Al-Farabi  Kazakh National  University

                                                                                  Zhanabekova Magulsim Abdildaevna

 

Functions of the Internet  for Means of Communication

Content: 

1. Introduction

2. The theories of communication (definitions)

3. The era of new technologies

4. The way people communicate

5. The  modern means of communication

6. Functions of the Internet 

7. The advantages and disadvantages of modern means of communication

    References

Abstract

This paper proposes the means of communication of the Internet as a mass medium, based on information advantages of what people constitute the modern use of technology. The computer as a new communication technology opens a space for audience to sum up assumptions and theories, and perhaps even to find new activities to be used in traditional communication technologies. Internet as a global system of interconnected computer networks, includes  different functions of achieving  information  across the country and has changed people’s personal communication habits and abilities becoming more prevalent than ten years ago.

Key words: compulsive urge, adequate, mark report,

1. Introduction

      There are a lot of questions around the mass media communication as: press, broadcasting, and printing. The object of  these means of communication is to  study  the   social, political and economic problems of  human beings through the primary  means of communication which include  newspapers, radio, television, telephone and different  types of periodicals.

     The most common method of communication, as it is known, is a direct speech between humans (parents and children, teachers and students, among different partners and audience) that is traditional human communication.

 2. The theories of mass communication

Cathcart and Gumpert (1983) recognized the problem of whole picture of the communication process  when they noted how speech communication definitions "have minimized the role of media and channel in the communication process" (p. 267), even as mass communication definitions disregarded the ways media function in interpersonal communication: "We are quite convinced that the traditional division of communication study into interpersonal, group and public, and mass communication is inadequate because it ignores the pervasiveness of media" (p. 268).

During research the  means of mass communication scientists have proved that the human communication studies needed the new theoretical approaches: "The emergence of new technologies such as GSS (Group Support Systems, software that allows group decision-making), which combine aspects of both interpersonal interaction and mass media, presents something of a challenge to communication theory. With new technologies, the line between the various contexts begins to examine, and it is unclear that models based on mass media or face-to-face contexts are adequate" (Poole & Jackson, 1993, p. 282).

DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach's attitude towards computers in the fifth edition of their Theories of Mass Communication (1989) is typical. They compare computers to telephones, dismissing the idea of computer communication as mass communication: "Even if computer literacy were to become universal, and even if every household had a personal computer equipped with a modem, it is difficult to see how a new system of mass communication could develop from this base alone" (pp. 335-336).

 

3. The era of New Technologies

Now the  word  «new technology»  is in general  usage.   There are  a lot  of  various computers, mobile phones, faxes, CD/DVD disks, flesh  cards in our everyday use with the  evolution in technology.  They  are the  result of  technological  developments. So millions of  people in the  world  use  different  types  of  New  Technologies.

       We are surrounded by  electronically controlled inventions  of man, science and  technology. New  Technologies are available and  vital everywhere, so they make  our life much easier than we  used to.  This means that we  live in the era of a new  electronic age. “There is far more than a semantic difference between conceptualizing a new communication technology by its communicative form than by the technology itself”.

4. The way people communicate

The way people  communicate has been changed  over the last  more  than ten years. Due to technology changes the  means of communication keep in touch with  what is happening in the world and  become more  useful, flexible and effective. Here I  would like  to mention some top communicating types of  which   have made  an effect  on  people  while  using them.

Table 1.

Types

Means of communication

Primary

letter

post-office

telephone

radio

photo

television

computer

Developing

INTERNET

Modern

e-mail messaging

faxes

mobile phone

radio

video camera

Digital TV

Digital computer

 

From this table we are  able to  see that  the  function of the Internet takes part in all  modern  different  types of  communication being the  most  active part of a new  mass medium.

5. The  modern means of communication

The way the  old and young people communicate to each other  changed   due to technological developments  as mentioned above are the most important  and  the  best ways of finding out what is  going  on around  humans.

People also can exchange any information in real time, including breaking news stories along with  video and know the latest news before  it appears on broadcast radio or television  and can be included  in hard print newspapers or periodicals.

Table 2.

What

Information

How

quick

save time

easy

useful

access to libraries

beforehand

 

Here we tried to analyze  the best ways of  obtaining information and  how the  information is transmitted from one to another. ( M.A. Zhanabekova, 2013 )

No one can note the importance of  communication,  but be aware some of  them which are useful  for every  situations: as  writing a message in a few  seconds,  keeping in touch  with  friends, planning  daily  routine, etc. While getting through all these activities  in order to achieve your goals you have to understand the processes of communication. Like other traditional means of communication  the  types of communication are also  directed towards specific objectives and have openings, middles, endings. The  modern means of communication importance may do 75-80 % of the  world participants. 

 6. Functions  of  the Internet:

       Science and new technologies play a very important role in human’s life. Most of our daily activities are greatly associated with science and technology. One of the contributions of science and technology to mankind is the invention of the internet. The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks. The Internet is used in almost all the places including houses, schools, and offices. The function of the internet is to connect a network of computers from all over the world. (M.A.Zhanabekova, 2013)

So, research and development focus on  the use of Internet with a compulsive urge, which enable to have  instant communications with friends, partners, colleagues around the world.

 

Table 3.

 

Internet for

Ordinary people

Businessmen

Intelligent  people

Young people

Functions

share information, watch TV, entertain

sell products,

online shopping, and e-banking, make money, business

e-commerce, do marketing

share  thoughts

and create ideas

write papers

keep mind active

use as a library, find research source

'chat' with peo­ple,  

 make new friends,

find information, watch video, online anime, have fun,

listen to the radio, change music albums

 

All these functions are realized as follows:

        The internet is an information highway that is linked through World Wide Web. Through the internet, we are able to receive and send information through web browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer and Chrome in just a blink of eyes. Best of all,  information can be transferred in various forms which include messages, texts, pictures, songs and videos. 

What are students to learn from the Web page: cultural information, grammar structures, or vocabulary? Are they to make progress in any of the four language skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading? Before creating a Web-based activity it is necessary to define the desired learner outcomes. C. Meskill (1999) stresses the need to be clear and directive when preparing students to work in computer environments: "Learners need to be oriented, briefed, and well equipped with the language skills and guidance in the critical thinking strategies they will need to enter the space, locate information they determine to be in keeping with the mission, extract it, and bring it back into the arena of discussion, syntheses, and active use”

 

 7. Advantages and disadvantages of modern means of communication

  The Internet is a  computer  system that allows people in different parts of the world to exchange information. Searching information takes only seconds to reach it from the millions of pages, and  different internet portals help us to realize this process in a very short time. If we have such computer system at home or wherever we are, we don't have to go to the libraries, bookshops and can save out time.

            Al-Farabi Kazakh National University has  Web page ‘”Intranet” for educational process due to the credit technology system. Students and their parents have  an access  to this system in order to check the  “mark report” and also  they can find a discipline  syllabus, self-done tasks, individual tasks, plans for  seminars, tests, free learning materials and etc. Another advantage is that teachers and  students are able to communicate almost with everyone through the Net with the help of e-mails and messages. It's cheaper and faster. The e-mail exchanges encourage students’ communication, strengthen the intercultural relationships between English speaking students during a semester. It's good because they can talk with almost everyone from the furthest sides of our planet.  In this way students are motivated to learn more about  history, culture, education and  at the same time they improve their linguistic skills and habits.

       On the other hand, some disadvantages that cause a serious problem for the younger  generation of  today's world. The Internet is responsible for one of the worst diseases i.e. the Internet addiction. Young people are really addicted to the internet and waste their time taking part in useless chats. In addition, they spend too much money on the modem connection. In fact, huge volume of information is available on the internet, so it takes  teenagers hours to find what they really want. Multimedia web pages with photographs, music and video are attractive, but they make downloading slow and boring. Besides, there is too much advertis­ing instead of real information which includes the negative videos for adults.  Thus, the real world of the Internet may not be as perfect as it seems.

As for Internet friendships, sitting at home in front of a computer making 'chat friends' is not the same as actually meeting people.

Table 4.

What

Information

How

waste time

pictures

spending money

dangerous

 

     To sum up, the Internet is very necessary but we have to learn how to use it and avoid all the dangers of usage. We should remember that it's only a source of information and not a way to search for serious friendship or hacking (attacking  external sites, deleting , items of the network, building  backdoors). Before using  any network  (through  TV, mobile phones, computers) people have to read all documents concerning  user’s ethics, obligations and  responsibilities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

References:

 

1.Cathcart, R., & Gumpert, G. (1983). Mediated interpersonal communication: Toward a new typology. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 267-268

2.DeFleur, M., & Ball-Rokeach, S. (1989). Theories of mass communication. 5th Ed. New York: Longman.

3.Meskill, Carla. Computers as Tools for Sociocollaborative Language Learning. Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL): Media, Design, and Applications. Ed. Keith Cameron. Lisse: Swets and Zeitlinger, 1999. 141-62.

4.Poole, M., & Jackson, M. (1993). Communication theory and group support systems. In L.

5.Zhanabekova M., The basic advantages and disadvantages of  internet in our life. Ïåðñïåêòèâíûå âîïðîñû ìèðîâîé íàóêè, Bulgaria, 2013

 

Äàííûå î ïðåïîäàâàòåëÿ:

Óíèâåðñèòåò:           Al-Farabi  Kazakh National  Universi

Ô.È.Î.                      Zhanabekova Magulsim Abdildaevna

Ñòåïåíü:                    Candidate of  Philological Science, Associated  Professor

Ôàêóëüòåò:                Faculty of  Philology, Literary Studies and World Languages

Êàôåäðà:                   Foreign Philology and General Linguistics  Department

Ñòðàíà è ãîðîä:        Kazakhstan, Almaty