Observation Communication
This assignment is about observing how others communicate, such as patterns of communication, styles of communication, etc. We are surrounded everywhere we turn with people engaged in conversation. It could be the grocery store, the mall, restaurant, coffee shops, at your home; as the list is endless. You can choose to conduct your observation at home or in public, depending on COVID-19/variants and the region’s guidelines and/or mandates. You should choose a place in which you are comfortable. Do not put yourself in a situation in which you will not feel comfortable or safe.
You will pay attention to the nonverbal and verbal messages you hear while considering what has been discussed in lectures, and read. You can even choose to include textbook material that we have not yet covered in class. For instance, you decide to observe your family during a disagreement which further turns into an all out argument. Did you notice that one family member had her hands crossed over her chest while another member kept interrupting? And, yet another member kept rolling his eyes? This alone shows lots of non-verbal behavior but also a failure to engage in active listening.
You are NOT to interject your opinion or interrupt while observing. Your role is to sit/stand quietly by. And if asked for an opinion or someone attempts to get you involved, you are to stay out of it. If you get involved, it will influence the observation.
You MUST incorporate class material especially Adler & Proctor, but also, Forni, lectures, any videos and additional materials for this paper. Failing to do so will be detrimental to your score. Be certain to include many terms, concepts, and topics, and that they are defined and discussed and incorporated appropriately to your observation on communication.
You will write a full four pages-to-five page paper (that is, it should be a minimum of 2000-2500 words. Writing at a college level is important so take the time and effort necessary for the assignment. Turning in work that is short of the word count/page requirement will result in a nine point deduction.
In addition, you MUST cite throughout the paper using ONLY APA formatting (APA = American Psychological Association’s Publication Manual – 7th edition). The publication manual is available to you on Blackboard for our class. It can be found under APA Pub Manual tab. References for either Forni or Adler & Proctor are not necessary for this assignment. However, if you decide to use a quote from either of those sources or me (from lecture) it must be cited properly. Citations that involve quotes are more complicated and require page numbers included within the citation. Using page numbers in the citation is only necessary when quoting. Otherwise, page numbers are not included. You will find the correct way of citing when you go to the tab for APA’s Publication Manual (7th edition).