Technical Communication:

Technical communication is a broad field and includes any form of communication that exhibits
one or more of the following characteristics:
o Communicating about technical or specialized topics, such as computer applications,
medical procedures, or environmental regulations.
o Communicating by using technology, such as web pages, help files, or social media sites.
o Providing instructions about how to do something, regardless of how technical the task is
or even if technology is used to create or distribute that communication.
Characteristics of Technical Communication
According to Markel, technical communication has seven major characteristics, and these
are shown below:
o Addresses particular readers
o Helps readers solve problems
o Reflects an organizations goals and culture
o Is produced collaboratively
o Uses design to increase readability
o Consists of words or graphics or both
o Is produced using high tech tools
Objectives of Technical Communication:
Most technical communication addresses one of three main purposes:
o To inform.
o To instruct.
o To persuade.
Distinction Between General & Technical Communication:

Language as a tool of Communication:

Languages are nothing but the communication of one soul to another through written symbols
and sounds. The effective communication is made possible with the help of language.Language
employs a combination of words to communicate ideas in a meaningful way.By changing the
word order in a sentence ,you can change its meaning, and even make it meaningless. Language
is created by people. It does not exist in isolation or outside the minds of people. It is created by
people as they need it. Humans attach meaning to words as they need to and modify these
meanings according to changing needs.

Dimensions of Communication
Dimensions of effective communication include:

1. Content
2. Timing
3. Presentation Style and Structure
4. Selection of Audience / Recipients
5. Choice of Communication Medium

READING AND COMPREHENSION

Importance of Reading Skills

Better reading skills provide greater understanding, analyzing and learning of what is read.
There are several benefits of developing reading skills.

o Develops ability to comprehend concepts and ideas

o Develops critical thinking: The information can be critically analyzed for its quality.
o Improves communication skills: Better reading skills leads to better understanding of
subjects and topics. This leads to better writing, speaking and presentation skills.
o Broadens interests and opportunities: Better reading skills gives exposure to many
sources of information. This helps in identifying interests and gives opportunity to
pursue it.
o Helps in mental development
o Develops vocabulary and Language skills
o Enhances knowledge

Strategies for Developing Reading Skills

Several strategies are adopted to develop reading skills. These strategies help in quick and
effective reading of text content.
 1. Preview: Title, headings, section-wise captions can be reviewed to get a general idea of
the content and structure of a reading material. This helps in getting a first overview of
the reading material, which leads to faster grasping of the content.

2. Predict: Prior knowledge of a subject helps in predicting the content structure and main
idea conveyed in the material. Predictions can be based on clues appearing in a text like
pictures, images, illustrations, etc. Prior knowledge is combined with these clues and the
meaning is constructed.

3. Quick Scan: A quick scan of the text before the actual reading can give the general idea
of the text, and confirm the earlier made predictions.
Scanning is often used before reading to:
o evaluate the purpose of text;
o determine the difficulty of text material;
o review its structure;
o activate prior knowledge associated with text;
o filter the most relevant parts of the text.

4. Guess: Context clues can be used to determine the meaning of difficult, new or
unknown meaning. Often meaning of unknown words or text is guessed from the words
accompanying it.

5. Paraphrase: At each section end, rephrasing the read text in simpler way enables better
understanding of the reading material. Difficult sections of text can be rephrased to
bring better understanding.

Speed Reading for Better Reading Skills

Speed reading includes reading methods that increases rate of reading and grasping of the text
content. Following reading methods helps in developing reading skills:
 1. Quit subvocalizing: Reading words aloud in mind is called subvocalizing. It is a general
and natural habit to read aloud in mind. But it is evident that subvocalizing slows down
the reading speed.
To break this habit, humming or counting “1, 2, 3, 4” while reading can be tried.
Practicing these techniques can greatly reduce sub vocalizing.

2. Read in blocks: Reading text word-by-word is the most traditional way reading a text.
However, this method is known to reduce reading speed. To read quickly, words can be
grouped at a glance and the meaning of the sentence can be interpreted. Practice
viewing the words in blocks and not letter-by-letter or word-by-word.

3. Use fingers to point to text while reading: Scanning though text using fingers helps in
focusing and maintaining consistent eye motion. Constant eye motion helps in
increasing the speed of reading.

Comprehension Reading

Comprehension Reading is defined as the act of understanding a text.

It is the ability to understand the meaning of a written passage of text. The understanding
comes from the interaction between the words and associated information outside the text.
Comprehension reading requires combination of effective reading skills such as focus, memory,
processing speed, and visualization.

However, there are seven strategies that can be used to develop one’s comprehension reading
skills.

Seven Strategies of Comprehension Reading

1. Make Connections: Prior knowledge or experiences can be used to relate a text to self or
other events/facts. Earlier read books or a piece of information is also helpful in
constructing meaning of a text. Good readers make connection with the read text to self
–knowledge for better understanding. While reading, the readers are reminded of
similar things that they have read previously.
Example: If one comes across reading about a village set up, his/her prior knowledge
will work to create interpretations about lifestyle of a village, and people of village.
2. Generate Questions: Questioning the text before, during and after reading helps to
maintain a consistent focus. And various components of the text are addressed with help
of these basic questions. A question-answer relationship helps in grasping the text
quickly. Self-questioning helps readers to seek answers while reading.

3. Draw Inference: Prior subject/topic knowledge and clues from text helps in predicting
conclusions and creating new interpretations of the text.

4. Determine Importance: A text always contains important key information and some
supporting information. The text should be read keeping in mind the idea to identify the
important information. The relevance of information should be determined while
reading the text.

5. Visualize: Building mental pictures of various components of text like characters, plot,
events and actions helps in quick understanding. The practice of creating mental images
while reading helps in constructing meaning of text.

6. Restore Understanding: Paraphrasing the difficult portions of a text gives a better

understanding. The meaning of the text must be monitored across sections and adjust it
accordingly when there is a breakdown.

7. Synthesize Information: Synthesizing is to gather new information and combine it with

read text to create new insights/ideas. New concepts are often generated on reviewing
the information.