Purcom Communication & Globalization (Chapter 2)

Communication Competence

Ability to function in a truly communicative setting. It is the knowledge of effective and appropriate communication patterns and the ability to use and adapt knowledge in various contexts. It is also the synthesis of an underlying system of knowledge and skill needed for communication.

Competence

refers to the conscious and unconscious knowledge of an individual about language and about other aspects of language use

Components of Communicative Competence

1. GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE
2. SOCIOLINGUISTIC COMPETENCE
3. DISCOURSE COMPETENCE
4. STRATEGIC COMPETENCE

Grammatical Competence

- the domain of grammatical and lexical capacity

Sociolinguistic Competence

- an understanding of the social context in which communication takes place, including role relationships, the shared information of the participants, and the communicative purpose of their interaction.

Discourse Competence

the ability to interpret individual message elements in terms of their interconnectedness and of how meaning is represented in relationship to the entire discourse

Strategic Competence

the coping strategies that communicators employ to initiate, terminate, maintain, repair and redirect communication

Competence

the ability of individuals that relates effectively to self and others in daily life.

In the global communication context, competence further requires individuals to be equipped with the ability to acknowledge, respect, tolerate and integrate cultural differences to be qualified for enlightened global citizenship

Communication Competence

an innate individual trait that is not related to personal intellect or education, thus, is an internal ability that is enhanced and luminated through the promotion of empathy in the process of socialization

Model of Global Communication Competence

Enables individuals to search for the vision, shared understanding, and sense of multiple identities that lead to the unlocking of human potential in the development of intelligence, knowledge, and creativity for a peaceful and productive society.

Four Dimensions of Communication Competence

1. Global Mindset

2. Unfolding the Self

3. Mapping the Culture 

4. Aligning the Interaction

Chen (2005)

defines communication competence as an innate individual trait that is not related to personal intellect or education. Thus, he developed a “model of global communication competence” that enables individuals to search for the vision, shared understanding, and sense of multiple identities that lead to the unlocking of human potential in the development of intelligence, knowledge, and creativity for a peaceful and productive society.

Global Mindset

is a psychological process that represents patterns of an individual or group thinking. It is a fixed mental attitude that leads people to see things and events from a specific lens through perception and reasoning.

Unfolding the Self

the ability to look for shared communication symbols and project the self into another person’s mind by thinking the same thoughts, feelings, and emotions as the person.

Mapping the Culture

ability to contrast cultural differences that may motivate us to prefer alternative styles of cultural expressions and engender in us a desire to retool so that we can better function with the demands of global environment and cope with the changing environment rapidly.

Aligning the Interaction

requires individuals to foster the ability of cultural adroitness by which they can function effectively and appropriately without violating their counterpart’s norms and rules to reach a global civic society.

Definitions of Globalization

1. Globalization is associated with deterritorialization
2. Globalization is linked to the growth of social interconnectedness across existing geographical and political boundaries.
3. Globalization must also include a reference to the speed or velocity of social activity
4. Globalization should be conceived as a relatively long-term process

Features of Globalization

1. The emergence of transnational communication conglomerates as key players in the global system.
2. The social impact of new technologies, especially those associated with satellite communication
3. The asymmetric flow of information and communication products within the global system
4. The variations and inequalities in terms of access to the global networks of communication

Major Trends in Globalization

1. Technology development has made globalization inevitable and irreversible.
2. Economic transformation has led to a new landscape of economic world.

The Impact of Globalization

Globalization requires the development of a person’s language ability. The ability to use language accurately and appropriately is a requirement of a globalizing society. In a social interaction, a person demonstrates the ability to respond appropriately to the formality level of the situation, can use a variety of sentence structures, and can handle expanded inventory of concrete, idiomatic and conceptual language. Hence, the creativity to use the English language is a determinant of a person’s communication skill.

Impacts of globalization

1. Virtual Interaction

2. Cultural Awareness in speech

3. Cultural Awareness in body language

4. Time difference

Virtual Interactions

Globalization has introduced virtual communication and collaboration as a major part of workplace dynamics. Modern entrepreneurs need to understand the strengths and limitations of different communications media, and how to use each medium to maximum effect.

Cultural Awareness in Speech 

The need for __________ is a major impact of globalization on the required skillset of effective communicators. Modern entrepreneurs and employees need the ability to catch subtle nuances of people’s manner of speech when communicating across cultures. Even when two people are speaking the same language, cultural differences can affect vocabulary, colloquial expressions, voice tone, and taboo topics (Ingram, 2009).

Cultural Awareness in Body Language

Awareness of cultural differences in body language can be just as important as the nuances of speech. Students should understand acceptable speaking distances, conflict styles, eye contact, and posture in different cultures, accepting that the physical expressions of their own culture are not universally accepted. These differences should be addressed to avoid difficulties or miscommunication.

Time Differences

the need to communicate and share information with people across several time zones. When people collaborate with others on the other side of the globe, their counterparts are usually at home asleep while they themselves are at work. Today’s communication skills development programs should address the nuances of overcoming this challenge by teaching people to understand the information needs of their colleagues, according to the communication styles of different countries or cultures. Being able to effectively share information between shifts can make or break the productivity of a geographically dispersed team, making this an important issue for many companies

Communication Media

plays a significant role in constructing and representing the phenomenon of globalization and subsequently changing educational and learning processes.

Roles of Media

1. It enables communication to take place in real time over great distances.
2. It advances the 21st century into what we speak as the globalization of communication.
3. The emergence of electronic media and the digital media has brought about a radical change on how we see education.

21st Century Language

become the language that exists in the global world.

Chat Room

- internet feature that allows people to communicate in real time

Computer Literacy

- internet literacy; ability to use computers

Cyberspace

- world wide web

Digital Citizenship

- the creation of conscious critical forms of integration in the globalizing society; a person utilizing technology (digital citizen)

Digital Competence

- confidence and critical use of information technology

Digital Immigrants

- adults who adapt to their environment as they retain their language; born before the widespread of technology

Digital Natives

- young people who are native speakers of the digital language of computers; born on the era of technology

Digital Skills

- ability to evaluate a variety of technological solutions; more than just knowing how to use a specific technology well

Emoji

- the creation of a new alphabet; pictograph

Emoticon

- words without letters conveying emotional responses

Ethnoscape

- landscape of persons who form the shifting world where we live

Hyperpersonal Communication

- computer mediated communication that is more socially desirable than face-to-face communication

Ideoscape

- the movement of ideologies

Mediascape

- pertains to the electronic and print media in global cultural flows

Mediamorphosis

- transformation of communication media

OMG

- Oh My God!

Selfie

- an ego-manical madness; gives focus on an individual

Streaming Multimedia

- live audio and video available on a website

Technoscape

• movement of technology

Telematic Network

- convergence of telecommunications and information processing

Virtual Community

- community that exists in the world of electronic communication rather than in the physical world

Virtual Reality

- the use of computer to simulate an experience in a way that is