COURSE TITLE
PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Purposive Communication is a three-unit course that
develops students’ communicative competence and
enhances their cultural and intercultural awareness
through
multimodal
tasks
that
provide
them
opportunities
for
communicating
effectively
and
appropriately to a multicultural audience in a local or
global context. It equips students with tools for critical
evaluation of a variety of texts and focuses on the power
of language and the impact of images to emphasize the
importance of conveying messages responsibly. The
knowledge, skills, and insights that students gain from
this course may be used in their other academic
endeavors, their chosen disciplines, and their future
careers as they compose and produce relevant oral,
written, and audio-visual and/or web-based out-put for
various purposes.
1 WEEK
TIME ALLOTMENT
COMMUNICATION PROCESSES, PRINCIPLES, ETHICS
ACTIVITY 1:
WHAT I KNOW
COMMUNICATION
WHAT I WANT TO
KNOW
WHAT I WANT TO
LEARN
WHAT IS THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS?
The communication process refers to a series of actions or steps taken in order to
successfully communicate. It involves several components such as the sender of the
communication, the actual message being sent, the encoding of the message, the
receiver and the decoding of the message. There are also various channels of
communication to consider within the communication process. This refers to the way
a message is sent. This can be through various mediums such as voice, audio, video,
writing email, fax or body language. The overall goal of the communication process is
to present an individual or party with information and have them understand it. The
sender must choose the most appropriate medium in order for the communication
process to have worked successfully.
PARTS OF THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
The communication process has several components that enable the transmission of a
message. Here are the various parts:
1. Sender: This is the person that is delivering a message to a recipient.
2. Message: This refers to the information that the sender is relaying to the
receiver.
3. Channel of communication: This is the transmission or method of delivering
the message.
4. Decoding: This is the interpretation of the message. Decoding is performed by
the receiver.
5. Receiver: The receiver is the person who is getting or receiving the message.
6. Feedback: In some instances, the receiver might have feedback or a response
for the sender. This starts an interaction.
ACTIVITY 2: CALL A FRIEND
Call a friend from any of your contacts in your phone or in your messenger app.
Start your conversation with the topic online learning. Record your conversation
and save it in your class’ Google drive.
This model emphasizes clarity and effectiveness, but it also acknowledges that there
are barriers to effective communication. Noise is anything that interferes with a
message being sent between participants in a communication encounter. Even if a
speaker sends a clear message, noise may interfere with a message being accurately
received and decoded. The transmission model of communication accounts for
environmental and semantic noise. Environmental noise is any physical noise present
in a communication encounter. Other people talking in a crowded diner could interfere
with your ability to transmit a message and have it successfully decoded. While
environmental noise interferes with the transmission of the message, semantic noise
refers to noise that occurs in the encoding and decoding process when participants do
not understand a symbol. To use a technical example, FM antennae can’t decode AM
radio signals and vice versa. Likewise, most French speakers can’t decode Swedish
and vice versa. Semantic noise can also interfere in communication between people
speaking the same language because many words have multiple or unfamiliar
meanings.
HOW DOES THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS WORK?
In order to successfully communicate, it's important to understand how the process
works. Here are the seven steps in the communication process:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
The sender develops an idea to be sent
The sender encodes the message
The sender selects the channel of communication that will be used
The message travels over the channel of communication
The message is received by the receiver
The receiver decodes the message
The receiver provides feedback, if applicable
1. The sender develops an idea to be sent
The beginning of the communication process involves the sender creating an idea that
they plan to send to another person or group of people. Essentially, they're planning
the overall subject matter or information they want to transmit.
2. The sender encodes the message
Once the sender develops an idea, they translate it into a form that can be transmitted
to someone else. This means they transform the thoughts of the information they want
to send into a certain format. For example, if you are writing a letter, you'll translate
your idea into words. The message can also be nonverbal, oral or symbolic.
3. The sender selects the channel of communication that will be used
Next, the sender decides how the message will be sent. This involves selecting the
most suitable medium for the message they're relaying. Some communication
mediums include speaking, writing, electronic transmission or nonverbal
communication. If you're communicating at work, make sure to select the proper and
most professional channel of communication.
4. The message travels over the channel of communication
After the medium is chosen, the message then begins the process of transmission. The
exact process of this will depend on the selected medium. In order for the message to
be properly sent, the sender should have selected the appropriate medium.
5. The message is received by the receiver
Next, the message is received by the recipient. This step in the communication process
is done by hearing the message, seeing it, feeling it or another form of reception.
6. The receiver decodes the message
The receiver then decodes the sender's message. In other words, they interpret it and
convert it into a thought. After they've done this, they analyze the message and
attempt to understand it. The communication process is performed effectively when
the sender and receiver have the same meaning for the transmitted message.
7. The receiver provides feedback, if applicable
Lastly, unless it's a one-way communication, the receiver will provide feedback in the
form of a reply to the original sender of the message. Feedback provides the recipient
with the ability to ensure the sender that their message was properly received and
interpreted. Between two people, this is two-way communication.
ACTIVITY 2:
CONSTRUCT A SYSTEM DIAGRAM THAT SHOWS THE PROCESS OF
COMMUNICATION.
TIPS FOR IMPROVING THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS
Here are some tips to consider to improve your communication skills and the
communication process overall:







Simplify your message: In order to ensure your message is properly
understood, you should keep your language simple and to the point.
Know your audience: It's also important to consider the audience that will
receive your message as well as their needs and interests.
Be a good listener: As a communicator, it's important to actively listen to what
those around you are saying. This will ensure that you're sending the right
message.
Ask questions: It's also important to ask good questions to keep the
communication flowing. Make sure your questions are insightful and engaging.
Take the time to respond: When communicating, it's important to consider
how you might reply to a person to ensure you know what you want to say.
Consider your body language: If you're communicating through a different
medium, it's important to be mindful of your body language. In addition, be
aware of the body language of the person you're communicating with, as well.
Maintain eye contact: It's also important to make contact with the person or
group you're communicating with. This will show that you're actively listening to
who you're communicating with.

Clarify your message if needed: If the recipient of your message is unclear
about what you're trying to say, it's important to clarify your message. This will
help them to better understand you.
ACTIVITY 3: VIDEOSHOOT
SELECT ONE OF THE TIPS FOR IMPROVING THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS.
CAPTURE A 30-SECOND VIDEO ILLUSTRATING AN EXAMPLE OF YOUR CHOSEN
TIP. SAVE YOUR PRODUCT IN THE GOOGLE DRIVE.
THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ETHICAL COMMUNICATION
While project workflows, strategic planning, advanced technology, and business
analyses are often topics associated with critical corporate discussions, an
enterprise’s code of ethics - and its key ethical communication principles - is not often
discussed. Businesses of all sizes rely on optimal person-to-person communication so
that projects can be effectively completed, management and employees can
understand each other, and for business to flow in the most efficient manner possible.
While effective communication is necessary in all human relationships, it is even more
critical in businesses of all sizes in order for confusion to be mitigated, and everyone is
on the same page.
Humans rely on communication to express personal desires of what needs to be done,
and how it is to be done. In a business, this is most important for both managers and
employees to effectively express what they want done, and how they want it to be done.
Communication is always a two-way, mutual set of actions that includes the
communicator, and the receiver. Typically, communication will include two or more
communicators and receivers, and spoken communication will often illicit a reply from
the initial receiver.
A set of clear-cut principles exists, that every business should follow, to ensure all
personnel, including C-suite executives and employees, effectively and ethically
communicate in the workplace. Ultimately creating a comfortable, efficient
environment where everyone is on the same page, and everyone is aligned to the
principles and values of the enterprise. These ethical communication principles stem
form a critical framework of values that every CEO should seek to discuss with all
employees, executives, managers, and shareholders so the business is able to
effectively leverage its relationships to better its bottom and top lines.
WHAT IS ETHICAL COMMUNICATION?
While hard skills are invaluable in any industry, there is a greater knowledge among
SMEs - and larger enterprises - that soft skills and emotional intelligence are just as
important in establishing effective workplace relationships that can produce results.
While logical intelligence denotes one’s cognitive brainpower, emotional intelligence is
based on an empathetic ability to understand people, which relates to having the
ability to effectively communicate with people. Soft skills represent the other side of an
employee’s personal skill set, and encompasses a group of workplace competencies
focusing on working well with others - including the most critical soft skill, which is
the skill of communication. And while there are many different types of
communication principles that businesses need to know about, ethical
communication is the most important.
Ethical Communication Defined
Ethical communication is a type of communication that is predicated upon certain
business values, such as being truthful, concise, and responsible with one’s words
and the resulting actions. As a set of principles, ethical communication understands
that one’s thoughts must be conveyed and expressed effectively and concisely, and
that the resulting actions or consequences will [potentially] be based solely on how the
message was communicated. Thus, ethical communication defines a framework or set
of acceptable communication principles that align with an enterprise’s overarching
code of conduct or code of ethics.
FUNDAMENTALS OF ETHICAL COMMUNICATION
Perhaps the main principle of ethical communication is honesty, as other factors stem
from this core value of presenting information in the most reliable and factual way
possible. Any attempt to mislead or present confusing information is not ethical
communication. Additionally, the “honesty” principle of ethical communication is
linked inexorably to other core principles - consistency and responsibility. This entails
that information presented to different parties be consistent, and that short-term and
long-term consequences of honest communication are to be accepted as one’s
responsibility.
Ethical communication also assumes that communicated information is always
presented (and received by the listener) according to one’s subjective perception, even
if only in the most minimal way, and thus the goal of ethical communication is to be
as objective as possible when communicating with others and to ensure that every
recipient receives the same message.
OPENNESS AND TRANSPARENCY
Truthfulness & honesty is the most core principle of ethical communication. This
means that speaking 99 percent of the truth in a matter - while leaving out one
percent of the facts - is not ethical communication, as omitting any detail
(intentionally) changes the way that a listener will perceive an event. Thus, being 100
percent open and transparent, and hiding nothing, is key in order for all business
relationships - whether within a business between its members, or with business and
their partners, or even customers - to succeed in the short term and long term.
Being honest is linked to one’s personal and professional trustworthiness and integrity.
In a perfect world, all members of an organization would have a positive reputation of
honesty, such that listeners never doubt that what they are saying is 100 percent true.
Within an organization - and between businesses - this type of honest communication
can be the difference between a project being completed successfully or not. For
instance, utilizing ethical communication, to be honest about the time and/or budget
constraints during a board meeting with primary stakeholders can be the difference
between the project meeting its goals, or failing due to misunderstandings and/or
miscommunication. Thus, one of the primary goals of ethical communication is to
prevent any misunderstandings or instances of miscommunication.
CONSIDERATION FOR ANY POTENTIAL ROADBLOCKS
When communicating with another party, truly ethical communication entails
considering any potential factor that may influence how the recipient understands - or
receives - the information that is being communicated. If there are any known
roadblocks,
then
ethical
communication
principles
dictate
that
the
speaker/communicator utilize whatever means possible to mitigate or attenuate the
roadblocks and ensure that the recipients of the information are able to fully
understand what is being communicated.
Several examples are below where roadblocks may present themselves, resulting in the
communicator needing to take steps to attenuate any potential instances of
miscommunication:
LANGUAGE USE
Obviously, ethical communication dictates that speakers utilize the language that
listeners understand. It would make little sense to present a business presentation in
English to a non-English speaking Chinese audience. Taking this example further, it
would also be unethical to communicate the information mostly in Chinese, with a
certain section in English, presenting only parts of the data to the Chinese audience.
JARGON
Every industry has its own jargon. When speaking to a layperson, it is ethical to speak
with simple, easy-to-understand words, while avoiding the use of heavy jargon,
resulting in portions of the presentation/communication being incomprehensible to a
portion of the audience.
LANGUAGE FLUENCY
Ethical communication takes into account the level of fluency as well as the language
spoken by listeners so that recipients of the communication (whether it be spoken or
written) are able to fully understand what is being communicated.
ACCESSIBILITY TO TECHNOLOGY
In this information and digital age, some take accessibility to advanced technology for
granted. For instance, while smartphones are readily available, and translation apps
are abundant, not everyone is able to access such applications or platforms. If a
business wanted to present certain pieces of information to an audience while
expecting the audience to translate it into their native language via an application,
there may be confusion. Thus, the ability to access certain technology - and the knowhow on how to use certain applications - may be a roadblock when it comes to
ethically communicating to a particular audience.
DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONSHIP
The art of communication allows people to express themselves in order to develop
relationships. In business, this can be an employee dealing with a manager, executives
communicating with stakeholders, or managers talking with other business
representatives. It is critical for there to be no confusion or misunderstandings when
businesses try to develop relationships within themselves and with other business
entities or clients/customers. To accomplish this, ethical communication principles
must be followed, ensuring that all parties can receive the consistent truth, and
understand what needs to be done, and how it needs to be done.
PRINCIPLES OF ETHICAL COMMUNICATION
There are a myriad of core principles associated with ethical communication, starting
with the core value of honesty that all other values are connected to. However, it can
be said that there is a value underlying honesty (with regard to ethical communication)
and that is emotional intelligence/empathy as the precursor of all soft skills, which
allows all personnel to be understood, and to effectively communicate with others.
Emotional intelligence, within the framework of ethical communication, allows one to
understand the needs of others, and meet those needs in the most efficient manner
possible as if you were in their shoes.
1. BE TRUTHFUL AND HONEST
Being honest means communicating what is known to be true (only 100 percent the
facts) to a listener, with no intent to deceive or present only parts of the truth. It also
means being as objective as possible, that is, not tailoring the story based on what the
speaker wants the listener to believe. Letting the listener take the data that is
objectively presented and believe what they choose to believe is a core goal of ethical
communication. Ethical communication should be based on accurate information and
facts - in a word, do not lie.
2. ACTIVE LISTENING
Hearing someone and listening to them are two different things. In order for ethical
communication to be effective, it is necessary for the recipient to pro-actively listen to
the speaker, and to not just hear what they want to hear, or to hear only parts of the
conversation. This also means asking questions when any point is not completely
understood, for the sake of clarification.
3. SPEAK NON-JUDGMENTALLY
Ethically and concisely communicating means speaking in a non-judgmental manner
with every recipient, negating unnecessary conflict, which typically creates a
breakdown in communication and causes misunderstandings. Unnecessary conflict is
never good for any business, and such conflicts usually result from unethical
communications, with judgmental, accusatory, and overly-critical comments often
being the catalyst for such breakdowns in communication.
4. SPEAK FROM YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE
Bringing your personal experience into a dialogue with business listeners is important,
providing backup for your arguments with something more tangible. Such a
communication method (experiential communication) paints a complete picture for
your audience and helps to prove your points so that the listeners have a better
understanding of what is being said.
5. CONSIDER THE RECEIVER’S PREFERRED COMMUNICATION CHANNEL
You risk losing an audience if you use a communication channel that is not preferred
by your intended receiver. To effectively communicate with your listeners, use the
most preferred communication channel, whether that be face-to-face, email,
conference call, phone call, messenger app, etc. Also, when presenting data to a
business audience, be aware of the preferred method of presentation for that business,
whether it be graphs, slides, PowerPoint presentations, etc. Additionally, since body
language is very important, it is often preferred to meet business clients face-to-face.
6. STRIVE TO UNDERSTAND
While it is important to be proactive in listening, it is important for listeners to also
strive to fully understand what is being said before responding. While asking for
clarification or confirmation of a point is fine, many times questions that listeners pose
have already been answered. Listeners should think about what has been said before
constructing a reply. Reading “in between the lines” is also an important skill that
allows for understanding what isn’t said, but was implicitly said or implied.
7. AVOID A NEGATIVE TONE
Ethically communicating assumes the speaker will avoid rudeness, be polite and
professional, and have tact. The ethical communicator knows that it’s not only
important what you say, but how you say it. Tone is one of the most critical facets of
communication. A listener may miss the meaning altogether if the tone is wrong,
which can lead to unnecessary confrontations that decrease business productivity.
Controlling one’s tone goes along with self-control, a soft skill that allows one to know
how they wish to reply to a terse business message (for instance) versus the most
effective manner for replying. Essentially, keeping the tone positive or neutral is best,
as the tone of a written message - or of one’s voice - is always picked up by the
receiver, and can alter how the message is received and/or understood.
Additionally, while it is acceptable to be honest and open, tact - and professional
maturity - means knowing when it is inappropriate to speak up, and when it is crucial
to. Tact also means knowing that being completely honest does not equate with being
rude or negative - it is possible to be completely honest and open with one’s thoughts
and feelings while still remaining polite and respectful.
8. DO NOT INTERRUPT OTHERS
Allowing others to speak is important for the creation of a civil, effective working
environment. Interrupting others results in misunderstandings and unnecessary
conflicts and a breakdown in workplace communications, which only hinders
corporate progress and creates problems. Interrupting others not only shows a lack of
respect, but does not allow the listener to fully grasp what is being said, which often
results in incorrect assumptions being made.

9. RESPECT PRIVACY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Most businesses should include a clause in their code of ethics defining what is
appropriate when it comes to honoring client and employee confidentiality and privacy.
This can have a wide range of implications, including minimizing workplace gossip,
and mitigating toxic conversations about the private lives of clients and/or personnel.
10. ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY
As noted before, a core tenant within any ethical communication framework is taking
responsibility for the actions that result from one’s words, whether it be good or bad.
This includes both short term and long term consequences of one’s communications.
Owning one’s words reinforces the importance of being conscientious about ethical
communication.
EXAMPLES OF ETHICAL COMMUNICATION
There are a myriad of examples of how ethical communication can change the
outcome of a problem in a business or workplace environment, revealing why ethical
communication principles should be followed:
Medical industry: In the medical industry, not only is there the key HIPAA regulation,
but there are numerous medical codes of ethics that medical professionals have to
follow, with regard to their actions, conduct, and communications. These principles
ensure that all patients and fellow medical professionals have their rights protected.
For instance, doctors are required by law to not divulge private information about
patients to anyone whom the patient has not consented to be privy to such private info.




Property Consulting industry: Ethical communications in the property consulting
industry can take several forms, including revealing key pieces of information to
would-be home owners of a property, including “negative” truths about the property for example, divulging the entire history of the property, including any accidents or
crimes that happened in the property.
Marketing industry: Ethical communications in the marketing industry can include
revealing to clients that their business marketing applications are not optimal, and
that a cheaper vendor, or a different form of marketing, will yield better results.
Virtually every industry can benefit from ethical communication principles, which
always seeks to ensure that every enterprise member is able to present valuable pieces
of information so that the best decisions can be made.
ETHICAL COMMUNICATION IN AN ORGANIZATION
In business organizations, communicating concisely, ethically, and appropriately are
all necessary so a business can operate effectively and efficiently. Operating according
to a communication-based code of ethics is important for both small and large scale
person-to-person conversations. For larger audiences it is often important for business
members to employ additional values to their communication principles, such as:
Choosing the right place/time: Speaking about a particular topic in a business often
requires choosing the most pertinent and appropriate time and place in order for the
message to be most effective. This requires knowing the recipients and having tact,
along with utilizing strategy and planning.
Knowing one’s Audience: Certain audiences may prefer different verbiage or jargon, or
may prefer one communication channel over another. Being an effective communicator
means knowing your audience in order to communicate in the way that he/she will
understand the best.
Business communication requires ethical values to form the foundation of all of its
relationships, which ensures that all enterprise workflows, short term projects, and
long term projects are effectively managed and carried out. Any lapse in efficient and
ethical communication can result in misunderstandings, conflicts, delays with projects,
and the creation of an ineffective working environment.
ACTIVITY 4:
Answer the following questions comprehensively:
1. Why is ethical communication essential?
2. In your own perception, with regards to language fluency, should it be a
requisite to speak and sound like a native speaker of the particular language?
Why? Or Why not?
3. Why is it that it is unethical to make use of heavy jargons, especially when
delivering a speech in a public event?