International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences

Vol-7, Issue-1; Jan-Feb, 2022

Journal Home Page Available: https://ijels.com/

Journal DOI: 10.22161/ijels

Peer-Reviewed Journal

LSRW Skills: A Way to Enhance Communication

Robins D. John

Assistant Professor of English, Mar Gregorios College of Law, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, India
Email: robinsdjohn@gmail.com

Received: 20 Nov 2021; Received in revised form: 27 Dec 2021; Accepted: 08 Jan 2022; Available online: 13 Jan 2022
©2022 The Author(s). Published by Infogain Publication. This is an open access article under the CC BY license
(https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Abstract— Communication is an essential component for social interaction and personal growth.
Communication is simply sharing information from one person to another. Four pillars of effective
communication are Listening, Speaking, Reading and Writing. The article focuses on the basics of
communication. It tries to delve deep into the various aspects of the communication process. Developing
the LSRW skills would help one to enrich the overall quality of their lives. This article assists the readers to
get acquaintance with the skills which are the key for building a better communication.
Keywords— Communication, Listening, Reading, Speaking and Writing.

“To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are you need to build a better communication. These four
all different in the way we perceive the world and use this skills will fetch you to become a better person in different
understanding as a guide to our communication with phases of one’s life.
others.”- Tony Robbins Listening Skill
The first and foremost skill for better
I. INTRODUCTION communication is that one needs to develop the skill of
Communication is the act of giving, receiving, listening. Listening is an art, where the listener pays
and sharing information. The word Communication is attention to what he/she hears. Listening is an active
derived from the Latin phrase, Communico or process of receiving a message and the ability to
Communicare, which means ‘to share’.Communication is comprehend what others are saying. If we pay a close
simply the act of transferring information from one person attention to the meaning of what we hear, we can say that
to another. Every communication involves at least one it’s an active listening. So, it requires a conscious practice
sender, a message and a recipient. A communication and active state in order to understand the matter being
therefore has three parts: the sender, the message, and the communicated and to give proper feedback to the message
recipient. A message or communication is sent by the or the information. According to International Listening
sender through a communication channel to a receiver, or Association, “Listening is an active process of receiving,
to multiple receivers. Communication means sharing of constructing meaning from, and responding to spoken and
information, messages, facts, feelings or ideas from one non-verbal messages”. Good listening requires patience
person to another. and a good state of mind. Good listening reduces
misunderstandings and leads to better problem-solving
The core Communicative skills are Listening,
skills. So, if a person receives carefully all the information
Speaking, Reading and Writing. To become an effective
given by the speaker, not only the words but also to his/her
communicator, one must achieve all these four skills.
body language, gestures, and non-verbal signs and if they
These skills enrich a person in all wakes of his life.
respond to the message that was being communicated we
Communication is the most important factor that helps to
can say that it’s an active listening.
build a better relationship with one another. Inorder to
show case what you are and what another person is saying,

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Robins D. John LSRW Skills: A Way to Enhance Communication

Some may be confused hearing to listening but communicated. They hastily conclude that the speaker
both are distinctive terms. Hearing is a passive activity; it is saying something else.
doesn’t require any kind of skill as in listening. Hearing is 4. Different Accent or Language Variety
just receiving some sounds to our ear drums. It can be
When a speaker uses different accent, which the
anything; the sound of vehicles, sound of TV, music or
listener feels hard to decipher is yet another important
anything.
barrier of listening. The accents we Indians use might
Stages of Listening be different from that of an American.
Listening involves six stages. They are; 5. Lack of interest towards the Speaker
1. Hearing/Sensing: This is the first step in the Some may have some issue with the person who
process of listening. In this stage, the listener delivers the message; this can pose as a major problem
receives certain sound wave which falls to the in listening to that message.
eardrum.
6. Physical Conditions
2. Recognizing/Understanding: After sensing the
sounds which falls to the eardrum, the listener The physical condition of the listener can create some
identifies the speech patterns. A deliberate kind of hindrance towards listening. This can be due
attempt is made by the listener to comprehend the to physical pain, exhaustion, noisy surroundings etc.
word or symbols that we hear. 7. Lack of concentration
3. Interpreting: In this stage the listener starts
Some listeners easily get distracted since they have
decoding the message. Listener stick on their
very poor listening skills.
beliefs, attitudes, values to decode the message.
4. Evaluating: After understanding what the speaker Techniques to be an Effective Listener
says, the listener assesses the quality of the Following are some of the important steps which can
message. enrich one to be an effective listener:
5. Responding: Here the listener reacts to the
1. Don’t interrupt the speaker unnecessarily
message. He/she shows his/her rejection or
2. Don’t talk while the speaker is talking
acceptance or understanding or confusion through
3. Take down lecture notes while dealing with
non-verbal, cues.
important topics
6. Remembering/Memorizing: The final stage of
4. Ask questions to yourself
listening. In this stage we retain the information
5. Establish a good eye contact with the speaker
for our future reference.
6. Don’t have a prejudiced mentality
Barriers to Listening
Speaking Skill
1. Uninterested Subject matter
Speaking is probably the language skill that most
This is one of the important barriers to listening. The language learners wish to ((deliver perfectly) perfect as
listener may not be interested towards the subject. soon as possible. Speaking is an interactive process where
This lack of interest can act as a hindrance towards information is shared, and if necessary, acted upon by the
listening. The speaker may not show any kind of listener. So, it’s important to develop both speaking and
attempt to decipher the idea, since he/she has no listening skills in order to communicate effectively.
interest towards the subject or content.
Speaking is regarded as the one of the core skills,
2. False/Forged Attention we learn as it helps us to share our thoughts feelings, ideas
Some listeners pretend that they are actively involved and emotions with others. Speaking skills can be further
in the process of listening, but he/she may be divided into formal and informal speaking skills, and we
preoccupied with something else. This is one of the use both types in different contexts in our life.
most common barriers to active listening. They act Informal speaking skills are the skills for
and make the speaker believe that they are attentively conversations with friends and family, helping us to form
listening. emotional connections. Formal speech, on the other hand,
3. Prejudiced Mentality/Premature Evaluation of the is necessary for workplaces, in presentations or for
Subject conversations with people you are not familiar with.
Before hearing or listening to the actual message,
some evaluate or judge the message being

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Robins D. John LSRW Skills: A Way to Enhance Communication

Reading Skill through a book to get an extract of the book it is called as

Reading is a process of looking at a series of skimming. When the skimming technique is used we only
written symbols and comprehending those symbols into look at the main headings, sub-headings or illustrations in
words, sentences and paragraphs. It’s a dynamic process to order to get the overall idea of the content.
which reader communicates with the text to construct Examples:
meaning. It involves our ability to read and understand the 1. Reading the daily newspaper
words, phrases and sentences. 2. Reading Brochures
Benefits of Reading Intensive Reading
1. Increases your vocabulary In depth reading for better understanding can be
2. Enhances your imagination called as intensive reading. Very close and minute details
3. Expands your knowledge will be included in intensive reading. When you prepare
4. Stimulates your brain for an examination we thoroughly examine the minute
5. Improves your memory and focus aspects, that is each and everything discussed in the book
6. Strengthens your writing skills for better understanding. It is important for you to
7. Helps you to relax and lowers your stress understand each word, information or fact.
Micro-skills in Reading Examples:
Micro-skills are the basics skills which are specific 1. When you prepare for an examination you have to
competencies for communicating effectively with others. read intensively for better understanding the
One needs to acquire micro-skills that would help one in concepts or theories.
the process of reading. Some of them are mentioned
below: 2. While signing any contract or insurance policy we
1. Understanding the meaning of each words make a careful reading.
2. Comprehending the meaning of unfamiliar words Extensive Reading
from the context.
Extensive reading is used to obtain a general
3. Mastering the basic grammatical units
understanding of a text or subject. It is mainly used to get
4. Phonological awareness
some pleasure out of reading that is reading for external
5. Orthographic knowledge
purpose. So reading for pleasure to get the main theme of
Sub-skills of Reading the content can be called as extensive reading. Reading
Learners need to understand different styles of reading Novels is the best example of extensive reading.
which suits different purposes. For equipping you as an Writing Skill
efficient reader, you need to understand the sub-skills of
Writing skills are an important part of
reading. They are:
communication. Good writing skills allow you to
1. Scanning communicate your message with clarity and ease to a far
2. Skimming larger audience than through face-to-face or telephone
3. Intensive Reading conversations.
4. Extensive Reading
Steps for Writing:
Scanning
For developing one as a better writer he/she needs to
When a person search for a particular acquaint with certain steps they are:
information, word or phrase it can be called as scanning. It
1. Selection of Topic
is used to find a specific piece of information. For
example, while referring a word in a Dictionary we are The very basic step of writing content is to choose and
adopting the technique of scanning. decide a topic on which you want to write. You can select
any topic as you wish according to your convenience. But
More Examples
you need to have a clear understanding of the topic in
1. Reading the Newspaper for the Tvprogrammes which you want to write about.
2. Referring to a Telephone directory
2. Collection of Information
Skimming
After selecting the topic, the next step is to research as
Skimming is used to quickly gain the overall idea much as possible and to collect valid information
of a passage, book or anything you read. When you skip regarding the topic. Collect all the thoughts, ideas,

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Robins D. John LSRW Skills: A Way to Enhance Communication

information related to it. Most importantly, research the [6] What is Speaking? (n.d.). Retrieved from
concerning audience and try to find what they want. https://www.englishclub.com/speaking/what-is-
Identify the main theme of the content. Make sure that speaking.htm
[7] 2011-2021, (. C. (n.d.). Writing Skills. Retrieved from
your points are related to main topic.
https://www.skillsyouneed.com/writing-skills.html
3. Organization of Content
The next step is to organize them in a proper order.
Creating an outline of the write up helps in appropriately
organizing the content. This can help in the meaningful
conveyance of your topic.
4. Writing
This is the thrust area for a writer. The choice of words,
the division of the paragraphs, the use of headings or
subtitles, facts, and figures create a huge impact on the
reader’s mind. Also, try to put the cause and effect, or
comparison and contrast, or problem and solution style of
writing.
5. Revision
Don’t think that the first write up is the final one, as you
need to revise your content through constant reading. You
can make addition or deletion, or else you can rearrange
your subject matter.
6. Editing and Proof Reading
Once you finish your writing, the next step is editing,
formatting, and proof-reading. For instance, check for
spelling, grammar, punctuation, voices, speech, and
sentence formation, and other errors.
7. Final Draft
This is the last step in writing. Once, the document is ready
it is the time for printing or publishing or putting it on a
website for readers.

REFERENCES
[1] Das, Mohan &Gopakumar, R. (2015). English Language
Skills For Communication I. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press.
[2] International Listening Association - Home. (n.d.).
Retrieved from http://www.listen.org/
[3] Kumar, Sanjay &LataPushp. (2011). Communication skills.
New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
[4] Schwantes, M. (2019, June 14). Here's Tony Robbins'
Advice on How to Dramatically Improve Your
Communication Skills. Retrieved from
https://www.inc.com/marcel-schwantes/heres-tony-robbins-
advice-on-how-to-dramatically-improve-your-
communication-skills.html
[5] Steps for Writing: Writing Skills with Six Steps of ... (n.d.).
Retrieved from https://www.toppr.com/guides/business-
correspondence-and-reporting/introduction-to-basic-
writing/steps-for-writing/

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