Communication can be perceived as a two-way process in which there is an exchange and progression of thoughts, feelings or ideas towards a mutually accepted goal or direction. Communication is a process whereby information is encoded and imparted by a sender to a receiver via a channel/medium. The receiver then decodes the message and gives the sender a feedback. Communication requires that all parties have an area of communicative commonality. There are auditory means, such as speaking, singing and sometimes tone of voice, and nonverbal, physical means, such as body language, sign language, paralanguage, touch, eye contact, by using writing. Communication is the production and exchange of information and meaning by use of signs and symbols. It involves encoding and sending messages, receiving and decoding them, and synthesizing information and meaning. Communication permeates all levels of human experience and it is central to understanding human behavior and to nearly all public health efforts aimed at fostering health behavior change among individuals, populations, organizations, communities, and societies.
Communication theories are given by model of so many theorists. The Shannon-Weaver model measures the efficiency and flexibility of a communication system. It is sometimes referred to as the S-M-C-R model (Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver).
- Sender (or Encoder): An information source; a person or device that originates a message.
- Receiver (or Decoder): The audience for a message.
- Message: The actual information or signal sent from a sender to a receiver.
- Medium (or Channel): The method used to transmit a message (e.g., print, speech, telephone, smoke signals, etc.).
- Noise: Technical or semantic obstacles; that is, anything that interferes with the clear transmission of a message (e.g., low visibility, poor ink quality, static electricity).
- Interpretation: All operations that a receiver performs in order to decode and understand a message.
- Feedback: Information about a message that a receiver sends back to the sender; the receiver's reaction or response to the sender.
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- Mechanistic: This view considers communication to be a perfect transaction of a message from the sender to the receiver.
- Psychological: This view considers communication as the act of sending a message to a receiver, and the feelings and thoughts of the receiver upon interpreting the message.
- Social Constructionist: This view considers communication to be the product of the interacting, sharing and creating meaning.
- Systemic: This view considers communication to be the new messages created via “through-put”, or what happens as the message is being interpreted and re-interpreted as it travels through people.
- Critical: This view considers communication as a source of power and oppression of individuals and social groups.
References:
http://collaboratory.nunet.net/dsimpson/comtheory.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/communication-theory-1?cat=technology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_theory#Communication_Theory_Framework
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication
http://www.cicsworld.org/blogs/vkrishnaswam/communication%201%20copy.jpg
While the concept of communication seems almost trivial, there is a important structure that composes communication and it is through proper step making that communication is successful. This is evident in the sender-receive models that the blogger illustrated. It is very important to not only communicate with your mouth but with your ears as well. Furthermore, non-verbal communication can be just as vital as verbal. Through gestures, a person can gain a perspective of a person’s mood or thoughts about a certain concept or idea. That is the negative of communicating through certain computer mediums such as instant messenger or e-mails; there is an inability to view non-verbal gestures.
ReplyDeleteRecently, I went through marriage preparation courses and we learned about proper methods of communication for couples. The instructors gave us a card and whoever holds the card “has the floor” and is the person who is able to speak. Once the speaker tells his/her feelings, the responder must paraphrase the speaker’s thoughts so that they fully understand the speaker’s feelings. This speaker-listener technique, although appearing to be pure common sense, is very practical. Below are some articles about the speaker-listener technique. Please feel free to review then.
www.getalifecoach.me.uk/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderfiles/the_speaker_listener_technique.pdf
www.dibbleinstitute.org/Documents/CardStock.pdf
http://ezinearticles.com/?Golden-Rules-For-A-Happy-And-Successful-Marriage-And-Relationship-Maintenance&id=813493
Carrie