This is the Self-Learning Module (SLM) for Oral Communication in Context, Quarter 1, Module 3: “Using Various Strategies in Order to Avoid Communication Breakdown.” It was prepared by DepEd National Capital Region for Senior High School learners as an Alternative Delivery Mode (ADM) material, First Edition, 2020. It helps learners understand why communication fails and which verbal and non-verbal strategies keep a message clear.
What learners will learn
The module states that after working through it, learners will:
- Understand and realize the importance of the various strategies that can be used to avoid communication breakdown
- Gain a deeper understanding of the nature and elements of oral communication in context
- Design and perform effective controlled and uncontrolled oral communication activities based on context
What communication breakdown is
The module defines communication breakdown as a failure in communication caused by barriers. These barriers can come from the sender, the message, the channel, or the receiver. Since communication matters in every human relationship, the module asks learners to guard against breakdown and to avoid creating barriers for others.
There are two types of communication:
- Verbal communication: using words, spoken or written, to share information. It can be face-to-face or through technology such as the phone and the internet.
- Non-verbal communication: sending messages without words, through visual cues such as facial expressions and hand gestures.
The module stresses that a speaker’s actions must match their words. If they do not match, miscommunication can happen.
Barriers to verbal communication
The module groups the possible barriers into four areas:
| Barrier | What it means |
|---|---|
| People | The participants themselves, for example poor hearing or eyesight, stuttering, different opinions and beliefs, cultural mores (values, customs, and behaviors a group accepts), and society’s attitudes toward gender, business, and religion |
| Topic | A message that is vague, complex, emotionally loaded, or has a hidden agenda. The speaker should keep it clear, simple, restrained, and free of hidden motives. |
| Communicative situation | Noise in the surroundings or in the participants, motives that do not support the speaker’s purpose, or a listener without enough knowledge or experience to interpret the message |
| Language choice | Linguistic differences, and words that mean different things to different people. The speaker must choose words carefully. |
The module also explains how opinions and beliefs color a message. For example, many people do not expect men to be soft-spoken or high-pitched, or women to have a harsh, low-pitched voice. These gender expectations affect how a message is received.
Non-verbal communication
Non-verbal communication can express many human feelings without a single word. The module’s examples include gestures, facial expressions, giving flowers, choosing the color of your clothes, and putting a forefinger in front of your lips. It opens the lesson with a face-reading activity, because “the face is the index of the mind.” Learners name emotions such as anger, joy, surprise, disgust, sadness, and fear.
The pretest and assessment also use these terms for forms of non-verbal communication:
- Chronemics: time, for example arriving ten minutes before your boss
- Proxemics: space, for example feeling uncomfortable when a stranger stands too close
- Haptics: touch, for example feeling safe when a parent holds your hand
- Paralanguage: how something is said, for example “Speak slowly so that I will be able to understand you”
- Rhythm: speed of speaking
- Posture: body position, for example an audience leaning forward
How to use this module
- Answer What I Know, the pretest, first. It matches five terms with their meanings and shows how much you already know.
- Read What’s In and do the face-reading activity in What’s New.
- Study What is It, the main discussion of verbal and non-verbal communication and their barriers.
- Complete the fill-in-the-blank review that follows the discussion.
- Do the What I Can Do performance task. With friends or relatives, make a two-part video of a communication activity. Part one shows a communication breakdown. In part two, the characters use strategies to avoid that breakdown. A rubric scores content, script, projection, and grammar on a scale of 5, 4, and 2.
- Take the Assessment. It has true-or-false items, items that identify the non-verbal communication shown in a situation, and short written strategies for five barrier situations, such as talking with a new Japanese classmate or with a person who is deaf.
- Check your work with the Answer Key.
For learners: write your answers on a separate sheet of paper, do not mark the module, and use the answer key honestly.
For parents: you can help by acting in the two-part video and by checking that your child does the pretest before reading the lesson.
For teachers: the video task and the written strategy items in the assessment have no answer key, so plan to check them yourself using the rubric.
Frequently asked questions
What grade level is this Oral Communication in Context module for?
The module is labeled for Senior High School. It is Quarter 1, Module 3 of Oral Communication in Context, published by DepEd NCR as an Alternative Delivery Mode material in 2020.
What is communication breakdown?
The module defines it as a failure in communication caused by barriers related to the sender, the message, the channel, and the receiver.
What are the barriers to verbal communication in this module?
The module names four groups: the people involved, the topic, the communicative situation, and language choice.
Does the module have an answer key?
Yes. It includes answers for the pretest, the face-reading activity, the review exercise, and the first two parts of the assessment. The video task and the written strategy items are checked by the teacher.
What do chronemics, proxemics, and haptics mean?
In the module, chronemics refers to time, proxemics to space, and haptics to touch. Paralanguage refers to how something is said.
Full text of the module
The text below is a transcription of the PDF above, as printed.
Oral Communication in Context Quarter 1 – Module 3: Using Various Strategies in Order to Avoid Communication Breakdown
Senior High School
[illustration: teachers and learners studying, reading, and working outdoors and at a desk, with a globe and a lantern]
GOVERNMENT PROPERTY NOT FOR SALE
Oral Communication in Context Alternative Delivery Mode Quarter 1 – Module 3: Using Various Strategies in Order to Avoid Communication Breakdown First Edition, 2020
Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such work for profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition the payment of royalties.
Borrowed materials (i.e., songs, stories, poems, pictures, photos, brand names, trademarks, etc.) included in this module are owned by their respective copyright holders. Every effort has been exerted to locate and seek permission to use these materials from their respective copyright owners. The publisher and authors do not represent nor claim ownership over them.
Published by the Department of Education Secretary: Leonor Magtolis Briones Undersecretary: Diosdado M. San Antonio
Development Team of the Module
Writer: Julius Cezar D. Napallatan
Editor: Joselito E. Calios
Reviewers: Joselito E. Calios, Wilma Q. Del Rosario, Jenorie P. San Agustin, Arlene I. Donor, Aillen G. Sumagaysay,
Illustrator: Hannah Krystelle Q. Del Rosario, Ernesto D. Tabios
Lay-out Artists: Elinette B. Dela Cruz, Fegenius N. Rosas
Management Team: Wilfredo E. Cabral, Micah S. Pacheco, Dennis M. Mendoza, Ma. Evalou Concepcion A. Agustin, Carolina T. Rivera, Manuel A. Laguerta, Joselito E. Calios, Wilma Q. Del Rosario
Printed in the Philippines by ________________________
Department of Education – National Capital Region
Office Address: Misamis St., Bago Bantay, Quezon City Telefax: 02-929-0153 E-mail Address: depedncr@deped.gov.ph
Oral Communication in Context Quarter 1 – Module 3: Using Various Strategies in Order to Avoid Communication Breakdown
Senior High School
Introductory Message
This Self-Learning Module (SLM) is prepared so that you, our dear learners, can continue your studies and learn while at home. Activities, questions, directions, exercises, and discussions are carefully stated for you to understand each lesson.
Each SLM is composed of different parts. Each part shall guide you step-by-step as you discover and understand the lesson prepared for you.
Pre-tests are provided to measure your prior knowledge on lessons in each SLM. This will tell you if you need to proceed on completing this module or if you need to ask your facilitator or your teacher’s assistance for better understanding of the lesson. At the end of each module, you need to answer the post-test to self-check your learning. Answer keys are provided for each activity and test. We trust that you will be honest in using these.
In addition to the material in the main text, Notes to the teacher are also provided to our facilitators and parents for strategies and reminders on how they can best help you on your home-based learning.
Please use this module with care. Do not put unnecessary marks on any part of this SLM. Use a separate sheet of paper in answering the exercises and tests. And read the instructions carefully before performing each task.
If you have any questions in using this SLM or any difficulty in answering the tasks in this module, do not hesitate to consult your teacher or facilitator.
Thank you.
What I Need to Know
This module Using Various Strategies in order to Avoid Communication Breakdown was designed to make you better understand and realize the importance of the various strategies that can be used to avoid communication breakdown.
As you go through this module, you will have a deeper understanding of the nature and elements of oral communication in context, and design and perform effective controlled and uncontrolled oral communication activities based on context.
What I Know
Directions: Match the words in column A with the words or phrases in column B. Write the letter of your answer on a separate paper.
| A | B |
|---|---|
| 1. Rhythm | A. Touch |
| 2. Paralanguage | B. Time |
| 3. Chronemics | C. Speed |
| 4. Proxemics | D. Space |
| 5. Haptics | E. How to say |
What’s In
Communication breakdown is failure in communication due to various barriers in communication. These barriers are related to the sender, message, channel, and the receiver. Communication is very important in any human relation. Every person needs to always guard against communication breakdown. People should always see to it that their communication is effective and efficient by avoiding creating a barrier for others.
Lesson 1 Using Various Strategies in Order to Avoid Communication Breakdown
What’s New
The face is an important communicator. It is commonly said that face is the index of the mind. What emotion does each face convey?
[illustration: three male and female faces showing emotions]
_____ 2. _____ 3. _____
_____ 5. _____ 6. _____
[illustration: three faces showing emotions: a sad girl, a crying boy, and a shocked girl]
You can try this too by have your pictures taken showing these emotions.
What is It
In effective communication, speakers do not only communicate using their words but also with their actions. They should also see to it that the actions they make must match with what they say, otherwise, miscommunication may take place. Communication using words is called verbal communication while communication without words such as facial expression and hand gestures is called non-verbal communication. Communication can take among people with or without words. There are two types of communication: verbal and non-verbal.
Verbal Communication
Verbal communication is the use of words in sharing information with other people. It can include both spoken and written communication. Spoken communication is mostly face-to-face, but nowadays, technology such as phone and internet allow people to communicate with others without being at the same place at the same time. The verbal element of communication is all about the words one chooses and how the receiver interprets it.
The purpose of communication is to convey information to others. Through the choice of written and spoken words, ideas are exchanged. Unfortunately, miscommunication is common, many times that participants in a communication process fail to understand what are said or written.
There are possible barriers to verbal communication. First, people themselves participating in the interaction can be the barriers. They may have poor infirmities such as poor hearing or eyesight and others stutter. People have different opinions and beliefs; they follow cultural mores (values, customs, and behaviors that are accepted by a particular group); or they adhere to society’s attitudes toward gender and sexuality, business practices, and religious beliefs. The factors mentioned above can lead to their inability to deliver, listen to, and respond appropriately to the message.
Opinions and beliefs color our message or our response. The participants, both speaker and listener have opinions and beliefs that belong to a culture and a gender. Gender comes into communication when people categorize certain ways of speaking or using words as being masculine or feminine. Many people do not expect men to be soft spoken or have a high-pitched voice or women having harsh and a low-pitched voice.
The topic may also be a barrier to communication because of its vagueness, complexity, emotional pull, or hidden agenda. The speaker must avoid these qualities in the topic of the message so that, instead, it will be clear, simple, restrained, and with no hidden motives.
Communicative Situation is another group of possible barriers to communication. There may be “noise” in the physical setting and in the participants themselves. The actual noise from the surrounding may cause the participants to understand one another. At the same time, the participants may have their own motives for participating, motives that are not aligned with or support the speaker’s purpose for communicating. The audience must know whether the speaker is there to entertain or to persuade. The listener may not have enough knowledge or experience to form a basis for interpreting and responding to the message.
Language Choice also leads to communication breakdown. The linguistic differences among the participants can be a barrier to communication. Some words used by the speaker may mean different things to others. Depending on how a word is used, it can easily be misinterpreted by another person. The speaker must be very careful with the words he uses.
Non-Verbal Communication
Transmitting messages without using words is called non-verbal communication. It is conveyed as visual cues. Gestures, facial expressions, giving flowers, choosing a color of what to wear, or putting a forefinger in front of lips are just some examples of non-verbal communication. Although no word is used, non-verbal communication can effectively communicate many human feelings.
Transmitting messages without using words is called ____________ communication.
To be more understandable and interesting to a listener, the speaker must accompany his/her speech with ____________.
Verbal communication is the use of ____________ in sharing information with other people.
What I Can Do
Directions: With a help from your friends or relatives, make a two part – video enacting a communication activity. The first part should contain any communication breakdown. In the second part, the characters use strategies in order to avoid communication breakdown that took place in the first part.
Rubric
| 5 | 4 | 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Content | The message of the presentation is clear. It shows the reason why communication breakdown takes place and the solution is clearly seen. | The message of the presentation is clear. The reason why communication breakdown takes place and the solution is not clearly seen. | The message is not clear. The reason why communication breakdown takes place and the solution is not seen |
| Script | Script has complete, logical story with a beginning, middle, and end. | Script is complete. It has a story with a beginning, middle, and end. | Script is complete with rough spots; Beginning, middle and end may be difficult to determine. |
| Projection | The audience could hear all words with naturalness and ease in communication | The audience could hear most words with naturalness and ease in communication | The audience could hear few words with naturalness and ease in communication |
| Grammar | There are no errors in grammar | There are few errors in grammar | There is a number of errors in grammar |
Assessment
A. Directions: Write TRUE if the statement is correct and FALSE if it is not.
_____ 1. Communication breakdown can lead to a total cessation of communication.
_____ 2. Nonverbal dimension encompasses the use of a language.
_____ 3. Misunderstanding occurs when oral and written are not in agreement.
_____ 4. A gesture may have multiple meanings.
_____ 5. One’s experience is a factor in comprehending a message.
B. Directions: Tell what non-verbal communication is shown in the situation in each item. Write the letter of your answer on the space before the number.
_____ 1. Jocelyn is in a hurry. She sees to it that she has to be in the meeting place ten minutes before her boss arrives. A. chronemics B. proxemics C. paralanguage D. haptics
_____ 2. I feel uncomfortable if a stranger stands too close to me. A. chronemics B. proxemics C. paralanguage D. haptics
_____ 3. When I was a child, I felt so safe every time my parents would hold my hand. A. chronemics B. proxemics C. paralanguage D. haptics
_____ 4. “Speak slowly so that I will be able to understand you.” A. chronemics B. posture C. paralanguage D. haptics
_____ 5. When the audience started to lean forward, the speaker decided to crack a joke. A. chronemics B. posture C. paralanguage D. haptics
Directions: The situation in each item below may be a barrier to communication. In two to three sentences, think of a strategy to avoid communication breakdown.
- Your new classmate is a Japanese who doesn’t speak Filipino and English well.
- You are a lawyer and your neighbor who has not able to finish grade asks you about a case.
- You are helping your little brother with his homework, but he seems not interested to study.
- A deaf is talking to you.
- You want your brother to help you with your math assignment, but he looks so tired because he just got home from school.
Additional Activities
Answer Key
[transcriber’s note: this page is printed upside down; the content below is transcribed in reading order as it appears when the page is turned right side up]
What I Know
- C
- E
- B
- D
- A
What’s New
- Anger
- Joy
- Surprise
- Disgust
- Sadness
- Fear
[transcriber’s note: item 6 is not printed in the answer key]
Assessment
A.
- True
- False
- True
- False
- True
B.
- A
- B
- D
- C
- B
What I Have Learned
- failure
- miscommunication/breakdown
- physical and mental
- barrier/hindrance
- feminine/masculine
- non-verbal
- gesture
- words
References
Anudin, Ali G. and Andrew Rey Pena. Oral Communication. Quezon City: Vibal Group Inc., 2016.
Flores, Ramona S. Oral Communication in Context. Manila: Rex Book Store, 2016.
Bajracharya, Shraddha. “Verbal versus Non-Verbal Communication.” Businesstopia, February 15, 2018. https://www.businesstopia.net/communication/verbal-vs-non-verbal-communication?fbclid=IwAR1JCEiZ2HtPS30BwuISRB5R-FFnol_3iLPDN2BQft-oG3T1kL84fX8Oodg.
Lewis, Michael. Money Crashers, January 16, 2014. https://www.moneycrashers.com/causes-miscommunication-use-plain-language/.
Nonverbal Communication Clip Compliation. YouTube. YouTube, 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh47wWr_Hbw.
“Nonverbal Communication: Definition, Types, Importance (Explained).” iEduNote, April 16, 2020. https://iedunote.com/nonverbal-communication.
Pascal. “8 Causes of Miscommunication and Misunderstanding.” Userlike Live Chat. Userlike, July 13, 2017. https://www.userlike.com/en/blog/causes-of-miscommunication.
U-Day English Oration 2019: Champion – College of Hospitality Management. YouTube. YouTube, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLsjFnGIRLI.
“Verbal Communication Skills.” SkillsYouNeed. Accessed November 7, 2019. https://www.skillsyouneed.com/ips/verbal-communication.html
For inquiries or feedback, please write or call:
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