Significance OF Homophily & Heterophily IN COMM Skills BY Gordon Gyasi Yeboah AR-TCS-14-0005 PDF

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A DISCUSSION OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF HOMOPHILY AND HETEROPHILY IN TEACHING COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS IN ENGLISH - GORDON GYASI YEBOAH

ABSTRACT The popular adage” birds of the same feathers flock together” is indeed true within our school setup .Undeniably; people with similar characteristics would prefer working together. This attests to another popular axiom, show me your friend and let me tell you your character. Nevertheless, there are those who prefer learning something new from those with dissimilar characteristics. That is, “love of the dissimilar.” These two maxims; “birds of feathers” and “love of dissimilar” brings to bear the homophilous and Heterophilous communication network within our classroom setup. This makes the concepts significant to the teaching of Communicative Skills in several ways. It enhances an effective communication to take place; ensure adequate preparations and an application of varying teaching methodologies; promotes interpersonal and intercultural communication; informs the designing of the Communicative Skills syllabus/curriculum and promotes teamwork and innovations. All these create an enabling and a conducive learnerfriendly classroom interaction. In this paper, I have discussed the significance of homophily and heterophily in the teaching of Communicative skills in English.

INTRODUCTION Communication has to do with the exchange of information signals or messages between people. Good communication does not only require a more accepting attitude towards others but also, the ability to express yourself clearly and to listen accurately .People in organizations according to Dr. Lincoln M.M spend over 75% of their time in an interpersonal situation; thus it is no surprise to find that at the root of a large number of organizational problems is poor communication. Effective communication is an essential component of organizational success whether it is at the interpersonal, intergroup, intragroup, organizational, or external levels. The ability to communicate well is a critical managerial skill. Being able to put your ideas across in a concise, meaningful, interesting and influential way is fundamental to your success in organizational life. Effective communication requires that you express yourself in a clear and assertive way so that others will understand. The understanding of the nature of communication flows through interpersonal networks and is enhanced by the concepts of homophily and heterophily .The structure of who relays messages to whom is brought out in such a network analysis .Once you understand the communication process, you can begin to understand why communication does or doesn’t work .In an ideal communication situation, the message is perceived in the way it was intended. This paper seeks to look at the significance of these two concepts in teaching Communicative Skills in English.

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HOMOPHILY AND HETEROPHILY AND ITS SIGNIFICANCANCE IN TEACHING COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS IN ENGLISH The term homophily comes from two Greek words or prefixes “homo” and “philia” or “philos” which traces its etymology in the 1920’s in Greece .The term “homo” from the Greek translation means “same, the same ,equal, like, one or belonging to two or more jointly.” “Phlilia or philos” which means “affection, loving, friendship, fondness, tendency towards” and “abnormal attraction to” in modern times. From the Greek translation, it can be deduced that, homophily refers to people with the same trait with high tendency of friendship, love or affection for each other. Rogers, E.M., (1995) defines homophily as the transfer of ideas between two individuals who are similar in attributes such as social status, education, interests and beliefs. To him, when individuals share common meanings, the communication of new ideas is regarded as more likely, more effective and more rewarding. Rogers and Shoemaker in 197 postulated homophily as “affiliation or communication with similar person. “It follows the basic principle, the tendency of people in friendship pairs to be similar. Rogers and Bhowmilk, (1958) explain that, when a person is presented with a number of choices of individuals to interact with, there will be a tendency to choose individuals who are like themselves. The further suggest that, this is because, “more effective communication occurs when source and receiver are homophilous. “All these necessitated the coining of the term to the principle “birds of a feather flock together” or “love of the similar or likes attract.” These propelled McPherson, Smith-Living and Cook, (2001) to identify homophily in a variety of characteristics such as; gender, class, race, occupation and in range of social setting such as organizations, cultural communities and families. Heterophily on the other hand, originated from the Greek prefix “hetero” and “philia” in the same 1920’s to mean “other or different.” Deductively, it can be described as the degree to which pairs of individuals who interact are dissimilar or different in certain socio-economic attributes such as education, occupation, social status, culture or belief. Lazardsfeld and Merton, (1964) defined heterophily as the mirror opposite of homophily, as “the degree to which pairs of individuals who interact are different in certain attributes. “Rogers and Bhowmilk suggest that, heterophilous communication is far more effective when the source has greater empathy than the receiver. All these has made heterophily to gain the principle “love of the different” to mean, the tendency of individuals to collect in diverse groups or to share or exchange ideas with individuals who are different from themselves. This phenomenon is notable in successful organizations where the resulting diversity of ideas is thought to promote an innovative environment. The understanding of the nature of communication flows through interpersonal networks and enhanced by the concepts of homophily and heterophily.The structure of who relays messages to whom is brought out in such a network analysis. This network manifests itself in the teaching and learning process. This makes the concept homophily and heterophily significant in the teaching of Communicative skills in English. Below are five (5) outlined significance of homophily and heterophily in teaching Communicative Skills in English.

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To begin with, it enhances an effective communication to take place. An effective communication can be described as a communication process which is geared towards the achievement of the intended goals .By this ,it is understood that ,the receiver should understand the information as intended by the sender and should also perform the expected response .This mostly happens when those involved in the communication process are homophilous in nature. This is because, those who interact shares a common trait or have some similar characteristics such as ,the same level of education,occupation,beliefs,social status and as such, they are aware of the symbols in the communication. For example, a discussion between the same gender or people of the occupation is easier since they both understand the symbols, the lingos, jargons etc. This enhances an effective communication. To Rogers, an effective communication takes place when a source-receiver pair is homophilous. Age, (2009) postulates that, communication between source and receiver is likely to be when both of them share common meanings, attitudes, beliefs and of course mutual language. According to this scholar, social relations are much closer between individuals who resemble each economic characteristic. This conceptual label, according to Obinne, (1992) is one of the most obvious and fundamental principles of human communication which implies that, the transfer of ideas most frequently occurs between a source and a receiver who are alike or homophilous. To Borgatti and Forster, (2003), an effective communication is a “mechanism for maintaining inequality of status for minorities within organizations.” All these indicate that, the Communicative Skills tutor as part of his/her teaching ,needs to do a demographic and needs analysis of the students in the communicative Skills class. Knowing these demographics and needs would inform the teaching and learning process. The teacher can base on these to choose a common means of communication, say a language suitable for class interaction. It would also inform the homophilous and Heterophilous activities students should be engaged in .In a multi-cultural class, activities like project or group work or group problem solving discussions promotes interpersonal and small group communication and also make them activity focused. To Alexis Tocqueville, (1835), an important factor elements of both homophily and heterophily is the ACTIVITY FOCUS. This focus tends to bring together people from different walks of life, creating Heterophilous linkages across social boundaries. Students of different age group, abilities, socio-economic background, beliefs etc. can be grouped to solve a problem or to undertake a class project work. In this group, the aged students, charismatic student-leaders, intellectuals etc. can be appointed as leaders of such groups. This to Rogers, the followers would seek opinion leaders of higher socio-economic status. Furthermore, homophily and heterophily ensures an adequate preparation before teaching and an application of varying teaching methodologies. It has been found by Rogers that, interaction with people who are heterophilous involves greater efforts to make communication effective. This is because, heterophilous interaction is likely to result in cognitive dissonance because, and the receiving unit is exposed to messages that are likely to be inconsistent with existing beliefs, an uncomfortable psychological condition. With all these, the Communicative Skills tutor needs to do a demographic analysis of his/her students to know the multiple differences (age, ethnic, religion, education etc.) in communicating with these Heterophilous individuals. The teacher would have to use a lot of varying teaching methods in his/her teaching. A lot non-verbal cues or language should accompany the verbal messages delivered to the students but should be tactical in its usage since these nonverbal symbols, language and cues mean differently to each ethnic or cultural background(different people).To Eastwood Atwater, (1986), two-thirds of face to face communication is non-verbal.” The most likely explanation is 3

that, words alone fail to convey the full meaning of strong emotions.” on –verbal communication such as kinesics,occulesics,artifacts,colour,non-verbal language etc. can be used.Nevertheless,the tutors needs to select these non-verbal symbols very carefully so that, it would not be misunderstood or be offensive to other cultures. For example, it is clearly understood that, movement in one culture can be highly offensive or may not make sense in another culture. To some group, nodding shows disapproval whiles in another culture, it shows approval. Also, colours means different to different cultures. This implies that, the tutor needs to consider the cultural background of the Communicative Skills students, do a lot of preparations to enhance a successful lesson delivery. More to the point, homophily and heterophily promotes intercultural and interpersonal communication. Interpersonal communication occurs when you communicate on a one- to-one basis, usually in an informal, unstructured setting. This kind of communication occurs mostly between two people, though it may include two or more. Interpersonal communication is a complex process that can be labelled in as a sender and a receiver who exchanges messages containing ideas and feeling mixed together. That is, interpersonal communication is centered in the self and the one communicating is the only sender and receiver .It is the humans’ aptitude to turn meaningless grunts into spoken and written words, through which they are able to make their needs, wants, ideas and feelings. We communicate in order to get acquainted, express emotions to others, share information, persuade others to understand, build relationship. To Sekyi-Baidoo, (2002), interpersonal communication refers to the concrete act of transferring or processing information between two or more people .Because, it is a person- to-person activity, and it is described as interpersonal. It includes: monolineal form, Bilineal form forms and multilineal forms. In a homophilous and heterophilous class, both interpersonal and intercultural communication can be promoted through bilinear and multilinear forms such as conversations, discussions, group meetings/work, interviews etc. What is up to the instructor is to assign task to students based on similar and dissimilar interests ,abilities ,age ,sex ,gender ,status ,perceptions ,beliefs in group works. Those with dissimilar interests and abilities should be engaged in problem solving activities. Also, the teacher has to be very careful with the use of language since a particular language might mean different to different groups. All these, when done would promote co-operative learning, team work, reduce stereotyping, gender and cultural misconceptions; thereby promoting intercultural and interpersonal communication through sharing of ideas. Notwithstanding, the concept homophily and heterophily enhance teamwork and innovations. Studies have shown that, when you share a common mother tongue with an individual, it’s much easier to be understood and also easier to communicate a message as you have it in your mind. Language as a tool is one of the variables which are essential in communicating homophilously or heterophilously and it is an essential characteristic of one’s background. One’s language includes metaphors and expressions that are hidden in each language which needs to be understood when anyone wants to communicate with a particular language. Language homophily is very common since it understands; individuals who speak the same language tend to stick together because they are able to communicate. According to Obinne,(1992),some degree of heterophily is necessary because, the source is expected to be more technically competent than the receiver.Generally,receivers such as undergraduate students often seek source that are slightly more technically competent about innovation than themselves.

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In effect, most individuals would prefer to interact with people who are more or less on the part of technical propinquity. This confirms the assertion of Rogers that “when interpersonal diffusion network are heterophilous, followers seek opinion leaders who are innovative. “To Granovettes, (1973), heterophilous interpersonal links are important in carrying information about innovations which he referred to as the “theory of strength of weak ties.” In the same vein, students with different academic abilities, educational background can be engaged in a problem solving activity which their diversity would yield innovations. In a different disposition, homophilous best or brilliant students in the Communicative skills class can similarly be charged to solve a problem and innovate the best options to solve such a problem. These same students when being appointed as leaders of group work or group project work would gain recognition thereby promoting teamwork and innovations. More importantly, homophily and heterophily informs the designing of the Communicative Skills curriculum or syllabus. To Tyler, (1986), the main aim of the curriculum is to impact the socially valued knowledge, skills, culture, norms and attitudes unto the learner. The Communicative Skills class is a multi-class of people from all walks of life. It is left with the curriculum planners and instructors to include topics which would promote universal cultural traits of the people in the class without making anyone feel offensive or looking down on another culture. With the multiple sub-cultures in the class, it guides the instructor in his/her language used. Knowing the background and educational level would inform the language to be used for the lesson .Also, the demographics of the students would also enlighten the sort of activities to engage students or be put on the academic calendar. For example, in a Communicative Skills class with moslem female would be very difficult to engage the students in an activity that has to do with body movement like dancing or performing a simulation exercise with a non-moslem man .Due to the nature of their religion, it would be unethical to do so but can be ethical in the classroom situation. The Communicative Skills teacher needs to be strategic and aware of all these to enable him/ her handle the class without conflictions. All these would also enrich a positive teacher and student immediacy skills; thereby promoting a peaceful co-existence and unity in diversity. CONCLUSION In conclusion, the concept homophily and heterophily plays a significant role in the teaching and learning of Communicative Skills. Homophily through language and shared symbols facilitates individual –social interactions. All human societies have language ,and so intimately connected are the requirements of society with the features of language that is difficult to imagine how a society like the school might exist without a common language .As a minimum condition for existence human society requires ordered and regular homophilous and heterophilous relationships between individuals ,the recognition of shared meaning and the ability to transmit knowledge and information among a population .These fundamental features of society depend upon a means of constituting the objects and events of human experience and conveying their meaning in an efficient and effective way .For an effective and innovative communication, the interacting partners should be homophilous on variables that add to mutual understanding and Heterophilous on those variables that are relevant to finding creative ways for solving the problems or situation at hand. 5

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