COMMUNICATION AND LIFE SKILLS EXAM SUMMARY NOTES

UNIT 1: Time and Stress Management

 Time management: act or process of planning and exercising conscious control over the
amount of time spent on specific activities.
 Time wasters: things we do that are not part of our plan.

Three (3) main categories of time wasters;

1. Human nature
- Part of natural habit ( eg; disorganization, procrastination)
2. Environmental factors
3. Poor management skills.
[ personal time audit is first step in removing time wasters]
TIME WASTERS

Three main categories.

• Human nature – disorganization, procrastination, attitude etc…

• Environmental factors – heat, noise, technical issues etc…

• Poor management skills – characteristics, lack of knowledge etc…

STRESS MANAGEMENT

Stress: anything that poses a challenge or threat to our well-being.

The fight-or-flight response: Also known as the acute stress response, refers to the
physiological reaction that occurs when in the presence of something mentally or physically
terrifying. This response is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare your body to either
stay and deal with a threat or to run away to safety

Flight or fight response: our Bodys sympathetic nervous system reacting to a stressful event.

How to deal with stress (3 A’s).

ALTER. AVOID. ACCEPT

SELF HELP FOR TREATING STRESS

Exercise. Division of labor. Assertiveness. Nutrition. Time. Breathing. Talk. Seek professional
help.

UNIT: 2 SELF CONCEPT AND SELF ESTEEM.

Self-concept (Baumeister): the individuals' belief about himself or herself, including the
person's attributes and who and what the self is.
Self concept is not inbuilt nature of a person, can be modified and changed, it is something you
learn.

Self-concept: what you think about yourself (what you think you are).

Self concept is not inbuilt, it can be modified and changed, it is something you learn.

Self-esteem: how people feel about themselves or how they value themselves (what you think
you are worth).

Assertive person: high self esteem. (without thinking that other people might think of him/her
as a big head.

TYPES OF BEHAVIOUR.
Assertive behavior: standing up for your own rights in a way that does not violate the rights of
others.

Non-assertive behavior: when you fail to stand up for your own rights or do so in such a way
that people don't take you seriously.

Aggressive behaviour: is when you stand up for your own rights in such a way that you violate
the rights of others.

UNIT: 3 CRITICAL THINKING

Criticial reading is a process that involves reading beyond just understanding a text.

Argument: using reasons to support a point of view, so that known or unknown readers may be
persuaded to agree with the authors view.

Assumption: an untested starting point/belief in a theory that is needed to be tested.

Conclusion: is the end point following the list of the authors reasoning.

Line of reasoning: refer to a set of reasons, or contributing arguments, structured to support the
overall arguments

Position: a point of view supported by reason.

Theory: a set of ideas that helps explains why something happens/functions.

Characteristics of critical reading

 Examining authors evidence or arguments presented.

 Checking out how evidence or arguments were made.
 Identifying limitations of the authors argument.
 1. Finding the argument

Argument in critical reading is used in two ways:

a. Contributing arguments (line of reasoning)

b. Overall argument(s).
2. Finding the assumption
Assumption: underlying message in a written text. In critical reading assumption refers to
anything taken for granted in an argument.
3. Finding the conclusion

Conclusion in critical reading is a deduction. Deduction a type of reasoning in which a

conclusion is based on the combination of multiple premises that are generally assumed to be
true

• Argument – using reasons / evidence to support your point of views.

• Assumption – your views without giving evidence to support them.

• Conclusion – Is the final judgment you make after discussing your support points to convince
others to your lines of thinking.

• ‘Argument’ in ‘critical reading’ is used in two ways: (1) Contributing arguments (line of
reasoning) & (2) The overall argument(s).

 A line of reasoning. A set of reasons, presented in logical order. It is like a path leading
the audience through the reasons, in steps, towards the desired conclusion.
 Deductive reasoning- logical approach where you progress from general ideas to
specific conclusions.

UNIT 5: GRAMMATICAL COMPETENCE

Grammatical competence: ability to recognize and produce the distinctive grammatical

structures of a language and to use them effectively in communication. (grammatical
competence: is the ability to express and understand meaning by producing and recognizing
well-formed phrases and sentences).

Competence in the use of:

Words. Sentence. Paragraph. Punctuations. Capitalisation.

Sentences

A sentence must have:

  Subject-verb agreement
 Pronoun-antecedent agreement
 Correct verb tense
 Not be redundant
 Observe parallel constructions
 Not have misplace/dangling modifiers.
Parallel construction: information given in a list or series must be grammatically parallel.

Pronouns and antecedents

A pronoun must have one antecedent.

An antecedent is - noun or pronoun that a pronoun refers to.

A modifier can be a word, a phrase, or a clause.

Paragraph- series of sentences that develops a single idea or topic.

A paragraph consists of;

Topic sentence’(contains controlling idea). Supporting sentences (elaborates topic sentence).

Concluding sentence ;(gives closure to discussion).

UNIT 8: INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION

Interpersonal communication: Involves interaction between people on a one-to-one basis or in

small groups.

Characteristics:

a. Few participants

b. Sender-Receiver has a close relationship

c. Many sensory channels are used

d. Feedback is immediate

Interpersonal skills exist on two levels:

a. Specific level – being open or emphatic – helps you in sharing or understanding other
people’s feelings as you wish.
b. On a higher level – a Meta skill level – being able to regulate your openness and
empathy.
Four metaskills help your use of the more specific skills

i. Mindfulness (Think first, before communicating)

ii. Flexibility (Be flexible)
iii. Cultural sensitivity (Be aware of different cultures)
iv. Meta communication (Talk about talk)

Four functions of interpersonal communication

1. Gaining information
2. Build context of understanding
3. Establishing identity (or to establish that you are somebody)
4. Interpersonal needs – inclusion, control, and affection.
Four (4) Relational patterns

1. Rigid role relations – two behavior types: dominance & submissive

2. Disconfirmations – allow for one partner to either accept or reject your views.
3. Spirals – one partner’s behavior intensifies that of another. Spirals can be progressive
(satisfaction) or regressive (dissatisfaction).
4. Dependencies and Counter dependencies – dependency (relying on another); counter
dependency (not being independent on the other – relies heavily on the other)

Linear model (LM). Communication is a way of relaying message from one person to another.

Interactive model (IM). Communication is an active process. This involves the sender getting
feedback from the receiver as means of showing that understanding has occurred.

Transactional model (TM). Communication is a dynamic process that makes all allowances for
communication to change over time.

Communication: is the intelligent and practical way of sending and receiving messages.
(communication is a way of relaying messages from senders to receivers).

Defining communication

Communication is the intelligent and practical way of sending and receiving messages. It is
described as the exchange of information between two or more people.

Communication is defined as a way of relaying messages from senders to receivers.

1. Sender/communicator (the person who initiates the message).

2. Receiver/interpreter (the person to whom the message is directed)
3. Message (verbal and/or non-verbal content that must be encoded by the sender and
decoded by the receiver)
 4. Channel (the medium by which the message is delivered and received).
5. Context (the setting and situation in which communication takes place).
6. Noise (anything that interferes with the accurate expression or reception of a message)
7. Feedback (a response from the receiver indicating whether a message as been received in
its intended from).

Channel: physical means by which the message is transferred from one person to another.

Context: refers to where communication takes place and has influence on meanings interpreted
in the communication process.

Noise: anything that distorts the message so that what is received is different from what is
intended by the speaker.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATON
Written. Oral. Non-verbal.

WAYS OF COMMUNICATING

Four types of communication;

1. Interpersonal- communication between two or more people.

2. Intrapersonal- communication that takes place with oneself (mind)
3. Mass- communication between a huge number of people.
4. Group- interaction between three or more people working together to achieve a common
goal.

UNIT 9: BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATION.

What is a barrier?

 Barrier-anything that prevents the success (in this case) for the communication process.
 What causes communication barriers? - result of a misunderstanding or
misinterpretation of the message. Can be caused by the sender, the receiver, lack of
feedback, a poor choice of channel, etc.
 What is a communication barrier? - Anything which blocks the meaning of a
communication is a barrier to communication.

Two terms used to describe problems or breakdowns which occur in communication are:

1. Distortion – meaning of a communication is lost in ‘handling’.

This occurs largely during the encoding and the decoding stage when:
 i. The sender fails to communicate accurately his/her intended message so the wrong message is
relayed. ii. The language used is not translated properly by the receiver so the wrong message is
received.

iii. There may be more than one interpretation to a message.

iv. Differing opinions and attitudes, lack of cooperation and concentration can all set up barriers
to communication.

2. Noise – This refers to distractions and interference in the environment in which

communication takes place, obstructing the process by affecting the accuracy, clarity, or even the
arrival of the message.

Four Types of Noise

1. Physical noise - the actual noise that may ‘drown’ the communication. Examples: noisy
room, passing traffic, etc.
2. Technical noise – failure in the channel of communication while information is being
transmitted. Examples: break down in computer printer (& other technological
equipment), telephone lines, fax machines, or even bad (illegible/unclear) handwriting,
etc.
3. Social noise – failure in communication created by differences in personality or lack of
shared/common experiences due to upbringing, differences in perceptions/mentality due
to diverse cultural, religious, educational background, bias due to age, sex, social class,
status, etc.
Examples: i. Cultural/educational differences: e.g. tea boy in a meeting with his bosses.
ii. Class differences: e.g. rich, poor, boss, and subordinates. iii. Social differences: e.g.
old, young, male, female.
4. Psychological noise – excessive or uncontrolled emotions such as anger, fear, etc;
prejudice, stress, nervous tension, etc.

Other barriers to (interpersonal) communication are:

1. Emotional interference – difficult to shape message

2. Judging type – ‘attacking’ the person and not the problem by way of: i. Criticizing ii.
Name-calling iii. Diagnosing (“Your problem is….”
3. Sending solution type – give the message that “you know best” by way of:
- ordering
- threatening
- demoralizing
- Excessive questioning (Although it minimizes the issue, it intimidates the
‘receiver’ – making him/her feel unworthy, and often very defensive).
4. Avoidance type – completely avoid the issue by way of:
I. diverting talk
 II. logical argument
III. Reassuring

Causes of communication barriers;

1. Inappropriate choice of words

2. In appropriate channel
3. Inappropriate message (jargon)
4. Receiver in-attention
5. Assuming all is clear/the way we say things
6. Lack of courtesy by the sender or receiver
7. ‘Conflicting’ non-verbal communication
8. Different backgrounds
9. Poor layout and presentation
10. Poor listening techniques/listening ability decreases when information is difficult to
understand/follow
11. Inappropriate timing
12. In adequate feedback
13. Information overload (may lead to distortion)

Five (5) traits of effective communicators:

1. Perception –They are able to predict/anticipate how you will (react when you) receive
their message so they shape their message accordingly.
2. Precision – They create a ‘meeting of the minds’ (common understanding) so you share
the same mental picture/understanding.
3. Credibility – They are believable so you trust their information and intentions.
4. Control – They shape your response – depending on their purpose whether it is to make
you laugh, calm you down, cry, change your mind, or make you take action.
5. Congeniality – They maintain friendly pleasant relations with you regardless of their
differences with you.

Anything which blocks the meaning of a communication is a barrier to communication.

Two terms used to describe problems or breakdowns which occur in communication are

1. Distortion

2. Noise.

Effective communicators have these traits:

(1) Perception (2) precision (3) credibility (4) control (5) Congeniality.