Understanding Interpersonal Communication: Making Choices in Changing Times (with CD-ROM and InfoTrac)

by Richard L. West, Lynn H. Turner

West and Turner's UNDERSTANDING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION: MAKING CHOICES will empower your students with the knowledge they need to be skillful communicators in today's changing and technologically advanced society. With a belief that "theory informs skills and skills refine theory," this text seeks to eliminate the perceived division between theory and practice while clarifying the intersection between the two. This approach to skill development provides discussion of interpersonal skills and the behavior choices students can make in order to become more effective communicators. The authors avoid "telling" students how to apply interpersonal skills to various situations. Rather, they provide a list of skills pertaining to the theory students read about in the chapter so students will be able to draw upon a sort of toolbox, or set of skills, that are specific and workable. Filled with realistic examples and scenarios that reflect the diversity and interactions of today's students, UNDERSTANDING INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION makes clear connections between theory, skills and the life situations we all encounter on a daily basis.

Paperback

First published April 26, 2005

About the author

Richard West is a professor at Emerson College. He has served as president of the National Communication Association (NCA) and the Eastern Communication Association (ECA). He has also chaired or served on over two dozen ECA committees and is a recipient of ECA's Distinguished Service Award as well as being recognized as a Distinguished Research Fellow. He is currently on the Academic Board of Directors for the Global Listening Centre, based in London.

Source

Reviews

[LS · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, if you ever wanted to know what you were doing wrong in terms of communication, this book will tell you. Be prepared with the bravery to face yourself, because the introspection can be depressing. It also offers many structured techniques and suggestions on how to do it right. Written in plain accessible language without too many examples and stories. Offers clear definitions and observable conditions for interpreting basic human interactions, communications and types of relationships without assuming that the reader already knows what some everyday terms mean. It is a excellent introductory book that covers the gamut of situations encountered in human life.

[Linda Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book talks about dialectics, the push and pull of autonomy and connection. Their analytical approach to haptics, nonverbal cues, high context cultures/low context cultures, the dialectics of affection and instrumentality. Lynn H. Turner teaches you how to analyze your communication faults such as selective listening, talkaholic syndrome, using "you" statements over "I" statements, owning. It gives a lot of gold when it comes to conflict resolution. It goes through the dyadic effect, the tendency to return a self-disclosure of with one that matches in level of intimacy. The social penetration model (the people are onions theory) is also discussed. It offers a lot of quizzes to assess yourself. Good journey. Chapter 11 on technology was heavily outdated and completely off in the terms used when speaking about the technology of my generation when it was published. I was 23 at the time of publishing. The book also gets repetitive and derivative sometimes but I just skipped those parts. They could of gone into conflict resolution and listening more.

Ultimately, read this book if you want to work on your listening, conflict resolution skills and assessing faults in your communication skills with coworkers, friends and family. Overall good read. I highlighted the important parts so I can keep this book to return to it when I need a refresher course on the things I need to work on.