ABSTRACT
This chapter makes a distinction between “communication skill” and “communication competence.” Communication skill is defined as “behaviors and behavioral abilities for carrying out communicative functions in proficient ways.” Those communicative functions are (a) message production and processing, (b) interaction management, (c) self-control and self-presentation, (d) negotiation of “social reality,” and (e) pursuit of interaction goals. Communication competence is defined as “an assessment of one’s performance according to some standard(s).” Seven “general principles of communication competence” are advanced (a) behavior that reflects an “other orientation” tends to be perceived as more communicatively competent, (b) behavior that reflects a higher level of “positive energy” tends to be perceived as more communicatively competent, (c) behavior that is interpersonally rewarding tends to be perceived as more communicatively competent, (d) behavior that reflects a lack of composure or decorum tends to be perceived as less communicatively competent, (e) “moderate” levels of behavior tend to be perceived as more communicatively competent, (f) behaviors that are judged to be “authentic” tend to be perceived as more communicatively competent, and (g) behaviors that are adapted to one’s conversational partner, the relationship, and the situation tend to be perceived as more communicatively competent.
