communication

An Appraisal of Organizational Communication and Job Satisfaction Among Academic Staff in Akwa Ibom State University (Published)

This study appraised organisational communication and job satisfaction among academic staff in Akwa Ibom State University. The objectives of the study were ascertain the organisational communication flow pattern prevalent in Akwa Ibom State University, assess the extent to which the organisational communication policy/structure affected job satisfaction among academic staff of Aksu, find out the barriers to effective organisational communication flow and job satisfaction among academic staff of Aksu, determine from the perception of academic employees whether the organisational communication flow in their institution help to guarantee job satisfaction. The study adopted the survey research design, with questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. The population of the study comprise subjects who are academic staff of Aksu. The academic staff strength of Aksu stands at 488. The sample size for the study was determined at 10% systematically drawn from the population. The study which was anchored on the theory of transactional process and modern organaisational theory revealed that majority of respondents 25 (57%) were of the opinion that the prevalent communication flow pattern that management uses in communicating with academic staff in Aksu is vertical downward communication, furthermore, majority of respondents 24 (55%) agreed that organisational communication policy and structure greatly influence job satisfaction. This implies that policy and structure on job satisfaction. Majority of respondents 20, 10 (30) representing 45%, 23% (68%) were not satisfied with the present patterns of communication flow to enhance their job satisfaction. It was recommended that management of Aksu should encourage the use of upward communication. That is communication from the subordinates to those at the top, usually for the purpose of asking questions, providing feedback and making suggestions in order to improve morale and attitude of academic staff, management of Aksu should trust their academic staff and encourage them to participate effectively in decision making.

Keywords: Appraisal, communication, job satisfaction academic staff., organisational communication

Patterns of communication flow and organizational effectiveness in Local Government Councils in Nigeria (Published)

This study examined pattern of communication flow and organizational effectiveness of Uyo and Etim Ekpo local government council in Nigeria. The objectives of the study were Ascertain the pattern of communication flow prevalent in Uyo and Etim Ekpo Local Government council in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Assess the extent to which communication policy and organizational structure affected the communication flow patterns in Local Government Council, determine the extent to which communication flow pattern in Uyo and Etim Ekpo Local Government council enhances organizational/effectiveness, find out the barriers to effective communications flow and organizational effectiveness in Uyo and Etim Ekpo Local Government Council, determine the extent of employee satisfaction with the pattern of communication flow in Uyo and Etim Ekpo Local Government Council in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. The research design adopted for the study was survey with questionnaire and interview schedule as instrument of the study. The population of the study comprised subjects who are staff of the select local government councils. The staff strength of the two local government councils  stands  at 1,876, with Etim Ekpo Local Government having a staff strength of 424 while Uyo Local Government Council has 1,452 as at the time of this study according to the Akwa Ibom State, National Bureau of Statistics. The sample size of 187 for this study was determined using 10% systematically drawn from the population of each local government. Findings reveals that majority of respondents 75 (42%) agreed that the prevalent communication pattern was vertical (Downward communication). That is communication from top to bottom (management to subordinates). Furthermore majority of respondents 120 (70,50) representing 67% (39, 28%) were of the opinion that communication flow pattern enhances organizational effectiveness to a very great extent and a great extent respectively. This implies that communication flow enhances organizational effectiveness among other findings. It was recommended that the administrators of Uyo and Etim Ekpo local government council in consonance with local government service commission should look into their communication pattern and improve it. The extent of use of communication should be increased to further foster organizational effectiveness. Staff should be trained regularly to overcome the barriers to effective communication which are lack of proper planning, organizational barriers, semantic barriers, noise, poorly expressed messages, poor listening and distrust.

Keywords: Communication Flow, Organizational effectiveness, communication, local government councils, pattern of communication

Contributions of Various Kenyan Personalities in Communicating Change For Transformative Community (Published)

In spite of relatively stable governance and a hard working population, Kenya is rated among the countries with wide income disparities. Extreme and chronic poverty has not been eliminated even after fifty years of development efforts, that is, since the country gained its independence in 1963. In mitigating the adverse effects of these inequalities, communication is considered an essential tool for transformation through which essential thoughts in the minds of the people aimed at transformation are nurtured and shared. The purpose of this study was to identify the contributions made by various Kenyan personalities whose life experiences are shared in this paper, in communication change for a transformative society. The study displays how the select Kenyans engaged with the people and got them involved in transforming their community. A qualitative research design was adopted to select ten Kenyans to share their life experiences through in-depth interviews that were used by the author to gather data. Data analysis focused on the participants’ narratives on the aspect of their personal contributions and how they got the community working towards sustainable change. The study also recommends development of an African Communication Theory on what motivates communicative acts that lead to societal transformation.

Keywords: Change, Community, Contributions, Kenya, Transformation, communication

Ethnography Of Communication – A Study of Just Lather, That’s all (Published)

Ethnography of Communication is a novel approach that relates language with the cultural norms, values and the speaking rules that are specific to a particular speech community. Duranti (1997)¹ defines Ethnography as follows:” Ethnography is the written description of the social organization, social activities, symbolic and material resources, and interpretive practices characteristic of a particular group of people”. A number of scholars including Dell Hymes (1962)² Sherzer (1983)³, Hill and Hill (1986)⁴ and Saville-Troike (2003)⁵ worked in the framework of ethnography of communication. Though the studies made by all ethnographers generally focus on the spoken language in a community, it is possible to extend the above frameworks to the analysis of short stories in view of the fact that many short stories are not merely narratives from a third person point of view but involve dialogues between characters. Often the speech patterns, expressions, motivations and the logical deductions they make are in conformity with the particular society they belong to. In particular, the SPEAKING Model evolved by Dell Hymes (1974)⁶ is found to be highly adaptable to the analysis of short stories.

Keywords: Characters, Conflict, Culture, Just Lather, Language, communication

The Occupy Moment: Hong Kong Student Movement in Korea and the Function of Social Media (Published)

With the diffusion of social network sites and applications, social media have become one of the most popular Internet (communication) services. Most of the information exchange that occurs on these social networking sites is not only personal information or entertainment, but also new ways to stimulate citizen engagement in politics because of the fast flowing of videos and news reports. They are incorporating more political issues and public affairs into these social media platforms. The ‘Umbrella Movement’, which triggered global attention, is a typical case that illustrates the importance of social media in the social movement. During the entire 2014 campaign, social media and social media platforms played a key role in providing students a new way to obtain immediate information from different perspectives and allowing some student leaders to announce strategies or directions to other students or participants in the movement. In an era when students’ time and attention are increasingly directed towards social media and social media platforms such as Facebook and YouTube, these platforms allow students to obtain political information without needing the intermediate role of mass media. Reactions, feedback and conversations generated online are stimulating and facilitate social participation.

Keywords: Facebook, Internet, Netizens, Social Movement, communication

Technicality of Translation Appears In the Competence of the Translator (Published)

This paper investigates the Technicality of Translation Appears in the Competence of the Translator. Technicality of Translation Appears in the Competence of the Translator. A competency is a set of defined behaviors that provide a structured guide enabling the identification, evaluation and development of the behaviors in individual employees. Translators always risk inappropriate spill-over of source-language idiom and usage into the target-language translation. Terminology can be considered the surface appearance of relevant domain concepts. Candidate terminological expressions are usually captured with shallow techniques that range from stochastic methods to more sophisticated syntactic approaches.

Keywords: Competence, Language, communication, translation

The Influence of Drama and Its Repercussions on the Vulnerable Community (Published)

This study sought to discover the Influence of Drama and its Repercussions on the vulnerable communities. Drama represents an ideal method of work if Dramatists want to put the meaning for people into a sizeable context. Unlike in guided practice, people are involved in real communication while they activate language to communicate real meaning, rather than just practicing language and thus develop their communicative competence in a natural way, using body language, making pauses and interruptions, showing emotions, and creating relationships. Drama techniques have the singular merit of directly engaging People’ feelings and, as a result, often making them aware of the need to be able to express them appropriately.

Keywords: Community, Drama, Drama Techniques, Language, communication

LANGUAGE, USE COMMUNICATION AND TERRORISM IN NIGERIA: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE (Published)

It is a fact that no other issue has occupied the centre stage of global discourses in recent times more than terrorism and its attendant counter. It is also a fact that the dominant strategy adopted against terrorism so far, and in the recent times is military action. Surprisingly however, just as terrorism has caused severe destruction to lives and property, just as it has dangerously threatened global peace and security, it is an observable fact that the adoption of military action against terrorism has always led to almost equal level of devastation within the affected territories. Thus, the search for an alternative strategy that can address the scourge, with minimal devastative consequences has become very necessary. The aim of this paper is to examine how effective use of language and other communication tools could be harnessed in this regard. The paper holds that terrorism is a product of loss of trust, mutual suspicion, betrayal, deceit among other factors. It is a reactionary mechanism for settling scores. The paper therefore, asserts that effective use of language holds great panacea towards engendering mutual trust and peaceful co-existence, and by extension, also, holds the potential to forestalling terrorism. The paper has adopted as its theoretical background, Critical Discourse Analyses. It is a relevant linguistic framework that seeks to analyse how language captures the power play in human co-existence. Furthermore, the paper has been segmented into internally related sub-headings for clarity and orderly presentation. The paper in its conclusion does not rule out the need for military action as option to counter terrorism. It however submits that there is need to look beyond military action for further solution, especially from the point of view of avoiding terrorism instead of fighting terrorism

Keywords: Critical Discourse, Language, Nigeria, Terrorism, communication

PROSPECTS OF INTERNET TECHNOLOGY IN NEWS PRODUCTION: A STUDY OF VOICE OF NIGERIA AND NIGERIA TELEVISION AUTHORITY (Published)

This research work looked at the influence of the internet in news production with a focus on the Voice of Nigeria and Nigeria Television Authority. The objectives of this study were to determine how accessible internet is to workers of the media houses under study and to ascertain how often the internet is used in news production in these media houses. This study employed the survey method, 50 copies of questionnaire were distributed to newsroom workers of the selected media houses. From this research, it was discovered that most journalists are aware of the use of the internet and subsequently embrace it in their news gathering efforts. Also, the journalists, attested to the fact that internet has improved the speed of news production in their organisation, supporting the finding that majority of news room officials in the studied media houses get their reports through the internet on a daily basis.

Keywords: Internet, News Production, Technology, communication

Prospects of Internet Technology in News Production: A Study of Voice of Nigeria and Nigeria Television Authority (Review Completed - Accepted)

This research work looked at the influence of the internet in news production with a focus on the Voice of Nigeria and Nigeria Television Authority. The objectives of this study were to determine how accessible internet is to workers of the media houses under study and to ascertain how often the internet is used in news production in these media houses. This study employed the survey method, 50 copies of questionnaire were distributed to newsroom workers of the selected media houses. From this research, it was discovered that most journalists are aware of the use of the internet and subsequently embrace it in their news gathering efforts. Also, the journalists, attested to the fact that internet has improved the speed of news production in their organisation, supporting the finding that majority of news room officials in the studied media houses get their reports through the internet on a daily basis.

Keywords: Internet, News Production, Technology, communication