Communication Skills Course 1: Essential

+ It is simple;
+ It presents the communication process in a structure of clearly identifiable and describable elements;
+ It has great historical importance as it stimulated further research;
+ With its introduction of the ‘noise’ concept (i.e. any signals that might interfere with the transmission of the message) helps to start looking for what can go wrong in the communication process;
+ It aims at optimizing the communication process to be most effective.

– It is too simple;
– It shows a one-way process and excludes any feedback from the receiver to the sender;
– It is good for person-to-person communication, but not so effective for group or mass communication;
– In its setup of a sender sending a message to the receiver, this model prioritizes the sender, whereas the receiver has a merely passive role

interactive

• Physical
• Non-verbal
• Linguistic
• Emotional
• Medial
• Cultural

Nonverbal communication barrier: sitting posture expressing disinterest or boredom, no eye contact to speaker.

Prejudice or Stereotype

1. listening
2. speaking
3. reading
4. writing

Of these, listening and speaking are oral, while reading and writing refer to written texts.

Listening and reading are generally considered as receptive, whereas speaking and writing are productive skills.

‘To hear’ is more of the passive kind, picking up sounds that accidentally reach our ear. ‘To listen’ is even more active, intentional and intent, as it means focusing on a sound source we already know about.

The sense of sight is switched off in sleep, whereas the sense of hearing is always ‘switched on’.

Listening is an active process, because we do not only receive sounds. Sounds do not in themselves have a meaning, but we select those sound patterns from the surrounding noise which make sense to us and construct this sense in our brain.

• Listening to the sounds of music for enjoyment and pleasure is appreciative listening.
• Comprehension listening means listening to pick out and understand the content.
• Merely discerning the sounds without understanding what they mean, as babies are supposedly already doing in the womb, is called discriminative listening.
• Evaluative listening is also called critical listening, and means that we focus on finding our position vis-à-vis what we listen to and come to an appropriate judgement about it.
• In empathic listening, the content is not important, but the aim is to share the feelings and emotions of the communication partner.
• In dialogic listening, the aim is to emphasize the community with the communication partner and establish a rapport with them.

1. Smile…
2. Eye contact…
3. Linguistic and paralinguistic signs…
4. Facial expression…
5. Posture…
6. Head nod…
7. General appearance of focus on speaker…

The dog ate the sausage.

implicature

4. He wanted to make clear that a text could only come into being as a communal effort of the class.

Comprehension reading is reading for content and to understand the facts and arguments in a text, whereas critical reading distances itself from the text, tries to verify its propositions and statements, explores opinions expressed in the text, especially when they are only implied.

Skimming means you try to understand the general drift of the argument and the findings presented in a text.

Scanning is a technique which helps you spot specific details of information you are looking for in a text which may otherwise not be relevant to your purpose.

3, 6, 7

Survey! Question! Read! Recite! Review!

What
Where
When
How
Why
Who

I KEEP six honest serving-men:
(They taught me all I knew)
Their names are What and Where and When
And How and Why and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
I send them east and west;
But after they have worked for me
              I give them all a rest.

(1) Summary:
Summarize the main points of a paragraph or section.

(2) Paraphrase:
Reformulate central points in your own words.

(3) Quotation:
Write down words and phrases you want to retain in the author’s own words in quotation marks.

5. Identify your context (audience, course type, deadline, length etc.)
3. Identify your subject and purpose
6. Research and collect the material
2. Create an outline
7. Write the text following the outline
4. Edit and design your text

This is called a mindmap.

It is a good way to visualize and organise your ideas in the planning stage of your writing assignment.

Use Questions
Use Thesis Statements
Create a table of contents with headings and subheadings

The text unit which is next in size above the sentence. It expresses and develops one main idea.

1. A topic sentence, which expresses the main idea of the paragraph; it is mostly the first and the most general sentence of a paragraph.
2. Supporting sentences, which develop the idea put forward in the topic sentence (by explaining, expanding, analysing etc.).
3. The concluding sentence at the end of the paragraph which may sum up the paragraph’s findings, provide a comment on them and may also provide a link to the next paragraph

The first and perhaps the greatest challenge facing Nigeria and making it difficult for good quality education that is capable of bringing about sustainable development is inadequate funding by federal, state and local governments. In 1997 and 2000 statistics show that federal government expenditure on education was below 10% of overall expenditure. It noticed that, the national expenditure on education cannot be computed because various states’ expenditure on education cannot be determined, in relation to the UNESCO recommendation of 26% of national budgets. In 2013, the government has finally assigned billions of naira to the educational sector and this effort has to be sustained.

Definition: Signposts in a text are like signposts on the road: They show the direction, warn to watch out and pay particular attention. They can point to important connections in the argument, to important points you make or direct the reader’s attention in other ways.

Example 1: e.g. importantly

Example 2: e.g. primarily

Example 3: e.g. as a consequence

Example 4: e.g. nevertheless

1. Formal register, typically used in business communication and when addressing your professor, boss or a stranger, as for instance in business letters, some essays, official speeches.
2. Informal register, typically used among friends, family and all people knowing each other well, as in private emails or SMS, diaries, journals, most blogs
3. Neutral register, typically used for topics which have no emotional reference and are mainly for information or analysis and scholarship.

– numbering of headings is inconsistent;
– typeface and font size of headings is inconsistent;
– highlighting /signposting inconsistent (different font types, different colours) and unclear (yellow is not legible);
– paragraph 2 too short;
– paragraph 5 probably too long;
– font size too small in paragraph 4;
– font switches from Times New Roman to Arial in paragraph 3, and then back;

e.g.
Where exactly it is situated, so you will easily find it (room number, floor, building etc.);
Where you will be standing (or sitting?), where and in what order the audience will sit. Does the room need re-arranging?
What is the media equipment of the room? Are all appliances there that you may need, and are they in good working order?
What is the lighting situation? Do you get daylight, do you need to pull down the blinds when you are using a projector for PowerPoint projections?
Does the room have air conditioning? Does it work? Otherwise, are there alternative ways of ventilation?
Can you spot potential sources of disturbance?

e.g.

• Content overload: Don’t put too much on one slide. There is no time for the audience to read much, and the text easily gets small and blurry in projection. Don’t put more than 5-7 lines of text on a slide.
• Animation overload: PowerPoint does offer a number of animation gimmicks, most of which confuse and disturb. Use them very sparingly.
• Slide overload: Do not switch slides all the time. There is a limited number of slides the audience can take in during a presentation.
• Fancy Fonts: Use easily legible, clear fonts for your text on the slides.
• Bad contrast: Watch that the text on the slide is clearly visible against the background.
• Reading out text on slides: The slides you use should provide orientation, illustration and perhaps background information. They should not show the script of your presentation which you read to the audience.
• Talking to the PowerPoint: You should know (and ideally see in a printout or in your computer screen in front of you) what is on the slides, so you don’t need to talk facing the projection: Face your audience.
• Focus overload: The focus of the presentation is you as the presenter and the audience as your addressees, NOT the PowerPoint slides. Keep that always in mind.
• Inconsistency in design choices: All slides should follow the same basic design, which should not be too garish or confusing. Keep design elements in the background.
• Blocking the audience’s view: Watch out where you stand vis-à-vis the projection.

Mistakes in 1:

• Too much text on the slide; should not be more than 7-8 lines;
• Background in black can be problematic;
• Colour of left poem might not have enough contrast against background.

Mistakes in 2:

• Style of slide not consistent with slide 1;
• Background of slide and colouring too mixed and confusing;
• Font types erratic;
• Odd, unprofessional font of ‘Annus mirabilis

e.g.

• Talk to members of the audience as they file into the presentation room before presentation starts. Have some small talk [hyperlink to course part II], e.g. as you circulate handouts.
• Introduce yourself at the beginning of the presentation.
• Maintain eye contact with your audience. For instance, alternate looking towards each section of the audience for a while (e.g. front left, back left, front right, back right) and pick out individuals for occasional, direct eye contact of about three seconds (one of the many ‘three seconds rules’ around).
• Talk to your audience, and not at or ‘above’ them.
• Keep the right distance: Unless the audience is very large and you have to keep a distance to be seen by everyone, avoid separation by a rostrum or lectern. If these are in place, move towards the audience frequently. At the same time, keep a polite distance to individual audience members: body contact, patting on shoulders etc. are usually felt as irritating.
• Interact with your audience by building in a question, either rhetorical or real, or by giving them a task to think about something for a moment.
• Check that the place you stand or move in is lit well: if the audience only hears your voice coming from a silhouette in the dark, they may find this fatiguing. Especially your face should be well lit

In 1, the question is whether you noticed the music at all (and, possibly, were disturbed by it); in 2, the question is whether you attentively focused on it, e.g. by going out and sitting with the musicians.]

Contrast poverty on the one hand and technological advance on the other, Poverty as a trap and prison which is similar to slavery and apartheid, Its abolition is an act of justice, Steps to be taken are establish trade justice and end debt crisis.

Use of phrases establishing community e.g. “as you know”, Direct address e.g. “you – young people of Britain” and imperatives e.g. “Act with courage…”, Reference to (shared) humanity, Use of “we” as personal pronoun

• Density of information
• Need of high attention
• Distraction through noise outside or by other students
• Challenge to see structure and keep up with lecture
• Mono-directional line of communication
• Danger of reverting to ‘appreciative listening’

Reading is an intellectual, creative activity, not just passive reception…
…because meaning is also created by the reader

An implicature is something expressed…
…by the ‘pragmatics’ of a text passage (i.e. its conventional meaning and context)

Training the skill of critical reading helps you to…
…form your own opinion about a text.

In comprehension reading you look for…
…an understanding of what the text is about and understand what the author tries to convey

Skimming means…

to read through a text quickly to find out its main ideas
look out for headlines and summaries

The SQR3 Method stands for

Survey – Question – Read – Recite – Review

Writing is an active skill, not only because something is produced and not only received, but because knowledge is generated in the process. This process of writing is not linear, but you may have to go back to earlier steps and revise even during the process of writing. The smallest unit in a text above the sentence level is the paragraph. It consists of three main elements, the topical sentence, supporting sentences and a concluding sentence. When you revise, you look at the deep structure and content of the text, whereas when you edit, you consider the surface. When you check for style in your text, you look at syntax, words, tone and register. The main registers are formal, informal and neutral. You would use a formal register when writing a letter to the Vice Chancellor of your University, and an informal register in an email to a friend.

1 magnanimity
2 vicissitude
3 cupidity
4 magnanimous
5 auspicious
6 juxtaposition
7 excogitate
8 coruscant
9 proficuous
10 luminescent
11 cynosure
12 insouciance
13 wizened
14 ebullient
15 autochthonous

The correct sequence is 3, 6, 2, 7, 1, 4.
Using point 5 in this cover letter is not recommended.

6, 4, 7, 3, 5, 1, 2, 9, 8, 10

STAR is the acronym for a strategy of structuring answers in interviews: Situation, Task, Action, Result.

It is a principle for applications: Keep It Short and Simple.

When you have the exam paper in front of you, watch out for keywords that can direct the way you build your answer. Thus, “analyse” means Look closely at the detail; give reasons why or how something is done and the effect of this. If you are meant to highlight similarities and differences, possibly adding a preference of your own, the keyword is probably compare and when you are meant to identify the most important points and bring them together in a concise, structured way, the command word reads summarize. Whatever the outcome of your exam when you get the marks, always reflect on the results, notable on your preparation and on your performance. If you fail, follow a five step plan of (1) Damage control, (2) Get some distance, (3) Analyse possible causes of failure, (4) Make a new plan and retry and (5) Get the help you need.

• Work in a dark place to spare your eyes.
• Avoid too much fresh air.
• Cram everything you need for ready disposal in the exam as quickly as you can.
• Avoid efforts, like sports or long walks: Your body has already a lot to work on, so don’t stress it further.
• Don’t hesitate to pop some sleeping pills or get a few bottles of beer for a good night’s sleep.

Before starting your preparation work for an exam, it is important to know the scope of your exam and the type of exam you enter. The four most common types of written exam are multiple choice, short answer, long or essay answer and blended exam. For managing and using your course notes, you can follow the strategy designated by the acronym SUSAC, which means: Sort – Update – Supplement – Arrange – Condense. To help your memory, you can use the method where you deposit chunks of knowledge on an imaginary journey or in an imaginary space, like a road or a house. This method is called method of loci. Furthermore, you can look for support in mnemonics which are strategies that help you remember better, more, and longer. For visualising your knowledge, use mind maps, flow charts and diagrams as appropriate.

After giving Sam a lift to the airport, Susan made her way home. What an exciting life he led! At times Susan felt desperately jealous of him. She spent her time doing little more than taking care of him and the children. Susan had promised to give her sister a call as soon as she got home but she decided to run herself a bath first. She had a sharp pain in her side and hoped that a hot bath might ease the pain. After giving her sister a ring Susan went to bed.

In the morning, Susan did some work in the garden, then took a rest for about an hour before going out to do some shopping in town. It was her sisters’ birthday and she wanted to cook a nice meal for her. She had a look at a new Asian cookery book in the bookshop and decided to buy it. It had some very easy recipes and Susan managed to make a good impression with her very first Asian meal.

To give someone a lift
To make one’s away
To lead a (boring, exciting, pleasant…) life
To be jealous of someone
To spend one’s time
To take care of
To give a call / a ring
To run a bath
Sharp pain
To ease the pain
To go to bed
To do some/little/a lot of work
To take a rest
To go out
To do some shopping
To have a look at
To make a good/bad impression with

In the morning I made some work in the garden, then I spent a rest for about an hour before going out to have some shopping in town. It was my sister’s birthday and I wanted to do a special effort to cook a nice meal for her. I gave a look at a new Asian cookery book in the bookshop and decided to buy it. It has some totally easy recipes and I managed to do a good impression with my very first Asian meal. I think my sister utterly enjoyed her birthday.

Do some work
Take a rest
Do some shopping
Make an effort
Take a look
Make an impression
Greatly /highly enjoy