1.

INTRODUCTION

The aim of this unit is to frame the concept of oral communication as a unique and distinctive
element within human communication:
1. We will analyze the nature of human communication and the use of language as a distinctive
tool for human interaction.
2. We will analyze the specific features of the speech as opposed to writing.
3. We will consider the different elements of the oral communication, paying special attention
not only to the linguistic elements of oral discourse, but also to its pragmatic and social
aspects.
4. The importance of routines and formulaic language will be analyzed as well as the
importance of strategic competence for the effectiveness of communication as a whole.

This unit has been foregrounded on some of the most relevant and influential scholars, namely,
David Crystal, Linguistics ( 1985) Erving Goffman, Forms of Talk (1981) and Dell Hymes, On
Communicative Competence.(1972).

2. NATURE OF COMMUNICATION

From an anthropological perspective, the origins of communication are to be found in the very
early stages of life when there was a need for animals and humans to communicate so as to carry
out basic activities of everyday life. Even the most primitive cultures had a constant need to express
their feelings and ideas by other means than guttural sounds and body movements. It is relevant to
establish, then, a distinction between human and animal systems of communication as their features
differ in the way they produce and express their intentions.

Communication is defined as the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common

system of symbols. However, there isn’t a universally accepted definition for this term. This is
because there are over 50 different ways that try to explain communication from one or another
perspective. From a theory of language, we shall define the notion of communication in terms of its
main features regarding the oral component:
• Regarding the TYPES OF COMMUNICATION (Halliday 1985), the field of semiotics
distinguishes two: verbal and non -verbal communication. Thus, when the act of
communication is verbal, the code is the language, which may result in oral or written form,
as when we are having a conversation or reading a magazine. When we refer to non-verbal
communication, visual and tactile modes are concerned, such as gestures, facial expressions,
body language, or touch, and even some uses of the vocal tract are possible by means of
paralanguage, such as whistling or musical effects.

• ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION: One of the most productive models of a

communication system emerged from Roman Jakobson (1896-1982). Jakobson’s model
clarity has made it become the best-known model to be followed on language theory.
Jakobson states that all acts of communication, be they written or oral, are based on six
constituent elements: sender, receiver, message, code, channel and context. In his model,
each element is associated with one of the six functions of language he proposed, thus
referential, emotive, conative, phatic, metalingual, and poetic.

Any particular act of communication takes place in a situational context, and it involves a
sender (or addresser) and a receiver (or addressee). It further involves a message which the sender
transmits and which the receiver interprets. The message is formulated in a particular code, and for
the whole thing to work, sender and receiver must be connected by a channel through which the
message is sent. In acoustic communication it consists of air, in written communication of paper or
other writing materials.

3. LANGUAGE as COMMUNICATION

The word “language” has prompted many definitions:

• “The institution whereby humans communicate and interact with each other by means
of habitually used oral-auditory symbols” Hall (1964).
• MOST OUTSTANDING DEFINITION: “an instrument of social interaction with a clear
communicative purpose”. Halliday (1973).

In fact, a widely recognized problem with the term “language” is the great range of its
application. However, a useful approach to language is to identify the various properties that are
thought to be essential defining characteristics.

The most usual answer to the question of “why we use language” is to communicate our ideas.
But it would be wrong to think of communicating our ideas as the only aim for which language is
used. Among all the proposals regarding the different functions assigned to language , coming from
linguists such as Malinowsky, Saussure, Bühler, Halliday and Jakobson, we highlight the
considerable impact of Jakobson’s work and his communication model which he interrelated with
what he believed where the functions of language:
1. Expressive or emotional communication: to express emotional state (strongest factor:
sender). We do not try to communicate because we use language in this way whether we are
alone or not
2. Phatic communication: to establish contact (channel). It refers to the social function of
language to maintain a comfortable relationship between people.
3. Conative communication: concerned with demanding or imperative addressing the
receiver (receiver)
4. Poetic communication: choosing the words carefully (message)
5. Metalinguistic communication: using language to discuss language (code)
6. Referential: description, contextual information (context)

4. ORAL COMMUNICATION

We shall attempt to overcome the study of oral communication bearing in mind that
communication among human beings is mainly realized by means of the verbal code (Language)
through oral auditory signs. Nevertheless, this use of language through oral auditory signs will be
aided by other channels mainly through the use of the so called non-verbal communication (body
language).

Oral communication can be defined as “a two way process in which both speaker and hearer
must be present in the same situational context, unless we talk about special cases of oral
communication such as telephone conversations”
In a communicative event both speaker and hearer perform highly complex processes. They must
encode and decode messages under time pressure always bearing in mind their purposes for
interaction. R. Scott (Johnson, K et al 1981:70).

The oral message, unlike the written language where the sentences are carefully structured and
linked together, is often characterized by incomplete and sometimes ungrammatical utterances, and
by frequent repetitions and overlappings. Thus the need for prosodic (stress, rhythm, intonation,
pitch…) and paralinguistic features which help interpret the message.
4. 1. SPOKEN vs. WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

In this section we shall study the main differences between writing and speech:

1. The most obvious is the contrast in physical form. Speech uses phonic substance typically
in the form of air-pressure movements, whereas writing uses graphic substance, typically in
the form of marks on a surface.
2. The permanence of writing allows repeated reading and close analysis. The spontaneity
and rapidity of speech minimises the chance of complex pre-planning, and promotes
features that assisst speakers to think.

3. The participants in written interaction cannot usually see each other, so they cannot
make clear what they mean. However, in speech interactions feedback is possible.

4. The majority of graphic features presents a system of contrasts that has no speech
equivalent. Many genres of written language, such as tables, graphs and complex formulae,
cannot be conveyed by reading aloud.

5. Some constructions may only be found in writing, others only occur in speech, such as
in slang and swear words.

6. Writing tends to be more formal and so it is more likely to provide the standard that
society values.

Despite these differences, the written and spoken language have mutually interacted in many
respects. We normally use the written language in order to improve our command of vocabulary,
active or passive, spoken or written.

5. ELMENTS AND RULES GOVERNING ORAL DISCOURSE

In this section we will deal with:

1. Linguistic elements and non-linguistic elements.
2. Rules of oral discourse, focusing on rules of use, rules of usage and conversational studies.

These elements are approached in terms of a communicative event, which is described as a

sociocultural unit where linguistic and non-linguistic elements must be taken into account.

5.1. Linguistic elements

Regarding the linguistic level in oral discourse, the phonological system is involved with the
analysis of acoustic signals into a sequence of speech sounds. At this level, prosodic elements
provide us with information about the oral interaction:

• STRESS: is present in an oral interaction when we give more emphasis to some parts of the
utterance than to other segments. We use it to make a syllable stand out with respect to its
neighboring syllables in a word or to the rest of words in a longer utterance. There are two
types:
1. Primary stress is the main marker within the word
2. Secondary stress is the less important marker
 Foreign language learners must be concerned with the role of primary stress, as a change of
stress within a word may change the whole meaning of it (E.g. “record” changes its meaning
from verb to noun if a student does not apply the right primary stress on it).

• RHYTHM: is determined by the succession of prominent and non-prominent syllables in an

utterance. The term establishes a relationship between accents and pauses, which, used
properly, contribute to keeping attention. Pauses may be characterized by being predictable
or not with a rhythm group.
1. Predictable pauses: are required for the speakers to take breath between sentences
or to separate grammatical units
2. Unpredictable pauses: are those brought about by false starts or hesitation.

• INTONATION: is characterized by the rising and falling of voice during speech, depending
on the type of utterance we may produce. Intonation and rhythm play an important role
when expressing attitudes and emotions, depending on the meaning the speakers may
convey, they will use a different tone within the utterance. Three types of intonation:
1. Falling and raising tones:
1.1. Falling tones express certainty, determination or confidence.
1.2. Raising tones express indecision, doubt or uncertainty.
2. Upper and lower range tones:
2.1. Upper range tones express excitement and admiration.
2.2. Lower range tones express unanimated attitude.
3. Wide and narrow range tones.
3.1. Wide range tones express emotional attitudes.
3.2. Narrow range tones express unemotive attitudes.

5.2. Non-linguistic elements

Conversational speech is often accompanied by non-linguistic elements, whose close

coordination with the speech suggests that they are relevant for language use. They can occur
spontaneous or voluntarily:

• GESTURES: are usually regarded as communicative devices whose function is to amplify

or underscore information conveyed in the speech. We find different types.
1. Emblems or symbolic gestures and hand signs have well established meanings
(thumbs -up and V for victory, pointing, denial, and refusing).
2. Batons: simple and repetitive movements with hands, head and shoulder.
3. Gesticulations: unplanned gestures.

• FACIAL EXPRESSION: refer to an automatic response to an internal state. They can be

controlled voluntarily, and are used in social situations to convey a variety of kinds of
information (understanding, concern, agreement…).

• GAZE DIRECTION: variety of kinds of significance has been attributed to both the
amount of time participants spend looking at each other, and to the points in the speech
stream at which those glances occur. Gazing may express the communicators’ social
distance, by means of looking up to or looking down to.

• VOICE QUALITY: changes in vocal quality provide information about changes in the
speaker’s internal state, such as hesitation or interjections. Listeners seem capable of
 interpreting these changes, even when the quality of the speech is badly degraded, or the
language is one the listener does not understand.

5.3. Rules governing oral discourse.

The Spanish Educational System, within the framework of the Educational Reform and
following the guidelines of the European Community, establishes a common reference framework
for the teaching of foreign languages, and claims for a progressive development of communicative
competence in a specific language.

Students are intended to be able to carry out several communication tasks with specific
communicative goals within specific contexts. In order to get these goals, several strategies come
into force in a given context. Therefore, a communicative competence theory accounts for rules of
usage and rules of use in order to get a proficiency level in a foreign language:
1. The rules of usage are concerned with the language users’ knowledge of linguistic or
grammatical rules (grammatical competence).
2. The rules of use are concerned with the language users’ ability to use his knowledge of
linguistic rules in order to achieve effectiveness of communication (discourse,
sociolinguistic and strategic competences)

5.3.1. Rules of usage.

As seen previously, language is the principal vehicle for the transmission of cultural knowledge,
and the primary means by which we gain access to the contents of others’ minds. This involves an
ability to produce and understand the same sounds produced by others.

The ways languages are used are constrained by the way they are constructed, particularly the
linguistic rules that govern the usage forms. In this sense, language is defined as an abstract set of
principles that specify the relations between a sequence of sounds and a sequence of meanings, and
is analyzed in terms of four levels of organization, which together constitute its grammar:

1. PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM: is concerned with the phonological knowledge a speaker

has in order to produce sounds which form meaningful sentences (e.g. an analysis of an
acoustic signal into a sequence of speech sounds will allow the speaker to distinguish plural,
past, and adverb endings).
When learning a foreign language, speakers may be aware of the variety of sounds the
human vocal tract is capable of producing selecting the target language’s phonemes.

2. MORPHOLOGICAL SYSTEM: is concerned with the way words are constructed out of
these phonological elements. Morphology involves internal structures by means of which
the speakers are able to recognize whether a word belongs to the target language or not.
The rules that determine the phonetic form of certain patterns (plural, gerunds…) are called
morphophonemic rules.
When a non-native word is added to the target language, they do it by means of
morphological rules which belong to that vernacular language, such as derivation,
compounding, blending or back-formation.

3. SYNTACTIC SYSTEM: is concerned with that part of grammar which stands for speakers’
knowledge of how to structure phrases and sentences in an appropriate and accurate way to
express our thoughts.
 4. SEMANTIC SYSTEM: is concerned with the linguistic competence in terms of a capacity
to produce meaning within an utterance. The arbitrariness of language implies to
comprehend sentences because we know the meaning of individual words.
Speaking a language not only involves knowing the meaning of words but also knowing
how to combine language rules to convey meaning within an utterance. Some examples:
-Rules to interpret phrasal verbs within prepositional phrases.
- Different nuances brought about semantic fields in verbs (degree of loudness when
speaking “shouting” and “whispering” // degree of touch “stroking” and “hitting”).

However, linguistic rules do not follow a strict pattern in everyday use. We may distinguish
mainly three types of semantic rule violation.
1. Anomaly: a violation of semantic rule to create nonsense as in “Colourless green ideas
sleep furiously where the words colourless and green are incompatible.
2. Metaphors: with no literal meaning but connected to abstract meaning.
3. Idioms: in which the meaning of an expression may not be related to the individual meaning
of its parts as it makes no sense as they are culturally embedded (“Pull someone’s leg”).

5.3.2. Rules of use

The notion of use means the realization of the language system as meaningful communication
linked to the aspects of performance.
This notion is based on the effectiveness for communication, by means of which an utterance with a
well-formed grammatical structure may or may not have a sufficient value for communication in a
given context.

In order to get a proficiency level in a foreign language, students are intended to apply their
linguistic knowledge to how to construct discourse within the textual competence according to three
main rules of appropriateness, coherence and cohesion, as main discourse devices.

1. APPROPRIATENES: any language presents variations within a linguistic community.

These types of discourse have a formal structure that constrains participants’ acts of
speaking and each person chooses the language variety and the appropriate register
according to the situation (channel of communication and degree of formality).

2. COHESION: concerns the ways in which the components of the surface text (the actual
words we hear or see) are mutually connected within a sequence of utterances (Beaugrande
& Dressler, 1988). The appropriate use of cohesive devices will enhance the effectiveness of
communication when grammaticality or context can not be accounted for.

3. COHERENCE: concerns the ways in which the components of the textual world, thus the
concepts and relations which underlie the surface text, are mutually accessible and relevant.
In this sense, speakers are intended to select not only the structure of the content of
messages but also to organize information in a logical and comprehensible way in order to
avoid break downs in communication.

5.2.3. Conversational Studies

Conversation can be defined as a process of talking where at least two participants freely
alternate in speaking as they interact with their social environment.. Despite this straightforward
definition, the analysis of conversation is not a simple matter.
 Ethnography of communication, a concept coined by Dell Hymes, refers to a methodology
based in anthropology and linguistics allowing people to study human interaction in context,
looking at the dynamics of conversation.

One of the basic premises of Hymes was that the rules of speaking have to be defined in relation
with a particular speech event. Every speech event (a lecture, a party, a political speech…) has its
own rules associated, which derive from its own components. The components of a speech event
are:
• Stands for setting and scene (physical circumstances)
• Refers to participants including speaker, sender and addresser
• Means end (purposes and goals)
• Stands for act sequence (message form and content)
• Deals with key (tone and manner)
• Stands for instrumentalities (verbal, non-verbal and physical channel)
• Refers to norms of interaction (specific proprieties attached to speaking), and interpretation
(interpretation of norms within cultural belief system)
• Genre referring to textual categories.

The existence of these rules of speaking within each speech event does not imply that they
always have to be followed. In fact, they are broken many times in everyday conversation.

Within a conversational analysis, we find mainly two features of conversations:

• TURN TAKING
In a conversation, the roles of speaker and listener change in turns successively without
overlaps and gaps between them. This organized exchange of roles needs certain norms
since speakers do not like to be interrupted or ignored in their turns.

Duncan gives a set of six cues to signal our intention while taking part in conversation:
intonation
paralanguage
body motion
stereotyped expressions
drops in pitch(e.g. eye gaze to our interlocutor throughout conversation may indicate that
he can now take his turn).

For him, there are three main levels in turn-taking:

1st level: refers to the highest degree of control he can select the next speaker either by
naming or alluding to him or her.
2nd level: the next utterance may be constrained by the speaker but without being selected
by a particular speaker.
3rd level: eye gaze to our interlocutor throughout conversation may indicate that he can
now take his turn.

• ADJENCY PAIRS proposed by Goffman (1976) and later developed by Sacks (1978).
According to this concept, a conversation is described as a string of at least two turns (e.g. a
question-answer session). Both conversing parties are aware that a response is required to a
question, and a particular response to a given question is expressed by means of greetings,
challenges, offers, complaints…

• COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE: Grice (1967) proposed a set of norms expected in

conversation, and formulated them as a universal to help account for the high degree of
 implicitness in conversation. Therefore he analyzes cooperation as involving four categories
of maxims expected in conversation:
1. Maxim of quantity: the speaker gives enough and not too much conversation.
2. Maxim of quality: the information is genuine and sincere. The speaker coneys truths
and facts.
3. Maxim of relation: the utterances are relevant to the context of the speech.
4. Maxim of manner: the speaker tries to present meaning clearly and concisely, avoiding
ambiguity. They are direct and straightforward.

• Within conversational structure, another distinction is identified by Brown and Yule (1994),
and it is the one between SHORT TURNS and LONG TURNS:
1. A short turn consists of only one or two utterances.
2. A long turn consists of a string of utterances which may last as long as an hour’s
lecture…what is required of a speaker in a long turn is considerably more demanding than
what is required of a speaker in a short turn.

Possible examples of everyday situations which might require longer turns from the
speakers are such things as narrating personal experiences, participating in job interviews,
arguing points of view.

6. ROUTINES AND FORMULAIC SPEECH

Man’s ability to be creative with language is something obvious but there are times when he
chooses how, when and why not to be creative. It is in these situations that he uses linguistic
routines and inside them, formulaic language.

According to Seaville and Troike (1982) in his work The Ethnography of

Communication,linguistic, routines are fixed utterances or sequences of utterances which must be
considered as single units, because meaning cannot be derived from consideration of any segment
apart from the whole. The routine itself fulfils the communicative function.

As for English language learners’, a sequence of sentences may be memorized as fixed phrases,
and consequently, some of them are learnt earlier than others (the first routine a student learns in
class are commands “sit down” and requests “May I go to the toilet?”).

Understanding routines require a cultural knowledge because they are generally abstract in
meaning and must be interpreted at a non literal level. Non-native speakers may not grasp the
nuances regarding a certain type of utterance patterns, such as greeting routines or phone
conversation patterns, which have no meaning apart from a phatic function and introductory
sentences.
People usually reject consciously routines and rituals when they are meaningless and empty of
meaning.

Wolfson (1981) brings about the idea of developing sociocultural awareness. He goes further on
studying cross-cultural miscommunication in the field of compliments, when learners from a
different cultural background do not understand certain behavior rules from the foreign language
target culture. Ritual contexts involve formulaic language with great cultural significance. The
meaning of symbols cannot be interpreted in isolation but in context. For instance, a funeral ritual is
different in Europe and in America. Both routines and formulaic speech meaning depend on shared
beliefs and values within the speech community coded into a sensitivity to cultural communication
patterns.
 Developing the correct and appropriate use of these routines as part of our students sociocultural
competence must be a priority in our classes.

7. STRATEGIES IN ORAL COMMUNICATION

In the section we address the strategic subcompetence of Communicative Competence. In the

words of Canale (1983), strategic competence is the verbal and nonverbal communication strategies
that may be called into action to compensate for breakdowns in communication due to performance
variables or due to insufficient competence.

According to Canale and Swain (1980), strategic competence is useful in various circumstances
as for instance, the early stages of second language learning where communicative competence can
be present with just strategic and socio-linguistic competence. However, oral communication
strategies are not exclusive to second language learners, but also widely used in our own mother
tongue.

The interlocutors, once engaged in communication and faced with difficulties can decided to
abandon their communicative encounter or otherwise consider using a varied range of strategies that
despite of their linguistic, sociolinguistic or sociocultural competence will allow them to continue
and communicate effectively.
Sauvignon (1983) notes that one can communicate non-verbally in the absence of grammatical or
discourse competence provided there is a cooperative interlocutor. Besides, she points out the
necessity for the inclusion of strategic competence as a component of communicative competence
as it demonstrates that regardless of experience and level of proficiency one never knows all a
language. This also illustrates the negotiation of meaning involved in the use of strategic
competence. So when meaning is not clear, asking for clarification by linguistic or non linguistic
means implies the use of a communication strategy that involve negotiation of meaning.

9. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, G. & G. Yule Teaching the Spoken Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1983

Brown, G. and G. Yule.. Discourse Analysis. CUP, 1983

Crystal, D. Linguistics. Harmondsworth, England. Penguin Books, 1985.

Goffman, E. Forms of Talk . Philadephia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1981

Halliday, M. A. K. Explorations in the Functions of Language. London: Edward Arnold, 1973.

Rivers, W. Teaching Foreign-Language Skills. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1981.

Saussure, F. Cours de linguistique générale (Course in General Linguistics, trans. Roy Harris,
1983). New York: Philosophical Library, 1916.

Halliday, M. A. K. Explorations in the Functions of Language. London: Edward Arnold, 1973.

Halliday, M.A.K.. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold, 1985.

Rivers, W. Teaching Foreign-Language Skills. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1981.

Halliday, M. Learning How to Mean. London: Edward Arnold, 1975.

Hymes, D. Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. Philadelphia: University of

Pennsylvania Press, 1974.

Hymes, D. On Communicative competence. Harmondsworth: Penguin. 1972.

Lee, James F. & VanPatten, B. Making Communicative Language Teaching Happen. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1995