COMMUNICATION STUDIES
SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY
Levels and Functions of Communication
Dr. Marquita Byrd
Marquita.byrd@sjsu.edu
LEVELS OF
COMMUNICATION
Organization of Research and Study
ORGANIZATION OF
KNOWLEDGE
Field of Communication
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Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Public Speaking
Small Group
Organizational
Mass Comm
New Media
Intercultural
LEVELS OR CONTEXTS
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Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Public Speaking
Small Group
Organizational
Mass Comm
New Media
Intercultural
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With Self
Two or more
One to many
Five to nine
Formal rules and units
Technology/Audience
Internet, social media
Across various
boundaries
FUNCTIONS OF
COMMUNICATION
There are Three
DEVELOP
HIGHER
MENTAL
PROCESSES
• Talking and interacting with others can
increase one’s ability to think and
engage in problem solving
• Develops with the acquisition of
Language
• Manage own behavior
• Plan
• Process information
SOCIAL
Humans are social animals.
We need contact with others for
Good mental, physical and
emotional health.
• Become human
• Work with others
• Understand who we are in
relationship to others
• Group membership
• Culture
CONTROL
• Internal (self) and External (others)
p
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r
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Self
Others
LEVELS AND
FUNCTION
• 8 Levels or contexts of Communication
• 3 Functions
• Communication can take place at
several levels at the same time.
• Levels and context are social constructs
we use to organize what we know
about communication
• Functions are the purpose and
consequences of human communication
Oral symbolic activity defines us as
a species.