ORAL COMMUNICATION IN CONTEXT
MODELS OF COMMUNICATION
I. ARTISTOTLE’S MODEL OF COMMUNICATION
Aristotle Model is mainly focused on speaker and speech. It can be broadly divided into 5
primary elements: Speaker, Speech, Occasion, Audience and Effect.
The Aristotle’s communication model revolves around the speaker as the main concept of this
theory is that, speaker plays the most important role in communication and it is the only one
who holds the responsibility to influence his/her audience through public speaking. It is the
speaker’s role to deliver a speech to the audience. The audience is passive, influenced by the
speech. This makes the communication process one way, from speaker to receiver.
The speaker must organize and prepare his/her speech beforehand, according to the target
audience and situation (occasion).
Even if the model is speaker oriented and focuses on audience interaction in communication,
there is no concept of feedbacks.
For instance, a politician (speaker) gives a speech to get votes from the civilians (audience) at the
time of election (occasion). The civilians only vote if they are influenced by the things the
politician says in his speech so the content must be very impressive to influence the mass and
the speaker must design the message very carefully.
The speech must be clear as well as the speaker must have a very good non-verbal
communication with the audience like eye contact. This example is a classic case of Aristotle
Model of Communication depicting all the elements in the model.
II. SHANNON-WEAVER MODEL
According to CommunicationTheory.org (2010), the Shannon-Weaver theory of communication
was primarily designed to improve technical communication, but was later used to describe
different fields of communication. According to the Shannon-Weaver Model, communication
includes the following concepts: sender, encoder, channel, decoder, receiver and feedback.
Furthermore, there is also concept of noise included in the model, which goes through the
channel and renders the message more difficult to understand by the receiver.
Sender: The person who wishes to communicate the message. He or she makes up the message
and the way it is communicated.
Encoder: This is the was the message is changed into signals, for example sound waves. This is
done by the sender when transmitting the message. It can also be, for example, the language
used when speaking, or the grammar used when writing. In this case, since the model was made
up for technical communication, and example of encoding could be when the voice over the
telephone gets coded into wave and transmitted through cables (CommunicationTheory.org,
2010).
Decoder: Decoding is done by the receiver when he gets the message. He has to decode the
message that was coded by the receiver in order to be able to understand it.
Receiver: The recipient of the message from the sender. He usually gives feedback to the sender
in order to make sure that the message was properly received.
Noise: The message is transferred through a channel, which can be interrupted by external
noise. This in turn could result in the receiver getting an inaccurate message. This is why
feedback from the receiver is important in case the message is not properly received.
Furthermore, the noise can also affect the decoding of the message by the receiver.
Feedback: This is when the receiver asks for clarifications from the sender. Feedback is
important in order to make sure that the message has been well received.
III. SCHRAMM’S MODEL
The models previously introduced were all created by individuals interested in communication as
an element of some other field of study. Wilbur Schramm (1954) began studying communication
as an independent discipline. He developed several models for addressing different questions.
One contribution Schramm made was to consider the fields of experience of the sender and
receiver. The sender encodes the message, based upon the sender’s field of experience. The
user’s field of experience guides decoding. If there is no commonality in the sender’s and
receiver’s field of experience, then communication does not take place. The extent to which the
signal is correctly decoded (that is, decoded so that it is the same as the original message prior to
decoding) depends on the extent of the overlap of the two fields of experience.
For instance, a lecture on neurophysiology delivered to an audience of sixth graders may result
in little or no communication. The lecturer has background knowledge of chemistry and biology,
and beyond that very specialized knowledge of biochemical processes in the nervous system.
The audience would lack the vocabulary, if nothing else, to make sense of the information.
There are many ideas in this model that should apply for examination of communication under a
wide variety of circumstances. This model illustrates the overlapping ovals represent the fields of
experience of the sender and receiver.
IV. BERLO’S MODEL
Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication represents the process of communication in its simplest
form. The acronym SMCR stands for Sender, Message, Channel, and Receiver. Berlo’s SMCR
Model of Communication describes the different components that form the basic process of
communication. Because this communication tool also emphasises the coding and decoding of
the message, it can be used for more efficient communication.
Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication includes four components that describe the
communication process. The different components in the model are influenced by various
factors.
Sender
The sender of the message is the source who creates and sends the message to the receiver. The
source is the start of the communication process and is the person who encodes the message.
Factors that may influence the sender are also applicable to the receiver. Consider how the
message is interpreted, for example. Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication identifies the
following factors that affect the source:
Communication skills
Communication skills include: reading, listening, speaking etc.
Attitude
One’s attitude in relationship to the audience, receiver and subject changes the meaning and
consequence of the message.
Knowledge
Familiarity with the subject of the message makes communication more effective.
Social systems
Values, beliefs, religion and rules influence the way in which the sender communicates the
message, alongside location and circumstances.
Culture
Cultural differences may result in the message being interpreted differently.
Message
The message is the package of information or meaning that is sent from sender to receiver. The
message can be sent in various forms, such as audio, speech, text, video or other media. The
sender of the messages always wants the receiver to interpret the message in a certain way. The
source’s intention is therefore translated into a coded message. The receiver should understand
the message with reasonable accuracy. The message is influenced by:
Content
The content of the message from beginning to end.
Elements
Elements are (non)verbal aspects, such as gestures and signs, that may influence the message.
Albert Mehrabian’s communication model goes into this in more detail.
Treatment
Treatment refers to the way in which the message is sent, the message’s packaging.
Structure
As the word suggests, the structure of the message refers to the way in which it is structured.
Code
The code of the message is the form in which the message is sent. This may include text,
language, video, gestures, music, etc.
Channel
The channel is the medium used to send the message. The medium must be able to be picked up
by the sensory system of the receiver and may therefore involve vision, sound, smell, taste or
touch. Humans have the following senses:
•
•
•
•
•
Hearing
Seeing
Touching
Smelling
Tasting
Mass communication always involves technical tools, such as phones, the Internet and television.
In these cases, the transmitted information is assimilated via vision and sound.
Receiver
The receiver is the person who receives and subsequently decodes the coded message. In a
linear communication process, the receiver is always located at the end.
Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication presents the communication process in its simplest
form. The model consists of four component that are each influenced by different factors. To
ensure the message is conveyed as effectively as possible, the sender and the receiver must
share some common ground. Communication skills play a crucial role in this. Other factors, such
as culture, knowledge and attitude are also vital. What may be considered rude in some cultures,
may be perfectly fine in others. Communication doesn’t always go as smoothly as one would
hope. Various problems, such as disruptions, noise and an asynchronous process, may obstruct
proper communication.
V. HELICAL MODEL
Frank Dance proposed a communication model inspired by a helix in 1967, known as Helical
Model of Communication. A helix is a three-dimensional spring like curve in the shape of a
cylinder or a cone.
Helix is compared with evolution of communication of a human since birth to existence or
existing moment. Helical model gives geometrical testimony of communication. The model is
linear as well as circular combined and disagrees the concept of linearity and circularity
individually.
Concept of Helical Model of Communication
Helical model of communication introduces the concept of time where continuousness of the
communication process and relational interactions are very important. Communication is taken
as a dynamic process in helical model of communication and it progresses with age as our
experience and vocabulary increases.
At first, helical spring is small at the bottom and grows bigger as the communication progresses.
The same effect can be seen with communication of humans, where you know nothing about a
person at first and the knowledge grows steadily as you know the person better. It considers all
the activities of the person, from the past and present.
Communication is affected by the curve from which it emerges which denotes past behavior and
experiences. Slowly, the helix leaves its lower levels of behavior and grows upward in a new way.
It always depends on the lowest level to form the message. Thus, the communicative
relationship reaches to the next level in which people share more information.
Communication is supposed to be continuous and non-repetitive. It is always growing and
accumulative.
REFERENCES:
https://www.businesstopia.net/communication/aristotles-model-communication
https://communicationinlibraries.wordpress.com/2013/12/07/shannon-weaver-model-ofcommunication/
https://cs.eou.edu/rcroft/MM350/CommunicationModels.pdf
https://www.toolshero.com/communication-skills/berlos-smcr-model-ofcommunication/#:~:text=Berlo's%20SMCR%20Model%20of%20Communication%20represents%
20the%20process%20of%20communication,Message%2C%20Channel%2C%20and%20Receiver.
&text=He%20described%20three%20primary%20aspects,person%20who%20receives%20the%2
0message.
https://www.businesstopia.net/communication/helical-model-communication