Ideate, Form, and Speak

            English language learners at every stage strive with the problem of frequent incongruities of communication. Most of non-native English speakers feel reluctance with communicating in English, as they find it arduous to learn. The skill of English communication is considered crucial for corporate, interstate and multinational communications. Even in several social events, English is the preferred language. When someone asks a question in English, we understand but we do not answer in English. Instead, we reply in our native language. No matter how outstanding knowledge they possess, they do not achieve the desired success, if they are not well conversant with English communication. Most learners complain that they cannot communicate fluently in English, and they cannot ideate in English because they don’t know enough English vocabulary and they always ideate in their native language, and then translate. Many advanced learners also translate from their native language before speaking English, but they do it very fast. However, if they can develop the habit of ideating in English, this will help them communicate more confidently and fluently. When their mind is accustomed to ideation in their native language and is then forced to translate thoughts or speech to learn a new language, it can take time to set the right words in motion, or fully understand what has been said. Why are ideas of such overriding importance that we live and die by them? Nations have been founded on ideas; civilizations have been destroyed by ideas…Ideas are important because they are the source of every aspect of human endeavor. Our potential is limited only by the quality of our ideas.

          The process of communication begins with ideation, which refers to the formation of the idea or selection of a message to be communicated. It consists of the content of the communication to be presented. Researchers have delineated ‘ideation’ in terms of business, law, economics, finance, and psychology. Conferring to that, ideation is the process of generating a broad set of ideas on a given topic, with no attempt to judge or evaluate them. While the eventual goal of ideation is a high-quality design that solves a specified problem, the focus of ideation is quantity instead of quality. Ideation comprises all stages of a thought cycle, from innovation, to development, to actualization. (Graham and Bachmann, 2004) Ideation, in simple terms, is imagination or inventiveness, thinking creatively of some issue to find the solution. ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world’ (Albert Einstein). The study elucidates the practical approaches of ideation in the context of communication in English language. Ideation is the creative process of generating, developing, and communicating new ideas, where an idea is understood as a basic element of thought that can be visual, concrete, or abstract. Ideations can come out from past or present knowledge, outward influences, sentiments, and beliefs. Ideation is not just a one-time idea creation or a brainstorming session. In fact, ideation can be divided in three steps: creation, selection, and expansion. The good thing about ideation in terms of learning communication is that learners can generate tons of ideas and when they have more, it means that they increase their chances of having more of the good ones. For optimum results, it is advisable to encompass diverse people, with diverse backgrounds and experiences in the ideation process. Through an all-inclusive ideation process learners get the opportunity to communicate ideas in a transparent way and develop each other’s ideas through feedback and evaluation. An ideation process will help the learner prioritize these ideas and pick those to communicate that have the highest possibility for approval. Thus, ideation can help in cultivating communication skills i.e. listening, speaking, reading, and writing in a tremendous way.