Professional Communication 03 - Seven Functions of Professionalism in Communication

1. Professional
Communication
LESSON #03
THE 7 FUNCTIONS OF
COMMUNICATION
BY JAIME ALFREDO CABRERA
ALBUKHARY INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
SLH1013 - Professional English
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

2. 7 Reasons for Communicating
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
To Entertain- To elicit a receiver’s willing suspension of
disbelief; to help the receiver forget reality for a while
To Persuade - To convince a receiver to change a belief
or mind-set; to convince a receiver to act
To Preserve - To record an event, information, or data for
posterity
To Measure Reaction - To elicit and measure a receiver's
reaction or output
To Inform - To effectively transfer information to a receiver
To Affect Affect - To modify or change a receiver’s
attitude, tendency, or feeling about something
To Educate - To cause the acquisition of
information, skills, and attitude
SLH1013 - Professional English
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

3. 1. TO ENTERTAIN
To elicit a receiver’s willing suspension of disbelief; to forget reality for a while
Entertaining
Not Entertaining
 A dramatic movie
 A documentary film
 A soap opera on
 A weather report on
radio
 A romantic novel
 A joke about life on
campus
radio
 A math textbook
 A speech about
campus safety
SLH1013 - Professional English
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

4. 2. TO PERSUADE
To convince a receiver to change a belief or mind-set
Persuasive
Not Persuasive
 Advertisement
 Advertisement
showing white teeth
 Receiver’s
mindset is
different
 Receiver’s belief is
modified or
changed
SLH1013 - Professional English
showing toothpaste
 Receiver’s
mindset is the
same
 Receiver’s belief is
the same
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

5. 3. TO PRESERVE
To record an event, information, or data for posterity
Preservative
Not Preservative
 Taking a picture of
 Giving a lecture
native costumes
 The data is
preserved for
others to access in
the future
SLH1013 - Professional English
about native dress
 The data is
presented for
access at present
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

6. 4. TO MEASURE REACTION
To elicit and measure a receiver's reaction or output
Quantifying
Non-quantifying
 Asking a patient to
 Telling a patient to
open his mouth for
a thermometer
 The receiver must
react
 The output can be
measured
SLH1013 - Professional English
go to stop worrying
 The receiver may
or may not react
 The output cannot
be measured
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

7. 5. TO INFORM
To effectively transfer information to a receiver
Informative function
Non-informative
 Telephone directory
 Fiction novel
 News broadcast
 Joke book
 Menu
 An abstract
 Recipe
painting
 A speech in an
unknown language
 Road signs
 Free samples
SLH1013 - Professional English
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

8. 6. TO AFFECT AFFECT
To modify or change a receiver’s attitude, tendency, or feeling about something
Affective
Non-affective
 A low grade for a
 Making a funny
low quiz score
 Improving the taste
of food
 Endlessly repeating
an advertisement
 Punishing a crime
joke
 Recording an event
on camera
 A series of tests
with the same level
of difficulty
SLH1013 - Professional English
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

9. 7. TO EDUCATE
To transfer information and skills, at the same time creating positive affect.
Educative
Non-educative
 Teaching essay
 Memorizing past
writing and praising
a well-written final
essay
 Increasing the
difficulty of
succeeding lessons
historical events for
a quiz
 A series of tests
with the same level
of difficulty
SLH1013 - Professional English
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

10. FINAL NOTE
A message that
entertains while, at the
same time, delivering
information is more
effective than a message
that delivers only
information.
SLH1013 - Professional English
Communication is
more professional
when one message
can deliver a
greater number of
functions.
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

11. Analysis
Explain the differences
between:
Educative
function of
communication
Affective function of
communication
SLH1013 - Professional English
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

12. Analysis
What is the
communicative purpose
of a course in computer
repair?
SLH1013 - Professional English
Tuesday, October 29, 2013

13. Professional
Communication
LESSON #04
THE EIGHT ELEMENTS OF
PROFESSIONAL
COMMUNICATION
SLH1013 - Professional English
Tuesday, October 29, 2013