TECHNICAL ENGLISH 1

COURSE CODE: GNS 102/OTM 112A

COURSE OUTLINE

I. Communication as a concept

II. Purposes of Communication

III. Code Mixing, Code Switching and Dissonance

IV. Oral Presentation

V. Speech Organs and their functions

VI. Phonemes of English (Vowel and Consonant sounds)

VII. Principles of Effective speaking

VIII. Pre-speech preparation

IX. Written Presentation

X. Rules of Comprehension

GNS102/OTM 112A

Definitions of Communication by Various Writers

All human beings engage in Communication and it is through Communication that interaction is made possible amongst individuals in a society. Indeed, it is central to life. It cuts across business, personal and inter-personal relationship. It is important and useful in personal, interpersonal, social, academic activities. Communication is not just mere words or talking. It is more than this. Proper communication comprises achieving a fully mutual reciprocal understanding between two or more people. It is also that kind of communication that occurs in the mind of an individual.

The universal nature of Communication accorded it great importance to the extent that many writers have tried to give the term “Communication” numerous definition. However, it must be noted that the word has its origin in both Latin and French. The Latin called it “communicare” meaning sharing while the French tagged it “Communis” meaning common. Thus, communication is sharing of things in common.

Some of the definitions given by various writers are found below.

According to Chappell and Reed (1974:7) “Communication is any means by which a thought is transferred from one person to another”

Raymond Williams (pg. 62:9) defines communication as “the passing of ideas, information and attitudes from person to person”. Communication is placed in a cultural context.

FB Tyler (1960-10) believes that human communication is influenced by the sum total in which human beings live. It includes knowledge, beliefs, acts, morals, custom, and other capabilities acquired by man on a member of society.

Eyre (1979:1) Communication is not just giving of information, rather it is the giving of understandable information. She defines it as “the transferring of a message to another party so that it can be understood and acted upon”.

Peter little (1965:4) considers Communication as “the process by which information is passed between individuals or organisations by means of agreed symbols

According to Hamilton (1992)- It is a process of people sharing thoughts, ideas, and feelings with each other in commonly understanding way”.

Pester (2002-6), opines that communication is “a simultaneous sharing and creating of meaning through symbolic action.

Rita and Phillis Udal (1979:15) states that Communication is the process by which one person (in a group) bares and imparts information to another person (or group) so that both people (or group) usually understand one another.

Wood (2006) maintains that Communication is a systematic processing with which people interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meanings.

Pearson (2003) says that Communication is a process by which meaning is exchanged between individuals through common symbols signs or behaviors.

The last three of the definitions stress the fact that both the sender and the receiver must share the meaning of the symbols used before Communication can take place. Thereby, emphasizing the importance of feedback which continues to make Communication a continuous one.

In addition, the above definitions ensure that Communication is a process and this means that it is unending. It continuously occurs on daily interactions, actions and reactions. Communication is therefore seen as a two-way process in other to be effective because among information or message sent and/or received must be reciprocal (feedback).

The Process of Communication

According to Goldheber (1983), “we can talk about a process because the phenomenon of creating and exchanging messages are on-going, ever-changing and continuous”. It means Communication process involves action, reactions and interactions. Action is the initiative taken by a sender to share his messages and reaction takes place where there is a response to the action taken by the sender. As this goes on, there is an exchange of information between the sender and the receiver (interaction)

The process of communication therefore proceeds through a number of stages which includes elements in the process.

The Elements/Variables of the Process of Communication

A. The Encoder: Can also be called the source. The giver of the information, the person that initiates the communication or the transmitter of the information. Having received the stimulus by getting the message ready internally, he selects the right codes or symbols which he knows that the receiver of the message will understand and accept; and then transfers the message to the language he thinks he and the receiver understand.

B. The Message: This is the core of all communication process. It is the actual information. It refers to the ideas, thoughts, feelings, opinions, attitudes & needs that is sent by the encoder to the receiver.

For the message to be effective, the encoder/ sender must:

i. Plan what to say properly

ii. Select appropriate symbols:

iii. Present message clearly to the receiver- message should be clean

iv. Appropriate situational/ context

CThe Channel: This is the chosen path that the information or message passes through. Some people use medium and channel indiscriminately. While they are related but they are not necessarily the same, medium indicates the form of Communication in which the sender adopts to convey his message. This can be oral or written, verbal or non-verbal means. However, channel indicates the mechanical and non-mechanical means used to send the message. The mechanical means may be the telephone, radio, loudspeaker or television while the non-mechanical means may include a face-to-face interpersonal Communication, or through pictures, diagrams, charts, paintings and so on.

DThe Decoder: This is the intended audience or the person who are expected to receive the message sent by the encoder. This is the receiver of the message.It is the intended person or audience or group that receives and responds to the message sent by the encoder. The decoder must be prepared to receive the information and respond (participate willingly). The receiver can only respond after breaking down the code and attaching certain meaning to every element used. Thus, in the Communication process both the encoder and the decoder have important roles or duties to perform before communication can be effective. The receiver can only respond after breaking down the code or language employed in the Communication process. Indeed, this is the person that receives the message. The message ofthe sender is filtered through the genders frame of reference, that is “the total of his or her knowledge, experience, goals, values, and attitudes” (Lucas, 2001:17). Your message is delivered to individual members of your audience. No doubt, you have in mind the actions or reactions you hope your message will get from this audience. Keep in mind, though, that each of these individuals enters into the communication process with ideas and feelings that will undoubtedly influence their understanding of your message, and their response. To be a successful communicator, you should consider these before delivering your message, and act appropriately.

EThe Feedback: It is called the response, reply or reaction of the decoder. This is the decoder’s response to the message sent by the encoder. It is a reaction to the message but when the exchange of communication continues over a period, it produces interaction as both the encoder and decoder change roles in the process of composing messages in response to what each of them says. This response can be given verbally, through gesture or inferred from non-verbal cues e.g. smiling, silence, nodding, giggling. It is important to note that the feedback process makes communication not to have a beginning or an end. The names –sender and receiver are not permanent; everyone is expected to play a particular role at a given time depending on the communication situation. Thus, communication process is dynamic, recursive, comes around, ongoing, continuous and cyclical.

FNoise: Any interference in Communication is called ‘Noise’. It is any disturbance or anything that helps to reduce the fidelity and quality of the message. It is an obstacle or interference that prevents the message from getting to the receiver intact communication. It is defined “as any implemented interference in the communication of the message” (Ramon’s Sharma 2004). Noise is present at every stage of the communication but it is particularly common in the communication channel. As the message travels from the transmitter to the receiver, it is subject to distracting and distorting factors which is called ‘Noise’. This is indeed a barrier to effective communication as it brings about distortion and misunderstanding of the information sent. Often, this interference is ignored, underplayed or forgotten.

Noise can come in various forms – physical, physiological, psychological or Linguistic.

Physical Noise – loud talking, honking of a car, loudspeaker. This kind of noise is from the environment in which we live.

Physiological Noise – This has to do with hearing or visual impairment, articulation disorders and so on. This occurs as certain parts of our body may experience one defect or the other. Hence, it causing interference in communication. For example, a man who cannot see because the eyes have some sort of defect may not be able to give or receive information effectively except he resorts to the use of braille.

Psychological Noise –Occurs in the minds of the sender or receiver when their thoughts and feelings are focused on something other than the communication at hand. It includes preconceived ideas, wandering thoughts and so on.

Linguistic Noise – This can be further broken down to

Semantic Noise- this is the use of ambiguous, difficult and vague words that do not allow right meaning.

Grammatical Noise- The right combination of words in English. Faulty sentence construction, misapplication of rules of language or misuse of punctuation marks can cause noise.

Phonological Noise- Inability to understand different sounds in a language or poor pronounciations. The communicator saying ‘pile’ when he means ‘file’, ‘sip’ instead of ‘ship’ and so on.

All communications contain noise. Noise cannot be totally eliminated but its effects can be reduced. Hence, in order to combat the influence of noise you can

(a.) Make your language more precise

(b.) Sharpen your skills for sending and receiving non-verbal messages

(c.) Improve your listening and feedback skills.

GContext- The situation in which your message is delivered is the context. This may include the surrounding environment or broader culture (corporate culture, international cultures, and so on).

Communication is fully effective only when the desired response is got from the receiver. However, communication is complete whether the response is positive or negative. It is only if there is no feedback that communication is incomplete. This underscores the significance of feedback in communication. It also implies that communication goes beyond talking or speaking/writing. It is an interactive and interpersonal process, which is never one-sided. Once there is no feedback, positive or negative, it is no longer communication. For instance, suppose you give an order that everybody should stand up. If all of them stand up, your communication is effective. If only few of them stand up, you have both positive and negative response, but the communication process is complete. However, if none of them responds and they are not dumb, the process is incomplete. However, it may be argued that this is a negative response. If seen in this way, the communication process is complete.

Differences Between Oral and Written Communication

Oral communication is a face-to-face or spoken communication. This means that in this kind of communication, the mouth or oral cavity is involved. Essentially, it can be done through radio, television, skype or other means of communication. It is used in interpersonal and group communication situation.

Written communication on the other hand is the translation of oral messages into alphabetical symbols. The communication is articulated in black and white and it is usually used in formal setting than spoken words. Written communication is normally used in the following situations:

· Business letters

· Essays

· Queries, circulars and memos

· Reports, questionnaires

· Telegrams, telex

· E-mails, memos e.t.c

Advantages of Oral Communication

1. It provides opportunity for immediate feedback in face-to-face verbal communication.

2. It clarifies message immediately.

3. It is less expensive.

4. It is accommodating of other forms of communication like non-verbal e.g. gestures, facial expressions.

5. It allows for spontaneity.

6. It gives an opportunity for interpersonal relationship between the interlocutors.

Disadvantages

1. Its nature of spontaneity can give room for mistakes/ errors.

2. Denial- It can be easily denied where there is a problem.

3. Lacks referential backing- Since it has no legal backing, it cannot stand in a competent court of law because it cannot be referred to.

4. It lacks permanency, hence it can be easily forgotten if not documented.

5. It can be altered.

6. It cannot be easily replicated.

Advantages of Written Communication

1. It is a permanent means of storing information and sharing thoughts.

2. It has a tending to be accurate because more time is devoted in preparing it

3. It can be kept for future reference

4. The risk of distortion is minimized

5. It is more formal in communication than spoken communication

6. It can be easily replicated and made available for a large number of people

Disadvantages

1. It is lot more expensive than oral communication

2. Feedback can be delayed as it takes time in many cases for the decoder to get the sender to receive feedback from him/ her

3. It is not so accommodating of non-verbal communication which can be used to reinforce one’s message

4. It can be time-consuming as the speaker has to take his time before putting down his message

5. It may involve limited audience and it is not everyone that is able to read what is written.

6. It does not give room for the interlocutors to enjoy interpersonal relationships

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Non-verbal communication is the process of communicating through sending and receiving wordless messages. Such messages can be communicated through gesture, body language or posture; facial expression and eye contact, object communication such as clothing, hairstyles or even architecture, or symbols and infographics, as well as through an aggregate of the above, such as behavioral communication. Nonverbal communication plays a key role in every person's day to day life, from employment to romantic engagements.

Speech may also contain non-verbal elements known as paralanguage, including voice quality, emotion and speaking style, as well as rhythm, intonation and stress. Likewise, written texts have non-verbal elements such as handwriting style, spatial arrangement of words, or the use of emotions.

The following are non-verbal Communication:

· Proxemics

Proxemics is the study of how people use and perceive the physical space around them. The space between the sender and the receiver of a message influences the way the message is interpreted.

The perception and use of space varies significantly across cultures and different settings within cultures. Space in non-verbal communication may be divided into four main categories: intimate, social, personal, and public space. (Scott Mclean, 1969) The distance between communicators will also depend on sex, status, and social role.

· Chronemics

Chronemics is the study of the use of time in non-verbal communication. The way we perceive time, structure our time and react to time is a powerful communication tool, and helps set the stage for communication. Time perceptions include punctuality and willingness to wait, the speed of speech and how long people are willing to listen. The timing and frequency of an action as well as the tempo and rhythm of communications within an interaction contributes to the interpretation of non-verbal messages.

· Movement and body position

o Kinetics

Kinetics is the study of body movements, facial expressions, and gestures. It was developed by anthropologist Ray L.in the 1950s. Kinesic behaviors include mutual gaze, smiling, facial warmth or pleasantness, childlike behaviors, direct body orientation, and the like.

o Posture

Posture can be used to determine a participant’s degree of attention or involvement, the difference in status between communicators, and the level of fondness a person has for the other communicator. Posture is understood through such indicators as direction of lean, body orientation, arm position, and body openness.

o Gesture

A gesture is a non-vocal bodily movement intended to express meaning. They may be articulated with the hands, arms or body, and also include movements of the head, face and eyes, such as winking, nodding, or rolling ones' eyes. According to Ottenheimer (2007), psychologists Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen suggested that gestures could be categorised into five types: emblems, illustrators, affect displays, regulators, and adaptors.

Emblems are gestures with direct verbal translations, such as a goodbye wave; illustrators are gestures that depict what is said verbally, such as turning an imaginary steering wheel while talking about driving; an affect display is a gesture that conveys emotions, like a smile; regulators are gestures that control interaction; and finally, an adaptor is a gesture that facilitates the release of bodily tension, such as quickly moving one's leg.

o Haptics

A high five is an example of communicative touch. Haptics is the study of touching as non-verbal communication. Touches that can be defined as communication include handshakes, holding hands, kissing (cheek, lips, hand), back slapping, high fives, a pat on the shoulder, and brushing an arm. Touching of oneself may include licking, picking, holding, and scratching. These behaviors are referred to as "adaptor" and may send messages that reveal the intentions or feelings of a communicator.

o Eye gaze

The study of the role of eyes in non-verbal communication is sometimes referred to as "oculesics". Eye contact can indicate interest, attention, and involvement. Gaze comprises the actions of looking while talking, looking while listening, amount of gaze, and frequency of glances, patterns of fixation, pupil dilation, and blink rate.

· Paralanguage

Paralanguage (sometimes called vocalics) is the study of non-verbal cues of the voice. Various acoustic properties of speech such as tone, pitch and accent, collectively known as prosody, can all give off non-verbal cues. Paralanguage may change the meaning of words.

Functions of non-verbal communication

Argyle (1970) put forward the hypothesis that whereas spoken language is normally used for communicating information about events external to the speakers, non-verbal codes are used to establish and maintain interpersonal relationships. It is considered politer or nicer to communicate attitudes towards others non-verbally rather than verbally, for instance in order to avoid embarrassing situations

Argyle (1988) concluded there are five primary functions of non-verbal bodily behavior in human communication:

· Express emotions

· Express inter-personal attitudes

· To accompany speech in managing the cues of interaction between speakers and listeners

· Self-presentation of one’s personality

· Rituals (greetings)

Conclusion

Communication can now be seen as a very complex process which goes beyond speech making. In the real sense, communication involves a lot of others things that symbols that can be interpreted in various forms depend on the situation and at times the location of the event. For instances, the meaning of a particular gesture might be different in another geographical location. More so, silence is definitely a means of communication. Hence the various forms of communication are inexhaustible.

Rerences/Further Readings

Gudykunst& Ting-Toomey (1988). Reflections on Language and forms of communication. John BenjaminsB.V.. pp. 24.

Levels/Classes of Communication Based On Context

Communication occurs in a context, a set of circumstances on a situation. It can take place between two friends, among five business acquaintances in a small group setting, between a lecturer and an audience e.t.c.

The number of people involved in communication affects the kind of communication that occurs. You can communicate with yourself, another person, or with many others. The differences among these situations affect your choices of the most appropriate verbal and non- verbal circles.

· Intrapersonal Communication: This is the process of understanding and sharing meaning within the self. It is communication that goes on in the mind of a person. This communication occurs when an individual evaluates or examines the interaction that occurs between himself and others, solving problems internally, resolving internal conflicts, planning for the future. It involves only the SELF: It can be in form of thought, decision-making and sometimes the person soliloquizing(voices out what he thinks aloud).In this case, one is both the sender and receiver. It could also be in form of writing diaries for oneself or talking to oneself. Self-motivation, self-determination and related activities also exemplify intrapersonal communication.

There is also a negative dimension to this type of communication. Because of life challenges, many people get involved in this type of communication than other types of communication. They are engulfed in thinking about their problems, leading to anxiety. This result in most cases is high blood pressure, which could precipitate stroke, with its many attendant problems.

It is good to get involved in intrapersonal communication. However, if it is being extended to thinking about problems without proffering any meaningful solutions, one should change to interpersonal communication or other types of communication. A problem shared is a problem almost half-solved, as the saying goes. In this case, one is both the sender and receiver. It could also be in form of writing diaries for oneself or talking to oneself. Self-motivation, self-determination and related activities also exemplify intrapersonal communication.

There is also a negative dimension to this type of communication. Because of life challenges, many people get involved in this type of communication than other types of communication. They are engulfed in thinking about their problems, leading to anxiety. This result in most cases is high blood pressure, which could precipitate stroke, with its many attendant problems.

It is good to get involved in intrapersonal communication. However, if it is being extended to thinking about problems without proffering any meaningful solutions, one should change to interpersonal communication or other types of communication. A problem shared is a problem almost half-solved, as the saying goes.

· Interpersonal Communication: It is known as face-to-face communication or communication between two or more people on personal grounds. It is the personal process of coordinating meaning between at least two people in a situation that allows mutual opportunities for both speaking and listening. The reasons for interpersonal communication are:

· Solve problems

· Resolve conflicts

· Share information

· Improve perception of yourself

· Fulfil social needs

· Survival purposes

It involves both verbal and non- verbal means of communication. It can be useful to express one’s need and to influence people’s discussion. Through interpersonal communication, you interact with others, learn about them and yourself and reveal yourself to others. Through this you initiate, establish, maintain, sometimes destroy and sometimes repair relationships. In interpersonal communication, feedback is immediate. Because of the proximity of people in this type of communication, non-verbal cues play important roles.

· Group Communication: It is the interaction of a small group of people in achieving an independent goal. This occurs in families, ask groups, support groups, religious groups, study groups e.t.c. There are two major types: small groups and large groups. Examples of small groups are family, group of friends and committee. Large groups are higher and come together for purposes different from those of small groups. Examples of large groups are audience at a concert and spectators at a sport event.

· Organisational Communication: This is similar to group communication. The major difference is that it involves some hierarchical levels. There may not be direct contact between the sender and the receiver. Raman and Sharma (2004:11-12) identify three subdivisions of organisational communication: internaloperational,related to conducting work within an organization; external operational, involving work-related communication betweenan organisation and people outside; and personal, involving communication done in an organisation without business purposes.

· Public Communication/Speaking: This is the process of generating meaning in a situationwhere a simple source transmits a message to a number of receivers who give non- verbal and sometimes, verbal feedback. The orator adapts the message to the audience in an attempt to achieve maximum understanding. Most often, public speaking informs or persuades but it can also entertain, introduce, announce, welcome, pay tribute.

· Mass Communication: Is communication mediated between a source and alarge number of unseen receivers, always has some transmission system between the sender and the receivers. It can be addressed to a whole city, country or the whole universe. It is done using media vehicles like television, radio, newspaper e.t.c.

· Cross Cultural Communication: As the world has before a global village, cross cultural communication has become relevant and significant to organisation in their drive to spread their tentacles to other regions of the world. This kind of communication involves understanding multiple businesses customs, ethics, values and communication strategies. Many factors contribute to cross- cultural communication and these are language barrier, differences in non- verbal communication among others.

Purpose of Communication

You communicate for a purpose. Although different cultures emphasize different purposes, five general purposes seem relatively common to most it not all forms of communication.

1. To learn- To acquire knowledge of others, the world and yourself.

2. To relate- To form relationships with others, to interact with others as individuals

3. To help- To assist others by listening, offering solutions

4. To influence- To strengthen or change the attitudes or behaviors of people

5. To play- To enjoy the experience of the moment crucial for peace in the society.

CODE MIXING, CODE SWITCHING & DISONANCE IN COMMUNICATION

Code simply can be taken as a verbal component that can be as small as a morpheme or as comprehensive as the entire system of language. Hence, one can say the Yoruba language is a code, so also is its single morpheme. Code, therefore, refers to a language or a language variety. It is a system of words, letters, or morphemes, symbols which represent sentences or other words.

· Code Mixing

Is mixing of mostly words of two languages or varieties of languages. Code mixing and code switching are closely related that sometimes we use them interchangeably. As a matter of fact, both are well known traits in the speech pattern of the average bilingual in any human society the world over. Bokamba (1989) defines code mixing as the embedding of various linguistic units such as affixes (bound morpheme), words (unbound morphemes), phrases and clauses from a co-operative activity where the participants, in order to infer what is intended, must reconcile what they hear with what they understand. Thus, code mixing is done more out of linguistic requirement. This means that we can mix code with another when we do not know the correct translation of a particular word in another language. In fact, over the time, many code-mixed words become frequent that they form a part of the language or loan on borrowed words. In most cases, code mixing is more unintentional.

· Code Switching

Code switching is that switching that is done in a particular setting or for a particular purpose. This is mostly common among bilingual speaker who shift according to the persons addressed e.g. father vs talking mother, home/ office, pleasure or business. In one way, we kind of change identities while to different people. Bilingual speakers will shift from language to language many times for emphasis and feeling. Code switching is meant to create special effect. It has a special, social and pragmatic consequence

· Dissonance

This is lack of agreement between transmitter of message and the receiver of the message. It is a hindrance in communication. Moreover, if there is a difference in the backgrounds of the transmitter and the receiver that is, if meanings attached to word (A) in transmitter’s community differs from those of the receiver, dissonance will occur e.g. the word” gas” has a different meaning to Nigerians to those of the Americans. Another example is the word ‘pant’.

The transmitter must therefore be well versed on noting the difference in the meanings of his receiver to avoid dissonance.

Causes of Code Switching and Code Mixing

1. Language Contact: This is the factor that causes code mixing and switching. The world is an interactional space. This interaction is necessary for progress and human thriving. Besides interpersonal interaction involving individuals, cultures also interact. When two cultures interact, we say that there is culture contact. The reality of culture contact is such that today there is no such a thing as original culture uncontaminated by other cultures. Language is one of the major elements of culture. More than any other element, language bears testimony to any contacts between two cultures. When cultural contacts occur, two languages struggle for dominance as regards which of them is to be used as the tool of communication in the contact situation. When cultural contact is a consequence of conquest and foreign invasion, the conquerors easily introduce their language in the conquered territory.

A subjugated language does not just retreat without leaving its traces in the conquering language. This is done by the transfer of the features of the language in the new language. When a language adopts features of another language we say that borrowing has occurred. Borrowing finds its usefulness in expressing some aspects of human reality which a language lacks words in. Thus, it is one of the major ways of enriching a language. The English language seems to be the richest language in the world and it owes this status to its ability to borrow from a wide range of sources which includes Danish, Latin, German, French and Hindi.

Language contact is when two or more languages or communities speaking distinct languages come in contact most often result in bilingualism. With global communication, it is almost impossible that a language or speech commonly can be monolingual.

2. Bilingualism: These are the prime causes of code mixing & switching in speech communication. This contact situation is not only brought about by physical interaction of the speakers, it can also be as a result of social media interaction. Other examples that facilitate language contact are academic and non- academic reading in a non- native language.

Assignment

Explain the stages in communication process.

Quiz

List the various non-verbal communication.

REFERENCES/ FURTHER READINGS

Cohen, Herman. 1994. The History of Speech Communication: The Emergence of a Discipline, 1914-1945. Annandale, VA: Speech Communication Association.

Packer, J. & Robertson, C, eds. 2006. Thinking with James Carey: Essays on Communications, Transportation, History.

ORAL PRESENTATION

The Organs of Speech

All languages are primarily spoken. This implies that certain parts of the human body are employed to produce organized sounds or vocal symbols which can be perceived and interpreted by the listener in a communication event. Research has shown that half of the human body – from the head to the abdomen – is needed for speech production.

Thus, organs of speech are all those parts of the body involved in producing speech sounds from the lungs to the lips and nose. It is important to note though that the primary physiological function of most of these organs is unconnected with vocal communication. Below is a schematic diagram of the organs of speech:

Alveolar ridge

Upper teeth

Nose

Lips

Uvular

Tongue

Oesophagus

Lower teeth

Vocal folds

The Organs of Speech and their functions

1. The lungs: these are sponge-like tissues housed within the rib cage which provide the airstream that is used for speech production. When we talk, air comes up from the lungs through the trachea, past the vocal folds.

1. The vocal folds: these are two folds of ligament and elastic tissue contained in the larynx.

1. The glottis: is the opening between these two folds. It plays an important role in modifying the airstream from the lungs (pulmonic egressive airstream) to acquire the quality of a speech sound. When it is held open and the air passes through it without any obstruction, the resultant sound is said to be voiceless. On the other hand, when the vocal folds are brought sufficiently close together, they vibrate when subjected to air pressure from the lungs; thus, voiced sounds are produced.

1. The Vocal Tract: This is the area that air passes above the larynx and it is divided into the oral cavity (passages within the mouth and pharynx) and the nasal cavity (within the nose).

1. Articulators: Articulation is the contact of two or more speech organs. Thus, articulators are parts of the vocal tract such as the tongue and the lips that can be used to form sounds. Other articulators include:

1. The teeth: (particularly the frontal incisors) these articulate with the tongue or the upper lip to produce certain consonants in English

1. Alveolar ridge: is the rough surface that can be felt with the tip of the tongue just behind the upper teeth.

1. Hard palate: is a bony structure at the front part of the roof of the mouth.

1. Soft palate/velum: is a muscular flap that can be raised to press against the back wall of the pharynx and shut off the nasal tract, preventing air from going out through the nose.

1. Epiglottis: is attached to the lower part of the root of the tongue

1. The Uvula: is a small appendage hanging down at the lower end of the velum. It can be seen with the aid of a mirror.

1. Pharynx nose: The Pharynx is a resonating chamber behind the tongue and above the larynx. The nose is very important in the articulation of nasal and nasalized sounds.

1. The lips: are also crucial to the articulation of certain sounds (both consonants and vowels). They may be brought together, rounded, spread and, for some consonants, the lower lip articulates with the upper teeth.

1. Tongue: is the most flexible of all the active articulators. It is capable of assuming a great variety of positions in the articulation of both consonants and vowels. Parts of the tongue which are relevant to the articulation process include the tip (apex), front, back, centre (middle), root, body and blade

We can draw a distinction between active and passive articulators. The articulators which are relatively fixed and, as such, do not move to articulate with other organs (e.g. the teeth and the hard palate) are called passive articulators while the movable organs (e.g. the lips, tongue, soft palate and uvular) are active articulators.

The Phonemes of English Language

Phonemes are the smallest units of sound. Phonemes are individual speech sounds. Hence, a phoneme is a speech sound which is the smallest unit of sound that distinguishes one word from another. The word cat is made up of 3 phonemes - /k/ /æ/ /t/ - whereas a word such as a phoneme is made up of three phonemes /f/ /əʊ/ /n/. Since sounds cannot be written, we use letters to represent or stand for the sounds. A grapheme is the written representation (a letter or cluster of letters) of one sound. It is generally agreed that there are approximately 44sounds (phonemes) which are represented by the 26 letters of the alphabet individually and in combination.

The 44 phonemes can be divided into two major categories – consonants and vowels. A consonant is one in which the air flow is cut off, either partially or completely, when the sound is produced. Consonant sounds in the English language are 24. In contrast, a vowel sound is one in which the air flow is unobstructed when the sound is made. There are 20 vowel sounds in English language and they are the music, or movement, of the language.

The Phonemes of English (Symbols and transcription)

International phonetic alphabet symbols

The set of symbols that will be used is adapted from the International Phonetic Association’s alphabet (IPA). These symbols represent the phonemes or significant sounds of English The system of capturing an utterance or word in a linear sequence of sounds as presented above is called transcription.

Vowels

/ɪ/

pin, English, business

/ʌ/

cut, come, mother

/e/

bed, head, bury, exit

/ɜː/

girl, burn, word, heard

/æ/

cat, bag, apple, black

/ɑː/

car, art, heart, half

/ə/

the, a, woman, banana

/ɔː/

or, board, door, small

/ʊ/

look, put, could, cushion

/ɪː/

sea, bee, people, receive

/ɒ/

clock, what, because

/uː/

too, blue, fruit, fool

Dipthongs

/eɪ/

take, pay, wait, ballet

/ɑɪ/

five, sigh, height, buy

/ɔɪ/

noise, boy, lawyer

/əʊ/

no, road, sew, broken

/ɑʊ/

round, renown, doubt

/ɪə/

here, deer, dear, fierce

/eə/

care, air, mayor, prayer

/ʊə/

poor, insure, tour, moor

Consonants

/p/

play, stop, speak, power

/ʒ/

genre, measure, vision

/b/

bad, baby, big, object

/h/

hot, hair, whole, whose

/t/

ten, later, little, pot

/m/

moon, lamp, lamb

/d/

day, advice, bed

/n/

can, snow, pneumonia

/k/

character, quick, taxi

/ŋ/

string, singer, tongue

/g/

got, exam, ignore, finger

/tʃ/

chair, match, future

/f/

food, laugh, telephone

/dʒ/

just, general, age, soldier

/v/

vain, over, Stephen

/l/

look, small, bottle, isle

/θ/

thin, earth, method, both

/r/

real, train, wrong, write

/ð/

they, father, breathe, with

/j/

yes, Europe, university

/s/

small, since, scene, psalm

/w/

window, twin, quick, why

/z/

zoo, goes, xenophobe

/ʃ/

shell, nation, machine

xercise 1 Match the phonetic transcriptions with the words.

1.

/ʃʌt/

a.

later

2.

/hɑːt/

b.

joke

3.

/θɪŋk/

c.

heart

4.

/wɜːk/

d.

there

5.

/leɪtə/

e.

doubt

6.

/bɔːt/

f.

work

7.

/puːl/

g.

shut

8.

/dɑʊt/

h.

think

9.

/dʒəʊk/

i.

pool

10.

/ðeə/

j.

bought

Articulatory Criteria

In describing and distinguishing between English consonants and vowels, our attention will be principally focused on the articulatory criteria.

Consonants

As earlier defined, consonants are sounds in the production of which there is some form of obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to either the lips or the nostrils. There are twenty-four (24) consonants in English and they are described based on the following parameters:

1. Place of articulation: Consonants are often described and labelled based on where, in the vocal tract, the articulation process takes place.

· Bilabial Sounds: These are sounds in which the two lips are the primary articulators (p,b,m and w).

· Labiodental Sounds: These are sounds produced when the lower lip articulates with the upper front teeth (as in f and v).

· Dental sounds: These are sounds produced involving the upper front teeth and the tongue tip or blade such as (ð and ɵ)

· Alveolar sounds: These sounds involve the blade or tip of the tongue and the alveolar ridge and the sounds articulated are (s,z,t,d,n and l).

· Post-alveolar: (r) This is the case where the tongue does not actually make contact with any part of the roof of the mouth.

· Palato-alveolar: Sounds like (ʃ,ʒ,ʧ and ʤ)are produced when the blade of the tongue articulates with the alveolar ridge and there is at the same time a raising of the front of the tongue towards the palate.

· Palatal: these are sounds in which the front of the tongue articulates with the hard palate (ј).

· Velar: are sounds (k,g ŋ) involving the back of the tongue and the soft palate (k,g and ŋ).

· Glottal: sound (h) is produced when in the articulation of a sound there is an obstruction, or a narrowing causing friction but not vibration, between the vocal

1. Manner of articulation: Using the parameter of manner of articulation, we can identify

the following groups of consonants and their characteristic patterns of articulation:

1. Stops or Plosives are sounds produced by a complete closure at some point in the vocal tract behind which the air pressure builds up and can be released explosively (e.g. p,t,k,b,d and g). This simply means, there is an explosion of air in the process of articulation.

1. Fricatives are consonant sounds that are created by constricting the vocal tract, causing friction or a hissing as the air passes through them. The nine fricatives are (f,s, ʃ, ɵ,h, v,z, ʒ and ð). Fine, vine, think, father (ð), Sophie, zebra, surely/champagne (ʃ), measures/exposure/television (ʒ), he/hospital/ahead/helicopter (h)

1. Affricates begin as stops and release as fricatives, generally with the same place of articulation. This implies that they combine the articulatory features of the two groups discussed above. There is a complete closure at some point in the vocal tract behind which the air pressure builds up. The pulling apart of the articulators is, however, slow such that the second part of the sound is characterized by audible friction (e.g. ʧ and ʤ) chin/beach/china/fetch/switch and pledge/legder/Jack/jumping/hedge/surge/judge.

15. Nasals begin with a complete closure at some point in the mouth, followed by the lowering of the soft palate or velum to obstruct the passage of the air through the mouth. Consequently, air escapes through the nose (e.g. m,n and ŋ).

15. Approximants are articulated with a narrowing in the mouth in such a way that the articulators do not get sufficiently close to each other to produce audible friction (e.g. r, w and ј). /w/ and /ј/ constitute a sub-group of approximants known as glides.

15. The Lateral is produced with a complete closure between the centre of the tongue and the alveolar ridge which necessitates the passage of the air along the sides of the mouth. There is only one sound in this category –l. /l/ and /r/ together make up the group of sounds called liquids.

1. State of the glottis: In our discussion of the organs of speech, we mentioned that the glottis plays an important role in modifying the airstream from the lungs to acquire the quality of a speech sound. The impact of the glottis is mostly felt in the phonation or voicing aspect of speech production. When it is held open and the air passes through it without any obstruction, the resultant sound is said to be voiceless. Voiceless consonants in the English language include p,t,k,s, f, ʃ, ɵ,h and ʧ. On the other hand, when the vocal folds are brought sufficiently close together, they vibrate when subjected to air pressure from the lungs; thus, voiced sounds are produced. Voiced English consonants include b,d,g,z,v, ʒ,ð, ʤ,m,n, ŋ,l,r,w and ј. You can practically feel the vocal folds vibration in these sounds if you put your fingertips against your larynx while producing them. Another way is by stopping your ears while contrasting the sounds [ssssszzzzzfffffvvvvv

ʃʃʃʃʒʒʒʒ]. Here, you will easily hear the buzzing of the vibrations in [z,v,ʒ and ʃ]

VOWELS

Vowels are sounds in the production of which there is no obstruction to the flow of air as it passes from the larynx to the lips. This free air flow is made possible by the fact that during vowel articulation, the articulators do not come very close together, thus, there is no contact whatsoever. The vocal folds are adjusted so that there is only a narrow passage between them, as such, the airstream from the lungs sets them vibrating. This vibration is what we had earlier referred to as voicing. All vowels are voiced. There are twenty vowel sounds in English. Twelve of them are pure vowels or monophthongs while eight are diphthongs. Vowels are often described based on the shape and position of the tongue during the articulatory process. Since the articulators do not meet at any point in the vocal tract, vowels, generally, are not described using the place of articulation parameter.

Diphthongs are simply vowel sounds which consist of a movement or glide from one vowel to another. Although they contain two elements, diphthongs are equivalent in length to the long, pure vowels. The two vowel elements in a diphthong are usually reflected in the symbols used to represent them. There are eight diphthongs in English and they are divided into two group based on the direction of the glide as follows:

1. Rising Diphthongs are diphthongs with a first element which is either a mid or low vowel and a high vowel second element. They include -

/eɪ/ (as in gate , wais t, play, e ight, the y and gre at),

/aɪ/ (as in time , pie , fly, type , light, dye and e ye ),

/ɔɪ/ (as boil, boy, joint, joy, oyster, void and voyage ),

/Əʊ/ (as in so, hoe , own, toast, soul, go and pillow) and /aʊ/ (as in house, how, loud, crowd, shout and owl).

1. Centering Diphthongs begin with either a front or back vowel first element and end with the schwa /Ə/ which is a central vowel. They include –

/ɪƏ/ (as in here, cheer, media, idea and museum),

· ɛƏ/ (as in care, chair, bear, parent and aerial) and /ʊƏ/ (as in poor, gourd, endure and during).

Although we have provided sample words to illustrate the pronunciation of these sounds, we must warn that there is no consistency in the sounds of the letters of the English alphabet. In other words, the same sequence of letters can be pronounced in a variety of ways. For instance,

‘a’ is /eɪ/ in ‘gate’,/Ə/ in ‘woman’, / ɛ/ in ‘many’, /ɪ/ in ‘village’, /æ/ in ‘man’, / ɑ / in ‘pass’ and / ɒ/ in ‘was’. This goes a long way to prove that there is little or no sound-letter correspondence in English.

ASSIGNMENT

Phonetic is very important in pronunciation of English words, discuss this in detail.

Examine in depth the things to consider when describing a vowel.

Quiz

What are the basic differences between pure vowels and diphthongs?

REFERENCES

Adetugbo, Abiodun. English Phonetics: A Course Text. Lagos: University of Lagos Press, 1997.

Awonusi, Segun. Coping with English Pronunciation. Lagos: O.O.P. 1999.

Clark, J., Yallp, C. and Fletcher, J. An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology (3rd Edn.) Australia: Blackwell, 2007.

Cruttenden, Alan. Gimson’s Pronunciation of English. London: Hodder, 2008.

Ladefoged, Peter. A Course in Phonetics (5th Edn.) USA: Wadsworth, 2006.

Roach, Peter. English Phonetics and Phonology (2nd Edn.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000.

Yule, George. The Study of Language ( 4th Edn.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.

PUBLIC SPEAKING

INTRODUCTION

This is the most essential skill human beings need, to function effectively in today’s society. It is an indispensable skill as you go up in the worlds hierarchy (student, assistant/intern, to junior analyst, to manager, to CEO. While it can be said that public speaking principles were probably developed, after our species began to talk. It was in ancient Greek and Rome that the western tradition of public speaking began. Though experiments, surveys, field studies and historical studies have enriched this classic Greece-Roman tradition and this continues even to the present.

The immense contribution of Aristotle’s to the body of work in public speaking cannot be ignored. With his rhetoric written 2,300 years’ age in ancient Greece which postulated the three kinds of persuasive appeals-logos (logical proof), pathos (emotional appeal) and ethos (appeal based on the character of the speaker), the stage was set for the systematic study of public speaking. This three-part division of rhetoric is still valid today even though Roman rhetorician have added to the work of the Greek.

Today, contemporary public speaking is built on this classical heritage but has widened the scope of coverage, incorporating insights from the humanities, the social and behavioral sciences, computer science and information technology. In addition, perspectives from different activities are being integrated into the present study of public speaking.

Public speaking is a form of communication in which a speaker addresses a relatively large audience with a relatively continuous discourse, usually in a face-to-face situation. It is a situation in which a speaker (sender of a message disseminates information to a targeted audience or group of people. Indeed, it is a process of scheming a message art conveying it to an audience. It has to do with creating a presentation and delivering it to a group of people. Thus, in public speaking, a speaker presents a specific message to a relatively large audience in a unique context. A person who engages in public speaking is called a public speaker. Often time, the term has been used strictly for those who speak to an audience in order to be paid for it. This may not necessarily be the truth as every human being one time or the other, as found himself/herself in a participating context since anyone who engages in speaking to a group of people can be regarded as a public speaker. Examples abound every day and every time including the following context-in a friend get-together`, speaking in an interview, in a religious institution like a church or mosque e.t.c.

In essence, public speaking is a part of all sundry career, education and personal life. It is vital to everyone as ability to speak effectively to the public is one of the signs of intellectual advancement.

Like all communication, public speaking is a transactional process, a process whose elements are inter-dependent (Watilawick, 1978 Watilawick, Beavin and Jackson 1967). This means that each element in the public speaking process depends on each interacts with all other elements. For example, the way in which you organise a speech will depend on such factors as your speech topic, your audience, the purpose you hope to achieve and a host of other variables of utmost importance is to note the mutual interaction and influence between speaker and audience. The speaker does most of the speaking while the audience does most of the listening but the audience sends a message in form of feedback such as applause, no applause, bored look, nods of agreement/disagreement or attentive glances.

In public speaking, it is very important to be ethical. This, in public speaking is called ethics. It is of great importance that a public speaker should not give false information or misleading information which can be done when a speaker provides information or tries to persuade the audience about a concept/idea that is not true. In addition, when a speech is not well researched with scanty facts about a particular issue and is not well rehearsed.

SPEAKING CONFIDENTLY

In order to present oneself to others confidently and with self-assurance, a speaker must engage in these wide variety of social, academic and career skills. Those skills help you to understand human motivation and analyze or evaluate the validity of persuasive appeals and to effectively use persuasion. A speaker should:

· Understand his/her message

· Connect with his/her message

· Have a conversation

· Keep it clear

OVERCOMING ANXIETY IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

It must register in the minds of people that public speaking is not a difficult activity but something to be desired. Many speakers develop fear when they realize they will have to engage an audience but the audience should not be feared as they are there to listen and gain knowledge from one’s presentation. This fear that a speaker experiences before and during the speech, rapid breathing, a strange kind of shaking or nausea.

In order to put things in proper perspectives, it should be clear that effective public speakers are not born, they are made. We are more confident than one another and people with less confidence can build themselves by constant practice and change of their belief system(mindset).

Thus, to be an effective speaker, there is the need to develop oneself through instructional teaching, exposure to different speeches, feedback and individual learning experiences. Regardless of your present level of confidence, you can improve your speaking skills through proper training.

Jerry Seinfeld said “According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Death is number two”. Apprehension in public speaking is normal this because you are the sole focus of attention and are usually being evaluated for your performance. Thus, experiencing nervousness or anxiety is a natural reaction. Apprehension is not necessarily harmful. In fact, it can work to your advantage. Fear can energize you, motivate you to work a little harder to produce a speech that will be better than it might have been, had you not been fearful.

This apprehension, is stage fright and it is called “communication Apprehension”. Research has identified five factors as being especially important in contributing to fear in public speaking (Beatty:1988; Reckoned and Mcrosky:1998).

1. Inexperience- a new and totally different situation can cause anxiety.

1. Subordinating status- portray yourself as less important or lower in status than the members of the audience.

1. Conspicuousness: Perceiving yourself as the center of attention.

1. Lack of familiarity: Seeing yourself as different from your audience.

1. Prior History: having memories of previous times when you were apprehended

Reducing the impact of those factors will help you manage and reduce your fear of public speaking. Specific suggestions in overcoming anxiety includes:

1. Prepare and practice adequately - It is generally accepted that much of the anxiety a human being experiences is a fear of failure. Adequate and even extra preparation will certainly reduce the possibility of failure. In the words of Jack Valenti (1982) President of the motion Picture Association of America and speechwriter for Lyndon Johnson, “the most effective antidote to stage fright and other calamities of speech writing is total, lavish, monkish preparation”- Memorize the first few sentences since apprehension is greatest during the beginning of the speech.

1. Gain Experience: Experience can only be gathered by doing the same. Get as much public speaking experience as you can. With experience, initial fears and anxieties will give way to feeling of control, comfort and pleasure.

1. Public Speaking as a Conversation: Consciously, perceive public speaking as another type of conversation” enlarged conversation”.

1. Emphasise Similarity: Consciously, identify and emphasize those similarities between yourself and your audience e.g. shared attitudes, values or beliefs. These tactics will make you feel more at home with your listeners and therefore more confident as a speaker.

1. Avoid Chemicals as Tension Relievers: Chemicals like tranquilizers, marijuana or artificial stimulants and should be avoided since they only impair your ability to remember the parts of your speech to adequately read audience feedback and to regulate the timing of your speech.

1. Move About and Breathe Deeply: Engaging in physical activity (body movements, movements of the hands, face and head eases or reduces anxiety. Deep breathing relaxes the body. This is advised and it will o you a world of good and enhance the effectiveness of your speech.

1. Make Eye Contact: Focus on the audience that show receptiveness to your speech as this can be encouraging.

1. Rest Well: Rest is a major way of overcoming anxiety. Sleep as this will ensure the relaxation of the body effectively.

STEPS IN PUBLIC SPEAKING PREPARATION

1. Select a topic and purpose

1. Analyze your audience

1. Choose your thesis

1. Research topic

1. Support your major propositions- a statement of a problem

1. Organize your speech

1. Word your speech

1. Construct your conclusion and intro

1. Research your delivery /speech

1. Deliver your speech

Steps In Public Speaking Preparation

· Select a Topic and Purpose: The topic is very important in public speaking as it will determine the success or the failure of the speech. Choosing a topic is one of the problems encountered by young speakers but it is unavoidable. As a result, in choosing a topic, the speaker must necessarily consider the audience as the topic should suit the kind of people he will be addressing. Fundamentally, in choosing a topic, the intended speaker must have a clear purpose/ intent on what the public speech is meant to achieve. According to (Iyere, 2012), a speech has the tendency to perform any of these purposes: inform, educate, persuade, entertain, introduce, present, accept, pay tribute, inspire and eulogize. In some cases, you will select your topic and purpose almost simultaneously. A topic should have one main idea. It should not be an incomplete sentence. It should make sense and should not be ambiguous or worded. Generally, the Tc’s of communication should be apparent. How and Where do you find your topics (search text books, survey(polls) news items (newspapers, talk shows, search engine), brainstorming limiting your topic-plan to cover a limited topic in depth rather than a broad topic superficially. Purpose can be general or specific.

· Analyze Your Audience (Audience Analysis): Analyzing your targeted audience is very important in public speaking. In other to inform or persuade an audience you must know who they are. hus Audience analysis is the study of audience composition, knowledge and interest. It is the process of extracting information about your audience. Speech is delivered based on the kind of audience. The way a speech will be delivered to children will be different from the way it will be delivered to adults. In studying your audience, you will want to look at the sociological and the psychological characteristics of your audience. Sociological characteristics of the audience includes: culture, age, sex occupation, income, status and religion. Audience Psychology-Receptiveness of the audience to your speech.

Types of Audience

Audience can be classified into two: Homogenous and Heterogeneous

Homogenous: These are audience who have the same values, norms and beliefs. This kind of audience are easy to analyze or address.

Heterogeneous: This type of audience consists of different sets of people e.g. adults, children, women e.t.c. They possess different traits, values and norms. They can be made up of illiterate, semi-illiterate and literate. Heterogeneous audience can be classified based on five factors- age friendliness, educational status, religion and social status.

· Choose Your Thesis: The thesis is the main idea you want to convey to the audience. Always limit your thesis statement to one central idea.

· Research Your Topic: Research is essential if your topic is to be worthwhile and if you and the audience are to profit from it. In embarking in research, first read some general source like articles in an encyclopedia or current magazine, journals and newspaper, consult individuals like profession, politicians, physicians or others with specialized information. Data which includes dictionary, encyclopedia, index to magazines (print or electronic).

· Support Your Major Proposition: After identifying your thesis and researching them, you need to support each of them. In the informative speech your support mainly amplifies the ideas you discuss. The following are what you use:

1. Examples: Illustrations, testimony of various authorities to breathe life into abstract/vague concepts.

1. Definitions to clarify difficult terms.

1. Statistics (summary figs) to explain trends in a wide variety of topics.

1. Visual Aids- Chairs, maps, objects, slides, films, tapes, cd’s e.t.c to clarify concepts.

In persuasive speech, your support is proof-material that offers evidence, argument establishing your credibility and reputation. support substantiating claims.

· Organize Your Speech: You need to organize your material, if the audience is to understand and remember it. This can be done by ordering the materials in a sequential order e.g. Introduction details and summary as well as making notes cards or sheets of papers.

· Word Your Speech: Public speaking calls for clarity. There is the need to use specific terms and numbers, eliminating unnecessary words, the use of short, familiar term, avoiding the use of idiom and so on. Appropriate use of language that is consistent in tone with your topic, your audience and your self-image. In wording your speech, be careful not to offend your audience with language. That embarrasses them or make them think you have little respect for the. Effective public speaking also requires careful attention to the construction of sentences.

· Construct Your Conclusion & Introduction: Your introduction and conclusion need special care because they will determine a large part, the effectiveness of your speech. Construct your conclusion first and your introduction next. The conclusions function is to provide closure to give the speech a firm and definite end. The audience should not be left wondering whether you have finished. Therefore, devote special care to this brief but crucial part of your speech.

Two popular ways of closing are using a;

1. Quotation

1. Posing a challenge

Thank the audience by relating the thanks to your thesis-main idea

In the introduction try to accomplish two goals:

· Gain your audience’s attention

· Get used to the audience

Common Faults Or Errors In Presentation

1. Do not apologize- Don’t point your inadequacies out.

1. Do not prepare your introduction- Don’t start with common but ineffective statements as “I’m nervous”.

1. Do not introduce new materials in your conclusion- It’s too late to introduce new materials. Instead reinforce what you have already said.

· Rehearse Your Delivery/Speech

Rehearsing involves ordering the ideas in mind and polishing the delivery of speech. Rehearsing your speech will make you to see how the speech will flow as a whole and make necessary changes and improvements.

Ordering the speeches include:

· Reading it silently for 2 to 3 times or many times

· Try to give your speech without outline or note cards

Delivery: What is Delivery?

This is the presentation of a speech by using voice and body to reinforce your message (Pearson 2003: 4&4). Speakers vary in delivery methods which is inferred by the different views about delivery. The important thing to note is that both delivery and content are very important. This means that content and manner of delivering context are essential. Gavin etal (1954) says that delivery “is the way you use your voice and body to present a speech”.

Methods of Delivery: Speakers vary widely in delivering methods. Some speak off-the-cuff with no apparent preparation. Others read their speeches from manuscript. Others construct a detailed outline and compose the speech at the moment of delivery. These are the four general methods of delivery:

· Impromptu Method

· Extemporaneous Method

· Manuscript Method

· Memory Method

1. Impromptu Method

This is a kind of public speaking method that is used for a speech that needs to be given without initial notice. It is done without prior practice or planning. In this case, it is advisable for the speaker to think for a while on the topic. If the topic is given, a speaker must take time to think on what to say on the given topic. As the speech goes on. new ideas will come. This method is good for it gives room for creativity. It is a speech based on the spur of the moment which promotes creativity. Impromptu method may be a difficult task for a beginner speaker.

1. Extemporaneous Method

This kind of speech delivery is done with prior notice. Hence, the speaker prepares notes which acts as the fulcrum for his speech. The note is there as a pointer to the direction in which to move from points to points. The notes is not the speech itself but guidelines, pointers and cues for the speech. The challenge of this method of delivery is that it is time requiring. It takes a lot of time as the user of such method has to spend time preparing for the speech. Extemporaneous method can be regarded as the best method of delivering a speech as it makes the speech systematic and also gives room for creativity during speech as the speaker is free and the speech flexible. This kind of speech delivery is enthusiastic and engaging.

1. Manuscript method

In a manuscript speech delivery, the speaker writes the speech at home and reads it to the audience. This method is predominantly used for presidential speech. Most president adopts manuscript method because it can be regarded as the most perfect kind of speech as it gives room for ability not to miss any word, details or include the irrelevant details. In a situation where by there must be an outermost caution in whatever is said as it can be quoted, a manuscript method is advised. This method is disadvantaged as it can be boring. It is a kind of bed-time speech. It is very difficult to read a written speech without losing its naturalness. Manuscript method becomes effective if is written in such a way that it is captivating and heralded with a conversational tone of voice. This method is an intertwined of manuscript and memorized method. This speech is neither fully written nor fully memorized.

1. Memorised Method

This is a kind of method of delivering speech in which the speaker commits to memory the whole content of the speech and delivers it to the audience offhand. This method of speech delivery is good if the speaker get himself acquainted to all the details of the speech and speaks to the audience. It becomes unproductive if the speaker memorizes the speech and recites it to the audience. This can be disastrous as forgetting a sentence or a key word can halt the speech or make the speaker stammer. This method is good as the speaker is seen as a genius and admired by the audience especially when he is familiar with the topic and gives the speech at the spur of the moment.

· Deliver Your Speech: Delivery of a speech is the presentation of a speech by using your voice and body to reinforce your message. Delivery is very important in this last stage of speech delivery. This involves both the verbal voices and nonverbal languages. Thus, your voice in terms of the volume, rate and articulation or pronunciation and body action (eye contact, face expression, gestures, posture and movements are all inclusive of personal delivery,

Your voice is your major tool in delivering of your message. Use your vocal volume and rate articulation and pronunciation to reinforce your message.

· Volume: This refers to your voice intensity (loudness or softness). Use an adequately controlled voice.

· Rate: The speed at which we speak is important. If your rate is too slow your listener’s thoughts will wonder and if your rate is too fast, you deprive them of the time they need to digest what you are saying.

· Articulation and Pronunciation: This is the different movement of the tongue, lips, teeth, roof of the mouth, palate and vocal cords which produce different sounds. Pronunciation refers to the production of syllables according to same acceptable standards.

Body action is also important in speech delivery and the most important aspects include eye contact, facial expression, gestures& postures, movement

· Eye contact: This is the maintained and meaningful contact with eyes with persons in the audience. Maintain eye contact with the audience. Involve all listeners in the public speaking engagement. Avoid confused looks and arying glances.

· Facial Expressions: Your facial expression must be relaxed, as excited or frowned ace can make or mar your speech.

· Gestures/Postures: Use this naturally. These are movements of the shoulders, hands, arms or head to emphasis your points. Use gestures naturally. They must be made above the venit and they must move out and away from the body.

· Movement: You use movement to emphasize a transition or to signal an important assumption, but of evidence or closely rehearsed argument.

VISUAL AIDS IN COMMUNICATION

Visual, also called multimedia-based presentation (MBE), is the combination of sound (audio) and visual aids in communicating a message to the audience in public speaking. It is a presentation where particular attention is paid to the audio and visual presentation of the material with the goal of improving comprehension and retention. Visual aids is the use of any visual tool or information to communicate a message to the audience in public speaking.

They often say that a picture is worth a thousand words. Adding a visual dimension to your presentation can make it look more vivid, graphic and professional-looking. Thus, used wisely visual aids can turn into a powerful tool that helps your listeners remember your speech, while allowing you to prove, reinforce and engage in your ideas. In summary, it is critical to choose visual aids that empower your message, stimulate and create an emotional response in your audience as well as work well in the physical settings of your presentation.

Tools Used for Visual Presentations

When public speakers talk about visual aids they usually intend one of the five communication power tools: flip charts, overhead projectors, slide shows, handouts and props.

· Flip Charts

Flip charts are one of the most commonly used visual supports in business presentations for briefing smaller, more informal groups of people. As the name implies, a flip chart is a large pad of paper on an easel which allows the speaker to illustrate or write down their ideas and then simply flip the used sheet of paper and start anew. Flip charts are quick, inexpensive, portable, universally understood communication tool that does not require electricity or hi-tech knowledge.

· Overhead projectors

Overhead projectors are similar in many respects to flipcharts. They are convenient, unpretentious, and can be ideal in transferring data for an audience-settings of 20 to 50 people. Many smaller companies and organizations are still using overhead projectors and transparencies in meetings and team-training workshops, though, this system is being largely replaced by LCD projectors and interactive whiteboards. If you are looking to impress your audience with something higher tech, slide shows will be your best bet.

· Slide shows

With the advent of computer programs like PowerPoint and Keynote it is now easier than ever to put together a professional looking slide show in just a couple of hours. A slideshow is a series of pictures, diagrams, maps and charts projected on to a screen. The main objective of a slide show is to reinforce the oral presentation and to ‘sell’ the message, the product or the company without being too aggressive. One of the biggest strengths of this communication tool is its universality. Whether you are presenting your idea to four hundred professionals or holding a weekly meeting for selected members of your team, you can still win greatly from weaving a slide show into your presentation.

· Handouts

Handouts are printed copies of notes and slides given to the listeners during or after the presentation. Handouts are often unjustly disregarded by many speakers even though they come in very handy, especially during lengthy business presentations that contain vast amounts of facts, figures and data. Quick and inexpensive to make, handouts allow your audience to follow your presentation, gain added information and even take it home with them.

· Props

A prop is an object used during the presentation to help illustrate or reinforce a point. Using a prop that relates to the content of the speech, can be an original way to create an atmosphere of surprise, draw people’s attention to the speaker and help people recall the point of your speech weeks and even months after the presentation.

Tips on using Visual Aids

· Prepare your visual ahead of time: There is a popular saying that a stich in time saves nine. Do not start prepping your slides, few minutes before the talk. It is a sign of irresponsibility; it can lead to a grave disappointment. Some members of the audience may get angry if they discover that your preparation is not adequate.

· Use Visual aids that are not too complicated: Too complicated audio visual will take much of your time and it may also be difficult for the audience to understand. Use those that are user-friendly and can drive home your points easily.

· Use Visual that are compatible with the environment of your presentation: If you to use slides, be sure that there is a projector or a LCD monitor for your projection.

· Master the use of aids very well before time: It will look irresponsible to be battling with the use of technological gadgets in the front of the audience. You need to have mastered how to use your audio-visual aids. They should aid your presentation and not hamper it.

· Be skillful in the use of the visual: You need to master how you will skillfully use the audio-visual, in such a way that you will still maintain all needed eyes contacts and gesticulation and you will not just be addressing your visual aids and not the audience.

· Prepare for hitches in the use of Visual: It is good always good to prepare for plan B. You need to ask yourself these kinds of questions:

What if the visuals did work? Will the speech still continues?

If the audio-visual suddenly develop fault on the spur of the moment, what can be done? Projectors develop faults. Laptops and projector may not connect and sometimes there may not be power supply, even where there is a generator.

Advantages

· Visual aids make presentation easy because they foster or promote understanding.

· They make the speech serious and colourful.

· They help the audience to concentrate. Audience do not just listen, they see things like graphs, read texts and look at pictures.

· Visual aids also help in making the speech more oraganised and systemic; the speaker spends time in preparing a well-structured talk.

· Audio gadgets can be used to amplify the voice and thereby help in making the speech a success.

· Visual helps in making the speech interesting.

Disadvantages

· Equipment failure: Audio or video conference gadget used can develop faults which could lead to messy situation

· Capital intensive: The gadgets are capital intensive. They are expensive to procure and maintain.

· Technical know How: Some of the gadgets may be difficult to operate. Hence may require a support technician which is additional cost.

· They can constitute nuisance if the speaker does not know how to use them.

· Source of distraction: Gadgets can be distraction if they are not properly used.

· Boredom: It much of visual material used at one time can result in boredom. It is useful only if it is effective. Considering that each public speaking situation varies, so it is important to know that all concepts may not be learned effectively through audio-visual.

· Time consuming: It requires a lot of time for the presenter to prepare presentation in order to have interactive session. Also, presenter’s valuable time may be lost in gaining familiarity with equipment.

· Some audience may feel reluctant to ask questions while the video or film is playing.

· Power Requirement: In rural areas where electricity is not always available, it is not feasible to use audio-visual aids that requires electricity.

Conclusion

It is clear that visual aids are important tools for teaching and learning process. It helps the teacher to present the lesson effectively. Students learn and retain the concepts better and longer duration. Use of aids improves students’ critical and analytical thinking. It helps to remove abstract concept through visual presentation. However, improper and unplanned use of those aids can have negative effect on the learning outcome.

Assignment

Write short note on each of the steps on public speaking

Quiz

Provide five advantages and five disadvantages of visual aids in public speaking

REFERENCES/ FURTHER READINGS

Burn, Elizabeth (2001). Public speaking and Professional Communication. English Journal, v91 n2 p51-53

Brian J(1994).An Easy Outlining public speaking. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, v8 n4 p475-82

WRITTEN PRESENTATION

Comprehension

Reading comprehension can be defined as the level of understanding of a passage or text. In other words, it is the ability to understand what we read. Students’ comprehension ability may be determined by their ability to:

recognize individual words in a passage or text,

group words into thought units, and

relate these thought units into meaningful sentences or paragraphs.

Students will be able to do the above and ultimately lead them to have a meaningful comprehension of a text at the following three distinct levels of comprehension:

· Factual Level that is reading the lines. Students may only be able to pick out the bare facts in the passage or text.

· Interpretative Level reading between the lines. At this level your can comprehend the meaning that is not expressed, but implied.

· Evaluative Level reading beyond the lines. This involves the evaluation of what is read through mental activities such as judging the authenticity of the materials, associating what s/ he has read with his/her present/past experiences.

Factors that Affect Reading Comprehension

Not all your students can read at the same speed level or comprehend what they read effectively. There is a need to help students develop their comprehension skills. In order to do this well, you must understand the factors that could affect reading comprehension. These factors include the following:

1.The kind of text used.: If a student is not familiar with words, concepts and experiences contained in the selected passage or text, comprehension will be affected.

2.Vocabulary: If there are too many difficult words and chunks in a passage or text that the students have not come across before or cannot infer their meaning from context, comprehension will be impaired.

3.Sentence length and paragraph formation: Studentsreading comprehension is often impaired when the passage or text is filled with lengthy sentences and paragraphs.

4.Limited intelligence: Generally, the intelligence level of your students can lead to their ability or inability to comprehend much.

5.Lack of developmental reading skills: Reading comprehension skills are based on earlier stages of reading development, which include oral reading and reading speed/fluency. Without developing these earlier skills, students most often continually focus on decoding letters and words instead of pursuing the progression to meaning and understanding.

Strategies for reading and Comprehending a Written Text

The following are useful strategies to aid students their reading comprehension.

· First Reading: have a general overview of the passage or text. Such an overview will help focus attention on the text.

Take note of the title. It may offer a clue to the content and purpose.

Read through the questions(if there are any).

Take note of the introduction as it often creates the atmosphere and provides the setting for what is to follow.

Take note of the conclusion. This may usually tie in with the main purpose or arguments of the writer.

· Re-examine the text and analyse in more detail.

At this stage the following should be noted:

Theme(s), ideas and issues

Context - cultural, historical and situational. These can affect the interpretation of the text.

Audience professional/general/students

Purpose to entertain/inform/persuade.

Style diction, imagery etc.

Question Types for Reading Comprehension

I. Literal/factual questions: Answers to this type of questions are generally found in the passage. Question formats include wh, such as who, what, why, when, etc

II. Technique questions This type examines the writer s style especially his/her use of language.

III. Questions about the writer s intended audience general public, adults, teenagers, specific group, political, professional etc

IV. Questions about the writer s purpose is it to entertain, amuse, inform, explain, criticize etc.

V. Interpretative/Inferential questions demand that students make inferences beyond the written text.

VI. Sentence analysis questions This type requires students to identify sentence types, clauses, phrases and state their functions.

VII. Vocabulary questionsgiving meaning of words using contextual clues andgiving the synonyms/antonyms of words.

Summary Writing

A summary is a shortened version of an original text. It states the main ideas and important details of the text with the same text structure of the original. It is a simplified condensed account of the original text.

Hints on Summarizing Skills

Summarizing requires comprehending, analysing and synthesising ideas ina passage or text. This is not just copying or blind lifting of statements in the passage. Students are expected to process the text in one form, make judgments about the ideas and restate the text in a new form. Students should take note of the following:

Summaries should be brief. Only main points are required.

Straight to the point. Eliminate all unnecessary information such as repetitions, explanations, descriptions and quotations.

Use your own words. This shows that you understand the text.

A summary is a reported statement. So, it should be written in the past tense and in reported speech.

Summary is different from a paraphrase.

Paraphrase: Paraphrasing is simply restating ideas in different words.

Summary: A summary is a shortened simplified version of an original text.

Summarization Strategies

A summarizing strategy is a set of procedures that you follow when doing a summary exercise. The type of summarization strategy to adopt depends on the length of the text. There are three types of summarization strategies and these are:

· The Paragraph Summarization Strategy: This strategy requires that you deal with only one paragraph at a time. You read the paragraph and then ask some questions to find the main idea and supporting details.

· The Section Summarization Strategy: This strategy focuses on students reading a multi-paragraph section that covers a topic. This is the type you will find in summary sections of external examinations such as WAEC, NECO and NABTEB.

· The Multi-Section Summarization Strategy: This type of summarization strategy is the type used in report writing, for example summarizing a prose text.

Summarization Process

There are five distinct steps in the summarizing process:

Step 1: Identifying the key points of the text: In most English prose forms, the key points of a text passage can be found in the first sentence of each paragraph. The final sentence of a text often contains valuable information and even at times the key points can also be found in the middle sentences.

Step 2: Paraphrasing key points at sentence level: Every successful summary is both an interpretation and a paraphrase. It is an interpretation because you must decide what parts of an original text are salient. It is a paraphrase since the wording of the selected key portions almost invariably differs from the original. Paraphrasing is an important part of the summarizing process because it allows you to adjust the text to the interests and reading level of a target audience. Use of synonyms is essential in this step. So, the need to develop your students’ vocabulary comes to play here.

Step 3: Transforming sentence-level paraphrases into reported speech: This is the simplest part of the summarizing process. It involves a mechanical transformation of text passages into the third person, past tense forms. This can be done by taking a wide range of sentences and transforming them into reported speech.

Step 4: Adding sequential markers: Sequential markers indicate which part of a passage comes first, next and last. Though short summaries may not need such markers, longer ones often do. Sequential markers include:

FirstNextThenIn additionIn the section

After thisFinallyLastlyMoreoverIn conclusion

Step 5: Creating an introductory sentence (Optional): Some extended summaries are complex enough to merit the addition of an introductory sentence at the head, which tells readers what the passage is about. E.g.: This is an article about.., This passage reflects the opinion of…, This story expresses the thoughts of…

Conclusion

Summarizing goes hand in hand with comprehension skills. With adequate practice, both skills will aid you in your studies and in your career. Being able to read and summarize would greatly aid you in teaching your students these very important skills

Assignment

List and describe the types of ques