The Discipline of

Communication
Discipline of Communication
⚫ Focuses on how humans use verbal and non-
verbal messages to create meaning in
various settings (from two persons, groups,
to mass audiences across nations using
a diverse sets of networks and media).

⚫ The Discipline is especially interested in

the influence of those messages in
human behavior.
Communication is…
⚫ Essentially transactional, giving, and receiving
content, which may take in a variety of forms.

⚫ What we communicate is meaning

but communication simultaneously
involves construction of meaning.

⚫ Communication involves acting on information,

responding to stimulus, a creative act, making
sense of the world, assigning meaning to
experience and feelings, and can also be
intentional as well as unintentional
⚫ Culture, considered as the provider of
patterns of perceptions, values, and behavior
that the group transmits and makes a shared
heritage.

⚫ Therefore, “culture affects all or almost all

communication interaction” (Alberts,
Nakayama & Martin 2007)
 Analization of the
Communication
⚫ Technical Level: we Process
can understand the message
by ascertaining the extent to which information or
message is clearly or not clearly transmitted.

⚫ Semantic Level: we can understand the unity of

communication by clarifying the extent to which the
intended meaning of the information or message
being transmitted is understood or misunderstood
by the receiver due to all forms of noise.

⚫ Pragmatic Level: we can understand a unit of

communication by gauging the kind and extent of
the actual impact, effect, or outcome of the
communication process.
 Context and Basic Concepts of
Communication
⚫ Context is among the most essential aspects
in human communication, and by and large,
listeners base their interpretation of
expressions of language and actions on
their prior knowledge and wide
range of contextual information.

⚫ It is the contextthat gives meaning to

the communication process
 Frame of Reference
⚫ Psychological frame of reference- define mental
one’s
schema
⚫ Cultural frame of reference- define one’s cultural bias

⚫ Social frame of reference- define one’s social bias

⚫ Spatial frame of reference- define one’s interpretation of

reality in a set of egocentric experience, environmental or
geographical parameters

⚫ Temporal frame of reference- define one’s interpretation of

reality in a range of experience types that underlie
immediate representation

⚫ Historical frame of reference- defines one’s historical bias

The Four Main Goals of
Communication
 To Inform
⚫ Inform means to give someone information a
bout something.
⚫ Examples :
news reports, research papers, encyclopedia
s, school news letters, instructions, maps,
time lines, schedules, charts, graphs
 To Persuade
⚫ Persuade means to try to convince
someone to think
the same way you do.
⚫ Examples: advertisements, newspaper
editori als, junk mail, posters
 To Request
⚫ Requesting behavior is
increased when a person
ask for a specific action by
the receiver
⚫ Inability to effectively
communicate wants and
needs with others can lead
to problem behaviors
⚫ Requesting demonstrates
that words has effects on
people and our
environment
 To build Relationships
⚫ Communication helps build relationships
for several reasons, like the more you listen,
the more you learn about others’
perspectives.

⚫ Some messages you send may have the

simple goal of building good-will between
you and the receiver
 Try
⚫ out!
The Underground Railroad was a secret organizati
on which helped slaves escape to freedom. Many
slaves were able to escape because of the cond
uctors and station masters. The northern states
wer e free states and slaves were free once they
arrive d in the north. Secret codes and signals
were used to identify the conductors and station
masters.
1. What is the goal of the communication?
A to persuade
B to inform
C to request
D. to build B
relationship
Try
out!
⚫ It's It's
New! Refreshing!
It's Slurpee Soda! This is the
best soda in the world! If youdrink this
soda you will jump higher, run faster and
be smarter in school. Try one today!
2. What is the goal of the
communication?
A to persuade
C to request B to inform
D. to build
A
relationship
 Basic Elements of
Communication
⚫ Communication, as
a process where
people share
information,
feelings, and ideas
consist of four basic
elements: the
message, the
medium, the sender,
and the receiver.
⚫ Modified into
six basic
elements
⚫ Sender-Receiver – the
participants in a
communication. Sender
(conveyor or
communicator), receiver
(interpreter)

⚫ Message – it is the
information (subject
matter) that the
sender wants to relay
to the receiver.
⚫ Channels – is the
medium by which a
message is transmitted. It
is made up of symbols:
verbal symbols (all the
words in a language),
non verbal symbols
( gestures, facial
expressions, color,
appearance, etc.), and
written.

⚫ Feedback - it is the
response by the receiver. It
marks the completion of
the communication
process.
⚫ Noise - this can be any
sort of interference that
affects the message being
sent, received, or
understood.
e.g. 1) Disturbance in
the telephone lines, 2)
An inattentive receiver
3) Improper Decoding of
Message etc.

⚫ Settings - it is the situation

(venue) in which
communication takes place.
 Levels of Communication
⚫ The prefix inter – signifies reciprocity, being
carried between, and shared or derived from
two or more.

⚫ Therefor”inter + action” means reciprocally

influencing or affecting each or one another.

⚫ Communication takes place on several level

it may be face to face communication and
the mediated communication (eg.
Newspaper, newsletter, and other written
forms, or not-print like media, TV or radio)
 Intrapersonal Communication
⚫ This refers to
communication that
occurs within us.
⚫ The self is the only
sender and receiver.
⚫ The channel is
your brain.
⚫ The feedback is in
the form of talking to
oneself or discarding
certain ideas and
replacing them with
others.
Interpersonal Communication
⚫ The communication that occurs on one-to-one
basis usually in an informal, unstructured setting is
interpersonal communication.

⚫ Message consist of both verbal and non-verbal

symbols.

⚫ The most channels are the sight and sound.

 Intercultural Communication
⚫ An interpersonal communication that occurs
between or among members of different
cultures or people who are acculturated
differently.
 Interviewing
⚫ It is made use of a
series of questions and
answers usually involving
two people or groups.
⚫ Communication takes
place verbally in face to
face setting, and a lot of
non verbal information
are exchange.
⚫ Feedback is very high
and instant and
drives the
conversation.
 Small Group
⚫ Communication
This communication occurs when a small
group of people meets to solve a problem.
⚫ There is a cooperative thinking; there is a
specific
purpose.
⚫ Communication process in a small groups is
more complicated than in interpersonal
communication.
 Mass
Communication
⚫ A feature of mass communication is that
many people in many places, at different
times can receive the same message.
⚫ Feedback at this level can be delayed.
Source: DIASS, Rex
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