Language in Use 253-254
This unit is concerned with the ways in which people have to communicate with
each other if the life of society is to be maintained. It explores 'channels
of communication' at various levels from small family situations to large organisations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] The aim of this session is to consider patterns of communication immedi ately familiar to a class as they occur in the family and the locality. The object is to draw from the class a large body of examples from their own experience, so that they can together build up a picture of how important information is passed around a family or a community. Ask the class how news of such things as births, weddings, deaths and legacies is communicated within their own families. Then move on to consider the various ways in which news is spread in the locality about such matters as jumble sales, local dramatic society productions, selection for local teams or emergencies of different kinds. As the discussion proceeds, build up on the board a picture of all the different ways of communicating known to the class, within both family and community.
[2] The aim of this session is to explore the way in which a school might handle the following problem: on the day before term starts, a sudden emergency makes it impossible to re-open the school and members of the school, their parents, the teaching staff and domestic staff, and local firms who supply goods, have to be informed that the beginning of term has been postponed for two days. How can this be done? Divide the class into small groups and ask each to work out a solution. In the subsequent discussion, consider what would be the most, and the least, effective ways of dealing with the problem, and how these exploit the available means of communication. A further question is whether the most effective way would be ruled out on grounds of cost.
[3] Working again in small groups, the class should consider a problem
such as the following: the head of a large firm, whose offices are spread over
a wide area geographically, needs to get an important piece of information to
every member of the firm. A suitable matter would be news of a take over involving
redundancy or a readjustment of pay scales. Each group should prepare an appropriate
letter, or news bulletin, or notice-board announcement. Circulate the results
and focus the subsequent discussion upon such points as
(a) how is the actual message from head office to reach every member of the
firm and what means could be used to convey it?
(b) what problems are raised b), the very varied nature of the audience and
their correspondingly different attitudes towards the
message
(c) what scope is there for misinterpretation as the message gets passed down
the line?
The aim of this session is to draw upon all the work so far for a general class
discussion about the role of communications in giving an identity to a social
group and enabling it to be maintained, whether that group is a family, a community,
or a large organisation. Consider such points as:
(a) the relative importance of different ways of communicating for groups of
different kinds
(b) the relative roles played by spoken and written language in maintaining
the identity of social groups
(c) the question of size and its effects upon what ways of communicating can
be used for what kinds of messages.
The discussion could go on to consider what would happen to family, firm or community if different ways of communicating suddenly ceased to be available, as happens during a war, or a strike, or as a result of natural disasters.
The work of this unit can usefully be extended in a business or commercial studies setting by simulating a situation in which, for example, a small business moves to a new location about 100 miles away, or is taken over by a larger firm. By allocating roles, such as managing director, personnel manager, etc., practice may be given in the kind of letter, memo and notice that might have to be written in the course of the operation.