Communication (UNIT II)



Listening Skills
The average college student spends about 14 hours per week in class listening (or perhaps I should say "hearing"--there is a difference!) to lectures. See if you can improve your listening skills by following some of the strategies below:
Maintain eye contact with the instructor. Of course you will need to look at your notebook to write your notes, but eye contact keeps you focused on the job at hand and keeps you involved in the lecture.
Focus on content, not delivery. Have you ever counted the number of times a teacher clears his/her throat in a fifteen minute period? If so, you weren't focusing on content.
Avoid emotional involvement. When you are too emotionally involved in listening, you tend to hear what you want to hear--not what is actually being said. Try to remain objective and open-minded.
Avoid distractions. Don't let your mind wander or be distracted by the person shuffling papers near you. If the classroom is too hot or too cold try to remedy that situation if you can. The solution may require that you dress more appropriately to the room temperature.
Treat listening as a challenging mental task. Listening to an academic lecture is not a passive act--at least it shouldn't be. You need to concentrate on what is said so that you can process the information into your notes.
Stay active by asking mental questions. Active listening keeps you on your toes. Here are some questions you can ask yourself as you listen. What key point is the professor making? How does this fit with what I know from previous lectures? How is this lecture organized?
Use the gap between the rate of speech and your rate of thought. You can think faster than the lecturer can talk. That's one reason your mind may tend to wander. All the above suggestions will help you keep your mind occupied and focused on what being said. You can actually begin to anticipate what the professor is going to say as a way to keep your mind from straying. Your mind does have the capacity to listen, think, write and ponder at the same time, but it does take practice.

Types of listening

Here are six types of listening, starting with basic discrimination of sounds and ending in deep communication.

Discriminative listening

Discriminative listening is the most basic type of listening, whereby the difference between difference sounds is identified. If you cannot hear differences, then you cannot make sense of the meaning that is expressed by such differences.
We learn to discriminate between sounds within our own language early, and later are unable to discriminate between the phonemes of other languages. This is one reason why a person from one country finds it difficult to speak another language perfectly, as they are unable distinguish the subtle sounds that are required in that language.
Likewise, a person who cannot hear the subtleties of emotional variation in another person's voice will be less likely to be able to discern the emotions the other person is experiencing.
Listening is a visual as well as auditory act, as we communicate much through body language. We thus also need to be able to discriminate between muscle and skeletal movements that signify different meanings.

Comprehension listening

The next step beyond discriminating between different sound and sights is to make sense of them. To comprehend the meaning requires first having a lexicon of words at our fingertips and also all rules of grammar and syntax by which we can understand what others are saying.
The same is true, of course, for the visual components of communication, and an understanding of body language helps us understand what the other person is really meaning.
In communication, some words are more important and some less so, and comprehension often benefits from extraction of key facts and items from a long spiel.
Comprehension listening is also known  as content listening, informative listening and full listening.

Critical listening

Critical listening is listening in order to evaluate and judge, forming opinion about what is being said. Judgment includes assessing strengths and weaknesses, agreement and approval.
This form of listening requires significant real-time cognitive effort as the listener analyzes what is being said, relating it to existing knowledge and rules, whilst simultaneously listening to the ongoing words from the speaker.

Biased listening

Biased listening happens when the person hears only what they want to hear, typically misinterpreting what the other person says based on the stereotypes and other biases that they have. Such biased listening is often very evaluative in nature.

Evaluative listening

In evaluative listening, or critical listening, we make judgments about what the other person is saying. We seek to assess the truth of what is being said. We also judge what they say against our values, assessing them as good or bad, worthy or unworthy.
Evaluative listening is particularly pertinent when the other person is trying to persuade us, perhaps to change our behavior and maybe even to change our beliefs. Within this, we also discriminate between subtleties of language and comprehend the inner meaning of what is said. Typically also we weigh up the pros and cons of an argument, determining whether it makes sense logically as well as whether it is helpful to us.
Evaluative listening is also called critical, judgmental or interpretive listening.

Appreciative listening

In appreciative listening, we seek certain information which will appreciate, for example that which helps meet our needs and goals. We use appreciative listening when we are listening to good music, poetry or maybe even the stirring words of a great leader.

Sympathetic listening

In sympathetic listening we care about the other person and show this concern in the way we pay close attention and express our sorrow for their ills and happiness at their joys.

Empathetic listening

When we listen empathetically, we go beyond sympathy to seek a truer understand how others are feeling. This requires excellent discrimination and close attention to the nuances of emotional signals. When we are being truly empathetic, we actually feel what they are feeling.
In order to get others to expose these deep parts of themselves to us, we also need to demonstrate our empathy in our demeanor towards them, asking sensitively and in a way that encourages self-disclosure.

Therapeutic listening

In therapeutic listening, the listener has a purpose of not only empathizing with the speaker but also to use this deep connection in order to help the speaker understand, change or develop in some way.
This not only happens when you go to see a therapist but also in many social situations, where friends and family seek to both diagnose problems from listening and also to help the speaker cure themselves, perhaps by some cathartic process. This also happens in work situations, where managers, HR people, trainers and coaches seek to help employees learn and develop.

Dialogic listening

The word 'dialogue' stems from the Greek words 'dia', meaning 'through' and 'logos' meaning 'words'. Thus dialogic listening mean learning through conversation and an engaged interchange of ideas and information in which we actively seek to learn more about the person and how they think.
Dialogic listening is sometimes known as 'relational listening'.

Relationship listening

Sometimes the most important factor in listening is in order to develop or sustain a relationship. This is why lovers talk for hours and attend closely to what each other has to say when the same words from someone else would seem to be rather boring.
Relationship listening is also important in areas such as negotiation and sales, where it is helpful if the other person likes you and trusts you.

Developing Listening

Listen for meaning
Listening for meaning is a form of active listening. Active and attentive listeners not only pay attention to words, they also focus on the intent of each word–the message a word is intended to communicate. To decipher messages, first determine the central idea being communicated. Then pay close attention to anecdotes, explanations, and other details meant to clarify meaning. While you work to improve listening skills, always pay close attention to the central focus of what is being relayed.

While you're listening, and after the listen task has ended, check your comprehension. Did what you learn make sense within the context of the topic or central idea being communicated? Monitoring and checking comprehension makes sure that you're active listening strategy is working.
Adjust your note taking style to the lecture
Ineffective listeners often attempt to jot down every detail from a lecture. They are under the impression that a detailed outline equates to good notes. Students who utilize this strategy often get discouraged when they review their notes only to find the breadth, detail and lack of focus in their note-taking is confusing and leaves them unable to identify central themes and important topics. Effective listeners adapt their note-taking to the teaching styles of their teachers and lectures. They focus on central ideas and jot down details that expand on, or clarify, the central concepts of a lecture.
Tackle difficult to understand material
It's not uncommon for students tune out professors when they start discussing confusing or complex topics. Even when it's possible to hear every word during a lecture, it can be very difficult to process confusing or complicated concepts. Good listeners harness their mental faculties to process what is being presented.
Concentrate and pay attention
People who struggle with listening often have a difficult time concentrating. Good listeners must work to develop the ability to concentrate and ignore distractions. This requires the ability to tune out personal worries, thoughts about family members and friends, and thoughts about upcoming activities. Those who can hone the ability to concentrate can improve listening skills.
Be prepared
If you do not complete required reading or review notes from previous lectures prior to class, it is very difficult to process information and attentively listen to lectures. This is why you should never neglect to complete reading or other class assignments. Attending a lecture prepare provides you the background knowledge required to be an effective listener–and an effective student.
Focus on what's important
One of the keys of effective listening is the ability to concentrate on central ideas and main focuses. It is a mistake to only be concerned about facts and extemporaneous detail during a lecture. In other words, effective listeners focus on the stories or ideas behind the facts. They then are able to pick up on the supporting fact, details and evidence for the main concepts, ideals and topics being discussed.
Choose to be interested
Many people tune out lectures because they're bored or disinterested. As a result, they neglect to take notes on key concepts. Effective listeners become interested in the subject material, so they can process the information and pay attention to classroom lectures.

The importance of reading skills development

 

As a parent, monitoring your child’s physical health is second nature. You’re alert to any signs of impending illness, such as listlessness or flushed cheeks, and you take appropriate action immediately. Considering the importance of learning to read, shouldn’t you invest as much time and thought into following his or her literacy progress as well?
Reading may seem like an ability that comes naturally, so there may be a tendency to leave it up to a child’s teacher to provide any instruction. The fact is that writing and printing were inventions of our civilization, so we’re not born with an instinct that tells us in what direction text flows or any other knowledge needed to read. It’s up to you to guide and nurture your child’s early development. 

While the ability to read is important for its own sake, it provides the foundation for all other learning, particularly during school years. Consider how much difficulty a struggling reader will have with both textbooks and computer-based lessons. Writing skills also benefit thanks to a powerful vocabulary and familiarity with classic writing styles that come with frequent reading. 
Your child’s academic development isn’t the only factor to enjoy a positive impact from reading skills. They contribute to psychological traits such as the ability to concentrate and strong self-discipline. Since reading opens a window to the world, it’s a way to learn about other people and cultures, allowing your child to adapt easily in a variety of social situations. 
The importance of learning to read continues to play a part in your child’s success during adulthood. According to the Canadian Literacy and Learning Network, less than 20 percent of those with the lowest literacy skills are employed. Only 5 to 10 percent of these people enroll in programs designed to improve their literacy for job training. Helping your child develop a strong reading ability early will help him or her avoid this difficult situation. 
When you demonstrate a concerned interest in your child’s reading skills, he or she is far more likely to experience positive results. According to How to Make Your Child a Reader for Life, written by educator and young-adult novelist Paul Kropp, there are three time periods during childhood when reading may slump, causing a potential hindrance to development. Pay attention to their habits when entering kindergarten, grade 4 and high school. Some additional help may be needed to get them through these hurdles. 
The importance of learning to read can’t be overstated. Our flag-ship program, SpellRead can help you take a proactive approach to fully developing your child’s skills. Contact us to schedule his or her free reading assessment. 

 

Reading Skills and its Sub-skills
Posted on Sunday, 30 June 2013 | 4 Comments
Reading involves a number of sub-skills.

1. Global Comprehension

In reading a text for meaning, it is desirable to go from the ‘whole’ to the ‘parts’, and not vice versa, as unskilled readers tend to do. A poor reader will pick up information from the text in small bits and pieces, as he/she reads from one word or one sentence to the next, and try to assemble the bits together. An efficient reader, on the other hand, will first try to form an over all ‘picture’ of the entire text.

‘Global Comprehension’, or the ability to get ‘over-all’ meaning from a text, requires the sub-skill of skimming i.e. reading through the text at high speed in order to identify and pick up the main idea or ideas in the text while ‘filtering out’ the unnecessary details.




2. Understanding the Plan of the Text

A good reader usually reads a text more than once in order to understand it adequately. The first reading is done at speed, with the intention of making a ‘general survey’ of the text. Then the reader returns to the text as many times as needed in order to fill in the details.

Efficient readers are able to form a ‘plan’ of the text that is being read, which helps them to recover meaning from it. Most texts – unless they are badly written – possess unity of thought. There is generally one central idea or ‘theme’ in the text, which is most prominent. There may be other ideas as well, but they are usually introduced in order to provide support for the main idea. The reader’s mental plan helps him/her to ‘navigate’ through the text confidently instead of groping about blindly.


3. Making Predictions and Informed Guesses

An unskilled reader plods through a text laboriously, trying to get the meaning of every word. The skilled reader, after reading a few sentences, paragraphs or pages, is able to form a fairly accurate picture of what the author is trying to say, and is able to ‘hop’ and ‘skip’ through the text, omitting quite substantial portions of it without missing important information. Most writers have a tendency to repeat themselves in irder to ensure that their readers do not miss the significance of what they are saying; good readers are aware of this and know that portions of the text can be safely omitted.

Making reliable predictions about what is likely to be found in the text is an important sub-skill of reading.


4. Local Comprehension

After reading through the text quickly to form an overall impression, one should focus on the details of the information provided by the writer, which will generally be located in different parts of the text.

A reader begins by gathering the ‘facts’ presented by the author in the text. The term ‘factual comprehension’ refers to the ability to absorb and retrieve factual information contained in the text – i.e., information which has been explicitly stated by the writer and is directly available in the text. Factual comprehension must come before deeper and more thorough understanding of the text; unless one understands the ‘plain sense’ of the text, one cannot reach the other levels of comprehension.

Inferential comprehension refers to the reader’s ability to ‘read between the lines’. The reader has to understand not just what the writer has said but also what he/she might have said but has chosen to leave unsaid. This is done on the basis of clues provided in the text as well as the reader’s own background knowledge.

Evaluative comprehension requires the reader to make a considered judgment on the truth and the value of what the writer is trying to say, and how far he/she has succeeded in saying it. This is a more sophisticated skill than the two previously referred to since the author has to respond to the text more critically to identify, among other things, the writer’s bias, force and accuracy of argument and the effectiveness of what he/she is trying to say.


5. Guessing the meanings of Unfamiliar Words

Good readers tackle unknown words in a text by trying to guess their meanings from the context. It is not possible to look up the meanings of all unknown words in the dictionary. If the reader attempts to do that the flow of reading is interrupted. However, this is possible only when the text does not have too many difficult words.


6. Skimming an Scanning

'Skimming' a text means going through it quickly to get an overall idea of the content. We are not interested in details or any specific information while skimming.

'Scanning' on the other hand , involves searching the text for specific piece of information in which the reader is interested.


7. Understanding Discourse Markers

Discourse markers are ‘signposts’ provided by the writer. These are used in a text to indicate sequence of ideas and signal the writer’s point of view. Understanding the writer’s use of discourse markers is an important sub-skill of reading. These signposts are helpful because they indicate to the reader the relationship between two parts of the text.


8. Understanding the Organization of a Text

Every text contains a number of different ideas, which are presented in different parts of the text. The manner in which different ideas are related to each other in a text is referred to as the structure or organization of a text. This is controlled by the topic, the writer’s purpose and the audience that he/she has in mind. A good reader should be able to trace the organizational pattern in the text.

Once readers understand how a text is organized, they are better able to get meaning from a difficult text.


9. Note-Making

Note-making is a sub-skill of reading that is highly useful for study purposes. It involves understanding the organization of the text and being able to identify the main points and the supporting details, in skeleton or outline form.

MAIN IDEAS AND SUPPORTING DETAILS


Main Idea

•          Every story or paragraph has a main idea.
•          The main idea tells you what the story is about. 
•          The main idea maybe the lesson learned or moral of a story.
•          The main idea is the most important part of a story or paragraph.

Supporting Details

•          The supporting details are the things that describe the main idea. 
•          These supporting details make the main idea stronger.

Read the Passage and Choose the Main Idea

•          Niagara Falls is one of the most beautiful sights in North America.  It is on the Niagara River halfway between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie.  Niagara Falls is located on the American and Canadian border.  The American Falls is 167 feet high.  On the Canadian side, the Horseshoe Falls is 161 feet high. 
•          What is the main idea of the passage? 
•          Remember main idea is what the story is about. 
•          Main Idea:  Niagara Falls is one of the most beautiful sights in North America.  

Inferential Reading

Inferential comprehension deals with what the author means by what is said. The reader must simply read between the lines and make inferences about things not directly stated. Again these inferences are made in the main idea, supporting details, sequence, and cause and effect relationships. Inferential comprehension could also involve interpreting figurative language, drawing conclusions, predicting outcomes, determining the mood, and judging the author’s point of view. The following questions are usually asked:

What does the author value?
What is the theme?
What effect does this character/event have on the story?
How do you think this story will end?
Identify Author’s Viewpoint
Author’s viewpoint is the way an author looks at a topic or the ideas being described. Viewpoint includes the content and the language used to present the data. Thoughtful readers decipher an author’s point of view, opinions, hypotheses, assumptions, and possible bias. Instruction for author’s viewpoint helps students read analytically in order to identify the validity of information. Students identify words and phrases that show an author’s strong feelings for or against a person, group, or issue. They identify selections that present various perspectives on a topic. Readers learn to identify stated and unstated viewpoints.
Guiding Questions:
  • What opinions or belief statements are evident in the article?
  • Why do you think the author has this particular opinion or point of view?
  • What background information about the author does the reader have that may help understand the writer’s point of view? (Point of reference)
  • Would another author have a different point of view depending on his/her background experiences?
  • What pictures does the author paint for a reader?
  • What evidence did the author include to support their opinions?
  • What facts were missing?
  • What words and phrases did the author use to present the information?
  • Why did the author write this selection? Identifying the author’s purpose helps students recognize possible viewpoints, especially in persuasive writing.

Making prediction guessing the meaning of unfamiliar words


Confronted with texts, language learners may be stuck by shortage of vocabulary inventory and thus be unable to understand what texts are about. The first thing that a learner does to understand a difficult word is to look it up using the nearest dictionary. There are however techniques learners may use to get the meaning of such vocabulary items. One of these techniques is guessing meaning from context.
No matter what level our students are in, they will often come across difficult words in texts they are exposed to. Inferring and guessing meanings of unfamiliar words is a strategy which is worth developing.

Guessing meaning from context

Guessing from context refers to the ability to infer the meaning of an expression using contextual clues. These clues may be purely linguistic or situational:
  • Linguistic context: the linguistic environment in which a word is used within a text
  • Situational context: extra linguistic elements that contribute to the construction of meaning this may involve background knowledge of the subject.
What this amounts to is that learners should be able to infer the meaning of an unknown word using:
  1. the meaning of vocabulary items that surrounds it;
  2. the way the word is formed;
  3. background knowledge of the subject and the situation.

Techniques for guessing

Texts are often full of redundancy and consequently students can use the relation between different items within a text to get the meaning. Our prior knowledge of the world may also contribute to understand what an expression means.
  • Synonyms and definitions:
    • Kingfishers are a group of small to medium-sized brightly colored birds
    • When he made insolent remarks towards his teacher they sent him to the principal for being disrespectful
  • Antonym and contrast
    • He loved her so much for being so kind to him. By contrast, he abhorred her mother
  • Cause and effect
    • He was disrespectful towards other members. That’s why he was sent off and penalized.
  • Parts of speech
    • Whether the word is a noun, a verb, an adjective or an adverb, functioning as a subject, a predicate or a complement.
  • Examples
    • Trojan is an example of a computer virus
  • Word forms (the morphological properties of the word)
    • Getting information from affixes (prefixes and suffixes) to understand a word. Examples: dis- (meaning not), –less (meaning without)…
  • General knowledge
    • The French constitution establishes laïcité as a system of government where there is a strict separation of church and state.
These techniques help students get the meaning of words or at least narrow the possibilities. If need be using the dictionary should be the last resort to fine tune  the understanding of a vocabulary item

What is the writing process?
The writing process teaches students to internalize the steps for producing a finished piece of writing and should entail the recursive phases of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. When students internalize the process approach, they are prepared to produce logical and well written documents which convey an appropriate message for a specific audience in personal, academic, and professional contexts.

  • Pre-Writing:     The pre-writing stage helps expand or narrow focus, and identify and/or organize ideas. It is the planning phrase of the writing process. The Idea and Organization Traits are important in the prewriting phrase as the writer considers narrowing or expanding the writing focus and selects an organizational structure that will most effectively showcase the student’s ideas.
Students having difficulties with Pre-Writing may benefit from:
  • quick writes
  • free-writing and writing workshops (narrative)
  • keeping journals or learning logs
  • multi-sensory museum boxes or station activities (informative/explanatory)
  • role-playing or dramatization activities (argument)
  • outlining the form, audience, topic, and purpose [FAT P]
  • concept mapping software, such as Inspiration
Pre-Writing Resources:
Drafting : This stage involves the students in organizing ideas into a coherent structure. The goal of drafting is to translate ideas into written organization without being constrained by word choice, sentence structure, conventions, and presentation. Models of exemplar writing help students build a visual map in order to draft their ideas according to specifications. Informal conferences with teachers or peers can occur during this phase to provide feedback to the writer.

Students struggling with Drafting may benefit from
Revising: This stage focuses on improving student writing. Students rethink, rework, and refine their writing. Students apply their knowledge of language skills and sentence structure in order to become better writers. The first five Traits are critical to effective revision of the content: Idea, Organization, Voice, Word Choice, and Sentence Fluency .
Students having difficulties with Revising may benefit from
Editing: This stage involves the beautification of the piece and should be undertaken when all revisions to the content are complete. The writing is revisited to correct errors in grammar, mechanics, and usage and made be done independently or by engaging in peer editing. The Conventions Trait is the most prominent at this phase of the writing process.
A strong foundation in the conventions of Standard English is important, but not essential to students working on Editing their own or a peer’s writing.  Students may benefit from
Publishing: This stage involves sharing the writing with an intended audience and may involve preparing a neatly handwritten or word processed copy of the final draft and the addition of illustrations or other graphic elements. Publication may extend to a multimedia presentation or lead to a public performance. In most cases, the teacher is a member of the audience and is encouraged to give credit for the process and the completed piece at this stage. The Presentation Trait is emphasized during this phase of the writing process as the writer works to make the piece appealing and inviting to the audience.
While sharing one’s writing is an important goal of instruction focused on the Publishing stage, students may need assistance with document design and formatting, selecting illustrations and creating graphs, and adding other components to make it easier for an audience to approach the writing.  Students may benefit from
  • panel critique
  • gallery walks
  • interdisciplinary partnerships
Revisiting: This post-publication stage occurs after the essay is published and graded. Based on teacher direction, the students may return to the composition to “rework” language of the text. In the same way that athletic coaches and players recognize that reviewing game tape and sometimes returning to fundamentals is the only way to continuously improve performance, teachers and students should use finished pieces to practice composition skills in preparation for future assignments.
For example, a teacher might recognize after grading the set of papers that students did not vary sentence beginnings. Given this information, the teacher might ask the students to return to a piece of writing and revise three sentences so that they begin with verbals. Or, a teacher may direct students to practice writing different types of conclusions in preparation for another assignment. Similarly, a student may review his/her writing portfolio and select a piece from a previous year to expand.
As students develop increased independence, teacher guidance during the Revisiting may be relaxed in favor of revisiting past writings to expand or narrow focus, to integrate research and other sources, or to present the writing to a different audience.  Students may benefit from
  • deconstructing exercises
  • recontextualizing
  • concept mapping
  • research activities
  •  

Different Between speech and writing

Basis
Written communication
Oral communication
1.Record
It always has permanent record.
It does not have any permanent record.
2.Cost
Written communication is high cost.
Oral communication is less costly.
3.Feedback
Written communication it takes time to give feedback.
Oral communication it gives immediate feedback.
4.Flesibility
Written communication is rigid or inflexible.
Oral communication is highly flexible.
5.Time taken
Written communication it takes more time to prepare and transmit message.
Oral communication it takes least time to prepare and transmit message.
6.Reliability
Written communication is most reliable.
Oral communication is not reliable.
7.Legality
Written communication is legal evidence.
Oral communication is not legal evidence.
8.Distortion
Written communication is not possibility or distortion.
Oral communication is high possibility of distortion.
9.Effectiveness
Written communication is not effective as oral communication.
Oral communication is most effective communication.
lO.Significance
Most significant in all type of organizational context.
Less significant in the organizational context.
11.Relationship
Written communication is it establishes indirect relationship between parties.
Oral communication is it establishes direct relationship between parties.
12.Formality
It maintains formal communication relationship forms.
It maintains informal communication relationship forms.

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