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November 2012
The role and purpose of audience.
It is the modern era and all of us are modern citizens. We find numerous news items depicting many debates, reality shows, concerts, etc where a huge crowd or audience is present. What does all this indicate? It indicates that the audience is very important in a communication process. In any kind of communication the role of audience is very significant.
When we communicate, our purpose is not what we want to do, instead it is what we want our audience to do as a result of reading what we wrote or listening to what we said. Thus it involves the audience. To communicate effectively that is to achieve the purpose we must adapt to the audience. Therefore it is very important that we know and understand our audience aptly.
Knowing the purpose and the audience helps the writer or speaker determine his or her strategy. The audience is largely heterogeneous; it consists of our jury, colleagues, friends and even probably our family. Heterogeneity in the audience gives the crowd various ways to react, understand and act accordingly.
Audiences vary. They can be small or large. They can be reasonably homogeneous in what they already know or in what they are interested in, or they can be very heterogeneous too. The speaker or writer must learn to distinguish whenever and however possible between the specialists and non-specialists. Specialists would want more details in the communication while the non-specialised would want the communication to be better interpreted for them to understand. Audiences can also be classified as primary and secondary. The primary readers are the people whom the writer or the speaker targeted to communicate with specifically whereas the secondary audience consists of those whom the writer or the speaker did not target but has communicated with without his or her knowledge.
An effective communication however makes sense to all the categories or classes in which the audience can be divided and completes the communicator's motive to inform, entertain and persuade the audience according to his or her will.
When we communicate, our purpose is not what we want to do, instead it is what we want our audience to do as a result of reading what we wrote or listening to what we said. Thus it involves the audience. To communicate effectively that is to achieve the purpose we must adapt to the audience. Therefore it is very important that we know and understand our audience aptly.
Knowing the purpose and the audience helps the writer or speaker determine his or her strategy. The audience is largely heterogeneous; it consists of our jury, colleagues, friends and even probably our family. Heterogeneity in the audience gives the crowd various ways to react, understand and act accordingly.
Audiences vary. They can be small or large. They can be reasonably homogeneous in what they already know or in what they are interested in, or they can be very heterogeneous too. The speaker or writer must learn to distinguish whenever and however possible between the specialists and non-specialists. Specialists would want more details in the communication while the non-specialised would want the communication to be better interpreted for them to understand. Audiences can also be classified as primary and secondary. The primary readers are the people whom the writer or the speaker targeted to communicate with specifically whereas the secondary audience consists of those whom the writer or the speaker did not target but has communicated with without his or her knowledge.
An effective communication however makes sense to all the categories or classes in which the audience can be divided and completes the communicator's motive to inform, entertain and persuade the audience according to his or her will.
ENGLISH - A non-phonetic language.
People mostly in the eastern hemisphere find it difficult to adapt to English. English although is considered a global language but people face many problems learning the language and speaking it correctly in the proper manner.
The main reason for this difficulty is that English is an non-phonetic language. The alphabets don't always relate to the same speech sounds. Hence it is the primary cause of difficulty. The pronunciation of English words do not follow the spelling and vice-versa.
English is an amalgam of many languages. It began as a Germanic derivative, however over the years, many words from different languages have been added including French, Spanish, Yiddish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, etc.
The sounds that are common in German were common in Old English too, but those sounds dropped out over time. However the spelling did not change to reflect the new pronunciation.
Also the words that entered English from foreign languages sometimes kept their original spelling and pronunciation. This means that the sounds that are used in those words are foreign (non-English) sounds. In other instances, the foreign pronunciation was adopted to an English pronunciation but the foreign spelling was maintained. This resulted in a disconnection between the English sound and spelling, giving English the 'non-phonetic' adjective.
The main reason for this difficulty is that English is an non-phonetic language. The alphabets don't always relate to the same speech sounds. Hence it is the primary cause of difficulty. The pronunciation of English words do not follow the spelling and vice-versa.
English is an amalgam of many languages. It began as a Germanic derivative, however over the years, many words from different languages have been added including French, Spanish, Yiddish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Dutch, etc.
The sounds that are common in German were common in Old English too, but those sounds dropped out over time. However the spelling did not change to reflect the new pronunciation.
Also the words that entered English from foreign languages sometimes kept their original spelling and pronunciation. This means that the sounds that are used in those words are foreign (non-English) sounds. In other instances, the foreign pronunciation was adopted to an English pronunciation but the foreign spelling was maintained. This resulted in a disconnection between the English sound and spelling, giving English the 'non-phonetic' adjective.
Difference between general and business communication.
|
GENERAL |
BUSINESS |
|
It
contains a general message |
It contains a technical
message |
|
It is mostly informal in style or approach |
It is mostly formal |
|
It does not follow a set pattern of communication |
It follows a set pattern of communication |
|
It is mostly oral |
It is both oral and written |
|
It does not involve use of any vocabulary or graphics part |
It involves use of technical vocabulary, graphics and some more |
|
Expression is based on general communication |
Experience is based on business communication |
|
It is applicable type |
It is solution type |
|
It talks about the process |
It talks about the products |
|
It is not used always for specific audiences |
It is used always for specific audiences |
Difference between spoken and written forms of communication.
In our daily life we use both verbal and non-verbal features of communication. We use spoken and written forms of communications. There are many differences in between these two forms, they are as follows:
| SPOKEN | WRITTEN |
| Spoken language is the principal objective or the principal form of communication | Written form of communication is the graphical representation of spoken language |
Spoken form is more comprehensible | Written form is less comprehensible |
To establish the fact that anyone singing a song and we listening to it helps us memorize it easily | Writing cannot be reproduced in natural speech or a spontaneous speech easily |
Speech is automatic habit in every state of human language learning | Writing follows the spoken language or speech |
Spoken form is broken language as it never follows the rules of grammar | Written form is a ruled governed system and is rigid about the grammatical rules |
Spoken language can be used colloquially | Writing cannot be used colloquially |
Why do people use gestures and facial expressions?
From
research it has been established that most of the communication i.e.
at least 70% is done in non-verbal ways like gestures, postures,
facial expressions, body language, etc.
Using gestures, postures, body language is an automatic habit of human beings to make more meaningful emphasization and to gain support and strength within himself or herself. Non-verbal features of communications are used to modify the verbal communication. That is exactly why we add non-verbal communication to our words knowingly or unknowingly when we interact using word with other individuals or people.
When communication takes place without words and language it is considered as non-verbal communication. This form of communication includes the internal stimuli of human beings. Other than spoken language using words, communication in writing, gestures, body language comprise the non-verbal category of communication.
Using gestures, postures, body language is an automatic habit of human beings to make more meaningful emphasization and to gain support and strength within himself or herself. Non-verbal features of communications are used to modify the verbal communication. That is exactly why we add non-verbal communication to our words knowingly or unknowingly when we interact using word with other individuals or people.
When communication takes place without words and language it is considered as non-verbal communication. This form of communication includes the internal stimuli of human beings. Other than spoken language using words, communication in writing, gestures, body language comprise the non-verbal category of communication.
Information overload and creating a balanced communication between given and new information.
In
the present day, information is available very abundantly. As a
result of which today information overload is an increasing problem
both in the workplace and the personal life in general. We must learn
the process and procedure to deal with this problem effectively.
Information overload means, the availability of huge amounts of
information which is fed to the receiver as a result of which the
person is unable to handle it effectively. It also describes a
situation where one is so preoccupied that he/she is unable to cope
up with the new or latest information available to him/her.
The phenomenon of information overload isn’t desirable. The usual results of information overload are fatigue, disinterestness, boredom, etc. Under these circumstances further communication is not possible. Very often vital information gets mixed up with too many irrelevant activities and therefore goes ignored by the person or the receiver.
The term ‘information overload’ was first used by a futurologist called Alvin Toffler (1970) who predicted that rapid increase in the amount of information produced will eventually cause problems for the people and lead them towards confusion. The main factors responsible for information overload are widespread access, the internet or the world wide web and canty sending of mails to large number of people, available channels of incoming information and contradictions and inaccuracies in the available information and also the lack of knowledge for comprising and processing different kinds of information. One who is able to deal with the above factors is easily capable of tackling problems caused due to information overload efficiently.
The phenomenon of information overload isn’t desirable. The usual results of information overload are fatigue, disinterestness, boredom, etc. Under these circumstances further communication is not possible. Very often vital information gets mixed up with too many irrelevant activities and therefore goes ignored by the person or the receiver.
The term ‘information overload’ was first used by a futurologist called Alvin Toffler (1970) who predicted that rapid increase in the amount of information produced will eventually cause problems for the people and lead them towards confusion. The main factors responsible for information overload are widespread access, the internet or the world wide web and canty sending of mails to large number of people, available channels of incoming information and contradictions and inaccuracies in the available information and also the lack of knowledge for comprising and processing different kinds of information. One who is able to deal with the above factors is easily capable of tackling problems caused due to information overload efficiently.
Information gap principle and its use to create better rapport between the speaker and the listener.
An
information gap is a situation in which there is a communication
between two or more people and where information is known to only
some of the people present. Early adopters of technology in the field
of education used to phrase ‘information gap’ to describe
families who could afford a computer at home in contrast to those who
could not.
The ‘information gap principle’ is a method of communication development in a laboratory class by the teacher not predominantly communicating with any student directly. Information gap principle is a variation of a surprised activity called as information gap. Language students should be involved in as many situations as possible where one of them has some information and the other doesn’t have. But one has to get it from the other who does have it to breach the information gap between the participating students in the activity based classrooms.
Again by the information gap, the person who exchanges something that the other doesn’t know like the teacher to student question ‘what is the colour of your dress?’, usually this question doesn’t involve any information gap as the teacher and the student know the same information while the friend to friend question ‘where are you going for lunch?’ does involve an information gap because the asking person presumably does not know the answer. This presence and absence of information is called as information gap principle. Therefore to deal with the principle in practice there is necessity of pair practice on variety of different language skill drills. To make the students practice the information gap principle, to encourage them to find whatever information that they do not have or possess with them they should interact between each other to improve their communication skills in the language.
The ‘information gap principle’ is a method of communication development in a laboratory class by the teacher not predominantly communicating with any student directly. Information gap principle is a variation of a surprised activity called as information gap. Language students should be involved in as many situations as possible where one of them has some information and the other doesn’t have. But one has to get it from the other who does have it to breach the information gap between the participating students in the activity based classrooms.
Again by the information gap, the person who exchanges something that the other doesn’t know like the teacher to student question ‘what is the colour of your dress?’, usually this question doesn’t involve any information gap as the teacher and the student know the same information while the friend to friend question ‘where are you going for lunch?’ does involve an information gap because the asking person presumably does not know the answer. This presence and absence of information is called as information gap principle. Therefore to deal with the principle in practice there is necessity of pair practice on variety of different language skill drills. To make the students practice the information gap principle, to encourage them to find whatever information that they do not have or possess with them they should interact between each other to improve their communication skills in the language.
Effective communication is a continuous and cyclic process.
All
of us communicate with a purpose. It may be to inform, share an idea,
persuade or entertain. Whatever may be the purpose, the components
involved in the communication process remain the same. And as long as
there is coordination and interdependence among the components of
communication there is every possibility that our communication will
turn out to be effective.
The process of communication starts with the sender encoding the idea and sending it to the receiver via a medium or a channel. The receiver’s job is to decode the encoded message and extract information from it and also understand the message. After understanding it the receiver needs to provide a feedback to the sender indicating that he/she has understood the message.
Consider the communication process as shown below:
The diagram above conveys to us that the effective communication is a cyclic and continuous process. Communication can be considered to be effective when the receiver understands the message sent by the sender and gives a feedback to the sender. Effective communication also ensures that the message sent by the sender is not distorted in any manner while it is transmitted. Effective communication as shown in the figure above conveys us that, it is initiated from the sender and ends at the sender too indicating that effective communication is a cyclic and continuous process.
The process of communication starts with the sender encoding the idea and sending it to the receiver via a medium or a channel. The receiver’s job is to decode the encoded message and extract information from it and also understand the message. After understanding it the receiver needs to provide a feedback to the sender indicating that he/she has understood the message.
Consider the communication process as shown below:
The diagram above conveys to us that the effective communication is a cyclic and continuous process. Communication can be considered to be effective when the receiver understands the message sent by the sender and gives a feedback to the sender. Effective communication also ensures that the message sent by the sender is not distorted in any manner while it is transmitted. Effective communication as shown in the figure above conveys us that, it is initiated from the sender and ends at the sender too indicating that effective communication is a cyclic and continuous process.
Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality.
Communication
requires a sender, a message, a channel or medium and a recipient,
although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender’s
intent to communicate at the time of communication, thus
communication can occur across vast distances in time and space.
Communication requires that the communicating parties share an area
of communicative commonalities. The communication process is complete
once the receiver has understood the message of the sender.
Communication is the flow or exchange of information within people or a group of people. A variety of verbal and non-verbal communication describes the process of conveying meaning in the form of non-word messages. Research shows that majority of communication is non-verbal.
All communications, intentional or unintentional have some effect. This effect may not be always in communicator’s favour or as desired by him or her. Communication that produces the desired effect or result is effective communication. It results in what the communicator wants. Effective communication generates the desired effect, maintains the effect and increases it. It serves the purpose for which it was planned or designed. Possible purposes might be to generate action, inform, create understanding or communicate a certain idea etc. Effective communication also ensures that the message is not distorted during the communication process.
Communication is the key factor in the success of any organization. There are certain barriers to it. People often feel that communication is as easy and simple as it sounds. While it is true on one level, what makes it complex, difficult and frustrating are the barriers that come in its way. Barriers to successful include message overload and message complexity. Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. System design faults refer to problems with the structures or systems placed in an organization. All these factors affect effective communication adversely and hence there is a necessity for communicative commonality.
Communication is the flow or exchange of information within people or a group of people. A variety of verbal and non-verbal communication describes the process of conveying meaning in the form of non-word messages. Research shows that majority of communication is non-verbal.
All communications, intentional or unintentional have some effect. This effect may not be always in communicator’s favour or as desired by him or her. Communication that produces the desired effect or result is effective communication. It results in what the communicator wants. Effective communication generates the desired effect, maintains the effect and increases it. It serves the purpose for which it was planned or designed. Possible purposes might be to generate action, inform, create understanding or communicate a certain idea etc. Effective communication also ensures that the message is not distorted during the communication process.
Communication is the key factor in the success of any organization. There are certain barriers to it. People often feel that communication is as easy and simple as it sounds. While it is true on one level, what makes it complex, difficult and frustrating are the barriers that come in its way. Barriers to successful include message overload and message complexity. Physical barriers are often due to the nature of the environment. System design faults refer to problems with the structures or systems placed in an organization. All these factors affect effective communication adversely and hence there is a necessity for communicative commonality.
Communication through English has a tremendous global utility and is literally inescapable. Its major fields of application and utility.
The
world isn’t the big place it used to be anymore, it has turned into
a very small place with the introduction of various transportation
and communication technologies. With the growth in technology and
globalization people of the different states and countries adopted
English to communicate with each other without any difficulty.
Because English is so widely spoken, it has often been referred to as
a ‘world language’, the lingua franca of the modern era, and
while it is not an official language in most countries, it is
currently the language most often taught as a foreign language. It is
by international treaty, the official language to aeronautical and
maritime communications. English is an official language of the
United Nations and many other international organizations including
the International Olympic Committee. English is the language most
often studied as a foreign language in the European Union, by 89% of
the school children, ahead of French at 32%, while the perception of
the usefulness of foreign languages among Europeans is 68% in favour
of English, ahead of 25% for French. Among some non-English speaking
European Union countries, a large percentage of the adult population
claims to be able to converse in English – in particular 85% in
Sweden, 83% in Denmark, 79% in the Netherlands, 66% in Louxemberg and
over 50% in Finland, Slovenia, Austria, Belgium and Germany.
Books, magazines and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the around the world, and English is the most commonly used language in the sciences with science citation index reporting as early as 1997 that 95% of its articles were written in English even though only half of them came from authors in English speaking countries.
The increasing use of the English language globally has led a large impact on many languages, leading to language shift and even language death, and to claims of linguistic language imperialism. English itself has become more open to language shift as multiple regional varieties feed back into the language as a whole.
So English has become an inevitable language in today’s world.
Books, magazines and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the around the world, and English is the most commonly used language in the sciences with science citation index reporting as early as 1997 that 95% of its articles were written in English even though only half of them came from authors in English speaking countries.
The increasing use of the English language globally has led a large impact on many languages, leading to language shift and even language death, and to claims of linguistic language imperialism. English itself has become more open to language shift as multiple regional varieties feed back into the language as a whole.
So English has become an inevitable language in today’s world.
Communication VS Communications
Communication is the exchange of information among individuals. It is the process whereby information is enclosed in a package and is channeled and imparted by a sender to a receiver via some medium.
Communications is the system used for sending and receiving messages. Communications also include marketing, advertising and broadcasting.
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