7 TRADITIONS

• Robert T. Craig


  Different theories are different ways of "talking about" communication, each form having its own powers and limits
• Seven Traditions of Communication Theory

  • Rhetorical Tradition
  • Semiotic Tradition
  • Phenomenological Tradition
  • Cybernetic Tradition
  • Socio-Psychological Tradition
  • Socio-Cultural Tradition
  • Critical Tradition
• Rhetorical Tradition


  • Communication as a practical art OF DISCOURSE
  • The work of the communicator is governed by art and method
  • Central to this is the five canons of rhetoric
• Five Canons of Rhetoric

  • Invention – conceptualization
  • Arrangement – process of organizing symbols
  • Style – considerations involve in presenting symbols
  • Memory – how to retain and process information
  • Delivery – embodiment of symbols in physical form
• Semiotic Tradition


  • Communication is mediation by signs
  • Sign – stimulus designating some other conditions
  • Symbol – designates a complex sign with many meanings
• Semiotic Triad of Meaning

  • Object (referent)
  • Person (interpreter)
  • Sign (meaning)
• Three Areas of Semiotic Study

  • Semantics - addresses to what signs stand for
  • Syntactics - study of relationships among signs
  • Pragmatics - practical use of symbols
• Phenomenological Tradition


  • Communication as the experience of self and others through dialogue
  • Concentrates on personal experience
• Three Schools of Phenomenological Thought

  • Classical phenomenology (Edmund Husserl)
  • Phenomenology of perception (Maurice Merleau-Ponty)
  • Hermeneutic phenomenology (Martin Heidegger)
• Classical Phenomenology (Edmund Husserl)


  Controversial view that instead of seeing things through our own psyches, we should take ourselves away from our biases and see things in an objective way in order to be able to interpret the actual experience
• Phenomenology of Perception (Maurice Merleau-Ponty)


  • Phenomenology is concerned with providing a direct description of human experience
  • Perception is the background of experience which guides every conscious action. The world is a field for perception, and human consciousness assigns meaning to the world. We cannot separate ourselves from our perceptions of the world.
• Hermeneutic Phenomenology (Martin Heidegger)


  • Concerned with the life world or human experience as it is lived
  • Historically, a person's history or background, includes what a culture gives a person from birth and is handed down, presenting ways of understanding the world. Through this understanding, one determines what is 'real'
• Cybernetic Tradition


  • Communication is system of parts, that influence one another to achieve balance and change
  • Explain how physical, biological, social, behavioral processes work
• Cybernetic Tradition Example


  • Relationships between students and teacher, students and each other, subject matter, environment of the classroom, cultural diversity of students, and homework all come together to form a cycle of networks and connections
• Socio-Psychological Tradition


  • Communication is the interaction of individuals
  • Personality is important, judgments are biased by beliefs and feelings, people have influence over one another
• Three Branches of Socio-Psychological Tradition

  • Behavioral - how people actually behave in communication situations
  • Cognitive - what people do in communication situation based on mental operations
  • Biological - people's ways of thinking are based on inborn neurobiological influences
• Socio-Cultural Tradition


  • Communication is the glue to society
  • Communication is the production and reproduction of the social order
• People's understandings, meanings, norms, roles and rules are worked out interactively in communication
• Socio-Cultural Tradition Research


  • Researchers want to understand ways in which people collectively create the realities of their social groups, organizations and cultures
  • Social structures and meanings are created and maintained in social interaction, thus symbolic interactionism has been highly influential in this tradition
• Three Influences in Socio-Cultural Tradition

  • Social construction - investigates how human knowledge is constructed
  • Sociolinguistics - study of language and culture
  • As people talk, they reproduce culture
• Critical Tradition


  Communication is a process in which all assumptions can be challenged
• Critical Tradition


  • Seeks to understand systems, power structures and beliefs that dominate society
  • Uncovering oppressive social conditions for freer society
  • Conscious attempt to fuse theory and action
• Main Disciplines of Critical Tradition

  • Marxism (study on economy and production in alliance to society)
  • Postmodernism (the emergence of the information age and powers of media)
  • Feminist studies (the critique and study on gender roles, race and sexuality)