THEORY OF COMMUNICATION

Introduction:

Within the framework of a social set-up, human beings interact with each other
through communication. So 'communication' has been termed as the
fundamental social process. Any discipline or field of study that deals with
human society and human behaviour is necessarily concerned with this process.

The sub-system of education functions within a broader system - that of society.

To understand human behaviour for effective teaching and learning, it is
necessary to understand the processes of human communication.

Education is also a process of communication between the individual and

society, communicating desirable social standards and human knowledge from
the latter to the former over a period of time.

The earlier meaning of communication (derived from the Latin word

'communicare'-means 'to make common') has undergone many changes, which
have made its meaning broader and more complicated. For example,
Theodorson and Theodorson (1969) stated that communication as a process of
transformation of information ideas, attitudes or emotions from one person or
group to another or others primarily through symbols. Schramm, (1 97 1)
conceived of communication as a process of transferring feelings, motivations,
ideas and knowledge from one mind to another, in a way in which the receiver
was seen as a passive agent.

But the latter concept of the audience as passive listeners appears tosbe
baseless, since as some of them may well refuse to accept what is forced on
them. And it is actually only the message and not the idea or thought that passes
from the sender to the receiver. At times the message may result in change of
behaviour in the receiver which was not intended by the sender. However, the
meaning that we want to derive from this definition is that communication is a
process of conveying and imparting ideas and knowledge whereby there is a
transfer of messages as well as ideas from one mind to the other(s) with the help
of signs (through sight) and sounds (through hearing).

Another set of definitions stresses the influence of a system and/or mind on the
destination and/or another mind. This influence is carried out by manipulating
the alternative signals that are transmitted through the channel. The sender is
free to use any signal which she thinks would influence the receiver. These
signals not only cover speech - written and oral - but also pictures, music,
theatre, and almost all human behaviour. For example, in a theatre show, the
characters/artists manipulate various signals (e.g. speech, postures, gestures,
etc.) to both entertain and influence the minds of the audience. In a broader
sense, communication ia\ the procedure by means of which one mechanism
affects another mechanism. The stress here is on influence rather than a transfer.
The human relationship approach views communication as the mechanism
through which human relations exist and develop.

Schramm (197 l), a noted communication theorist, views it differently saying "it
is the sharing of an orientation towards a'set of informational signs".
Information refers not only to factsfnews or whatever is taught in the classroom,
but also any content that reduces uncertainty or the number of alternative
possibilities in a situation". It includes 'facts, opinions, guidance, persuasion and
even emotion communicated through 'silent language'. This communication is
based on a relationship between at least two bodies - humans, animals or even
machines - that are 'in tune' with each other. This relationship may not be a
face-to-face one. For example, in the case of mass media there is no direct
contact between the two agents of communication.

 According to OED – Communication is the imparting, conveying or

exchanging of ideas and knowledge whether by speech, writing or sign.
 According to Columbia Encyclopedia– Communication is the transfer of
thoughts and messages. The basic forms of communication are by sign
(sight) and sound (hearing).
 According to Berelson and Steiner – "Communication–the transmission
of information, ideas, emotions, skills etc. by the use of symbols–words,
pictures, figures, graphs etc. It is the act of process of transmission that is
usually called communication. "
 According to Anderson – "Communication is the process by which we
understand others and in term trying to be understood by them." It refers
understanding is the basic feature of communication.
 According to Hobel – "Communication is the verbal interchange of
thought and idea."
 According to Gode – "It is a process that makes common to two or
several, what was the monopoly of one or some.”
Types of communication

The experience of communicating can be divided into four categories based on

the number of people involved in this act, viz., intra-personal, interpersonal,
group, and mass communication.

1. Intra-personal communication
This refers to a process when one communicates with one's own
self. Such communication is within the self and to the self, e.g.,
thinking, working out a problem, writing diaries, etc. (Holmberg,
198 1).
2. Inter-personal communication
This is the communication that takes place when at least two
people interact, whether face-to-face, e.g., an interview, talking to
friends in a cafe, or otherwise, as with a telephone conversation
etc. In this case, emphasis is laid on speech as well as on non-
verbal forms of communication.
3. Group communication
By group communication we mean communication within and
between groups of people. The groups may be small, such as a
family, or large, as in the case of a committee meeting.
Characteristics of the Group • Common motive • Differential
effects of the interaction on individual group members •
Hierarchical status systems i.e. some type of the leader- follower
relationship develop. • Standardisation of terms, norms and value
i.e. because of the shared goals, certain normative behaviour are
established which members are expected to follow. Group
communication may be formal or informal. Informal
communication network ignores the formal channel of network.
Formal communication follows certain structures. For example If a
group work together and there are sufficient channel of
communication for each member of the group to communicate with
any other we represent it as committee structure. Star
structurewhere the flow of information centralizes on one member
of the group Circle Structure-Where the flow of information is not
centralized and each member of the group can communicate with
each of the other members.
4. Mass communication
 In this case the communication is received by or used by large
numbers of people, e.g., an open-air concert for a thousand people,
radio and postal systems, etc. Characteristics of the Group •
Common motive • Differential effects of the interaction on
individual group members • Hierarchical status systems i.e. some
type of the leader- follower relationship develop. • Standardisation
of terms, norms and value i.e. because of the shared goals, certain
normative behaviour are established which members are expected
to follow. Group communication may be formal or informal.
Informal communication network ignores the formal channel of
network. Formal communication follows certain structures.

Purposes of communication

Every type of communication has a purpose behind it. Such purposes are related
to certain n eds, and they may be conscious or unconscious. In face-to-face
communication, for example, the verbal forms of communication reveal
conscious purposes, and the non-verbal forms express unconscious purposes.
Communication may be intentional or unintentional. It is unintentional when,
for example, Mr. A's words hurt Mr. B though the former did not intend to hurt
the latter.

Some of the purposes of communication are to

 give, get or exchange information

 use communication to form or to maintain relationships
 persuade others to think in the way that one does, or to act in the way one
wants
 gain, maintain or exert power over others
 make decisions about what we think and do
 express our ideas and ourselves to others
 and make sense of the world and our experience of it.

VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Verbal Communication refers to the use of words.

It has a grammatical structure. • There is great difference in the skill of

individuals at using languages. • It is concerned with the process of social
interaction itself. • It can be used to convey information to others. • It is used
to influence the behaviour of others.

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Communication by facial expression, by tone of voice, eye movements, by

touch etc. comes under the category of non-verbal communication. Non-
verbal communication is usually used to communicate feelings, likings and
preferences. Non-verbal communication is categorized into seven types.

A. Para linguistics

It is a kind of complementary language and also refer as paralanguage.

Paralanguage refers to the non-verbal elements of communication used to
modify meaning and convey emotion. Paralanguage may be expressed
consciously or unconsciously. It includes the pause, stress, volume and
intonation of speech. The study of paralanguage is known as Para linguistics.
Pause: provides punctuation (instead of saying 'full stop' as when dictating).
Stress: is the emphasis given to a specific syllable or word in speech. Stress
is of two types: word stress and sentence stress. Word Stress: Take the word
Rainbow for example. It has two syllables: ‘Rain’ and ‘bow’. The stress is
placed on ‘Rain’. Similarly, given below are some examples. The stressed
syllables are written in capital letters. Examples: Paper:Paper, Station :
STAtion, Tiger: Tiger .Sentence Stress: Sentence stress is the way of
highlighting the important words in a sentence. Examples: KNOCK the
BELL, TOUCH the SKY. Intonation: Intonation is the variation of our pitch,
when we speak. It occurs when the voice changes in pitch and tone while
speaking. We make errors while speaking.

B. Kinesics

According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary Kinesics is “a systematic study

of the relationship between nonlinguistic body motions (such as blushes,
shrugs, or eye movement) and communication”. Anthropologists began to
take serious interest in nonverbal communication through gestures, postures,
and facial expressions in the 1940s. It is believed, however, that the
publication of Ray Birdwhistell’s 1952 book Introduction to Kinesics
marked the beginning of formal research into what we know familiarly as
"body language."
There are several different categories of body movement, these include:

Emblems Gestures that serve the same function as a word are called
emblems. For example, the signals that mean 'OK', 'Come here!' Emblems
are used intentionally. They have verbal equivalents. Sometimes used
emblems are recognized at global level, at the other end some emblems are
interpreted in their cultural context.

Illustrators Gestures which accompany words to illustrate a verbal message

are known as illustrators. The common circular hand movement
accompanies the phrase 'over and over again', or nodding the head in a
particular direction when saying 'over there'. They act as 'reinforcers', i.e.
they reward and encourage what has gone before, and can be used to make
another talk more. Nodding of head plays an important role in controlling the
synchronizing of speech.

Regulators Gestures which give feedback when conversing are called

regulators. Examples- Short sounds such as 'uh-huh' head nods and
expressions of interest or boredom. It shows the level of interest or
agreement in conversation. It is a feedback and makes the conversation
smooth. Regulators may vary in different cultural contexts.

Adaptors It satisfies some physical need. Most of the time adaptive behavior
accompanies anxiety and nervousness feelings. It is usually unintentional
and perceived negatively. Scratching, biting fingernails or one’s lips are
example of adaptive behaviours etc.

C. Haptic

According to Culbertson, Schorr and Okamura (2018) it is difficult to

imagine life without haptics, in part because it is such a natural and integral
part of our lives. Without haptics, we would have great difficulty grasping
and manipulating objects, be unable to determine many material or surface
properties, and miss feeling the warmth of a loved one's hand. Thus, many of
the applications of artificial haptics address scenarios where the sense of
touch is lost or greatly diminished compared with the experience of a healthy
person in the real world. “Your first experience with haptics is probably your
phone vibrating in your pocket”. Haptics refers to the use of touch to
communicate i.e., shaking hands, holding hands, patting etc. It can convey a
clearer and direct message than dozen of words put together.
D. Proxemics

Proxemics is the study of how space is used in human interactions. The

word “Proxemics” is coined by Dr. Edward T.Hall. He coined this word to
describe the theories and observation about zones of territory and how we
use them. He states that we do not know how much space is essential for any
person, but what is significant is what happens any person when this space or
territory is threatened or invaded. The need for personal space and the
resistance to its invasion by others is so strong in an individual that even in a
crowd each member will demand a given amount of space. Another aspect of
Proxemics refers to the use of interpersonal space . Anthropologist Edward
T. Hall defines four distance zones maintained by healthy, adult, middleclass
Americans.

E. Physical Appearance

Magnenat-Thalmann, Kalra & Pandzic (1995) describes that physical

appearance is concerned with the forms of decoration, such as clothes and
other adornment, that are entirely under the control of the wearer. It also
concerns aspects partly controlled by the person in question, such as
physique, hair and skin. Many of these elements provide information on the
personality, status, group membership and interpersonal attitude of the
sender.

F. Chronemics

How time is considered is sometimes a message in itself, a form of non-

verbal communication called Chronemics. According to Moore (2010)
chronemics is the study of the role of time in communication. It is one of
several subcategories of the study of nonverbal communication. Chronemics
can be defined as “the interrelated observations and theories of man’s use of
time as a specialized elaboration of culture” - the way in which one
perceives and values time, structures time, and reacts to time frames
communication. Across cultures, time perception plays a large role in the
nonverbal communication process. Time perceptions include punctuality,
willingness to wait, and interactions. The use of time can affect lifestyle,
daily agendas, speed of speech, movements, and how long people are willing
to listen. Time can be used as an indicator of status. For example, in most
companies the boss can interrupt progress to hold an impromptu meeting in
the middle of the work day, yet the average worker would have to make an
appointment to see the boss. The way in which different cultures perceive
time can influence communication as well.

Functions of Non-verbal Communication

The three functions of non-verbal communication are: -

A. Communicates interpersonal attitudes and emotion- When the verbal and

non-verbal messages were in conflict, the verbal contents were virtually
disregarded. In human social behaviour, Non-verbal channel is used for
negotiating interpersonal attitudes, while the verbal channel is used primarily
for conveying information.

B. Supporting verbal communication- A few linguistic recognize that NVC

plays a more extensive part-‘we speak with our vocal organ, but we converse
with our whole body’.

i. Completing the meaning of utterances: In addition to the vocal signals of

timing, pitch and stress, gestural signals also add to meaning by illustrating,
pointing, displaying structure etc. There is a linkage between gesture and
speech. ii. Controlling synchronizing: When two or more people are
conversing they must take it in turns to speak, and usually achieve a fairly
smooth pattern of synchronizing. This is done by the use of non-verbal
signals such as shifts of gaze, head-nods and grunts. iii. Obtaining feedback:
When a person is speaking he needs feedback on how the others are
responding, so that he can modify his remarks accordingly. He needs to
know whether his listeners understand, believe him, surprised or bored,
agree or disagree, pleased or annoyed. It is obtained from careful study of
the other’s face, especially his eyebrows and mouth.

C. Replacing speech- When speech is impossible, gesture language develops.

This happens in noisy factories etc. It has been suggested by some
psychiatrists that the symptoms of certain mental patients are a kind of NVC
used when speech has failed-in pursuit of attention or love.