Human Communication: The Basic Course is designed for the introductory college course that offers comprehensive coverage of the fundamentals of human communication. The text covers classic approaches and new developments; it covers research and theory, but gives coordinated attention to communication skills.
This book is addressed to students who have little or no prior background in studying communication. If this will be your only communication course, Human Communication will provide you with a thorough foundation in the theory, research, and skills of this essential liberal art. For those of you who will take additional and advanced courses or who are beginning a major in communication, it will provide the significant foundation for more advanced and more specialized study.
New to This Edition: In Brief
This thirteenth edition of Human Communication: The Basic Course contains a variety of structural and content changes. All of these changes were made to make the text narrative flow more freely and should make the book easier to read and more easily adaptable to different teaching and learning styles.
Structural Changes
Among the major structural changes are these:
■ The chapter-opening objectives have been restructured into behavioral terms and highlight knowledge, application, and problem solving. The chapter-opening grid identifies these alongside the chapter’s major headings/topics (which are repeated in the summary headings at the end of the chapter). This change helps coordinate the learning objectives and the chapter material and phrases the objectives in behavioral, measurable terms.
■ The sample speeches in the public speaking chapters, formerly in boxes in the chapters, have been moved to a Public Speaking Sample Assistant Appendix. This change makes the text flow more smoothly and makes the speeches available whenever most appropriate. The outlines remain in the text chapter.
■ The self-tests, formerly in boxes, have been integrated into the text narrative. This change was made to make these self-reflections a more integrated and integral part of the text.
■ The Building Communication Skills boxes, from the previous edition, have been moved to the end of the chapters and now preface a variety of exercises and discussion starters. This change increases flexibility, making these features available at any point in the chapter coverage.
■ The videos, formerly presented as chapter openers, now appear as the last item in the chapter. This change was made to emphasize the value of using these videos after the chapter material has been covered. This change also enabled us to brighten up the chapter openers with new photos that illustrate principles of communication from very different perspectives.
Content Changes
In addition to an updating of research, new examples, greater emphasis on social media, new exercises, and improved graphics, among the major content changes are these:
■ Part One (Foundations of Human Communication, Chapters 1–6). New materials in these six introductory chapters include the addition of media literacy and choice making as characteristics of communication competence, a media literacy box on media imperialism, a table on the metaphors of culture, discussions of dialects and accents, online social comparisons, self-disclosure in the workplace, the impostor phenomenon, onymous and anonymous messages, and interpersonal time. In addition, new “In a Nutshell” tables summarize the principles of human communication, the competent communicator, improving
intercultural communication, guidelines for self-disclosure, impression formation processes and strategies, listening styles, principles of verbal messages, and proxemic distances.
■ Part Two (Interpersonal, Small Group, and Organizational Communication, Chapters 7–13). New materials include a self-test on small talk, politeness as a principle of conversation, an exercise on introductions, and discussions of types of families, the intervention group, social loafing, and the transition from membership to leadership. New “In a Nutshell” tables summarize the principles of conversation, relationship theories, small group types, membership, and leadership.
■ Part Three (Public Speaking, Chapters 14–18). New materials include three new speeches with annotations and new excerpts to illustrate the various principles. Extensively revised sections include those on finding topics, research, voice, and bodily action. New “In a Nutshell” tables summarize the principles of informative speaking, the principles of persuasive speaking, and the types of persuasive speeches.
Major Features of Human Communication
The thirteenth edition builds on the successful features of previous editions, in addition to incorporating much that is new.
Coverage of the Fundamentals of Communication
■ Part One (Foundations of Human Communication) covers the fundamental concepts and principles of human communication, the self and perception, listening, and verbal and nonverbal messages (Chapters 1–6).
■ Part Two (Interpersonal, Small Group, and Organizational Communication) covers interpersonal interaction and relationships, small group membership and leadership, organizational communication, and conflict (Chapters 7–13).
■ Part Three (Public Speaking) covers the preparation and presentation of public speeches (Chapters 14–18).
■ Because some courses cover interviewing but others do not, the interviewing material, included in earlier editions, is now a separate book, The Interviewing Guidebook, Second Edition, which is available for purchase, as a packaging option with new copies of this book, or on MyCommunicationLab (access code required).
The Concept of Choice
The concept of choice as central to all communication has been given greater prominence in this edition; it is now identified as a major characteristic of communication competence. This text aims to identify some of the available choices for a wide variety of communication situations and present the evidence and argument bearing on these various choices. This focus on choice is discussed throughout the text and is also highlighted in the online Analyzing Video Choices and in the photo program. In both of these features, at the point at which a communication decision needs to be made, the reader is asked to consider the available choices and the likely advantages and disadvantages of each.
Balance of Theory/Research and Skills
The thirteenth edition continues the pattern of the previous editions in giving emphasis to research and theory, on the one hand, and practical communication skills, on the other. Supplementing the discussions of theory and research throughout the text, Understanding Theory and Research boxes (two per chapter) focus on just a small sampling of the many theories and research findings in communication. These boxes explain how we know what we know about communication, describe how researchers go about expanding our knowledge of communication in all its forms, and introduce a variety of interesting theories and research findings. In a similar way, communication skills are not only integrated throughout the text but also emphasized in special exercises at the end of each chapter.
Thorough Coverage of Public Speaking
The book devotes five full chapters to public speaking. The first three of these chapters cover the 10 essential steps for preparing and presenting a public speech.
■ Chapter 14, Public Speaking Topics, Audiences, and Research, introduces the study of public speaking, shows you how to manage your fear, and explains the first three steps for speech preparation: (1) selecting the topic, purposes, and thesis; (2) analyzing the audience; and (3) researching the topic.
■ Chapter 15, Supporting and Organizing Your Speech, covers the next four steps: (4) collecting supporting materials; (5) developing main points; (6) organizing the main points; and (7) constructing the introduction, conclusion, and transitions. In addition, this chapter considers outlining and offers a variety of sample outlines.
■ Chapter 16, Style and Presentation in Public Speaking, covers the remaining three steps: (8) wording the speech, (9) rehearsing the speech, and (10) presenting the speech.
■ Chapters 17, The Informative Speech, and Chapter 18, The Persuasive Speech, cover informative and persuasive speeches in detail—the types of speeches and the strategies for informing and persuading. Each of these chapters contains a special box on Special Occasion Speeches, such as presenting or accepting an award or giving a eulogy or a toast.
A special appendix, Public Speaking Sample Assistants, presents a variety of annotated speeches. This appendix contains several excellent speeches that illustrate what you’ll want to do in your own public speeches. In addition, two purposely poorly written speeches are included to illustrate what you’ll want to avoid. The aims of these sample speeches are (1) to provide specific examples of what you should and what you shouldn’t do and (2) to enable you to see clearly the steps involved in preparing and presenting a public speech.
Emphasis on Cultural Issues
Like the previous editions, this edition reflects the crucial role of culture and intercultural differences in all forms of human communication. There are few communications that are not influenced by culture in some way. Thus, a cultural consciousness is essential in any communication text. In this thirteenth edition this cultural consciousness and coverage takes several forms.
An entire chapter (Chapter 2, Culture and Communication) explains the nature of culture, some of the ways in which cultures differ from one another and the influences these differences have on communication, and some of the ways you can improve your own intercultural communication. Cultural issues also are integrated throughout the text. Here are major examples:
■ Part One, Foundations of Human Communication, establishes the central role of the cultural context in all forms of communication and also considers the role of culture and gender differences in the principles of communication. Cultural and gender differences are discussed as they operate in listening, in verbal messages (rules of directness and politeness; racist, ageist, heterosexist, and sexist language; and the cultural identifiers people prefer); and in nonverbal messages (cultural influences on nonverbal communication channels such as facial expression, color, touch, silence, and time).
■ Part Two, Interpersonal, Small Group, and Organizational Communication, examines cultural influences on conversational rules, cultural sensitivity as a general conversational skill, and cultural differences in turn taking and in the qualities of conversational effectiveness. Cultural influences on the stages of interpersonal relationships, on relationship rules, and on friendship, love, and family relationships are considered as well as the cultural bias in relationship research.
Small groups as cultures, the role of cultural norms in small group communication, and the distinctions between high- and low-power-distance groups are considered in the discussion of the small group and team. The influence of culture on small group membership and leadership, on the organization, and on conflict are discussed throughout this section.
■ Part Three, Public Speaking, covers cultural sensitivity and speech topics, the roles of culture and gender in audience analysis, cultural considerations in speech organization (high- and low-context cultures), the role of culture in emotional display, and some cultural differences in the ways people use and respond to persuasive strategies.
People with and without disabilities also may be viewed from a cultural perspective. Four special tables offer suggestions for improving communication between people with and without disabilities. These tables provide tips for communication between people with and without mobility problems, for example, people with cerebral palsy or who use wheelchairs (Chapter 2), between people who have hearing difficulties and those who don’t (Chapter 4), between people with and without visual problems (Chapter 6), and between people with and without speech or language disorders (Chapter 7).
Coverage of Media Literacy
The discussion of mass communication in this text focuses on media literacy, a topic that is (as it should be) a crucial part of the study of human communication. Each chapter (with the exception of Chapter 1, which introduces the concept in the text narrative) contains an Expanding Media Literacy box that explains an important aspect of media literacy and suggests ways to increase your own media literacy.
Coverage of Social Media
Numerous sections throughout the text cover the ways computer-mediated communication, particularly social media, has changed the way we communicate. Examples include the ways in which online communication and face-to-face communication are similar and different; the role of technology in increasing intercultural communication; the ease of misperception in Internet interactions; self-disclosure on the Internet; social media listening, politeness (netiquette) on the Net; the advantages and disadvantages of online relationships; how online and face-to-face relationships differ; the development of online relationships; online conflicts; how to conduct and evaluate Internet research; and computer-assisted presentations in public speaking.
Coverage of Ethical Issues
Ethics is central to all forms of communication, and therefore a Making Ethical Choices box appears in each of the chapters (with the exception of Chapter 1, where ethics is integrated into the text). These discussions raise ethical principles and pose ethical dilemmas and ask you to make a choice. The purpose of this feature is to connect ethical issues with the various topics of human communication and to encourage you to think about your own ethical system. Among the ethical issues considered are censoring messages and interactions; listening, speaking, and criticizing ethically; the ethics of lying, gossip, and emotional appeals; ethics on the job; and the leader’s ethical responsibility.
Interactive Pedagogy
Of course, a printed textbook cannot literally be interactive. Yet Human Communication, together with the accompanying MyCommunicationLab (www.mycommunicationlab.com; access code required), comes very close. This edition continues to emphasize new and useful pedagogical aids, especially those that are interactive, to help you better understand the theory and research and to enable you to effectively build and polish your communication skills.
■ Boxed Interactives. All the Making Ethical Choices, Understanding Theory and Research, and Expanding Media Literacy boxes contain experiences and questions designed to encourage you to interact with the concepts and to relate these insights to your own everyday communication.
■ Self-Tests. Interactive self-tests, now integrated into the text, appear throughout the text and are designed to help personalize the material.
■ Exercises and Discussion Questions. At the end of each chapter are exercises and discussion questions to stimulate you to expand on, evaluate, and apply the concepts, theories, and research findings discussed in the text to your own communications and to stimulate class discussion.
■ Key Terms and Glossaries. A list of key terms at the end of each chapter will help you review the major terms discussed in the chapter. These terms are accompanied by references to the pages of the text on which they’re introduced and defined. In addition, a combined glossary of concepts and skills provides brief definitions of the significant concepts in the study of human communication and of communication skills (skills appear in italics).
■ Choice Points. The photo captions and the Analyzing Video Choices at the end of the chapter invite participation in working actively with the concepts discussed in the chapter. You can log on to MyCommunicationLab (www.mycommunicationlab.com; access code required) to view this end-of-the-chapter video. Click through to see how the characters make various communication choices and how these choices affect their effectiveness as communicators, and then answer the discussion questions to help you analyze each situation.
■ In a Nutshell Tables. The few summary tables in the previous edition, praised by users, have been increased to 19 and are called “In a Nutshell.” These tables summarize significant portions of the text and appear throughout the text as appropriate.
■ Summary Statements. At the end of each chapter, a summary reviews the essential concepts and principles covered in the chapter. The summary is organized with the headings used in the chapter-opening grid and in the chapter itself.
Resources in Print and Online
Key instructor resources include an Instructor’s Manual (ISBN 0-205-98105-4), Test Bank (ISBN 0-13-374647-X), and PowerPoint Presentation Package (ISBN 0-205-98094-5). These supplements are available at www.pearsonhighered.com/irc (access code required). MyTest online test generating software (ISBN 0-205-98106-2) is available at www.pearsonmytest.com (access code required).
For a complete listing of the instructor and student resources available with this text, please visit the Human Communication e-Catalog page at www.pearsonhighered.com/communication.
The student print version of this title is a threehole punched, loose-leaf text packaged with a MyCommunicationLab access card (ISBN 0-205-99592-6). A MyCommunicationLab standalone access card is also available (ISBN 0-205-99595-0).
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