Lesson- 8, Wilbur Schramm Mode

7/30/2019 Lesson- 8, Wilbur Schramm Mode

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1GALAXY GLOBAL GROUP OF INSTITUTIONS

LESSON- 8

WILBUR SCHRAMM'S MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

INTRODUCTION

CONTENTS

1.Six elements of communication2.Concepts

2.1Feedback Loop Model2.2Field of Experience Model

3.Strength4.Weakness5.Communication Barriers

5.1 Role of communication barriers in ineffective communication

SUMMARYIMPORTANT QUESTIONS

REFERENCES


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2

INTRODUCTION

Information is of no use unless and until it is carefully put into words and conveyed to others.Encoding plays a very important role because it initiates the process of communication by

converting the thought into content. When the information reaches the recipient his prime

responsibility is to understand what the speaker intends to convey. Unless and until the

second party is able to understand or decode the information what the sender wants to

communicate, the message is actually of no use. Thus encoding and decoding are two most

important factors of an effective communication without which information can never flow

between two individuals.

Schramms model also revolves around the above principle.

According to the Schramms model, coding and decoding are the two essential processes of

an effective communication. Wilber Schramm proposed the model of communication in

1954. He was one of the first to alter the mathematical model of Shannon and Weaver. He

conceived of decoding and encoding as activities maintained simultaneously by sender and

receiver; he also made provisions for a two-way interchange of messages.

He also emphasizes that the communication is incomplete unless and until the sender receives

a feedback from the recipient. Imagine a person sharing his thoughts with his friend and his

friend not responding to him. Is the communication complete? NO. Schramm believed that

communication is actually a two way process between the first party and the second party.

Wilbur L. Schramm was a forefather in the development of a basic model of communication.

His model is a derivation of the Shannon-Weaver transmission model of communication.

1.) The Shannon-Weaver model proposed six elements of communication: source encoder

message


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3 channel decoder receiver

Wilbur Schramm's 1954 model expands on this thinking by emphasizing the process of

encoding and decoding the message. Schramm envisioned this process as a two-way circular

communication between the sender and receiver. Where the Shannon-Weaver model is a

more mathematical and technological one, Schramm incorporates the study of human

behavior in the communication process.

2.) In addition to the six elements above, Schramm has included these Concepts:

2.1 FEEDBACK- information that comes back from the receiver to the sender and tellshim how well he is doing.

Diagram of Schramm's feedback loop

2.2 FIELD OF EXPERIENCE - an individual's beliefs, values, experiences and learnedmeanings both as an individual or part of a group.


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Diagram of Schramm's field of experience

Dr. Schramm suggests that the message can be complicated by different meanings learned by

different people. Meanings can be denotativeorconnotative.

Denotative meanings are common or dictionary meanings and can be roughly the same for

most people. Connotative meanings are emotional or evaluative and based on personal

experience. A message can also have plane and hidden meanings. Other characteristics of

messages that impact communication between two individuals are: pitch patterns, accents,

facial expressions, quality of voice, and gestures. The successful transmission of a message

depends on whether this message will be accepted over all the competing messages.

Schramm's model of communication also allows for the process of interpreting the message.

This process is influenced by the presence of both physical (phone, tv, sirens, etc.) and

semantic (distractions, age, attitudes, etc.) noise.

Dr. Schramm believed that all of these elements are important functions of communication in

society. He felt that people in a society need information on their environment and methodsof communicating in order to make decisions. Most importantly we need "a place to store the

accumulated knowledge and wisdom of a society and that is why we have libraries". Within a


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5library, all of these elements of Wilbur Schramm's communication model are useful in

addressing problems with conducting a reference interview. This model provides the rationale

to solve the problem presented in this project.

3.) STRENGTHS OF THE MODELi. Schramm provided the additional notion of a field of experience, or the psychological

frame of reference;

ii. Included Feedback

Communication is reciprocal, two-way, even though the feedback may be delayed.

iii. Included Context

A message may have different meanings, depending upon the specific context or setting.

iv. Included Culture

A message may have different meanings associated with it depending upon the culture

or society. Communication systems, thus, operate within the confines of cultural rules

and expectations to which we all have been educated.

4.) WEAKNESS OF THE MODELSchramms model, while less linear(linear models assume communication is one way

process), still accounts for only bilateral communication between two parties. The complex,

multiple levels of communication between several sources is beyond this model.

5.) COMMUNICATION BARRIERSCommunication Barriers are the various obstacles and hurdles which arise in between of an

effective communication leading to misunderstandings and misinterpretations by the receiver.

In the above example noise was the communication barrier.

5.1 Role of communication barriers in ineffective communication


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6 Noise - Noise plays an important barrier to effective communication. If we want to

pass on some information to a person standing next to a blaring mike. Do you think,

the sender will ever be able to interpret it correctly? Do you think the receiver in this

case is to blame? In this case, because of the blaring mike, the information will never

reach the person in its desired form. Any presentation or speech delivered in a noisy

classroom or auditorium is pointless as the information would never fall on the ears of

the listeners. Try sharing some information with a friend in an overcrowded bus or a

noisy market, correct information will never reach the recipient and he would never

be able to interpret it correctly or respond accordingly. Here noise is an external

communication barrier and it results in the distortion of the message.

Unorganized Thought - Unorganized and haphazard thoughts also are instrumental

in poor communication and a very important barrier to effective communication.

Person A to person B -Please come at 2 pm, okay not 2 come at 2.30 pm instead, fine

let us freeze it for 3 pm

Person B is bound to get confused as A himself is not clear about the timings. The

sender must pass on crystal clear information to the receiver. The sender must first be

himself very clear what he wants to communicate and then only begin the

conversation. Abstract ideas, haphazard thoughts lead to ineffective communication.

First know what you have to communicate and then only speak.

Wrong interpretations - Wrong interpretations again plays a very important role inmiscommunication. Information can be wrongly interpreted by the receiver leading to

a complete mess. My friend went for a bash yesterday night. The word bash can be

decoded as beating as well as a party. The sender might convey his message to the

recipient in order to provide some necessary information but the receiver might

misinterpret it. It is the responsibility of the receiver to give proper feedback to the

speaker and clear all the doubts before ending the conversation. Dont keep things

within yourself; ask if you are not clear with anything.

Not Understanding the receiver - The boss once wanted to address his young team.

He quoted examples from the year 1950 - the year when his team members were noteven born. Dont you think, all the young chaps will lose interest after sometime?

Thats the importance of understanding the recipient. Dont just prepare a speech,


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7learn more about the culture, habits, thought process of listeners. The sender must

understand the receiver first and then pass on the information. If a sender is sad and

you want to give him some exciting news, he will neither respond nor understand and

hence the effect will for sure get nullified. Not understanding the receiver again is a

barrier to effective communication.

Ignoring the content - One should lay emphasis on the content of his speech. Thecontent has to be clear, crisp and above all interesting. Dont just speak; take some

time to find out what you are speaking. Find out whether the content is relevant or

not? During presentations, the speaker must use interesting words, funny one liner to

capture the attention of the listeners. Dont make speech monotonous otherwise the

listeners after sometime will definitely fall asleep. One should be smart enough to

understand when to crack a slight joke in mid of a conversation. It really works. Dont

just speak for the heck of it, understand what you are speaking and try to make it more

interesting, crisp and above all relevant.

Avoiding the Listener - Imagine yourself attending a seminar where the speaker is

simply reading from his notes and for once has not made any eye contact with you.

You will never be able to relate with the speaker and hence never bother to find out

what he wants to convey. Dont just go on. Create a friendly atmosphere and then

start communicating. Dont just come to the point, one can ask questions from the

listeners like whats new? Lovely weather or even use compliments like wonderful

crowd, enthusiastic group. Dont avoid your listeners; make an eye contact with them

to effectively communicate.

Not confirming with the recipient - Always cross check with the listeners, whether

they have received the correct information or not. For instance, if you are sharing

some important contact no, do make it a habit to verify the number with the receiver

whether the receiver has noted it correctly or not. Use words like Did you get it?

Am I Audible? in between the conversation. Try to find out whether the listener is

getting your message or not. Take pauses in between, simply dont rush. Make a habit

to spell out words. If you want to pass on your email id to your team, it is better to

spell out each word of the email account. Another effective way is to break each word

into alphabets, like ant can be communicated as a as in alpha, n as in Netherlands, t asin tango. The error rate will definitely go down and the communication will be more

effective.


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8 Not understanding the mood of the recipient - Try to understand the interest or the

mood of the second party and read the mind of the other person. Dont just start

speaking, understand the mood of the other person first and then share the

information. If you think, the receiver is in the pink of his moods, dont give him sad

news, he will never bother to listen. Wait for the correct time and then communicate if

you want your communication to create an impact.

Low pitch and tone - Sometimes even the pitch and tone can play a communication

barrier. Your content might be accurate, crisp and even related, but if your pitch is

low your information will never reach the listeners bang on. The tone has to be crystal

clear and loud for passing on correct information. Remember to give the correct pause

after each sentence and dont forget the punctuation marks. Remember you are

communicating not only for the first benchers but the people on the last bench are also

a part of the communication. Be loud and clear but dont shout.

Impatient Listener - The listener also has to be patient enough to absorb the

complete information and then respond accordingly. Always jot down your points and

start off with your queries once the sender is through with the communication. Dont

just jump in between the conversation as it leads to unnecessary confusions,

misunderstandings and conflict and the communication never reaches any conclusion.

Different cultural level - In any organization, an individual can never think on the

same line as his boss does. There is always a difference in their thought process. The

work pressure, lack of transparency between the team members are also the barriers

which lead to an ineffective communication. These barriers are called internal

barriers.

SUMMARY

Wilbur Schramm is sometimes called the "father of communication studies," and had a

great influence on the development of communication research in the United States, and the

establishing of departments of communication studies in US universities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_studieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communication_studies


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9In Schramm's model it is noted, as did Aristotle, that communication always requires three

elements the source, the message and the destination. Ideally, the source encodes a

message and transmits it to its destination via some channel, where the message is received

and decoded & overlapping experiences makes it easier to communicate successfully.

To communicate effectively, we need to be familiar with the factors involved in the

communication process. If we are aware of them, these factors will help us plan, analyze

situations, solve problems, and in general do better in our work no matter what our job might

be. Communication is a concern to many people. Today, such people as psychologists,

educators, medical doctors, sociologists, engineers and journalists represent only a few of theprofessional groups whose members have developed ways of looking at and talking about the

communication process in their specialized fields.

SUGGESTED QUESTIONS

Q.1: Explain in detail the concept given by Wilbur Schramm.Q.2: What are the different barriers of Communication & how we can overcome these

barriers?

REFERENCES

Singhal, A. (1987). Wilbur Schramm: Portrait of a development communication pioneer.

Communicator: Journal of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, 22(1-4), 18-22.

Baran, Stanley. "Theories of Mass Communication".Introduction to Mass Communication.

McGraw Hill.

www. oxfordjournals.org

www.communicationencyclopedia.com
http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0767421906/student_view0/chapter12/glossary.htmlhttp://www.communicationencyclopedia.com/http://www.communicationencyclopedia.com/http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0767421906/student_view0/chapter12/glossary.html

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Lesson- 8, Wilbur Schramm Mode