COMMUNICATIVE COMPETENCY-NEED OF THE HOUR
INTRODUCTION:
Everybody and everything around us keep on conveying something. This transmission by X can become a communication only when Y responds to it. This is parallel to the Radio and T.V. Stations joyful programmes and our reception of them only after switching on the Radio or Television in our homes. The sheer functioning-condition of the glowing and getting units single-handedly is not adequate. Communication does not take place even if one of the ends is ‘dead’ or fails to act in response. The units have to be synchronized in the same wave length.
For e.g., In a satellite or cell phone the transmitted messages are not received if they are not oriented in the right direction or if the location of the earth stations or the booster stations are beyond the wave-reaching distance. In the same way, what is conveyed by x to y becomes a message only when one of them reaches down and the other reaches out-like two persons stretching and shaking their hands simultaneously. In other words, Communication is very much like Kumar booking a box from Coimbatore, its transport by a lorry and Gopi receiving it in Chennai. The receipt of the box and its contents in good condition depends upon several factors. They are…
1. The contents should be good.
2. The box should be sturdy enough to bear the stress during loading, transmission and unloading.
3 Kumar should have packed the contents well.
4. The fleet operators should have handled it properly.
5. The box should reach the destination in time.
6. Gopi should wait for its arrival and collect it immediately.
In the same way, communication between individuals is achieved adequately only if most of the factors associated with it are adopted, at least, by the communicator.
Factors Facilitating communication:
•The speaker and the listener being face to face.
•Their being neighbors, acquaintances, friends or relatives.
•Good knowledge of the subject or topic of talk.
•The context, the place, purpose, time etc.
•Men are infinitely more powerful and resourceful than mechanical gadgets.
•Successful communication can take place even if the inviduals at one end are not capable of adapting and updating themselves.
•It is very much like changing the direction of the cell phone or increasing the potency of the booster units.
Communicative Competency – CC:
Communicative competency generally refers to the aptitude to make use of the words, language precisely, properly and athletically. All-time-greats like Shakespeare and Kambar could never have known us. The actors in the cinemas do not know who the viewers are. They cannot meet all those who read or view their productions. The newspaper publishers also address only a faceless audience. The case with most speakers is also the same. A president or a chief minister addressing a large gathering can see only those at vision’s distance. They cannot also know what each one among the audience need and expect.
Yet, some have become the most read authors / best sellers or crowd-pullers because of their communicative competency. Quite a few of then are sought and admired not only by their contemporaries, but also by future generations. They and their works become classics. What differentiates these masters and billions and billions of us who also speak and write is the level of competency in using a medium. The difference, however, is only in degree not in kind. Every one of us can increase the level of CC.
It is often considered fewer than three broad heads;
•Grammatical Competency
•Sociological Competency and
•Strategic Competency
Grammatical Competency (GC)
GC is largely associated with the written form of a language. It is the ability to use the words and the structures of a language accurately.
• Let us consider two sentences in Tamil and English
•(Subject) (Object) (Verb) - SOV
•Arjunan defeated Duriyodhanan
•(Subject) (Verb) (Object) - SVO
•He ran very fast
•(Subject) (Verb) (Adverb) - SVA
•(Subject) (Adverb) (Verb) - SAV
From the above sentences we come to know that
In both Tamil and English the ‘subject’ comes first.
In English the ‘verb’ follows the ‘subject’ immediately, in Tamil it comes only at the end.
Usually, the ‘object’ and ‘adverb’ succeed the verb in English. In Tamil they preced
Sociological Competency (So-C):
So-C is largely associated with the spoken form (our talk) of a language. It is the ability to interpret and produce sentences appropriately. We come to know when to use what type of sentence while interacting with a particular person, at a particular place and at a particular time.
•i) ”Pen” - to a friend.
If he were my chum, I wouldn’t even wait for him to give it. I myself pick it from his pocket.
•ii) “Can I have your pen” – to an acquaintance.
I am sure he would lend his pen. Yet I don’t pick it myself.
I wait for him to give it.
iii) “Would you please lend your pen for a minute” – to a stranger.
I am not sure whether he would offer it. I am prepared for a negative response also.
iv) “Get me the pen” – to an attendant.
I might just want him to bring the pen or express my displeasure that he had not been diligent to check whether my pen is on my working – table.
v) “Where is the pen”? – To my wife / son.
I don’t want to know the place where the pen is. I am perhaps angry that someone had taken it and forgotten to keep it back.
This difference in our use of words is not confined to a few situations, place, time or person.
It is observable in all our communications.
To take one more instance, let us suppose somebody sounds me (enquires) about the eligibility of one Mr. X before deciding to appoint him as one of the directors in a company.
I say “X is good” if I wish to recommend.
If I choose to be non-committal. I say “X is not bad”.
If the very mention of Mr. X reminds me of his extra ordinary
Qualities
I say “What a wonderful person!”.
If I have not at all come across the enquired – about person.
I give expression to my inability to give any opinion by just
asking.
“Mr.?”
Strategic Competency :( st.c)
•This covers both writing and speaking
•The problems can be at different ends-the medium, the communicator the communicatee , the context, the content etc
•St.c is not just an application skill, as using a theorem to solve a rider. It is an adoption-cum-adaptation skill.
•When a particular word or usage is not recallable we should not fumble or appear idiotic
For Instance, While talking about X, if I am not able to recall the word Astronaut I should be able to say immediately that Mr. X is a pilot who operates a space vehicle .st.c is not just code-switching, like the transliteration of English words in Tamil alphabet (E.g.. Bus- Table - or digital coding of sounds).Knowledge of definitions, Synonyms and one-word substitutes are of great help in such contexts.
The Greater need for CC
As the interacting time between individuals is getting reduced due to the increasing competition in every walk of life, our competency or in competency in communication can push us up or seal our fate.
•Even a minor scantiness or inadequacy in our CC can, at times, result in the waste of several years’ efforts. It is very much like a little snag causing the delay or failure of a space mission; the space-craft may even burn out or the entire scheme may have to be abandoned.
•Life-pattern has, today, changed so much, that even conversation which plays an important role in attaining CC has got reduced and almost stopped-even among the members of the same family.
Competency in Listening
•Orienting our hearing is listening.
•Men are much more than the other creatures in their response to and use of sounds. They are not cats or parrots.
•When a sound gets produced, it is heard by all. But men hear as well as “listen” only if they choose to.
•We are not also cassettes which record something in a sound-proof glass-chamber.
•Nor, do we obey the orders of the operator who copies some song or speech.
•Our hearing – listening – recording patterns are very individualistic and peculiar.
•Hearing is involuntary; listening is a voluntary activity. Listening to more and different persons’ talk is the best foundation for developing the other linguistic skills.
•Competency is listening is very necessary for learners in schools and colleges, reporters, subordinates taking orders from their superiors, especially over phone.
•To some, like lawyers, judges, psychiatrists and consultants “Listening” is the most important of all the language skills.
Situations demanding C in Listening
•Radio-Broadcasts; News; discussions on topical issues; lesson-lectures for correspondence course students; views on important events; short dramas; announcements; messages; live descriptions of festivities; running commentaries of popular games.
•Railway station / Bus stand Announcements.
•Mobile Announcing- govt; police; traders; meet-organizers.
•Speeches in political / religious Rallies.
•Special lectures / addresses – by experts / VIPs.
•Oral transmission of religious scriptures and literature – Vedas, hymns.
•Telephone messages.
•Oral instructions before exams.
•Information offered at Reception counters.
Competency in speaking
Only those speakers who are conscious of the non-speaking listener and attempt to offer the information which the latter may want or appear to want can become competent and popular speakers. A competent speaker makes everyone around feel at home. Even those opposed to him or his views turn to be willing listeners. In addition to the linguistic materials (words) at his command a good speaker makes the optimum use of the nonverbal factors-also-tonal changes, Physical postures and facial expressions-to achieve what he had attempted to.
Situations Demanding C in Speaking
•Traveling in a Bus, Train, etc.
•Enquiries about seat reservations, market trend etc.
•Conversing with peers.
•Seeking Clarifications from teachers.
•Meeting government officials.
•In-person reporting to the superiors.
•Subject confined paper presentation.
•Addressing a public gathering
•Introducing a Chief – guest.
•Making even the strangers feel at home.
•Creating a market for something new.
•Inviting V.I. Ps in person.
•Stating our physical condition (ailment) to a doctor.
•Briefing our case to a lawyer.
•Presenting our arguments before a judge.
•Describing our findings in a seminar.
•Introducing the elite to the chief – guest.
•Welcome address.
•Propose Thanks.
Competency in Reading
Competency in Reading is the ability to go through a printed/written text mentally or vocally in such a way that the content is understood by the reader he or the others,
For e.g.. “Beware of dogs” can mean several of the following – one or all at the same time.
•It informs the presence of dogs on the other side of the gate.
•It indicates that the dogs within are trained to pounce on strangers.
•It warns the people outside not to enter without calling the people inside.
•It helps us know the mind of the inmates, their desire to protect their property, their doubts about security, their view about the general society etc.
The words in the above notice are only three. But they can have 3, 13, 30 or even
number of significance.
Steps in the ladder of Reading:
From guided reading to independent reading;
•From oral reading to silent reading;
•From slow reading to reading at an increasingly faster pace;
•From reading only descriptive or narrative books to reading information-packed works;
•From reading only the prescribed books to reading other works on the same subject;
•From a narrow reading in only one subject to a wider reading in increasing number of fields;
•From the reading of suggested books to the voluntary reading of many more;
•From fun-reading to functional reading for a purpose.
•From reading the pictorially illustrated books to reading the non-illustrated ones;
•From reading books on identifiable “concretes” to the reading of books on abstract “vague”
•From reading the available to reading the selected books;
•From cover to cover reading to selective reading.
•From reading to know the obvious to get at what is left untold;
•From simple reading to reflective reading;
•From reflective reading to critical reading;
•From critical reading to evaluative reading etc;
The facts below prove that most of us are yet to achieve sufficient proficiency in reading
•Borrowing books from the libraries is almost nil.
•Bookshops store more “guides” than original works.
•Book-buying has almost ceased.
•What little is bought is also mostly of the recreational variety, suitable only for young children who are to be gradually weaned from viewing mere visuals only.
•The number of books prescribed for the language courses have gone down.
•The study of books under the non-detailed section is also being given up.
•Teachers don’t fight shy of taking the “guides” to classrooms or make them the basis for the notes they give.
•Most students in colleges do not buy or read even the prescribed text books.
Situations demanding C in Reading
1. Newspapers
2. Magazines
3. Reference Books
4. Legends in picnic spots; pilgrim centers.
5. Announcements in institution’s notice-boards.
6. Unedited copies of speeches
7. “Literature” about a particular drug.
8. Do’s and don’ts in the use of a gadget-cooker, camera etc.
9. Annual reports of companies / firms.
10. Plus-minus points of shares in deposit seeking forms.
11. Govt orders; court orders; regd. Notices; property documents.
12. Contract agreements.
Competency in Writing
•Competency in writing is the ability to write sentences grammatically, appropriately, differently, effectively etc., It is often believed that the need for writing has decreased with the coming of computers. The truth, however, is the reverse of it; the need to write has only increased.
Writing skills- Step by step
•“Develop the hints”- question guides us to build on a foundation.
•“For or against” –question give us freedom to take any side.
•“Discuss” – question develops our potential to consider the merits/ demerits of something.
•“Substantiate” – question helps to confine ourselves to one side, even if we do not know it.
•“précis- writing”, summarizing-question shows that way to condense and edit.
•In the beginning the skill is gained only with the guidance of a teacher . But our dependence should decrease and stop at the earliest. we should learn to prune our writing by ourselves.
•This is very crucial because more and more are trying to be popular mainly through writing in mass media-papers and journals.
Situations demanding competency in Writing
•Booking ticket in bus, train or plane.
•Application for a course or job.
•Preparing bio-data.
•Request for something / facilities.
•Complaints about difficulties faced.
•Writing to unknown officials, persons ( govt. traders etc).
•Advertisements for a product.
•Reporting for a media.
•Publish to a faceless audience.
Other Skills
•Note-making skill is the ability to comprehend the “listened to” or “the read” consider their relative significance and jot down the important points briefly – all simultaneously.
•Reproducing / reporting/ transmitting skill is the ability to write the noted-down points in sentence- form in an interesting, convincing and comprehensible way.
•Descriptive skill is the ability to state all the features of X to provide as complete a picture of it as possible.
•Narrative skill is the ability to recount generally in a chronological order the events that had occurred over a long period.
•Paraphrasing skill is the ability to reformulate reword or reshape the structure usually of a written work.
•Metaphrasing skill is the ability to rewrite in a different form / genre.
•Formulating skill is the ability to concretize – give a shape to something which is subjective or abstract
•Organizing skill is the ability to bring into one fold the limitless information which has to be cognized the learner.
•Creative skill is the ability to evolve something from one’s own thought, perception or imagination.
•Composition skill is a combination of writing, formulation and creative skills.
•Comprehension skill is the ability to grass something quickly on one’s own.
•Discrimination skill is the ability to distinguish and choose X as the most valuable amongst a lot.
•Interpretation skill is the ability to understand and elucidate what is hidden , obscure or difficult to most.
•Presentation is the skill to introduce something in an easy and comprehensible manner.
•Translation furthers the ability of L1 speaker to converse or correspond with L2 speaker.
Teaching and learning CC
Teaching and Learning communicative competency is a recovery operation and a salvaging exercise. We are not imparting or gaining something new. We only rejuvenate to a dormant potential.
The innate CC of man, particularly of children and the young which appears almost lost due to the interfering conditions at home, schools, colleges and out in the streets has to be given only a new life.
Our CC is not dead. It is only in hibernation. But this hibernation duration has been too long .Yet all is not lost.
The efforts of the teacher and the student will have to be combined and complementary.
Conclusion
A teacher is, in the beginning of his career, only a more-information-stored-disc. His learning gets confirmed only when he starts teaching. The teacher realizes that teaching should ensure that the students grasp what he wants them to know. In other words, teaching is a communication at its best. The difference between a great teacher and a not-so-good teacher is basically a difference in their competency to communicate. The greater the CC of the teacher, the greater is his contribution to the rise of a better and better feature generation. Communicative competency take part as an essential role in underneath civilization and in making us citizens of the world. That alone can make our (humanity’s) dream, of establishing a non-visa-requiring-world, a reality.
About the Author
Dr.R.SRINIVASAN is a Post graduate in commerce and Management. He received his doctoral degree from Alagappa University in 1997. He is now Working as an ASSOCIATE PROFESSORin Post graduate and Research Department of Corporate Secretaryship at Bharathidasan Government College for Women (Autonomous), Pondicherry University, Puducherry.He currently teaches Accounting ,financial management and Research Methodology Subjects. Before Joining BGCW, he was teaching in SNR College, Coimbatore, Sindhi college, Chennai& T.S.Narayanasamy College, Chennai for eight years. He was with the industry for a short term at Salzar Electronics Pvt. Ltd, Coimbatore. He has about 20 years of teaching experience and having research experience of 15 years. His interests are in Accounting and finance, Capital Market, Quantitative Methods. He underwent the Faculty Development Programme at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad during 2000-01. He has presented 20 papers in national and international conferences and has published twenty papers in the areas of Finance and Human resource Management in National Journals. Co-authored a book titled, ‘Investors Protection, published by Raj Publications, New Delhi He has delivered lectures in contemporary finance topics at Pondicherry University. He is involved in consultancy projects for Godrej Saralee, Chennai in the areas of Statistical Applications. He has supervised a number of research projects in the area of corporate finance and Human Resource Management. He is the Board of examiner in corporate Secretaryship and Management for the past two decades.
.
The complete idiots guide to h1n1
[simpleaffiliate source="amazon" results="10"]The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Government Jobs[/simpleaffiliate]
[simpleaffiliate source="cj" results="10"]The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Government Jobs[/simpleaffiliate]
[simpleaffiliate source="clickbank" results="10"]The Complete Idiot's Guide to Getting Government Jobs[/simpleaffiliate]
No comments:
Post a Comment