00484-- WHAT IS NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION? //kinesics//proxemics// chronemics

WHAT IS NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION?

Non-verbal communication refers to all communication that occurs without the use of words spoken or written. Non-verbal communication is concerned with body movements (kinesics), space (proxemics), chronemics (time) and vocal (paralinguistic) features.  It includes all unwritten and unspoken messages, both intentional and unintentional.  

Personal appearances, facial expressions, postures, gestures, eye contact, voice proximity, and touch are all non-verbal signals that influence the way in which a message is interpreted and understood.

1.KINESICS [body movements]

Kinesics is the study of the body's physical movements.  It is the way the body communicates without words, i.e., through the various movements of its parts.  






Personal appearance play an important role in communication because people see before they hear.  Appearance includes clothes, hair, accessories, cosmetics and so on.   

Posture comes under Kinesics.  Posture generally refers to the way we hold ourselves when we stand, sit or walk.  

1. Slumped posture = low spirit
2. Erect posture = high spirits, energy and confidence
3. Lean forward = open, honest, and interested
4. Lean backward = defensive or disinterested
5. Crossed arms = defensive and not ready to listen
6. Uncrossed arms = willingness to listen

Gesture is the movement made by hands, head, or face.  Skillful and appropriate gestures can add to the impact of verbal communication.  
Facial Expression  plays an important part in non-verbal communication.
The face is the most expressive part of our body.  A smile stands for friendliness, a frown for discontent, raised eyebrows for disbelief, tightened jaw muscles for antagonism, etc.


Eye contact  Eyes are considered to be the windows of the soul.  Eye contact is a direct and powerful form of non-verbal communication.  Eyes are also a rich source of feed back.  

2. Proxemics [study of physical space]

Proxemics is the study of physical space in interpersonal relations.  Space is related to behavioural norms.  The way people use space communicates a lot.  In a professional setting, space is used to signal power and status.  For instance, the head of a company has a larger office than junior employees. 

Like kinesics, proxemics also has cultural variations.  Edward T. Hall (1996) divides space into four distinct zones.


a) Intimate Zone starts with personal touch and extends just to 18 inches (one and half feet).    Members of the family, lovers, spouses, relatives, and parents fall in this zone.  The best example is the mother child relationship.


b) Personal Zone stretches from 18 inches (one and a half feet) to 4 feet.  Close friends, colleagues, peers, etc. fall in this zone.  

c) Social Zone Social events take place in the radius of 4 feet to 12 feet.  In this zone relationships are more formal and official.  People are more cautious in their movements.

d) Public Zone starts from 12 feet and may extend to 25 feet or to the range of eyesight and hearing.  Events that take place in this zone are formal.  Here the audience views what is happening as an impartial observer.  The degree of detachment is very high.  Public figures like the prime minister of a country, for example, have to maintain this distance for security reasons. 


3. Chronemics [use of time]

Chronemics is the study of how human beings communicate through their use of time.  In the professional world, time is a valuable resource.  If we are late for an appointment, people react negatively.  If early, we are considered either over eager or aggressive.  So one must be on time.  By valuing someone else's time, we communicate our professionalism or seriousness both subtly and explicitly.

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00483--Translation Theory/ Define/What is Translation Theory?

Translation Theory

Linguists have been concerned for centuries with the problems encountered when translating a message from one language into another.  The knowledge and skills required to translate both written and spoken texts do not differ markedly.  The so-called semiotic status of texts does vary, though, since writing texts are held in much higher regard than their spoken counterparts.  Consequently, fidelity to the author's original communicative intentions is more likely to be preserved in the case of written texts.

Linguistics theories of translation, influenced by transformational grammar, argue for a three-phase translation process.  First, the surface form of the source language message undergoes a back-transformation into a set of kernel structures.  The relatively simple kernel structures at this deep level of analysis are then translated into kernel structures in the target language (TL).  Finally, a forward-transformation converts the kernel structure into recognizable TL surface forms.

Linguistic theories of this kind have been criticised for neglecting many other factors, beyond the transliteration of words and structures, which contribute to the meaning of a message.  Other theories have emphasized that the overall effect of the words in a message are at least as important as the words themselves.  Additionally, consideration must be given to the potential conflict between the cultural assumptions of the message-producer and the intended recipients. 

[reference; KEY IDEAS IN HUMAN THOUGHT]

00482--WALKING DOWN THE HILL

WALKING DOWN THE HILL

Walking down the hill I hold your hand

We are silent, silent like silence itself

Are these black rocks our frozen words ?

Are these sighs our parting wishes?

Up the hill the steps were easy

Though hands not held, hearts bonded

Down the hill the steps are heavy

Hands held but our hearts apart

Once when we reach the valley 
and look back, will there still be 
the very hill of love and those steps

To be travelled on another day?

00481--The modes of communication

Describe the modes of communication

The modes of communication are:

1. Formal and Informal,
2. Oral and Written,
3. Internal and External, and, 
4. Verbal and Non-verbal Communication.

1.Formal and Informal

Communication can be both formal and informal.  It depends on one's relationship with the sender or receiver.  The first social meeting between two individuals tend to be very formal, but as they get familiar the communication becomes friendly and informal. When working directly for the goal of the organization, formal communication is used.  Both formal and informal communication modes are equally important.  Informal communication within any set-up is known as the grapevine referring to rumour.  Written communication can be either formal or informal.  

2.Oral and Written

Any communication can be divided into two equally important categories: oral and written.  

Oral forms	Written forms
Face-to-face conversations	Memos
Telephone conversations	Letters
Meetings	Emails
Seminars	Faxes
Conferences	Notices
Dictation	Circulars
Presentations	Newsletters
Group discussions	Reports
Interviews	Proposals
Video conferences	Research papers
	Bulletins
	Brochures
	Manuals
	In-house journals

  
THE ADVANTAGES OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION

The written mode is very convenient to send lengthy messages with a lot of information that cannot be shared orally.  In written communication, the response can be well prepared because the medium gives ample time to the receiver to analyse the message and its implications.

THE DISADVANTAGES OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
It takes longer to draft and convey a written reply, thus it will not work in places where time matters, e.g. , when discussing an urgent business deal.  In a negotiation-like interaction, which requires a lot of exchanges between two parties, written communication can take a long time.  Written communication cannot be supplemented with non-verbal gestures and postures, which are sometimes essential for a message to be properly interpreted.

3.Internal and External

Internal ; Communication within an organization is known as internal communication.  It usually is formal.  Here interactions take place through pre set formats, and are usually not ad hoc or unplanned.  

External  ;  All official, technical, or professional communication with people outside the organization is known as external communication.  This is mode is equally important as Internal communication.

4. Verbal and Non-verbal Communication

Verbal communication includes both oral and written communication.  

Non-verbal communication refers to all communication that occurs without the use of words spoken or written. Non-verbal communication is concerned with body movements (kinesics), space (proxemics),  and vocal (paralinguistic) features.  It includes all unwritten and unspoken messages, both intentional and unintentional.

                                                             END

00480--DAILY PHOTOS ONE

This guy was so meditative...I still don't know why he went down there.

This tree is there beside ONGC road

On my way to the university I got lucky...but they don't look so happy to see me

Nirma University campus

our housing colony got some new members

Nirma university campus

This guy has to pull a cart (of vegetables) every day twice...in between he spends time here

Nirma university campus

Nirma university lake

In front of the university office there is this pond with flowers....you can spend time here

from a super market ....Ganesha is the favourite god here 

Nirma university campus

00479--What are the features essential for effective or productive communication?

What are the features essential for effective or productive communication?

1.  Clarity and integrity of the message to be conveyed,

2.  One who communicates must know the main purpose and objective of the message he/she wants to achieve

3.  The language chosen should be known to both the parties,

4.  To convey the message properly an appropriate medium should be chosen, and, 

5.  There should be appropriate feedback to the message.

The Communication Process

Guidelines for effective communication

• Before sending a message, one should analyse and simplify the content of the message.  
• One should also ensure an appropriate atmosphere before delivering the message.  
• One should be very careful about the content as well as paralinguistic features such as tone, pitch, and voice.  
• One should emphasize verbal communication with the help of appropriate gestures and postures.  

                                                                             END

00478--What is LSRW? // communication skills

What is LSRW?

LSRW

 The four major formal communicative skills are known as LSRW.

L = listening

S = speaking

R = reading

W = writing

Listening

In relation to  communication listening refers to the ability to understand an oral message.  One is to understand what one hears.  Listening attentively as well as assimilating the information is very important for effective communication.  The way one listens reveals ones attitude.  Listener's response to the message (interest, empathy, boredom etc.) is communicated through the act of listening.  The power to comprehend the delivered information quickly is the need of the hour.  Effective listening skill is required for a professional as it is one of the basic and most important skills needed for activities such as interviews, group discussions, meetings etc.

Speaking

Which is the most frequently required skill in professional and social spheres? It is Effective Speaking.  Effective speaking is but the ability to express one's message effectively to the audience through spoken words.  The delivery of messages is possible through both face-to-face communication and electronic devices.  This skill is very much required for communicating in conferences, meetings, seminars, group discussions etc.

 Reading

The act of effective reading requires the skills of decoding and comprehending the written message.  Thus reading is a complex skill.  The reader has to develop different skills such as vocabulary, fast reading, and intensive reading.  Fast reading skills include; a) scanning, and, b)skimming.  Intensive reading includes; a) thorough reading, and, b) inferential skills.

Writing

When we write down a graphic element on a piece of paper , it becomes a written document.  This written communication is the second form of communication which is transmitted through words.  Effective writing skills are required to write documents such as reports, letters, memos and emails.  Why written communication is more important than oral communication?  Because it is a permanent record of one's transactions, and it can be referred to at any point of time.  Only practice can perfect the writing skill.  For effective writing, one must write, rewrite, and finally learn to edit.

                                                      END

00477--Polo forest photos, Gujarat

Wow!

Me

my colleagues; wonderful people

Had Keats seen this...

the boy

A proud member of the Polo forest

Art

If winter comes can spring be far behind

on the way to Polo forest

00476--WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF (HUMAN) LANGUAGE?

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF (HUMAN) LANGUAGE?

Language is not exact. It can lead to misunderstanding. Noam Chomsky and Ferdinand de Saussure have classified the language so that the true nature of the languge could be understood. They are:

1. Language is artificial,
2. Language is restricted,
3. Language is abstract,
4. Language is arbitrary,
5. Language is creative,
6. Language is redundant, and,
7. Language is recursive.

• Language is artificial because it is man made.
  It cannot exist in isolation. It is subject to change.
• Language is restricted because it is not capable of
  repressenting our thoughts fully. The limitation of
  language is often overcome by non-verbal cues.
• Language is abstract because it represents
  generalizedideas of things or thoughts.
• Language is arbitrary because the sign C A T
  has nothing in common with the animal cat,
  but still it means that.
• Language is creative because new words are
  being created through different processes.
  Also the existing ones change their meaning.
• Language is redundant because it has
  the capacity for repetition. When we say
  discuss about [discuss = talk about something]
  or order for [ order = instruction for] we use
  repetition. Sometimes repetition is needed
  for effective communication.
• Language is recursive because it enables
  the generation of any number of sentences
  using the same basic grammatic templates.
  END

00474--LITERARY TERMS/ UGC-NET, English Literature Objective Type Question Answers

Match column A with B

LITERARY TERM [A]	DEFINITION [B]
1 metaphor	A) a general term applied retrospectively to the wide range of experimental and AVANT-GRADE trends in the literature of the early 20th century, including SYMBOLISM, FUTURISM,EXPRESSIONISM, IMAGISM, VORTICISM, DADA, and SURREALISM, along with the innovations of unaffiliated writers.
2 hyperbole	B)a mode of writing that gives the impression of recording or 'reflecting' faithfully an actual way of life. The term refers, sometimes confusingly, both to a literary method based on detailed accuracy of description and to a more general attitude that rejects idealization, escapism, and other extravagant qualities of ROMANCE in favour of recognizing soberly the actual problems of life.
3 modernism	C)a highly conventional mode of writing that celebrates the innocent life of shepherds and shepherdesses in poems, plays, and prose ROMANCES. Pastoral literature describes the loves and sorrows of musical shepherds, usually in an idealized Golden Age of rustic innocence and idleness; paradoxically, it is an elaborately artificial cult of simplicity and virtuous frugality.
4 pathetic fallacy	D) an explicit comparison between two different things, actions, or feelings, using the words 'as' or 'like'
5 decorum	E)a sweeping but indispensable modern term applied to the profound shift in Western attitudes to art and human creativity that dominated much of European culture in the first half of the 19th century, and that has shaped most subsequent developments in literature—even those reacting against it.
6 realism	F) openness to different interpretations; or an instance in which some use of language may be understood in diverse ways.
7 Romanticism	G) the most important and widespread FIGURE OF SPEECH, in which one thing, idea, or action is referred to by a word or expression normally denoting another thing, idea, or action, so as to suggest some common quality shared by the two.
8 ambiguity	H)a standard of appropriateness by which certain styles, characters, forms, and actions in literary works are deemed suitable to one another within a hierarchical model of culture bound by class distinctions.
9 pastoral	I)exaggeration for the sake of emphasis in a FIGURE OF SPEECH not meant literally. An everyday example is the complaint 'I've been waiting here for ages.'
10 simile	J)the poetic convention whereby natural phenomena which cannot feel as humans do are described as if they could: thus rainclouds may 'weep', or flowers may be 'joyful' in sympathy with the poet's (or imagined speaker's) mood.

ANSWERS

1-G

2-I

3-A

4-J

5-H

6-B

7-E

8-F

9-C

10-D

00473--Sunitha Krishnan's Speech / TED TALK/ Transcription

Sunitha Krishnan's Speech / TED TALKS

I have been listening to TED TALKS for a while now, and I have come across a number of inspiring, courageous, jaw dropping, persuasive, ingenious, fascinating, beautiful, informative and funny talks.  I would wonder, laugh, ponder over along with the speakers.  But when Sunitha Krishnan spoke it was different.  It was a moving speech.  In her talk she asked the audience to do whatever they can to spread the story she told.  I wanted to do something.  I have a blog (this very blog) which is visited by at least 700 people every day.  So I thought it would be a good idea to write a post here on Sunitha Krishnan's speech, and to post the transcription of her speech.  I don't want to give any comment on her speech because it speaks for itself.  I have posted the full speech here.  A link to her speech [video] is given at the end of this post. Links to her blog and website are also given.  Be a part of her mission.

Now the speech...

I am talking to you about the worst form of human rights violation, the third largest organized crime, a 10 billion dollar industry.  I am talking to you about a modern day slavery. 

 Like to tell you the story of these three children; Pranitha, Shaheen and Anjali.  Pranitha's mother was a woman in prostitution.  A prostituted person.  She got infected with HIV.  And towards the end of her life when she was in the final stages of AIDS she could not prostitute.  So she sold four year old Pranitha to a broker.  By the time we got the information, we reached there, Pranitha was already raped by three men.  

Shaheen's background I don't even know.  We found her in a railway track raped by many, many men.  I do not know how many.  But the indications of that on her body was that her intestine was outside her body.  And when we took her to the hospital she needed thirty two stitches to put back her intestine to her body.  We still don't know who her parents are, who she is.  All that we know is that hundreds of men had used her brutally. 

Anjali's father, a drunkard, sold his child for pornography.  

You are seeing here images of 3 years, 4 year old and five year old children who have been trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation.  In this country and across the glob hundreds and thousands of children as young as three, as young as four are sold into sexual slavery.  But that is not the only purpose that human beings are sold for.  They are sold in the name of adoption.  They are sold in the name of organ trade.  They are sold in the name of forced labour, camel  jockeying...anything and everything.

I work on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation.  And I tell you stories from there.

My own journey to work with these children started as a teenager.  I was fifteen when I was gang raped by 8 men.  I don't remember the rape part of it so much as much as the anger part of it.   Yes, there were eight, one who defiled me, raped me, but that didn't go into my conscious.  I never felt like a victim then or now.  But what lingered from then to now, I'm 40 today, is this huge outrageous anger.  Two years I was ostracised, I was stigmatised, I was isolated... because I was a victim.  And that's what we do to all traffic survivors.  We as a civil society, we have PhDs in victimising a victim.  

Right from the age of fifteen when I started looking around me I started seeing hundreds and thousands of women and children who are left in sexual slavery like practices but have absolutely no respite, because we don't allow them to come in.

Where does their journey begin?  Most of them come from very option-less[?] families.  Not just poor.  You have even the middle class sometimes getting trafficked.  I had this IAS officer's daughter who was fourteen years old, studying in ninth standard, who was web chatting with one individual and  ran away from home because she wanted to become a heroine, who was trafficked.  I've hundreds and thousands of stories of children from well-to-do families who are getting trafficked.  

These people are deceived, forced...99.9 percent of them resists being inducted into prostitution. Some pay the price for it.  They are killed.  we don't even hear about them.  They are voiceless Anamikas.  Nameless people.  But the rest who succumb into it go through every day torture.  Because the men who come to them are not men who want to make you their girlfriends or want to make a family with you.  These are men who buy you for an hour...for a day...use you...throw you.     

Each of the girls that I have rescued, I have rescued more than three thousand two hundred girls, each of them tells me one story in common. One story about one man at least putting chilly powder in her vagina, one man taking a cigarette and burning her, one man whipping her. We are living among those men. There are brothers, fathers, uncles, cousins all around us. And we are silent about them. We think it is easy money. We think it is short cut. We think the person likes to do what she is doing. But the extra bonuses she gets are various infections, sexually transmitted infections, HIV AIDS,syphilis, gonorrhoea, you name it, substance abuse, drugs... everything under the sun.

And one day  she gives upon you and me.  Because we have no options for her.  And therefore she starts normalizing this exploitation.  She believes, yes, this is it.  This is what my destiny is about.  And this is normal to get raped by hundred men a day.  And it is abnormal to live in a shelter.  It is abnormal to get rehabilitated.  It is in that context that I work.  It is in that context that I rescue children.  I have rescued children as young as three years.  And I have rescued women as old as 40 years.

When I rescued them what were the biggest challenges I had?  Where do I begin?  Because I had lots of them who are already HIV infected.  One third of the people I rescue are HIV positive.  And therefore my challenge was to understand how can I get out the power from this pain.  And for me I was my greatest experience.  Understanding my own self, understanding my own pain, my own isolation...was my greatest teacher.  Because what we did with these girls is to understand their potential.  

You see a girl here who is trained as a welder.  She works for a very big company, a workshop in Hyderabad, making furniture.  she earns around 12,000 rupees.  She is an illiterate girl.  Trained, skilled as a welder.  Why welding and why not computers?  We felt that one of the things that these girls had is immense amount of courage.  They did not have any purdahs inside their body, hijabs  inside themselves.

They have crossed the barrier of it. 

And therefore they could fight in a male dominated world very easily...and not feel very shy about it.  We have trained girls as carpenters, as masons, as security guards, as cab drivers.  And each one of them is excelling in their chosen field...gaining confidence...restoring dignity...and building hopes in their own lives.  These girls are also working in big construction companies like "Ramky Constructions" as masons, full time masons.  

What has been my challenge?  My challenge has not been the traffickers who beat me up.  I have been beaten up more than fourteen times in my life.  I can't hear from my right ear.  I've lost a staff of mine who was murdered while on a rescue.  My biggest challenge is the civil society.  It's you and me.  My biggest challenge is your block to accept these victims as our own.  

A very supportive friend of mine, a well wisher of mine, used to give me every month 2,000 rupees for vegetables.  When her mother fell sick she says, 'Sunitha you have so much of contacts.  Can you get somebody in my house to work?  So that she can look after my mother.'  And there is a long pause.  And then she says, 'Not one of our girls.'   

It is very fashionable to talk about human trafficking in this fantastic AC hall.  It is very nice for discussion, discourse, making films and everything.  But it is not nice to bring them to our homes.  It is not nice to give them employment in our factories, our companies.  It's not nice for our children to study with their children.  There it ends.  That's my biggest challenge.  

If I am here today I am here not only as Sunitha Krishnan.  I am here as a voice of the victims, the survivors of the human trafficking.  They need your compassion.  They need your empathy.  They need, much more than anything, your acceptance. 

Many times when I talk to people I keep telling them one thing; Don't tell me hundred ways how you cannot respond to this problem.  Can you apply your mind for that one way that you can respond to the problem? 

And that's what I am here for.  Asking for your support.  Demanding your support.  Requesting your support.  Can you break your culture of silence?  Can you speak to at least two persons about this story?  Tell them the story.  Convince them to tell the story to another two persons.

I am not asking you all to become Mahathma Gandhis or Martin Luther Kings or Medha Patkars or something like that.  I am asking you in your limited world can you open your minds?  Can you open your hearts?  Can you just encompass these people too.  Because they are also a part of us.  They are also a part of this world.  

I am asking you for these children whose faces you see...they are no more.  They died of AIDS last year.  I am asking you to help them...accept as human beings...not as philanthropy... not as charity...but as human beings who deserve all our support.

I am asking you this...because no child, no human being deserves what these children have gone through.  Thank you. 

                                                       END OF THE SPEECH

Link to the speech of Sunitha Krishnan on TED TALK;

http://www.ted.com/talks/sunitha_krishnan_tedindia.html

Other links;
http://sunithakrishnan.blogspot.in/
http://www.prajwalaindia.com/home.html