PURPOCOMM (PRELIM)

• Definition of Communication:

  • The process of using messages to generate meaning
  • Involves sending and receiving messages through spoken or written words, as well as non-verbally through facial expressions, gestures, and voice qualities
  • Involves sharing opinions, information, ideas, and feelings
  • A systematic process where people interact with symbols to create and interpret meanings
  • Involves the transmission of messages from a source to a receiver
  • Can be sending information to oneself or another entity via language
• Four key terms to define communication:

  • Process:
  • Constantly moving and continuously changing
  • An activity in which individuals participate
  • System:
  • Consists of interrelated parts that affect each other
  • Understanding the system (culture, religion, ethnicity, etc.) is important for effective communication
  • Symbols:
  • Concrete representations of abstract concepts
  • Allow people to perceive abstract, arbitrary, and ambiguous representations using the senses
  • Meanings:
  • People attach meaning to symbols used in communication
• Communication has two levels of meaning:

  • Content level:
  • Refers to the literal meaning of the message
  • Equivalent to the denotative meaning of the message
  • Relationship level:
  • Expresses the relationship between communicators
  • Can be the connotative meaning of a message
• • Language used to create meanings
  • Encoding and decoding:
  • Encoding is translating an idea into a code; decoding is assigning meaning to an idea
  • Noise or Barrier:
  • Any interference in the encoding and decoding processes that affects message clarity and understanding
• Elements of Communication:

  • People:
  • Assume roles as sources and receivers
  • Roles are not performed independently but simultaneously
  • Message:
  • Verbal and non-verbal form of ideas, thoughts, or feelings intended to be communicated
  • Verbal message includes words, phrases, and sentences; non-verbal message includes gestures and facial expressions
  • Channel:
  • Means through which the message is delivered (e.g., airwaves, sound waves, social networking sites)
  • Feedback:
  • Receiver's response to the source's message, can be verbal or non-verbal
  • Code:
• Common models of communication:

  • Linear Model:
  • Communication is transmitted in a straightforward manner from sender to receiver
  • One-way process
  • Laswell’s Verbal Model (1948):
  • Communication flows in one direction from sender to receiver via a certain medium
  • Shannon and Weaver’s Model (1949):
  • Linear model with components like source, message, transmitter, signal, channel, noise, receiver, and destination
• Interactive Model of Communication:

  • Contrasts with the linear model by considering communication as a two-way process involving an exchange or interaction between the sender and the receiver
  • Feedback is the message delivered back to the sender, depicted by Wilbur Schramm as the second form of message in his model
  • Personal fields of experience are important in this model, explaining why the communicator's fields of experience are significant
• Transactional Model of Communication:

  • Adopted from Wood (1997) in response to the failure of the interactive model to portray the dynamism of human communication
  • Designates both communicators as senders and receivers, allowing for messages to be sent and received by both parties
  • Depicts communication as changing over time due to the dynamism of transactions among people
• Key features of the transactional model:

  • Includes a time element influencing how people communicate
  • Communication is depicted as varying and dynamic, not constant and static
  • Communication occurs within systems that influence what and how people communicate, including culture, context, and family background
  • Communicators are not labeled as sender or receiver, but as active, equal, and simultaneous participants in the communication process
• Principles of Communication:

  • Communication is transactional, a two-way process where a reply is expected when a message is sent
  • Communication is inevitable, an indispensable part of daily life
  • Communication is goal-oriented, aiming to understand each other and can serve purposes like persuasion, entertainment, information sharing, expression of feelings, ideas, emotions, and influencing others
  • Communication has various levels: intrapersonal, interpersonal, small group, public, and mass communication
• Principles of Communication:

  • Communication is complex, involving processes that can occur simultaneously or successively
  • Focus is not only on the message but also on the relationship between communicators, including personal, religious, cultural, educational, and socioeconomic backgrounds
  • Communication can be learned, despite its complexity, as a skill that can be improved over time
• Principles of Communication:

  • Communication is relational, emphasizing the creation of meaning and reflecting the relationships of communicators through immediacy and control
  • Communication is guided by culture, influenced by shared beliefs, values, symbols, and behaviors among a group of people
  • Cultural sensitivity is crucial when communicating with individuals from different cultural backgrounds, considering factors like sex, age, class, and sexual orientation
• Ethics in Communication:

  • Ethical considerations shape communication by guiding judgments of rightness or wrongness, appropriateness or inappropriateness of actions or decisions
  • Ethical communicators are honest, aware of consequences, value diversity, respect others' opinions, and are just and fair in their communication
• Personal context:

  • Background of both sender and receiver
  • Includes education, religion, socioeconomic status, marital status, and beliefs
  • Influences what and how they communicate
• Physical context:

  • Environment where communication takes place
  • Tangible factors perceived by the senses like temperature, humidity, odor, lighting, noise levels
  • Proximity and medium used in sending the message
• Social context:

  • Kind of relationship between sender and receiver
  • Formal language for parents or elderly, informal/casual language for friends, intimate language for partners
• Psychological context:

  • Emotions and feelings of participants in communication
  • Opinions, judgments, prejudices, attitudes
  • Recognizing one's mood or emotional condition in communication
• Cultural context:

  • Vital consideration in communication
  • Set of beliefs, value system, guiding principles, assumptions
  • Based on ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and religion
• Culture is a set of unique and shared beliefs, values, and norms guiding a group on how to think, behave, and act
• Communication and culture are inseparable:

  • Americans are more direct, Filipinos are non-confrontational
  • Americans use straightforward messages, Filipinos euphemize or use polite words
• First Dimension:

  • Individualistic culture emphasizes individual needs over the group
  • Collectivist cultures emphasize group needs over individual desires
• Second Dimension:

  • Low-context culture uses explicit words to convey messages
  • High-context culture uses non-verbal behaviors to convey meaning
• Third Dimension:

  • Monochronic culture advocates punctuality and timely completion of tasks
  • Polychronic culture has a flexible concept of time and allows task interruptions
• Fourth Dimension - Uncertainty Avoidance:

  • Low-uncertainty avoidance culture is tolerant of unpredictable situations
  • High-uncertainty avoidance culture values precision and attempts to anticipate risks
• Fifth Dimension - Power Distance:

  • Low power distance culture values equal distribution of power
  • High power distance culture accepts unequal power distribution as normal
• Sixth Dimension - Masculinity or Femininity Culture:

  • Masculine cultures value strict adherence to gender roles
  • Feminine cultures value roles regardless of gender
• Seventh Dimension - Long-term orientation or short-term culture:

  • Short-term orientation culture is performance-driven and emphasizes quick results
  • Long-term orientation culture values patience in waiting for outcomes of actions
• In conclusion:

  • Understanding cultural dimensions is integral to becoming an effective intercultural communicator
  • A competent intercultural communicator interprets and shares meanings with accuracy, respect, and sensitivity
• Verbal communication is the transmission of messages through spoken words
• Non-verbal communication involves body language, gestures, facial expressions, and posture
• Language variety and register include grammar rules, sound system, and vocabulary
• Language register refers to the level of formality in speech, depending on the audience, topic, purpose, and location
• Formal register is used in formal settings, follows a specific format, and is impersonal
• Formal register is also used in professional contexts, structured, impersonal, and serious in tone
• Informal register is casual, personal, and used in informal gatherings
• Neutral register is factual and non-emotional, often used in business-oriented and technical contexts
• Kinesics in non-verbal communication includes gestures, movements, posture, eye contact, facial expressions, and touch
• Paralanguage in non-verbal communication adds meaning to spoken words through the manner of speech
• Proxemics studies how space and distance communicate, including personal space, territorial space, and acoustic space
• Chronemics relates to how people perceive and value time, with differences between monochronic and polychronic cultures