COMMUNICATION

Communication is the process of transmitting knowledge/

information between two or more people. The communication
process is the steps we take in order to achieve a successful
communication. It is a continuous and dynamic phenomenon.

Communication Theory
1. Aristotle’s model
2. Shannon and Weaver’s model (1949)
3. Gerbner’s model (1956)
4. Lasswell’s model (1948)
5. Newcomb’s model (1953)
6. Westley and MacLean’s model (1957)
7. Jakobson’s model (1960), etc.

For details on these communication models, see John Fiske’s

Introduction to Communication Studies (1990).

What are the elements/components of communication?

Seven major elements of communication process are: (1)
sender (2) ideas (3) encoding (4) communication channel
(5) receiver (6) decoding and (7) feedback (Chand, 2016).

Figure: Elements of Communication (Source: FAO, UNO)

(1) Sender:
The person who intends to convey the message with the
intention of passing information and ideas to others is known as
sender or communicator.
(2) Ideas:
This is the subject matter of the communication. This may be
an opinion, attitude, feelings, views, orders, or suggestions.
(3) Encoding:
Since the subject matter of communication is theoretical and
intangible, its further passing requires use of certain symbols
such as words, actions or pictures etc. Conversion of subject
matter into these symbols is the process of encoding.
(4) Communication Channel:
The person who is interested in communicating has to choose
the channel for sending the required information, ideas etc.
This information is transmitted to the receiver through certain
channels which may be either formal or informal.
(5) Receiver:
Receiver is the person who receives the message or for whom
the message is meant for. It is the receiver who tries to
understand the message in the best possible manner in
achieving the desired objectives.
(6) Decoding:
The person who receives the message or symbol from the
communicator tries to convert the same in such a way so that
he may extract its meaning to his complete understanding.
(7) Feedback:
The Receiver might give back a feedback to the sender.
Feedback is the process of ensuring that the receiver has
received the message and understood in the same sense as
sender meant it.

Let's put all these components together to build a model of the

communication process:
1. A sender encodes information/ idea/ message
2. The sender selects a channel of communication by
which to send the message
3. The receiver receives the message
4. The receiver decodes the message
5. The receiver may provide feedback to the sender
(Grimsley)
Verbal and Nonverbal Communication:
Communication can be either verbal or nonverbal. In turn, both
verbal and nonverbal communication can be either vocal or
nonvocal. Much of the communication that takes place between
people is verbal; that is, it is based on language.
Verbal communication of the vocal category includes spoken
language. Nonvocal verbal communication involves written
communication as well as communication that is transmitted
through sign language, finger spelling, Braille, or other similar
alternatives to verbal language.
Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and their use or
interpretation.
Nonverbal Communication is communication through
gestures, eye movements, or qualities of voice. It includes
apparent behaviors such as gestures, facial expressions, eyes,
touching, and tone of voice, as well as less obvious messages
such as dress, posture and spatial distance between two or more
people, body movement, timing, touch, and anything else done
without speaking. These are also termed as body language.
People generally notice nonverbal communication more than
verbal communication. Some estimate that most
communication is done by body language or nonverbal
communication, but opinions vary; still, everyone concludes
that nonverbal communication plays a pivotal role in our life.

The human body is the main transmitter of presentational

codes. Argyle (1972) lists ten such codes and suggests the sort
of meanings they can convey.
1. Bodily contact: Whom we touch and where and when we
touch them can convey important messages about relationships.
Interestingly, this code and the next (proximity) are ones that
appear to vary most between people of different cultures. The
British touch each other less frequently than members of
almost any other culture.
2. Proximity (or proxemics): How closely we approach
someone can give a message about our relationship. There
appear to be ‘distinctive features’ that differentiate significantly
different distances. Within three feet is intimate; up to about
eight feet is personal; over eight feet is semi-public; and so on.
The actual distances may vary from culture to culture: the
personal, but not intimate, distance of Arabs can be as little as
eighteen inches—which can be very embarrassing for a British
listener. Middleclass distances tend to be slightly larger than
the corresponding working class ones.
3. Orientation: How we angle ourselves to others is another
way of sending messages about relationships. Facing someone
can indicate either intimacy or aggression; being at 90° to
another indicates a co-operative stance; and so on.
4. Appearance: Argyle divides this into two: those aspects
under voluntary control—hair, clothes, skin, bodily paint and
adornment—and those less controllable—height, weight, etc.
Hair is, in all cultures, highly significant as it is the most
‘flexible’ part of our bodies: we can most easily alter its
appearance. Appearance is used to send messages about
personality, social status, and, particularly, conformity.
Teenagers frequently indicate their dissatisfaction with adult
values by hair and dress: and then complain when such
messages of hostility provoke negative reactions from adults!
5. Head nods: These are involved mainly in interaction
management, particularly in turn-taking in speech. One nod
may give the other permission to carry on speaking; rapid nods
may indicate a wish to speak.
6. Facial expression: This may be broken down into the sub-
codes of eyebrow position, eye shape, mouth shape, and nostril
size. These, in various combinations, determine the expression
of the face, and it is possible to write a ‘grammar’ of their
combinations and meanings. Interestingly, facial expression
shows less cross-cultural variation than most other
presentational codes.
7. Gestures (or kinesics): The hand and arm are the main
transmitters of gesture, but gestures of feet and head are also
important. They are closely co-ordinated with speech and
supplement verbal communication. They may indicate either
general emotional arousal or specific emotional states. The
intermittent, emphatic up-and-down gesture often indicates an
attempt to dominate, whereas more fluid, continuous, circular
gestures
indicate a desire to explain or to win sympathy. Besides these
indexical gestures, there is a group of symbolic ones. These are
frequently insulting or scatological and are specific to a culture
or subculture: the V sign is an example. We should also
mention the iconic type of gesture such as beckoning, or using
the hands to describe a shape or direction.
8. Posture: Our ways of sitting, standing, and lying can
communicate a limited but interesting range of meanings.
These are frequently concerned with interpersonal attitudes:
friendliness, hostility, superiority or inferiority can all be
indicated by posture. Posture can also indicate emotional state,
particularly the degree of tension or relaxation. Interestingly,
and perhaps surprisingly, posture is less well controlled than
facial expression: anxiety that does not show on the face may
well be given away by posture.
9. Eye movement and eye contact: When, how often, and for
how long we meet other people’s eyes is a way of sending very
important messages about relationships, particularly how
dominant or affiliative we wish the relationship to be. Staring
someone out is a simple challenge of dominance; making eyes
at someone indicates a desire for affiliation. Making eye
contact at the beginning of or early in a verbal statement
indicates a desire to dominate the listener, to make him or her
pay attention; eye contact towards the end of or after a verbal
statement indicates a more affiliative relationship, a desire for
feedback, to see how the listener is reacting.
10. Non-verbal aspects of speech: These are divided into two
categories:
(a) The prosodic codes which affect the meaning of the words
used: Pitch and stress are the main codes here. ‘The shops are
open on Sunday’ can be made into a statement, a question, or
an expression of disbelief by the pitch of the voice,
(b) The paralinguistic codes which communicate information
about the speaker: Tone, volume, accent, speech errors, and
speed indicate the speaker’s emotional state, personality, class,
social status, way of viewing the listener, and so on.

Differences between Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

(Surbhi, 2015):
The major differences between verbal and nonverbal
communication are as under:
1. The use of words in communication is Verbal
communication. The communication which is based on
signs, not on words is Non-verbal communication.
2. There are very fewer chances of confusion in verbal
communication between the sender and receiver.
Conversely, the chances of misunderstanding and
confusion in non-verbal communication are very much as
the use of language is not done.
 3. In verbal communication, the interchange of the message
is very fast which leads to rapid feedback. In opposition to
this, the non-verbal communication is based more on
understanding which takes time and hence it is
comparatively slow.
4. In verbal communication, the presence of both the parties
at the place of communication is not necessary, as it can
also be done if the parties are at different locations. On the
other hand, for an effective non-verbal communication,
both the parties must be there, at the time of
communication.
5. In verbal communication, the documentary evidence is
maintained if the communication is formal or written. But,
there is no conclusive evidence in case of non-verbal
communication.
6. Verbal communication fulfills the most natural desire of
humans – talk. In case of Non-verbal communication,
feelings, status, emotions, personality, etc are very easily
communicated, through the acts done by the parties to the
communication.

References:
Argyle, M. (1972). Non-verbal communication in human social
interaction. In R. A. Hinde (ed.), Non-Verbal
Communication, (pp. 243-269). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Chand, Smiriti. (2016). 7 Major Elements of Communication
Process. http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/business-
communication/7-major-elements-of-communication-
process/25815/
Communication Theory. http://communicationtheory.org/
FAO. Communication.
http://www.fao.org/docrep/t0060e/T0060E05.htm
Fiske, John. (1990). Introduction to Communication Studies,
2nd ed. London: Routledge.
Grimsley, Shawn. (n.d.). What is the communication process?
http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-the-
communication-process-definition-steps.html
Surbhi, S. (2015). Difference between Verbal and Nonverbal
Communication. http://keydifferences.com/difference-
between-verbal-and-non-verbal-communication.html