What is communication - Essay Example

What is Communication? Q1 Julia T. wood defines communication as a systematic process in which people interact with and through symbols to create and interpret meaning (wood, 4). The oxford English dictionary defines communication as the process of informing or exchanging of information through speaking, writing or through the use of other medium like the television or radio. These two definitions defer in the Wood’s definition involve the use of symbols that include all the types of language, the non-verbal habits as well as art and music.

The oxford’s definition of communication on the other hand does not incorporate the use of symbols in the communication but it considers all the verbal exchange between two or moiré parties as communication.Q2The oxford dictionary traces the origin of the word ‘communication’ to the Latin word communis meaning “common” and Reuben and Stewart believe that the first form of communication originated in the Greek empire especially by the early philosophers like Aristotle and Socrates who developed different explanations concerning communication.

These two explanations of communication resemble the Schramm’s model of communication in that they all realize the importance of understanding between the sender of the information and the receiver. In Schramm’s model he calls it the ‘commonness’ between a source and the receiver. All the parties in the communication channel must understand one another and this can only be measured through a feedback from the receiver (Ruben & Lea 20).Q3;The transactional model of communication is a preferred model because the communicators can act simultaneously by sending and receiving messages and that the communication process in this case is dynamic and it changes over time.

In this model the people whom you are communicating with keep on changing as well as the environment in which the communication is taking place. This model enables the parties involved to gain understanding of the information being communicated because the two parties are interdependent thus the source cannot relay information without the receiver and vice versa. The several factors that affect the reaction of both the sender and the receiver are factors like their cultural beliefs, self esteem and their own backgrounds (wood, 6).

Q4My own model of communication would be a linear model that will enable the receiver to give feedback of the received information. This model will be effective than any other in the textbook since the linearity of this model will enable the receiver to listen to the sender and be able to integrate the information received while the feedback will enable the sender to understand the information that was well understood by the receiver and the information that was not understood. This will thus enable the sender to clarify the information that was not understood by the receiver thus giving him or her better understanding.

In conclusion, communication is very important in our daily lives since its through this communication that people get to understand one another. For effective communication the sender must be in a position to relay information in the best way that the receiver will be able to understand. Barriers to effective communication include the existence of a language barrier between the sender and the receiver as well as the presence of noise. Works citedRuben, Brent D. & Lea, P. Stewart. Communication and Human Behavior, 4th Ed.

Needham heights: Allyn & Bacon, 1998.Wood, Julia T. Communication in Our Lives. Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2012. Print.