Communication

COMMMUNICATION


Communication is a two-way process, which plays a huge role in the social life of a human being. Communication is the input that comprises of the components like source, sender, message, medium, receiver, setting and dysfunctional elements. Emotional factors, need, motive, drives, desires, attitude, intelligence and teacher competence influence communication. Inadequate competence in language of communication, individual styles of communication, unfavourable attitude, social factors and unnecessary non-verbal communication also act as barriers apart from linguistic, physical, psychological and back ground barriers. Oral communication is divided in to intra-personal, interpersonal, group and mass communication. Mass communication further employs two strategies – continuous prose oral communication and heuristic communication.

Dos of oral communication

• The ideas or concepts conveyed should be precise.
• The message must be well organized in a proper sequence.
• Terminology and language used should be simple and easy.
• The complex concepts and facts should be presented in simple sentences.
• Moderate speed while speaking is always desirable.
• The speaker should use proper stress and intonation so that s/he may be able to communicate more effectively.
• The speaker should be active and have ease in rendering the message. S /he should cultivate active and fluent speech habits.
• Use appropriate timely pauses to gain the attention of the listener.
• Proper motivation of the speaker develops favourable attitude of the receiver.
• The speaker should be dynamic having general competence.
• Speaker should maintain the eye contact with the listener in order to sustain the attention of the listener.
• Moderate distance between the speaker and the listener (or the teacher and the pupil) is always desirable.
• A variety of channels may have to be used to send a message effectively. Different channels may be needed to different receivers. The speaker should use more than one mode of communication. Based on the ability of the listeners the speaker / teacher has to use interesting media for better understanding of the message.
• The speaker should behave in a dignified manner with pleasing tone / voice and attract the attention of the listeners or the students. The classroom setting must be pleasant.
• The speaker / teacher should be confident with proper preparation to send the message in an effective manner.

Don’ts of oral communication

• Vague or complex ideas and concepts should not be conveyed.
• Irregular arrangement of ideas affects communication. Hence, it must be avoided.
• Difficult words, complex sentences and compound sentences should not be used.
• Delivering the message in a fast manner affects the communication adversely. Hence, fast speech should be avoided.
• Flat dull speaker irritates listener.
• Frequent utterances of fillers of um…aah…er…etc., lowers the quality of voice and acts as a barrier to communication. Hence, such mannerisms should be avoided.
• Continuous flow of speech without any pause makes communication difficult. Long pauses may be irritating and should be avoided.
• There should not be any distractions. Indifference from the listener i.e., looking outside or this side and hat side, talking among themselves discourages the speaker. Any kind of interference or interruption should be avoided.
• Frequent self-touching manners like rubbing the nose, hands, scratching the head, adjusting the dress indicates nervousness. Such acts should not be there while conveying message orally.
• Too much or too little eye contact should not be there.
• The distance between the speaker and the receiver should not be too close or to far.
• Do not use all media for the same purpose at the same time.
• Frequent touching of the shoulders of the students to attract their attention should be avoided because it is considered as crude behaviour.
• Diffidence in the subject matter may make the teacher look at the ceiling, floor, chalk in the hands etc., which lowers the level of effectiveness in teaching. Hence improper preparation of the subject matter and diffidence in presentation should be avoided.

Written Communication

• The language should be simple.
• Unless it is a literary exercise as far possible use common and popular vocabulary.
• The sentences should not be very lengthy or too long sentences hinder communication.
• It is better to avoid too many complex sentences to avoid the chance of misunderstanding.
• The length of the paragraph should also be decided based on the content and concepts. For each concept, one paragraph would be desirable.
• There should be introductory paragraph, which speaks about the topic for discussion and its need.
• A concluding paragraph should summarize the points discussed and its implications.