How will you react to the following picture?

What is communication and why

do we communicate?
Communication is a two-way process
of connecting to both living and non
living things. It is also a means of
sharing and exchanging messages,
information,
ideas, and feelings for mutual
understanding
(Gregoriom, J.C., 2015).
Communication connects people and
the world they live in. It is through
communication that people are able
to express their thoughts and ideas or
convey
information and messages through
word of mouth, gestures and signals,
signs, and
others. People have always
communicated with one another in
various forms.
 Communication is a process. It
takes place when two or more
people exchange ideas either
through written or spoken words
(verbal) or actions (nonverbal).
Both verbal and nonverbal can be
used at the same time.
1. Communication is a message understood.

Unless a message is understood we cannot say that

communication has taken place. Let us send a message to
someone and say, “where came first”. The person who gets this
message would wonder what it means for the arrangement of the
words does not make any sense. The message is sent but the
receiver does not understand it. Therefore, for communication to
take place we have to consider two conditions. First, there should
be a clear message. Second, the message must be understood
by the receiver for whom it is meant.
2. Communication is social interaction through messages.

In our society, we all interact with messages. Without interactions,

a society cannot survive. Social interaction is always through messages.
We discuss problems and arrive at solutions. We exchange ideas and
interact with others. We transact, and then we negotiate. In doing all
these, we use communication. Imagine a situation where we are not
able to speak and interact with others or think of a family living in the
same house without speaking to each other or relating any form of
message to one another. Such situation can be very lonely and
problematic. Without communication, all forms of human relationships
will vanish and die. Communication is therefore crucial in building and
maintaining relationships.
1. Regulation/Control

– Communication functions to control behavior. It can

be used to regulate the nature and number of activities people
engage in.

Examples:

“Take your medicine before you go to bed.”

“Finish your work before you go.”
2. Social Interaction

– Communication allows people to interact with

others to develop bonds or intimacy. It also allows
individuals to express desires, encouragement, needs, and
decision or to give and get information.

Examples:

“Would you like to go to church with me?”

“Come on! You can do it!”
3. Motivation

– Communication persuades or encourages another

person to change his/her opinion, attitude, and behavior.

Examples:

“You’re on the right track. Keep up the good work.”

“My dream is to finish my Senior High School despite
this pandemic”.
4. Emotional Expression

– Communication facilitates people’s expression of

their feelings such as love, fear, anger, joy, hope, or any other
emotion.

Examples:

“I’m so happy to have you in my life.”

“I like you so much.”
5. Information

– Communication functions to convey information. It

can be used in giving and getting information.

Examples:

“The Philippine Normal University was founded in 1901.”

“You can find the bathroom right next to this door”
A. Linear Communication

Linear communication is one-way, focusing on the transmission

of a message to a receiver who never responds or has no way of
responding to the information conveyed. It could be the president
giving his State of the Nation Address on the national television or a
student who reads a poem or tells a story in front of an audience in a
school program. Other examples include sending an email, reading
a blog, or even the traditional way of having letters sent.
Shannon-Weaver Model
An example of linear type of communication is the Shannon-Weaver
model (1949). It is also considered as the mother of all communication
models. It has a one way process starting from a source; passing through a
channel which may at times be interrupted by noise (barrier) to a receiver
after the message has arrived at its destination. The process stops after the
message has arrived at its destination.
 This model gave us the concept of “noise”. This is often called the
Telephone Model because it is based on the experience of having the message
interfered with by “noise” from the telephone switchboard back in the 1940s.
In this model, Shannon and Weaver assert that the Message sent by the
Source (Speaker) is not necessarily the Message received by the Destination
(Listener). This is due to the intervention of “noise” or anything that hampers
the communication. Even today, with our advanced cell phone technology,
there are still barriers to clear transmission and reception of calls. Dropped
calls, calls that echo, faint signals – all interfere with the communication of the
message.
B. Interactive

Interactive approach is a two-way communication process where a

response is given after a message is sent. The recipient of the action
intentionally or unintentionally gives a associated with the information
received.

Let us extract Criselda and her mother’s dialogue from the story.
Criselda: Nanay, I can smell the aroma of your best delicacy, adobo.
Aling Terie: Yeah, I know. It is the favorite of the family so adobo is
what I prepared today.
Criselda: I can’t wait to taste it!
Schramm Model
Wilbur Schramm is known as the Father of Mass
Communication. He came up with five models but in the
Schramm Model of Communication he developed in 1955,
communication breakdown is explained. He asserts that both the
sender and the receiver should have the same field of experience.

In this concept, field of experience refers to everything

that makes an individual unique – everything that he/she has ever
learned, watched, seen, heard, read, and studied.
Schramm Model
It means that the sender and the receiver have commonalities. For
example, a Japanese is invited to give a talk to Filipino students.
These students can only understand English and Filipino. If the
speaker will speak in Japanese, the audience will not be able to
understand him.
C. Transactional Model

Communication is dynamic. It has a complex nature. It takes place

among individuals at any given time with any given subject. However,
there are tendencies that barriers would interfere which may create a
sudden impact and change in the processing of information.

The communicator (source) encodes the message and transmits it

through a channel. The message transmitted may be affected by the noise
(barrier). The receiver (recipient of the message) decodes, processes, and
filters the message for understanding and is now ready to give his own
feedback to the sender.
 This model tells us that communication is circular and continuous, without a
beginning or end. This is why he made a cyclical model. He also points out that
although we can assume that communication begins with thinking, communication
can actually be observed from any point in the circle.
Eugene White contributed the concept of Feedback to the field of
communication. Feedback is the perception by the Speaker about the Response of the
Listener. The Speaker can only receive Feedback if the Speaker is monitoring the
Listener. The Speaker will know what the Listener’s Response is only if s/he is paying
attention.
Transactional Model
The transactional model shows a circular process of interaction between
the persons involved in the communication, with each one actively participating
and sharing ideas with one another. They are the communicators actively
exchanging information and reaction.

Feedback is given freely and deliberately to one another or to all members

participating in the communication transaction. The sender and the receiver
may simultaneously exchange roles as communicators.

In this concept, the noise or barrier to communication is also taken into

consideration for it may directly or indirectly affect the smooth flow of
communication.
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