LAGOS STATE UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION

GST 111 COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH1

Outlines to the Content

1. Meaning of Communication

Purpose of Communication

 to inform
 to express feelings
 to imagine,
 to influence
 to meet social expectations
 educate
 entertain

Types of Communication

 Verbal
 Oral
 Written
 Non Verbal

Elements of Communication

 Sender
 Message
  Encoding
 Media
 Decoding
 Receiver
 Feedback
 Noise

Stages
 Idea stage.
 Encoding stage.
 Signals stage.
 Decoding stage.
 Meaning stage.
 Feedback stage.
Barriers to Effective Communication
 Semantic Barriers/ linguistic
 Psychological Barriers
 Personal Barriers: emotional
 physical
 cultural
 Perception Barriers
 Attitude Barriers
 Organisational Structure Barriers

2.Four Basic Language Skills

Listening
Types of listening skills
 Informational listening.
 Discriminative listening.
 Biased listening.
 Sympathetic listening.
 Comprehensive listening.
 Empathetic or therapeutic listening.
  Critical listening.
Conditions/strategies for effective listening
 Face the speaker and maintain eye contact
 Be attentive, but relaxed
 Keep an open mind.
 Listen to the words and try to picture what the speaker is saying
 Don't interrupt and don't impose your "solutions.
 Pay attention. Give the speaker your undivided attention, and acknowledge
the message.
 Show that you are listening
 Provide feedback
 Defer judgment
 Respond Appropriately

Factors Affecting effective listening

o Lack of interest. Often times, we get ourselves caught in a conversation that
essentially does not hold our interest.
o Noise, Awkward seating positions and temperature.
o Distractions.
o Personal bias.
o Intrusion.
Listening to lectures/Note taking
 You can't write down every word.
 Pay Attention.
 Underline, Highlight and Capitalise.
 Use Shorthand (Abbreviations)
 Put distractions away.
 Be Comfortable.
 Ask questions when confused. ...
 Share and compare notes with classmates.

Listen Actively

 Listen for important points.

 Listen for relationships between ideas in texts, class discussions, and the
lectures.
 Listen for cue words; they help you cluster and prioritize information.
 New or unfamiliar facts and ideas.
 Things that come in lists: if the lecturer has created a list to categorize facts,
reasons, themes, etc., it’s a good indication that the information is
important.
 The lecturer’s reasons for questioning or favouring a particular approach or
theory.
 Points which the lecturer pauses over or repeats: people lecture with
certain goals in mind, and usually when they convey a point which is crucial
to their thesis they repeat it.
 Don’t write down what is on the PowerPoint slide if you have access to it
later. There is no need to repeat information.

Speaking
Meaning of speaking

Types

 Informal
 Formal

Situational types of speaking

 Ceremonial
 Demonstrative
 Informative
 Persuasive

Speaking skills

 Fluency
 Vocabulary
 Grammar
 Pronunciation

Reading
 Meaning of reading

Types/reading faults and how overcome them

Types

 Extensive reading
 Intensive reading

Reading faults

 Word decoding.
 Fluency: slow, inaccurate, and improper expression (if reading aloud).
 Poor reading comprehension
Overcoming reading faults
 Improve your vocabulary. ...
 Come up with questions about the text you are reading. ...
 Use context clues. ...
 Look for the main idea. ...
 Write a summary of what you read. ...
 Break up the reading into smaller sections. ...
 Pace yourself. ...
 Eliminate distractions.

Importance of reading at higher institutions

 Expanded Vocabulary for Essay Writing
 Improved Focus
 Boosting Memory
 More Empathy
 Improved Self-Esteem
 Reducing Stress
 Reading quickly to find information
 Working out meaning of difficult words
 Reading quickly to get overall meaning
 Understanding specialist vocabulary
 Identifying supporting ideas/examples
 Taking brief, relevant notes
  Using own words in note taking
 Reading carefully to understand a text
 Identifying key ideas
 Understanding key ideas
 Overcoming reading challenges
 Read the assigned material more times
 Read extensively in your discipline area
 Refer to your first language text/material for reference
 Use a dictionary
 Read articles with a focus on mastering English speakers' language use

SQ3R
 Survey
 Question
 Read
 Recite
 Review
Reading rates/speed and how to improve
 Skimming
 Scanning
 In-depth reading
How to improve reading speed
 Stop the Inner Monologue
 Do not reread the Words on the page
 Use a timer
 Set a goal
 Read more
 Use a marker
 Reading Comprehension
 Meaning
Reading comprehension Skills
 Summarizing.
  Sequencing.
 Inferencing.
 Comparing and contrasting.
 Drawing conclusions.
 Self-questioning.
 Problem-solving.
 Relating background knowledge
Writing
Meaning
Writing Skills
 Grammar.
 Vocabulary.
 Spelling.
 Sentence construction.
 Structure.
 Research and accuracy.
 Clarity.
 Persuasiveness
Importance of Writing skills
 Ability to Explain Yourself
 Serves as a Record for Future
 Helps you in getting a job in later life
 Improve Communication Skills
 Increases your Knowledge, Creativity & Imagination
 Help in Getting a Job
 Tips for good writing

 Writing skills vouch for professionalism

 It engages both sides of the human brain
 You can earn with your writing skills
 Writing skills improve creativity
 It sharpens your memory
 Writing skills aid history keeping
 You can influence the world in the comfort of your room
  Writing skills improve communication
 It is a means to relieve mental stress
 Writing skills help you to stay focused.

Elements of effective writing

 Central idea
 Planning
 Organization
 Supporting material
 Writing
 Expression, word choice and point of view
 Editing and revising
 Spelling, grammar and punctuation

Letter Writing
 Informal Letter
 Formal Letter
 Semi-formal
Speech Writing
Meaning
Types
 To inform
 To entertain
 To persuade
 To educate
Elements of a speech
 Attention statement
 Introduction
 Body
 Conclusion
 Residual message