Introduction to

human
communication
E N G L I S H C O M M U N I C AT I O N S K I L L S 1 A ( C S A 1 A A 1 )
FAC I L I TATO R : B A B AT U N D E KO I K I
bkoiki@uj.ac.za
 Quote:
“If you don’t sacrifice for what you
want, what you want becomes
the sacrifice.”

- UNKNOWN
 Quote:
“There are no limits to what you
can accomplish, except the limits
you place on your own thinking.”

- BRIAN TRACY
Outcomes

This chapter introduces you to the importance of communication in your everyday life. You
will also find out in this chapter that communication is the foundation on which you build your
personal, social, and professional life. In addition, you will also learn about communication
on a deeper level, including the terms, processes, and contexts of communication.

By the end of this part of the chapter, you should be able to:

1. State reasons why the study of communication is essential.

2. Define communication.

3. Name the components of communication.

Why is communication essential?

✓ Communication is core/central to your life.

✓ Effective communication can help you solve problems in your professional life and improve
relationships in your personal life.

✓ Communication is everywhere. You cannot avoid communication, and you will engage in
communication nearly every minute of every day of your life.

✓ Communication plays a major role in nearly every aspect of your life.

Advantages of studying communication

1. Studying communication can improve the way you see yourself.

✓ As we engage in thought and in interactions with significant other people we learn about
ourselves.

✓ Knowing how communication affects self-perception can lead to greater awareness and
appreciation of the self.

✓ As you learn how to communicate effectively in a variety of situations—from interpersonal

relationships to public speeches—your self-confidence will increase.

✓ Your success in interacting with other people in social situations and your achievements in
professional settings will lead to more positive feelings about yourself.
Advantages of studying communication

2. Studying communication can improve the way others see you.

3. Studying communication and engaging in effective communication behaviors can improve

your relationships with others.

4. Studying communication can teach you important life skills.

✓ Studying communication involves learning important skills that everyone will use at some
point in his or her life, such as critical thinking, problem solving, decision making, conflict
resolution, team building, media literacy, and public speaking.

5. Studying communication can help you feel confident in voicing and advocating your
opinions and create space to give voice to others.
Advantages of studying communication

6. Studying communication can help you succeed professionally.

✓ Employers want to hire people who are competent communicators. If fact, they often say they
want effective public communicators and people who can work in teams.
✓ Employers view your written and oral communication competencies and your ability to listen and
analyze messages as essential job skills.
✓ Communication skills are important not only to equip you for beginning your career but also to
help you navigate changes throughout the work life span.
✓ Skills employers seek include the following: listening, speaking, ability to work as a team, public
speaking and writing.
7. Studying communication can help you navigate an increasingly diverse world.
Defining Communication

✓ Communication comes from the Latin word communicare, which means “to make common”
or “to share.”

✓ Communication is the process of using messages to generate meaning.

✓ It is considered a process because it is an activity, an exchange, or a set of behaviors—not

an unchanging product.

✓ Messages include verbal and nonverbal symbols, signs, and behaviors.

✓ Meaning is the understanding of the message.

Components of communication

✓ The components of communication are people, messages, channels, feedback, codes, encoding
and decoding, noise, and situation.

➢ PEOPLE

▪ People are involved in the human communication process in two roles—as both the sources and
the receivers of messages.

▪ A source initiates a message, while a receiver is the intended target of the message.

➢ THE MESSAGE

▪ The message is the verbal and nonverbal form of the idea, thought, or feeling that one person
(the source) wishes to communicate to another person or a group of people (the receivers).
Components of communication

➢ THE MESSAGE

▪ This includes the symbols (words and phrases) you use to communicate your ideas, as well
as your facial expressions, bodily movements, gestures, physical contact, and tone of voice,
as well as other nonverbal codes.

➢ THE CHANNEL

▪ This is the means by which a message moves from the source to the receiver of the
message.

▪ The channel used can potentially influence the meaning assigned to the messages.
Class interactive session

➢ What channel did you use to ask your girl friend out as a guy?

➢ As a lady, what channels have guys used to ask you out?

➢ What are the implications of breaking up with a partner using text or even Twitter as
opposed to a face-to-face conversation?

➢ Age differences in social media.

Components of communication

➢ FEEDBACK

▪ This is the receiver’s verbal and nonverbal response to the source’s message.

▪ Ideally, you respond to another person’s messages by providing feedback, so that the
source knows the message was received as intended.

➢ CODE

▪ This is a systematic arrangement of symbols used to create meanings in the mind of

another person or persons.

▪ There are two types of code used in communication; verbal and nonverbal codes.
Components of communication

➢ CODE

▪ Verbal codes consist of symbols and their grammatical arrangement, such as languages.

▪ Nonverbal codes consist of all symbols that are not words, including bodily movements, the
use of space and time, clothing and other adornments, and sounds other than words.

➢ ENCODING AND DECODING

▪ Encoding is the process of translating an idea or a thought into a code.

▪ Decoding is the process of assigning meaning to that idea or thought.

 Components of communication

➢ NOISE
▪ This is any interference in the encoding and decoding processes that reduces the clarity of a
message.
▪ Forms of noise:
i. Physical. Examples include loud sounds; distracting sights.
ii. Mental, psychological, or semantic. Examples include daydreams about loved one, worry
about bills, pain from a tooth, etc.
▪ Noise can be anything that interferes with receiving, interpreting, or providing feedback
about a message.
 Components of communication

➢ SITUATION

▪ This is the location where communication takes place.

▪ Different type of situation in which people communicate:

i. Conversation between two people. This tends to be less formal.

ii. Public speech. This tends to be formal.

▪ The relationship between people could also affect the situation.

▪ The situation combines other elements of the communication process to influence the
overall tone of the interaction.
 Joke for the day:

Teacher: What is your father’s name?

Student: My father’s name is Laughing.
Teacher: What is your mother’s name?
Student: My mother’s name is Smiling.
Teacher: You must be kidding me.
Student: No, I am not. Kidding is my Brother’s name
Teacher: Then what is your own name?
Student: I am Joking…………………….