Fully describe the concept of communication competence, and describe a time when you lacked it.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The ideal answer should include that the competent communicator:
- Thinks mindfully and critically. A special kind of critical thinking is mindfulness. Mindfulness is a state of awareness in which you're conscious of your reasons for thinking or behaving.
- Makes reasoned choices. Competence in communication choice-making can be viewed as a series of three steps, 1) identify the available choices, 2) identify the advantages and disadvantages of each choice, 3) effectively communicate the most logical choice.
- Is an effective code switcher. Communication competence involves the ability to code switch when it's appropriate-when it makes your message clearer and when it's genuine (rather than an attempt to make yourself one of the group).
- Is culturally aware and sensitive. Culture includes all that members of a social group have produced and developed-their language, ways of thinking, art, laws, and religion.
- Is ethical. Ethics is concerned with actions, with behaviors; it's concerned with distinguishing between behaviors that are moral (ethical, good, right) and those that are immoral (unethical, bad, wrong).
- Examples related to communication competence will vary depending on a student's experiences; anecdotes could derive from mishaps related to social media, an interview, or a conversation with a parent or guardian.