Academic discipline in higher education are routinely called upon to explain and justify their role in the educational enterprises. The discipline of communication is fairly unique as it crosses our academic boundaries. “Communication is therefore the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing or using some other medium. Communication is a skill that you can learn. It is like riding a bike or typing. If you are willing to work at it, you can rapidly improve the quality of every part of it”. As a result, a need exists to provide rationale for the study of communication.
Competence in oral communication (listening & speaking) is perequisite to ones academic,personal and professional success in life. Indeed teachers delivers most instructions for classroom procedures orally to students. “Listening is the communication skills used most often in the assimilation of information and the most neglected in foreign language”.(Norris,1993). Anyone with ineffective listening (receptive) skills fail to absorb much of the material to which they are exposed.
Like many others, I would argue that communication is an important engine of the 21st century as daily life, including our work lives is shaped by the fact that we live in a smaller, more connected, more globalised world.
Communications enables us to learn about other cultures, strengthen social ties, create business and understand interpersonal relationships and facilitate exchange of information. Communication is fundamental on so many levels, it is important to study its mechanism so that we better understand it internal workings to give us a much broader understanding of the world around us, and of how we can influence it.
Moreover, to providing graduates with valuable, employment enhancing skills such as team work, critical thinking, analysis and problem solving skills, creating strong oral and written slills that can be used in their professional lives. John Powell quoted saying “communication work for those who work at it. Learning communication also give graduate individuals important insights in into the world than can broaden their horizon and concepts of the world.
Similarly, this aspect is rewarding enriching and also regarded by employers. Good communication skills would help one to be easily employed. As individual mature and becomes working adults, competence in communication continues to be essential skills which are required in most occupations. “Communication is everyones’ panacea for everything” by Tom Peters. Employers identify communication as one of the basic competencies everyone (graduates) should have, asserting the ability to communicate is valuable for obtaining employment and maintain job performances.
Besides, individuals and graduates who learn communication and afterwards look to finding employment in business sectors where their skills are needed to communicate with a client-base,advertising (marketing), graduates also find work in communication based industries such as broadcasting, online communication, politics and public relations. Paul J. Meyer said, “communication-the human connection-is the key to personal and career success”. Communication skills are also demanded in other business sectors including, information technology, financial services, healthcare, community organizations, to list a few.
In addition, learning communication can improve self-knowledge and self-perceptions because, most self knowledge comes to us through communication.
Communication also improves the way we see others. As communication is the way we meet others, we are able to develop and manage relationships and work effectively with them.
The communication discipline, being an essential component of the educational enterprise; from pre-school to adult education. “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care, for people will hear and be influenced by them for good or evil”. (Buddha). This article indicates that, communication education develops the whole person, improves the work of education, advances the interest of the society, bridges cultural difference and improves career and work of business. For these reasons, its important and recommends that communication curricula should be led and taught by specialist trained in the discipline and in department that are dedicated to the study of communication.
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