I am the Sender... and Receiver

In a simplified definition of communication, it is the transference of information between intelligences, i.e. transferring of information between person to person and vice versa. As simple as that may be however, the process of communication is not so simple. There are several conditions to take into consideration. These consideration are one, is the receiving party understanding the intended meaning of the message? Two, is the medium used to transfer the message effectively transferring the message and does it facilitate feedback.

In the case of the former, as a sender you create a message, package it - doing what is referred to as encoding - and disseminate the message. Upon disseminating, it is hoped that the meaning associated with the message remains pure and upon decoding by the receiver the intended message is what is conveyed. After interpreting, feedback is required, and if appropriate according to what was sent, communication took place, and is a success!

Note that, depending on what was sent in the first place, an unfavourable response may be forthcoming. This however may simply be a matter of 'altercation' and not 'miscommunication'

In the case of the latter, the medium used is very important. In order for communication to occur, the medium has to offer sending and feedback capabilities. It is important to note, even if the medium fulfils the aforementioned criteria, if there is interference complicating pure transference of the information, miscommunication could very well be what is taking place.

Communication is multi-dependent. It dependents on you, me and any other party involved in the exchange of information to send, receive and understand a message. Ultimately, we who are senders of a message, become recipients. This is and what completes the communication.

Communication

Communication is neither transmission of message nor the message itself. It is the mutual exchange of understanding, or shared meaning among a group of people. Originating with the sender they will select an appropriate channel for their message. The sender must encode the message or information being conveyed into a form that is appropriate to the communication channel, and the receiver or receivers. Once the encoded message is received the receiver then decodes the message to understand its meaning and significance. The receiver then sends feedback regarding their understanding and based on this feedback, the original sender will know if they have successfully communicated the shared meaning with the receiver. Because of the nature of communication we see that the sender can become the receiver and that communication operates in a cyclical way instead of a straight line.

This makes it clear that whatever kind of communication that is being used, a sender must take into consideration the receiver or audience to their massage. Example if a speaker is asked to speak at a function were they become aware that 80% of the audience cannot read and have limited education, the speaker must consider using simple terms and words to speak with the audience if they are to understand the message. It would make no sense for the speaker to use words that only individuals with a university level education will understand as this would become a barrier to communication.

One must also consider that there are many types of communication. Oral communication can be a face to face conversation or a conversation over a telephone. Written communication for example can be a printed memo from the administration of an organization to its employees. Nonverbal communication which entails body poster, eye movements or hand gestures any kind of communication that does not use word.  It is evident that communications can take many forms however the purpose is the same among all forms. This is to share information understandings and shared meaning among people 

Blog #1 - What is Communication

Communication is the transmission of data over a channel in a cyclical pattern, there are several components to communication and they are as follows; the sender, the message, the encoding, the channel, the decoding, the receiver and feedback. To understand communication even better let us define each of these components. The sender represents where the message originated, in other words the sender is the person making a statement or requesting information. The message represent the actual data that is being sent. Encoding represents the structure of the concept or idea the message should convey. Channels are the route that was chosen to disseminate the message, in most cases are verbal but can also no verbal such as sign languages or body gestures. Body gestures usually complement hand gestures and verbal communication to give a fuller message. Channels are usually susceptible to noise/interference that usually gets compounded as physical distance gets longer. Noise in communication usually represents anything that affects the clarity or can slow down communication. After a channel is selected and before a message can reach the receiver of the message it must be decoded, a message decoded represents how a message is interpreted and like encoding is affected by levels of knowledge. The receiver is the intended recipient of the message. At the end of a transmission information has to be relayed back to sender to ensure that the message was clear and interpreted correctly, wither the original sender makes a request for this information or the receiver volunteers this information, this information is called feedback and completes the cycle of basic communication.  

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Teaching English...A Plea For Help!

While lecturing this course, my first and most boring class covers the English Language.  That beautiful language with its how many tenses, punctuation, meanings, articles, etc. etc. etc.  It is also my most uncomfortable class because I am just uncomfortable with the topic itself.  My problem stems from the difference between the American and English spellings.  It always trips me up.

And I guess when talking to my students about it, the class becomes boring (something that I am not accustomed to).  So here's my idea.  I need you to give me ideas on how to make teaching the English language more exciting and engaging.  Have you experienced any methods that you found made you want to know more about the structure and semantics of English?  Are you an educator that has found a method that keeps your students engaged when teaching this topic?

I NEED HELP!!!  Pleeeaaaassssseeeeee

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