LESSON 4: NATURE OF COMMUNICATION

NATURE OF COMMUNICATION

Communication by its nature implies connection with other human beings. Through communication, we are taught the nature of the world and through communication we, in turn, give shape to our worlds. To understand how we go about creating the process of communication, several important aspects need to be understood.

1. CULTURE:

Culture is important in communication. Culture refers to the way people do things, the value people hold and the norms they follow. As we live and grow, we pick up culture from our environment. The learning process is both conscious and subconscious which much of it not obvious thus we absorb our cultural norms rather than learn them.

We function within local, regional and national culture. We also participate in local cultures and subcultures. Even in a small town, one can find a mixture of cultures as people divide along social lines, religious lines, professional lines and economic lines.

The same way we grow accustomed to ways of living we grow accustomed to ways of communicating. We learn the norms of the societies. We learn how to function within the framework of complicated rules by being part of a culture. We learn how we are to address our parents, siblings, our elders, coworkers, superiors and so on. We learn how to behave in a variety of situations such as games, meetings, religious services, funeral, weddings, classes, dates and family gatherings.

The main point about our culture is that our lives and our communication grow out of an entire set of values, beliefs and behaviour we have learned. To communicate clearly about those beliefs, or any other topic, we must be aware as possible of our own culture and how it has shaped us, and we must be aware of the culture and assumptions of the people with whom we communicate.

2. LANGUAGE: OUR LINGUISTIC HERITAGE

Language is the basic way we communicate. We grow into our culture by observing and imitating those around us. We grow into language in much the same process, acquiring language skills by imitation, trial and error. For us to learn how to speak, we need contact with other language users. Human beings are born with the ability to make sounds and make them in reaction to their circumstances. For example, cries indicate discomfort, coos indicate comfort and then we move beyond sounds as a reaction to the present situation.

3. LANGUAGE IS A SYMBOL SYSTEM

Human beings according to the great philosopher, Kenneth Burke are the “symbol using animals”

A symbol is something that stands for something else by association or connotation. for example, the cross is a religions symbol, schools have mascots, jewelry serves symbolic purposes when people wear wedding rings, or class rings

In language, symbols take other forms. For example, sounds constitute the primary form of the symbols. Language begins with the association of sounds with object or concepts. Combinations of sounds come to stand for the object or idea to be discussed. Instead of referring to a flower we can say rose, or we can say Ocean to refer to a body of water.

From the association of sounds with objects and ideas, the next step if to link the object to a marking system, the alphabet.

Writing emerges and changes the shape of communication. The invention of the alphabets makes possible the creation of messages that can exist outside the direct presence of their creators. Messages are no longer passed orally from one person to the nest, they message can be set down and left for others to discover.