COM2006-3
Dimensions of Communication
This week, you will read about the dimensions of communication—verbal and nonverbal. In this lesson, we will focus on our verbal
messages. Our language, or what we say, is the verbal dimension and is both context and culture bound.
Words have power. The power to create perceptions. The power to in�uence thought. The power to create action. However,
meanings are not in words but in the interpretation of the words. Meanings can be misconstrued and interpreted differently by the sender and the receiver. Competent communicators understand that it is the responsibility of the sender to clarify the intended
meaning.
In other words, it is not the sole responsibility of the receiver to interpret the sender's meaning correctly.
So what are the pitfalls of or barriers to understanding? There are different types of word barriers that can cause a misunderstanding
and miscommunication between the sender and the receiver. Let's examine three different word barriers—bypassing, allness, and
polarization.
Bypassing
Raina and Marla were shopping at the mall. Raina needed to go to the other end of the mall to buy her mom a gift. She said to Marla,
"Meet me at 2:00 in front of Penny's." Marla thought that "in front" meant outside, in front of the parking lot entrance. Raina meant in
front of the entrance to Penny's, inside of the mall. Because Raina's cell phone had died on the way to the mall, they ended up waiting
a half hour for each other.
This simple example illustrates how word bypassing can cause misunderstanding. Obviously, if they both had had their cell phones,
this would not have been an issue. However, it is better to know how to reduce the chances of misunderstanding at the time of communication. How could this have been remedied when they �rst made their plans? Competent communicators understand that
meaning can easily be misconstrued. Therefore, to avoid misunderstandings from bypassing language, where one word has a number
of different meanings, the sender can be more conscious of being precise in his or her words. The receiver of the message can also
clarify by paraphrasing what he or she thinks the sender is saying. In the case of this example, Raina could have clari�ed that they
should meet in front of the entrance to Penny's, inside the mall. Marla could have paraphrased Raina's message saying that what she
understands is that they are to meet in front of the store from the parking lot entrance.
Allness
Jim and Abraham are working out at the gym together when Syed walks past them. Syed is very muscular and good looking and can
easily �nd women to date. Jim remarks to Abraham that Syed must be a real shallow person because he dates a woman only twice
before moving on to the next. Abraham agrees by remarking that Syed never sticks around in a relationship, just like all Middle
Eastern men.
How does this example illustrate the word barrier of allness? Allness is when you overgeneralize meanings to make unquali�ed and often erroneous statements about someone else. Allness has an ethical dimension in this case because Jim and Abraham's
conversation can easily be heard by others, which can seriously affect Syed's reputation.
This is an example of allness because Jim and Abraham are making a general assumption that Syed must be a shallow person because
he is good looking and dating a number of women and that he is just like all Middle Eastern men. You need to be careful when
generalizing about people because you really do not know what their circumstances are and assumptions are harmful. Allness is
about characterizing a group of people into one category.
Polarization
Polarization is when you label a situation as an either-or situation, leaving out intermediate possibilities or interpretations. In this
instance, you describe or interpret words or actions at one of the two ends of the continuum. For example, polarization would be
identifying someone as either good or bad or evaluating a situation as either black or white. It is easy to recognize polarization
because of the key words—either and or.
For example, it would be polarization to say to your friend that either you are my friend or you are not my friend. Polarization also has
an ethical dimension as you are reducing people and situations to one of the two extremes and not allowing other interpretations for the situation. By polarizing the situation, you are not leaving the interpretation of the situation open for negotiation or other
alternatives that may suit both parties.
Additional Materials
Communication Dimensions
Click each dimension to learn about it along with an example.
Content Timing
Selection of Audience
Choice of Communication
Medium
Presentation Style and Structure
View a PDF transcript of Communication Dimension (media/transcripts/Week3/SU_COM2006_W3_G1.pdf?
_&d2lSessionVal=G8yTd5fDEtOWhKGrLSjs64OmW&ou=91172)