Communication literacy
Communication literacy has been identified as one
of the essential literacies in UNESCO’s definition of “the ability to communicate
well with others and to know social practices”
One of the most important challenges in
today’s world is communication. Humans need
“communication literacy” to communicate
effectively with themselves, with others, with
other living things and even with metaphysical
beings. Many studies point to the widespread
weakness of humans in communicating well with
themselves and others. Numerous studies have
shown the widespread weakness of humans
in communicating well with themselves and
others. Many people are not able to use the
simplest communication activities. Many wars,
ethnic, tribal, religious and even environmental
degradation are caused by a lack of the necessary
"communication literacy" across a wide range
of human societies.
Some associate communication literacy with
print media as equivalent to reading ability, and
some consider it to be related to visual media
and visual literacy. Terms of communication
such as media literacy, computer literacy or
reading literacy or similar are sometimes used
for communication literacy. The fact is that none
of these are equivalent to "communication
literacy", but merely constituent components.
"Communication literacy" includes all these
special abilities. Without the ability to read, one
cannot communicate with others through texts,
and without visual literacy, messages cannot
be understood. In fact, communication literacy
is more general than these special abilities.
"Communication" emphasizes the concept of
"any encoding and decoding of the message by
man." Among the most important features of
"communication" can be "the existence of the
audience, the process, the behavior, the symbol,
the context and the relativity". Communication
can be explored from various dimensions such
as "being one way or two way ", "mediating or
non-mediating", "being emotional, purposeful or
reflective", "being intrapersonal, interpersonal,
group, mass or extra" and "verbal, non-verbal,
para-verbal". Communication is made up of
elements such as "sender, message, channel,
receiver, feedback and noise.
“Communicology” is an academic field of
study that emphasizes "how to create and use
the message in the environment" and "the
study of communication phenomena". The
purpose of this field of study is to develop
knowledge and theories concerning "processes
and outcomes of communication". The range
of communication studies is broad and
includes areas such as "bio-communication,
speech, computer-mediated communication,
dialogue, intercultural communication,
intrapersonal communication, interpersonal
communication, mass communication,
journalism, communication models, media
studies, Non-verbal communication, propaganda,
reading, speech, semantics, semiotics, writing,
telecommunication, communication design, crisis
communication, public relations, international
relation, organizational communication, technical
communication, visual communication and the
like. ” .
All of the components mentioned refer to
some kind of 'skill, ability or literacy' in specific
areas for communication effectiveness. The
ability to efficiently encoding and decoding
information is called "communication skill".
Encoding is accomplished through the use of
"verbal, non-verbal, and para-verbal" cods.
Decoding skill is the ability to understand cods,
for example reading ability refers to the ability
to decode written texts. In any communication,
the sensory organs such as the eye and the
ear are stimulated by communication stimuli
such as sound or image and are transmitted to
the brain through the nerves of their message and processed and perceived there. Ultimately
perceiving the stored human memory, can be
used in future communication experiences. The
function of the senses depends on two dimensions
of "sense quality and its improvement ".
Those who have good physiological senses
will be more likely more successful to "focus
and concentration". The capacity of these
senses increases with teaching and learning.
Of course, those with any particular defect or
disability such as "color blind", "poor hearing",
"olfactory nerve palsy" and the like, they cannot
use the maximum capacity of these senses for
communication. However, many handicapped
persons with disabilities in one of the senses,
such as vision, make better use of other healthy
capacities such as hearing. In most cases, beautiful
or unusual images, sudden sounds, unexpected
smells and the like attract people's attention or
"selective attention". According to Broadbent’s
Filter Model, the brain is unable to process all the
information it receives simultaneously from the
senses. Therefore, the brain filters information
to control it and processes important parts of
it with the help of attention and focus . The
mindfulness is an effort with the five senses in
order to concentrate and maximize awareness
of all kinds of communication. In fact, the brain
selects, adjusts and interprets sensory perceptions
to understand their meaning .
Communication means providing knowledge,
information from one person to another. Literacy means ability to read or
write. So communication literacy means the ability of having good communication
skill. Communication may be verbal, oral ,body gesture, using symbols, colours,
pictures, audio or video materials etc.
Now a days having good communication skill is essential.
Different background students may have different communicational skill. While
communicating many factors may considerable such as language, age, cultural
background,, mother tongue etc.
Communication is essential factor to impart knowledge. Now a
days speaking, listening, understanding etc. Skill can be developed by using
various teaching learning method. Face to face class room, audio visual
materials, virtual class, online platform, you tube, google etc can support to
develop communication skill.
References:
Journal of Health Literacy / Volume 4, Issue 4, Winter 2020
