TASK 4:
REFLECTION PAPER
Communication is one of the most important life skills that a person uses in his everyday
life. Having good communication skills can create more opportunities and can help in building
more connections, so I believe that it is necessary for a person to learn how to communicate
effectively. I would like to quote a statement from one of the readings stating, “Communication
will only ever be successful when both the person sending the message and the person receiving
it understand the key message being put across”. Based on the readings and videos, one could
communicate effectively if he knows how the communication process takes place and applies it.
From the first reading, I learned that communication process has seven steps or factors
such as the source, encoding, channel, decoding, receiver, feedback, and context. It is also stated
in the reading that knowing the process will help you to be aware of what is happening, and it
will help you in communicating the message loud and clear. I strongly agree with this concept
since for me communication requires awareness, attention, and a proper direction for it to go
smoothly. By being aware of the process of communication, one can prevent misunderstanding
or correct conflicts caused by various barriers during the communication process. I, myself, is
familiar with this situation where I sent a message to resolve a conflict however, instead of
minimizing the conflict, I made it bigger. So, upon analyzing the situation, I realized that I, as the
source, structured (encoded) my message in a confusing way therefore the receiver of the
message misunderstood it. I also found out that the phrase I used, which is normal for me, means
a lot different to him. In this kind of situation, knowing the process of communication is helpful
on figuring out where things went wrong and be able to fix it and improve it.
Aside from knowing the process, it is also important to determine the purpose of
communicating for a person to have a clear the direction on how to properly relay the message to
the receiver and to organize the idea. There are three purposes for communicating: to inform, to
persuade, and to entertain or goodwill (based on the video). I also learned that to communicate
effectively and to meet the purpose one should plan, organize, and prepare supporting material
based on his goals. I also learned that each purpose of communication is used for specific events,
and it can also be used together. For example, informative communication is often used in
meetings or presentation. However, one can used both informative and persuasive. Informative is
used to give details that will strengthen the persuasion of the presenter. I also learned that
persuasion is used not just for someone to agree with their opinion but also to make them act,
change their behavior or both.
Lastly, it is also important to know the context of the message. From the video given, it
states there that the time and place of the sender and receiver is an important factor in the
context. I learned that time when the messaged is sent and time when the messaged receive is
relevant to the context for various reason. I do believe that the passing of time had changed
meanings of words, used of phrases, perspective and views of the sender and the receiver. Like
for example, in the past a desirable situation for woman is to stay at home and rely to his
husband to work to support the households need, but in this generation, though some woman still
does that, a lot of them are pursuing their own career or starting their own business. In addition
to time, I also learned that place where the message is sent and where the message is received is
also a relevant factor and I believe it is due to the fact that different places mean different
language, different culture, and have different beliefs.
In conclusion, knowing the process of communication, how it works, the purpose of
communicating, and the different factors that affects the context is important to develop a good
communication skills.