English Communication Unit 1 – Communication: Theory and Types

English Communication Unit 1 – Communication: Theory and Types Notes, College and University Answer Bank for BA, M.com, Bsc and Post Graduate, English Communication Unit 1 – Communication: Theory and Types to each Unit is provided in the list of UG-CBCS Central University & State University Syllabus so that you can easily browse through different College and University Guide and Notes here. English Communication Unit 1 – Communication: Theory and Types Question Answer can be of great value to excel in the examination.

Join Telegram channel

English Communication Unit 1 – Communication: Theory and Types

English Communication Unit 1 – Communication: Theory and Types Notes cover all the exercise questions in UGC Syllabus. The English Communication Unit 1 – Communication: Theory and Types provided here ensures a smooth and easy understanding of all the concepts. Understand the concepts behind every Unit and score well in the board exams.

21. What are the methods of non-verbal communication ?

Ans: Non verbal communication is virtually impossible not to do! Everyone communicates non verbally and quite often there is a lot more information in this than what someone actually says.

It is in voice tone, tempo and the metering of speech (extra-verbal) It is in posture, physical expressions with the body and hands, and motion. It is in facial expression and also in what is not said.

Deliberate non verbal communication is part of what highly skilled communicators learn and do. There are non verbal techniques for developing rapport, for obfuscating and emphasising among other things. The scope is rather large.

There is plenty to read about this out there, and it is worthwhile reading a bit of it to help yourself get an idea of what you might be saying to people without realising.

22. Do you women communicate non-verbally via body language a lot more than guys ? Why ?

Ans: On the average, I think the answer is yes. There’s a book by Simon Baron-Cohen called The Essential Difference: Male and Female Brains that argues that as a general rule, men tend to focus on systems and objects and women tend to be more empathetic.

In my anecdotal experience, men have a greater tendency to use verbal (literal) communication to exchange information while either unconsciously or deliberately trying to be objective. Women have a greater tendency to use communication to try to establish an emotional connection with another person. Women have a greater tendency to disregard the literal meaning of words and instead to evaluate what they think the other person is feeling and in response to express how they are feeling to unconsciously or deliberately try to establish that both people feel the same way.

When men and women talk to each other, I think they frequently fail to communicate effectively, because the man is trying to use words to communicate information, and the woman is trying to establish whether or not both people feel the same way. This is frequently frustrating for both parties.

I think when women hear a bunch of men talking, they can’t relate, because they don’t care about the topic of conversation, which is likely to be some objective thing unrelated to human emotion. When men hear a bunch of women talking, they can’t relate, because they don’t care how people happen to be feeling at any given moment.

These are obviously generalisations, frequently not true in individual cases. But I think the “male” way of communicating is often more effective in the workplace or in another situation where the important thing is to get a job accomplished regardless of how people feel. The “female” way of communicating is often more effective in social or family situations, where the most important thing is for people to love and support each other.

23. Why Non-Verbal Communication is So Important in Business

Ans: This means your body language is saying a lot more than you think and even more than you’re consciously speaking about. Through facial expressions, gestures, movements and even your posture, you’re telling a story to your audience.

At the end of the day, you’LL find there’s basically three ways to communicate in business – using verbal, written and non-verbal signals. Each one of these methods is an important way to talk to others and share your views and opinions.

Of course, you have complete control over what you say to another person, as well as what you write down. But, non-verbal signals are very different. This is something we aren’t always aware we’re doing.

Yet we use non-verbal signals all the time – whether it’s something we agree with or don’t agree with, our bodies are telling the story for us. This happens even when we don’t realise it, which means we can be sending signals we don’t want to reveal to another person.

In addition, there’s a lot we can read from other people’s non-verbal signals, which can help you understand more about them and even what they aren’t saying directly to you.

Any emotion can be identified through non-verbal communication. From happiness and enthusiasm to stress and lack of confidence. In other words, it’s not always what we say but how we say it and what our body is doing.

But the good news is that we can control our non-verbal cues. It’s just a matter of being aware of them and the message they will send to other people. Plus, when you recognize certain signals, you can read them from other people to give you an advantage.

In the business world non-verbal communication is important. For example, you want to have a lot of eye contact for conducting an engaging presentation and a confident demeanour for effectively leading other people if you are a manager or supervisor.

Controlling your body language is crucial for creating a good impression, and also for showing the brand or company that you work for in a good light.

Think of it like managing your business brand. You want to make sure you are sending the right messages to your customers and not bad ones that will drive them away. Instead, we’re talking about your personal brand and that you want to leave a good and lasting impression.

Understand Body Language with Online Learning

Of course, in order to understand body language and what our gestures and movements mean, you’ve got to learn all about them. With the help of online learning, you can know the message you’re portraying to people, as well as how you can read other people’s actions.

Online learning uses a variety of media to help employees learn about body language. From animated videos to engaging quizzes, learning is effective and made to be fun again. The e-learning courses are designed by professionals too!

Online learning is now preferred by most companies for employee training since it’s more cost effective to run and it’s available 24/7 on personal tablets and devices. No longer do you have to travel to conferences or plan training weeks that derail your business plan!

Now, you can let your employees learn at their own pace and use fun and information e-learning courses to learn more about body language and how you can use it to their advantage.

Become a Non-Verbal Communication Pro

Online learning is the best way to improve communication with other employees in your team, as well as with customers. Since non-verbal cues aren’t spoken, it can be difficult to understand them without proper demonstration.

That’s where e-learning courses can help. You can see certain gestures and facial expressions in action and the message that they demonstrate. This means you can learn to control your own physicality in different situations, as well as be able to identify expressions in other people.

To make sure that all employees understand training and are getting better at recognizing non-verbal communication cues, you can track online learning. You can see how people are performing on quizzes and monitor who is completing courses.

This means that if anybody needs extra help understanding non-verbal forms of communication, you’LL be able to provide them with the additional support that they need in order to improve.

Since there’s loads of non-verbal communication courses available, you can provide ongoing training to your employees all year round. After all, it’s best to keep working on skills in order to keep on improving and getting better!

While a lot of people think that understanding non-verbal communication is a talent, it’s actually a skill that everybody can learn and it’s one that is worth it in the business world.

Whether you’re a manager or part of a big team, being able to recognize and control non-verbal communication is crucial for interactions with other people.

You can improve how you’re perceived in discussions and negotiations, as well as read how other people are responding to you in important scenarios. It’II transform your communications.

Online learning is the easiest and most effective way to see how body language works in action and find out how you can take control of unconscious actions that are speaking louder than your voice.

24. The Importance of Non-Verbal Communication.

Ans: Nonverbal communication describes the process of shared cues between people, which goes hand-in-hand with public speaking. This can include eye contact, frequency of glances, blink rate, gestures, facial expressions, postures, and more.

The presentation is, perhaps, the one mode of communication that has proved relevant through every technological innovation. Our decks get more glamorous, but it’s still just you on stage, in front of an audience. Nonverbal signals can increase trust, clarity, and add interest to your presentation when yielded properly. Learning how to become more sensitive to body language and nonverbal cues will make you the best presenter you can be.

The Five Nonverbal Abilities

How is it that non-verbal communication is the element of the in-person presentation that has caused it to be the default response when responses matter most: inaugural addresses, States of the Union, getting big accounts, keeping big accounts-the list goes on and on. Perhaps because this form of communication shares so much more than dialogue. According to the Edward G. Wertheim, author of The Importance of Effective Communication, there are five main effects that nonverbal communication can have:

(a) Repetition – They can reinforce what is already being said

(b) Contradiction – They can contradict the message and make the speaker seem untruthful

(c) Substitution – They can take the place of words

(d) Complementing – They can complement a verbal message, for instance, a pat on the back

(e) Accenting – They can underline a certain point in the message

25. What is Nonverbal Communication ? What is Types of Nonverbal Communication ?

Ans: Non-verbal communication occurs without using oral or written words.

Instead of written or oral words, it relies on various non-verbal cues like physical movements, tasks, colors, signs, symbols, signals charts etc. to express feelings, attitudes or information.

Although no word is used in non-verbal communication, it can effectively communicate many human feelings more accurately than verbal methods of communication.

Types of Nonverbal Communication  

(a) Eye contact.

(b) Facial expressions.

(c) Gestures.

(d) Posture and body orientation.

(e) Body Language.

(f) Space and Distance.

(g) Proximity.

(h) Para-linguistic.

(i) Humour.

(j) Touch.

(k) Silence.

(l) Personal Appearance.

(m) Symbol.

(n) Visual Communication.

Importance of Nonverbal Communication

(a) Eye contact

Eye contact, an important channel of interpersonal communication, helps regulate the flow of communication. And it signals interest in others.

Furthermore, Eye contact with audiences increases the speaker’s credibility. Teachers who make eye contact open the flow of communication and convey interest, concern, warmth, and credibility.

(b) Facial expressions.

The face is an important communicator. It is commonly said that face is the index of the mind.

It expresses the type of emotions or feelings such as joy, love, interest, sorrow, anger, annoyance, confusion, enthusiasm, fear, hatred surprise, and uncertainty.

Facial expressions are indicated through the mouth (open, wide or closed), eyelids (raised or lowered), nose (wrinkled or relaxed), cheeks (drawn up or back) and the forehead (lowered or raised).

Within the facial area, are especially effective for indicating attention and interest. However, interpretations of facial expressions differ from culture to culture.

Smiling is a powerful cue that transmits:

(i) Happiness.

(ii) Friendliness.

(iii) Warmth.

(iv) Liking.

(v) Affiliation.

Thus, if you smile frequently you will be perceived as more likeable, friendly, warm and approachable.

Smiling is often contagious and students will react favourably and learn more.

(c) Gestures

If you fail to gesture while speaking, you may be perceived as boring, stiff and un-animated.

A lively and animated teaching style captures students attention, makes the material more interesting, facilitates learning and provides a bit of entertainment.

Head nods, a form of gestures, communicate positive reinforcement to students and indicate that you are listening.

Gestures are movements of the arms, legs, hands, and head. 7 Some authors opine that gesture is the deliberate body movement as because they express specific and international meaning.

For example;

A wave of the hand has a specific meaning- “hello” or “good-bye|. A forefinger and a thumb touching to form a circle have the meaning – “ok”.

Alike facial expressions, interpretations of some gestures also differ across cultures.

For example, in Europe, raising thumb is used to convey that someone has done something excellent while in Bangladesh the same gesture means something idiotic.

(d) Posture and body orientation

You communicate numerous messages by the way you walk, talk, stand and sit.

Standing erect, but not rigid, and leaning slightly forward communicates to students that you are approachable, receptive and friendly.

Furthermore,

Interpersonal closeness results when you and your students face each other.

Speaking with your back turned or looking at the floor or ceiling should be avoided; it communicates disinterest to your class.

(e) Body Language

Body language is another widely recognized form of non-verbal communication. Body movements can convey meanings and message. Body language may take two forms of unconscious movements and consciously controlled movements.

For example;

When a person is bored, h may gaze around the room rather than look at the speaker or he may shift positions frequently.

When a person is nervous, he may bite his nails or mash hair. These are usually made unconsciously. On the other hand, leaning forward the speaker to express interest is the case of conscious body movements.

(f) Space and Distance

Space and distance are significant non-verbal tool in the case of organisational communication.

A spacious and well-decorated room indicates a person’s position in the organisation hierarchy and external people gets a message about his importance and authority only by visiting his room.

Distance is another communication tools, which expresses the degree of intimacy and individual acceptance.

(g) Proximity

Cultural norms dictate a comfortable distance for interaction with students.

You should look for signals of discomfort caused by invading students’ space. Some of these are:

(i) Rocking

(ii) Leg swinging

(iii) Tapping

(iv) Gaze aversion

Typically, in large college classes space invasion is not a problem. In fact, there is usually too much distance.

To counteract this, move around the classroom to increase interaction with your students.

Increasing proximity enables you to make better eye contact and increases the opportunities for students to speak.

(h) Para-linguistic

This facet of nonverbal communication includes such vocal elements as:

(i) Tone

(ii) Pitch

(iii) Rhythm

(iv) Timbre

(v) Loudness

(vi) Inflection

For maximum teaching effectiveness, learn to vary thee six elements of your voice.

One of the major criticisms is of instructors who speak in a monotone. Listeners perceive these instructors as boring and dull.

Students report that they learn less and lose interest more quickly when listening to teachers who have not learned to modulate their voices.

(i) Humour

Humour is often overlooked as a teaching tool, and it is too often not encouraged in college classrooms. Laughter releases stress and tension for both instructor and student.

You should develop the ability to laugh at yourself and encourage students to do the same. It fosters a friendly environment that facilitates learning.

Obviously, adequate knowledge of the subject matter is crucial to your success; however, it’s not the only crucial element.

Creating a climate that facilitates learning and retention demands good nonverbal and verbal skills.

(j) Touch

Touch is a widely used form of non-verbal communication tool. By touching, one can express a wide range of emotions. However, the accepted modes of touch vary depending on the gender, age, relative status, intimacy and cultural background of the persons.

For example, in the context of our culture, when one touches you from the back of the examination hall, your understanding is that he wants to know something.

(k) Silence

Silence is a powerful tool for communication. It may have a positive or negative meaning.

In a classroom, silence indicates that students are listening carefully and attentively. In the same way, through silence one can communicate his lack of interest or a failure to understand.

For example, silence often indicates that a person receiving instruction does not understand the action required or sometimes silence indicates consent.

(l) Personal Appearance

Appearance is also an important non-verbal communication tool. Appearance includes dress, hair, jewellery, makeup, belt buckles and so on.

Appearance indicates the degree of importance or interest a person conveys to an occasion. By means of uniform, we can identify a student, a doctor, a lawyer, a police officer etc.

In an organisation, one’s dress is keenly observed to see whether it conforms to accepted standards of appearance. As an example, workers may wear different clothes when they are on strike than they do when they are working.

(m) Symbol

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning.

For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for “stop”.

On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for numbers. Personal names are symbols representing individuals. A red rose symbolises love and compassion.

(n) Visual Communication

When communication occurs by means of any visual aids, it is known as visual communication.

Thus, communication that occurs through facial expression, personal appearance, gesture, posture, printed picture, sign, signal, symbol, map, poster, slide, chart, diagram, graph etc. is called visual communication.

For example, to indicate ‘danger’, we use red sign; to mean ‘dangerous’, we use a skull placed between two pieces of bone put in crosswise fashion; to indicate ‘no smoking’, we use an image showing a lighted cigarette with a cross mark on it.

26. Principles of Nonverbal Communication

Ans: Nonverbal communication has a distinct history and serves separate evolutionary functions from verbal communication. For example, nonverbal communication is primarily biologically based while verbal communication is primarily culturally based. This is evidenced by the fact that some nonverbal communication has the same meaning across cultures while no verbal communication systems share that same universal recognisability. Peter A. Andersen, Nonverbal Communication: Forms and Functions. Nonverbal communication also evolved earlier than verbal communication and served an early and important survival function that helped humans later develop verbal communication. While some of our nonverbal communication abilities, like our sense of smell, lost strength as our verbal capacities increased, other abilities like paralanguage and movement have grown alongside verbal complexity. The fact that nonverbal communication is processed by an older part of our brain makes it more instinctual and involuntary than verbal communication.

27. Why is communication important in a work setting ?

Ans: Communication is important in a workplace setting because people must interact ith one another in ways that will get the job done as quickly and effectively as possible and in ways that will maintain the morale of the employees. Both of these are important aspects of workplace communications.

In order to work efficiently, bosses (for example) must be able to communicate to their workers what is needed. If they are not clear about what their employees need to do, there will be mistakes that make the company lose time and money.

It is also important to communicate in ways that maintain the employees’ morale. If the bosses communicate in angry or degrading ways, the workers will tend to feel unhappy with their situations. This will decrease their desire to work and will therefore decrease productivity in the workplace.

28. Why is communication important between employees and customers ?

Ans : Without customers, a business is dead. Customers must be kept happy and satisfied. Communication between employees and customers is key to achieving this.

Employees must communicate well with customers. They must give customers the information they need in a way that encourages the customers to buy the product and to feel good about their relationship with the firm. Employees must also do a good job of listening to customers. They must pay attention to what customers like and do not like. This will allow them to serve the customers better. It will also allow them to give feed-back to their bosses with regards to what the firm could do to make customers happy.

Communication between employees and customers is important because it is a key to good customer relations and good customer relations allow a firm to remain profitable.

29. Why is communication training important to personal and organisational success ?

Ans: Communications training involves developing, building and cultivating various skills and practices essential to effective utilisation is absolutely essential to the success on an organisational and personal level for a number of reasons:

(i) It ensures the proper transmission of ideas and policies which helps foster effective management.

(ii) Communications training helps identify the appropriate modes of communication for different situations and scenarios.

(iii) Communications training fosters more efficient and harmonious interpersonal and organisational interactions.

(iv) Communications training ensure that messages, information and properly conveyed and understood.

(v) Effective communication allows for better team dynamics, improved negotiations and better customer service.

30. How does effective communication incorporate the basic elements of communication ?

Ans: Effective communication takes into account all the basic elements of communication and uses them well.

(a) Speaker: Aristotle considered the ethos of the speaker the most significant factor in making a speech persuasive. This includes both extrinsic ethos, in the sense of a speaker’s reputation, and intrinsic ethos, or how the speaker portrays him or herself in a speech. For extrinsic ethos, having expertise reflected in advanced degrees or tangible achievements will make a speaker more credible. For intrinsic ethos, using language well (i.e. no grammatical errors, pronouncing words correctly) and being polite and respectful towards your audience contribute to persuasiveness.

(b) Audience: Communicating effectively requires adapting your message to the nature of your audience. Just as you speak differently to your grandmother than you do to your friends, so the language you use at a frat party is probably not appropriate for a formal business environment.

(c) Message: Your message should be clearly presented and logically consistent. You should use multiple forms of evidence and argument to support your message and you should stay on topic.

(d) Medium: You should choose the most appropriate medium for your audience and message. A short pithy comment might suit Twitter, but a complex discussion of a sensitive topic might be best held in person.

1 thought on “English Communication Unit 1 – Communication: Theory and Types”

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top