Different Concepts of Communication - Assignment Example

?Final exam Q1. Linear model is the simplest communication model and was the first to develop for explaining communication. The model assumes that communication occurs in a single direction, with the sender as an active party while the receiver is passive. The model also offers occurrence of communication in a linear dimension. It identifies the sender, the message that the sender disseminates the applied channel of communication, the recipient, and effect of the communication. Though this original model was developed in the year 1948, modifications wee later made to include the concept of noise. The following diagram illustrates the model. Source of information The message Receiver Interactive models are another class of models of communication. Though achieving the same purpose of transmitting information from a sender to a receiver, the model recognizes active participation of the receiver through feedback. The model also identifies continuity in communication as the receiver becomes the secondary sender during feedback and the primary sender becomes a secondary receiver recognizes the role of the environment on communication. The model is also cyclic. The following diagram illustrates the modes. Field of experience Message Field of experience Encoder, source, decoder Decoder, receiver, encoder Feedback Another model of communication is the transactional model that recognizes the potential of simultaneous communication as opposed to the single directional scope of the linear model. The sender in the model is also the receiver at the same time. The transactional model also considers effects of time in communications. The following diagrams illustrate the model. Transactional model in an interpersonal communication Time Difference in context Transactional model in a mass communication Time Contextual difference (Wood 16, 17) Q2. Culture defines people’s ways of life and entails “a system of ideas, values, beliefs, customs, and language” that a society upholds and transfers across its generations (Wood 159). It is therefore an identity for a society and is expected to exist over a long period. One of the links between communication and culture is that communication is an avenue for learning culture and communication offers an informal approach to the learning by exposing people to elements of a culture. Another link between communication and culture is the role of communication as an indicator of culture. Even though communication influence culture through facilitating sustainability, culture also shape people’s communication approaches. Differences in communication styles among people from different cultures show this. Consequently, communication forms a basis of identifying different cultures. Similarity in communication styles among people from the same culture can classify the society into communities while difference in communication within the communities can classify aspects such as behaviour. Indicator role of communication over culture helps in improving cross-cultural communication by bridging communication barriers. Another link between communication and culture is the role of communication if initiating and influencing cultural changes. One of the examples of this role of communication is in the development and spread of the hip-hop culture that emerged through music artists and was communicated to influence the youth into the hip hop culture (Wood 159, 168). Some of the communication concepts that relate to culture are communication barrier and dynamism in communication amidst development in technologies (Wood 120). Culture defines a person’s environment and therefore contributes to situational barriers to communication. Cultural differences are an example. Culture also define norms, behaviour, and attitude that may consider some communication trends as immoral or complex and therefore offer resistance to advancement in communication (Wood 159). Q3. The first step in preparation for a speech is earning credibility from the audience and this is achieved through ensuring reliability of offered information and competence in the subject topic. This is important in developing confidence and interest of the audience in the speech. The next step in preparing a public speech is the planning of the speech and includes selection of a topic for the speech, definition of purpose, and establishment of a thesis for the speech. This stage offers an outline of the speech and ensures that it focuses on a topic of mutual interest for both the speaker and the audience. After the planning step is the speech organization step that develops introduction, body, and conclusion for the speech. It constructs the developed frame in the planning stage by outlining structure of the speech. Research into supporting evidence is another step in preparation of a public speech and plays an important role in facilitating the developed credibility. The stage also ensures that the speech can convince the audience to the speaker’s perspective based on established evidence. Perfecting communication potentials is the next stage in preparation for a public speech and is important in identification and management of potential communication barriers (Wood 276- 284). Q4. One of the ways in which mass media influences human knowledge and perspective is through its influence as a power centre that commands trust from the audience. The Hypodermic needle model explains this and the effect of the media in creating awareness of, and changing the youth’s perspective towards the hip hop culture is an example that I have experienced. YouTube is an example of such media and exposes the audience to audio and visual information. The media is accessible through the internet and search engines facilitate retrieval of information. Agenda setting is another way in which the media influences people’s knowledge and perspective. The media influences prominence of issues affecting the society and their focus become contemporary issues towards knowledge development. Its influence through developed evidence, that may be selective, also shapes people’s perspectives on the issues and influences decisions. Media bias during political campaigns is an example that has influenced my perception of popularity and competence of candidates. Television that airs campaigns and analyzes subjects is an example of the media types with such influence (Wood 300- 303). Q5. One of the important things that I have learnt from the course is the relationship between culture and communication. This occurs in diversified dimensions and both subjects influence each other. Communication plays a fundamental role as the channel through which culture is transferred from a generation to the next. Children will either observe communication among adults can learn, passively, expectations in the culture. Similarly, the elderly can communicate to young ones to inform them of cultural expectations, directly or indirectly. I have also learnt of the role of communication as an indicator of cultures and their difference, a knowledge that will improve my communication competence in cross-cultural environments. The role of communication id development and spread of culture is another concept that I have learnt and has informed me of the power of influence that I can use to facilitate positive change. The understanding can help an individual to overcome negative influence. Understanding the relationships is also a significant step to understanding the role of culture as a barrier to cross cultural communication and therefore helps to anticipate and manage cultural differences for effective communication. I have also learnt of the different types of obstacles to effective listening and this is important because listening is critical to decoding of information by both parties in a communication. Internal obstacles such as preoccupation and prejudgement, and situational obstacles such as excessive information and complexity of information are examples. I have also learnt of the need for ability to identify these obstacles for possible intervention measures and can use the developed knowledge to improve effectiveness of my communications by considering possible obstacles and ensuring their management before or during communication processes. An example of possible application is in awareness campaigns in which I can conduct a research into the audience’s level of literacy and culture to ensure that communicated information is simple enough and that the awareness process is not offensive to the audience. Another important set of knowledge that I have developed relates to the process of developing and presenting a speech. These concepts are important to effective communication through ensuring development of relevant information to an audience and ensuring proper decoding. The need for reputation in the topic of interest and use of evidence to support information is some aspects that I previously disregarded but I now understand their significance. I will implement these elements preferring topics in my areas of study and developing background information in any topic of interest before delivering a speech. Q6. The course has been informative of different concepts of communication. I was particularly impressed by the organization of the course presentation because each concept or sets of concepts were organized into learning sessions. There were also sufficient time for reflection of previously learnt concepts and this has the ability to improve learning. Learning sessions were also friendly and direct consultations with the lecturer were possible. The course has therefore been effective in achieving learning objectives. Works cited Wood, Julia. Communication mosaics: An introduction to the field of communication. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2010, Print. Read More