, concrete language,
figures of speech, and
regionalisms.
In the Text:
Page Reference: pages 36-39
Considering Media: Learn from the Language Use of Prominent
Speakers (p. 32)
Challenge Yourself: Does it really matter if I use correct
grammar, avoid profanity, and avoid slang? (p. 39)
Study Question 5 (p. 41)
IM Resources:
Discussion Starter 5: Using Language More Effectively
Activity 2.10: Paraphrasing
Activity 2.11: Words Evoke Thought
Activity 2.12: Word Power Exercise
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Chapter Outline
I. The Functions of Verbal Communication
Verbal communication is the use of language to convey meaning.
Language reflects the codes we use to communicate with each other.
Meaning refers to whatever message someone is trying to convey to others, as
well as how that message is interpreted. Verbal communication serves four
functions:
A. The Instrumental Function occurs when we use language as a directive or
as a means of getting others to think or do something.
B. The Creative Function is where imagination meets speaking ability.
Communicators expand the creative potential of language through use of
any of the following rhetorical devices:
C. The Analytical Function involves the use of critical thinking to evaluate and
critique an issue or idea.
D. The Social Function refers to using language to build and maintain
relationships.
II. How Words Communicate
Meaning is communicated through use of words and symbols. A word is a
symbol that has been assigned meaning. A symbol represents an idea, a
process, or a physical entity.
A. Two Processes for Interpreting Messages: communicating meaning
depends on effective encoding and decoding of messages between
own thoughts.
B. Two Kinds of Meaning: Sometimes breakdowns in communication occur
because of the unique meanings people attach to words.
i. Denotative meaning: is the agreed-upon meaning, or the meaning
you find for a word in the dictionary.
ii. Connotative meaning: are the meanings people come to assign
because of personal or individual experience for words.
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III. The Rules of Verbal Communication
Words and interactions vary as a function of the unique situations people
encounter.
A. Rules Regarding Place: where you are affects language use and word
B. Rules Regarding Conversational Partners: an effective communicator
adapts language based on the relationship and status of the person to
their conversational partner.
C. Rules of Engagement are the rules about initiating, conducting, and
ending a verbal exchange.
IV. Words to Avoid
Effective communicators are also able to select and choose the right words and
avoid the wrong ones. The following are categories of words to avoid:
A. Profanity: is language that is vulgar, abusive, or disrespectful of things
sacred.
B. Sexist Language: excludes individuals on the basis of gender.
C. Racist Language: is insulting because it associates skin color or ethnicity
with stereotypical and usually negative characteristics.
D. Ageist Language: denigrates people based on their age, whether young or
old.
E. Grammatical Errors: are violations of the formal rules of written and
spoken language.
V. Words to Use Carefully
Use the following types of words with caution. In some instances, they can help
illustrate a point and at other times they can still have a negative impact.
A. Slang: is informal, casual language used among equals.
B. Overused Expressions, such as clichés: a cliché is an expression that has
lost originality and force through overuse.
C. Jargon: is language particular to a specific profession, work group, or
culture.
D. Words that Disguise:
i. Euphemism: is a generally harmless word, name, or phrase that
replaces an offensive or suggestive one.
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ii. Ambiguous words: are words that can be interpreted in multiple
ways, such as when a politician tries to be vague in order to have
broad appeal.
VI. Strategies for Improving Your Verbal Communication
A. Ask “What Did You Mean?” and engage in actively checking perceptions
being formed with conversational partners to assure that a common
understanding of language and meaning occurs.
B. Paraphrase frequently by restating another person’s message in your own
words.
C. Use descriptive language by giving an account of observed behavior or
phenomena without any judgments about it.
D. Define your terms in order to have a better chance of avoiding
misunderstandings in language use with others.
E. Build your vocabulary by adding new words to your language.
F. Paint pictures with your words and use visual imagery to help
communicate complex ideas.
G. Make accurate observations or descriptions of what you directly saw,
touched, tasted, smelled, or heard.
H. Make inferences carefully to avoid leading people to conclusions that are
inaccurate or prone to errors.
I. Use concrete language or words and statements that are specific rather
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Discussion Starters
1. Functions of Communication: We use language in diverse ways. Review the four
functions of verbal communication (instrumental, creative, analytical, and social).
2. Various Meanings in Words: The language that we use reflects our experiences.
Connotative meanings include your personal experiences in arriving at definitions for
words. I might say, “Tell me what comes to mind when I say Christmas break and
family time? Write down some of your own reflections on a piece of paper and then
3. Differences in Conversational Rules: Consider a time when you have discovered
that you use different conversational rules than someone else. Have you ever felt
uncomfortable talking about something in a place where someone else clearly had
4. Inappropriate Language Use and Perceptions: Chapter 1 discussed how we form
perceptions based on the ways that people communicate. Consider someone who
uses what you would consider a fair amount of inappropriate language. How does
the way they use language share the perceptions that you hold about them? How
might this person think about the language that you use? How does language use
reflect culture?
5. Using Language More Effectively: Review the recommendations at the end of the
chapter about how you can use language more appropriately to improve your
communication. Identify one of the areas that you would say you are already pretty
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Activities
ACTIVITY 2.1 VISITORS FROM SPACE
Purpose: Students should be able to identify the relationship between symbols and
reality and to explain how words come to have meaning.
Procedure: Pose the following problem to the class:
You are all members of the Space Science Communication Research Division of
NASA. We have just been contacted by alien beings from the planet Garth, in the
star system Andromeda. You are to devise a method by which to teach them
English. We know that they have a mathematical system similar to ours, but in all
other respects—physically, emotionally, and psychologically—they are
Divide the students into groups of five and let them work on the problem. It may be
helpful to visit each group to stimulate the students’ thinking and to pose questions
about their proposed procedure. When all of the groups have had sufficient time to
discuss the problem and to sketch out their procedures, have them share their ideas
with the class.
Discuss the feasibility of each group’s plan, relating the concepts of language to the
proposal. The discussion should focus on the relationship between symbols and reality.
When there are no common referents, it is difficult to use language to create common
meanings; nevertheless, the students may suggest some creative procedures. Close
Debriefing: The relationship between language and the world around us is dramatized
by the idea of space visitors whose reality is different. This activity can be used to
examine the relationship between words and reality, the arbitrariness of symbols, and
the subjective aspects of meaning.
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ACTIVITY 2.2 WORDS AT WORK
Purpose: The objective of this exercise is to encourage students to observe obvious
and subtle differences in how language functions in the workplace.
Procedure: Explore the following examples that demonstrate differences in language
and terminology use from one company to another and the meanings that we attach to
words and terms.
In your place of work, what terms label retail employees? What differences in perception
occur when you are called “a retail sales person,” “a sales consultant,” “a sales
associate,” or “a product associate?”
In your institution of higher education, what differences in perception occur when a
person is labeled “President of the University,” “Vice President for Academic Affairs,”
“Director of the School,” “Head of the Department,” “Chair of the Department,”
“Professor,” “Associate Professor,” “Assistant Professor,” “Instructor,” or “Lecturer?”
Debriefing: Discuss with the class the upside and downside of labeling, the role of
dominance (who gets to label whom), and the sometimes-subtle differences in
relationship that occur depending on how a person is labeled.
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ACTIVITY 2.3 THE LANGUAGE OF ADVERTISING
Purpose: Students should be able to identify connotative and denotative meanings of
words; to discuss the use of abstract and concrete words; to differentiate between
descriptive and evaluative words; and to give examples of the use of language to
distort.
Procedure: Have each student bring to class two or three advertisements from
newspapers or magazines. Divide the students into groups of four or five. Have the
students in each group identify the characteristics, use, and misuse of language in the
Debriefing: When the groups have finished their analyses, discuss each concept
individually as the students provide examples. The students should identify the
connotative and denotative meanings of words used in the advertisements by explaining
This activity acquaints students with the characteristics of language and the use of
language in the real world. The students may make similar analyses of persuasive
speeches, evidence, and nonverbal messages.
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ACTIVITY 2.4 WORD ASSOCIATION
Purpose: Students should be able to differentiate between evaluative and descriptive
language; identify connotative and denotative words; and discuss the influence of self–
concept on the interpretation of words.
Procedure: Ask the students to number 1 to 20 on a sheet of paper. Tell them that you
will read a list of 20 words and that they are to write down the first word that occurs to
them after you have read each word. The following may be used (Notice that all of the
words are nouns):
home teacher speech lady
Have the students compare their lists while you read the words again. Ask the students
to count the number of nouns they used. Nouns are primarily denotative. Adjectives and
adverbs are usually evaluative and connotative, and it may be interesting to note which
words elicited such responses.
This class discussion should focus on the reasons for different responses—perception,
self-concept, or context—and how these personal interpretations of words affect
communication.
Debriefing: This activity demonstrates how people react to words, stimulates a
discussion of language as a potential barrier to effective communication, and identifies
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ACTIVITY 2.5 PERSONAL TALK
Purpose: Students should be able to understand that language usage is personal and
learned over time.
Procedure: Read the list (below) to students and instruct them to complete the words
and phrases to form a sentence. After everyone has completed their responses, ask
several students how they completed the thought.
I believe that religion:
In ten years, I would love to:
The most attractive personality characteristic that I possess:
Our government needs:
Relaxation for me includes:
There is no way that my family:
I could never:
The environment:
Television has:
Today’s teenagers act:
Several questions should arise as a result of this activity. How dramatic was the
Debriefing: This activity illustrates that language often reflects values or values often
reflect language. Students should be more tolerant of the language idiosyncrasies of
others.
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ACTIVITY 2.6 WORDS AS ACCESSIBLE
Purpose: The objective is to demonstrate that each student has a vocabulary that
differs from others in the room. That is, they have language that is accessible to them
about some topics more than others.
Procedure: Have students select from this limited list (or add a few words of your own)
the item for which they think they have the most related words.
2. Automobiles
4. Animals
6. Motorcycles
8. ___________
10. ___________
See who has the most words for some of the items on the list. Point out how their larger
vocabulary allows them to think differently about the item.
Debriefing: Relate this exercise to the idea that having a more complete vocabulary
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ACTIVITY 2.7 SAME THING BUT DIFFERENT
Purpose: Students should be able to increase their awareness of how individuals
perceive the same word differently.
Procedure: Ask the students to respond to the list of instructions below. There should
be no discussion while the class responds to the following:
1. Name three exciting people.
3. Name three bad women.
5. Name three clean films.
When the class has finished responding to the questions, divide the class into small
groups of five to seven students and have them discuss their lists. They will find that
individuals will have most likely perceived the adjectives (i.e., “exciting,” “dirty,” etc.)
Debriefing: This activity illustrates that meanings are in people, not in words. Further,
our conversations are often unclear due to these individual perceptual differences.
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ACTIVITY 2.8 EUPHEMISMS AND CLICHES
Purpose: Students should be able to indicate how we use euphemisms to affect the
connotations of words and ideas; and to demonstrate how clichés lose meaning and
become a substitute for the expression of feelings and ideas.
Procedure: Divide the students into groups of three. Give each group of students the
following list of words (it may save time to assign one word to each group), and have
Have each group present their euphemisms and clichés to the class. If time and space
permit, it would be helpful to put the lists on the board. The students should discuss why
substitute words are used and how they affect the meaning of the original words. The
students should determine when and where the use of each euphemism or cliché would
be appropriate or inappropriate.
Debriefing: This activity illustrates the relationship between words and perceptions; that
is, that the words we use to describe an idea influence our perception of the idea, and
thus, its meaning. It also illustrates the relationship of words to the skills of
concreteness, descriptiveness, and empathic understanding. Clichés often substitute for
an open and honest expression of feelings.
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ACTIVITY 2.9 WHO LABELS WHOM?
Purpose: The objective of this exercise is to demonstrate how the words we use to
label others can cast them in a more positive or negative light.
Procedure: Write “Men” on one side of the board and “Women” on the other side.
Then have the class provide as many synonyms as they can for each sex. Usually the
Debriefing: Explore with the class why our culture has more words and more negative
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ACTIVITY 2.10 PARAPHRASING
Purpose: Students should be able to identify statements as paraphrases of intent or
content; to demonstrate an ability to paraphrase another’s statements; and to discuss
paraphrasing as a method of increasing understanding.
Procedure: Divide the students into groups of two or three. Within each group, the
Debriefing: The conclusions usually reached by this activity is that (1) we do not listen
closely enough to be able to paraphrase; (2) people use words differently so meanings
are confusing; (3) people tend to make long statements, which makes it difficult to
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ACTIVITY 2.11 WORDS EVOKE THOUGHT
Purpose: The objective of this exercise is to help students understand the differences
between descriptive and evaluative language, between denotative and connotative
Procedure: Tell the class to number from 1 to 10 on a sheet of their own paper (not to
be handed in if you want more honest choices). After you say each word, they write
down the first thing that comes to mind (words evoke thoughts).
1. Middle East
3. Republicans
5. Drugs
7. Females
9. Welfare
10. Immigrants
Debriefing: Talk about how words evoke thought; how different words evoke different
thoughts; and how the presenter controls or does not control the positive or negative
responses to words. Relate the exercise to denotative/connotative meanings,
descriptive/evaluative language, and the importance of personal perspective in our
choice of words.
ACTIVITY 2.12 WORD POWER EXERCISE
Purpose: The purpose of this exercise is to disprove the old adage that says: “Sticks
and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Instead, this exercise
demonstrates that words have considerable power to influence our lives for good or
bad.
Procedure: In pairs, have students think of words of praise that they have heard over
their lifetimes. What kind or positive words did they receive that they have
remembered, sometimes for years? What effect did those words have on their lives?
Without being too ‘confessional’ or without revealing anything that you would not be
willing to share, tell the other person any hurtful, harmful or negative messages you
have received in your lifetime. Why did you remember those words? What effect have
those words had on your life?
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Mini Prezi THE CREATIVE FUNCTION OF VERBAL COMMUNICATION
AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
Objective: Students should consider the creative potential and power in language that
they use by looking at examples from the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial
in Watching DC. The mini prezi presentation provides examples of metaphors, similes,
and alliteration.
Procedure: The mini prezi presentation can be accessed through the following website
link (http://tinyurl.com/oou6djx). Listed below is possible presentation information that
can be used to explain each click through the presentation.
Presentation Script Information:
Look one:
• Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one person who immediately comes to mind when I think of a speaker
who was effectively able to tap into the creative function of verbal communication and to use
figurative language in powerful ways.
Look two and three:
• The center of the memorial is a large stone block with a path cut through it that people can walk
through. As you walk through the path, you notice the missing piece is moved forward so that it
stands in front with the figure of Martin Luther King, Jr. emerging from the stone. [click]
Look four and five:
• Another quotation at this monument provides an example of a simile, [click] which uses language to
compare two unlike things by using the words “like” or “as.”
• In this speech, Dr. King mentions his resolve to stand strong against inequality and discrimination.
Look six and seven:
• The final quotation I would like to highlight from the memorial [click] demonstrates how you might use
alliteration [click] to reinforce concepts through use of words that have a similar initial sound.
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• In this quotation, we see the repetition of both “M” and “C” sounding words to pack more creative
Look eight:
• Using figurative language and unlocking the creative potential of verbal communication makes your
message more memorable and meaningful. Dr. King was able to rally people behind a cause by
Debriefing: After reviewing and discussing this brief material together you might ask
students to think about and identify a speaker who comes to mind for them when they
think about creative and effective language use. You might ask them to come to the
This activity helps students consider the actual language choices that they make when
putting together a speech. Students do not often think about the overall creativity of the
language choices that they employ in a speech and which have the potential to create a
more impactful speech.