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understanding effective communication
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SOLIJON, JEWELLE MAE P.
MWF/11:05-12:05
June 11, 2014
1. According to Aquino (1999), the three essential points in defining communication are:
a. Its involvement with people;
b. Involvement with shared meaning; and
c. Involvement of symbols – gestures, sounds and words which represent the ideas
people want to convey.
2. Human needs addressed by communication:
a. Physical needs.
Floyd (2010) states that good communication keeps people healthy;
moreover, if given an opportunity to interact with other social beings, people
can boost their mental and physical health. He further elaborated this by citing a
study saying that people with strong social ties are more likely to survive from
having major diseases and premature death compared to those who do not have
such.
b. Relational needs.
Relational needs include needs that help us maintain social bonds and
interpersonal relationships. According to Floyd (2010), some scholars believe
that peoples’ need for relationships is very important that we can hardly get by
without them. Communication meets our relational needs by giving us a tool
through which to develop, maintain, and end relationships.
c. Identity needs.
Identity needs include our need to present ourselves to others and be
thought of in particular and desired ways. Communication is the primary means
of establishing our identity and fulfilling our identity needs. Communication fills
identity needs by helping us see how others think of us (Anon, 2012).
d. Spiritual needs.
Floyd (2010) emphasizes that spirituality is an important aspect in one’s
identity, it includes the principles one values in life such as commandments and
beliefs from different religions. Communication meets spiritual needs by letting
us express and share our beliefs and values.
e. Instrumental needs.
Instrumental needs include needs that help us get things done in our day-
to-day lives and achieve short- and long-term goals. Communication serves
instrumental needs, such as helping us to schedule a meeting or order a meal
(Floyd, 2010).
3. Functions of communication:
a. Understanding and Insight
One of the main functions of communication is self-other understanding:
insight into our selves and others. People depend on communication to develop
self-awareness (Gamble and Gamble, 2002).
b. Meaningful relationships
Gamble and Gamble (2002) states that communication offers each of us
the chance to satisfy what the psychologist William Schutz calls our “needs for
inclusion – need to be with others, control – need to feel that we are capable and
responsible and affection – need to express and receive love.” Furthermore, the
authors point out that communication gives us a chance to bridge the gap within
our own culture and with others despite difference in symbols, languages and
behaviors.
c. Influence and Persuasion
Communication provides us with opportunities to influence and persuade
others subtly or overtly to think what we think, do what we do, or like what we
like (Gamble and Gamble, 2002).
4. Models of communication
a. Linear/Action Model – described communication as a linear, or one-way,
process in which one person acted on another person. This model consisted of
five questions that described early views of how communication worked:
“Who?”, “Says what?”, “In what channel?”, “To whom?”, and “With what
effect?” (Wood, 2012).
Figure 1. Linear model of communication
Adapted from Shannon, C. & Weaver, W. (1949)
b. Interactive Model – Because the linear model only depicted a one-way process
of communication where speakers only speak and never listen, Schramm (1955)
in Wood (2009) came out with a more interactive model that saw the receiver or
listener providing feedback to the sender or speaker. Both the speaker and the
listener take turns to speak and listen to each other. Feedback is given either
verbally or non-verbally, or in both ways.
This model also indicates that the speaker and listener communicate
better if they have common fields of experience.
5. Transactional Model – The transactional model in Wood (2009) shows that the
elements in communication are interdependent. Each person in the communication act
is both a speaker and a listener, and can be simultaneously sending and receiving
messages.
There are three implications in the transactional model:
a. “Transactional” means that communication is an ongoing and continuously
changing process. You are changing, the people with whom you are
communicating are changing, and your environment is also continually changing
as well.
b. In any transactional process, each element exists in relation to all the other
elements. There is this interdependence where there can be no source without
a receiver and no message without a source.
c. Each person in the communication process reacts depending on factors such as
their background, prior experiences, attitudes, cultural beliefs and self-esteem.
Figure 3. A Transactional Model of Communication
Adapted from Wood, J.T. (2010). Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters (6th
ed). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
REFERENCES
Books:
Aquino, Fe O. (1999). Speech and oral communication in academic and post-
academic worlds. Makati City: Groundwater Publications and Research
Corp.
Floyd, K. (2010). Communication matters, New York City, McGraw-Hill Companies
Inc., pp 2-6
Gamble, T. K. & Gamble, M. (2002). Communication Works, Seventh Ed., United
States of America, McGraw-Hill Companies Inc., pp. 17-18
Wood, J. T. (2009). Communication In Our Lives (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson-
Wadsworth, pp. 8-11
Internet:
Anonymous. A Primer on Communication Studies, retrieved June 9, 2014 from
http://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-primer-on-communication-
studies/s01-03-communication-principles.html
Schramm, W. (1955). The Process and Effects of Mass Communication retrieved
from
http://lms.oum.edu.my/e-content/OUMH1303KDP/content/24094922O
UMH1303_OralCommunication_v1/OUMH1303_Topic1/
OUMH1303_1_2.html
Shannon, C. & Weaver, W. (1949). The Mathematical Theory of Communication,
retrieved (June 9, 2014) from
http://lms.oum.edu.my/e-content/OUMH1303KDP/content/24094922O
UMH1303_OralCommunication_v1/OUMH1303_Topic1/
OUMH1303_1_2.html
Wood, J.T. (2010). Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters (6th ed)
retrieved from
http://lms.oum.edu.my/e-content/OUMH1303KDP/content/24094922O
UMH1303_OralCommunication_v1/OUMH1303_Topic1/
OUMH1303_1_2.html
