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This course aims to introduce students to the basic principles of communication and develop their communicative competence through various learning strategies. The course also encourages students to pursue further studies in communication science and become successful lifelong learners.
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Welcome Thank you for registering for Communication Science (ACOM 111) and welcome to the course. Itrust that you will find this course rewarding and enriching. The purpose of this module is to introduce you to the basic principles of communication and to create an awareness of the skills and competencies needed to communicate effectively. The prescribed book for this course is - Communication Studies: an introduction by Shiela Steinberg. The study guide is also available on the website www.comsci.uzulu.ac.za
Learning Outcomes • Enhancing your learning skills and developing a variety of learning strategies • Developing your self-responsibility skills • Working effectively with other learners in a group • Motivating yourself to make a positive contribution towards your community • Considering and improving your communicative competence • Stimulating your thoughts on communication as a science • Identifying, formulating and solving practical communication problems experienced personally or in your community • Being sensitive to multicultural communication • Encouraging you to pursue your studies in communication science • Becoming a successful life-long learner.
Venue & Dates • Lectures • Assessments
Course Rules & Responsibilities 1. Attendance to Lecturers • Attendance to lecturers is compulsory. An attendance register will be taken at every lecture. Should you become ill, submit a copy of the medical certificate to your lecturer. Any other reasons for your absenteeism will have to be given to your lecturer in writing. 2. Assessments and tests • These must be written according to the official time-table. If a student is prevented from doing so, the student must inform the lecturer before the commencement of the test • The student must also produce a medical certificate, covering the full period of absence, immediately upon return. • Should the student not write that test for non-medical reasons, then they will receive 0% (zero) for that test. There will be no re-evaluation under these circumstances.
3. Assignments • Assignments are to be submitted during the lecture period (unless otherwise stipulated by your lecturer) • Meet deadlines and due dates as stipulated in the course outline. • Marks will be deducted for each day that the assignment is not late. • Submit original work, no plagiarizing or cheating. • 4. Semester-end examination • You will write a 3-hour examination at the end of the semester. This mark will contribute the other 50% of the final mark. • 5. Consultation Times • Students are welcome to consult the lecturer regarding problems during • the times stipulated by the lecturer.
General Guidelines • Dates of assignments and assessments are provided in advance so that you have adequate study and preparation time. If you miss an assignment deadline, your assignment will not be accepted and you will be given a ZERO. Should you experience problems, speak to your lecturer before the assignment is due and not on the due date. • Assignments must be TYPED. • Font size should be 12 and you should use either Arial/Times New Roman. • Use 1.5 line spacing.
Cover Page • Name and Surname • Student registration number • Due date • The Topic • Lecturer’s name
Content of written assignment • Your written assignment should consist of the following: • Table of contents • An introduction – this should briefly explain how you intend to answer the question (provide aims of the assignment) • The main section of your assignment will consist of all the readings. This must be arranged in a logical way and should be the most important part of your assignment. You should ensure that you have answered the question. • Your conclusion should consist of a summary of the main points. • List of references/bibliography
A brief history of Communication • Can you imagine life without your blackberry, facebook, mixit or twitter??? • Did you ever wonder how communication began or how it originated? • Communication has changed dramatically over the past decade. This is due to the rapid development of new technologies. The art of communication science has evolved with time and has undergone various stages to get where it is today.
Stages in the history of human communication • Communication as we know it today evolved over a period of time and went through various stages. In early civilisations there was a need to communicate and instruments such as a ram’s horn, drumbeats and smoke signals were used and during the Middle Ages, homing pigeons were used to transmit messages. In modern times communication is often available by means of pressing a button ( phoning someone, sending a message via your cellular phone, typing a letter on computer or switching on the television)
Age of Speech and Language • The development of communication did not replace anything preceding it. Gestures, the development of language and the need for interaction with others merely contributed towards modern-day methods of expression. • It is not very clear how language originated. Some believe words imitated sounds that accompanied gesture; others believe words came from expression of emotion (crying or laughing) while another school of thought believes that language resulted because of group activities (like working together). • There are more or less 3,000 languages spoken worldwide today. In South Africa we have eleven official languages and each of these languages has been influenced by other existing languages. Many language characteristics in your mother tongue have been taken over from older languages.
Age of Writing • In prehistoric times drawings and pictures of animals and people in cave paintings and cuneiform were used to communicate. • For generations cave paintings provided people with a way of recording customs and traditions
Wedge shaped strokes on clay tables ( known as cuneiform- pictographic writing in which symbols represented objects) represented ideas. Sounds were later added to identify pictures and in about 3500 BCE ( Before the common era), the Sumerians used words that sounded similar to create meaning ( for example “bee” and “leaf” created “belief”). A complete cuneiform system had more than 600 signs and a cuneiform script discovered in 1929 contained an alphabet of consonants.
Age of Print • In medieval Europe the preservation of learning was one of the major responsibilities of the monks. One way this task was done, was by meticulously copying entire texts onto papyrus (paper had not been invented yet). Crafts men and manuscript copyists also participated in this activity to ensure that books were made available and that information was communicated to people.
In the West, however, at around 1438, the German printer Johan Guttenburg invented a mould for casting individual letters in metal and published the first book in the 1450’s. The Gutenberg Bible (1455) was the first work in Europe to be printed with movable type ( about 200 copies were printed). • News-sheets an early form of the newspaper were later developed, which flourished and circulated rapidly. • Society was easily influenced with the spread of books and information as they could share their knowledge. More people began to read and write. • However the release of the newspaper became the first true mass communication medium.
Age of Electronic Mass Media • In modern times personal computers have become known as Multimedia PC’s because various forms of media, such as cameras, telephones, videos, compact disks and images can be integrated to enhance the accessibility and distribution of information. • Mass media is the term used to denote radio, newspapers, television and the Internet- media that can be used to reach the masses.
Radio - Guglielmo Marconi, an Italian that was familiar with the work of Samuel Morse, invented the first “wireless telegraph” and patented it in England in 1896. On 12 December 1901 he transmitted his first transatlantic message between Newfoundland in America and Poldu in England. Today Marconi is credited as the father of Radio. The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) was established on 1 August 1936. • Film - Two Frenchmen, Niepce and Daguerre invented film during the 19th century. By the early 20th century the movie camera and projector were available and motion pictures became an important source of entertainment. By 1905 cinemas were built in Europe and United States. In South Africa film can make an important contribution to the democratisation and development that needs to take place.
Television - Television means “to see at a distance”. It is transmission of images and sounds to distant screens by means of electrical or radio waves. John L. Baird showed the live television pictures in London in 1926. The first television service in South Africa was introduced on 5 January 1976. Today SABC channels broadcast in all 11 languages reaching an estimated 18 million people.
Information Age • Also known as the computer or digital age. • The rapid development of technology has provided greater access to information, in terms of both speed and information. • The explosion brought about by computer technology has led to the revision of many laws regulating access to and communication of information.
The Internet • The internet makes use of almost any kind of electronic transmission promoting the sharing of information, enhancing business transactions in terms of reducing time to send and access information and supporting global interaction between organisations and people. • The Internet can be regarded as a universal library, the worlds first viable commercial democracy. The Internet is not free and users have to register with a service provider and also pay for the time spent on the Internet. Some websites provide information free of charge while others rely on subscription fees.
E-mail - E-mail has become an essential part of communication within and between organisations. It has replaced letters, faxes and telephone calls in both business and personal lives. E-mail is fast, cheap and reliable. • The World Wide Web (WWW) - is a part of Internet in which information is presented. Tim Berners-Lee created it in 1989 at the CERN Particle Physics Laboratories in Switzerland. The WWW combines words, graphics, video and sound, adds colours and includes advertising and downloadable texts and programmes. It is possible to search for information on almost any topic using a key word or phrase. A collection of papers belonging to the same organisation is called a “web site”.
Newsgroups and chatrooms - newsgroups and chatrooms enable people who share the same interests from all over the world to communicate. A chatroom is an electronic gathering place for people with similar interests. • Teleconferencing - is a way to hold meetings with people who are in different distant locations and is a substitute for face-to-face communication. Videoconferencing and Audioconferencing use telephone and video technology. • Telecommuting - enables people to work at home three or four times a week. They are connected to the main office by a computer and is widespread in the United States.
Activity 1. The five major stages of the development of human communication are distinguished according to different stages: a) List them in historical order. b) Write down the medium or technological development that characterised each age. 2. Briefly describe the most important social outcome of the development of the age of electronic mass media. . 3. To which electronic mass media are you exposed daily and how has the use of these enriched your life?
The Functions of Communication • Ever wondered why we communicate??? • Think about your everyday activities… • When we communicate we have some purpose in mind.
Purposes of Communication • The most important purpose of communication is to satisfy a personal or social need. • Needs can be described as the requirements of life. • The various purposes of communication are..
Physical & Psychological needs : physical needs refer to the basic needs required to survive (food, water, shelter & air). Psychological needs refers to the need of socialising and communicating with others. • Relationships : the development and maintenance of relationships with others.
Sense of self : communication which allows us to gather an insight into ourselves and develop self-concept of who we are by the way people respond to us. • Information : society cannot function without information. Information is obtained and shared for various reasons.
Decision making : decisions can be made consciously or unconsciously. It can also be made together with others. • Persuasion : we often communicate to persuade others to think the way we do. Mass media is used extensively for persuasion.
Effects of Communication • The use of communication can have two effects. • Intentional effects : refers to the direct and predictable response expected from the communicated message. • Unintentional effects: refers to the indirect influences and unpredictable response from the communicated message.
Survival – most basic needs such as the physical wellbeing of a person. • Safety – feeling free and secure from danger with order in our lives. • Social – forming meaningful and close relationships with others. Satisfying the need to be accepted, loved, appreciated and belong to a group. • Esteem – the need to be respected by others and yourself. Allowing yourself to become successful by enhancing your self – image. • Self-actualisation – fulfilling your potential and achieving all that you can as a human being. This is the most difficult need.
According to Maslow’s theory, people are motivated to progress from the most basic needs ( to survive) to achieving the highest level of needs (to fulfill ones potential and to become all that one is capable of becoming). Maslow believed that motivation deals with conscious and unconscious drives and a primary level need has to be satisfied before the next level of needs can be satisfied. Maslow proposed that those people who have fulfilled their need for self-actualisationcan become aware of the fullest potential of humans at large.
Communication as a scientific discipline • In modern age there has been a demand for the scientific study of communication to determine whether effective communication is taking place at institutions. • Tools such as scientific study, theories, concepts, models and communication research is used to test our knowledge and assumptions of communication.
Communication competence • The success of your communication with your partner will depend on a number of factors, such as communication competence. You will, among other things, have to formulate the words carefully in order to express yourself clearly and concisely. You will have to understand and interpret nonverbal communication and also display the correct and most acceptable nonverbal behaviour. • Communication is a competence which one can learn. Communication skills can be improved by understanding 1) the communication process; 2) different communication categories; 3) elements of communication; 4) verbal and nonverbal communication and by 5) developing effective listening skills.
Defining Communication • There is no single approach to communication. • As years went along theorists developed, changed or modified communication theories. • Three definitions of communication will be discussed.
The first theory looks at communication as a linear (one-way) process. Communication can be defined as the ‘sending or receiving of messages’ or ‘the transmission of messages from one person to another’.
The second theory is more complex. Along with the transmission, it includes the interpretation and meaning of messages. Communication can be seen as a two-way process in which people exchange messages. Here communication can be defined as ‘a dynamic process of exchanging meaningful messages’.
The last theory also views communication as a dynamic process of exchanging messages but as a transaction in which the participants develop a relationship between them. It focuses on the quality of the relationship in which participants negotiate di, transfer and interpretation of messages. Communication becomes a reciprocal process. Communication is defined as ‘a transactional process of exchanging messages and negotiating meaning to establish and maintain relationships’.
Dimensions of Communication • Are we able to communicate without using words??? • Communication can take place in various dimensions such as verbal and nonverbal; oral and written communication; formal and informal communication; intentional and unintentional communication.
Verbal and nonverbal communication • Verbal communication – refers to spoken or written signs called words, which make up a language. • Nonverbal communication – refers to communication without spoken messages, it deals with body language such as gestures, touch, facial expressions and use of space. • Verbal and nonverbal communication work together to convey the meaning of a message.
Oral and written communication • Oral communication – refers to messages that are transmitted aloud. Daily we speak and listen to others. • Written communication – involves mainly words and is taking place as you read this slide. It also has a nonverbal dimension.
Formal and informal communication • Communication within this context depends largely on the situation we in. • Formal communication – is well structured, more attention is paid to the way in which we use verbal and nonverbal communication. We express ourselves clearly and avoid using of slang. A scene at work or an interview. • Informal communication – communicating with ease, less structured. A scene at a friend’s party.
