Verbal communication is of great significance in our daily life. Effective verbal communication helps us establish cooperation, deals with various situations, builds team spirit among coworkers, and so forth. Non-effective verbal communication causes businesses to go down relationships to go cold, more problems to arise, etc. It is very necessary to learn the verbal communication skills of different countries and cultural backgrounds.
As message sender and receivers, people should not only senders and receivers, people should not only take words and sentences into consideration, but also take cultural backgrounds and other objective factors into account.
Role of language in verbal communication
The basic functions of language can be grouped into 3 categories:
①Descriptive function：
Under descriptive function, we can include travel writing (description of places), biography, autobiography and writing about other people, diary and personal letters, technical and scientific works.
We can also include the verbal description of people, places, and things under this head. While attempting descriptive writing or speaking, it is essential that the writer or speaker has obtained all necessary information about the object of writing or speaking.
②Expressive function：
Under expressive function, we have interjections, exclamations, use of special words and phrases for emphasis. Using interjections we can express satisfaction, excitement, surprise, pain, hurt, and disgust. In order to lay emphasis, we either use a word with a stress or use an extra word/phrase to add emphasis (e.g. You have never been fair to us at all) We also use question tags, rhetorical questions, auxiliary do," fronted negation(starting a sentence with a negative word, e.g. Never have I seen a fool like you.) to put emphasis on a statement or particular idea.
③Social function：
Under social function of language we can include functions like greeting, bidding farewell, giving a command or an order, asking a question, making a request, advising, offering a suggestion, expressing agreement or disagreement, accepting or declining an invitation, expressing wishes, thanks, apologies, regrets, condolences哀悼慰问, sending seasonal greetings, offering help, giving instructions, expressing obligation, expressing the necessity for doing something, and expressing certainty. Under each function, we have multiple sub -functions.
For example, under the function request," we have request for permission," request for help," formal request," informal request," etc. When we choose a particular language function, we need to use the code that is appropriate for that function. The words, structures, and sentences used to perform a particular function do differ from the words, structures, and sentences used to perform a different function. While expressing a polite request, for instance, we use "could" or "would" whereas for formal requests we use "may" and for making informal requests we use either "can" or "will."
3.Receptive and productive language skill
Within a linguistic community, one is said to be a successful communicator if he or she has mastered the basic language skills, the receptive and productive skills required to make effective use of a language for performing different activities and satisfying various purposes.
Under receptive skills we have the listening and reading skills whereas under productive skills we have speaking and writing skills. To be a good communicator, one should be able to have a balanced knowledge of both the receptive and productive skills.
Relationship between receptive and productive
The receptive skill and the productive skills are interdependent. It is a general assumption among people that unless one is nota good speaker of a language, he or she cannot be a good communicator.
But speaking skill are just one fourth of the set of sills required for the use of language for both personal and professional communication. Listening skills, reading skills, and writing sills are equally important. In order to communicate properly, one should be able to use the language automatically in response to the needs of various contexts. This linguistic behavior of ours is conditioned by the context where we are communicating with others to connect to them. While talking/writing to our own people, relatives, and friends, we follow the rules of language but we are relaxed and do not bother to be polite.
On the other hand, while talking/writing to officers, teachers, and other people on official occasions, we try to be as formal and polite as possible so as not to offend the person we communicate with. The former situation is informal and the latter is formal.
4.Type of Verbal communication
By verbal communication, we mean the type of communication which is rooted in language. Verbal communication among human beings is possible both on the spoken level and the written level. Both at the spoken and written level, communication is possible through different formats.
Oral communication：
Francis J. Bergin finds oral communication more effective because it has several important features.
It has to be candid, clear, complete, concise, concrete, correct, and courteous. It is useful because it saves time and money and is more forceful than other forms of communication. With oral communication, it is possible to convey different shades of meaning. listeners can get immediate clarification from speakers, and speakers can get immediate feedback from listeners. It can be effective in both face-to-face communication and public interactions or public speaking.
Disadvantages of oral communication ：
The disadvantages of oral communication often reduce its effectiveness.
It is not possible to connect distant people without the aid of technical devices. It is not possible to transmit long messages through oral communication. If it is not being recorded on any technical device like tape recorder or video recorder, it is not easy to reproduce the oral communication between two persons as evidence. That is why it does not have legal validity as people can keep on changing their oral versions from time to time. In case of any misunderstanding due to wrong communication, it is not possible to fix responsibility.
