Questions and Answers
Q. What is communication?
A. Communication is to transfer or share knowledge, important ideas and attitudes. It is an exchange of meaningful information in an effective way.
Q. In what ways do humans communicate?
A. Humans use verbal and non-verbal forms of communication. They use spoken and written forms of communication.
Q. What is a two-way communication? Give a few examples from your experience.
A. In two-way communication, the sender and the receiver interact mutually. Day to day conversations and interviews are examples of two-way communication. When we talk with our friends and speak with our lecturers, that is two-way communication.
Q. How do cultural factors affect communication?
A. Cultural factors affect communication as body language differs from culture to culture. Non-verbal communication cues such as eye contact, posture, gesture and others vary from culture to culture affecting communication.
Q. What is the role of feedback in communication?
Feedback is important to complete communication. This process allows the receiver to inform the reactions to the message received. Unless the sender knows that the message is properly received, communication cycle is not complete. So, it is very important.
Q. Give one example each of formal and informal communication.
A. These are the examples of formal and informal communication.
Formal: I solicit your esteemed presence on the occasion of my sister’s marriage.
Informal: Please attend my sister’s marriage.
B. Answer the following questions in about 100 words each.
1. Define communication.
Communication is to transfer or share knowledge, important ideas and attitudes. It is an exchange of meaningful information in an effective way. There are seven components in communication. They are a. sender, b. receiver, c. message, d. context, e. channel, f. culture and social/business space, and g. feedback. Communication is a two-way process. It involves at least two people, the sender and the receiver. It is purposeful and involves thoughts, feelings and emotions. It is goal oriented and it should have a shared code between the sender and the receiver. The receiver provides feedback about the message received. Misunderstandings and misinterpretations may occur during the process of communication.
2. Describe the process of communication.
There are five important steps in the process of communication. They are Ideation, Encoding, Channel, Decoding and Feedback. Ideation is the first step. In this step, the sender forms an idea of what to communicate. The second step is converting the idea into a transmittable message. This is called as Encoding. The third step, Channel is the selection of media such as spoken, written, electrical and digital or any other. Decoding is the fourth step, which is the understanding of the message by the receiver. The fifth step, Feedback also involves the receiver, where a response is given. With these five steps, the cycle of communication is complete.
3. How is non-verbal communication different from verbal communication?
Non-verbal communication does not use words like verbal communication. This kind of communication has five important components. They are Kinesics, Proxemics, Chronemics, Paralanguage and appearance. Kinesics involves gestures, postures, facial expressions, body language etc. Feelings such as anger, agreement can be expressed by Kinesics. Proxemics is the distance we keep from others during communication. It shows the relationship between the sender and receiver. Chronemics deals with time. It clarifies the interest of the sender and the receiver of the message communicated. Paralanguage is about the vocal qualities such as volume, pitch, rate, pronunciation, stress and intonation patterns. A successful communicator uses these qualities effectively. Appearance is very important to denote the personality of the communicator. Appearance plays a vital role in giving an impression.
4. How can barriers impede communication?
The following factors can impede communication.
Poor use of language can cause a breakdown in communication as the receiver may not understand the message clearly. Distraction leading to inadequate attention can cause a failure in communication. Improper feedback can lead to misunderstanding as the sender may not know whether the message is understood or not. Physical barriers as such noise, distance and others and mechanical barriers such as typographical errors can disturb communication. Medical problems like loss of hearing and communication apprehension are also communication barriers. Lack of interest or clash of interest can cause communication problems.
5. In what situations would you use formal communication? What factors have to be kept in mind in formal communication?
We have to use different kinds of language depending upon the context of our communication. There are two kinds of communication. One is formal communication and the other is informal communication. When we communicate with our seniors, elderly persons, officers and other respectable persons we use formal communication. We should keep in mind that we have to indicate our respect as well as our personal, social or cultural distance from our listeners by using formal language. We should remember to choose an appropriate style of language when communicating with others. We should avoid being too formal or too informal in our communication.
C. Answer the following questions in about 200 words.
1. Discuss the various types of communication, including verbal and non-verbal communication.
Communication is to transfer or share knowledge, important ideas and attitudes. It is an exchange of meaningful information in an effective way. There are different kinds of communication such as verbal, non-verbal, formal, informal, and one-way and two-way communication.
Verbal Communication: There are two types of communication in verbal communication. They are 1. Formal and Informal Communication, and2. One-way and two-way communication.
Formal and Informal Communication:
We use formal language when we need to show respect towards the person we are speaking to. We use informal language when we speak with our friends, classmates and colleagues.
These are the examples of formal and informal communication.
Formal: I solicit your esteemed presence on the occasion of my sister’s marriage.
Informal: Please attend my sister’s marriage.
2. One-way and two-way communication:
One-way communication is a way of communication in which communication proceeds in one-way only. Reading a book and listening to radio are examples of this type of communication.
Two-way communication is a way of communication in which communication proceeds in two-way. Day-to-day conversations are best examples of this kind of communication.
Non-verbal Communication:
Non-verbal communication does not use words like verbal communication. This kind of communication has five important components. They are Kinesics, Proxemics, Chronemics, Paralanguage and appearance. Kinesics involves gestures, postures, facial expressions, body language etc. Feelings such as anger, agreement can be expressed by Kinesics. Proxemics is the distance we keep from others during communication. It shows the relationship between the sender and receiver. Chronemics deals with time. It clarifies the interest of the sender and the receiver on the message communicated. Paralanguage is about the vocal qualities such as volume, pitch, rate, pronunciation, stress and intonation patterns. A successful communicator uses these qualities effectively. Appearance is very important to denote the personality of the communicator. Appearance plays vital role in giving impression.
2. Write a note on the barriers of communication. Describe any four in detail, adding examples from your experience.
There are several factors that can impede communication.
1. Poor use of language: Unless we use correct and understandable language, we cannot communicate properly. Poor standard in language leads to misunderstanding of the message being communicated.
Example: A speaker wrongly says that, “We should preserve petrol”. He actually means to say, “We should conserve petrol.”
2. Distraction: When we are communicating, we have to make sure that there are no distractions. Distractions such as loud music lead to poor apprehension of the communication.
Example: When a marriage procession passes by the college with loud film music, students are unable to listen to their lecturers.
3. Communication apprehension:
This is about fear and anxiety associated with communication. Students often fail to communicate with peers and seniors because of fear and anxiety.
Example: Students feel this kind of barrier when they are asked to speak at a meeting or seminar.
4. Lack of interest:
Lack of interest is a major hurdle of communication. Unless there is interest in the topic we are communicating, we cannot be forceful in our communication.
Example: People only do lip-service when they do not have interest in what they are saying.
Improper feedback and clarification, Physical barriers, Mechanical barriers, and Medical Problems are other important barriers in communication.
D. Read the following sentences and say whether each of them is an example of formal or informal communication.
1. We hope that the new décor will appeal to our esteemed customers. [Formal]
2. You may not agree with her views, but all said and done, she is the expert. [Formal]
3. It goes without saying that a good name is more valuable than riches. [Formal]
4. You must adhere to the rules of the college. [Formal]
5. As a matter of fact, we shall be in Delhi on a business assignment next week. [Formal]
6. She is fed up with their excuses. [Informal]
7. We trust that this new product meets with your approval. [Formal]
8. We hope you like this new product. [Informal]
