ASSIGNMENT

                                                COMMUNICATIVE ENGLISH

                                   COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATION

WHAT IS COMMUNICATION?

The word "communication" comes from Latin word "communicare" which means to make common to many, share, impart etc...  Communication is the process of exchange of ideas,thoughts and feelings with each other in commonly understandable ways. It can be within oneself, between two persons or within a group. It is a two way process,continuous,dynamic, pervasive and goal oriented. Communication has it's scope in personal life, social life, professional life, business and management, static affairs, international affairs  etc.....   

FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION

 The major general functions of communication are emotional expression, give motivation, information, control/regulation and social interaction. Apart from this they also satisfy the physical needs, relational needs, instrumental needs and identity needs.

                                COMPONENTS OF COMMUNICATION 

    The communication process can be broken down into a series of eight components,each of which serves as an integral function in the overall process. 

 

Now let us understand each component of communication in detail. 

1.Source- The source imagines, creates and sends the message. The source begins by first determining the message what to say and how to say it. The second step involves encoding the message by choosing just the right order or the perfect words to convey the intended meaning. The third step is to present or send the information to the receiver side or audience. This message can be conveyed through his or her tone of voice, body language and choice of clothing. For instance a training manager conducting training for new batch of employees. Sender may be an individual or a group or an organization.The views, skills and knowledge of the sender play a very great role in conveying the message.

2.Message-The message is the meaning produced by the source for the receiver. The message consist of the words you say as in case we speak to a person. It is oriented with grammar and organization. and as an example, in a speech body language,tone of voice and appearance are important, whereas in a report writing style, punctuation ,headings and the formatting you choose are relevant. The communication process begins with deciding about the message to be sent. We should make sure that the core theme of the message is clearly presented so that the receiver can interpret it in the right way.

                                    Here the story teller is the sender and story is the message.
 

3.Channel-The different ways for the message to travel in order to reach from a sender to a receiver is called a channel. Spoken channels include face to face conversation,speeches,phone conversations,voicemail messages,radio and Skype. Written channels include letters, purchase orders, magazine articles, tweets, text messages, blogs etc.. The sender has to select a very appropriate medium in accordance with the message they try to sent and also the state of the receiver. The choice of communication varies according to the feature of the communication. For instance, to convey a message in small group, written channel is apt whereas if we want to convey a message in large groups oral medium is more preferential as it offers is less chance of  misunderstanding.

4.Receiver- A receiver interpret the message intentionally or unintentionally. It happens through the five senses. A receiver is also called decoder or recipient. The degree to which the  receiver understands the message depends upon the knowledge of the receiver,their response to the message and the reliance of the sender. The communication process is complete only if the receiver is able to interpret the message. So the receiver should have an appropriate background so as to make use of the message received. A receiver should be able to give  feedback accordingly after decoding the received message.

                 The first four is called SMCR. It can be clearly understood from the given diagram.

5.Feedback- When you are respond to a source, you give a feedback. Feedback helps to see how well and accurately the message is received,thus helping in clarification. It is composed of the messages that receiver sends back to the source.Feedback has two  parts- giving and receiving. The key points to be considered in giving feedback are as follows; they should be positive, constructive, non-judgmental, clear, concise, specific etc.. Similarly,  the receiver should be open-minded and non-defensive while receiving the message.

                                         See this diagram to understand what is feedback.

6.Environment- The environment is the space where you send and receive the messages. Often environment play an important role in the aspect that it determines the other components of communication. 

7.Context- Context is the circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea,and in terms of which it can be fully understood and assessed. Context is all about what people expect from each other,and we often create those expectations out of environmental cues. The context can be social, physical, chronological or cultural. Every communication proceeds with a context. The sender chooses a message to communicate within a context.  

8.Interference- Interference also called noise, can come from any source and has the ability to block or change the intended meaning of the message. Noise interferes with normal encoding and decoding of message carried by the channel between source and receiver. Not all noise is bad ,but noise interferes with communication process.

                              The given diagram explains environment,context and interference.

                    The major three processes that take place in communication are:

  1.Encoding- It is the process in which the message is translated from an idea or thought into transmitted symbols. It should be compatible with the channel and understandable for the receiver. 

2.Transmission- It is the process by which the symbols that carry the message are sent to the receiver.

3.Decoding- It is the process of changing encoded message into understandable language by the receiver.

       

                                 Let us understand it clearly from the figure:

Consider the given example below.

    If the person who send the message is person A and who receives is person B, here person A is the sender and person B is the receiver. The channel(medium)  here is phone. The information sent by the person A is the message and the reply given by person B is the feedback. The room or the place where they stay is the environment.  The context here is the time when the message is received and the place where it is received and in this example going for the movie is the context.

        Submitted By:   Stephy Kurian

                                           I st year BA  PJCE