Section
Communication Studies

MORE ABOUT COMMUNICATION

Communications StudentsBasic Communication

Communication is a learned skill. Most people are born with the physical ability to talk, but we must learn to speak well and communicate effectively. Speaking, listening, and our ability to understand verbal and nonverbal meanings are skills we develop in various ways. We learn basic communication skills by observing other people and modeling our behaviors based on what we see. We also are taught some communication skills directly through education, and by practicing those skills and having them evaluated.

The Academic Discipline

Communication as an academic discipline relates to all the ways we communicate, so it embraces a large body of study and knowledge. The communication discipline includes both verbal and nonverbal messages. A body of scholarship all about communication is presented and explained in textbooks, electronic publications, and academic journals. In the journals, researchers report the results of studies that are the basis for an ever-expanding understanding of how we all communicate.

"It is estimated that 75% of a person’s day is spent communicating in some way."

Communication teachers and scholars have developed a definition of the field of communication to clarify it as a discipline for the public. That definition is now used by the U.S. Department of Education in its national publication, Classification of Instructional Programs, 2000:   “The field of communication focuses on how people use messages to generate meanings within and across various contexts, cultures, channels, and media. The field promotes the effective and ethical practice of human communication.”

Why is Communication Important?

Oral communication has long been our main method for communicating with one another. It is estimated that 75% of a person’s day is spent communicating in some way.   A majority of your communication time may be spent speaking and listening, while a minority of that time is spent reading and writing.  These communication actions reflect skills which foster personal, academic, and professional success.

The National Communication Association www.natcom.org collected and annotated nearly 100 articles, commentaries, and publications, which call attention to the importance of the study of communication in contemporary society. Themes in the bibliography provide support for the importance of communication education to: the development of the whole person; the improvement of the educational enterprise; being a responsible citizen of the world, both socially and culturally; and, succeeding in one’s career and in the business enterprise.