Meaning and Methods of Communication for Academic Purposes

This article introduces you to communication for academic purposes which is otherwise referred to as scholarly communications. There are different forms of communication as you are already aware. Communication for academic purposes has its tenets and principles.

 It is imperative to understand what is expected of you as part of your training and preparation to be a scholar. This article brings to you the basics of communication for academic purposes.

What is Communication for Academic Purposes?

As a student, it is not difficult to understand the relevance of communication in your academic pursuits. Communication is the heart and the lifeblood of every academic journey. Effective communication skills are tied to academic success. 

Studies show that poor listening skills contribute significantly to students‘ failure in their first year at the university. Also, students who take a communication course report more confidence in their communication abilities, and these students have higher grade point averages and are less likely to drop out of school. 

Much of what you do in your academic pursuits whether it is interpersonal interactions with your coursemates and lecturer, individual or group presentations, or listening is essential in building or adding to a foundation of excellent communication skills and knowledge that you can carry through to other contexts (Zabava & Wolvin, 1993). 

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Different settings require different communication modes that tally with the environment. When you interact with your friends and colleagues in the class, you are more informal than when you interact with your lecturers. 

Academic communication or often known as scholarly communication refers to methods of communication that are highly structured and generally used in educational settings. Academic communication is sometimes used to refer to the ways in which information, ideas, or reports are distributed among scholars. 

You can find academic information disseminated in such places as scientific journals, newsgroups, online course management systems, and research libraries (Learn.org, 2019).

The prevalent and permeating use of the Internet in every sector of society has also influenced academic communications. The information and technology of the 21st century have facilitated significant advances in academic communications. 

It has widened the avenue and dynamics of sharing scholarly information globally. Similarly, it has also introduced complications and complexities in safeguarding academic outputs. 

The connectedness to one another has increased the risk of plagiarism as much as monitoring plagiarism has become easier. Therefore, proper acknowledgment of sources is a major adjunct to academic communications.

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One of the values of this course is to expose you to what is required in academic communications; it is designed to equip you with the ways academics communicate and learn to improve your communication skills. 

It is imperative to learn how to write in a formal and scholarly tone to captivate your readers who could be any member of the academic community. Scholarly communications require high-level communication skills. 

The core academic activities of educational institutions such as research papers, reports, book reviews, literature reviews, term papers, thesis, and general academic arguments require formulating your ideas and disseminating them to very high standards. Therefore, there is no substitute for learning how to communicate academically.

In the course of your studies, you will be expected to write essays, research reports, and theses, and give presentations on a variety of areas. 

This is not going to be easy. The process of developing a thesis proposal, preparing term papers, presenting research proposals or reports, building a logical argument, and following bibliographic citations are aimed at building your skill for academic communications. 

It may be tedious, rigorous, and demanding but helpful in preparing you to join the scholarly community.

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