Page 364 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

352 | Model Question Papers

languages such as the language of the deaf or dumb. We can also assimilate symbolic
information by touch as in the case of Braille.

b. The same word is stressed differently depending on its grammatical status i.e., whether
it is being used as a noun/adjective or a verb. For a noun/adjective the stress is on the
first syllable and for a verb it is on the second. The change in accentual pattern is mani-
fested mainly by a shift in pitch prominence together with a related variation of quality.
The qualitative change takes the form of a reduction of the unaccented vowel of the first
element of the verbal form.
Noun/Adjective Verb
i. -absent ab-sent
ii. -conduct con-duct
iii. -perfect per-fect
iv. -object ob-ject

v. -record re-cord
Some exceptions like ‘limit’, ‘order’, re’mark’, ‘visit’, etc are accented on the same syl-
lable whether used as nouns or verbs.
c. Gestures represent a form of nonverbal communication. In human communication,
a communicator’s gestures are reliable indicators as to be the intensity of his or her
feelings. Gestures serve two functions:
i. They are reliable cues as to a communicator’s behavioural predispositions, whether
cooperative, defensive or hostile.
ii. They function to regulate interaction among group members. There are a number
of important types of gestures that communicate the communicator’s attitudes and
feelings at the moment of the gesture. Of the major types of gestures, the following
are particularly important: openness, evaluation, confidence, self-control, defen-
siveness, suspicion, secretiveness, and nervousness. The first four types of gestures
might be viewed as positive and the last three as negative gestures.
2. a. Kinesis means the specific meanings attached to nonverbal behaviour. Even in universal
human action of smiling and laughter, there are basic differences in the meaning
attached to such actions and the situations that causes them. For example, when two
persons meet in the west, the first thing they do is to shake hands as a matter of social
courtesy. In Asia when two persons meet, they embrace each other, or say namaste.
If the meaning attached to these nonverbal signs are not understood the very same
action can lead to misinterpretation and barriers in communication.

Kinesis can be divided into three major areas; prekinesis, microkinesis, and social-
kinesis. Prekinesis is concerned with the physiological aspects of bodily movements.

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