Oral Communication in Context

Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

LESSON 1.3
Elements of Communication

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Objectives 2

DepEd Competency 2

Warm-Up 2

Learn about It 3
The Five Elements of Communication 4
Participants 4
Context 4
Message 5
Channel 5
Feedback 5

Key Points 6

Check Your Understanding 6

Let’s Step Up! 8

Photo Credit 8

Bibliography 8
 Oral Communication in Context
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Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

Lesson 1.3
Elements of Communication

Fig. 1. The channel, or the method by which a message is delivered, is one of the five
elements of communication.

Introduction
The communication process happens through individual components known as the
elements of communication. These individual parts work together to enable us to share our
thoughts and ideas with one another. Understanding the different elements of
communication is important in becoming more effective communicators.

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Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

Objectives
In this lesson, you should be able to do the following:
● Identify the elements of communication.
● Explain how the elements of communication work together in the
communication process.

DepEd Competency
At the end of this lesson, the students should be able to identify the elements of
communication.

Warm-Up

Think-Pair-Share

Materials
● pad paper
● writing materials

Procedure
1. Find a partner.
2. Make a list of inside jokes and other words, phrases, actions, and situations that you
share with people who are close to you. Think of examples that are only
understandable to you and a select few (such as your family and friends) who can
relate to them.
3. Share your answers with your partner and explain their meaning and significance.

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Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

Guide Questions
1. What did you think about your partner’s inside jokes and special words, phrases,
actions, and situations? Why did you think that way about them?
2. How is context important in communication?

Learn about It
The elements of communication are the components that make the communication process
possible. Learning about and understanding these elements will allow one to get a better
picture of the communication process and how it works.

Vocabulary
participants
the communicators
(noun)

context
the interrelated conditions that affect the message
(noun)

message the main idea or information that the sender would like
(noun) to convey to the receiver

channel
the means of delivering the message
(noun)

feedback the response of the receiver to the given message of the

(noun) sender

Essential Question
How do the different elements of communication work together to make
communication effective?

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Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

The Five Elements of Communication

The five elements of communication focus on each aspect of the process and relate its
importance accordingly. A good communicator must consider looking into these elements
to deliver an effective message.

Below are the five elements of communication. Take note of how the following elements
connect with the communication process presented in a previous lesson.

Participants
These are the communicators. They can be both senders and receivers. A sender transmits
the information to the receiver, while the receiver decodes the message to formulate a
response.

Context
This refers to the interrelated conditions that affect the message. These include physical,
psychological, social, and cultural factors. The table below shows examples of the particular
factors that shape the way we communicate.

Table 1. The different contexts affecting communication

Communication Contexts Examples

Physical context refers to the The way you communicate with your sibling at
place, time, environment, and home may be different from the way you
distance between communicators. communicate with each other at school.

Social context refers to the The way you communicate with a person of
relationship of the communicators. authority that you have only just met is different
from the way you speak with someone who has
been your close friend for years.

Psychological context refers to the When you are sad or angry, for example, you
moods and feelings of the might say things that you would not say if you
communicators. Think about the were happy.
times when your mood or feelings

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Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

caused you to communicate

differently.

Cultural context includes the When speaking with an exchange student from
beliefs and norms of the Japan, for example, you may need to explain
participants. This comes into play some Filipino terms you use in a conversation,
when you are speaking with terms that you do not need to explain to a fellow
someone who is of a different Filipino.
gender, age, social status, religion,
or nationality.

Message
This is the main point of having communication. The message carries the stimulus or the
main idea that the sender would like to convey to the receiver. As such, it is important for
the message to be stated clearly and in a way that is understandable to the receiver.

Channel
This is the means of delivering the message. It can be a face-to-face conversation, a letter,
a phone call, an email, or done through social media.

Feedback
This refers to the response of the receiver. This helps the sender of the message determine
whether the message was understood by the receiver. If the participants of the conversation
continue giving feedback, the flow of communication continues.

Let’s Check In
Answer the following questions about the elements of communication and
their role in the communication process:
1. What is the idea or concept that a sender wants to convey?
2. What is the response of the receiver after he or she receives the
message?
3. Why is context important in understanding a particular message?

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Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

Key Points

● The elements of communication are the components that make the communication
process possible. These elements are the participants, context, message, channel,
and feedback.
● A good communicator must be aware of these elements and how they shape and
affect meaning.

Check Your Understanding

Fill in the blanks with the correct answer.

1. _______________ context refers to the place, time, environment, and distance

between communicators.

2. The communicators involved in the process are called the _______________.

3. The _______________ is the means of delivering the message.

4. The _______________ is the main idea or information that the sender would like to

convey to the receiver.

5. The _______________ context in communication includes the beliefs and norms of the

participants.

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Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

Write down the specific context being described in the following

situations:

1. Situation: The new employee speaks softly when responding to his new boss.

Context: ___________________________________

2. Situation: A girl screamed when she saw a snake inside the house.

Context: ___________________________________

3. Situation: Children are comfortable cuddling with their parents.

Context: ___________________________________

4. Situation: Koreans bow to show respect to people.

Context: ___________________________________

5. Situation: You join your classmates’ conversation about the video game you played

last night, chanting “GG! GG!” to refer to a good game.

Context: ___________________________________

Identify and explain the five elements of communication in the given dialogue:

Joe: Hey, dude! (nods to Tom) How ya doin’?

Tom: (offers hand for a funny handshake) I’m doing fine. School’s been good!
Joe: Oh yeah! I heard you won that writing contest! Your piece was sick! (pats Tom’s
back hard)
Tom: (laughs) Thanks!

1. Participants: _________________________________________________________________________

2. Context: _________________________________________________________________________

3. Message: _________________________________________________________________________

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Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

4. Channel: _________________________________________________________________________

5. Feedback: _________________________________________________________________________

Let’s Step Up!

Compose a dialogue between two people with at least ten lines. It must show all the
elements of communication, including the specific context and the channel of
communication.

Photo Credit
Fig. 1. Communication by Delwin Steven Campbell is licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Flickr.

Bibliography

Hybels, Saundra, and Richard Weaver II. Communicating Effectively. 10th ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill, 2011.

Ashman, Melissa. "Elements in Communication." 1.2 of Introduction to Professional

Communications. Self-published, Pressbooks, 2018.
https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/professionalcomms/chapter/1-2-elements-i
n-communication/.

Sheppard, Mike. “Proxemics.” July 1996. Accessed December 14, 2016.

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Grade 11/12 • Unit 1: Nature and Elements of Communication

http://www.cs.unm.edu/~sheppard/proxemics.htm.

Steinberg, Shiela. An Introduction to Communication Studies. Cape Town, South Africa: Juta &
Co., 2007.

Nordquist, Richard. "The Basic Elements of the Communication Process." ThoughtCo.

Updated April 5, 2020.
https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-communication-process-1689767.