Elements of Communication

There are various core components/elements that have been identified in the communication process.
During this process, there is need for a communicator to understand these and their significance to
communication.

1. Information
The content passed across from the sender to the listener or reader. This content can be ideas,
feelings or opinions or a combination of these.
2. The sender/ source
This refers to the person(s) who share(s) information with another person or other people.
The sender is the source or originator of the message, without whom there can be no
communication. The sender can be an individual or a group e.g. a class, a club, a department
etc. the sender at times becomes the receiver of a message.
3. The message
This refers to the idea being conveyed or the content being shared. Ideas, feelings and
opinions are in the heart and mind and can only be shared if presented in some form or the
other. That which is packaged in some form and carries a meaning is a message. A message
can be in the form of a letter or a telephone call (which are verbal) or a frown, a clap,
appearance (non – verbal)
4. The channel
The channel is what carries the message or the medium of transmission from the source to
the receiver. Different channels can be used to transmit different messages depending on
their suitability or appropriateness. The channel can be written (e.g. books, memos, text
messages), oral (e.g. face to face conversation, telephone calls, group discussions), visual
(e.g. diagrams, symbols, sign language, nonverbal communication) or audio-visual
(television, films, teleconferencing). Human beings are multichannel communicators.
Communication is better when more than one channel is used.
5. The receiver
Like the sender, the receiver refers to an individual or a group that is involved in the
communication process. However unlike the sender who shares the message, they are the
recipients. Thus the receiver is the individual or group that receives the message. A good
communicator takes the receivers preconceptions and frame of reference into consideration.
The receiver interprets the sender’s message and then responds in various ways. At the point
of response, the receiver becomes the sender/source.
6. Setting or context
 This includes the place where and the time when the communication takes place. Context
often determines the nature that the communication will take. A speaks to B at place C about
issue D in language E for reason F etc. All these influence communication. For example, for
a teacher who is also a mother to one of the students, the nature of their communication will
change depending on whether they are in class or at home.
7. Noise
This refers to any factor that may prevent proper exchange of information. It occurs during
the transmission between the sender and the receiver. Noise may be external/physical e.g. a
phone ringing in the midst of a lecture or sermon. It may also be internal: anything that
originates from your mind and interferes with what you are listening to or reading. Examples
include: something more interesting than what you are listening to or reading, attitudes
towards the sender or lack of knowledge on the subject of discussion.
8. Feedback
This refers to the message from the receiver to the sender in response to the sender’s initial
message. Any reply to a message is feedback. Feedback is very important because it lets the
sender know whether their message has been understood or received in the way the sender
intended. It also allows the sender to know whether their message was received with
acceptance or rejection. It can be positive or negative, verbal or non-verbal. Verbal e.g. a
reply using actual words e.g. ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘I don’t agree with you’ or non – verbal like
laughter, clicking or a smile.

The Communication Process

 Communication is seen as a process and not just a transfer of meaning from one mind to another.
The communication process, like any other process involves a set of dynamic systems and related
inter-dependent elements such as the source/ sender, message, channel, receiver and feedback. This
process is best captured through models of communication. A communication model helps explain
the process by which we initiate and maintain communication. There are many different types of
models of communication but we shall sample just a few.

1. The Simple Model

In this model, communication is seen as a process and not just a transfer of meaning from
one mind to another. The communication process comprises a sender who has a message that
he /she transmits through some means (channel) to a receiver who responds (feedback) as
illustrated below:

SENDER MESSAGE CHANNEL RECEIVER

FEEDBACK

2. The Interactive Model of Communication by Schramm (1955)

This model takes account of all the variables in the communication process and demonstrates the
dynamic ongoing nature of the communication process. It is a process of sharing experience and
shaping and reshaping of that experience. This model sees the communication as process as circular
constituting sending and receiving in alternation.

The source encodes a message and sends it to a receiver through one or more of the sensory
channels. The receiver decodes the message and then encodes feedback (verbal or non-verbal,
intentional or unintentional) to the source. The source then decodes the feedback and this makes the
process two directional. Based on the original message sent and the feedback received, the source
encodes a new message.

The model also introduces the field of experience for both the sender and receiver. For a message to
be understood by the receiver in the manner intended by the communicator, participants must share
common language, culture, background etc. These fields provide conditions for interpretation. The
more communicators’ fields of experience overlap, the better they understand each other. If there is
no common background, noise such as internal prejudices may be introduced and cause
distortion/misinterpretation of the message. The model is illustrated below
This model has a serious limitation in that it does not acknowledge that everyone involved in
communication both sends and receives messages, often simultaneously.

3. The Transactional Model – Wood, J. T. (2004)

This model builds on the elements identified in the interactive model. It presents communication as
a transaction in which the source and the receiver play interchangeable roles throughout the
communication process. There is negotiation of meaning as in a transaction. It shows
communication as multidirectional.

In this model, communicator (not sender) A encodes a message and sends it to B. Communicator
(not receiver) B then decodes this and sends it to A as feedback. A then decodes the feedback.
However, the steps of encoding and decoding occur simultaneously and not alternately. Speaker A
may send a verbal message and at the same time may receive and decode a non-verbal feedback
message from the listener. The process of encoding and decoding can occur continuously
throughout the communication process. For example, in a lecture, as the lecturer speaks he/ she
watches students to see whether or not they are paying keen attention, understand, are interested
etc. Both the lecturer and students ‘listen’ and ‘speak’ at the same time. Both communicators
assume the roles of sender and receiver in the transaction.

Strengths:

i. The model acknowledges that everyone involved in communication both sends and
receives messages, often simultaneously.
ii. The model captures the dynamism of communication.
Communication changes over time as a result of what happens between people. E.g. two
people dating will be more reserved and formal on their first date than after months of
seeing each other. The changes are as a result of interacting.
iii. The model distinguishes between individual communicators’ fields of experience e.g.
family, religious associations, friends etc and shared field of experience such as a common
college, culture, and village and these keep changing as communicators encounter new
people and grow personally. They change how they interact with others.
iv. The model includes noise, which is anything that interferes with the intended
communication e.g. loud music, other people’s conversations, mental biases,
preoccupations etc.
v. Participants are defined as communicators not ‘sender’ and ‘receiver’ and the two actively
participate in the communication process.

Reading assignment:
E-tivity 1.2.1 Fundamentals of Collaboration
What Is Collaborative Learning? Theory, Examples of Activities
1. What are some of the benefits of collaborative learning to an individual and
team/organization?
2. Discuss some examples of collaborative learning activities
Listening Skills