The Importance Of Communication Competency

Mark Twain once wrote, “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.” Twains words apply in the sense that communication without competence isn’t communication at all but rather words that form sentences that are exchanged between one another. If one lacks the capability to execute the intended message in an utterance then that utterance is deemed useless. In order to achieve competency one must implement the components that make up communication theories. The overarching theme of communication competence is effectiveness and appropriateness. These defining characteristics can be seen in other communication theories such as, Grices Cooperative Principle, Brown & Levinsons politeness theory and Barabara O’Keefes Message Design Logic.

Dell Hymes came up with the term communication competence in 1966 when he came across American linguist Noam Chomsky’s conception on linguistic competence. Hymes realized that a language user needs to use language not only correctly (based on linguistic competence), but also appropriately (based on communicative competence). These defining characteristics can be implemented in interpersonal communication competency; which allows one to achieve their communication goals without jeopardizing the face of the other party. There are three components that are required in order to achieve competent communication: 1. knowledge, 2. skill, and 3. motivation. These three components are all interconnected; knowledge is being aware of the situation and knowing what behavior to use, the skill comes from being able to apply the chosen behavior in a certain situation, and motivation is having the desire to communicate competently. Communicating ef...

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...teness theory possess characteristics that contribute to the overall goal of communication competence.

To summarize, communication competency requires an individual to communicate both effectively and appropriately. These defining characteristics can be implemented by three components: 1. Skill, 2. Knowledge and 3.Motivation. The four maxims in Grices cooperative principal contribute to communicative competency by ensuring effective exchange of information. Politeness theory coordinates communication and addresses and individuals positive and negative face. Message Design logic studies the perceptions of communication competence. A persons understanding of a theory or principle will determine how they will react in a given situation. Therefore if one does not hold the qualities that make a competent communicator then, “It is better to keep your mouth closed”.