The dominant interpersonal issue addressed in the letter is the “Dilemma of picking a major.” It is because the writer has no one to look up to or get advice from as she is the first person in her family to go to college.
In his article Sir Keithington explains the eight principles of communication, and one of the principles states that “Interpersonal Communication Develops and Sustains Relationships. Interpersonal communication is critical in building networks of relationships in our lives. Without interpersonal communication we would not have friendships, partnerships, relationships,etc “. Through the letter a student can build good relationship with their tutors.(Saylor. Org) also explains that for effective communication to take place people need to understand themselves because it is essential in communication in this case the author of the letter understands herself and goes ahead to explain it in this regard communication becomes easier and effective (DeVito & DeVito 2007) . The author explains that self understanding indicates that one is aware of themselves and what they want therefore making it easy for the other person to approach and engage them.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The issue that has also been addressed is the lack of a mentor because the author of the letter explains that they have no one in their family who has ever gone to college (DeVito & DeVito 2007) There could be avoidance of conflicting because the author of the letter explains that they have no one to consult and instead of seeking advice regardless of the situation because despite the author of the letter explaining that they have difficulty in making a choice she goes ahead and settles for teaching because she thinks she is god at ti through their experience in interacting with children. Although there is the aspect of self disclosure there is also avoidance because the author thinks she already has a way out may be because she does not want to bother others in giving helps of making choices despite expression of interest . This way the relationship can easily go apart because there is no need of further communication as the author has already found a solution to their issues.
There are several ways thorough which people respond to situations and in the letter there is a case of avoidance and the weekly reading s explain that there are tensions that occur in the process of interpersonal communication and they can be harmful in the flow of communication (DeVito & DeVito 2007) In the letter the author could be tensed about what they would be told and as a result they decided to take an avoidance strategy. According to the article there are different ways through which people can avoid tension in interpersonal communication and they include; neutralize, separate, segment and reframe. The author was avoiding goal conflict where they would disagree on the final goal and that is the most appropriate major to take.
Based on what we have covered this semester the point I need to make in response to the letter include; acknowledging the great work in which the author has done by self understanding. I will appreciate the efforts in which the author of the letter has put in to bring out their issue of being challenged in making a good choice in regard to their major (Jones 2015) . Another point that I will note in response to the letter is self disclosure where the author has stated categorically that they do not have anyone who has gone to college in their family and therefore has no one to ask about course choices (Jones 2015) . Another issues that I will not in response is the avoidance of conflict where in the long run the person who sought advice has the final decision on what they want.
Shelly Lane explains various aspects of interpersonal communication and one of thing she emphasizes on it the need for response. Interpersonal communication cannot be effective is there is no response. In this case the author of the letter could have waited for response before settling on an answer and this is depicted where they end the letter by saying they think they can be teacher because their experience with children. Another a critical aspect that I encountered in my research was the aspect of exercising emotional intelligence (Petrovici&Dobrescu 2014) . In the letter the author seems to be nervous and decides to avoid conflicts in this case the responder needs to exercise emotional intelligence for the communication to take the right path. Another concept that I noted is that people struggle to have effective communication and so is the case form the author of the letter ( Le F evre& Robinson 2015) . Despite giving self disclosure and understanding themselves she still avoids conflicting a n issues which if not handle appropriate will ruin communication.
Letter
Dear Shannon,
I am having trouble picking the appropriate major can you help? I am the first child to be in college in my family and it’s very import to me that I succeed, this includes picking the best major for me. I have always worked well with kids so I plan on putting that to good use and go into teaching.
Thank you.
Dear Shannon,
I hope this letter finds you well. I am glad to give you advice regarding your letter and request for guidance in choosing your major. One issues that I notice is that you are in dilemma and you have no one to help you in making the appropriate choices as none of your family members have gone to college (Lalancette & Raynauld 2019). . It is good that you understand yourself and the situation. Also I realize that you have done disclosure of lack of people to advise you and gone ahead to explain why. However you seem to be avoiding conflict or what your adviser might say and this is evident where you end settling for teaching because you claim to have experience in handling children (Schutte 2001) . I am willing and ready to give you advise but please stop avoidance of conflict and seek to engage to get a meaningful solution. There are different ways to resolve conflict and they include; neutralize, separate, segment and reframe (Koteyko, Nerlich &Hellsten 2015) . They can be helpful in enabling you to have a calm mind and making rational decidions
References
Koteyko, N., Nerlich, B., &Hellsten, I. (2015). Climate change communication and the Internet: Challenges and opportunities for research.
Lalancette, M., &Raynauld, V. (2019). The power of political image: Justin Trudeau, Instagram, and celebrity politics. American Behavioral Scientist , 63 (7), 888-924.
Lane, S. D. (2016). Interpersonal communication: Competence and contexts . Routledge.
Le Fevre, D. M., & Robinson, V. M. (2015). The interpersonal challenges of instructional leadership: Principals’ effectiveness in conversations about performance issues. Educational Administration Quarterly , 51 (1), 58-95.
Petrovici, A., &Dobrescu, T. (2014). The role of emotional intelligence in building interpersonal communication skills. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 116 , 1405-1410.
Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., Bobik, C., Coston, T. D., Greeson, C., Jedlicka, C., ... &Wendorf, G. (2001). Emotional intelligence and interpersonal relations. The Journal of social psychology , 141 (4), 523-536.
Jones Jr, R. G. (2015). Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies, v. 1.0. FlatWorld. http://catalog. flatworldknowledge. com/bookhub/reader/8027 .
DeVito, J. A. (2019). The interpersonal communication book. Instructor , 1 , 18.
