Speech communication

As it is stated in the reference, “ interpersonal communication is communication that occurs between two people who have a relationship and who are thus influenced by each other’s communication messages” (reference 130). I agree with the author when he said that “ even a stranger asking directions from a local resident has established a clearly defined relationship as soon as the first message is sent”. Based on the reference, the server and the customer interact according to the rules of society governing the server-customer interaction.

According to the reference, “ conversation, whether face-to-face or online, takes place in five steps and these are: opening, feedforward, business, feedback and closing” but there are also variations in the process, depending on whether the interaction is face-to-face or computer-mediated. As I have observed in practical life, not everyone speaks with fluency and ease that many textbooks assume because there are some with speech and language disorders for example that can seriously disrupt the conversation process if some elementary guidelines aren’t followed, as the book stated.

Based on the reference, the first step in conversation is opening, which involve some kind of greeting; in face-to-face conversation, greeting can be of verbal or nonverbal but are usually both. As it is stated in the reference, “ nonverbal greetings include waving, smiling, shaking hands, and winking”, which I think is really what we can observe in our everyday life. The second step of the conversation, according to the reference, we usually give some kind of feedforward in which we may seek to accomplish a variety of functions such as opening channels of communication.

The third step of conversation as the reference stated is business, or substance and focus, of the conversation which emphasizes the most conversations are directed at achieving some goal. The fourth step of conversation is feedback which is the reverse of the second. And the last step of the conversation process is the opposite of the first step which is closing, the goodbye; like the opening, the closing may be of verbal and nonverbal, and just as the opening signals access, the closing signals attention to end access.

As it was quoted in the reference, throughout the speaking-listening process, both speaker and listener exchange cues for what are called conversational turns which enable the speaker and listener to communicate about the communication in which they are currently engaged; that is “ a form of “ metacommunication” takes place through the through the exchange of these often subtle cues”.

Based on the reference, speakers regulate the conversation through two major types of cues: turn maintaining cues and turn-yielding cues which are usually effective not only to ensure communication efficiency but also increases likability, and these I think is very true.

Turn-maintaining cues a person can communicate the wish to maintain the role of the speaker while turn-yielding cues tell the listener that the speaker is finished and wishes to exchange the role of speaker for the role of listener. According to the reference, as a listener we can regulate the conversation by using three types of cues such as turn-requesting cues, turn-denying cues, and backchanneling cues.