Chapter 14

What are some sources of noise that interfere with communication during a class lecture, an encounter with a professor in his or her office, or a movie?

The sources of noise in schools are many: speakers for guidance at the start of classes, which in some cases are deafening, and may encourage more students, do not pay attention. So, are in parallel the message of the directors and conversations. Timbre, bands, whistles, sports, dance classes with loud music, cooking workshops, carpentry, etc.. External noise: transportation, cries of street vendors and mobile advertising, neighborhood music, voices of passers-by. All this makes the noise is constant school and high noise levels.

And there's something you probably do not notice: the voice of the students. According to the World Health Organization, the background noise in the classroom should be 35 decibels and 50 decibels with the teacher's voice. And sometimes speak several at once, which increases the noise level. Or when working in groups, unless they learn to lower his voice and not drag the desks, the classroom can be a risk factor for health and learning.

The different sources of noise that interfere with communication during a class lecture are noise from the vehicles on the roads outside the school building, noise coming from any maintenance work going on in the school building. Furthermore, within the class various sources of noise could include noise coming from a fan that needs repairing, noise created by students talking to each other during the lecture. Sources of noise in a professors' office could be a phone that is constantly ringing, squeaking sound from the office chair, noise coming from a printer, professors' cell phone (calling tone or message tone), and air-condition that needs repairing. The noises that interfere during a movie could be distortion in speakers installed in the theater, noise coming from people talking to each other during the movie. This could also include noise from the door that is opening or closing for people coming in or going out of the theater, also noise from the heating equipment installed in the theater (Webster, Pp 49-73).

Which barrier to effective communication is more difficult to reduce?

The barrier to effective communication that is more difficult to reduce is the noise coming from outside the school building during a professor's lecture. Investigations into the propagation of traffic noise to school buildings have shown that indoor noise level increases with height. For schools built near main roads, the increase in noise level between floors is about 2dba per floor up to the fourth storey. The results, therefore, show the directional characteristics of road traffic noise (Schultz, Pp. 3-18).

These results also show that at higher levels, where the noise level is higher, the ceiling of the class-room plays a very significant part in reflecting the incident sound downward. Studies show that air-conditioning class-rooms is not a guaranteed solution in reducing the noise level in classrooms, unless care taken to ensure that the noise emanating from the air-conditioning system brought down to a ...