Principles and Characteristics of Communication PDF

PRINCIPLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNICATION Prepared by: Eriel Amosin 1. COMMUNICATION IS A SCHEMATA-DRIVEN Communication begins within yourself, you begin with what you have already stocked in your brain or with what you have already known or understood about the su...

PRINCIPLES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNICATION Prepared by: Eriel Amosin 1. COMMUNICATION IS A SCHEMATA-DRIVEN Communication begins within yourself, you begin with what you have already stocked in your brain or with what you have already known or understood about the subject matter of the communicative act. Transmitted messages become understandable or meaningful because of your innate or old knowledge about the messages. 2 2. COMMUNICATION IS AN INTERPRETATIVE ACT The only person who knows the exact or full meaning of the message transmitted is the sender or speaker. Being the creator or source of the ideas, he/she has the absolute knowledge about his message. It is called interpretative act because the role of the receiver or listener is just to interpret, infer, or guess the meaning of things appealing to his sense of hearing. 3 3. COMMUNICATION DOES NOT GUARANTEE A DIRECT OR AUTOMATIC LINK BETWEEN TWO MINDS These forms of knowledge become meaningful only to others when you initiate communication with them. 4 4. COMMUNICATION IS ACTIVE, POWERFUL, OR FORCEFUL Communication is generally taken as an active message because it has varied effects on all participants in any communicative event. It engages speakers and listeners in the action of giving and receiving information. Communication is powerful and forceful for it elicits different meanings or reactions, and these messages are prone to changes. Subject to the changeable and continued existence of the world, communication is dynamic (A process or system characterized by constant change) as life goes on and on like a river. Nothing remains permanent or fixed in the world of communication. 5 5. COMMUNICATION IS SYMBOLIC Symbols, signs, or marks like letters, words, sentences, graphs, pictures and other concrete objects represent or stand for ideas that you intend to convey verbally. For non-verbal communication, you resort to bodily actions (gestures, eye movements, posture, facial expressions) voice quality, space and time elements to stand for the ideas you want to express. 6 6. COMMUNICATION ALWAYS RESULTS IN SOMETHING It refers to two or more persons participating in any communicative act. The first expresses or sends a message; the second responds or reacts to the message. 7 7. COMMUNICATION IS IRREVERSIBLE You are free to talk about anything under the sun. But once you utter something, the things you have said remains as it is susceptible to different interpretations or meanings. 8 8. COMMUNICATION IS CONTEXTUAL An exchange of views, ideas, or feelings doesn’t only involve the sender and the receiver, but also other aspects of the communication setting like time, place, topic, occasion, purpose, and manner of communication. 9 9. COMMUNICATION IS DEVELOPMENTAL OR PROGRESSIVE To communicate ideas is to go through the different stages of language learning that begin from birth to elementary, high school, and college levels. It is not a one-time learning towards communicative competence. 10 10. COMMUNICATION IS A PROCESS. Several stages of communication take place when people exchange or share ideas with one another. Each stage involves elements with different functions. 11 11. COMMUNICATION IS ETHICAL Any communication event is expected to apply rules, moral values, and beliefs agreed upon by societal members. Guided by these standards determined by the cultural group you belong to, your communication becomes ethical, good or desirable. 12 12. COMMUNICATION IS INFLUENCED BY MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY. Now, you are in the era of knowledge explosion or modern technology. This period is characterized by an instant global exchange of knowledge, services and technology. Using modern electronic communication devices, an exchange of ideas occurs just in seconds or minutes regardless of the distance between or among the participants. With the speedy turnout of varied modern media and devices of communication like the e-mail, cellphone, webcam, internet, and other computer-run gadgets, you now find interaction with anyone in any corner of the world easily and quickly. 13 COMMUNICATION CUES: VERBAL AND NON- VERBAL LANGUAGE  Verbal Language Verbal language consists of symbols like letters, words, and other marks that you need to subject to language or grammar rules for a coherent or organized means of understanding or expressing ideas. This verbal or spoken language becomes a written language once you put on paper or any surface the marks or prints symbolizing or representing the ideas you intend to convey or have spoken to others. 15 Non-verbal Language As with other aspects of communication, norms for non-verbal communication vary from country to country and also among cultures within a particular country. Some nonverbal communication behaviors appear to be somewhat innate because they are universally recognized. Two such universal signals are the “eyebrow flash” of recognition when we see someone we know and the open hand and the palm up gesture that signals a person would like something or needs help 16 NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE SYMBOLS: 1. BODY MOVEMENTS Big and small movements of your body like gestures, facial expressions, posture, and eye behavior express meanings. Kinesics is derived from the Greek term, kinesis, meaning “motion” which refers to the study of body movements. 17 NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE SYMBOLS: 2. Paralanguage A) speaking voice produced by your voice’s Highness and lowness (pitch) Loudness or softness (volume)speediness and slowness (duration) Rising and falling (intonation) Shrillness, huskiness, breathiness, mellowness, etc. (Quality) 18 NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE SYMBOLS: These are extra sounds that go with your spoken words and a study of these special sounds accompanying your words is called Paralinguistic. Examples of Paralanguage are the following: a) Speaking voice produced by your voice’s highness and lowness (Pitch) loudness or softness (Volume) speediness and slowness (Duration) rising and falling (Intonation) shrillness, huskiness, breathiness, mellowness, etc. (Quality) b) Vocalization or voice’s special usage like crying, giggling, moaning, growling, yawning, sighing and groaning. c) Vocal pauses or boosters like ahh!...uhg…umm…oh…shh.oops…many others. 19 TIME CHRONEMICS Your willingness, hesitance, or hatred to wait for a long time speaks of your trait of patience or impatience. Likewise, this reflects your manner of valuing your relationship with the object of your waiting. Your trait of optimism is also proven by your fondness for talking about your goals, dreams, or plans for the future. Chronemics is the term that refers to your act of studying the impact or effect of time on your behavior. 20 PROXEMICS space or distance symbolizes or represents your thoughts or feelings about your world. For instance, surrounding your property with a steel fence or leaving it unfenced gives people clues about your preferences or priorities or deciding to arrange your pieces of furniture too closely or so far from one another indicates the kind of interaction you would like to have wth people. 21 5. PHYSICAL APPEARANCE AND OBJECT LANGUAGE Meanings in this kind of non-verbal language, are symbolized or represented by dressing styles, body types, body appearance like size or shape, architectural designs or structures, art objects graphic materials, lightning effects, aromatic or smelly objects, and other environmental factors that influence or affect any communicative event. 22