Improving emotive communication: verbal, prosodic and kinesic conflictavoidance techniques

Abstract

Industrial language programme developers who wish to improve emotive communication and reduce supervisor-worker conflicts can profit from recent research by interactional psychologists, social psychologists and investigators of nonverbal communication. Three emotive aspects of speech are central to conflict-avoidance: levels of assertiveness, interpersonal involvement and emotional intensity. In face-to-face speech these are signalled by various verbal, vocal and kinesic activities. Conflict-avoidance is largely a matter of impression management. A supervisor who wishes to avoid unnecessary conflicts actively maintains a supportive communicative environment. When delivering positive messages he is assertive, interpersonally involved, and more emotional than usual. When delivering negative messages he is relatively nonassertive, impersonal and unemotional. Multimodal techniques for avoiding conflicts in various industrial settings are discussed in the paper. Die samestellers van industriele taalprogramme wat daarna mik om emotiewe kommunikasie te verbeter en om opsiener/werker-konflik te verminder, sal baat vind by resente navorsing deur interaksie-psigoloe, sosiale psigoloe en ondersoekers na nie-verbale kommunikasie. Drie emotiewe aspekte van spraak staan sentraal in die vermyding van konflik: vlakke van selfgelding, interpersoonlike betrokkenheid en emosionele intensiteit. In gesprekke van aangesig tot aangesig word hierdie aspekte oorgedra deur verskeie verbale, vokale en kinestetiese aktiwiteite. Om konflik te vermy hang in 'n groot mate saam met die skep van 'n positiewe indruk. 'n Opsiener wat graag onnodige konflik wil vermy, skep op aktiewe wyse 'n ondersteunende kommunikatiewe omgewing. Wanneer hy positiewe boodskappe oordra, doen hy dit met gesag, hy is interpersoonlik betrokke en meer emosioneel as gewoonlilc Met die oordra van negatiewe boodskappe is hy relatief onaanmatigend, onpersoonlik en onemosioneel. Multi-modale tegnieke vir die vermyding van konflik in verskeie industriele opsette word in hierdie artikel bespreek.