COMM SKILLS 2

• Communication model


  A theoretical model that attempts to describe and explain the communication process
• Communication models presented


  • Aristotle's communication model
  • Shannon-Weaver model
  • Schramm model
• Aristotle's communication model


  • The speaker is the active participant and the receiver is passive
  • The speaker is the centre of attraction and the audience are passive listeners
• According to Aristotle's model, the speaker plays a key role in communication
• Rhetoric


  Using language effectively to persuade or motivate an audience
• Aristotle's three 'pillars' of rhetoric

  • Ethos
  • Pathos
  • Logos
• Ethos


  The credibility of the speaker or writer
• Pathos


  Accessing the emotions and deeply held beliefs of the audience to draw them into the subject matter
• Logos


  Using logic, reasoning, evidence, and facts to support an argument
• The Aristotle model of communication is a widely accepted sender-centric communication model
• Criticisms of Aristotle's model

  • Very simplistic in describing and explaining the complex and dynamic process of communication
  • Deems communication a one-way process
  • Describes communication as a source-centric, passive audience process
  • Does not consider field of experience, mental/cognitive processes, motivations or stimuli of communication participants
  • Does not consider feedback
• Shannon-Weaver model


  A mathematical model of communication originally developed to describe data communication between computers, but later widely applied in the field of Human Communication
• Concepts in the Shannon-Weaver model

  • Information source
  • Transmitter
  • Noise
  • Channel
  • Message
  • Receiver
  • Information destination
• Noise


  Anything that disrupts communication, including physical distractions, detracting sounds or events
• The Shannon-Weaver model is more effective in person-to-person communication than group or mass audience
• The Shannon-Weaver model does not consider communication as a one-way process
• Understanding Noise helps solve various problems in communication
• Schramm's model of communication

  Builds on the Shannon-Weaver model, emphasizing encoding, decoding, feedback, and common field of experience between communication participants
• Encoding


  Converting thought into content
• Decoding


  Understanding the information the sender intends to convey
• Feedback


  The response from the receiver that completes the communication process
• Common field of experience

  The knowledge, experience and cultural background that influence how communication participants interpret messages
• Denotative meaning


  The symbols used to represent objects, activities, processes or systems
• Connotative meaning


  The beliefs, emotions and worldviews associated with the message
• Selective exposure


  The tendency to prefer information that supports a certain view or decision, and neglect conflicting information
• Selective perception


  The process of categorizing and interpreting information in a way that favors one category or interpretation over another
• Selective retention


  The process by which some information is retained and stored in memory, while other information is forgotten
• The modern theory of systemic functional linguistics places strong emphasis on the context of communication
• Meaning is contextual