Civil protection specialists’ communicative competence: peculiarities and realities

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Institute of Public Administration and Research in Civil Protection

Civil protection specialists' communicative competence: peculiarities and realities

Haiovych H.V., Shykhnenko K.I.

Introduction

The main areas of modern education are focused on formation, development and improvement of the various human abilities, and communicative competence among them is of particular significance. M. Penteliuk argues that presently “language education is a basis for the cognitive and creative formation of the individual with a high level of communicative competence and the ability to perceive and transfer a variety of information” [1; p. 123]. Such skills are believed to play a particular role in emergencies, which requires rapid and coordinated responses and efforts of a large number of people. This coordination involves broad communication on specific needs, availability of resources, an optimal course of action, etc. Rapid and accurate communication in the networks that are established for disaster response means greater effectiveness in dealing with it at the disaster site.

The current studies reflect and confirm interdisciplinary and multidimensional nature of the topic. Theoretical analysis of the features of communicative competence are presented in the works of H. Pocheptsov [2], F. Batsevych [3], O. Selivanova [4]. Professional characteristics of the communicative behavior of the representatives of various occupational fields were widely studied, namely: high school teachers [5], law-enforcement [6; 7], medical workers [8; 9], teachers and lecturers [10].

In the research context, the works on communicative competence of the civil protection and other specialists of extreme occupational fields take on special interest. Thus, theoretical and methodological foundations for the professionally-oriented communicative training of the future civil protection officers are introduced in the thesis of Yu. Nenko [11]. S. K. Aros and D. Gibbons [12] presented the findings on the level of communication capabilities of mass media (web applications, e-mails, telephones, etc.) during disaster response. V.G. Boucher et al. state that doctors' communicative competence development through training is a key factor to the best professional practice. At the same time, the tools to assess communication are insufficient, thus, the need to develop new ones is of particular importance [13].

Psycholinguistic features of the language use in extreme situations are studied by I. Bogdanova, L. Perelygina, and O. Frolova [14]. Practical ways to improve the language competence of the civil protection professionals are suggested by H. Gayovych and K. Shykhnenko [15]. N. Canaerts introduced collection of empirical evidence of effective communication in emergencies highlighting the relevance of planning, training and rehearsal and showing the importance of various parties involved in communication along with the impact of the social media on the quality of crises communication [16].

Research on crises communication is also significant in this context. J. Bullock, G. Haddow, D. Coppola conducted the analysis of the principles of the US disaster management, discussed the impact of new technologies on disaster management and outlined fundamentals of the preparatory process, emergency mitigation, administration and recovery [17; 18]. They argue that communicative competence accompanies the process at all phases of emergency management. Reference, applied and methodical literature introduce the role and place of successful communication strategies, crises communication plans, rules of effective communication, etc. On the websites of world-famous agencies and services the following guidebooks are found: Effective Communication: Student manual (FEMA) [19];

Fundamentals of communication during crisis and emergencies (RANO) [20], Communication Manual (UNICEF), etc. Such reference books tend to appear in Ukraine, in particular due to adapted translation of international papers [21] or through joint projects with international organizations. “The Ukrainian Crises Media Centre” plays a significant role in the process.

The research analysis confirms the need to find a new comprehensive approach to address the issue through engaging not only educators and researchers but professionals from civil protection in developing practitioner's handbooks or manuals or “how-to” guides to improve civil protection specialists' communication skills. The actuality of this study is in its orientation towards overcoming contradictions between the need of educational institutions in the field of civil protection in theoretically designed and practically tested trainings in communication skills and imperfect technological tools for identifying the existing communication skills of the target individuals; between society's need for competitive civil protection professionals and theoretical and practical elaboration of the issue.

The purpose of the research is to analyse the features of the civil protection specialists' communicative competence by conducting the initial diagnostics of it and by introducing its description to determine the current level of communication skills development of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) employees; to identify communicative situations that require practice. The empirical stage is based on the results of a survey of SESU employees who took advanced training courses at the Institute of Public Administration and Research in Civil Protection (IPA RCP, Kyiv).

The main tasks addressed in the paper are: to clarify the concept of communicative competence and its constituent elements; to highlight the special features of the emergency communication; to carry out initial diagnostics and description of the respondents' level of communicative competence.

To achieve the objective, a set of interrelated and mutually reinforcing methods were used: theoretical, including analysis, synthesis, and generalization; systematization for the literature review and modelling; psycho-diagnostic and psychological and pedagogical methods. For the empirical basis of the research L. Michelson's test of communicative skills as the diagnostic technique was applied (“Communicative skills test” by L. Michelson, translated and adapted by Yu. Gilbukh). The study also used pedagogical observation of the respondents' behavior during testing and their response to test results. The process involved 294 students (205 men and 89 women aged 24-57) who were trained on civil protection issues at the Institute of Public Administration and Research in Civil Protection, Kyiv. The study lasted from September 2020 to March 2021. All the participants were informed about the anonymous nature of the survey and the possibility of withdrawing from the intentions at any stage.

Results and discussion

“The strategy for reforming the State Emergency Service of Ukraine” [22] states that the purpose of current reforms is to enhance system's capacity in cooperation with other components of the security and defense sector to counter threats to national security in the field of civil protection. Effective communication is believed to have a special role in achieving this goal.

One of the main approach to language instruction is communicative-oriented. Its main task is to prepare students to use language in real life situations, that is for communication. It is “communicative competence” that is at the highest level in the hierarchy of human competencies as it includes all the others: linguistic, discursive, sociolinguistic, strategic, sociocultural competences, etc. [3]. D. Tarvin traced the history of concept origin and development from 1965 and defined communicative competence as the ability to use language or communicate in a culturally sensitive manner in order to find meaning and fulfill social tasks effectively through enhanced interaction [23, p. 2, p. 7]. Accordingly, to communicate effectively individuals need to acquire language knowledge, skills and abilities.

One of the first researchers on the issue N. Chomsky [24] noted that language competence could not be explained only as a linguistic or a psychological phenomenon. This idea is supported and developed by L. Masenko [25, p. 6, p.16].

Communicative competence has at least three dimensions: substantive dimension, which requires knowledge of language norms; activity oriented dimension, which includes speaking skills, and practical dimension which creates an understanding of how to use the acquired knowledge and skills in accordance with social values. Considering the content of this concept through its structure can help both better understand its theoretical component and more effectively implement it in practice, which is aimed at developing and improving the communicative competence of specialists from different occupational contexts.

In terms of the SESU scope of work, it is difficult to imagine it without various communicative processes, both internally organizational and externally organizational. Special attention is paid to the communication of the specialists from this field in a state of emotional tension, which can occur when performing tasks in extreme situations. This type of communication differs significantly in characteristics from the communication of people in a normal state [14, p. 391].

Specific communication is required to work in an emergency. It calls for quick response, constant control of external processes and self-control, selection of the proper language tools, correct choice of the appropriate forms of communication. Therefore, the next stage of the research was searching, analysing and describing the peculiarities of civil protection specialists' communicative competence.

In order to explore further the specifics of this communication, foreign experience was analysed. The focus was on the content of practical manuals on communication in emergencies, which are used nowadays by well-known security organizations and services, in particular US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, etc. It should be noted that practical recommendations presented in the manuals may be of great interest to the civil protection specialists. Effective strategies of communicative behavior are identified among the priorities. The review of both practical and theoretical sources on the issue revealed certain features of the civil protection specialists' communicative competence. Among them special and basic skills are distinguished. The competencies of the first group of skills are briefly described below.

1. One of the priorities is the ability to provide precise information. Studies show that during emergencies, information is often more important than food or water. Accurate information can help survive and gives the victims confidence in recovery as well.

2. It is important to process information in a timely manner. Communication and clear coordination with the media is essential to ensure a timely process. Thus, information on the cycles and timing of local media news programs should be obtained as early as possible. If an official response is unavailable for any reason, rumors and speculations fill the information vacuum.

3. In the event of the situation described above, it is necessary not only to disseminate reliable information but to counteract the misinformation that has spread.

4. During emergency communication it is important not only to transmit information but also to check how it is perceived by the intended audience. Urgent messages differ from other types of messages in their purpose, which is to elicit a specific response from the public rather than simply improve or provide information.

5. In time of crisis, anxiety, fear, lack of sleep and other psychological factors can complicate the processing and interpretation of information. Therefore, specialists should be prepared for such communication barriers.

6. Emergency response usually involves many people. It is important that they exchange and reconcile information in a timely manner.

7. Compliance with the specific rules of verbal communication requires the following competencies: when interacting with target audiences a specialist must determine what people should know and do first; what should be done to correct misperceptions and false information if they already exist. Key messages on main issues and the list of expected questions from the public with possible answers should be prepared in advance. These messages should be concise and represent essential information. Crisis communication experts advise limiting such recommendations to the three most important so that the audience can remember them. Additional material to illustrate and substantiate each key message needs to be prepared (examples, quotations, personal stories, analogies, instructions, films, etc.). It is also important to practice before communicating key information [20, p. 4-5].

On the other hand, experts in this field should also have a sufficient level of general communication skills. They should be able to: 1) prepare, process and effectively interpret documents using technical means of communication; 2) communicate with colleagues and supervisors in the workplace: share information effectively, clearly and succinctly; 3) interact professionally with different local, public and private bodies; 4) take an active part and represent the department professionally in the meetings; 5) have the skills to listen actively, to give feedbacks; know tactics of information acquisition; 6) know how to use both verbal and non-verbal means of communication.

This list is not exhaustive. Those peculiarities make it clear that almost all the competencies are based on language knowledge along with the ability to use the knowledge in practice. The analysis also suggests that prior preparation plays an important role in this process. It allows specialists not only to be prepared for standard situations that are prescribed beforehand but also to improve their general communication skills. Developing effective communication skills, especially in unconventional environment, which nowadays have become more frequent, is crucial for the emergency preparedness of the civil protection specialist.

Communication skills relevant level identification of the participants of the experiment was the next stage of the research.

The study involved participants trained in various programs; they were of different professions: rescue workers, dispatchers, meteorologists, emergency psychologists as well as SESU government employees.

Respondents were invited to take the «Communicative skills test» by L. Michelson [26]. The choice of methodology is not random, it is based on informativeness (contains a wide range of issues); economy (optimum use of time and human resources), general availability. The objective of the empirical study was to determine the current level of development of the respondents' communicative competence; to identify those communicative situations that require exercising; to confirm or refute the assumption of the importance of primary diagnostics for improving language and communication skills.

Responders were asked to read each of the situations in the test carefully and to choose the type of conduct they consider more acceptable. Figure 1 shows the data distribution by the type of each respondent's answer in percentage terms. According to the methodology of the proposed test, the answers are divided into three types, they are: “competent”, “dependent” and “aggressive”, as it is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Distribution of the types of answers, %

communicative competence civil protection

Using the test key [26, p. 24] and the elements of statistical analysis, the following figures were obtained: 66.2% of the responders (195 people) chose the answer “competent” in 70% of the questions or more; 27,3% of the responders (80 people) chose the answer “competent” in more than 80% of the questions, and only 6,5% of the responders (19 people) - in more than 90% of the questions. When processing the respondents' “competent” answers, we divided them into three groups: from the minimum of 51.85% to the maximum of 92.59%. The range of values of the response type “competent” accounts for approximately 13.58% for each group.

The first group (ranging from 51.85% to 65.43% that is a tentatively low level of competence) comprised the answers of 56 respondents. It is interesting to note that the response rate of the type “aggressive” turned out to be very unstable: from 3% to 26% (23 points). At the same time, the indicator of the type of response “dependent” is more stable: from 22% to 33% (11 points), but the level is also quite high.

The second group (ranging from 65.43% to 79. 01%) consisted of 140 respondents. This is considered a relatively average level of competence. The response rates of this group are much more stable. The answers such as “aggressive” are scattered between 0% and 7% (7 points), and “dependent” - from 14% to 21% (7 points).

The third group presented 98 people with tentatively high level of competence. These are respondents with a high percentage of “competent” answers (ranging from 79.01% to 94.59%). It should be noted that in this group the stability of the response rate “dependent” has deteriorated: these figures are from 3,7% to 14%. On the contrary, for the response type “aggressive” the figures decreased more compared to the first and second groups (0% - 3,7%), so that third-group stability under this indicator is the highest.

The analysis allows for the following conclusions: the first-group respondents are characterized by a high level of aggression; the group has a fairly low stability for this type of response. In the second group the rates improve and become more stable with regard to both analysed types. The third- group responders with a high level of general communicative competence are still characterized by a high level of instability on the basis of dependence, which worsens compared to the second group and approaches to the rates of the first group. It is also seen that in the second and third groups the rates under the response type “aggressive” decline. Thus, the hypothesis is that human aggressiveness during communication correlates in a certain way with the level of communicative competence. Moreover, a person with a high level of communicative competence can show dependence on the conditions and circumstances in which the communicative process undergoes.

The types of answers in terms of questions were also analysed. The results are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Distribution of the types of answers by question, %

On average, about 73% of the competent responses were received for each question. This is a good enough indicator to suggest a sufficient level of communicative competence of the interviewees. However, after a more detailed analysis and identification of the situations to be addressed, the conclusions were slightly different.

Thus, the data analysis showed that the biggest deviation from the answer “competent” is in questions 5 (45%), 15 (73%), 16 (45%), 23 (55%) and 27 (69%), which is a significant share of 19% from the total number of questions.

It is necessary to highlight that the classical method of the test was applied, in which all the questions are divided into 5 types of communicative situations:

1) situations in which a positive feedback from partners is required (questions 1, 2, 11, 12);

2) situations in which a response to partner's negative statements is required (questions 3, 4, 5, 15, 23, 24);

3) situations in which a response to request is required (questions 6, 10, 14, 16, 17, 25);

4) situations of discussion (questions 13, 18, 19, 26, 27);

5) situations in which empathy is required (understanding another person's feelings and internal state) (questions 7, 8, 9, 20, 21, 22) [26, p. 24].

According to this division and the obtained data, it can be stated that the respondents need practical exercises in communication acts 2,3,4, that is in almost all situations.

Type 2 communication situations are of particular concern when it is necessary to find the right communication and verbal strategy in response to aggression or negativity. They are described in questions 5, 15 and 23 to which a fairly high percentage of the incompetent responses were obtained. It is worth mentioning that this type of speech production during emergencies is not rare, so that responsible specialists must be very well prepared for them.

The empirical study showed that the respondents actually wanted to take the test and after receiving the results they asked how to improve those competences for which they did not receive the answer “competent”. This may therefore be considered as confirmation of the importance of understanding of the relevant level of competences development and may encourage the respondents to search for ways to improve them.

Thus, the results of the study showed that 1) the communicator's behaviour is often correlated with their level of communicative competence; 2) the current level of respondents' communication competencies is sufficient but this conclusion concerns mainly general competencies; 3) regarding special communication skills that are important to civil protection experts, the obtained data show that for effective emergency communication, specialists need prior training and upgrading their existing skills. Further research is needed to be continued in that direction.

Conclusions

This research suggests that communication competence is an essential part of the professional competence of the civil protection specialists as well as an important condition of their readiness for emergencies. Theoretical and empirical studies have made it possible to carry out initial diagnostics and consider the general trends of the issue. These include:

1. The structure of the communicative competence includes knowledge of the language - phonetic, grammatical, stylistic, syntactic, lexical, etc.; the ability to process, analyze, synthesize information by means of the language and to choose the most important and necessary facts for the situation; skills to use language units according to the context and for creation of the communicatively effective tactics during communication.

2. Civil protection specialist's communicative competence has basic and specific knowledge and skills. Among the specific skills, the ability to provide accurate information, and check its understanding by recipients, to counteract misinformation, to reveal and avoid communication barriers timely are emphasized.

3. Michelson's communicative test results made it possible to determine the current level of basic communication skills of the respondents and to identify communicative situations to be improved.

4. The findings suggest that the type of communicative behavior correlates with the level of communicative competence. The respondents' actual level of communicative competence is sufficient in terms of the basic communication skills. Regarding to the specific ones, specialists need prior training and skill improvement. The findings also suggest that human aggressiveness during communication depends on the level of the communicative competence: the higher the level of the communicative competence, the lower the aggressiveness and vice versa. A person with a high level of communicative competence may be dependent on the conditions and circumstances in which the communicative process takes place.

5. Observation of the respondents' behaviour during the experiment supports the suggestion that testing along with other similar activities could be an incentive for specialists to seek ways to improve their communicative competence.

Research results made it possible to outline the prospects of designing the theoretical models and practical manuals on improvement and development of the civil protection specialists' communicative competence.

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