Unit - 1

Communication And Communication Process

1. What are the various types of listening comprehension?

There are a few different methods of effective listening, and each one is suited to specific circumstances. Here are descriptions of the main types of listening and the scenarios in which you would be likely to use them:

1. Discriminative listening:

Discriminative listening is the first form of listening humans develop as babies. This type of listening does not focus on words but rather the tone of voice and other subtleties of sound to understand meaning and intention. Babies don’t understand words, but they rely on their discriminative listening to understand who is speaking and what mood is being communicated. As an adult, you may find yourself relying on discriminative listening when people around you are speaking a foreign language that you don’t understand. Though you may lack the language skills to understand the words being spoken, you can rely on the tone of voice and inflection to derive a vague meaning. When you can only rely on discriminative listening, you may turn to visual stimuli. The mannerisms, facial expressions, and body language of a speaker help clue you in to the speaker’s message.

Comprehensive listening is the next level of critical listening skills that humans usually develop in early childhood. Comprehensive listening requires language skills and a grasp of basic vocabulary to understand what is being communicated through by the speaker. Comprehensive listening covers most other forms of listening that critical listeners utilize. Through the course of their day-to-day lives, people use comprehensive listening paired with verbal cues to understand what messages are being communicated to them.

Informational listening (or informative listening) is the type of listening practices during the process of learning. Informational listening builds upon basic comprehensive listening and requires a high level of concentration and engagement to understand new concepts and comprehend technical jargon. Informational listening has less to do with the emotional content of what is being communicated and more to do with critical thinking and following a logical sequence as it is communicated. When you try to learn important skills that are being taught to you, it’s vital that you pay attention and use informational listening skills.

Critical listening is the style of listening people use when they are trying to analyse and judge complex information that is being communicated to them. You might use critical listening if you’re problem-solving on the job and trying to decide if you agree with a proposal being floated by one of your co-workers. The word “critical” has multiple meanings, but in this case it simply means that you are evaluating information—not necessarily passing judgment.

Biased listening (or selective listening) is a type of selective listening where the listener only tries to understand what they want to hear. Biased listening is different from critical listening because the listener is not actually listening to the speaker's opinions but instead trying to confirm their own opinions. People generally do not realize that they are using a biased listening process. Biased listening can lead to a falsification of facts in the mind of a listener who is not in harmony with to what a speaker intends to communicate.

Sympathetic listening is an emotionally-driven type of relationship listening, wherein a listener processes the feelings and emotions of a speaker and tries to provide support and understanding in return. You might use sympathetic listening when a child tells you about trouble they had at school. In this case sympathetic listening is used to make the child feel heard and provide them with comfort and support. Sympathetic is useful in trying to establish a deep connection with another person, especially when that person is experiencing adversity.

Therapeutic or empathetic listening is a listening process wherein a listener tries to understand the point of view of a speaker and imagines themselves directly in the speaker’s position. Empathetic listening (sometimes referred to as empathic listening) goes a step further than sympathetic listening in that an empathic listener will relate to the speaker’s experience as if it were their own.

2.     Why is the skill of listening important in communication? What are some barriers to effective listening?

It is often contested that speaking as a skill is more important than listening which is a common misconception. Listening is as important a skill as speaking if not more, as it is only by listening one can learn proper pronunciation and intonation of words which allows him to speak fluently.

Oral language skills including listening comprehension also are important for writing development. Although oral language skills aren't explicitly laid out in the developmental models of writing, they are essential component skills as writing requires generation of ideas, which then need to be translated into oral language.

Below are some areas where listening skills can prove to be extremely important:

Academic Importance

When one focuses on the material presented in a classroom, they will be able to identify not only the words used in a lecture but their emphasis and their more complex meanings. They will take better notes, and will more accurately remember the instructor’s claims, information, and conclusions. Many times, instructors provide oral cues about what is likely to appear in an examination, specific expectations for assignments and instructions on specific study material, hence active listening can be extremely beneficial.

Social Importance

In a social setting, if a person genuinely listens to other people, they are often considered to be a good friend. Most people prefer "good listeners" over people who won't stop giving advice without even listening to a word the speaker is saying. Many people just wait for their turn to speak instead of trying to understand what someone is saying to them. Therefore, listening skills also help with one's social relationships.

Perceptual Importance

A person who has the ability to listen properly is often considered an intelligent person. It is essential to let someone finish their thoughts before giving voice to one's own opinions. Listening silently while someone is speaking gives them a sign that they are being heard. This creates an image of a smart individual in the mind of the speaker.

Important for Public Speaking

When one listen's well to others without interrupting, they begin gathering up on more impressive ways to organize and present arguments. Which helps one understand how people think and what are the factors that influence them. While speaking publicly this can be helpful as one can assume how people will react to a certain argument. This also helps in connecting with people in general and potentially influencing them.

Below are some barriers to effective listening:

1. Ambiguity in the mind of the sender about the message.

2. Inability to convey the message as per the need and level of the receiver.

3. Inappropriate use of medium to convey the message.

4. Lack of understanding about the cultural differences of the listener.

5. Lack of the interest or inattentiveness of the receiver.

6. Listening with preconceived ideas or a prejudiced mindset.

7. Physical discomfort in terms of seating arrangements, hunger, thirst or nature’s call.

8. Noise e.g. Vehicles or murmur among the audience.

The types of barriers to effective listening can be classified as follows:

1. Physical Barriers
2. Psychological Barriers
3. Linguistic Barrier
4. Cultural Barriers
5. Environmental Barrier

Physical Barriers: The physical conditions of the listener can affect concentration and restrict the amount of information taken on.  For example: 1. Headache 2. Hearing impairment 3. Tiredness 4. Discomfort, pain, illness

Psychological Barriers: Emotional states which are brought to the communications or result from it can come between what is being said and effective listening and understanding.  For example: 1. Own Anxiety 2. Anger 3. Frustration – inability to put across ideas

Cultural Barriers- Different cultures possess different norms of social interactions and communication. Something deemed appropriate in one culture might not be the same in another. Body language and gestures play a vital role in non-verbal communication which might suffer due to cultural differences.

Linguistic Barriers: Linguistic barriers derive from the speaker and make it difficult for them to be listened to. They can be summarized as follow: 1. Jargon or Specialist language 2. Monotonous voice 3. Inappropriate tone 4. Hesitant manner 5. Badly organized material 6. Complex sentences 7. Complex vocabulary

Environmental Barriers: The following, if encountered, can make us switch off from what is being said, to allow our minds to temporarily concentrate on our surroundings: 1. The room too hot or too cold. 2. The lighting too bright or too dim. 3. Uncomfortable seating 4. Smells 5. Infrastructure 6. Noise

3.     What are the fundamental barriers one comes across while reading? Explain in detail.

Reading is the cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive meaning from them. It is the ability to understand text, decode its meaning and compare with what the reader already knows.

Knowledge of grammar and vocabulary are very essential to be a good reader. Attention span, the ability to understand the meaning of a word from context, the ability to co-relate thoughts and ideas, the ability to follow the flow of words, and the ability to identify various literary devices are the fundamental skills required for efficient reading.

Some of the barriers to effective reading are as follows-

Lack of grammatical and linguistic competence:

Many people cannot read effectively because they fail to decrypt grammatical and lexical units of language in the text. They lack the ability to differentiate and recognize the words, sentences, expressions, used in the text. It hampers the process of reading. The reader may stop reading further if he fails to understand the text grammatically.

Lack of motivation:

Reading for information and knowledge requires motivation and discipline. Many people think reading as boring and time-consuming task. Lack of proper motivation and goal may create barrier to reading.

Lack of concentration:

Many a times a reader finds himself reading a passage or a page and later realizing that he had not understood the meaning of it at all. This happens due to a lack of concentration while reading. One of the main reasons for this is that the reader might be lost in his thoughts while he is reading. Reading is psycho-linguistic process and therefore requires careful attention of the reader.

Proper light and ventilation:

A reader has to struggle a lot to read in dim light or dark rooms. If proper ventilation is not there in the reading room, reader may feel suffocated or tired.

Subject of interest:

People often prefer reading texts that they are interested in. If one is reading a topic which is not according to his preferences, he may find himself losing interest gradually.

Articulating the words and sentences loudly:

Many readers have habit to articulate loudly or murmur the words in the text. They buzz each word which creates a barrier to speed reading.

Putting finger, pen or any object on the words and sentences while reading: Many people put their finger or pen on the text while reading. They move the finger or object from word to word which lowers down the process of reading.

Narrow eye span:

Readers often read the text one word at a time with independent eye shift between each and every word. They have narrow eye span. It not only decreases the speed of reading but also affects the comprehension. Shorter the eye span, slower the speed and comprehension. Readers require proper training and techniques to expand their eye span.

4.     Explain the terms Skimming, Scanning and Rapid Reading.

Skimming and Scanning are reading techniques that use rapid eye movement to shuffle quickly through the text for relevant information. Although they both use the same technique they are quite different methods of reading.

Skimming

Skimming is the process of rapidly reading a text in order to get a general overview of the content. Skimming helps comprehend the general information within a text or a particular section of the text.

Before skimming, one should prepare oneself to read rapidly through the pages. One should not read every word; but special attention must be paid to typographical cues-headings, boldface and italic type, indenting, bulleted and numbered lists.

One should be alert for the names of people and places, key words and phrases, dates, nouns, and unfamiliar words.

Skimming involves the following steps:

1. First the table of content or the chapter overview must be read to get the structural overview of the text.

2. Main headings of each chapter must be glanced through. All headings of charts and tables must be read.

3. After glancing through headings, the whole introductory paragraph must be read followed by the first and last lines of each succeeding paragraph. For each paragraph, only the first few words of each sentence must be read to locate the central idea.

4. Words indicated with boldface or italics must always be read.

5.When something significant is found, the whole sentence containing it should be given priority. One should not waste time reading extraneous details while skimming.

6.All chapter summaries must be read at the end if provided.

Skimming may help understand the text at the most basic level but to get the complete idea of a topic it should always be read completely. Skimming is useful for reading news articles, finding source material for research papers, previewing and reviewing or getting a general idea from a long selection of texts.

Although skimming can save hours of work, it is not advisable to skim often. This is because while skimming one may miss important points or finer shades of meaning.

Scanning

Scanning, like skimming, also uses keywords and organizational cues, but while the objective of skimming is a big picture view of the text, the objective of scanning is to locate and collect particular facts.

It is necessary to skim the text first to decide if it is likely to contain the facts you need. While skimming one should concentrate on table of contents, summaries, indexes, headings, and typographical cues. If after skimming it is established that the text has relevant information, it can be scanned.

Following are some rules to be kept in mind while scanning:

1. It is essential to know what one is looking for. If there is a  keyword or a phrase attached to the topic, one should start with that word or phrase and  begin the scanning process.

1. Only one keyword should be used during one scan. If there is a need for multiple keywords than multiple scans should be conducted.

2. The eyes should rapidly float around the page until the required keyword or phrase is found.

3. After finding the desired keyword, the text surrounding that keyword should be read carefully.

The process of scanning could be tiring as it requires a lot of concentration. One should not let their attention wander while scanning as they might lose track of the keyword or phrase. Scanning is very useful during research projects to find particular facts or fact-heavy topics.

Fast Reading or Rapid Reading

Rapid reading or Fast reading usually involves techniques for moving the eyes faster in order to gather information more quickly. This might include Skimming and Scanning.

How to do Rapid Reading

To begin rapid reading it is often recommend to start with a book that you find relatively easy to understand with a consecutive story. Have a timer to hand, and read a few pages at your normal speed, and just notice how long you spend on a page.

Then set your timer for half that time, read as quickly as you can down the page and move to the next page each time your timer goes off, and just see how much information you get. The first couple of pages might seems a bit overwhelming, but once the panic subsides, you’ll be amazed at how much you can pick up if you go quickly. And once you’ve doubled your speed, you can double again … and again. You only need to read enough to know what it’s about and to get as much information as you need.

Below are some things that must be done before starting fast reading :

1. Get into a good state – sit up straight, take a deep breath, relax, and smile.

2. Open your peripheral vision by keeping your gaze on the opposite wall while relaxing your eyes and trying to see both ears at the same time. Notice how much more you can see to right and left without moving your eyes.

3. Hold the book at a 45 degree angle in front of you – and a little bit further away than normal.

4. Begin to fast read to speed up your eyes and your brain before you start. That means glancing quickly down each page in 10 seconds or less for several pages. You shouldn’t be understanding what you’re looking at – the aim isn’t to read at that speed (yet), simply to get your eyes and brain working quicker, so when you read more slowly, you seem to have more time – which allows you to read more quickly than you do ‘normally’.

5.     What are the reading strategies one must follow to improve their reading skills? Explain in detail.

Reading is the cognitive process of decoding symbols to derive meaning from them. It is the ability to understand text, decode its meaning and compare with what the reader already knows.

Below are some fundamental reading strategies:

1. Previewing:

Previewing refers to take a quick glance at a text before actually reading it. It enables readers to understand the organizational structure of a text. Previewing includes the process of skimming through the text and looking at the headings, table of contents (if any) and typographical cues to get the general idea of what the text is about.

2. Contextualizing:

Contextualizing refers to the process of placing the text in its appropriate historical, biographical and cultural background. When one reads a text they often tend to look at it through the lenses of one's won background, leading to a misjudged or biased reading of the text.  Contextualizing helps one eradicate this problem by understanding the scenario and purpose for which the text was written.

3. Questioning:

Asking questions while reading a text helps one remember and understand what they have read up to that moment. Questions should be asked after the end of each paragraph and they should deal with the general gist of that paragraph and not with little details contained inside it.

4. Reflecting:

While reading, one's personal beliefs or opinions may be challenged by the text. Here it is important to reflect on one's unconscionably held belief's and values and how the text affects them. As one is reading the text for the first time, an X should be marked in the margin at each point where they feel a personal challenge to their attitudes, beliefs, or status. A brief note should be made in the margin about what one feels or about what in the text created the challenge. After marking, the text should be read again to find out any patterns one has regarding personal beliefs.

5. Outlining and summarizing:

Summarizing a text is a great way to ascertain if one has grasped the intended meaning of the text. While outlining deals with the general overview of the text, summarizing is the process of writing down what one has understood about the central idea of the text in their own words thereby forming a new text in itself.

Although summarizing begins with outlining, it always ends with creating its own independent text. Outlining focuses on a close analysis of each paragraph, however, summarizing requires creative synthesis. Outlining and summarizing shows how reading critically can lead to deeper understanding of any text.

6. Evaluating an argument:

Evaluating involves the process of testing the logic of a text, its credibility and emotional impact. Writers make assumptions which they want the readers to accept as true, although a critical reader must always evaluate and question what he reads. One should not accept the details within a text as they are presented before him, he should always be prepared to question and assess the text at every step. This will help the reader to grasp any hidden meanings within the text.

7. Comparing and contrasting related readings:

Comparing the text one reads with other texts helps the reader to get a better understanding of the text. Sometimes authors refer to similar incidents but with different perspectives. Comparing various texts helps the reader shine new light on a particular subject letting him explore it more deeply. This might also lead to a change in the readers opinions regarding the topic.

6.     What is meant by the term ‘Communication’? What are the main elements of the communication process?

Communication is the process of transferring information by means of speaking, reading, listening and writing. Although the act of communication is heavily dependent on these four skills, it goes beyond these and also incorporate non-verbal elements such as body language, expressions, sign language, electronically transmitted codes (Morse code etc.) etc. It is both an art and a science.

Although every individual communicates simply by being in the world, learning effective communication skills requires hard work and determination. Developing good verbal and body language skills involves learning and consciously using your skills to improve.

The communication process comprises of the following components:

1. Sender: Sender is the individual who wants to send the message to the receiver. A sender makes effective use of words, symbols, pictures, graphs etc. available to him to construct the message. The views, background, approach, skills, competencies, and knowledge of the sender determine whether the message is approachable or not.
2. Message: The message comprises of the information that is to be exchanged between the sender and the receiver. The central idea of the message must be clear and should be easily understood by the receiver.
3. Channel: The medium of communication should be chosen with respect to the purpose of the message and the ability of the receiver to comprehend it. Hence, the sender must choose an appropriate medium for transmitting the message. The channel can be oral or written, the use of oral medium is preferred when the message is urgent and requires an immediate response, the written medium is preferred when the message is technical and there is a need for it to be documented.
4. Receiver: The receiver is the individual to whom the message is addressed. The ability of the receiver to decode the message depends on the knowledge of the receiver, the reliance of the encoder, responsiveness of the receiver to the message.
5. Feedback: After the receiver receives the message he tries to decode it, understand it and tried to provide a proper feedback to the sender, who then tries to interpret the feedback.

7.     What are the various barriers of communication and how can one overcome them?

Communication is only complete if the message received by the recipient is interpreted in the same way as was intended by the sender. But due to the presence of a wide number of factors the message may be destroyed. These factors act as barriers to effective communication. It is essential to locate and eradicate these factors in order to allow free flowing communication.

Some of the barriers that block communication are listed below:

1. Language Barriers – The linguistic ability of both the sender and receiver define their ability to effectively communicate. Especially when technical communication is concerned, the free flow of communication requires both parties to be sufficiently acquainted with the information that is being exchanged. For example, if two people from different backgrounds converse with the technical terminology of their own fields they are bound to misunderstand each other.
2. Psychological Barriers- The psychological state of the receiver plays a significant role when processing information. Factors such as personal issues, worries and stress might affect the receiver’s ability to decode information as they might be preoccupied with their own concerns.

Anger on the sender’s end is also an example of a psychological barrier, while angry one tends to convey thoughts one doesn’t mean only to regret later. Shyness, anxiety and depression may also act as barriers.

3.     Physical Barriers- Physical barriers such as noise, physical distance between the speaker and receiver, conditions of the topography, poor lighting, speech impediment, hearing disability also affect effective communication.

4.     Perceptual Barriers- The difference in how individuals perceive things also play a role in communication. People often find themselves unable to accept messages that go against their upbringing and values. Here even though the communication is effective, the feedback suffers. A similar situation might be perceived differently by different individuals and therefore might create disagreement.

5.     Cultural Barriers- Different cultures possess different norms of social interactions and communication. Something deemed appropriate in one culture might not be the same in another. Body language and gestures play a vital role in non-verbal communication which might suffer due to cultural differences.

6.     Inattention- One of the most common barriers towards effective communication is inattention, the receiver might simply be uninterested or might be daydreaming while the message is being conveyed to him.

These barriers can be easily avoided with a little effort and dedication. Below are some methods useful for avoiding these communication barriers:

1. Clarity of words and purpose - Clarity is one of the most essential requirements of communication. While writing, it is necessary to write in good handwriting with proper grammar and sentence formation. While speaking one should use proper vocabulary and speak each word clearly and carefully along with proper inflections.
2. Active Listening- One should listen carefully what the speaker is saying in order to understand properly and provide feedback. One should be attentive while listening, ask open ended questions and should be able to summarize the information provided by the speaker.
3. Focus should be the other - While conversing one should maintain eye contact with the speaker as this shows the speaker that the message is being received by the listener. While speaking the focus should always be on the receiver.
4. Non-Verbal Communication- One’s body language often speaks as loud as his words. While communication one should show one’s reactions and interests through their body language.
5. Avoid Interruptions- It is essential to let the speaker finish talking before conveying one’s own thoughts. Interrupting is not only rude but also can be disadvantageous as one may not totally grasp the meaning of the speaker. If an interruption is absolutely necessary, one must use polite words like “pardon me” or “excuse me” instead of cutting the speaker in the middle of their thought process.
6. Controlling Emotions and Thinking before Speaking- It is said one must think twice before they speak. One must always consider the opinions and feelings of others before speaking their mind. One must also consider one’s own emotions and not speak out of anger or frustration. The process of communication should be logical rather than emotional.
7. The Message- The message one wishes to convey must always be clear and concise, there should be no doubts in one’s mind while speaking. The central idea of the message should always be conveyed completely and indubitably.
8. Eliminating Noise- One must eliminate all the outside forces that might disturb the conversation in order to maintain the flow of the communication process.
9. Feedback- One must pay attention to what the other person is saying and try to understand it as closely as possible to his intended meaning. This will allow him to provide proper responses.

8.     What is meant by verbal communication? Explain its various forms.

Verbal communication is the type of communication that includes the utilization of language and words to pass on the intended message. Verbal Communication implies communication though spoken form only. Be that as it may, with regards to forms of communication, verbal communication can be in the spoken or the written structure. Therefore, the verbal form of communication may contain oral as well as written communication as discussed below:

Written Communication: This sort of correspondence includes any sort of trade of data in the composed structure. For instance, messages, emails, letters, reports, SMS, posts via web-based networking media, records, handbooks, banners, flyers, and so on.

Oral Communication: This type of communication is carried out orally through direct or indirect channels. Sound is the only channel through which oral communication can take place. Face to face conversations, chatrooms, voice podcast, telephone conversations are some examples of oral communication.

Verbal communication can be divided into 3 types:

1. Interpersonal communication: This type of communication takes place between two individuals. It can be face-to-face, telephonic or written. The two individuals here will assume the role of sender and receiver in the communication process.
2. Group communication: Here more than two people exchange information and ideas. Press conferences, social gatherings, board meeting, and group discussions are some examples of group communication.
3. Public communication: In this type of communication, one individual addresses a large group of people. This is usually a one-way conversation except for questionnaires and feedback. Election speeches, presentations, public speeches are some examples of public communication.

9.    What is meant by nonverbal communication? Explain its various forms.

Nonverbal communication is the type of communication that is carried out without the use of words. Nonverbal communication is usually utilized as an aid to verbal communication. This type of communication employs gestures, body language, symbols and expressions.

Nonverbal actions office set the tone of the conversation. Nonverbal communication is useful for expressing one’s mood, opinion or reaction. Below are some forms of non-verbal communication:

Physical nonverbal communication: This is the sum of the physically observable. For instance, hand gestures, visual communication, facial expressions, the tone of one’s voice, posture, stance, touch, gaze, and so on. Research shows that nonverbal communication constitutes about 55% of our daily communications

These are subtle signals that are picked up as a part of our biological wiring. for instance, if you rest your head on your palms, it'll mean that you simply are very disappointed or angry. Similarly, other subtle hints will convey your reactions to the person you want to communicate with and vice-versa.

Paralanguage: This type of communication is carried out by the tone of one’s voice. It almost 38% of all the communication that we do every day.

Along with the tone of voice, the style of speaking, voice quality, stress, emotions, or intonation all serve the purpose of expressing intent and reaction. All of these aspects are not verbal.

10.    What is formal and informal communication? Explain the 4 main functions of communication.

One must be thoroughly familiar with all styles of correspondence in order to facilitate effective communication. The form of communication intrinsically depends upon the purpose and the central idea of the message to be conveyed. For example, it is feasible to acquire information or provide information using a formal phone call or an email whereas while conveying bad news to a particular individual a face-to-face conversation is considered rather apt.

Communication can be formal or informal

1. Formal communication: Formal Communication is the exchange of official information that flows along the different levels of the organizational hierarchy and conforms to the prescribed professional rules, policy, standards, processes and regulations of the organization.
2. Informal communication: Informal Communication is the casual and unofficial form of communication wherein the information is exchanged spontaneously between two or more persons without conforming the prescribed official rules, processes, system, formalities and chain of command.

Functions of Communication:

Communication serves four major functions within any group or organization. These are:

Control

Motivation

Emotional expression

Information

Control

Communication serves a controlling function in a hierarchical structure. When a teacher has to control her students or a manager has to control his employees and ask them to perform the required tasks, controlling words and tone has to be used. This function is mostly applicable in a formal setting however  there may be some exceptions (Parents and children).

Motivation

Proper communication can be used to motivate employees to perform well. Motivational communication includes praising people for a well-done job, inspiring them to do even better and pointing out where they are going wrong and helping them rectify their mistakes. Motivational speakers also use communication as a tool to inspire and influence people.

Emotional Expression

Communication is useful tool for showing a whole range of emotions such as frustrations, happiness, anger. Therefore, it provides for the emotional expression of feelings which can be understood and provided with proper feedback.

Information

Communication facilitates decision-making, by passing information from one party to another. News channels, newspapers, current affairs all provide information regarding the daily events taking place in the word, this keeping one well informed.