LEBV102 CHAPTEER 01

• Message/Medium


  The subject matter and the means to convey the message
• Audience


  The receiver of the message
• Sender


  The initiator of the communication
• Feedback


  The response to the message
• Elements in the Communication Process

  • Sender
  • Message
  • Medium
  • Audience
  • Feedback
• Code


  A set of symbols used in meaningful combinations
• Verbal code


  Communication with words, e.g. "Pass the salt"
• Nonverbal code


  Communication without words, e.g. a smile or gesture
• Encode


  Make an idea accessible to others
• Decode


  Receive, understand and interpret a message
• Communication Contexts


  • Intrapersonal
  • Interpersonal
  • Small-group
  • Public
  • Mass
  • Organisational
  • Intercultural
• Brainstorm words that come to mind when you think of the term "communication barrier"
• Think of a communication situation you were involved in recently where communication failed. Why do you think the communication failed? How could you have rectified the situation?
• Five Categories of Barriers

  • Perceptual barriers
  • Language barriers
  • Physical barriers
  • Physiological barriers
  • Psychological barriers
• Perception


  The process of selecting and organising information gained through the senses in such a way that the information makes sense
• Perceptual breakdowns


  • Cultural background
  • Past experience
  • Selection
  • Needs
  • Education
• Ethnocentrism


  The tendency of people to view their own cultures as being supreme
• Cultural stereotyping results from a failure to recognise the individuality of people within a culture
• No two people have identical experiences, so people will perceive the same situation in different ways
• Selection


  You select that which you want to attend to, usually what you either expect or are familiar with
• Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs


  A model of human motivation that includes physiological, safety, social, esteem, and self-actualization needs
• Language Barriers


  Barriers that arise from the use of language, such as misunderstanding of meaning, use of jargon, difficult words, insensitive language, pronunciation, incorrect grammar, long sentences, and spelling or punctuation errors
• Physical Barriers


  Factors in the external environment that hamper communication, such as people talking, an untidy document, or small lettering
• Physiological Barriers


  Barriers experienced internally, such as hunger or a headache
• Psychological Barriers


  Barriers experienced in the mind, such as boredom or a bad attitude
• A good communicator anticipates and tries to prevent the occurrence of barriers
• Verbal Communication


  Any communication involving words, including spoken words and written words
• Nonverbal Codes


  Relational symbols that indicate meaning by being similar to what they convey
• Functions of Nonverbal Codes

  • Expressing meaning
  • Modifying verbal messages
  • Regulating the flow of interaction
• Nonverbal Modification of Verbal Messages

  • Complementing
  • Accenting
  • Repeating
  • Substituting
  • Contradicting
• The Nonverbal Codes


  • Proxemics (using space to communicate)
  • Clothing and personal adornment
  • Gaze (eye contact)
  • Facial expression
  • Kinesics (body movements)
  • Voice (quality of voice)