OBJECTIVES
To understand the meaning of communication
To know the importance communication
To understand the techniques of communication
To study the 7 Cs of communication
To study the barriers of communication
INTRODUCTION
Communication is not just an act. It is a process. The process of communication includes transmission if information, ideas, emotions, skills, knowledge by using symbols, words, pictures, figures, graphs or illustrations. The act of communication is referred to as ‘transmission’. It is the process of transmission that is generally termed as communication. The definition of communication is "sending, giving, or exchanging information and ideas," which is often expressed nonverbally and verbally. Non-verbal communication is the act of saying what's on your mind without speaking words. Examples of this include facial gestures (smiling, frowning), body language (arms crossed, legs shaking resembling nervousness, sitting upright giving someone their full attention), and the impression you give to others with your appearance (dress, body image, body odor). Also, the tone of your voice can be expressed non-verbally. For instance, if you are saying one thing, but your tone of voice is saying another, then that reflects how you are truly feeling without speaking a word about it. Verbal communication is the act of saying what's on your mind with words. This form of communication is often taken for granted...such as saying regretful things and opening your mouth before thinking about what you are saying. Words can hurt or they can heal. So, it's very important to become aware of what words you choose to use when communicating to others as well as to yourself. Communication regulates and shapes all human behavior. Therefore, it is important to have a clear understanding of the concepts of communication what is communication? Why is it important to us? How does it work? What are the 7 elements in the process of communication? What are the different types of communication that we are engaged in? These are the questions that come to our mind when we study this subject.
MEANING OF COMMUNICATION
The English word ‘communication’ is derived from the Latin noun ‘communis’ and the Latin verb ‘communicare’ that means ‘to make common’. Communication is a much-hyped word in the contemporary world. It encompasses a multitude of experiences, actions and events, as well as a whole variety of happenings and meanings, and technologies too. Meetings, conferences or even a procession thus can be a communication event. Newspapers, radio, video and television are all ‘communication media’ and journalists, newsreaders; advertisers, public relation persons and even camera crew are ‘communication professionals’.
Communication in its simplest sense involve two or more persons who come together to share, to dialogue and to commune, or just to be together for a festival or family gathering. Dreaming, talking with someone, arguing in a discussion, speaking in public, reading a newspaper, watching TV etc. are all different kinds of communication that we are engaged in every day. Communication is thus not so much an act or even a process but rather social and cultural ‘togetherness’. Communication can be with oneself, God, and nature and with the people in our environment. Interaction, interchange, transaction, dialogue, sharing, communion and commonness are ideas that crop up in any attempt to define the term communication.
According to Denis Mc Quail, communication is a process, which increases, commonality - but also requires elements of commonality for it to occur at all. A common language, for instance, does not necessarily bring people together. There are other factors too at play such as a shared culture and a common interest, which bring about a sense of commonality and more significantly, a sense of community. Denis Mc Quail sees ‘human communication’ in linear terms as the sending of meaningful messages from one person to another. These messages could be oral or written, visual or olfactory. He also takes such things as laws, customs, practices, and ways of dressing, gestures, buildings, gardens, military parades, and flags to be communication.
Thus, ‘communication’ can be defined as ‘the interchange of thoughts or ideas’. Again ‘communication’ is viewed as a transmission of information, consisting of 8 discriminative stimuli, from a source to recipient’. In everyday life, the communication is a system through which the messages are sent, and feedback received. It is therefore, the process of transferring particular information or message from an information source to desired, definite or a particular destination. One of the main elements of communication messages is perception. The effectiveness of communication is limited by the receiver’s range of perception. Also, people perceive only what they expect and understand. Lastly, communication makes a demand on the recipient, in terms of his emotional preference or rejection. Thus, communication is not to be confused with information. While information is logical, formal and impersonal, communication is perception.
Communication is more than mere transferring or transmission of ideas or thoughts. It is not a static act as some of the earlier definitions suggest but it is a dynamic process of action and interaction towards a desired goal, as suggested by later definitions. Communication is, therefore, a process of sharing or exchange of ideas, information, knowledge, attitude or feeling among two or more persons through certain signs and symbols.
What do we find in the above definition? It says that two or more persons are involved in the act, the one who gives information (sender) and the one who receives it (receiver). What is being shared? An idea or information, or an attitude (message) is being shared. And through what means? The information is shared or exchanged through certain signs or symbols; it could be language, oral or written. While sharing and exchanging ideas or information with others, we are actually interaction with people and establishing a kind of relationship that helps us to achieve the task set before us.
Some other functional definitions of Communication are:
‘The transfer or conveying of meaning’ (Oxford Dictionary)
‘One mind affecting another’ (Claude Shannon)
‘Transmission of stimuli’ (Colin Cherry)
‘One system influences another’ (Charles E. Osgood)
‘The mechanism through which human relations exist and develop’ (Wilbur Schramm)
Communication is the process of transmitting feelings, attitudes, facts, beliefs and ideas between living beings. (Birvenu) 9
Communication is the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of symbols. (I.A. Richards)
Communication is the sum of all the things one person does when he wants to create understanding in the mind of another. It is a bridge of meaning. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding. (Louis Allen)
IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is important both for an individual and also for the society. A person’s need for communication is as strong and as basic as the need to eat, sleep and love. Communication is the requirement of social existence and a resource in order to engage in the sharing of experiences, through ‘symbol mediated interaction’. Isolation is in fact the severest punishment for human being. Grown-ups, children and old people all need to communicate. Society punishes criminals by locking them up in solitary cells, thus starving them of the basic need,
Human beings are also naturally curious. Drastically reducing the amount of "normal social interaction, of reasonable mental stimulus, of exposure to the natural world, of almost everything that makes life human and bearable, is emotionally, physically, and psychologically destructive" because it denies us the ability to ask questions and seek reasons and information to form explanations that allow us to understand ourselves as well as our world and our place and purpose in the world. It is logical that we feel less stable and secure overall when the things that our brain and body rely on to connect to and understand our surroundings are taken away from us. Out of the more than 20,000 prisoners in the United States, about 2% are currently living in "super maximum security ("supermax") facilities or units. Prisoners in these facilities typically spend their waking and sleeping hours locked in small, sometimes windowless, cells sealed with solid steel doors. A few times a week they are let out for showers and solitary exercise in a small, enclosed space. Supermax prisoners have almost no access to educational or recreational activities or other sources of mental stimulation and are usually handcuffed, shackled and escorted by two or three correctional officers every time they leave their cells. Assignment to supermax housing is usually for an indefinite period that may continue for years."
and indeed the fundamental right to communicate. Communication thus involves active interaction with our environments-physical, biological and social. Deprived of this interaction we would not be aware of whether we are safe or in danger, whether hated or loved, or satisfied or hungry. However, most of us take this interaction and this relationship for granted, unless we experience some deprivation of it. When that happens we adapt ourselves to the environment so that we don’t lose touch, in both the literal and figurative senses. For, to lose touch is to suffer isolation.
The basic human need for communication can perhaps be traced to the process of mankind’s evolution from lower species. Animals, for instance, have to be in sensory communication with their physical and biological surroundings to find food, protect themselves and reproduce their species. A loss of sensation-the inability to hear a predator for instance can mean loss of life.
Thus, it is said that the biology of human beings and other living organisms is such that they have to depend upon each other. This dependence gives rise to a situation where it is the biological necessity for the human beings to live in groups. Society is therefore, the outcome of the evolution of the human race and man is a social animal not by option but by compulsion.
Essentially, the primary function of communication is to inform, educate, entertain and persuade people.
Following are the basic functions of Communication:
Education and Instruction- This function of education starts early in life, at home and in school and continues throughout life. Communication provides knowledge, expertise and skills for smooth functioning by people in the society. It creates awareness and gives opportunity to people to actively participate in public life.
Information- Quality of our life will be poor without information. The more informed we are the more powerful we become. Communication provides information about our surroundings. Information regarding wars, danger, crisis, famine, etc. is important for the safety and well being of our life.
Entertainment- To break the routine life and divert our attention from the stressful life we lead today, entertainment is an essential part of everybody’s life. Communication provides endless entertainment to people through films, television, radio, drama, music, literature, comedy, games, etc.
Discussion- Debates and discussions clarify different viewpoints on issues of interest to the people. Through communication we find out reasons for varying viewpoints and impart new ideas to others.
Persuasion- It helps in reaching for a decision on public policy so that it is helpful to govern the people. Though it is possible that one can resort to 11 persuasion for a bad motive. Thus, the receiver must be careful about the source of persuasion.
Cultural promotion- Communication provides an opportunity for the promotion and preservation of culture and traditions. It makes the people fulfill their creative urges.
Integration-It is through communication that a large number of people across countries come to know about each other’s traditions and appreciate each other’s ways of life. It develops integration and tolerance towards each other.
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