Understanding Key Communication Theories in Social Interaction
Symbolic Interactionism (Chapter 5)
Symbolic interaction: The idea that people create meaning through language and symbols in social interaction.
Minding: The inner dialogue we use to rehearse how others might react to our actions before we act.
Taking the role of the other: Imagining how another person sees a situation to guide our behavior.
Looking-glass self: The idea that our self-concept is shaped by how we think others view us.
“I” vs “Me”:
“I” = spontaneous, unpredictable, creative
The Foundations of Value Education and Human Harmony
Understanding Value Education
The Concept of Value Education
Defining Human Values
- Goodness that guides human interaction:
- Respect
- Acceptance
- Empathy
- Love
- Enabling ethical practice:
- Justice
- Integrity
- A tool for achieving harmony and peace.
Core Human Values
- Right Conduct
- Self-help skills
- Social and ethical skills
- Peace
- Calmness
- Contentment
- Self-control
- Truth
- Honesty
- Integrity
- Quest for knowledge
- Love
- Acceptance
- Care and compassion
- Generosity
- Non-violence
- Benevolence
- Harmlessness
Factors Influencing Human Values
- Assertiveness
- Expressing
English Word Formation: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs
English Word Families: A Reference Table
This reference organizes related words by their part of speech, demonstrating common patterns in English word formation (morphology). Note that some cells may be empty if the corresponding form is rare or non-existent.
Core Word Families (A-L)
| Noun | Person/Agent | Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Noun | Person | To Verb | Adjective | Adverb |
| Belief | Believer | To Believe | Believable | Believably |
| Breadth | – | To Broaden | Broad | Broadly |
| Clearance | – | To Clear | Clear | Clearly |
| Depth | – | To Deepen | Deep | Deeply |
| Height | – | To Highlight | High | Highly |
| Length | – |
Communication Theory Essentials: Group Decisions, Organizational Culture, and Aristotle’s Rhetoric
Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making (Ch. 17)
Randy Hirokawa & Denis Gouran | Objective | Socio-psychological & Cybernetic Tradition
The authors are convinced that group interaction has a positive effect on the final decision.
- Hirokawa seeks quality solutions.
Communication serves as a social tool for group decision making to reach joint conclusions—a democracy where responsibility relies on the group.
The functional perspective specifies what communication must accomplish for joint
Read MoreDiscourse Analysis: Utterance, Mediation, and Genre Components
The Three Gates of Communication and Discourse Analysis
Gate 1: Utterance, Message, and Reception Dynamics
The utterance is the time when the sender is encoding a message and transmitting it. Utterance and reception become inseparable; they cannot exist without each other.
Discourse (or Speech) is the result of a particular utterance; it is determined, unique, and unrepeatable. However, the utterance may remain even if the issuer is no longer present.
The message is understood as “what was transmitted.
Read MoreMastering Professional & Personal Communication Templates
Crafting Informal Emails & Friendly Letters
Here are some versatile phrases for starting and concluding informal emails or friendly letters:
Opening an Informal Message
- “Hi [Name],”
- “I hope everything is going well on your end.”
- “I’m reaching out to…”
- “It’s been a while since we last caught up, and I wanted to drop you a quick message to see how things are going on your end.”
- “I’ve been meaning to write to you because [reason for writing, e.g., share some news, ask about something, etc.].”