COMMUNICATION PROCESSES,
PRINCIPLES AND ETHICS
LESSON 1: THE COMMUNICATION
PROCESS
The Nature of Communication
● Communication is derived from the Latin
word “common” which means, “belonging to
many” and “communico” means to confer
with others. It is the mutual exchange of
information, ideas, and understanding by any
effective means.
● In other words, communication is a process
by which people send messages or exchange
ideas or thoughts with one another in a verbal
or non-verbal manner
● Communication is the interaction of words
from a society and thus gives pleasure and an
increased understanding of life.
● The channel is responsible for the delivery
of the chosen message form. For example:
post office, internet, television and radio
4. RECEIVER (decoder/listener)
● The receiver or the decoder is responsible
for extracting/ decoding meaning from the
message.
● The receiver is also responsible for
providing feedback to the sender.
● It is his/her job to INTERPRET.
5. FEEDBACK (response)
● This is important as it determines whether
or not the decoder grasped the intended
meaning and whether the communication
was successful
6. CONTEXT
● The context of any communication act is
the environment surrounding it.
● It is also known as the setting of the
communication.
ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION
1. SENDER (encoder)
● The sender also known as the encoder
decides on the message to be sent and the
best/most effective way that it can be sent.
● It is the sender’s job to CONCEPTUALIZE
(form a concept of idea).
2. MEDIUM (message)
● The medium is the immediate form which
a message takes. For example, a message
may be communicated in the form of a letter,
an email or face to face in the form of a
speech
● Medium is also known as the MESSAGE.
3. CHANNEL
7. NOISE (also called interference)
● This is the factor that inhibits the
conveyance of a message.
● Noise is anything that interferes with
communication.
Physical noise is interference that is external
to both speaker and listener; it hampers the
physical transmission of the signal or
message.
Examples of physical noise: ● Loud party at
the neighbors while you’re trying to record. ●
Irritating hum of your computer, air
conditioner, or electric fan.
Physiological noise is created by barriers
within the sender or receiver.
● Examples of physiological noise on the
encoder’s side are: articulation problems,
mumbling, talking too fast, talking too slow,
forgetting to pause, and forgetting to breathe.
interpret, infer, or guess the meaning of
things appealing to his sense of hearing.
● An example of physiological noise on the
listener’s side: hearing problems. Maybe the
listener can’t hear high tones as clearly as
they used to. For some, low tones are the
problem. Their difficulty in literally hearing
words and sounds becomes physiological
noise.
Communication does not guarantee a
direct or automatic link between two
minds
Psychological noise is mental interference in
the speaker or listener.
● Wandering thoughts, preconceived ideas,
and sarcasm can be a kind of
LESSON 2:
PRINCIPLES AND CHARACTERISTICS
OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is Schemata-driven
It begins with yourself; you begin with what
you have already stocked in your brain or
with what you have already known or
understood about the subject matter of the
communicative act. Transmitted messages
become understandable or meaningful
because of your background knowledge
about the messages.
Communication is an Interpretive Act
The only person who knows the exact or full
meaning of the message transmitted is the
sender or speaker. Being the creator or source
of the ideas, he has the absolute knowledge
about his message.
It was called interpretive act because the role
of the receiver or the listener is just to
This form of knowledge becomes meaningful
only to others when you initiate
communication with them.
Communication is active, powerful, or
forceful
Communication is said to be active because
messages have varied effects on all
participants in any communicative event. It
engages speakers and listeners inaction of
giving and receiving information.
Communication is powerful and forceful for
it elicits different meanings or reactions;
these messages are prone to changes.
Subjected to the changeable and continued
existence of the world, communication is
dynamic ( a process or system characterized
by constant change) as life that goes on and
on like a river. nothing remains permanent or
fixed in the world of communication.
Communication is symbolic
Symbols, signs, or marks like letters, words,
sentences, graphs, pictures, and other
concrete objects represent or stand for ideas
that you intend to convey verbally.
For non-verbal communication, you resort
bodily actions (gestures, eye movements,
posture, facial expressions) voice quality,
space and time elements to stand for the ideas
you want to express.
Communication
something
always
results
in
It refers to two or more persons participate in
any communicative act. The first expresses or
sends a message; the second responds or
reacts to the message.
standards determined by the cultural group
you
belong
to,
your
community
communication becomes ethical, good or
desirable.
Communication is irreversible
Communication is influenced by media and
technology
You are free to talk to about anything under
the sun. but once you utter something, the
things you have said remain as it is
susceptible to different interpretations or
meanings.
Now, you are in the era of knowledge
explosion or modern technology. This period
is
LESSON 3:
Communication is contextual
An exchange of views, ideas, or feelings
doesn't only involve the sender and receiver,
but also other aspects of the communication
setting like type, place, topic, occasion,
purpose, and manner of communication.
Communication
progressive
is
developmental
or
To communicate ideas to go through the
different stages of language learning that
begins from birth to elementary, high school
and college levels. it is not a one-time
learning
towards
communicative
competence.
COMMUNICATION CUES: VERBAL
AND NON-VERBAL LANGUAGE
Verbal Language
Verbal language consists of symbols such as
letters, words, and other marks that you need
to subject to language or grammar rules for a
coherent
or
organized
means
of
understanding or expressing ideas. This
verbal or spoken language becomes a written
language once you put on paper or any
surface the marks or prints symbolizing or
representing the ideas you intend to convey
or have spoken to others.
Verbal symbols refer to the use of speaker
language (Antonio, et.al., p. 30)
Communication is a progress
Several stages of communication take place
when people exchange or share ideas with
one another. Each stage involves elements
with different functions.
Communication is ethical
Any communication event is expected to
apply rules, moral values, and beliefs agreed
upon by societal members. Guided by these
Non-verbal Language
As with other aspects of communication,
norms for non- verbal communication vary
from country to country and also among
cultures within a particular country. Some
non-verbal communication behaviors appear
to be somewhat innate because they are
universally recognized. Such universal
signals are the “eyebrow flash” of recognition
when we see someone we know and the
“open hand” and the “palm up” gestures that
signals a person would like something or
needs help (Martin & Nakayama, 2010).
Smiling is also a universal non-verbal
behavior, but the triggers that lead a person to
smile vary from culture to culture. The
expansion of media, particularly from the
United States and other Western countries
around the world, is leading to more
nonverbal similarities among cultures, but the
biggest cultural difference in nonverbal
communication occur within the categories
of eye contact, touch, and personal space
(Pease & Pease, 2004). Nonverbal
communication like other forms of
communication is influenced by context and
varies among individuals within a particular
cultural group as well.
The idea you want to convey through this
non-verbal communication are symbolized or
represented, not by words but by the
following nonverbal non-verbal language
symbols:
Body Movements Also known as body
kinetics.
Big and small movements of your body like
gestures, facial expressions, posture, and eye
behavior expresses meanings.
Kinesics derived from the Greek term
“kinesis” meaning “motion” which refers to
the study of body movements.
Examples of paralanguage are the following:
a) Speaking voice produced by your voice’s
❏ highness and lowness (Pitch) ❏ loudness
or softness (Volume) ❏ speediness and
slowness (Duration/Rate) ❏ rising and
falling (Intonation) ❏ Pleasing or unpleasing
sound - shrillnes, huskiness, breathiness,
mellowness, etc. (Quality)
b) Vocalization or voice’s special usage like
crying, giggling, moaning, growling,
yawning, sighing and groaning.
c) vocal pauses or boosters
ash...ugh...umm...oh...shh...oops...ma
others.
like
ny
Time There are two kinds of people based on
time; punctual and late
Your willingness, hesitance, or hatred to wait
for a long time speaks of your trait of patience
or impatience. Likewise, this reflects your
manner of valuing your relationship with the
object of your waiting. Your trait of optimism
is also proven by your fondness of talking
about your goals, dreams, or plans for the
future. Chronemics is the term that refers to
your act of studying the impact or effect of
time on your behavior.
Proxemics It concerns the way a person uses
the space around him as well as the distance
where he stands.
Paralanguage refers to the ways of saying
something.
a. Intimate distance. In this situation, people
are in direct contact with each other or are in
no more than 18 inches apart as in mother and
child.
These are extra sounds that go with your
spoken words and a study of these special
sounds accompanying your words is called
Paralinguistic.
b. Personal distance. People may stay
anywhere from 18 inches to 4 feet from each
other as in casual and personal conversations.
This distance is close enough to see each
other’s reactions.