Types of Communicative Strategy • “What can you say about our new plan for the

“Communication is your ticket to success, if project? Do you think it will work?”

you pay attention and learn to do it
effectively.” -Theo Gold - Remember to avoid questions that are too
- Conversation is interactive communication personal like asking about how much
between two or more people, and it is a money the person or his parents are
significant part of our everyday life. earning. This may make the person you
Speech act is a tool in engaging to a are talking to uncomfortable and may
conversation. In the previous lesson, you refuse to talk with you. Topics like politics
have learned that a speech act is an and religion should also be avoided
utterance that a speaker makes to achieve because these may cause quarrel or
an intended effect. disagreement.
- It is how you express yourself to
communicate your wants and needs, to Restriction
achieve a desired goal. We are attuned in - Restriction in communication refers to any
everyday conversation not primarily to the limitation you may have as a speaker.
sentences we utter to one another, but to - It is a strategy used when responses need
the speech acts that those utterances are to be within the set categories or
used to perform such function. instructions. These instructions confine
- Some of the functions which are carried you as a speaker and limit what you can
out using speech acts are giving opinion, say.
offering an apology, greeting, request, Examples:
complaint, invitation, compliment, or • In your class, you might be asked by your
refusal. teacher to brainstorm on peer pressure or deliver
- Talking with the family during a meal, a speech on digital natives. In this case, you
listening to a confiding friend on the cannot decide to talk about something else.
phone, participating in discussion at • You are invited to the police station to answer
school, and presenting report in a meeting some questions about what you know about the
at work are some instances of the accident.
communicative situations that we are
usually engaged in and it is essential to Turn-taking
understand the role of different - It pertains to the process by which people
communicative strategies that we can decide who takes the conversational floor.
employ for an effective communication. - Turn-taking strategy allows all participants
- Engaging in a conversation is not just a in the conversation a chance to speak. You
simple process of talking and listening. can use this strategy to avoid taking over
Cohen (1990) states that it is bound by the whole conversation.
implicit rules that requires strategies to be Examples:
able to start and maintain conversation. • You can employ this strategy by making your
Types of Communicative Strategy response shorter yet informative enough to
Nomination express your ideas and feelings.
- A speaker carries out nomination to • Spoken cues such as “What do you think?” or
collaboratively and productively establish “You wanted to say something?” provide others a
a topic chance to speak. Pausing is a nonverbal cue that
- You use this strategy to open a topic and will do as well.
start a conversation. Nomination is usually - Remember to listen to the other person
employed at the beginning of interaction talking instead of just waiting for your turn
to set the purpose of conversation. to talk. This way, you can have a
Examples: You may start off with making meaningful and productive conversation.
inquiries, giving compliment, asking for opinion, Also, always show politeness when you
or offering help. This could efficiently signal the need to take the conversational floor from
beginning of a new topic in the conversation. the person currently speaking.
• “Have you heard about “the new normal”?
• “I saw your TikTok post on Facebook. It’s really Topic Control
great.”
 - Topic control covers how procedural • “What I am trying to say is that…”
formality or informality affects the The speaker may repeat his/her statements using
development of topic in conversations. the following expressions:
- This is a strategy used when there is a • “Let me repeat myself.”
need to control and prevent unnecessary • “Again…”
interruptions and topic shifts in a certain • “I would like to reiterate that…”
conversation. Using this strategy makes - Repair strategies also include requesting
the conversation to stay focused on the clarification or making a clarifying
topic throughout the discussion and keeps question, request for repetition, and
the development of the topic going by request for definition, translation or
asking questions. explanation.
Examples: • I am sorry but what do you mean by “new
• During a board meeting, the director manages normal?”
the communication and directs who may speak to • “Does it mean that we do not need to come to
collectively develop the topic of conversation. school if there are no face-to-face classes?
• In the senate session, the senate president • “Can you please repeat the last part of the
presides the meeting. Senators who wish to instructions?”
speak asks permission to the senate president. • “Doc, can you please explain what a ferritin test
is?”
Topic Shifting • Could you please clarify your state?
- Topic shifting involves moving from one - Repair may also include addressing
topic to another. physical and physiological issues affecting
- This strategy is used to change the topic communication.
to a new one which helps communication
keep going. Termination
Examples: - Termination refers to the conversation
• You may use conversational transitions that participants’ closeinitiating expressions
indicate a shift like “By the way...”, “Before I that end a topic in a conversation.
forget...”, “Which reminds me of,” and the like. - This strategy is used to end an interaction
• In a report presentation you may use or close a topic. Most of the time, the topic
expressions like “Moving on to the next topic…”, initiator or the person who opened the
“Now, let’s talk about…”, “This time, let me tell topic takes responsibility to signal the end
you about…” of the discussion as well.
Examples: You may use the following expressions
- Remember that Topic shifting requires a to end a conversation:
good timing. So, make sure that topic is • “It’s nice catching up with you. I must be
adequately discussed before changing it going.”
to another one. There may be a need to • Thanks for your time. See you around.
shift topic when there’s a pause in • Regards to your wife. See you soon.”
conversation, minimal response like In other situation, you may end the topic by
nodding and smiling. sharing what you learned from the conversation.

Repair
- Repair refers to how speakers address the
problems in speaking, listening, and
comprehending that they encounter in a
conversation.
- Repair is the self-righting mechanism in
any social interaction (Schegloff et. al,
1977). We can employ this strategy
whenever we encounter problems in
communication to prevent a breakdown.
Examples: Speaker may use recasting or
changing the form of message to a more
understandable one using the following
expressions:
• “What I mean is….”