Communication Skills and

Academic Reporting
Part 2
Dr. Öğr. Üyesi İhsan İKİZER
[email protected]
• Coding and Decoding
• A code is a system of meanings that is accepted by all members of a
culture at any given time or location.
• It consists of a series of rules and agreements that determine how
and in which context a symbol is used.
• Coding is the meaning attributed to the message by the source.
• The thoughts of the source must be conveyed in a way that will be
clearly understood by the receiver.
• In basic terms, humans communicate through a process
of encoding and decoding. The encoder is the person who
develops and sends the message.

• Encoding is the process of turning thoughts into

communication. The encoder uses a ‘medium’ to send the
message — a phone call, email, text message, face-to-face
meeting, or other communication tool.
• The audience then ‘decodes’, or interprets, the message for
themselves.
• Decoding is the process of turning communication into
thoughts.
• For example, you may realize you’re hungry and encode the
following message to send to your roommate: “I’m hungry.
Do you want to get pizza?”
• As your roommate receives the message, he/she decodes
your communication and turn it back into thoughts to make
meaning.
• There are two types of codes in communication.
• The first one is the verbal codes, which consists of symbols and the
arrangement of these symbols (grammar rules).
• All languages are comprised of verbal codes, in other words, symbols
letters and words.

• Non-verbal codes, on the other hand, consist of body movements,

jests, mimics, dressing styles and expressions of fear, joy or surprise.

• In fact, all styles of expression that do not contain words are

considered non-verbal coding.
• Channel and Medium

• An important condition for the overall success of the communication

process is to ensure that the message that is coded by the sources is
actually transferred to the receiver.

• In other words, there is always a need for an available channel or a

tool for the receiver to get the message.
• A channel is a means of communication that connects a sender to a
receiver.

• It is a pathway through which information travels from one entity to

another.

• Channels can be either physical or digital, and they can be one-way or

two-way.

• Physical channels include things like mail, telephone, and face-to-face

meetings, while digital channels include email, social media, and
instant messaging.
• Tools, on the other hand, are physical structures that transform the
symbols to the message. Or to put in a technical way, tools transform
the message into signals.

• There are three different types of tools: the first one is presentational
tools that utilize the natural language of mimics, jests, words and
facial expressions.

• Such tools require the presence of both the source and the receiver
as the tool is an actual person. This requires being at the same place
at the same time.
• The second type is also a presentational tool from social and cultural
structures such as a book, movie, painting or a sculpture.

• These tools do not require two or more individuals in active

communication.
• Synchronization is not a must here.
• In other words, the presence of the receiver and the source at the
same place and time is not required.
• The last tools are the mechanical tools that use the channels invented
by engineers while transferring the first and second category tools
such as telephone, radio, television, internet.

• It converts messages into electricity, light, sound and radio waves.

• Feedback

• Feedback can be defined as the recipient's response to the message.

• As we have mentioned before, in simultaneous communication the
source and the receiver constantly exchange their roles.
• This naturally entails that feedback in such occasions takes place
simultaneously as the communication happens.
• Noise

• Noise can be described as a factor that presents an obstacle to the

various stages of the communication process such as the coding and
decoding of the message.
• Physical noise includes the sounds created around you
every day. It occurs externally and may distract you from
what you are trying to hear. For instance, someone
whispering in a classroom can disrupt a presentation
given by a teacher. Other examples of physical noise
include:
• A baby crying when they wake up from a nap.
• A concert taking place outside.
• Loud music playing in a passing car.
• Physiological Noise
• Physiological noise occurs when you encounter a barrier
to hearing. It could be a barrier you create, or it may be
an issue with another person speaking. It encompasses
physical problems such as being hard of hearing or not
being able to differentiate low noises. Other kinds of
physiological noise include:
• Talking too fast or too slow.
• Not pausing to breathe while speaking.
• Having trouble articulating a thought or mumbling.
• Psychological Noise
• Psychological noise refers to the noise in your head that
can prevent you from concentrating.

• It may include wandering thoughts, like switching

topics too quickly, making it difficult for the listener to
follow your narrative.

• People who think they know something already also

have psychological noise in their heads.
• Thinking about an unrelated topic during a
conversation.
• Semantic Noise
• Semantic noise occurs when people try to communicate
about something but lack the common background or
knowledge to share ideas effectively.

• They may have different primary languages or rely on a

separate dialect.

• Sometimes cross-cultural communications can result in

semantic noise and add to misunderstandings.
• Using jargon that another person misunderstands or
isn’t familiar with.
• Misinterpreting body language, such as eye contact or
voice tone.
• Speaking words that can have two different meanings.
• Forms of Communication

• Communication as a social relations system can be classified as the

communication with the individuals themselves, interpersonal
communication, group communication, organizational
communication and mass communication.
• Internal Communication
• The process of coding and decoding the meanings of messages
without expressing them is an individual's communication with
oneself.

• The communication of the individual with himself/herself is the

communication that the person establishes with himself.

• The terms "internal communication" and "self-communication" are

used for this process.
• Interpersonal communication is "the exchange of messages that
takes place between two or more individuals".

• As a general rule, any communication process that includes two or

more humans as source and receiver can be classified as
interpersonal communication.

• The parties, who engage in mutual communication produce, transmit

and analyze symbols.
• Group Communication
• Group communication is communication among three or more
people interacting to achieve a shared goal.

• Group communication is more intentional and formal than

interpersonal communication.
• ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION
• Broadly, the term organizational communication describes how a
firm’s information is shared internally and externally.
• Examples of internal organizational communication include:
• Newsletters
• All-staff or team-specific meetings
• Messaging platforms
• One-on-one meetings
• Casual in-office interactions, such as a watercooler chat
• Water cooler conversations are informal chats between
colleagues on non-work topics. They occur when employees take
a break at the water cooler or in the workplace kitchen.
• Examples of external organizational communication include:
• Press releases
• Social media posts
• Check-in calls with clients
• Meetings with stakeholders
• Mass Communication
• Mass Communication is termed as a medium of dispersing
information to a large group of people.
• It is a means of disseminating information beyond physical and
geographical restraints through various media.
• From folk songs, dances and theatres to radio, video games
and social media, Mass Communication has always been an
integral part of the human world.
• There are mainly four types of Mass Communication:
1.Print Media: Newspapers, Magazines, Books and Novels,
Comics, Journals and Publications
2.Broadcast Media: Films, Television, Radio
3.Outdoor and Transit Media: Billboards, boardings, posters,
banners
4.Digital Media/New Media: Social media, video platforms,
websites, mobile apps, e-books, podcasts, online radio
• Digital Media is one of the recent and popular types of Mass
Communication and has become an influential form of media in
the present time.
• Also referred to as new media, it combines all the attributes of
interactive communication as the internet provides quick and
easily accessible information in a variety of formats.
• It encompasses wide-ranging mediums such as emails,
podcasts, blogs, websites, videos, social media, amongst
others.
• Greta Thunberg is one of the world's best-known climate change
campaigners.
• Ms Thunberg was born in the Swedish capital Stockholm in 2003.

• In summer 2018, aged 15, Ms Thunberg held the first "School Strike
for Climate" outside the Swedish parliament.
• The protest was widely covered, and hundreds of thousands of young
people across the world joined her Fridays For Future strikes.
• Between 2019 and 2020, she took a year out of school to concentrate
on activism, and became famous for her impassioned speeches to
world leaders.