1

Unit 1

Lead-in

• How do you understand the implication of the title?

• What qualities would you attribute to a good conversationalist?

1. This self-assessment COMMUNICATION SKILLS QUESTIONNAIRE will help you to evaluate critically how proficient you are at getting your message across. For each question, make a tick (√) in the column that most applies.

COMMUNICATION SKILLS QUESTIONNAIRE

Statement	Not at all	Rarely	Some times	Often	Very often
1. I try to anticipate and predict possible causes of confusion, and I deal with them up front.
2. When I write a memo, email, or any other document, I give all of the background information and detail I can to make sure that my message is understood.
3. If I don't understand something, I tend to keep this to myself and figure it out later.
4. I'm sometimes surprised to find that people haven't understood what I've said.
5. I can tend to say what I think, without worrying about how the other person perceives it. I assume that we'll be able to work it out later.
6. When people talk to me, I try to see their perspectives.
7. I use email to communicate complex issues with people. It's quick and efficient.
8. When I finish writing a report, memo, or email, I scan it quickly for typos and so forth, and then send it off right away.
9. When talking to people, I pay attention to their body language.
10. I use diagrams and charts to help express my ideas.
11. Before I communicate, I think about what the person needs to know, and how best to convey it.
12. When someone's talking to me, I think about what I'm going to say next to make sure I get my point across correctly.
13. Before I send a message, I think about the best way to communicate it (in person, over the phone, in a newsletter, via memo, and so on).
14. I try to help people understand the underlying concepts behind the point I am discussing. This reduces misconceptions and increases understanding.
15. I consider cultural barriers when planning my communications.
Total

To calculate your total, add up your score (Not at all=1, Rarely=2, Sometimes=3, Often=4, Very Often=5).

2. Study communications map. Complete the sentences with one or more suitable words from the diagram. Communications map

1. Paris has good rail … with other major cities.

2. We need to … communication with clients.

3. By the age of two most children have begun to communicate … .

4. We must keep open all the … … communication with the kidnappers.

5. Letters are their only … … communication.

6. It is not easy to know what she is thinking, she is not very … .

7. He learned sign language to communicate … deaf customers.

8. He saw the handle of the … door start to turn.

9. Susan has an amazing ability to … enthusiasm.

10. The flu (influenza) is a very common … disease that lasts a short time and makes you feel hot or cold, weak and tired.

3. Read the following text and complete it with the sentences from the box. Justify your choice. There is one extra sentence.

Evolution of Communication

a. Information has the ability to span borders, allowing us to be interconnected in our global world.

b. Thus the expectations we place on those we communicate with vary from medium to medium: a letter through the postal mail sets up an expectation of a response that will come in days; email, in hours; instant messaging, in minutes.

c. One of the most famous examples is that of Phidippides, the runner who, according to the legend, in 490 BC ran 42.5 km from Marathon to Athens to enlist help from the Spartans against the Persians.

d. But to enhance an understanding of communication we must first look at the means which have been used to communicate through centuries.

e. Communications are shorter and more frequent than when letters were the norm; response time has greatly diminished; we are even surprised if someone we wish to contact does not have an email address.

f. It assists in the transmission of information because it has the ability to surpass many boundaries.

g. Ideas could now be stored for future centuries.

The ability to communicate can be deemed the most powerful attribute a human being possesses. It may also be regarded as a strict disciple, serving to educate, and inform society. Today, a higher level of learning and knowledge are maintained due to the volume of communication we are exposed to. Thus, communication may be regarded as a specialized function, as it encompasses our everyday lives, and helps us function more efficiently and productively.

Communication insures understanding and provides knowledge of information. …1…

In the distant past verbal mediation served as a single way of informing and expressing information. The ingenuity of civilisations throughout the ages dealing with the problems of communication is fascinating, taking into consideration the means they had at their disposal. …2… For all significance of written speech, cultures depended on spoken words, opposed to written, ensuring a direct understanding between source and receivers. Oral communication left little room for ambiguity, and discrimination of the illiterate. It is present in our everyday lives, from the car radio providing the latest traffic reports, to a professor educating students in a lecture hall, all oral mediations serve to provide the same service: to inform and provide new information.

With the evolution of the print press came the evolution of preservation. …3… Print mediation provided a society a way of preserving history and tradition, and also served as an independent learning tool. It was limited in quantity and was only available to a select few audiences. However it was a way of keeping the society connected with the past but also knowledgeable of the future.

Today, communication and the way we communicate have radically changed and the change is not over. Although, traditional mediations will never be eradicated, it is important to understand that technology has aided in the way we interact. …4…

Mobile phones spread quickly from a small elite to people from all kinds of backgrounds and age groups and became a great ‘equaliser’ in terms of access to immediate communication. Email has had a profound effect on the way people keep in touch. …5… The internet may be regarded as an open communication field which links people all around the world. People do not need to be in the same vicinity to share information or interact.

Technology functions to improve our lives, and the way that we communicate. …6… We have grown accustomed to taking ease of communication for granted, and can’t even begin to imagine a world where someone in America or Australia is farther than a phonecall away.

Speech Patterns