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COMMUNICATION – UGC NET PAPER – I, JAMAL MOHAMMED COLLEGE – PREPARED BY Dr.V.BASTIN JEROME
[email protected]
QUESTIONS TO PONDER
1.Which of the following methods of communication is the most effective?
(a) Presenting written material
(b) presenting written material
(c) along with film projector
(d) multi-media method
(e) cannot be determined
2. Which of the following skills has the largest share in communication time in schools/college?
(a) Listening
(b) Reading
(c) Writing
(d) Speaking
3. All are the components of listening except
(a) hearing
(b) attending-being attentive
(c) answering
4. Listening is badly affected by
(a) message overload-excess of listened material
(c) a sizable hearing loss-physiological problem
(b) high speed of speaking
(d) all of the above
(d) understanding and remembering
5. The most important aspect of communication listening, can be improved by
(a) making the attention fully paid
(b) making voice effective and impressive
(c) making the communicated material novel interesting and need based.
6. Listening to a lecture is
(a) informational listening
(b) evaluative listening
(d) all of these
(c) emphatic listening
(d) none of these
7. The main purpose of evaluative listening is
(a) to accept or reject an idea given to the listener (b) to evaluate the speaker's credibility and personality
(c) both of above
(d) none of these
8. A student helps a teacher to solve the problem while the teacher was delivering the lecture. He was
(a) an emphatic listener
(b) an evaluative listener
(c) a realistic listener (d) an informational listener
9. The process of communication enhances through:
(a) belongingness
(c) informality of meeting and avoidance of pressure
(b) security and freedom to make choices
(d) all of these
10. Software computer cannot be used
(a) for demonstration
(c) as a systematic programmed learning techniques
(b) as a machine for evaluating student’s progress
(d) for reading and writing
11. Which of the following cannot be a good way of communication in promoting literacy among villagers?
(a) Demonstration
(b) Reading and writing
(c) providing material on TV and film projector
(d) Large group discussion
12. All are the examples of the media of two way communication except
(a) public meeting
(b) padyatra
(c) streetplays
(d) procession and rallies
13. The latest development in the hardware technology is the introduction of
(a) FM channels
(b) Z channels
(c) M channels
(d) Star channel
14. CHEER stands for
(a) Children Enrichment Education Through Radio
(c) Children for Engineers and Energy Requirement
(b) Child Health Education Electronic Recording
(d) None of the above
15. Educational TV was first introduced in India in
(a) 1961
(b) 1959
(c) 1968
(d) 1961
16. SITE stands for
(a) System for International Technology and Engineering
(c) South Indian Trade Estate
(b) Satellite Instructional Television Experiment
(d) None of these
17. Visualization in the instructional process cannot increase
(a) interest and motivation (b) retention and adaptation (c) stress and boredom
(d) curiosity and concentration
18. Which of the following teachers will you like most?
(a) One who uses board occasionally
(b) One who uses film projector along with the proper use of the board
(c) One who uses chart and maps
(d) One who uses motion picture as a last resort
19. Overhead projector is superior to short circuit TV In a classroom teaching because
(a) it is cheap and self devised
(b) information presented though it is easily retained
(c) it is easy to use .
(d) pictures in it may be shown in a desired sequence and with a minimum of lost motion (material)
20. Televised educational programme is useful because
(a) it can present the natural phenomenon of the world in natural form
(b) it can magnify the microscopic forms of life and can be presented on TV
(c) it affords the opportunity for large audience in the same auditorium or in different locations to view it clearly
(d) all of these
21. Which of the following is not a successful communicator?
(a) One who presents material in a precise and clear way?
(b) One who is able to adapt himself according to the language of the communicatee.
(c) One who knows a lot but is somewhat reserve in his attitude.
(d) One who sometimes becomes informal before the receiver and develops rapport
22. Which of the following teachers will you like most?
(a) a loving teacher
(b) a teacher of highly idealist philosophy
(c) a teacher who often uses his students
(d) a disciplined teacher
23. As a chairman of UPSC while selecting a teacher you should be
(a) fair and impartial
(b) able to judge the personality of candidates
(c) encouraging to those appearing for interview
(d) All of these
24. If a person replied like “I see” or ‘mm-hmm’ then it is known as
a) Positive feedback
b) Negative feedback
c) Ambiguous feedback
d) Nonverbal feedback
25. Which of the following methods of communication is the most effective?
a) Presenting written material
b) Nonverbal Communication
c) Multi-media method
d) Oral Communication
26. Teaching on TV is superior to class room instruction because
a) Very large classes are made possible and thus it is economically advantageous
b)Experts for teaching difficult topics can be arranged
c) Teaching can be filmed for reuse
d) All of these
27. The most basic function of communication is to
a) Inform people
b) Instruct people
c) Influence people
d) All of these
28. Encoding is
a) The formulation of messages in the communicator’s mind
b) The formulation messages in the receiver’s mind
c) Coding of whole communication process
d) None of these
TEACHER - STUDENT COMMUNICATION
COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCTION
Communication is one of the most general features of life. We cannot imagine life without it. Every living
species have their own way of communication. We use different symbols, gestures, and other different means to
communicate with each other. Communication is required not only to represent our ideas, views, feeling but also to
understand other people.
Classroom communication is very important in teaching. It requires the attention from both sides i.e. from
the teacher as well as from the student. As, if a teacher explains a . topic in a language which is not known to the
students, his teaching will be unusable. He has to communicate in a way which is most acceptable to the students.
Therefore, Communication may be defined as "an exchange of ideas, facts, opinion or emotions by two or
more people". An important virtue to be developed by teacher is the promotion of competent communication skill.
The teacher should be able to communicate in an effective manner by arranging the information emphatically and
logically. It should enable children to understand and conceptualised their world. This is the essence of
communication in teaching.
The word "Communication" is originally derived from the Latin verb "Communicare" which means "to make
common" or "to share". It is also believed to have been based on a Latin word, "communis", which means to
communicate and share, to impart a piece of information, a message, an idea or concept. It is a process, which
includes transmission of information, ideas, emotions, skills, knowledge by using symbols, words, pictures, graphs,
drawings, illustrations etc.
The act of communication is referred as 'transmission'. Again, "Communication" is the process by which we
understand and in turn try to be understood by others. It is dynamic, constantly changing and shifting in response to
the overall situation. Therefore, "communication" can be defined as "the interchange of thoughts or ideas". The
objective of communication is to motivate, inform, suggest, warn, order, change behaviour and establish better
relation with others. Effective communication is a prerequisite for the attainment of objectives, more so in
educational institutions .
All teaching-learning process is carried through the process of communication. Generally, it seems that
communication is a one way process. But we can see in our daily life that it is a two way process, as,
communication is a system through which the messages are sent, and feedback are received. Communication is,
therefore, the process of transferring a particular information or message from an information source to a desired,
definite or a particular destination.
One of the fundamentals of communication messages is perception. The effectiveness of communication is
limited by the recipient's range of perception. Secondly, people perceive only what they expect and understand.
Thirdly, communication makes a demand on the recipient, in terms of his emotional preference or rejection. Finally,
communication is not to be focused with information. While information is logical, formal and impersonal,
communication is perception.
Communication of message takes place through spoken or written words, pictures and in many other similar
forms. In oral communication, the transmitter is the "voice box" of the speaker. In telegraphy, it is the telegraphic
key board (Morse key) which codes the message into dashes and dots. The receiver decodes the transmitted
message in a form he can understand and comprehend. The receiver of the message may be the human ear,
which converts sound waves into a comprehensible form which can be recognized by the human brain; a television
receiver decodes the electromagnetic waves into recognizable visual representation. Similarly, the printed message
can be deciphered by a receiver which can recognize and understand the language.
Noted communication scholar, David K. Berlo, has stated that "we look to the message (speech,
manuscript, play, advertisement, etc.) in order to determine the communicative purpose". The process of
communication involves a procedure consisting of only a few steps. Berlo has suggested one model to properly
comprehend the process which includes: A communication source or an encoder, A message, A channel, A
decoder or a communication receiver or a destination. This is illustrated as under: The information source, decides
to communicate and encodes a message, transmits it through a channel to the receiver, which is then decoded and
acted upon. There are noises or distortions in between.
Thus, as illustrated above, we see that there are six elements of communication: a code, a channel,
encoding, decoding, encoder and decoder. A message is communicated or a piece of information is conveyed by
means of a mechanism. This is necessary with a view to being able to convey the message/information fully and
completely.
Thus, there is a sender of the message who is also called an encoder, "just as a computer understands the
language of a code." A channel or device is used to communicate the message. It could be a radio or
a television set, newspaper or magazine and the like. The encoding process means putting the message together
or arranging the ideas in a recognizable and understandable form, for conveying it to the receivers. Unlike in
telegraphy, the encoder here is a human agent.
The encoder decides the content of the message. Similarly, decoder is the destination where the message
lands. The receiver has to wait for the words to be spoken or written and to make out what he/ she can make of
them according to his/her knowledge, experience, assumption, and attitudes. When two people communicate who
are equally matched in intelligence, social backgrounds and comprehension power; the advantages and
disadvantages pass from one to the other. Thus, the encoder (who is the initiator of the communication activity)
chooses his subject and the channel of communication and makes the first impact on the mind of the decoder.
Decoding is one of the most important and very crucial elements of the communication process. The entire
process of comprehension process of communication hinges on the decoder of course, the message will be
received, recorded and interpreted differently by different people according to their knowledge, experience and
understanding levels.
FEATURES OF COMMUNICATION
We can define communication as a systemic process in which people interact with and through symbols to
create and interpret meanings. The definition of communication has three important facets. Process:
Communication is a process, which means that it is ongoing and always in motion.
It's hard to tell when communication starts and stops because what happened before we talk with someone
may influence our interaction, and what occurs in a particular encounter may affect the future. That communication
is a process means it is always in motion, moving forward and changing continuously. We cannot freeze
communication at anyone moment. So it is dynamic in process. - Systemic: Communication takes place within
systems. A system consists of interrelated parts that affect one another. In classroom communication, teacher and
each student is part of the system. In addition, the physical environment and the time of day are elements of the
system that affect interaction. The history of a system also affects communication.
If a student has a history of listening sensitively and working out problems constructively, then he / she will
be in better communication mode. On the other hand, if the student has a record of nasty conflicts and internal
strife, he/she will not communicate in a better way in classroom. Symbolic communication is symbolic. It relies
symbols, which are abstract, arbitrary, arid ambiguous representations of other things. Remember that human
communication involves interaction with and through symbols. Meanings: Finally, our definition focuses on
meanings, which are at the heart of communication. Meanings are the significance we bestow on phenomenon, or
what they signify to us. We do not find meanings in experience itself. Instead, we use symbols to create meanings.
THE ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION
We can determine the elements involved (circulatory and digestive systems, for example), analyze how
those elements' affect one another, and thus determine the nature ofthe process as a whole. Applying this
approach to the communication process, we find eight elements (1) a source/encoder of communication, which
sends (2) a message (3) through a channel to (4) a receiver/ decoder, which (5) responds via feedback w'ith (6)
possibilities of communication breakdowns (Barrier) in each stage of communication. However, these elements
must be understood and analyzed in relation to (7) the situation or context, (8) the system (such as relationship),
which is created and maintained at some level by the communicators.
The Source l Encoder and the sender begin the communication process by forming the ideas, intentions and
feelings that will be transmitted. The sender is required to filter out the details that are unimportant and focus
his/her energy on the most relevant information. The source, or encoder makes the decision to communicate.
The source also determines what the purpose of the message will be to inform, persuade, or entertain. The
communication process starts from the source. First, the source must encode, or create, a message. That is, the
information that the source wishes to convey must be put into a form that can be sent to the receiver. Message.
The second element of the communication process is the message, or that information which is being
communicated. The source encodes an idea and then determines whether or not to inform , persuade, or entertain.
After deciding what message to send, the source uses symbols to get the message across to others. These
symbols stand for other things.
The most important symbols are words, which can represent objects, ideas, and feelings. These words
permit us to share our thoughts with other members of our species. To increase the likelihood of successful
communication, the source must try to encode in a way that the receiver understands, so that the receiver can
properly decode (interpret) the message. Channel: Channels are the means (that is, pathways or devices) by which
messages are communicated. Channels may be described and analyzed in two different ways. The first involves
the form in which messages are sent to receivers. Forms include both verbal and nonverbal channels of
communication.
We use our five senses to receive messages from others. Channels may also be described according to the
manner of presentation employed in communication. Depending on the situation, the source would concentrate on
verbal or nonverbal channels of communication. If the speaker is not in front of the audience his/her physical
appearance wouldn't matter, but if he or she is giving lectures in a classroom or before a live audience, personal
appearance could easily influence the reception of the message.
Whatever channels of communication are used, the source must learn to adapt the message to make use of
the most appropriate channels available for the situation. Receiver/Decoder : The person (or persons) who attends
to the source's message is the receiver.
The act of interpreting messages is called decoding. Receivers decode messages based on past
experience, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings . We first have a physiological reception of stimuli (a noise causes
sound waves to hit our eardrum or a movement catches our eye). We then pay attention to both the verbal and
nonverbal stimuli and reduce all the stimuli bombarding us to one or two we can cope with more easily. Next, we try
to understand the stimuli and interpret them into messages (we decide that the noise is a telephone bell or that the
movement is a friend waving to us across campus).
Finally, we store this information for later use so that next time we will be able to respond to the stimuli more
quickly. It is important to remember that receivers make immediate decisions about what they will respond to in a
given situation. Feedback : Another element in the communication process is feedback. Each party in an interaction
continuously sends messages back to the other. This return process is called feedback. Feedback tells .the source
how the receiver has interpreted each message:
The feedback, which conveys lack of understanding, is known as negative feedback. ' Positive feedback, on
the other hand, indicates that the receiver has understood the source's message. It does not necessarily mean that
he or she agrees with the source, just that the message was interpreted accurately. Feedback can also be
ambiguous, not clearly positive or negative. 'q.. see" and "mm-hmm" can be examples of ' ambiguous feedback.
The effective communicator is always sensitive to feedback and constantly modifies his or her messages as
a result of the feedback received.
Barriers/Noise : The human communication system can be compared with a radio or telephone circuit. Just
as in radio transmissions, where distortion can occur at any point along the circuit (channel), there can be similar
barriers in human communication.
The source's information may be insufficient or unclear. Or the message can be ineffectively or inaccurately
encoded. The wrong channel of communication may be used. The message may not be decoded the way it was
encoded. Finally, the receiver may not equipped to handle the decoded message in such a way as to produce the
response (feedback) expected by the source.
'Barriers' are any obstacles or difficulties that come in the way of communication. They may be physical,
mechanical, psychological, cultural or linguistic in nature. Besides, then are the barriers, raised by interpersonal
relationships between individual and groups, the prejudices of both individuals and groups and the channels they
use to communicate. Barriers to communication also occur if the sender and receiver are not on the same
"wavelength". This is as true in human communication as it is in radio transmission. In the 'jargon' of
communication, all barriers whatever their nature are clubbed under a common label' noise', it denotes not only
atmospheric or channel disturbance, but all barriers that distort communications in any manner.
Physical Barriers: Four main kinds of distractions act as 'physical barriers' to the communication process.
These are: (1) The Competing Stimulus in the form of another conversation going on within hearing distance, or
loud music or traffic noise in the background. (2) Environmental Stress: A high temperature and humidity, poor
ventilation, vibrations felt, a strong glare all can contribute to distortions in the sending and receiving of messages.
(3) Subjective Stress: Sleeplessness, ill health, the effects of drugs and mood variations give rise to forms of
subjective stress that often lead to great difficulties in listening and interpretation. (4) Ignorance of the Medium: The
various media for communication are: oral, written, audio, visual and audiovisual. The use of a medium with which
the communicators is not familiar would turn the medium itself into a barrier.
Psychological Barriers: Each of us has a certain 'frame of reference', a kind of window through which we
look out at the world, at people,' and events and situations. A frame of reference is a system' of standards and
values, usually implicit, underlying and to some extent controlling all action, or the expression of arty belief, attitude
or idea. No two individuals possess exactly similar frames of reference, even if they are identical twins. To a large
extent our experiences, particularly our childhood experiences, and the cultural environment we have grown up in
influence our frames of reference.
Linguistics and Cultural Barriers: A language is the expression ofthe thoughts and experiences of people
in terms of their cultural environment. When the same language is made use of in a different culture, it takes a
colour, another meaning.
Mechanical Barriers: Mechanical barriers are those raised by the channels employed for interpersonal,
group or mass communication. Channels become barrier when the message is interfered with by some
disturbance, which (1) increased the difficulty in reception or (2) prevented some elements of the message reaching
its destination or both. The absence of communication facilities too would be a mechanical barrier. This ' type of
barrier includes any disturbance, which interferes with the fidelity of the physical transmission of the written,
intentional- unintentional etc.. One of the' most common typology relates 0 the size of the social group or the
number of people involved in the experience of communication. Such a typology ranges from the intrapersonal and
interpersonal and transpersonal, to the group and the mass.
Summary
Communication can be divided into two broad areas – verbal and nonverbal communication. Verbal
communication comprises oral and written communication, which in turn can take many forms in a business
context. Oral communication could take place through presentations, meetings or one-to-one meetings, while
written communication could be in the form of letters, reports, memos, notices, circulars or email. Verbal
communication has the disadvantage of being inaccurate or misunderstood, unless the message is carefully
worded. Therefore, certain guidelines should be followed when communicating through the oral or written word. It is
important to avoid words that may have multiple meanings, avoid jargon and use language that is highly specific,
unbiased and inoffensive. Nonverbal
communication refers to communication without words and plays an important role in business
communication. It is unintentional and if used with care, can convey positive messages and thus enhance verbal
communication. It is a vast area that includes more than just body language or “kinesics.” “Proxemics” or personal
space and distance, time language, “paralanguage” or tone of voice and physical context are some of the other
aspects of nonverbal communication.
Within the two broad types of communication, there are a variety of communication channels open to a
business communicator. A proper understanding of these channels is essential, so that the appropriate one may be
used in a given situation. Channels may be classified into three types – two way face-to-face, two way non face-toface and one way non face-to-face, depending on whether the communication is oral, written or nonverbal, whether
immediate feedback is possible and whether it is personal or impersonal in nature.
Some of the criteria for selection of a channel include – ·
 The aim of resolving conflicts or improving work relationships ·
 The need for visual support while communicating · The urgency of the situation
 The need for quick feedback
 The complexity and volume of information
 The formal or informal nature of the communication
 The permanent nature of the communication
 The requirement for keeping things on record
Oral and written channels have their inherent advantages and disadvantages in any given situation.
However, some situations may demand the use of both types of channels for maximum effect.