Definition
Communication is the process of sending and receiving information. Information can come in many forms including facts, opinions, and even emotions.
The Communicative Process
To understand communication better, we can think about it as a process. To illustrate this, check out the communication model below:
- Participants – The entities involved in the process.
- Sender – The person sending the message. Sometimes known as the “encoder.”
- Receiver – The person receiving the message. Sometimes known as the “decoder.”
- Message – The idea (or mental construct) that is being conveyed.
- Channel – The medium through which the message is sent or received. This can be spoken, written, or electronic (g.g. phone, chat, letter).
- Code – The language used to represent the idea. Say, for example. This is why the sender and receiver are sometimes known as encoder and decoder respectively.
- Encoding – The use of a particular sign to carry the idea (e.g. the word “puno” to signify the idea of the organism with trunk and leaves).
- Decoding – The process of making sense of idea from the code.
- Feedback – The response or reaction of the receiver.
- Context – The process happens within a specific situation bound by time and space.
- Noise – Noise is anything that disrupts the process. Can be physical (e.g. loud music), physiological (e.g. poor hearing or deafness), or psychological (e.g. egotism, close-mindedness).
Miscommunication
Usually miscommunication happens when there are issues at any stage of the process. For example, in the matter of code, if the participants do not share or have varying grasps of the language, miscommunication may arise. Likewise, with noise issues, if there is plenty of interference the decoding and interpretation of the message might be affected.
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