Communication skills such as being an active listener and being able to interpret nonverbal communication cues are essential for effective communication.
One universal barrier to active listening is the socio-cultural barrier which includes accent difference, value difference and gender difference. After entering NUS, the number of international students I have met greatly increased and this has allowed me to interact and observe the difference between them and the Singaporeans. I have had the most experience with the Malaysians Chinese. They generally speak mandarin in a different accent and sometimes it can be hard to understand what they are trying to convey.
That is when nonverbal communication cues come in handy, though not always accurate but it presents rough ideas to understanding the communicator. From the gestures, postures, tension, face and eyes of a person can actually gives us information about him/her such as telling us if he/she is comfortable with us or is confidently speaking and also many other characteristics.
Each time we meet new people, the experience will be different. It is very important to know how to approach different people cautiously as all of us are different in terms of race, beliefs, culture and personalities etc. This would reduce unnecessary conflicts due to miscommunication and also ensures good impression set upon to others. Good communication is not only important to meeting new people, but it is also important to communicate effectively with our family and friends. Maintaining good relationships with our loved ones are definitely the key to a blissful life as these are the people that will always be there for us!
Effective communication will also aid me greatly in my career life as knowing how to present myself and conveying clear messages to my future job interviewers would assist me in getting my desired job. Besides, having effective communication skills in my workplace will allow smooth flow of messages put across to others, thus ensuring work efficiency.
Hence, developing effective communication skills is crucial to our everyday life. I hope to improve in my communication skills through this course not just by knowing the theory but also putting these skills into practical use.
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I like this post, Sze Hui. You explain the importance of effective communication skills well, and you introduce information that I'm not familiar with. For instance, you say that the Mandarin of Malaysian Chinese students is quite different form that of Singaporeans. (I'd like to know what our Malaysian Chinese classmates feel about that.) Of course, I wonder why. How could such a general statement be true when Malaysia is so close geographically to Singapore?
ReplyDeleteWhatever the case, you use that example to make the argument that nonverbals then become important. Yes indeed. But even when we do speak the same language in the same way, those nonverbals are vital, right?
Thank you for this thought-provoking post.
Hi Brad, I guess I was too careless with my examples. It was through some experience with a few Malaysian Chinese in which I made a general conclusion. What I meant was that they do not learn Mandarin in the schools of Malaysia and are not able to read a lot in Mandarin or speak fluently and hence in some way their spoken Mandarin is a bit harder for me to grasp(although maybe it is because my Mandarin is not very good).
ReplyDeleteI agree that nonverbals are vital regardless of language difference,race and background etc.
Anyway, thanks for reading and giving comment!
Hey Sze!
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned that every time we meet someone new, it is a different experience! Because it is so true! We form impressions we have on others just by observing their nonverbal (or verbal) expressions and that causes us to communicate with them in various ways. However, at the same time, they are too forming impressions of us just by the way we look, talk, dress of move!
It is therefrom important as you mentioned that we are well aware of our surroundings and the person we are approaching so that we make sure we don't send out the wrong signals to offend others.
It sure takes a lot of understand someone who speaks or sounds different from what we are used to hearing doesn't it? But it not only takes time for you to try to listen intently to understand what he or she is saying, but for the person himself to either slow down or help explain what he is saying with actions, just like how we learnt in class! Like you, I've met new people with different accents and way of speech upon entering Uni, but that makes the whole experience even more exciting and enjoyable!
Hi Sze Hui,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the accent of Malaysian Chinese is different from Singaporean because a lot of Singaporean told me that when I speak Chinese, all of them will know that I am from Malaysia. Frankly speaking, sometimes I also hardly understand Singaporean Mandarin as some of the Chinese pronunciation is different from what I learn. Besides that, I feel that Singaporean tend to use Hokkien which I do not understand during speaking mandarin.
I know that non verbal communication plays an important role in conveying messages but sometimes misinterpretation of non verbal communication may also cause miscommunication. To avoid this type of problem, that's why we are here to learn effective communication!!!!=)
I feel that it is true that there is different experience when we meet new people as different people have different pattern of communication and need to take into consideration of cultures, races, personalities etc to avoid conflict. However, I think that during the first meeting of new people, there is a common pattern to communicate with them as we do not know them well. Thus, in this case, effective communication is crucial.
Lastly, I have the same feelings as you that effective communication play important roles in our future career. To me, effective communication can aid me in resume and curriculum vitae so that can leave good impression to employers. Besides that, effective communication can also help me minimize the conflict among colleagues. So, I have the similar thought as you!!!!!=)
Really hope that I can know more about throughout the module and we have fun experience in this semester. Take care and see you on Monday!!!!!=)