Communication

Communication

Communication is the exchange and flow of information and ideas from one person to another; it involves a sender transmitting an idea, information, or feeling to a receiver.

}Communicating with others involves three primary steps:

}Thought: First, information exists in the mind of the sender. This can be a concept, idea, information, or feelings.

}Encoding: Next, a message is sent to a receiver in words or other symbols.

}Decoding: Lastly, the receiver translates the words or symbols into a concept or information that he or she can understand.

The Communication Process & The Elements of Communication 

Systematic=Step by Step=Process

Communication as a Process

Human communication is interpersonal, it is purposive and it is a process.

Question: What do we mean by process?

Answer: By process we mean that steps have to be taken and in a set/particular order to achieve a desired result/goal. These are the important elements of the communication process:

1. SENDER/ENCODER

The sender also known as the encoder decides on the message to be sent, the best/most effective way that it can be sent. All of this is done bearing the receiver in mind. In a word, it is his/her job to conceptualize.

The sender may want to ask him/herself questions like: What words will I use? Do I need signs or pictures?

2. MEDIUM

The medium is the immediate form which a message takes. For example, a message may be communicated in the form of a letter, in the form of an email or face to face in the form of a speech.

3. CHANNEL

The channel is that which is responsible for the delivery of the chosen message form. For example post office, internet, radio.

4. RECEIVER

The receiver or the decoder is responsible for extracting/decoding meaning from the message. The receiver is also responsible for providing feedback to the sender. In a word, it is his/her job to INTERPRET.

5. FEEDBACK

This is important as it determines whether or not the decoder grasped the intended meaning and whether communication was successful.

6. CONTEXT

Communication does not take place in a vacuum. The context of any communication act is the environment surrounding it. This includes, among other things, place, time, event, and attitudes of sender and receiver.

7. NOISE (also called interference)

This is any factor that inhibits the conveyance of a message. That is, anything that gets in the way of the message being accurately received, interpreted and responded to. Noise may be internal or external. A student worrying about an incomplete assignment may not be attentive in class (internal noise) or the sounds of heavy rain on a galvanized roof may inhibit the reading of a storybook to second graders (external noise).

The communication process is dynamic, continuous, irreversible, and contextual. It is not possible to participate in any element of the process without acknowledging the existence and functioning of the other elements.

Article Source: http://cape-commstudies.blogspot.com/2011/10/communication-process.html

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Effective Communication

Effective communication means the ability to express ourselves well, both verbally and non-verbally, in ways which are proper to our cultures and situations. This does not mean only being able to express our desires and opinions, but also our needs and fears, including asking for advice and help. Effective communication involves active listening. 

Article Source: http://www.ask.com/question/what-is-effective-communication

Different Forms of Communication

Verbal Communication
Verbal communication includes sounds, words, language and speaking. Language is said to have originated from sounds and gestures. There are many languages spoken in the world. The basis of language formation are: gender, class, profession, geographical area, age group and other social elements. Speaking is an effective way of communicating and is again classified into two types viz. interpersonal communication and public speaking.
Good verbal communication is an inseparable part of business communication. In a business, you come across people from various ages, cultures and races. Fluent verbal communication is essential, to deal with people in business meetings. Also, in business communication self-confidence plays a vital role which when clubbed with fluent communication skills can lead to success.
Public speaking is another verbal communication in which you have to address a group of people. Preparing for an effective speech before you start is important. In public speaking, the speech must be prepared according to the type of audience you are going to face. The content of your speech should be authentic and you must have enough information on the topic you have chosen for public speaking. All the main points in your speech must be highlighted and these points should be delivered in the correct order. There are many public speaking techniques and these techniques must be practiced for an effective speech.

Non-Verbal Communication
Non-verbal communication involves physical ways of communication, like, tone of the voice, touch, smell and body motion. Creative and aesthetic non-verbal communication includes singing, music, dancing and sculpturing. Symbols and sign language are also included in non-verbal communication. Body language is a non-verbal way of communication. Body posture and physical contact convey a lot of information. Body posture matters a lot when you are communicating verbally to someone. Folded arms and crossed legs are some of the signals conveyed by a body posture. Physical contact, like, shaking hands, pushing, patting and touching expresses the feeling of intimacy. Facial expressions, gestures and eye contact are all different ways of communication. Reading facial expressions can help you know a person better.
Written Communication
Written communication is writing the words which you want to communicate. Good written communication is essential for business purposes. Written communication is practiced in many different languages. E-mails, reports, articles and memos are some of the ways of using written communication in business. The written communication can be edited and amended many times before it is communicated to the second party to whom the communication is intended. This is one of the main advantages of using writing as the major means of communication in business activity. Written communication is used not only in business but also for informal communication purposes. Mobile SMS is an example of informal written communication.
Visual communication
The last type of communication is the visual communication. Visual communication is visual display of information, like topography, photography, signs, symbols and designs. Television and video clips are the electronic form of visual communication.
Effective communication is essential for the success of any type of business. Informally too, nothing can be achieved without proper communication. Therefore, developing communicative skills is a must. One must understand that all the four types of communication are equally important and one must develop communicative skills in all the mediums. Communicative media is growing day by day to ensure clarity and to eliminate the ambiguity in communication.

Read More:https://open.lib.umn.edu/principlesmanagement/chapter/12-5-different-types-of-communication/

Special Forms of Communications

The sign language alphabet

there are some special forms of verbal and non-verbal communication used in society. Hearing and visually impaired individuals sometimes have difficulty sending or receiving messages. Over time, special communication methods have been developed to improve the quality of their lives. These include sign language, lip reading and Braille. More recently computers and other machines have been developed or modified so that the physically challenged can use them.
Article Source: Social Studies Essentials for CSEC
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Mass Communication

Mass communication is a field of study that covers the various means used by people to relay information via mass media, to the large portions of the population at the same time. Some of the most common methods include using televisions and newspapers.

Functions of Mass Communications
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Basic functions of mass communication can be divided into broad three classes: informing, persuading and entertaining.

Informing: The most important function of mass communication is dissemination of information to the public primary through news media-electronic and print. Information diffused through these channels (media) is about new events, products, changes in policies, ideas, philosophies and so forth. Mass media are particularly effective to spread current information having news values.

Persuading: Persuasion is another function of mass media. Because of its having persuasive potential, both electronic and print media are used for advertising products, services, business, charities, or for political campaign.

Entertaining: Entertainment is the most common function of mass communication. When used for entertainment, the mass media publicize such programs as are pleasurable to the consumers or at least they provide the audience with some sort of escape of diversion from anxieties of daily life. For example, Newspapers for this purpose may include comics, crossword puzzles and the like. Televisions may show situation comedies, drama, variety shows, etc. Radio entertainment primarily consists of music, talk shows, etc

Read More:https://familyconnect.org/multiple-disabilities/communication/alternative-methods-of-communication/

The Media and the Caribbean Identity

Caribbean media projected Caribbean identity in several ways. Caribbean music such as reggae ,dancehall, zouk, chutney, soca and calypso are played on radio and television programmes and features in advertisements made in the Caribbean .Caribbean Programmes and advertisements made  in the Caribbean focus on a variety of Caribbean people and situations.

Article Source: Social Studies Essentials for CSEC
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The Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) is the region's leading multimedia organisation dedicated to excellence in communication services, which include: Radio, Television, Print, Satellite Uplink Distribution, & New Media across the Caribbean, the USA, and around the world.
CMC is the Caribbean biggest multimedia organization that provides various communication services,which includes live sports and news events,cultural events and entertainment,as well as Internet and satellite distribution services. These events are both regional and international.

Communication Throughout Time

Cave drawings were murals that people painted onto the walls of caves and canyons to tell the story of their culture.  They would tell stories of battles, hunts and culture.

Drums were one way to send signals to neighboring tribes and groups.  The sound of the drumming patterns would tell them of concerns and events they needed to know.

Smoke signals were another way to send messages to people who were not close enough to use words with.  Can you imagine living without your telephone?  We sure have come a long way!

 Storytelling was used to tell stories, both fiction and nonfiction, before there were books.  It was a way for families and communities to pass on information about their past.

The Printing Press

The oldest printed book known is a Chinese religious book, The Diamond Sutra.  Other books like this were printed with wood blocks, usually made from Mulberry wood. Johann Gutenburg invented an actual printing press in 1450, it was a screw press that worked very much like a wine press.  He discovered how to make a good ink that would print with metal type.  Gutenburg was the first to use a press to print the Bible, it is the oldest full length volume printed.  From Gutenburg's press in Mainz, Germany, printing spread all over Europe.

                                                       
  Electric telegraph

The idea for the electric telegraph was not thought up in a scientific laboratory, but on the deck of a sailing ship called the Scully, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  The inventor was Samuel Finley Breese Morse, and in 1832, he was on of the most famous artists in the United States.  Morse and ship passengers were talking about the invention of the electromagnet, which looked like a horseshoe with wire wrapped around it.  They talked about how electricity traveled through the wire.  Morse thought if electricity would travel a short distance through wire, it could travel long distances through wire also

    Telephone

A telephone is an instrument that sends and receives information, usually by means of electricity.  The word telephone comes from Greek words meaing far and sound.  The telephone is one of our best ways to communicate.  In an emergency a telephone can save your life.  You can save time with a telephone.  You can make a telephone call almost anywhere in the world.  Telephones are even used in cars, planes, ships, and on lots of different mechanical machines.


Radio and Television

Radios are used for many purposes.  Some examples are communication, radar navigation and television broadcasting.  Radios affect everyone's life in many ways.  Radios help us get the weather reports. They help NASA speak to astronauts, they even allow us to speak to our friends on the telephone.

Radio's send information through a process called electromagnetic waves.  These waves are measured by a metric measurement called a hertz, one kilohertz is equal to 1,000 hertz and a megahertz is 1,000,000 hertz.  The term hertz is named after the early radio pioneer Heinrich Hertz. Because electromagnetic waves travel in a straight line and earth is round, long distance travel for radio waves are made in the ionosphere, this is known as short wave signals or low frequency. Wave length in short distance communication is called high frequency and does not use the ionosphere to reflect signals.

 Radios are made up of two main components; a transmitter and a receiver that send signals back and forth. Although radio technology has advanced since the first radio. It would be hard to imagine what life would be like without radios.

Television is great entertainment for many people all over the earth.  Television is not just about entertainment, it is about news and lots of information.  Television makes it possible to teach lessons for kids and also allows workers to watch over radioactive materials.  Television means to see from afar.  Seeing far or nearby requires light.  Light forms scenes you see on the television screen.  But it is not light of the original scene, in television, images and sounds travel electronically, that is, by means of electrical energy.

A television camera changes the light that is reflected from a scene into electronic signals.  Then a device called a transmitter sends out the signals (along with signals for the accompanying sound, which has been picked up by a microphone).  Finally, a television receives the signals and changes them back into sound and picture images.  Television signals began with a television camera, the television camera has lenses that concentrate light to form images of objects.

Konrad Zuse is popularly recognized in Germany as the "father of computer" and his ZI, a programmable automation system build between 1936 and 1938, has been called the first computer in the world. Konrad Zuse realized that he could construct a system capable of doing sequences of mathematic operations, like those needed to construct mathematical tables. He had no formal training in electronics and was not familiar basic technological ideas, which allowed him to solve problems he came across, with new, creative and original solutions

 Read More:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_communication

Intellectual property rights

Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.

 (i) Copyright and rights related to copyright

The rights of authors of literary and artistic works (such as books and other writings, musical compositions, paintings, sculpture, computer programs and films) are protected by copyright, for a minimum period of 50 years after the death of the author.
Also protected through copyright and related (sometimes referred to as “neighbouring”) rights are the rights of performers (e.g. actors, singers and musicians), producers of phonograms (sound recordings) and broadcasting organizations. The main social purpose of protection of copyright and related rights is to encourage and reward creative work.

(ii) Industrial property
Industrial property can usefully be divided into two main areas:

One area can be characterized as the protection of distinctive signs, in particular trademarks (which distinguish the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings) and geographical indications (which identify a good as originating in a place where a given characteristic of the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin).

The protection of such distinctive signs aims to stimulate and ensure fair competition and to protect consumers, by enabling them to make informed choices between various goods and services. The protection may last indefinitely, provided the sign in question continues to be distinctive.

Other types of industrial property are protected primarily to stimulate innovation, design and the creation of technology. In this category fall inventions (protected by patents), industrial designs and trade secrets.

The social purpose is to provide protection for the results of investment in the development of new technology, thus giving the incentive and means to finance research and development activities.

A functioning intellectual property regime should also facilitate the transfer of technology in the form of foreign direct investment, joint ventures and licensing.

The protection is usually given for a finite term (typically 20 years in the case of patents).

While the basic social objectives of intellectual property protection are as outlined above, it should also be noted that the exclusive rights given are generally subject to a number of limitations and exceptions, aimed at fine-tuning the balance that has to be found between the legitimate interests of right holders and of users.
 Read more:http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/trips_e/intel1_e.htm

Transfer of Cultural Heritage

The people of the Caribbean share a diverse cultural heritage which is passed on through the generations by various means. These includes 

• Oral Traditions
• Story telling,riddles,rhymes
• Folk Remedies
• Visual and Performing Arts
• Museums,Archives,Libraries Exhibition

Today, technology allows us to record our heritage for generations to come. However in most Caribbean societies, the cost of using modern technology for the production of audio and video tapes for mass broadcast  are prohibitive. as a result Cable televisions with their foreign programming are more effective in exposing Caribbean audiences to foreign culture than of their Caribbean heritage.