How will you define Communication?

Communication is the very basic need of any organization and any individual. The English word
‘communication’ is derived from the Latin noun ‘Communis’ and the Latin verb ‘Communicare’
that means ‘to make common. to transmit, to impart.’ Communication is a two-way process. It is
a natural activity of all human beings to convey opinions, information, ideas, feelings, emotions
to others by words spoken or written, by body language or signs.
Human beings cannot live in society without the help of communication. Communication
establishes relationships and makes organizing possible. Every message has a purpose or
objective. The sender intends – whether consciously or unconsciously -- to accomplish
something by communicating. In organizational contexts, messages typically have a definite
objective: to motivate, to inform, to teach, to persuade, to entertain, or to inspire. This definite
purpose is, in fact, one of the principal differences between casual conversation and managerial
communication. Effective communication in the organization centers on well-defined objectives
that support the organization's goals and mission.

Definition of Communication:
Communication is the sum of all the things one person does when he wants to create
understanding in the mind of another. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling,
listening and understanding. (Louis A Allen) Communication can be defined as the process
through which two or more persons come to exchange ideas and understanding among
themselves.
Communication is the process by which a message or information is exchanged from a sender to
a receiver. For example, a production manager (sender) may send a message to a sales manager
(receiver) asking for sales forecasts for the next 6 months so they can plan production levels. The
sales manager would then reply (feedback) to the production manager with the appropriate
figures.
Communication can be defined as the process through which two or more persons come to
exchange ideas and understanding among them. Communication is the understanding, not of the
visible but of the invisible and hidden. These hidden and symbolic elements embedded in the
culture give meaning to the visible communication process. Equally, if not of more importance is
the fact that communication is a personal process that involves the exchange of behavior’s.
Ivanisevic and Matteson noted that Communication among people does not depend on
technology but rather on forces in people and their surroundings. It is a process that occurs
within people
Effective communication is all about conveying your messages to other people clearly and
unambiguously. It's also about receiving information that others are sending to you, with as little
distortion as possible. Doing this involves effort from both the sender of the message and the
receiver. And it's a process that can be fraught with error, with messages muddled by the sender,
or misinterpreted by the recipient. When this isn't detected, it can cause tremendous confusion,
wasted effort and missed opportunity. In fact, communication is only successful when both the
sender and the receiver understand the same information as a result of the communication.

Communication has been defined by many theorists:

(1) According to W.H.Newman, “Communication is an exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or
emotions by two or more persons.”
(2) Allen Louis says "Communication is the sum of all the things one person does when he
wants to create an understanding in the mind of another it involves a systematic and continuous
process."
(3) To quote Norman B. Sigband, “Communication is the transmission and reception of ideas,
feelings and attitudes both verbally and non-verbally.”
(4) Dalton McFarland says, “Communication may be broadly defined as the process of
meaningful interaction among human beings.”
(5) George Vardman in his book `Effective communication of ideas' defines effective
commnication as "Purposive interchange, resulting in workable understanding and agreement
between the sender and the receiver of the message".
No matter the type or mechanism of communication, every instance of communication must
have a message that is being transferred from sender to receiver. In order for communication to
be successful, the sender and receiver must have some signs, words or signals in common with
each other so the sent message can be understood. The ideal definition of communication is a 2-
way interaction between two parties to transmit information and mutual understanding between
themselves. The interchange of information from one party to another is best communicated
when a discussion is available so the receiver can ask questions and receive answers to clarify
the message .
There are at least three general types of communication goals:
1) Self Presentation Goals (who we are and how we want to be perceived),
2) Relational Goals (how we develop, maintain, and terminate relationships),
3) Instrumental Goals (how we manipulate others, gain compliance, manage interpersonal
conflict, use and recognize interpersonal influence strategies (anchoring and contrast effects,
reciprocity, commitment, liking, social proof, authority, and scarcity etc.)

The Process of Communication:

The progression of transmission and interchange of ideas, facts, feelings or actions is known as
“Process of Communication”. Process of Communication is a full cycle of events from sender to
the receiver and back to the sender. Communication is a two-way process.
Communication is the process of passing information and understanding from one person to
another. The communication process involves six basic elements: sender (encoder), message,
channel, receiver (decoder), noise, and feedback. Supervisors can improve communication skills
by becoming aware of these elements and how they contribute to successful communication.
Communication can break down at any one of these elements. Out of the various models of
Communication which have been discussed in the previous pages, the Interactive Model of
communication is one of the most used, discussed and implemented model of Communication.

(1) Sender: The process of communication starts with a sender, the person who has an idea and
wants to convey it to the receiver. In other words, we can say that the person with ideas to share
is called sender. The formation of idea is the first step of communication. So, Communication
process begins with the sender. The Sender is known as Tx.
(2) Encoding: The conversion of the idea in to message by verbal or nonverbal method is called
encoding. While encoding a message, one needs to consider what will be interpretation of the
message. This process of converting the thought of the sender into message is encoding.
(3) Message: It is an important part of communication. Message is the content that sender wants
to convey. A message could be verbal or non-verbal. The thought, idea, emotion or anything that
the sender wants to convey is called message.
(4) Channel: The way or the medium of sending the message is called channel. Medium or
channel can be oral, written or it can be non-verbal.
(5) Receiver: The receiver is the person who receives encoded message. In the best way, if it
reaches to the receiver then there is no problem to the receiver to understand the massage
properly. The Receiver is known as Rx
(6) Decoding: It is a process where the received message is being understood. It is not necessary
that the message reached to receiver will be understood by the receiver but decoding is a process
which converts the message in to understanding. There are chances of misinterpretation of the
massage.
(7) Feedback: This is the last part of communication process. After receiving the message, the
receiver reacts or responds to the sender. The response can be based on the perfect understanding
of the message or it can be based on the misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the message.
This reply from receiver to sender is called feedback. Feedback has its own importance as the
success or failure of communication is decided by feedback only.

Types of Communication:

Communication is key to any business success! Unless potential clients and customers are aware
of your business, they will not have the information to contact you or to purchase your products.
When they are aware of your business, they must be able to contact it easily.
There are Two types of communication are essential - external and internal.
 External communication reaches out to the customer to make them aware of your
product or service and to give them a reason to buy. This type of communication includes
your brochures, various forms of advertising, contact letters, telephone calls, web sites
and anything else that makes the public aware of what you do. Image is extremely
important in external communication! Your logo should represent who you are; your
letterhead should be a selling tool; your telephone message should reflect your
professionalism.

External Communication comprises of Formal contacts with outsiders as well as some

informal contacts with outsiders.

 Internal communication is essential to attracting and retaining a talented staff. You must
provide the direction for the company by consistently communicating that message; you
must motivate your staff through various forms of communication, which can include
awards, newsletters, meetings, telephone calls and formal and informal discussions. The
internal communication is further subdivided into two parts, Formal Communication
channel and Informal Communication Channel. The formal communication network is
the official structure of an organization, which is typically shown as an organization
chart. Information may travel up or down, up or across an organization hierarchy. But,
when managers depend too heavily on formal channels for communicating, they risk
encountering ‗distortion ‘or misunderstanding. The Informal Communication network in
an organization is basically the grapevine in the organization. As people go about their
work, they have casual conversations with their friends in the office. And this comprises
the informal communication channels. Sometimes these informal channels are more
strong and effective than the formal communication networks. They also turn out to be
speedier than many formal channels of communication.
 Effective communication requires tools and planning. In this session, we will discuss
those tools, as well as planning guidelines, to facilitate that key element of your business
- communication.

Importance of Communication:

Good communication has many advantages for a business: strong communication:

 Motivates employees – helps them feel part of the business (see below)
 Easier to control and coordinate business activity – prevents different parts of the
business going in opposite directions
 Makes successful decision making easier for managers– decisions are based on more
complete and accurate information
 Better communication with customers will increase sales
 Improve relationships with suppliers and possibly lead to more reliable delivery.
Improves chances of obtaining finance – e.g. keeping the bank up-to-date about how the business
is doing.
Communication is to an organization what the nervous system is to the human body. Effective
Communication will lead to the smooth working of any organization. The following points
illustrate the importance of Communication in Business
 Smooth Working of a Business Firm
 Basis of Managerial Function - Maximum Production and Minimum Cost
 Prompt Decision and its Implementation - Building Human Relations
 Job Satisfaction and Good Morale - Avoids Illusion
 Contacts with external Parties.

The above given figure explains how much time an individual spends on various perspectives of
communication.
The Basics of Effective Communication
 Seek to Clarify your ideas before you speak
 Examine the true purpose of each communication
 Consider the Total Physical and Human Setting Whenever you communicate
 Consult with others where appropriate, in planning your communication
 Be Mindful, while you communicate, of the overtones as well as the basic content of
 your message

SUMMARY:
Communication establishes relationships and makes organizing possible. Every message has a
purpose or objective. The sender intends -- whether consciously or unconsciously -- to
accomplish something by communicating. Communication is the process by which a message or
information is exchanged from a sender to a receiver. Effective communication is all about
conveying your messages to other people clearly and unambiguously. It's also about receiving
information that others are sending to you, with as little distortion as possible. Among the
pioneers of Communication Studies Fayol and Barnard‘s names are important. Communication
has been considered to be the bottleneck of Management, where any management function is just
not possible to take place without making use of Communication.
Describe the Importance of Learning Languages to make effective communication:

Learning a language means developing four skills- Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. It
is an important tool that every human uses as a specific and common means of expression,
communication and conveyance of different thought. It is also important as the way of impacting
knowledge, instruction, and teaching at in our outside classroom. As a learner we must know
what each of these skills mean and how to teach them effectively. Every communication in
human community with that we may come to realize the importance of language in teaching and
communication.

Language is a vital part of human connection. It can also open many potential career doors, not
only in terms of the range of jobs but also the range of destinations to find a job abroad. There
are the obvious, everyday advantages to speaking a foreign language, such as impressing your
friends, turning around a date that's going badly, and one of the strongest senses of pride and
achievement that you can have. Language allows us to share our ideas, thoughts, and feelings
with others. Although all species have their ways of communicating, humans are the only ones
that have mastered cognitive language communication. It has the power to build societies, but
also tear them down.

Nature of Language in Communication:

Language possesses the following characteristics in communication:

1. Language is transactional, this means that it involves acting reacting to and emitting stimuli
and receiving responses or feedback on a natural frame and consideration.
2. Language is instructional, it is engaged in by social animals in order to achieve significant
objectives and goals.
3. Language is consummating, i.e. through communication the people involved reach a high
level of completeness.
4. Language is dynamic, this involves the sender and the receiver in constant action of encoding
and decoding of meaning.
5. Language is a process with a direct movement from the sender to the receiver and vice versa
in communication.

Language Skill:
Human beings need to communicate between each other. Language is the vehicle or means
through which this communication takes place. Communication is done to transfer
information/messages from one point to another. Learning the language means acquiring the four
language skills. We must remember that language is not an object. It is rather a set of skills. For
being able to use the language successfully in our day-today life, we must acquire these language
skills. Knowing or talking about the rules of the grammar of the language in isolation or
memorizing the contents of a written material do not really help us in using the language in times
of our need. Instead, regular practice of the four language skills can actually help us in improving
our language skills.
We use language to receive information or to give information. We receive information through
listening and reading. Therefore, listening and reading are known as receptive skills. We use
speaking and writing for giving information. Speaking and writing are therefore known as
productive skills. But we should remember that language skills are not usually used in isolation.
A single activity may/usually requires to practice two or three or sometimes all the four language
skills. This we may regard as the mixed/integrated use of skills.
There are four major skills of learning language to make effective communication which are
given below:

1. Listening
2. Speaking
3. Reading
4. Writing

We cannot exist without communicating with each other. And language is used for
communication. It is the means or vehicle through which we can communicate. So, we need to
learn how we can use the language in our real/practical life. For learning this practical use, we
ought to acquire the required four skills of the taught language. There is no benefit in talking
about or describing the grammatical rules of the language. Rather, for effective learning of the
language, we need to know or acquire the language skills. Similarly, for improvement of our
language skills, the most effective/useful or rather the only practical way is to practice the
language skills in our real life contexts.

1. Listening:

We listen to something/somebody for detailed comprehension. We have known in the previous

lesson that listening is one of the two receptive language skills. We receive
information/messages by listening to people or to the speech/sound produced by some
mechanical devices, e.g. listening to tape recorder, radio etc.

Desire and Purpose

Usually, we listen to something because we want to do so. This means we need to have desire
and purpose for listening. We listen to something because we have an interest in the matter, and
because we want to use the information for practical purposes.
Types of Listening Texts

Here is a list of texts we listen to everyday:

 announcements
 instructions
 news
 stories
 songs/music
 weather forecast
 lectures
 speeches
 anecdotes
 sports commentary
 descriptions
 reports
 narrations, etc.

Passive Listening
In our traditional method of English language teaching the learners do not get the opportunity to
listen to good English. The teacher teaches English in Bangla, translating every sentence and
word. Therefore, the learners become weak in listening and speaking. And whatever little
English they listen to, they do not find it interesting and motivating. They cannot perform any
task listening to the teacher in English. They become passive listeners. We need to provide
opportunities to our learners to listen to the language and use it in real life situations. We have to
encourage learners to become active listeners in class and outside. Student must listen to each
other and speak in English in the English class, for listening and speaking go hand in hand. The
two skills must be integrated.

In this activity are really practicing both speaking and listening skills. This is very natural, as we
know that skills cannot be practised is isolation. This has to be done in an integrated way.

Listening for Understanding

We must remember that we listen to understand or comprehend the message of the spoken
language. But how do we do it? We need to act consciously to use our listening ability. This has
to be done effectively in each listening situation. The main action for successful listening is
decision making. We make decisions in different listening situations, e.g. while listening to the
radio/TV news, classroom lectures, friends, parents etc. The way we decide to listen in different
situations is called listening strategy. Our listening ability develops by activating these strategies
in listening. When we listen to a speech, lecture, conversation, etc. we do not notice every word,
phrase or sentence. We pick up only necessary bits of information. We have to encourage
students to respond to questions with short, correct answers.

We know that we listen for comprehension of the spoken language. We need to have desire and
purpose for successful listening activity. The traditional practice of learners' being passive
listeners to their teachers should be discouraged. Instead, they should be made actively involved
in different listening activities in the classroom. We discussed briefly learners' listening
strategies.

2. Speaking:

Communication means sending and receiving messages effectively/ successfully and negotiating
meaning. Here are some factors of the speaking skill.
Transfer of Information
Speaking is the most important and dominating of all the four language skills. This is one of the
two productive skills. We produce and transfer information and fill in the gaps of information. In
short, we may safely say that we speak for communication, i.e. to pass on our ideas/thoughts to
fill the information gaps of others.

Practice
To speak English or any other language, you have to listen to it very carefully first. Then you
speakers must have plenty of practice in using English to communicate. There is no substitute to
practice in acquiring the skills. A single example will make the matter clear to us. A person
wishes to learn how to drive a motor car. Then he/she must practice it carefully, systematically
and regularly as required. But instead of doing so, if he goes on listening to a lecture on driving a
motor car, do you think he can learn driving? No. That means, what is important here is practice
and practice only. In the same way, if we describe the language, memorize its form, grammatical
rules etc., we won't learn how to use the language. We can learn how to speak only by practicing
speaking. So, the only answer to develop the skill is practice.

Vocabulary and Discourse

When we learn to speak English or any other language, we actually pick up words- names of
different things, people, places and actions. That means we enrich vocabulary or stock of words
every day. We do not just enrich or increase vocabulary, but also try to use them in speech. The
extensive, natural use of language in spoken or written form is known as discourse. A good user
of English is one who is able to produce discourse which involves grammar, vocabulary and
appropriacy, accuracy and fluency of speech. These are the essential features of discourse.

For our young learners at the primary school we do not have to insist on producing discourse.
We have to help them produce simple ideas in clear, simple English. We have to guide them in
appropriacy, accuracy and fluency of language.

Appropriacy, Accuracy and Fluency of Language

Use a good language user would take care of appropriacy, accuracy and fluency of speech. All
these features of language use can be developed through practice. We will now see what we
mean by each of these.

Appropracy
When we use language we have specific purpose in mind. When e.g. you want to invite
somebody to dinner, you have to consider who you are inviting and what form of language you
would use to invite him/her. If you are inviting and what form of language you would use to
invite him/her. If you are inviting your boss you would use one kind of language, and if you are
inviting your friend your language would be different. If you are addressing students in class you
would use one kind of language, and if you are talking to a member in your family your language
would be different.

Accuracy
Accuracy practice aims at practicing the form/grammatical rules of the language, e.g.
pronunciation, stress. Intonation or verb forms, noun, pronoun, preposition etc. For this we have
to help learners practice different language points in class.

Fluency
For developing the communicative ability, less controlled/freer activities have to be practised.
Fluency practice aims at practicing the communicative function of language, i.e. giving
information. Such practice is less controlled by the text materials or the teachers. Mistakes are
not that important in fluency practice. But these mistakes, in no way should prevent
understanding or communication. For appropriacy, accuracy and fluency of language use, we can
provide our learners with a variety of practice activities. Drill, role play, mini lectures and group
discussions are some of the useful techniques we can follow in class for developing proper
language use.

Speaking skill is used to communicate one's ideas/thoughts to fill in the information gaps of
others. For developing speaking skills, practice is essential. Only describing or memorizing the
language or its forms does not help improve our speaking skills. Accuracy practice helps us in
learning the form, rules etc. of the language. While fluency practice helps us to use the language
freely. Mistakes are not so important here as it is in accuracy practice. But fluency should not
prevent transfer of information, i.e. communication. That means, speakers speech should be
understandable to others. We have to be involved in real life situations to get natural use of the
language.

3. Reading:

Reading is one of the two receptive skills used for understanding or comprehension of some text.
It is a solitary activity where the reader interacts with the text in isolation. The practice of
reading skills involves
  Texts
 reader/receiver of information
 interaction with the text
 interpretation of the message/information.

We find the involvement of the same things in the other receptive skill- listening.

Traditional Practice of Reading in Class

When we read letters, newspapers, novels, journals, etc. in real life situations, we read them
silently. But in school we teach our students to read aloud. We are traditionally used to practicing
reading for repetition and memorization of the text. We do not use 'reading` as a communicative
skill that focuses on meaning and understanding. We also read for pleasure, i.e. reading novels,
stories, poetry etc. We can develop our reading skills through questions that lead to text
understanding. Reading aloud is not really a reading activity, because it does not help us to
develop our reading skills. It rather tests our pronunciation which is an aspect of speaking (The
Practice of accuracy). For developing reading skills, silent reading is far more important than
reading aloud.

We receive information/messages from reading a written text. Understanding or comprehension

of the message given in the text is important here. Reading without understanding of the content
for whatsoever reasons, is no reading at all. We need to interact with the text for receiving the
messages successfully. This also depends on how we interpret/negotiate the meaning of the text.

Interpretation of Meaning
Readers may again, interpret the meaning of a given text in different ways, i.e. two persons- a
highly qualified person and an ordinary literate person read a common text material. Their
interpretations of the same text will definitely be different. So, in reading, interpretation of
meaning is important.

Macro and Micro Skills

Again, there are sub skills of each skill. Harmer (1991) calls the 'skills` as 'macro skills` and 'sub-
skills` as 'Micro skills`. The practice of reading for general comprehension will be different from
the practice for having specific information. We read different texts for various purposes- to
interpret, to transfer information etc.
The following figure taken from Harmer (1991) will clarify the point well.
Sub-Skills
We do not read everything in the same way or strategy. There is difference in reading of a story,
a news item in the newspaper, a personal letter etc. Now, we will look into different ways of
different materials. These ways are regarded as sub-skills. We will discuss here the following
important sub-skills:

i. Skimming
It is a very useful way or strategy for reading. We read some texts rapidly for having a general
idea about something. For example, when we read the daily newspaper or a magazine, we don’t
go into line by line details of it. At times, we jump from one line or Para to another. Thus we
ignore some parts of it. This strategy is followed when we read something for a general idea of it.
This is what we mean by skimming. We can develop our skimming ability by practicing reading
passages/ paragraphs in newspaper/ journals to find out the general theme/idea of it.

ii. Scanning
Scanning means reading a text quickly for some specific/particular information. We follow this
strategy when we want to extract some specific information from a given text. In such reading,
we ignore the other details of the text. Even we do not have to understand every single word of
the text - rather the required message or information only.

iii. Inference
This is another very useful way of reading. By 'inference` we mean making use of clues in the
context of a given text. Thus, we guess the meaning of new/difficult words in the text. When we
read something in a foreign language, it is very natural that some words will appear difficult or
new to us. Then we have to look for the contextual class and then guess the meaning of those
words. This is what we call 'inferring meaning from the text`. So, what is important here is to
read the text as a whole.

iv. Desire, Purpose and Expectations

As in the other skills, the issues of desire and purpose should be considered in Reading skills too.
In reality, we read something because we want to do so (desire). Again, we must have a purpose
(for information) in our reading. Expectation is also important in this skill. Readers have some
expectations about what they are going to read. When we buy a book, we have some
expectations about it because of the title and descriptions on the back cover of the book.

Reading to confirm expectations is also a very important technique in reading. When we start
reading something, we expect what is to come next. This expectation motivates and creates an
impression in the minds of the readers. This also gives us a definite purpose for reading.
Writing:

Writing is one of the two productive skills. We express our ideas and communicate them to
others through writings. It needs a lot of practice and experience to communicate successfully
through this skill. This is possibly the most difficult of all the four language skills. So, it needs
more and frequent practice than the other three skills.

Purpose of Writing
To discuss 'writing` as a language skill, we must remember its basic aspect, i.e. its purpose. This
is similarly important in other skills too. In a word, the purpose of writing is communication. We
write to communicate messages/information, ideas, thoughts etc. to some other person(s). We do
this when we cannot communicate orally. When we write, our readers are usually not known
near. Also sometimes we know them and sometimes we don't especially when we write a story,
novel, poem etc. But sometimes, we know our readers, e.g. when we are writing a personal letter,
instructions, descriptions, etc. But in all cases, we have the common feature in our writing i.e.
purpose of doing so- communication. Another purpose for writing is to share feelings ideas, etc.
with others. We write to keep records too.

Common Features in the Productive Skills

The most common features in the speaking and writing skills are-

 both the speakers and writers desire to convey a message to achieve a definite purpose.
 both of them keep in mind the receiver of their message (s)
 they know the situation in which they are passing their message(s) through language.
 they need to select the appropriate language.

Important Difference Between Speaking and Writing Skills

There are a lot of differences between these two skills. They are-

 everyone can speak, but cannot write.

 we speak a lot but write much less.
 speaking is an ordinary skill but writing is difficult.
 immediate communication is done through speaking but in writing, communication is
delayed.
 speech involves stress, intonation, pitch, pause, gesture etc. But writing concerns
spelling, punctuation etc.
 speech is more informal and often lacks accuracy, while writing is more formal and needs
accuracy.
Difficulties of Writing Language
Many of us find writing difficulties. These difficulties are related to content and organization of
ideas. Here the writer faces the difficulty of selection of the subject matter, i.e. what is to write
about or how to choose a topic and then handle the content of the writing. Again the writer finds
it difficult to organize his ideas/thoughts in his writing. The range of difficulty is much higher
when we write in a foreign language. The basic problem here is related to the issues of general,
formal accuracy. e.g. of grammar, spelling etc. In writing, accuracy matters much more than in
the other language skills. A writer has to be very careful about the forms/grammar while writing
in a foreign language. Another obvious difficulty is to write different kinds of texts- narrative.
Descriptive etc. Each kind of writing needs good experience for successful writing.

Functions of Written Language

Written language serves different functions in our day-to-day life. These primarily include:

(a) Writing for Action

We write because we want people to perform certain actions e.g.

 traffic signs on public places like roads, stations, centers etc.

 labels and instructions on products like food, tools and other goods.
 maps, radio, television guides etc.
 bills, different directories etc.
 for social contact - personal correspondence like letters, cards etc.

(b) Writing for Information

Newspapers, magazines, textbooks and non-fiction books, public notices, advertisements,
pamphlets, reports, guide books and literature on traveling.

(c) Writing for Entertainment

Light magazines, comic and fiction books, literary writings, feature films titles, games etc.

Writing at the Primary School

As primary school teachers we have to help our learners recognize the difference between
cursive letters and non-cursive letters.

We also have to teach them small letters and capital letters. We have to help them write words,
i.e. names of objects, people and places, and then write sentences with these words. Finally, we
should help them write paragraphs with those sentences. The English textbook, English for
Today gives the learners enough opportunities to practice writing. Before the learners do the
writing tasks we have to discuss the question and make things easy for them.

We have discussed 'writing` as a difficult skill with a short introduction to it. The emphasis is on
the regular and more practice of the skill. We have also discussed the purpose of writing in a
short compass. There we discussed the most common features in both speaking and writing skills
(productive skills). On the other hand, major points of difference between the two skills have
also been identified. We have seen that difficulties in writing (both in L1 & foreign language) are
obvious. But the nature of difficulties in L1 is not the same as in case of a foreign language. The
range of difficulty is rather higher to a great extent when we write in a foreign language. Lastly,
we have identified and discussed the functions of written language in three broad categories.
These are- written language for (a) action (b) information and (c) entertainment.

Significance of Language in Communication

Since language is the medium in which thinking take place effective communication aids
thinking and understanding in the classroom. Communication directs the learner’s attention to
the learning materials.

There are factors within the learners and the environment which can affect communication either
positively or negatively. Among such factors are:
 The language of instruction: If the language is one with which the learners are familiar
communication is enhanced and learners can participate actively in the learning process
on the other hand if the language is strange to the learners learning may be adversely
affected.

 Another factor is the psychological climate in the classroom if the climate is conducive to
learning language is enhanced while communication could be adversely affected if the
psychological atmosphere in the classroom is not conducive to learning threats
punishment ridicule etc. Can adversely affect communication.

 “Noise” could also adversely communication this is anything that distracts the attention
of the learners from the man focus or topic of discussion.

 The intellectual ability of the learner is also an essential factor in communication the
teacher should therefore be aware of the intellectual ability of his pupils.