Journal Reflection Chapter 8 - Verbal Communication

Verbal communication is the foundation of interpersonal communication. Verbal communication is "the exchange of spoken or written language with others during interactions" (McCornack&Morrison, 2019, p.204). Understanding verbal communication is vital to improving interpersonal communication competence. In order to improve, it is important to understand the six functions of verbal communication that influence interpersonal communication: sharing meaning, shaping thought, naming, performing actions, crafting conversations, and managing relationships. I think that sharing meaning is an interesting concept. Sharing meaning verbally through the use of language conveys two types of meanings: denotative and connotative meaning. Denotative meaning refers to the literal meaning found in the dictionary and connotative meaning refers to the implied meaning. Denotative and connotative meanings also influence how language evolves.

For example, a word that has become trendy in the year 2023 is "slay". The denotative meaning in the dictionary is "kill (a person or animal) in a violent way". However, now the word has morphed into a connotative meaning. The implied meaning is to "greatly impress or amuse (someone)". In some instances, the original denotative meaning can become extinct while the connotative meaning evolves and takes its place. Studying how language evolves is really interesting and I think that social media has definitely influenced language. As someone who has grown up with social media, it is very clear that there is a language gap between those who have and haven't.

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Journal Reflection Chapter 10 - Managing Conflict and Power

According to the textbook, "conflict is the process that occurs when people perceive that they have incompatible goals or that someone is interfering in their ability to achieve their objectives" (McCornack&Morrison, 2019, p.260). Most conflicts can be characterized by four features: begin with perception, involve clashes in goals or behaviors, is a process, and it is dynamic (McCornack&Morrison, 2019, p.260). Conflict is inevitable however, understanding these four features can help to recognize conflict thus allowing you to handle conflict more appropriately. It is also important to understand you deal with conflict. Understanding your conflict style allows you to analyze how you deal with conflict. For example, after taking the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument assessment my highest scores were in compromising (sharing) and avoiding withdrawal. This means, I either compromise with others in a conflict or I avoid conflict altogether. After learning this I fee...

Journal Reflection Chapter 12 - Relationships with Family Members

A family is a network of people who share their lives over long periods of time, are bound by blood, marriage, or commitment, consider themselves family, and share a significant history and anticipated future (McCornack and Morrison 327) . Families often possess a strong sense of family identity and share intense complex emotional bonds. There are several different types of families and family dynamics. How families communicate is dependent upon the family communication pattern. The family communication pattern is influenced by two dimensions: conversation orientation and conformity orientation. Conversation orientation is the "degree to which family members are encouraged to discuss a variety of topics" (McCornack and Morrison 334). Conformity orientation is the "degree to which families believe communication should emphasize similarity or diversity" (McCornack and Morrison 334). Dependent on where your family stands on these two dimensions will decide your famil...

Journal Reflection Chapter 3 - Perception

Perception plays an important role in interpersonal communication. The way we perceive someone will directly influence communication with said individual. According to the textbook, several processes occur when perceiving someone: selection, organization, response, and interpretation (McCornack & Morrison, 2019, p.64 ) . These processes occur naturally but it improves interpersonal communication competence when you understand the processes and how they influence your communication with others. Personally, I think it is valuable to understand how you interpret information. The process of interpretation is how you make sense of the communication event. This can be broken down into internal attribution and external attribution. For example, if you are someone like me who typically uses external attributions in explanation for others' comments or behaviors then you are likely to presume that the reason why a friend is late for your lunch date is because of traffic. Whereas s...

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