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Definitions of Communication and General Semantics
Allen Louis says: "Communication is the sum of all the things a person does when he wants to create an understanding in the mind of another. It involves a systematic and continuous process of telling, listening and understanding."' Groff Conklin says, "Effective communication depends not so much on what is said as why and how it is said."2 V.D. Singh defines communication as follows:
The process of conveying and receiving ideas and information. It takes place through a mutually shared and understood system of symbols, i.e. a language, and is embedded in a context and situation.
The message communicated is appropriate to the occasion, the addresseraddressee relationship and the subject of communication.
The act of communication follows linguistic rules, discourse rules, and social conventions. The process being interactive, the act of communication may go beyond simple receiving, and include understanding and conveying implications and overtones. In addition to spoken and written messages, communication may also include messages conveyed by gestures, signals, body language, and non-verbal sounds. Success of communication depends on its outcome, and not necessarily on the correctness of the language used.1
General Semantics is defined as:
a general theory of evaluation which takes into account the interrelations among: what is happening in ourselves and the world around us, how we get our information about those happenings, how we talk about such information, and how we behave: an up-to-date, scientifically-based applied epistemology.4
In General Semantics, "Communication may be regarded as a game in which the speaker and listener (writer and reader) struggle against the possibilities of confusion".5 As John. H. Bens says, "The English teacher's trade is communication and language is the tool." As a teacher of communicative English, one proposes to study the relationship between General Semantics and effective communication.
Aim
The purpose of this article is to discuss how one can transform oneself using the formulations of General Semantics and empower oneself to communicate clearly, effectively, and confidently and have a mature, broad outlook. Some of the strategies for effective communication discussed are awareness-be it is behavior awareness (consciousness of abstracting), verbal awareness, or sensory awareness, listening, extensional orientation, the General Semantics device called "dating," and the scientific attitude to use communication styles that are powerful...