Communication with Adult learners

Module Details

1. Subject Name Adult Education

2. Paper Name Teaching Techniques

3. Module Name Communication with Adult learners

4. Module Number 6.2

5. Principal Investigator Prof. Vandana Chakrabarti, Director, Lifelong Learning &

Extension, SNDT Women’s University, Mumbai

6. Paper Coordinator Dr. Asha Patil, Associate Professor, Department of Continuing &
Adult Education & Extension, SNDT Women’s University,
Mumbai

7. Content writer Mr. Tuhin Deb, Director, SRC, Chhattisgarh & Prof. Vandana
Chakrabarti, Director, Lifelong Learning & Extension, SNDT
Women’s University, Mumbai

8. Content Reviewer Dr. M.A. Gode, Ex-Chairperson, Maharashtra State Literacy

Mission Authority, Mumbai

Content Outline

 Introduction
 Verbal Communication
 Non-verbal communication
 Communicating with our eyes
 Communicating with Facial Expression
 Communicating with Gesture
 Appearance
 Posture and Gait
 Proximity and Touch
 Negative Listening Behaviours
 Positive Listening Skills

Module objectives

The objectives of this module are

1
 1. To Illustrate appropriate non-verbal communication
2. To identify negative listening behaviours
3. To Practice positive listening skills with adult learners

Introduction

Communicating in an appropriate manner is extremely important for holding the

attention of learners in a literacy programme. It is essential that the literacy
functionaries have communication skills that attract the learners and hold their attention
in literacy class.
Behaviour is manifested through individual's patterns of communication. Communication
refers to the reciprocal exchange of information, ideas, beliefs, feelings and attitudes
between individuals or among a group of person. It is a goal directed process in which
people use signs and symbols to convey a message. We communicate when we talk
(verbal) and also when we don't talk (non-verbal). We communicate when we move and
when we are still, we communicate within ourselves and with others. Communication is
the core of interpersonal relations. Unless we are in deep sleep, we are communicating.

Verbal Communication

Communication is not merely talking and listening. Verbal communication is only one
component of the communication between people. In this section you will learn about
some of the main elements that you may need to learn and use, in order to make your
work as a literacy functionary easier.

Non-verbal communication

Without using words, we communicate with a look, an expression, a gesture or a groan.

Appearance, posture, gait and voice tell us much more about people than they may tell
us in words. These elements of communication are non-verbal, mostly unconscious and
occur at instinctive levels. Yet, we can train ourselves to bring them to consciousness
and take control of these elements.

Communicating with eyes

Eyes are windows through which you see the person’s inside. Eyes express emotions
and attitudes. Eye contact is a common means of expressing love. ‘Gaze aversion’ is
interpreted as unwillingness to interact.

A strong gaze may indicate dominance or aggression and a person with little eye contact
is seen as submissive or shy. Eye movements indicate that we are attending to others.
Eyes are used to open and close communication channels between people while speaking
in turns.

A period of eye contract often starts an interaction during which you look at the person
who is talking to you. The person looks away while she is speaking, once in a while
checking whether you are looking (listening). After she has finished, this gaze is
returned to you to signify your turn to speak.

2
Learn to use this understanding. Skills are formed by repetitive use. To initiate control
of non-verbal behaviour, role-plays are useful. If you are a shy person, you can still
learn to get out of your shell by allowing eye contact to be made. Instead of looking into
yourself, learn to look into somebody else. The fear of the 'unknown other’ will melt as
communication channels open up.

Communicating with Facial Expression

When we look at people we are not only looking at their eyes. Facial expression is the
most important means of communicating non-verbally. By looking at a face we can say
whether the persons likes or dislikes, understands or not. Faces can communicate
interest and involvement. They can also express emotional status ranging from
happiness to despair. Feelings are often reflected on the face even if the person wishes
to disguise them. Face responds instantaneously and is the most effective feedback to
another person.

Facial expressions as actions may be difficult to control even in our own cases. But they
can be brought under our control with a bit of practice.

Acting is not merely for actors, doctors, nurses waiters - all of us act out a role. Role-
playing in small informal groups with sufficient feedback can improve our communication
skills.

Communicating with Gesture

Hand gestures are second in importance to facial expression in non-verbal

communication. Some people with hearing and speech disabilities use gestures,
successfully, in interpersonal communication. So the power of this element should not
be understated. We do use gestures normally to repeat, emphasize or even contradict
our verbal messages. You wave and also say good-bye: This is an example of a
repetition of both verbal and non-verbal components emphasize each other. If someone
saysshe is alright but throws her hands in despair, there is an element of contradiction
between the verbal and non-verbal components.

Appearance communicates

Appearances serve to differentiate between people; the old from the young, the formal
from the informal, doctor from the patient, the judge from the accused. Appearances
convey messages about social stature, personality attributes and even emotional states.

Personal appearances not only affect sour own self-image but also our behaviour and the
behaviour of the people around us. The style of dress, hair, cosmetics or jewelry
provides the basis for first and sometimes lasting impressions.

Appearances are often deceptive but we nevertheless depend on using them in our day-
today interactions with people. The change or modifications in your daily appearance
changes the behaviour of people towards you. This knowledge can be put to use easily.

Communicating with posture and Gait

3
The way a person sits stands and walks reflects her attitude towards herself and her
relationship to others. Posture can reveal warmth, harmony with others and the status
and power in relation to the other. People unconsciously adopt different postures to
those whom they like or dislike.

People with higher status are relaxed in the presence of juniors who maintain formal
postures. When we interact with people whom we like, we tend to lean forward. When
somebody whom we do not like interacts with us we tend to leaned back to distance
ourselves.

A person entering the Literacy centre walking slowly with hunched shoulders may be
thought of as timid, whereas a straight back and purposeful gait may convey confidence.
Sometimes we may be deceived by such inferences, but more often than not we are
proved right. Each individual has his own characteristic style of posture and gait which
reflects his personality and self-image.

Conscious adoption of postures and gaits which signal to other people positive messages
can be the first step that we need to take to change the behaviour or people around us.
This will slowly change your self-image and your personality as well, in due course of
time.

Communicating through Proximity and Touch

While we are dealing with a learner in theCentre or meeting people on the road or in the
village,the distance that we keep while interacting with people depends to a certain
extent on where we are. It also depends on who we are. People have personal spaces
around them, which may shrink and expand depending on situations. People
unconsciously adopt their positions in a social gathering. Proximity, which encroaches
this personal space, conveys intimacy.

You cannot be expected to be intimate with all the villagers. If you are within one and
half feet of a person, you are in intimate space. From one and half to four feet is
personal space. From 4 feet to about 12 feet, is social space and more than that is
public distance. If you learn to regulate your distance from people depending on
situations, you can produce better results.

Negative Listening Behaviours

How do you listen to people? This is extremely important in your communication. While
interacting with learners, do they feel listened to? Do they feel you are interested in
them? And attending to them? Let us look at some of the negative listening
behaviours.

1. Give advice even if you aren't asked for it - say something like "You should" or
"If I were you...."
Ex. Kunda, a learner, who reports late to literacy class which starts at 9 pm says
that she is late because her son and husband were not ready to have early dinner.
The volunteer teacher advises the learner by saying that “If I were you I would
have asked them to serve themselves.” This is unsolicited advice.
2. Interrupting the speaker while she or he is talking

4
 Kusum, who is excited about the literacy class which she has joined, informs the
volunteer teacher, “I was practicing writing skills at home under the guidance of
my_ _ _ _ “, before she completes her sentence, the teacher says, “There is no
need to take anyone’s help. Practice on your own”. This is rude and
disrespectful.The learner may feel dejected.
3. Trying to top the speaker's story with a better one of your own
Sarika-tai has been able to master the content of the first three chapters in a week
and proudly reports it to the class. Instead of encouraging Sarika-tai, the teacher
says, “That’s not a big deal. In the other class in this very village there is a women
older to you who has mastered four lessons in a week!” Now, this is certainly not
encouraging.
4. Putting the speaker down by criticizing herbehaviour, saying things like
"That's dumb" or "Why would you do that?"
An enthusiastic learner, NaseemBano, tells the class that in order to check if she
could add and subtract, she counted mangoes on one tree and then on another tree
and at the end got confused because she forgot how many mangoes she had
counted. Instead of giving constructive suggestions to NaseemBano, like “After
counting mangoes on one tree, write the number of mangoes on the ground with
the help of a stick so that you do not forget the number”, the volunteer teacher
just comments, "That's dumb", "Why would you do that?" The learner will certainly
feel discouraged with this response.
5. Changing the subject to something unrelated to what the speaker is
talking about
Jenifer shared her experience about how the arithmetic taught in the class is
helping them to update their Self Help Group’s accounts. After sharing this Jenifer
expects appreciation from others in the class and from the teacher. But instead of
responding to her, the teacher changes the topic and starts talking about
something else like the cleanliness in the literacy class. Jenifer would certainly feel
ignored.
6. Lean over and start whispering to someone else while the speaker is
talking
It is necessary to pay full attention to the learners while the class is on. For
instance, when the teacher has asked the student to read aloud a lesson and
instead of paying attention to this task, she starts whispering to someone else the
learner will feel unimportant and ignored.
7. Listen carefully at first, then begin to look bored; gaze around the room, sigh,
look at your watch, roll your eyes
Ex.The learners are discussing a picture in the primer. The picture depicts a gram
sabha, ie. a general body meeting of the entire electorate at the village level. Since
the learners have actually had such a meeting in the immediate past and some of
their issues were unresolved in that meeting, the learners have a long discussion.
One particular learner, Shanta-bai, starts narrating her issue. The teacher looks
bored in the midway and starts yawning and looking out of the door. This is
certainly discouraging
8. Disagree with the speaker; each time she says something, challenge it and
say what she thinks the learner should be doing
The learners have been asked to read aloud an application they have written to the
Bank Manager for sanctioning loan for some economic activity. Jodha writes to the
Manager of Beena Bank for a loan of Rs.10,000 for purchase of two goats. While
she reads her application, the teacher interrupts Jodha and disagrees with her on

5
 each point. Why do you prefer Beena Bank? Why not Nutan Bank instead? Why Rs.
10,000? Why don’t you ask for bullocks instead of goats? At the end of it, the
learner may not want to write the loan application at all.
9. Starting to read, draw or scribble
The teacher asks the learner to read aloud a lesson one by one and while they are
following her instructions, she herself engages in writing her administrative reports,
filling registers and other tasks. This certainly constitutes negative communication.

Positive Listening Skills

We just learnt negativelistening behaviours. It is not enough to avoid negative listening

behaviours. The learners must be actively listened to.
Let us liik at some of the positive listening skills.
1. Give the speaker your full attention. Stop doing other things, remove
distractions and turn to face the learner. The teacher may have to perform several
tasks other than teaching. While she is engaged with the learners, she should pay
full attention to them.
2. Lean towards the speaker
While communicating with the learner, use your body language appropriately.
Leaning towards the learner will indicate undivided attention to the learner and
make the learner feel important.
3. Make eye contact with the speaker, unless that would be rude in the learner’s
culture.
4. Nod or shake your head in response to the speaker's comments
When you shake your head in response to the speaker’s explanations, observations
and remarks, the speaker knows that the listener is attending and she feels
encouraged to communicate.
5. Make verbal responses that let the speaker know you are listening, such as
"ok-ok," "yes" or "go on".
6. Change your facial expression to reflect the appropriate emotion, such as
concern, excitement, fear and so on. The learners check for your approval or
disapproval, your encouragement etc. in your expression.
7. Check out the meaning of the speaker's message - say what you think she/he
is saying and ask if that is correct.
Shanta-bai was reading out the letter she wrote to her son living in Mumbai
informing him of her daughter’s marriage. She wrote that she is happy that the
marriage is fixed but worried about how she will deal with the responsibilities of
married life. The teacher asked her, ”Why are you worried? Is the girl too young to
be married? Is the daughter under-age?” Shanta-bai clarified that she is not under-
age, but being youngest child in the family she has never taken any responsibility.
Shantabai felt understood. It is important to check the meaning of the speaker's
message.
8. Try to figure out what the speaker is feeling and check to see if you are
correct.
Let us look at this example- Revati was unable to write the joint alphabets taught
in the class for the first time. She pushed the book and threw the pencil on the
floor. The teacher noticed it and said, “You are feeling hopeless because you are
unable to write joint alphabets.” Revati felt understood and said, “Yes”. Teacher
encouraged her saying, “You are trying it for the first time today. With some
practice you will surely be able to do it.”

6
 9. Do not interrupt unless time is an issue and you have to be somewhere else or do
something. In that case, apologize and ask to finish the conversation at another
time.
10.Ask questions to clarify what the speaker is saying. For example, "Are you
saying...?" or "I'm not sure I understand, could you tell me more about that?"
Sunitashared in the class that her daughter was not going to school since she was
required to help with house work. The volunteer teacher was disturbed that in spite
of discussion in the literacy class about importance of educating the girl-child,
daughters of learners were dropping out of school. “Do you mean that she has
dropped out of school?” Teacher asked. “‘No”, Sunita said “She was at home for
two days to help with guests.” Clarification was helpful.
11.Compliment the speaker with statements like "I really liked the way you handled
that" or "It sounds like you are really trying to deal with this"
Members of the Renuka Devi Self Help Group decided to do farming as a group
activity. They rented a farm of Anil-bhau. They planted groundnuts and reaped a
good harvest. They did everything from preparing the soil to for planting to selling
the produce. This gave them confidence to upscale their activity next year. They
were amply complemented by the volunteer teacher and the Prerak who said, "I
really liked the way you handled that!" The learner who was a member of Renuka
Devi Self Help Group who shared this matter in class was elated.
12.Reflect the speaker's message back; say something like "I think you are
saying......" or "It sounds like......".
Suman-bai was narrating to the learners about her own wedding which took place
when she was 14 years old. She described how scared she was about being scolded
for her mistakes, how she lost her health due to repeated pregnancies and her
other health problems that followed. The literacy class exposed her to many issues.
Now Suman-bai does not want to get her daughter married till she is at least 23
years old. The Teacher summarized her talk by saying that “You have understood
that your health problems were due to early marriage and pregnancies. You want
to protect your daughter from going through the same problems and hence you
have decided that you will marry her when she is at least 23 years old”. Suman-bai
said, “yes”.

Summary

Communicating in an appropriate manner is extremely important for holding the

attention of learners in a literacy programme.This module illustrates that communication
is not merely talking and listening.Without using words, we communicate with a look, an
expression, a gesture or a groan.As a Literacy functionary, while communicating with the
learner, negative listening behaviours have to be avoided. Positive listening skills have to
be practiced.