For 1st year undergraduate courses in communication and communication skills
Communication: A Foundation Course 2e is a broad-based text covering most aspects of communication. It provides students with the skills and knowledge to communicate their ideas and thoughts effectively through written, oral and electronic means.
The central thread of the text is task and audience analysis which is central to effective communication and stresses how communication permeates all aspects of our society.
Each of the six major parts of the book deals with different aspects of communication, and enhances the learning experience with end of chapter Review Questions and Exercises, to help cement the concepts and theories being taught.
Part I: Communication Overview
1. Why study communication?
2. What is communication theory?
Part II: Written and Electronic Communication
3. Electronic communication
4. Effective writing skills
5. Letters, memos and email
6. Extended writing essays and reports
Part III: Oral Communication
7. Oral presentations/speeches
8. Interviews
Part IV: Problem-solving, Decision-making and Persuasion
9. Decision-making strategies
10. Persuasion
11. Clear thinking, logic and argumentation
Part V: Interpersonal and Professional Communication
12. Nonverbal communication
13. Interpersonal communication
14. Group communication
15. Organisational communication
Part VI: Communication Problems and Solutions
16. Barriers
· Practical exercises are now provided for each chapter to help the learning process.
· What is communication theory? (Chapter 2) extends the discussion of communication theory to an application of theory
· Electronic communication (Chapter 3) contains new material on Web services and SMS messaging.
· Extended writing essays and reports (Chapter 6) contains new material on topic analysis, evaluative reading and essay writing so students can maximise their chances of academics success.
· Oral presentations/speeches (Chapter 7) has been expanded to include material on seminar presentations.
· Nonverbal communication (Chapter 12) contains material on Haptics giving students a chance to understand and discuss the touch as a form of nonverbal communication.
· Interpersonal communication (Chapter 13) now contains material on emotional intelligence and intrapersonal communication to enable a better understanding of these important communication areas.
· Group communication (Chapter 14) has an extended discussion of group dynamics to include dysfunctional communication.
· Organisational communication (Chapter 15) addresses organisational culture and includes major issues such as bullying and corruption, allowing students the opportunity to discuss these current communication issues.
· Barriers (Chapter 16) has been expanded to include additional discussions of physical barriers, intercultural barriers and barrier management strategies, giving students a more in-depth grounding in this area.
· Chapter Objectives outline the steps and ideas that are going to be discussed in each chapter.
· Review Questions are provided to give students a chance to reassess and reanalyse the skills they have just acquired.
· End of chapter Summaries clearly and simply discuss the outcomes and ideas that were discussed within each chapter.
· End chapter Key Points sections list the major areas of interest and importance touched upon in each chapter.
Dr Shirley Tyler is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Humanities and International Studies in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Southern Queensland. She has been involved for many years in developing, co-ordinating and teaching foundation communication courses at universities in New South Wales and Queensland.
Mr Chris Kossen is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Southern Queensland. He has a Graduate Diploma in Further Education and Training with Distinction and has been awarded the Faculty of Education Prize (USQ) for outstanding performance.
Ms Charmaine Ryan is Associate Head of Department, Division of Information Systems in the Faculty of Business at the University of Southern Queensland