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
