Communication Models

One way of thinking about communication processes is by looking

at the ditfferent communication models available. According to Denis
Mcquail and Sven Windah! (2013), in their book Communication Models
for the Study of Mass Communications, "a model seeks to show the main
elements of any structure or process and the relationship between these
elements.. If helps in explaining by providing in a simplified way information
which would otherwise be complicated or ambiguous. (2)
Professor Ramona S. Flores (2016), in her book Oral Communication
in Context, discusses four models of communication in the chaptee
"Explaining the Nature of Communication." She discUsses the different
communication models as follows (Aristotle, Shannon-Weaver, Schramm,
and White, 2016):
The earliest model comes from Aristotle at around 5 B.C. In this
model. Aristotle explains that speakers should adjust their messages
according to their audience and the occasion to achieve a particular
effect. Let us apply this to a modern example. After the Japanese attacked
Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, then US President Franklin Roosevelt
delivered a stiring speech to declare war on Japan orn December 8
(National Geographic, 2017). The speaker, in this case, was Us President
Franklin Roosevelt and his speech was crafted especialy for the occasion.
flled with strong words that were crisp and straight to the point. The
occasion was the US President's response to the attack on Pearl Harbor:
the main audience was the US Congress; and the effect was to persuade
members of Congress to declare war on Japan, which they did, with only
one dissenting vote. These components of speaker, speech, occasion,
audience, and effect should be considered when communicating one's

message.

Speech Audience Effect

Speaker Occasion

Aristotle's Model of Communication

 rnfomation Transmitter Reception Destination
source

Sender Encoder Channel Decoder Receiver

ttt

FEEDBACK
Shannon-Weaver's Model of Communication

The Shannon-Weaver model was created by Claude Shannon and

Waren Weaver (Fiores, 2016). According to the website Communication
Theory.Org. in 1948, Shannon and Weaver wrote an article in the Bell
System Technological Journal entitled "A Mathematical Theory of
Communication." According to Flores (2016), this is also often called the
"Telephone Model," since it was developed because of the technology
of the telephone and the experience of "noise" coming from the
switchboard'.
The sender would be the person giving the mesage, while the
encoder would be the transmitter which converts the message into signals.
Let us use the modern example of the mobile phone. With our modernm
example, the encoder would be the cellphone, and the sender, of course,
would be the person calling. The decoder, on the other hand, would be the
reception place of the signal which converts signals into message, which
is why in modern parlance, when there is "no signal," there is difficulty
in decoding the message. The receiver would be the destination of the
message by sender which would be the person who is being called-and
when there are problems, or "noise," that interferes with the message, then
the receiver would give feedback, which is usually phrased as "choppy.
when the message cannot be heard because of the signal. The messages
áre transfemed through the use of a channel; in the case of the telephone
the channel would be the cables, while in the case of the cellphone
Ahe channel would be radio frequencies (Communication Theory.Org
This model can also be used in other situations, and can tell us how tne

This is defined a s " a system Used to c o n n e c t t e l e p h o n e calls with m a n y s e p a r a t e lines in d

building." (Meriam-Webster, 2017)

message may somelimes gel lost because of the noise, which can be
physical or psychological, and how feedback is an essential component
of communicalion to ensure that the message is successfully received.
On the other hand, when il comes to Schramm's model of
communication, there are two primary models involved. The first one
known as the
is bullt on the theories of Osgood, which is why this is also
Osgood-Schramm model.

Message
Encoder
Encoder

Interpreter
Interpreter
Decoder
Decoder

Message
Communication
Osgood-Schramm Model of

of the interpreter. Encoding

In this model,pay attention to the role
automatic processes both go through
the filter of
and decoding are not
succeed or fail, based on
the interpreter. Therefore, the message may the
appreciation of the message. There are fimes when
the interpreter's
different meanings to the same message
sender and receiver may apply His
is termed "semantic noise" (Communicative Theories.Org).
and this
the interpreter
second model, on the other
hand, builds this theory about
of the sender and the receive.
into the different fields of experience

field of experience
field of experience
signal
decoder source
sOurce encoder
 there must be a comm
For the to reach the receiver,
message on
and fhe receiver. Although th
field of experience between the
sender he
all the n u a n c e s of the messaoe
receiver might not fully appreciate
that fhe receiver has n
as there are parts of the
sender's experience no
still understand fhe core nmeaning of the
knowledge of, the receiver may
SnehaMishra (2017), this field of experience m y
message. According to and
beliefs, experiences, values,
constitute "culture, social background,
rules."

White's Stages of Oral Communication

The last model is Eugene
to begin at any of the stages outlined
According to White, it is possible that when we
under the mistaken impression
in his model. People are
with thinking, but that is not necessarily
communicate, we usually start
it means that oral communication is
the c a s e . Since it is a circular model,
most important
a continuous process
with no real beginning or end. The
contribution from Eugene White's model is
the conceptoffeedback, which

c a n only be processed by
the speaker if he or she has been monitoring
the audience or the listener. Hence,
the speaker must also pay attention
cues (Flores, 2016).
to the listener's verbal and non-verbal

Thinking Symbolizing Expressing

Transmitting
Monitoring

-Feedbacking-Decoding Receiving
White's Stages of Oral Communication

communication is not a simple process that starts

In conclusion,
ends with fhe listener-there are many factors that
with the speaker and
should be considered. when if comes to the message, how the message
isorganized and what field of experience it comes from should be taken
into consideration. When it comes to the sender, the best communication
is the one that involves Furthermore, there are several kinds o
feedback.
"noise" that may severely affect the reception of the message and thuS,
should be considered and avoided. Cultural differences, technology, and
interpretafion need to be considered as well. To be good communicators
one needs to pay attention to how people are responding to the
message, and adjust accordingly. rather than being preoccupied with
simply expressing oneself.