Subject: Oral Communication First Semester: Prelims

Learning Guide #: 2 Lesson #: 2

Topic: Explaining the Process of Communication No. of Days: 2

I. INTRODUCTION
Based on the previous lesson, communication involves a Speaker and a Listener. However, the
models of communication also presented that the Speaker and the Listener do not always have the
same roles. Their roles may interchange. Some of the elements of communication were already
presented on the previous lesson.
Communication comes about when the Message is imparted as information. At the minimum,
two persons are involved in the process: one who delivers the Message and one who receives and
understands the message. In this lesson, you will learn the Elements of Communication and its role in
the Process of Communication.

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

 define and explain the Communication Process and its elements;
 determine the importance of these elements to work properly in a communication;
 create your own model of the communication process based on day-to-day conversation.

II. CONCEPT SUMMARY

 The Communication Process refers to the exchange of information between two or more
people. For communication to succeed, both parties must be able to exchange
information and understand each other.
 The elements of the Communication Process are the following: Speaker, Message,
Listener, Channel, Response, Feedback, Noise and Communicative Situation. These
elements are present in all of our communication. They combine, interact, and are
intertwined in the process of communication. Everything proceeds smoothly when the
elements of communication work properly.

III. DISCUSSION/ ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLES

3.1. Concept Development
A. Definition of Communication Process
The term communication process refers to the exchange of information (a
message) between two or more people. For communication to succeed, both parties
must be able to exchange information and understand each other. If the flow of
information is blocked for some reason or the parties cannot make themselves
understood, then communication fails.
Below is a sample model of the communication process.
 Although the picture above presents how the communication takes place, the
process ends with the Receiver sending feedback. The picture below further illustrates
how communication continue with the Sender (Speaker) and the Receiver (Listener)
interchange their roles.

B. Introducing the Elements of Communication

1. Speaker
The Speaker is also called the sender, communicator or source. It is the
first element of the communication process who chooses his/her purpose, crafts
the message accordingly and decides how to deliver it.
The sender has some kind of information — a command, request,
question, or idea — that he or she wants to present to others. For that message to
be received, the sender must first encode the message in a form that can be
understood.
2. Message
Message, also called the content, is what needs to be delivered or imparted
to somebody else. This is central to the process because the point of
communicating is to say “something.” The Message to be sent is based on why the
Speaker wants to say it, what the Speakers wants to say, and how the Speaker
wants to say it. There is always a message in communication, even in informal
communication.
3. Listener
The Listener, also called the receiver or interpreter, receives the Message.
For communication to happen, the receiver must first be able to receive the
sender's information and then decode or interpret it. It is said that even if the
 Speaker is great and the Message is beautiful, if there is no Listener or the
Listener is not paying attention, then communication fails.
It is the Listener that makes sense of what is said and reacts to it—by
clapping, nodding the head, replying, asking a return question, following the
speaker, falling asleep or walking out. Communication is an interactive process
and if the Speaker is one-half of the communication, then the Listener is the other
half.
4. Channels
Channels, also called the medium, are the means by which the Message is
sent. There are only five channels: ears, eyes, skin, mouth and nose. In other
Message is sent and received via the senses. Of course, messages are first
received through the ears by hearing, while gestures and facial expressions are
received by the eyes through seeing. The skin, mouth and nose are not the main
pathways for sending a message, but they are still crucial in the imparting and
receiving of messages. Imagine trying to comfort relatives whose house had just
burned down. Not knowing what to say, an arm around their shoulders or an
embrace will “say” the message. Crying with them may be even better. This is a
message that does not use any words.
5. Response
Response is the only way the Speaker knows that the Message has been
received. Whether the Listener responds or not is central to the communication
process. The Response is, of course, based on the interpretation of the Message
by the Listener. If the interpretation is positive, the response will be positive, and
vice versa. For example, if listeners agree that planting tress is one way of helping
save the environment, then those who agree will come to the tree planting area.
Those who don’t agree will not even show up.
6. Feedback
Feedback is the result of the monitoring by the Speaker of the Listener’s
Response. As already discussed, the Listener may respond to the Message,
positively or negatively. The Speaker needs to watch out for this Response to
know if the Message was effectively imparted or not. Making sure of what the
Feedback is will help the Speaker in continuing with the next Message.
7. Noise
Noise, also called interference, refers to any barrier to communication. It
could be physical or physiological or psychological noise. Physical noise refers to
actual noise such as loud music or irritating engine of a motorcycle. Physiological
noise occurs when the body becomes a hindrance to good communication such as
toothache or headache. Lastly, psychological noise occurs when one is thinking
deeply about something or is suffering from an emotional condition (sadness,
depression, confusion), which discourages participation in a communicative
situation.
8. Communicative Situation
Communicative Situation has two components: the physical location and
the psychological setting. The physical location is usually chosen from the
purpose it will serve: a classroom that can be used for a meeting, an auditorium
which can be transformed into a theater for a play, and the streets that serve as
the setting for rallies. Simply, it is where the communication takes place. The
psychological setting depends on the participants. The classroom is for teaching
but the PTA holds its meeting there or the streets for moving vehicles but is now
used to hold a rally.

As illustrated by the models of communication in Lesson 1, these elements are

present in all of our communication. They combine, interact, and are intertwined in the
process of communication. Everything proceeds smoothly when the elements of
communication work properly.