2023

English II
(Communication Skills)

LECTURER: SAAD ABDUR-REHMAN.

SEMESTER: 2
COURSE CODE: SS203

ABASYN UNIVERSITY PESHAWAR

COMMUNICATION:
Communication is a common phenomenon. It occurs everywhere in our surroundings. From
infants to adolescents and adolescents to adults, all are in some way involved in communication by either means.
Communication plays a vital role in our lives. Being social animals, we must communicate to survive, and indeed an
attempt not to communicate also communicates something. Thus, none can survive without it in this world.

Definition:

It is a process of sending and receiving messages, information, ideas, emotions and all. It is a two-way/mutual
process that can’t take place in isolation, rather it always requires the involvement of two or more persons or entities
using a particular medium.

Process of Communication:

1. Sender:
A sender is a person who propels/releases/transmits information or messages. The process of
communication begins with the sender who has something to communicate to others.
2. Encoding:
In order to communicate, the very first step a sender has to take is to carefully select the language in
which s/he desires to communicate. The speaker should also consider the receiver while selecting the
language and should Select the language in which the receiver could efficiently and easily comprehend
the message. Selecting the language and setting the message in it is known as encoding.
3. Message:
After the language has been selected, the sender has to properly organize the message in that language
while keeping in view what s/he wishes to communicate. The message is developed by the sender using
the right set of words and sentences. It is the most essential element of the entire process.
4. Channel:
After the message has been developed and properly encoded, the sender has to choose the
channel/carrier through which s/he wants to send the message which can be; oral, verbal, written,
gestures, notions, or through body language, etc.
5. Receiver:
A receiver is a person to whom the message is sent or directed. A receiver’s decoding ability and
understanding capability play a key role in effective communication. The sender must have a good
knowledge of the receiver’s potential.
 6. Decoding:
Decoding simply means the interpretation or the breaking down of codes of the message sent by the
sender, by the receiver.
7. Feedback:
After understanding the sender’s message, the response that a receiver gives to the sender is known as
feedback. It is very essential for the sender to know that the receiver has correctly understood the
sender’s message.
8. Channel:
In order to give feedback, the receiver also has to select a channel through which his response is
delivered to the sender and the circle continues.

Types of Communications:
Types of communication are categorized on the basis of channels and on the basis of
purpose.

1. Based on channels:

This type of communication implies how the communication occurs and what medium
is used to communicate. These types include;

 Verbal communication: Verbal communication is a type of communication that makes

use of words either in the form of a written document or oral.
(Verbal is further subdivided into oral and written communications.)
 Non-verbal communication: Non-verbal communication is a type of communication
that lacks words and uses gestures, postures, facial expressions, body language, or
notions instead.
 Visual communication: It is a type of communication that takes place through visual
interactions, for example, videos, images, texts, etc.
2. Based on purpose:

This type implies what was the cause that forced this communication or what was the
reason that made this communication take place. These types include;

 Formal communication: Formal communication, also known as official

communication, takes place in official settings i.e, offices, colleges, universities, etc. it
is further subdivided into three types that are;
a) Horizontal: Horizontal communication, sometimes referred to as lateral
communication, encompasses workplace communications among people,
departments, or teams at the same level in an organization.
b) Vertical: Vertical communication is sharing information hierarchically —
from top to bottom or bottom to top.
c) Diagonal: Diagonal communication is a sort of hybrid between vertical and
horizontal communication. It's a direct dialogue between employees of
differing ranks who are not in the same chain of command.

 Informal communication: Informal communication, also known as grapevine

communication takes place in casual settings i.e, between friends, siblings, etc.
 Semiformal communication: It is a type of communication that takes place in between
people who are acquainted with each other on a certain level.
 This is the vocabulary/language you might use when conversing with someone
you may not know personally, such as your teacher or coworkers in a professional
situation. Both spoken and written communication employ it.

Difference between formal and informal communication:

Formal communication Informal communication

1) A set of commands is followed in formal 1) Informal communication can move freely in all
communication. directions.
2) Formal communication is time-consuming. 2) It costs less time for Informal communication.
3) A high level of secrecy is maintained in formal 3) No secrecy is guaranteed in informal communication.
communication. 4) Informal communication occurs naturally.
4) Formal communication is designed at the 5) There are no supporting documents available in
organizational level. informal communication.
5) Documentary evidence is always available in 6) Slangs can be used in informal communication.
formal communication. 7) Informal communication is also known as grapevine
6) Slang words are never used in formal communication.
communication. 8) Examples of informal communication are face-to-face
7) Formal communication is also known as official communication, telephonic communication, etc.
communication. 9) No documentation happens in informal
8) Examples of formal communication are - business communication.
letters, reports, orders, etc. 10) Informal communication is very simple due to its
9) Generally, documentation happens in formal short-chain command.
communication. 11) Informal communication is intended to meet personal
10) Formal communication has a long chain of interests and needs.
command.
11) The main motive of formal is to fulfill the
organizational objectives.

What is the Purpose of Communication?

The purpose of communication is to bridge the gap between people. It allows us to share our thoughts and feelings
with others, and it helps us build relationships with the people around us. Communication is essential for human
interaction, and it plays a key role in our personal and professional lives. When we communicate, we must be clear
about our purpose to receive our message the way we intended. We need to use the right communication strategies and
techniques to achieve our objectives.

1. To Inform

The purpose of communication is to inform. When we communicate, our goal is to share information
with the other person. We want them to understand what we are saying, and we want them to take action based
on that information. To be effective, we need to use clear and concise language and we need to make sure our
message is relevant to the other person.

2. Communication to Build Relationships

We use communication to build relationships with the people

around us.
 Communication allows us to share our thoughts and feelings with others, which helps us to understand each
other better. It also enables us to work together more effectively, strengthening our relationships with family
and friends. Communication is essential for human interaction, and it plays a key role in our personal and
professional lives.

3. To Persuade

The purpose of communication is to persuade. When we communicate, our goal is to change the
other person's behavior or attitude. We want them to agree with us, and we want them to take action based on
that agreement. To be effective, we need to use persuasive language and we need to make sure our message is
relevant to the other person.

4. Communication in Workplace

Communication is also important in the workplace. It helps us exchange information,

collaborate on projects, and resolve conflicts. To be successful in the workplace, we need to communicate with
our colleagues effectively. Communication is essential for building strong teams and achieving our goals.

5. To Entertain

The purpose of communication is to entertain. When we communicate, our goal is to engage the other
person and make them laugh or feel happy. We want them to enjoy our conversation, and we want them to take
action based on that enjoyment. To be effective, we need to use entertaining language, and we need to make
sure our message is relevant to the other person.

Attributes of Communication:
As contained in Folarin (2002), Micheal Burgoon and Micheal Ruffner pointed
out five attributes of communication; added to that are the other six by Bert Bradly. They are briefly presented below:

1. Transactional

Communication is transactional because both the source and the receiver are having an impact
on one another.

2. Effective

Our emotional responses affect the way we communicate with others and the way others communicate
with us. This makes communication effective.

3. Personal

This means that the meanings attached to communication exist in the participants and not in the non-
verbal symbols we employ in communicating. But each participant is able to understand the other because of
the codes of verbal and non-verbal symbols that they share.

4. Consummatory

This means that communication provides satisfaction to the communicator.

5. Instrumental

Communication can be used as a tool to control our environment and to affect or influence other
people.
 6. Dynamic

Communication is not static. It involves changes and effects as the elements interact.

7. Continuous

There is no beginning and no end to communication in a person’s life.

8. Complex

It occurs at many levels and reflects many influences.

9. Irreversible

Once a message is sent, it cannot be withdrawn. The communication process cannot be turned
back.

10. Non-sequential

The elements in the communication process are not rigidly patterned, as in a linear or circular
manner.

11. Unrepeatable

A given communication act cannot be recreated. It will must have certain differences than the
former one.

7-C’s of Communication:
The seven C’s of communication are; clarity, correctness, completeness, concreteness,
conciseness, coherence, and courtesy.

1. Clarity:

Clarity of the message is the first and foremost requirement of the message. Hence, the language used
must be simple and straightforward.

2. Correctness:

The message must be correct in the sense that it should be free from all the grammatical errors
and spelling errors. Further, the message should be exact and well-timed.

3. Completeness:

The message should be complete in the sense that it should contain all the necessary
information required by the recipient.

4. Concreteness:

It indicates that the content of your message should be tangible which means that there should
be enough evidence available to support your argument/stance.

5. Conciseness:

Your message should be short and precise i.e, to the point, and it should not contain any irrelevant
information. Always try to bottle a river in a tumbler (say much in the fewest words possible).
 6. Coherence:

There must be logical relationships between sentences and paragraphs i.e, they all should be well
organized, sequential, and interconnected.

7. Courtesy:

Courtesy throws light on the overall behavior and the way in which an individual communicates. It
implies that a person should be polite, humble and as open as needed with his/her co-communicator. This is the
essence of the entire communication and the effectiveness of the communication also depends a lot on it.

Where can the 7 Cs of communication be used?

When we see successful people, they’re often great communicators naturally in all aspects of their lives. Good
communication skills can be learned and developed too, though.

The 7 Cs of communication are good for all aspects of life and work. Whether you’re delivering a speech to a large
audience or talking to your neighbors about getting new fences, using the 7Cs of communication can make a huge
difference.

People who speak irrelevantly are never heard with interest. People get easily bored of listening to excessive and
absonant talks but they always get attracted to less but meaningful talk.

Though, in order to become successful, we must make use of these 7 C’s commonly in every communication that we
practice, not only officially but in random and casual settings too.

Barriers of Communication
Any parameter that limits the purpose or channel of communication between the
transmitter and the receiver is a barrier to communication. A communication barrier may limit or reduce the ease at
which we communicate and hence the name barrier. Although the barriers to effective communication may be different
for different situations, the following are some of the main barriers:

1. Semantic Barriers we can say language barrier

These are concerned with the problems and obstructions in the process of encoding and
decoding a message into words or impressions. Normally, such barriers result due to the use of wrong words, faulty
translations, different interpretations, etc.

For example, a manager has to communicate with workers who have no knowledge of the English language
and on the other side, he is not well conversant in the Hindi language. Here, language is a barrier to communication
as the manager may not be able to communicate properly with the workers.

2. Psychological Barriers

There are various mental and psychological issues that may be barriers to effective
communication. Some people have stage fear, speech disorders, phobia, depression, etc. All of these conditions are
very difficult to manage sometimes and will most certainly limit the ease of communication.

3. Organizational Barriers

The factors related to organizational structure, rules and regulations authority

relationships, etc. may sometimes act as barriers to effective communication. In an organization with a highly
centralized pattern, people may not be encouraged to have free communication. Also, rigid rules and regulations
and cumbersome procedures may also become a hurdle to communication.

As we see, there are many methods of communication at an organizational level. Each of the methods has
its own problems and constraints that may become barriers to effective communication. Most of these barriers arise
because of misinformation and lack of appropriate transparency available to employes.

4. Personal Barriers

The personal factors of both sender and receiver may act as a barrier to effective
communication. If a superior thinks that a particular communication may adversely affect his authority, he may
suppress such communication.

Also, if the superiors do not have confidence in the competency of their subordinates, they may not ask for
their advice. The subordinates may not be willing to offer useful suggestions in the absence of any reward or
appreciation for a good suggestion.

5. Linguistic Barriers

The language barrier is one of the main barriers that limit effective communication.
Language is the most commonly employed tool of communication. The fact that each major region has its own
language is one of the Barriers to effective communication. Sometimes even a thick dialect may render
communication ineffective.

6. Emotional Barriers

The emotional IQ of a person determines the ease and comfort with which they can
communicate. A person who is emotionally mature will be able to communicate effectively. On the other hand,
people who let their emotions take over will face certain difficulties.

A perfect mixture of emotions and facts is necessary for effective communication. Emotions like anger,
frustration, and humor can blur the decision-making capacities of a person and thus limit the effectiveness of their
communication.

7. Physical Barriers to Communication

They are the most obvious barriers to effective communication. These

barriers are mostly easily removable in principle at least. They include barriers like noise, closed doors, faulty
equipment used for communication, closed cabins, etc. Sometimes, in a large office, the physical separation between
various employees combined with faulty equipment may result in severe barriers to effective communication.

8. Cultural Barriers to Communication

As the world is getting more and more globalized, any large office may
have people from several parts of the world. Different cultures have different meanings for several basic values of
society. Dressing, Religions or lack of them, food, drinks, pets, and general behavior will change drastically from
one culture to another.

Hence it is a must that we must take these different cultures into account while communicating. This is what
we call being culturally appropriate. In many multinational companies, special courses are offered at the orientation
stages that let people know about other cultures and how to be courteous and tolerant of others.

9. Attitude Barriers

Certain people like to be left alone. They are introverts or just people who are not very social.
Others like to be social or sometimes extra clingy! Both these cases could become a barrier to communication. Some
people have attitude issues, like huge egos and inconsiderate behaviors.
 These employees can cause severe strains in the communication channels that they are present in. Certain
personality traits like shyness, anger and social anxiety may be removable through courses and proper training.
However, problems like egocentric behavior and selfishness may not be correctable.

10. Perception Barriers

Different people perceive the same things differently. This is a fact that we must consider
during the communication process. Knowledge of the perception levels of the audience is crucial to effective
communication. All the messages or communique must be easy and clear. There shouldn’t be any room for a
diversified interpretational set.

11. Physiological Barriers

Certain disorders or diseases or other limitations could also prevent effective

communication between the various channels of an organization. The shrillness of voice, dyslexia, etc, are some
examples of physiological barriers to effective communication. However, these are not crucial because they can
easily be compensated and removed.

12. Technological Barriers & Socio-religious Barriers

Other barriers include technological barriers.

Technology is developing fast and as a result, it becomes difficult to keep up with the newest developments. Hence
sometimes technological advances may become a barrier. In addition to this, the cost of technology is sometimes
very high.

Most of the organizations will not be able to afford a decent tech for the purpose of communication. Hence,
this becomes a very crucial barrier. Other barriers are socio-religious barriers. In a patriarchal society, a woman or
a transgender may face many difficulties and barriers while communicating.

Models of Communication:
There are three general types of communication models in which all the other communication models are mostly
categorized.

1. Linear Model:
Linear model of communication is a simple way of communication. The message flows in a straight line from
the sender to the receiver.
SENDER -------------- CHANNEL ----------- RECEIVER

 There’s no concept of feedback. The only job a receiver does is receiving messages.

Components of Linear Model:

Linear model has a defined set of components required for a communication to be established that are;

a) Sender
b) Encoding
c) Decoding
d) Message
e) Channel
f) Receiver
g) Noise (the disruption that is caused between communication process)

Different models that follow the Linear model of communication are:-

A. Laswell’s Model:
 Laswell's model of communication describes an act of communication by defining who said it, what was
said, in what channel it was said, to whom it was said, and with what effect it was said. It is regarded by
many communication and public relations scholars as "one of the earliest and most influential
communication models.
The model was developed by American political scientist and communication theorist ‘Harold Laswell’
in 1948 while he was a professor at Yale Law School.

B. Aristotle Model of Communication:

Aristotle, a great philosopher initiated the earliest mass communication model called "Aristotle's
Model of Communication". He proposed this model before 300 B.C. which found the importance of the
audience’s role in the communication chain in his communication model. This model is more focused
on public speaking than interpersonal communication.

Aristotle advises speakers to build speeches for different audiences at different times (occasions) and
for different effects. The speaker plays an important role in public speaking. The speaker must prepare
his speech and analyze the audience’s needs before he moves onto the stage. His words should
influence the audience’s mind and persuade their thoughts towards him.

C. Berlos’s SMCR Model of Communication:

Berlos’s model represents the process of communication in its simplest form. The acronym SMCR
stands for Sender, Message, Channel, and Receiver. Berlo's SMCR Model of Communication describes
the different components that form the basic process of communication.

2. Interactive Model:
Also known as the convergence model, deals with the exchange of ideas and messages taking place both ways
from sender to receiver and vice-versa. The communication process takes place between humans or machines
in both verbal and non-verbal ways. This is a relatively new model of communication for new technologies
like a web.

In the Interactive model, whenever a source sends a message to a receiver (source), s/he encodes the message
first. The encoded message is then received by the receiver where it is decoded to get the original information.
Again, the receiver acts as a source, encodes another message (also known as feedback), and sends it back to
the sender.
 Key features:
 Used for new communication like the internet.
 Slower feedback in turns.
 Concept of a field of experience.
 Known as the convergence model.
 Communication becomes linear if the receiver does not respond.

Different models that follow the interactive model of communication are:-

A. Wilber Schramm's models of communication:

According to W.S, encoding & decoding are very important in any communication process Schramm’s
definition of communication is; "the sharing of information, idea or attitude is called communication". In his
model of communication there are five elements:

Source is actually the sender of the message. The message is then transmitted into signals so that it can reach
the destination. The message is decoded by the decoder and then information is routed towardes the
destination.

B. Eugene white's model of communication:

According to the definition of this model of communication, it is a repetitive cycle. His 1960 model is that of
a cyclical process composed of eight stages. These stages are thinking, symbolizing, expressing, transmitting,
receiving, decoding, feedback, monitoring and thinking. This model suggests that there is no beginning nor
end to communication. He is also the one who introduced the concept of feedback- a process that is now
known to close the loop (complete the cycle).
3. Transactional Model:
Transactional model of communication is the exchange of messages between sender and receiver where each
takes turns to send or receive messages. The model is mostly used for interpersonal communication and is also
known as circular model of communication. Here, both sender and receiver are known as communicators and
their role reverses each time in the communication process as both processes of sending and receiving occurs
at the same time.

Different models that follow the transactional model of communication are:-

A. Barlund’s Transactional model:

 Proposed by Dean C. Barlund in 1970.
 A multi-layered feedback system for all parties involved.
 States that anyone can be a sender and a reciever simultaneously.
 Consists of both verbal and non-verbal cues.
 Considered as the most systematic model of communication.

B. Shannon’s-Weaver Model:
Shannon and weaver’s model simply proposes that a message actually originates from the person who
gets the thought or has the information. The sender is also called the Source of information or the
Information Source. The information then gets transmitted from the brain to the mouth and comes out
as a signal which then reaches the recipient after joining hands with several noises and other
disturbances. The recipient then further passes on the message to its final destination or other minds of
other individuals.

1.Information Source (Thought/message)

↓
2.Transmitter (Brain to mouth) [Along with noise and distractions-external barriers]
↓
3.Signal
↓
4.Recipient (Receives the signal)
↓
5.Final Destination (Finally gets the message)