Verbal Fluency

In this article we describe VERBAL FLUENCY from an educational perspective introducing some key words, and defining some complex concepts for further investigation. I then consider briefly some applications in the business world.

We can draw a distinction between 2 types of speech :

DIRECT SPEECH : oral or written expression is direct speech when it comes to the recipient in its original form, either heard or read.

REPORTED SPEECH : (or indirect speech) where the exact sense of expression is given.

We often use inverted commas or quotation marks to designate DIRECT SPEECH.

EXAMPLE : with inverted commas.

The agent said quickly : "Bonner is the man to vote for.'

Without inverted commas, Bonner is the most eloquent of the three candidates.

BUSINESS WISE : Now we have a distinction to work from we can describe the role of verbal fluency (oral skills) in the business world.

It helps in management if the orator can display their thoughts and conclusions clearly, verbal communication adds speed the decision making. The introduction of the telephone added considerable weight to this type of communication.

We can reduce communications to 3 interpretations.

1. What the writer or speaker meant to say 2. What he did say 3. What the person receiving the message thought was said.

It is important to ensure points 1 and 3 are identical, this is especially the case with oral communications, because we are often required to say things on the spur of the moment.

Short statements aid effective communications - this helps reduce the risk of error.

SYNTAX (how words combine to form larger units such as phrases and sentences) and the role of PUNCTUATION help to explain the correct meaning of written texts. I cover punctuation in a later article.

"FACE TO FACE" COMMUNICATIONS

ADVANTAGES : 1. Face to face communications introduces "HUMANITY" 2. It is quick and permits instant feedback, the participants can elaborate where necessary 3. Because of this mistakes can be corrected quickly for a faster agreement.

DISADVANTAGES : 1. No permanent record - span of comprehension is limited, 2. Time consuming, 3. Less precision than written material.

ORAL or VERBAL FLUENCY TESTS do exist, I have a school leaving qualification in SPOKEN ENGLISH backed by The University of London (1974).

They tend to be psychological tests : SEMANTIC or category fluency tests include The COWAT (Controlled Oral Word Association Test). They have use as a cognitive assessment for the detection of cognitive impairment and dementia in non specialist clinical settings.

Lastly we could consider fluency to convey an attitude or reaction, this is described as PHATIC expression often described as small talk. Also INTERCALARY expressions, these are superfluous speech units inserted that carry the meaning of the oral message, examples include I mean, really, well, sort of.

SOURCES : English for General Certificate - 1954 (published by George G. Harrap and Co Ltd - High Holborn London). Business Communications - Pitman 1989 (Chappel Read). Communications in Business - Pitman (Peter Little). Wikipedia !