Lois Jose Syllabus Module 1 - Fundamentals - Vysakhi Suresh Writing - PDF document

Lois Jose Syllabus Module 1 - Fundamentals - Vysakhi Suresh Writing as a skill – its importance – functional use of writing – personal, academic and business writing – Mechanism of writing – words and sentences - Paragraph as a unit of structuring a whole text – combining different sources- Creative use of writing. Module 2 – Process - Vysakhi Suresh Writing process - planning a text – finding materials - drafting – revising – editing - finalizing the draft - computer as an aid – key board skills - word processing - desk top publishing. Writing for the Media- Academic writing - writing examinations - evaluating a text - note-making- paraphrasing – summary writing - planning a text – organizing paragraphs – introduction – body – conclusion – rereading and rewriting - copy editing - accuracy. Module 3- Writing models - Lois Jose Essay – Précis. Expansion of ideas- Dialogue- Correspondence- Letter writing – personal letters - formal letters - CV – surveys – questionnaire – email – fax - job application- Report writing Module 4 - Lois Jose Presentation as a skill - elements of presentation strategies – audience – objectives – medium – key ideas - structuring the material - organizing content - audio-visual aids – handouts - use of power point – clarity of presentation - non-verbal communication - seminar paper presentation and discussion. 1

Communication Definition Communication is the basic behaviour found across all animal species. Human language is, however, the unique communication system that separates humans from other animals and help them communicate more effectively. The term ‘communication’ is derived from the Latin word ‘communico’ or ‘communicare’ which means ‘ to share ’. It means the transfer of ideas, feelings, plans, messages or information from one person to another. The process of communication is considered effective only when it creates the desired action or response. For the effective communication the process requires a sender and a receiver. In the process, the sender encodes the message/information and sends to the receiver through a medium/channel. The receiver decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback which makes the communication process complete. Message Sender Receiver Feedback The hindrance occurs in the process of communication and does not allow the effective transmission of message can be called as noise. Types of Communication The various studies conducted in the field of communication have identified four types of communication. a) Intrapersonal Communication: It is the communication that takes place within one’s own self. It implies the individual reflection, contemplation and meditation. b) Interpersonal Communication: It is the direct, written, or oral communication occurs between two or more persons. c) Extrapersonal Communication: Man tend to communicate with non-human entities in his own ways. For instance, humans talk with a cat or a dog or an elephant and they follow the instructions correctly. Such communication between humans and non- human entities are called Extrapersonal Communication. d) Mass Communication: Conveying messages to a large audience through media like book, speech, newspaper or others like television, radio, internet etc can be considered as Mass Communication. Communication made possible through modern electronic media such as computers, television, radio, internet, cell phones etc is termed as Media Communication. Communication is made possible and effective through various forms of communication such as linguistic, paralinguistic, extralinguistic, non-verbal and verbal forms. Among these, in verbal communication, language plays an important role in the transmission of message. The verbal communication is realised through oral and written forms. 2

The face-to-face interaction between the sender and the receiver is called oral communication and it mostly involves speaking and listening skills. Eg: Making Presentations and Appearing for Interviews. In the written communication, the sender uses the written mode to transmit his/her messages to the receiver. It mostly includes reading and writing skills. Eg: Writing Reports, E-mails, Essays etc. Barriers: For the effective communication, the sender and receiver has to overcome many barriers. Barriers in communication breakdown the communication process and the message is not effectively transmitted. i.e., the message received by the receiver is not same as the message sent. In order to overcome the barriers caused in the process, the participants have to a) Identify the problem b) Find the cause c) Select and apply the best alternative solution. By the careful observation of feedback, problems/ barriers related to communication can be identified. The barriers identified are mostly caused due to various verbal, non-verbal and listening factors. a) Verbal Barriers : Effective speaking, listening, writing, and reading skills in a language are needed for the effective verbal communication. Major verbal barrios are 1) Lack of proper planning: When communication is made without any proper planning or thinking, the message is not properly communicated. 2) Selection of a wrong variety of language: The message is not transmitted when the speaker selects expressions or language strange to the audience. 3) Badly encoded or wrongly decoded messages: Wrong choice of words, absence of punctuation marks, wrongly timed pauses, poor organization of ideas and unnecessary jargons bring vagueness in the message. 4) Differences in perception of a message: One message can be perceived in different ways by different people. To overcome this, the sender has to keep in mind the various perspectives it can produce. 5) Variation in language: Language and its expressions are mostly culture-specific. The usage of language without understanding the culture will lead to miscommunication. For instance, in Britain, ‘to table a proposal’ means ‘to act on it’ while the same expression means ‘to postpone’ in America. b) Non-verbal Barriers: In communication, especially in speaking, non-verbal communication- gestures or other actions has an important role in communicating the message along with verbal communication. Many a times, it is the gestures and expressions that create either a bridge or a wall between the sender and receiver. For instance, avoiding eye contact or rolling eyes, closed hands etc., cause a hindrance to communicate effectively. 3

c) Listening Barriers: Poor listening results in incomplete, incorrect and inconsistent responses and on the other hand, to listen effectively, one needs concentration, patience and focus. The reasons behind poor listening are: 1) When the speaker makes t he audience to feel that (s)he is wasting the listener’s time. 2) Being distracted by something that is not part of the ongoing communication. 3) When the listener is impatient and gets ahead of the speaker to complete the thoughts of speaker. 4) Asking too many questions by the speaker also cause a barrier in listening. d) Other Barriers: 1) Messages are not communicated effectively when listeners jump to hasty conclusions without understanding it. 2) The communications fails when the information in the system is overloaded and the listener tend to ignore most of the information. 3) Emotional Reactions like anger, fear or joy can create a hurdle in effective transmission of message. 4) A stubborn or rigid attitude on the part of listener or the speaker may lead to the failure of communication. Writing: The process of writing, an important form of verbal communication helps to record information using a coded system of symbols. The symbols (letters) are physical manifestation of language and it varies from language to language. The writing process helps us to transfer ideas of our mind to another through words, phrases and sentences. Importance of Writing Skills: 1) Good writing skills help one to interact effectively in public. 2) It helps us to preserve our ideas and thoughts in a concrete form for generations. 3) It helps us to measure one’s learning, intellect and creativity. 4) Writing skills are tested in most exams. 5) It reflects one’s individual self. Writing Vs Speech Writing Speech The factor of Permanence is associated with Oral communications are relatively short- writing. lived Responses/feedback of the reader is not Responses of the listeners are easily assessed easily available to the author. by the speaker Writer has to solely depend upon written The body language and the voice modulation word to express themselves help the speaker to communicate more effectively Writer has to concentrate more on spelling Speaker has to concentrate more on and punctuations pronunciation and intonation Complete sentences are must in written form Complete sentences are not important Editing is possible during or after the process Editing is not possible during or after. 4