Communication Model
It describes what is necessary for an
act of communication to take place.
 A model represents the major features
and eliminates the unnecessary
details of communication.
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Functions of Communication Models
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To clarify the scope of human interaction
showing it to be a circular, complex,
continuous dynamic, or a coding process.
To point out where to book and under what
conditions to analyze different responses.
To show the variables in human
communication.
Used as a frame work in researches.
The Shannon and Weaver Model
Claude Shannon
Warren Weaver
The Transmission Model
Elements of the Model
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An information source, which produces a
message.
A transmitter, which encodes the message into
signals
A channel, to which signals are adapted for
transmission
A receiver, which 'decodes' (reconstructs) the
message from the signal.
A destination, where the message arrives.
dysfunctional factor
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A sixth element, noise is
a dysfunctional factor:
any interference with the
message travelling along
the channel which may
lead to the signal
received being different
from that sent.
Examples
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For the telephone;
the channel is a wire,
the signal is an electrical current in it, and
the transmitter and receiver are the telephone
handsets.
Noise would include crackling from the wire.
In conversation, my mouth is the transmitter,
the signal is the sound waves, and your ear is
the receiver. Noise would include any distraction
you might experience as I speak.
Advantages of Shannon and Weaver's model
simplicity,
 generality,
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Weaknesses of the transmission model of
communication
Linearity
The transmission model fixes and separates the
roles of 'sender' and 'receiver'.
But communication between two people involves
simultaneous 'sending' and 'receiving' (not only
talking, but also 'body language' and so on).
In Shannon and Weaver's model the source is
seen as the active decision-maker who
determines the meaning of the message; the
destination is the passive target.
Linearity
It is a linear, one-way model, ascribing a
secondary role to the 'receiver', who is
seen as absorbing information.
 communication is not a one-way street.
Even when we are simply listening to the
radio, reading a book or watching TV we
are far more interpretively active than we
normally realize.
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Feedback
There was no provision in the original
model for feedback (reaction from the
receiver).
 Feedback enables speakers to adjust their
performance to the needs and responses
of their audience.
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Content and meaning
transmission models tend to equate
content and meaning, whereas there may
be varying degrees of divergence between
the 'intended meaning' and the meanings
generated by interpreters
 It is widely assumed that meaning is
contained in the 'message' rather than in
its interpretation..
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Meaning
But there is no single, fixed meaning in
any message. We bring varying attitudes,
expectations and understandings to
communicative situations.
 We bring varying attitudes, expectations
and understandings to communicative
situations.
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Ambiguity
Even if the receiver sees or hears exactly
the same message which the sender sent,
the sense which the receiver makes of it
may be quite different from the sender's
intention.
 The same 'message' may represent
multiple meanings.
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Encoding Vs Decoding
Transmission models treat decoding as a
mirror image of encoding, allowing no
room for the receiver's interpretative
frames of reference.
 Where the message is recorded in some
form 'senders' may well have little idea of
who the 'receivers' may be (particularly, of
course, in relation to mass
communication).
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Intentional Message
The transmission model is an instrumental
model in that it treats communication as a
means to a predetermined end.
 However, not all communication is
intentional: people unintentionally
communicate a great deal about their
attitudes simply through body language.
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Context
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Nor is there any mention in the
transmission model of the importance of
context institutional, political, cultural,
historical. : situational, social, Meaning
cannot be independent of such contexts.
Relationships and purposes
In the transmission model the participants
are treated as isolated individuals.
 Transmission models of communication
reduce human communication to the
transmission of messages, whereas, as the
linguists tell us, there is more to
communication than this.
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Conclusion
the transmissive model reductive influence has
implications not only for the commonsense
understanding of communication in general, but
also for specific forms of communication such as
speaking and listening, writing and reading,
watching television and so on.
 it reflects the naive 'realist' notion that meanings
exist in the world awaiting only decoding by the
passive spectator.
 The model underestimates the creativity of the
act of interpretation.
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