Back to: UGC NET Paper 1 Unit 4
Communication: Meaning, Types and Characteristics of Communication UGC NET
Meaning of Communication:
1. John Adair: “Communication is essentially the ability of one person to make contact with another and make himself or herself understood.”
2. Murphy, Hildebrandt, Thomas: “Communication is a process of transmitting and receiving verbal and non-verbal messages. It is considered effective when it achieves the desired response or reaction from the receiver.”
3. Louis Allen: “Communication is a bridge of meaning. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding.”
4. William Newman and Charles Summer: “Communication is an exchange of ideas, facts, opinions or emotions of two or more persons.”
5. Keith Davis: “Communication is a process of passing information and understanding from one person to another.”
Types of Communication
The major types of communication are as follows:
1. Verbal Communication: It involves the use of a speech in the form of speaking to convey a message or information.
2. Non-Verbal Communication: It involves the use of gestures, facial expressions, and body language to exchange information.
3. Written Communication: It uses typing, printing symbols, numbers, letters, and writing as a means of exchanging information.
4. Visual Communication: It involves the use of art, photographs, sketches, graphs, charts, and drawings, to exchange the information.
Characteristics of Communication
1. Two-Way Process: Communication must involve at least two people because it is essentially an exchange of ideas.
2. Uses Different Methods: It uses oral and speech communication, written and graphical representations as sources of exchanging information.
3. Pervasive: It is pervasive in nature because it is used as a means of exchanging information all around the world.
4. Interpersonal: It is a process of sharing knowledge, data, and information from one individual to another or group of people.
5. Continuous: Communication never stops, it is a never-ending process.
In order to get the message across, one must be highly effective in communication skills.
