Topic : Communication Effectively In Spoken English In Selected Social

Contexts.

Introduction

Communication is a process of conveying a message from one person to another.

It involves the process of tranferring a massage between the sender and the receiver.

According to Carls Rogers (1952), communication happens when the receiver listens

with the understanding and able to interprete the information accurately. In fact,

communication involves two ways interaction between the people. Communication is

very important in our daily life. For instances, communication happens between the

buyers and the sellers , the children and the parents and the teacher with the pupils. It

happens almost all the time whether it is face to face or through other medium of

communication. Such as email and telephone. In addition to that, communication

involves verbal that is oral and non – verbal communication such gestures and facial

expression.

In the context of Malaysia , English is the second language. It is used as a medium

of intstruction in few subjects at the primary and secondary level. However , it is used as

a medium of communication and instruction in few universities such as International

Islamic University Of Malaysia (IIUM). In this globalization era, English becomes

importance especially when we deal with the study and work. This is because, English

language becomes a factor that be counted during the job interview plus the academic

qualification and working experience. There are two importance of speaking English.

First, it helps in building friendship. For example, we share thought, feeling,

needs and intentions with other people. In order to build a strong friendship, we must able

to communicate and exchange idea with other or else they will misunderstanding of the

information given by us. Secondly, it is important in knowledge acquisition. We can

acquire knowledge effectively if we have a strong communication skills. In a process of

learning, we will deal with a lot of questions and problem. In order to solve it, we have to

master how to express the feeling or opinion. The reason is, the language proficiency

helps to create a self confident.

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The education and Institute of American Hotel and motel has produced a short

film on ” Improving Communication Skills ” in 1991 . Based on the film, there are two

basic principles of effective speaking. It involves on organizing the message. It occurs

when the speaker or the sender organizes the message in the most simpler way.In

addition to that, after we deliver the message correctly and we must check the

information given. For example, as a teacher, we instruct the pupils to do the exercises of

the lesson. Therefore, we must use the simple language to give the instruction. After that,

we have to check their understanding of instruction. Secondly, it is active listening. There

are two types of listening that is active and passive. Passive listening happens when a

person listens to the message without focusing on the content of the message. For

example, a person who listens to the news while eating his breakfast. He might not

paying attention to the news. While, an active listening is the principle of effective

speaking and listening. It works when the listener is paying attention , understanding the

message and response to the message. For example, the listeners will response or answer

to the question correctly if they understand the message. As a result, the sender and the

receiver play an important roles in effective communication.

There are various form of oral communication which are intrapersonal

communication, interpersonal communication, small group communication, public

communication, mass communication, corporate communication and intercultural

communication . This paper will discuss on the communication effectively in spoken

english in selected social contexts. We will get the idea of various form of oral

communication.

Oral Communication

How Oral Communication Works

Communication is a process of transferring the message from one entity to

another. The entity refers to the sender and the receiver. The people, animals and devices

can be the sender and the receiver. There three models of communication which are

linear model, interactive model and transactional model. Linear model is one way

communication between the sender and receiver at the presence noise. The diagram

below shows the process of communication in linear model.

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Diagram 1: The Linear Model

Diagram 2 shows how interactive communication works. The interactive model is two

way communication. The sender conveys the message and the receiver receive it. In

addition to that, the receiver responses to the message. This model added feedback as

another element to make sure the two ways of communication happens.

Diagram 2: The Interactive Model

Meanwhile, the transactional model emphasizes on the role of the person in the

communication process. It is not merely the sender and the receiver but the sender-

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receiver. The process of communication happens in the most active way. The people

involved in the communication give message and responses to the message at the same

time. The transactional model can be seen in the diagram 3.

Diagram 3: The Transactional Model

In this paper work, we will focus on the transactional model of communication.

The most important communication aspect is oral communication. It gives the first

impression of ourself. Besides that, it is the factor to determine our ability to approach

and persuade the others. According to Camp and Satter White ( 2002 ) , oral

communication defined as ”information, thoughts and ideas are convey via a spoken

language”. It happens in various way such as face to face conversation, meetings, voice

mail message, teleconfering, oral presentation and public speaking. Oral communication

involves listening and speaking skills. The persons will act as both a speaker and a

listener. Therefore, the communication process will on going and continously. In fact,

effective oral communication happens in two ways process. For example, the sender

sends the message to the listener. While listening, the listener interpretes the message and

response to the sender . This communication will continue until they get the end result.

However , the communication could fail because of few interuption such as noise,

uncomfortable environment and so on . There are three main forms of oral

communication.

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Interpersonal communication.

Interpersonal communication is communication between several people .It

involves a person to another person such as best friend, family, member and so on. It

could happen face to face, teleconfering and email. In fact, the communication happens

due to the discussion of the personal issue. It includes the message sending process

between two or more individuals. The type of communication might differ based on the

level of interpersonal relationship. For example, the way of communication among the

family members differs compared to friends. In addition to that, there are few princples

that can be done to achieve the effective interpersonal communication. First, we can treat

other with respect. We should respect the others’ opinion and view. Second, we do not

interupt one another. At this level, we should not interupt one another in order to stay

focus with the message or information. The third principle is accept the mistake. It is

okay to make mistake and acknowledge that the mistake is a process of learning. By

practicing those principles, we can have an effective interpersonal communication.

Small Group Communication

Small group is best defined in term of the size, interaction and goals. The

communication takes place between five to ten people in a group. It is a task-based needs

of communication. There are two types of small group which are social group and work

group. The discussion or interaction happens between the members of the group in order

to achieve certain goal or objectives. For example, the university students have the group

discussion of their subjects or projects . Another example is the member of company will

have a meeting in order to solve the problem or to get a final decision. Through the

discussion, they will exchange the view, opinions and shares experiences. The purpose of

this communication is encourage an active participation by all group member, foster

awareness of various task in the group and make the members of the group comfortable

in a variety of roles in the group. There are three important factors involve in this form of

communication. First is the leadership. In fact, the leader plays a crucial role in a group

discussion. Therefore, the members of the group have to choose the trustworthy person to

be their leader. This is because; the members of the group will obey the respectful leader.

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Second is the roles of the members. Every member has the role and duty. Each person has

to cooperate and give idea or opinion in order to come to the final end. The third is the

goal itself. The goal and objective must be clearly stated. Each member of the group will

understand the important of achieving such goals. In fact, the communication will

become effective if the group practices the principle above.

Public Communication

It is also know as public speaking. It involves the communication between the

speaker and an audience. It can be defined as ”the process of speaking to a group of

people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the

listeners”. It also means the sending and receiving of messages on a large scale that

impacts groups of people. The speaker plays an important role in order to convey or

inform the message . Good speaker should be able to motivate and to change the emotion

of the listener. Therefore, the speaker has to do a research about the audience before

giving the speech. The audience might came from different social class that range from

their family background or economic background. For example, the speaker will give a

speech to the secondary school students . He or she has to use the language that can be

understood by students. The research of audience will help the communication process

happens effectively. There are few types of public communication that are mass media,

public speaking and public relations. In addition to that, the purpose of the public

communication differs based on the intention of the communication. For example, a

company might advertise a commercial advertisment to promote their product. The

intention of the communication is to inform the consumer about the product.

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Barries Of Communication

The process of communication happens daily.It involves verbal and non-verbal

communication.In addition to that ,it occurs in different situation.It might happens in the

house, in the school, at the cafe, at the bus station and so on.Therefore, there are berriers

to the process of communication. There are two factors affected the communication

process. First is external factor. External factor can be best defined as the factor from the

outside . The examples are the sound pollution and the technical problem. The noise is

the best example of the external factor. For example, the communication occurs at the bus

station. The communication process could fail if it distracts by the sound of the buses,

texis and so on. The situation also happens in the classroom. The teacher wants to

conduct a listening test. The pupils might not pay their attention due to the noise or

interuption. Another example of external factor is technical problem. The microphone,

the speaker and LCD are examples of the equipments that been used especially during the

speech or public speaking. If one of this equipment is not functioning, the communication

process might break down. The solution of this problem are comfortable and convenience

environment and fully – equipped equipment.

Second is internal factor. Internal factor is the factor happens from inside the

speaker or the receiver. For example, the pupils do not pay attention to the teachers

instruction. As a result, they tend to make mistake and misunderstanding of the

instruction. There is a solution to this problem. The speaker or the reciever has to pay the

attention and focus during the communication process. Another example is lack of

preparation. As a speaker, we have to do research on the oudience and the topic of the

speech. Research will help the communication process run smoothly

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Conclusion

In a nutshell, this paper discussed on the ”Communication Effectively In Spoken

English In Selected Social Contexts”. There are two factors involve in speaking and

listening which are the speaker and the listener. These two factors play a crucial role in

conveying the message. However, the interuption might happen during the

communication process. The examples of the interuption are sound pollution,

uncomfortable environment, technical problem and so on. In my point of view, there are

solutions to the difficulties. First, we must create a comfortable environment or well-

prepared before the communication process occurs . For example, if we want to conduct a

test in classroom, we have to ensure the pupils are keep quite and listen to our instruction.

In addition to that, a speech training is an important aspect. We have to rehearse before

the speech. As a result, the communication process occurs effectively.

The oral communication happens in according to the transactional model.The

speaker and the receiver act as the source and the receiver at the same time.Therefore,the

communication process will actively happen and remain alive.We cannot avoid ourselves

from take part in the communication process.This is because,this process occurs formal

and informal situation.It also works between the individuals or the other medium of

communication.

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APENDIKS

RUJUKAN / REFERENSI

Nama Pengarang, (tahun), Tajuk Buku, Penerbitan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interpersonal_communication 2 July 2011

Communication and Conflict: Principles of Effective Interpersonal Communication, from

http://www.communicationandconflict.com/interpersonal-communication.html retrieved

on 2 July 2011

Teamwork Training: Small Group Communication, from

http://tobyonline.co.uk/lecturenotes/resources/teamwork/teamtraining1.pdf retrieved on 2

July 2011

Small Group Communication, from

http://www.abacon.com/commstudies/groups/leader.html retrieved on 2 July 2011

The Basics: What is Communication? from

http://www.people-communicating.com/what-is-communication.html retrieved on 3 July

2011

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