UNIT 1 - Fundamentals of Communication
Communication
“Communication is the transference and understanding of meaning.” (Robbins, 310)
“Communication is the process by which information is exchanged and understood by two or more people, usually with the intent to motivate or influence behaviour.” (Daft, 567)
It is a continuous process that occurs in various contexts and uses cultural symbols. It is a process that purposefully uses spoken, nonverbal and visual symbols. Communication involves and affects nearly every disciplinary field, including business.
Basic Communication Principles.
Communication is a Process. The exchange of messages is on-going and dynamic. Our internal communication and our exchanges with others are always changing and growing.
Communication is Continuous. Communication starts at birth. Even if we do not talk then non-verbal communication occurs. Non-verbal communication includes body movements such as gestures, facial expressions and vocal sounds that do not use words.
We also continually communicate internally. Intrapersonal communication involves both intentional and unintentional message exchange. For Example, some of our thought processes are unintentional, such as when the body signals thirst to the brain, but our internal critical thinking, listening and reading are intentional communication.
Functions of communication within an Organization.
· Communication acts to control member behaviour in several ways. Organizations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that employees are required to follow. For e.g., when employees are required to first communicate any job-related grievance to their immediate boss, to follow their job description, or to comply with policies, communication is performing a control function.
· Communication fosters motivation by clarifying to employees what is to be done, how well they are doing it, and what can be done to improve performance if it’s subpar.
· Communication provides a release for emotional expression of feelings and for fulfilment of social needs.
· Communication facilitates decision making. It provides the information that individuals and groups need to make decisions by transmitting data to identify and evaluate alternative choices.
The Communication Process.
Communication can be thought of as a process or flow. Communication problems occur when there are deviations or blockages in that flow.
Before communication can take place, a purpose, expressed as a message to be conveyed, is needed. It passes between a source (the sender) and a receiver. The message is encoded (converted to symbolic form) and is passed by way of some medium (channel) to the receiver, who retranslates (decodes) the message initiated by the sender. The result is transference of meaning from one person to another.
The communication model is made up of seven parts:
1. ideas
2. encoding
3. communication source and receiver
4. the message,
5. the channel
6. decoding
7. feedback
The source initiates a message by encoding a thought. Four conditions have been described that affect the encoded message: skill, attitudes, knowledge, and the social-cultural system.
Success in communicating to you is dependent on my writing skills: if the authors of textbooks are without the requisite writing skills, their messages will not reach students in the form desired.
A message is any signal that triggers the response of a receiver. Messages are not synonymous with meanings. For eg., you might remind a co-worker about a deadline with the intention of being helpful, but your colleague could interpret the message as an indication that you were annoyed or mistrustful.
Ideas and Encoding: Ideas are generated at the point of perception, when information from the outside environment or from inside your mind simulates and arouses your attention. The sender must choose certain words or non-verbal methods to send an intentional message. The activity is called encoding. The words and channels that a communicator chooses to deliver a message can make a tremendous difference in how that message is received.
Communication source and receiver: Each person in the communication process is both a message source and a receiver throughout a given interaction. A message source is the originator and transmitter of the message. The receiver is the recipient of the message, or the destination point.
Message: Messages are ideas encoded and designed into into one or more symbols to communicate meaning. We think about these message internally; formulate them into words, behaviours or visual images and send them to other people.
Channel: The channel (sometimes called the medium) is the method used to deliver a message. As a business communicator, you can always choose whether to put your message in writing as aletter or memo.
Decoding: Even if a message does not get to its intended receiver intact, there is no guarantee that it will be understood as the sender intended it to be. The receiver must still decode it, attaching meaning to the words or symbols.
Feedback: The discernible response of a receiver to a sender’s message is called feedback. Some feedback is non-verbal- smiles, sighs and so on. Feedback can also be written, as when you respond to a co-workers memo. In many cases, no message can also be a kind of feedback.
Barriers to Effective Communication.
Organizational Barriers
DEFINING LANGUAGE
Language is recognized as having two possible interpretations: language and a language. When we think of language we think of it in a general way.
Language: is the verbal form of human expression. As such, it is therefore confined to a human context and not extended to any other species. It also relates to a human being's ability to communicate, verbally and non-verbally, with other human beings as well as with himself. It allows the transmission of desires, ideas and emotions from individual to individual and within the same individual. Language is external in the form of sounds and symbols and it is internal as mental activity
A Language: means any distinct system of verbal expression, distinguished from other such systems by its peculiarities of structure and vocabulary. That is to say that every language is distinct from other languages because of these features.
E.g. Spanish, Jamaican Creole, English, French and Chinese are each categorized as a language; while all who are speakers of these languages, in verbally expressing themselves, use language.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE
1. Human
Where other creatures seem to have communication systems which enable them to perform basic functions, only the human species has one which allows such complexity and range of performance. We know of no other species which can express meanings about past or future events, articulate abstract ideas or construct advertisements.
2. Verbal
Human beings make language. It is first spoken then written. The complex anatomy in the throat and mouth allows us to modify this vibrating air in order to make the vowels and consonants of speech and to manipulate its melodies, the intonation system. We have ears to hear what others say as well as to monitor ourselves.
3.Symbolic
Language has an arbitrary nature. The connection between the things signified (e.g. Objects) and the words used to signify them, that is the symbol the word 'book' and the symbolized the actual book, is arbitrary. There is nothing inherent in the word 'book' for us to refer to the object as such.
4.Systematic
Language is rule governed. It follows observable patterns that obey certain inherent 'rules'. To be fluent in a language requires both a mastery of its grammatical rules and competence in the appropriate use of the sentences that are structured by those rules.
5.Maturational
A language is always developing. Most languages do so as they acquire vocabulary.
6.Non – instinctive
Language is naturally acquired. It is suggested that there is a built-in mechanism which gives human beings the ability to acquire and learn language; we are biologically conditioned to learn language.
7.Dynamic
Language is not static, it is always changing. Language changes because the lives of speakers change, for example, as speakers come into contact with other cultures or as new discoveries change their way of life.
The Jamaican Language Situation
The Jamaican Language situation is referred to as a continuum. It depicts the range of languages and language dialects spoken in Jamaica. (Indeed there are a few other Caribbean territories which are described in a similar manner.) This range is represented as a continuum because:
1. Not every point on the continuum is a separate language
2. Jamaicans will switch from one to the other continuously in conversation and in different situations.
The diagram below should give you a visual image of the Jamaican Language Continuum
BASILECT >MESOLECT >ACROLECT
BASILECT is the form of Creole with more African derived features than other forms and is said to be the first point on the continuum. It is most often spoken in rural areas and by uneducated persons.
MESOLECT is the form of Creole with more English derived features than the basilect and is said to be the point on the continuum next to the basilect. It is most often spoken by urban and educated persons.
ACROLECT is the Jamaican Standard English and it is the last point on the continuum. It is most often spoken in formal situations.
Undoubtedly this notion that each form is most often spoken by particular persons is debatable as the increased accessibility of new technological mediums of communication throughout the country has enabled Jamaicans to choose even more freely any variety they wish to use along the continuum.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CREOLE LANGUAGES
There are several features of Creoles and Creole-influenced vernacular which make them different from Standard English. These features may be categorized as grammar, sound, vocabulary and semantics.
Grammar: Within Creole grammar, for example, nouns, verbs and pronouns are not treated in the same way in which they are in Standard English [SE].To illustrate plurality as in the noun 'books', in Jamaican Creole [JC] plurality is shown by the use of the word 'dem' as in 'buk dem'. (Polard: 1993)
Sound: The creole sound does not use the "th" sound this is usually substituded by the letter 'd". The "h", or "ing" sound is normally not pronounced. To illustate sound formation in Jamaican Creole [JC] we generally hear the words "dem" "tief ", "comin" and "ungry".
Vocabulary: Most of the vocabulary used in the Jamaican Creole [JC] can only be found in that language. To illustrate this we often find words such as "nyaam" and "pickney".
Semantics: In the Jamaican Creole [JC] words that are used may be shared with Standard English [SE] however they have different denotative and connotative meanings. To illustrate this the word "ignorant" in Standard English [SE] may refer to someone who is lacking in knowledge, while in Jamaican Creole [JC] it refers to someone who gets easily upset/angry.
LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY
language is used in various forms and capacity within our society today. These factors give rise to the issues which perpetuate the prevailing attitudes, both negative and positive, to language in Jamaica and some other territories in the Caribbean. The following are some of the factors affecting language:
1. SOCIAL FACTORS:
* Interaction with peers
* Media
* Interaction with others [different age groups]
* Structure of the society cultural plurality [several cultural groups existing in the same environment
2. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:
* Occasion determines the register [formal or informal]
* Interaction in the home [What registers are used? How do members relate to each other?]
* Church ceremonial language is used
* School language of instruction and interaction with peers
3. HISTORICAL FACTORS:
* Slavery and plantation life
* Dispersion of tribes on the plantations and in colonies
* The need to communicate
* Sovereignty who colonized which territory
4. EDUCATIONAL FACTORS:
* Level of educational background
* Availability of educational materials which foster the development of language
* The teacher
* Interaction with students during class
* Accessibility of and exposure to training
* Level of literacy
5. ECONOMIC FACTORS
* Availability of materials which foster language development
* Exposure to modes of communication
* Travel
6. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
* Rurality vs. urbanization
References:
Polard, Velma 1993, From Jamaican Creole to Standard English. A handbook for Teachers, Caribbean Research Centre, New York: Medgar Evers College.
Roberts, Peter 2002. West Indians and their Languages, Cambridge
University Press.
Communication
“Communication is the transference and understanding of meaning.” (Robbins, 310)
“Communication is the process by which information is exchanged and understood by two or more people, usually with the intent to motivate or influence behaviour.” (Daft, 567)
It is a continuous process that occurs in various contexts and uses cultural symbols. It is a process that purposefully uses spoken, nonverbal and visual symbols. Communication involves and affects nearly every disciplinary field, including business.
Basic Communication Principles.
Communication is a Process. The exchange of messages is on-going and dynamic. Our internal communication and our exchanges with others are always changing and growing.
Communication is Continuous. Communication starts at birth. Even if we do not talk then non-verbal communication occurs. Non-verbal communication includes body movements such as gestures, facial expressions and vocal sounds that do not use words.
We also continually communicate internally. Intrapersonal communication involves both intentional and unintentional message exchange. For Example, some of our thought processes are unintentional, such as when the body signals thirst to the brain, but our internal critical thinking, listening and reading are intentional communication.
Functions of communication within an Organization.
· Communication acts to control member behaviour in several ways. Organizations have authority hierarchies and formal guidelines that employees are required to follow. For e.g., when employees are required to first communicate any job-related grievance to their immediate boss, to follow their job description, or to comply with policies, communication is performing a control function.
· Communication fosters motivation by clarifying to employees what is to be done, how well they are doing it, and what can be done to improve performance if it’s subpar.
· Communication provides a release for emotional expression of feelings and for fulfilment of social needs.
· Communication facilitates decision making. It provides the information that individuals and groups need to make decisions by transmitting data to identify and evaluate alternative choices.
The Communication Process.
Communication can be thought of as a process or flow. Communication problems occur when there are deviations or blockages in that flow.
Before communication can take place, a purpose, expressed as a message to be conveyed, is needed. It passes between a source (the sender) and a receiver. The message is encoded (converted to symbolic form) and is passed by way of some medium (channel) to the receiver, who retranslates (decodes) the message initiated by the sender. The result is transference of meaning from one person to another.
The communication model is made up of seven parts:
1. ideas
2. encoding
3. communication source and receiver
4. the message,
5. the channel
6. decoding
7. feedback
The source initiates a message by encoding a thought. Four conditions have been described that affect the encoded message: skill, attitudes, knowledge, and the social-cultural system.
Success in communicating to you is dependent on my writing skills: if the authors of textbooks are without the requisite writing skills, their messages will not reach students in the form desired.
A message is any signal that triggers the response of a receiver. Messages are not synonymous with meanings. For eg., you might remind a co-worker about a deadline with the intention of being helpful, but your colleague could interpret the message as an indication that you were annoyed or mistrustful.
Ideas and Encoding: Ideas are generated at the point of perception, when information from the outside environment or from inside your mind simulates and arouses your attention. The sender must choose certain words or non-verbal methods to send an intentional message. The activity is called encoding. The words and channels that a communicator chooses to deliver a message can make a tremendous difference in how that message is received.
Communication source and receiver: Each person in the communication process is both a message source and a receiver throughout a given interaction. A message source is the originator and transmitter of the message. The receiver is the recipient of the message, or the destination point.
Message: Messages are ideas encoded and designed into into one or more symbols to communicate meaning. We think about these message internally; formulate them into words, behaviours or visual images and send them to other people.
Channel: The channel (sometimes called the medium) is the method used to deliver a message. As a business communicator, you can always choose whether to put your message in writing as aletter or memo.
Decoding: Even if a message does not get to its intended receiver intact, there is no guarantee that it will be understood as the sender intended it to be. The receiver must still decode it, attaching meaning to the words or symbols.
Feedback: The discernible response of a receiver to a sender’s message is called feedback. Some feedback is non-verbal- smiles, sighs and so on. Feedback can also be written, as when you respond to a co-workers memo. In many cases, no message can also be a kind of feedback.
Barriers to Effective Communication.
- Filtering- This refers to the sender manipulating information so that it will be seen more favourably by the receiver. For example, when a manger tells his Boss what he feels his boss wants to hear, he is filtering information.
- Selective perception- Receivers in the communication process selectively see and hear based on their needs, motivations, experience, background and other personal characteristics. For e.g., the employment interviewer who expects a female job applicant to put her family ahead of her career is likely to see that in female applicants, regardless of whether the applicants feel that way or not.
- Defensiveness- When people feel that they’re being threatened, they tend to react in ways that reduce their ability to achieve mutual understanding. Hence, when individuals interpret another’s message as threatening, they often respond in ways that retard effective communication.
- Language- Words mean different things to different people. Age, education, and cultural background are three of the more obvious variables that influence the language a person uses and the definitions he or she gives to words.
- Sending inconsistent cues between verbal and non-verbal communications will confuse the receiver. If one’s facial expression does not reflect one’s words, the communication will contain noise and uncertainty. The tone of voice and body language should be consistent with the words, and actions should not contradict words.
Organizational Barriers
- Status and Power Differences- Low power people may be reluctant to pass bad news to senior staff, thus giving the wrong impression to upper levels. High power people may not pay attention or may feel that low-status people have little to contribute.
- Differences across departments in terms of needs and goals which interfere with communication. Each dept. perceives problems in its own terms. The production department is concerned with production efficiency and may not fully understand the marketing department’s need to get the product to the customer in a hurry.
- Management Styles: The way a manager leads may present problems for workers and as such there may be problems created if workers do not like the management style. This may lead to low productivity and absenteeism.
DEFINING LANGUAGE
Language is recognized as having two possible interpretations: language and a language. When we think of language we think of it in a general way.
Language: is the verbal form of human expression. As such, it is therefore confined to a human context and not extended to any other species. It also relates to a human being's ability to communicate, verbally and non-verbally, with other human beings as well as with himself. It allows the transmission of desires, ideas and emotions from individual to individual and within the same individual. Language is external in the form of sounds and symbols and it is internal as mental activity
A Language: means any distinct system of verbal expression, distinguished from other such systems by its peculiarities of structure and vocabulary. That is to say that every language is distinct from other languages because of these features.
E.g. Spanish, Jamaican Creole, English, French and Chinese are each categorized as a language; while all who are speakers of these languages, in verbally expressing themselves, use language.
CHARACTERISTICS OF LANGUAGE
1. Human
Where other creatures seem to have communication systems which enable them to perform basic functions, only the human species has one which allows such complexity and range of performance. We know of no other species which can express meanings about past or future events, articulate abstract ideas or construct advertisements.
2. Verbal
Human beings make language. It is first spoken then written. The complex anatomy in the throat and mouth allows us to modify this vibrating air in order to make the vowels and consonants of speech and to manipulate its melodies, the intonation system. We have ears to hear what others say as well as to monitor ourselves.
3.Symbolic
Language has an arbitrary nature. The connection between the things signified (e.g. Objects) and the words used to signify them, that is the symbol the word 'book' and the symbolized the actual book, is arbitrary. There is nothing inherent in the word 'book' for us to refer to the object as such.
4.Systematic
Language is rule governed. It follows observable patterns that obey certain inherent 'rules'. To be fluent in a language requires both a mastery of its grammatical rules and competence in the appropriate use of the sentences that are structured by those rules.
5.Maturational
A language is always developing. Most languages do so as they acquire vocabulary.
6.Non – instinctive
Language is naturally acquired. It is suggested that there is a built-in mechanism which gives human beings the ability to acquire and learn language; we are biologically conditioned to learn language.
7.Dynamic
Language is not static, it is always changing. Language changes because the lives of speakers change, for example, as speakers come into contact with other cultures or as new discoveries change their way of life.
The Jamaican Language Situation
The Jamaican Language situation is referred to as a continuum. It depicts the range of languages and language dialects spoken in Jamaica. (Indeed there are a few other Caribbean territories which are described in a similar manner.) This range is represented as a continuum because:
1. Not every point on the continuum is a separate language
2. Jamaicans will switch from one to the other continuously in conversation and in different situations.
The diagram below should give you a visual image of the Jamaican Language Continuum
BASILECT >MESOLECT >ACROLECT
BASILECT is the form of Creole with more African derived features than other forms and is said to be the first point on the continuum. It is most often spoken in rural areas and by uneducated persons.
MESOLECT is the form of Creole with more English derived features than the basilect and is said to be the point on the continuum next to the basilect. It is most often spoken by urban and educated persons.
ACROLECT is the Jamaican Standard English and it is the last point on the continuum. It is most often spoken in formal situations.
Undoubtedly this notion that each form is most often spoken by particular persons is debatable as the increased accessibility of new technological mediums of communication throughout the country has enabled Jamaicans to choose even more freely any variety they wish to use along the continuum.
CHARACTERISTICS OF CREOLE LANGUAGES
There are several features of Creoles and Creole-influenced vernacular which make them different from Standard English. These features may be categorized as grammar, sound, vocabulary and semantics.
Grammar: Within Creole grammar, for example, nouns, verbs and pronouns are not treated in the same way in which they are in Standard English [SE].To illustrate plurality as in the noun 'books', in Jamaican Creole [JC] plurality is shown by the use of the word 'dem' as in 'buk dem'. (Polard: 1993)
Sound: The creole sound does not use the "th" sound this is usually substituded by the letter 'd". The "h", or "ing" sound is normally not pronounced. To illustate sound formation in Jamaican Creole [JC] we generally hear the words "dem" "tief ", "comin" and "ungry".
Vocabulary: Most of the vocabulary used in the Jamaican Creole [JC] can only be found in that language. To illustrate this we often find words such as "nyaam" and "pickney".
Semantics: In the Jamaican Creole [JC] words that are used may be shared with Standard English [SE] however they have different denotative and connotative meanings. To illustrate this the word "ignorant" in Standard English [SE] may refer to someone who is lacking in knowledge, while in Jamaican Creole [JC] it refers to someone who gets easily upset/angry.
LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY
language is used in various forms and capacity within our society today. These factors give rise to the issues which perpetuate the prevailing attitudes, both negative and positive, to language in Jamaica and some other territories in the Caribbean. The following are some of the factors affecting language:
1. SOCIAL FACTORS:
* Interaction with peers
* Media
* Interaction with others [different age groups]
* Structure of the society cultural plurality [several cultural groups existing in the same environment
2. ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS:
* Occasion determines the register [formal or informal]
* Interaction in the home [What registers are used? How do members relate to each other?]
* Church ceremonial language is used
* School language of instruction and interaction with peers
3. HISTORICAL FACTORS:
* Slavery and plantation life
* Dispersion of tribes on the plantations and in colonies
* The need to communicate
* Sovereignty who colonized which territory
4. EDUCATIONAL FACTORS:
* Level of educational background
* Availability of educational materials which foster the development of language
* The teacher
* Interaction with students during class
* Accessibility of and exposure to training
* Level of literacy
5. ECONOMIC FACTORS
* Availability of materials which foster language development
* Exposure to modes of communication
* Travel
6. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION
* Rurality vs. urbanization
References:
Polard, Velma 1993, From Jamaican Creole to Standard English. A handbook for Teachers, Caribbean Research Centre, New York: Medgar Evers College.
Roberts, Peter 2002. West Indians and their Languages, Cambridge
University Press.
the_caribbean_language_situation.ppt | |
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