Elements of Communication

1. SENDER/ENCODER
The sender also known as the encoder decides on the message to be sent, the best/most effective way that it can be
sent. All of this is done bearing the receiver in mind. In a word, it is his/her job to conceptualize.
The sender may want to ask him/herself questions like: What words will I use? Do I need signs or pictures?

2. MEDIUM
The medium is the immediate form which a message takes. For example, a message may be communicated in the
form of a letter, in the form of an email or face to face in the form of a speech.

3. CHANNEL
The channel is that which is responsible for the delivery of the chosen message form. For example post office,
internet, radio.

4. RECEIVER
The receiver or the decoder is responsible for extracting/decoding meaning from the message. The receiver is also
responsible for providing feedback to the sender. In a word, it is his/her job to INTERPRET.

5. FEEDBACK
This is important as it determines whether or not the decoder grasped the intended meaning and whether
communication was successful.

6. CONTEXT
Communication does not take place in a vacuum. The context of any communication act is the environment
surrounding it. This includes, among other things, place, time, event, and attitudes of sender and receiver.

7. NOISE (also called interference)

This is any factor that inhibits the conveyance of a message. That is, anything that gets in the way of the message
being accurately received, interpreted and responded to. Noise may be internal or external. A student worrying
about an incomplete assignment may not be attentive in class (internal noise) or the sounds of heavy rain on a
galvanized roof may inhibit the reading of a storybook to second graders (external noise).
The communication process is dynamic, continuous, irreversible, and contextual. It is not possible to participate in
any element of the process without acknowledging the existence and functioning of the other elements.

FACTORS OF COMMUNICATION
Sender: The sender may be a SPEAKER, a WRITER or someone who merely gestures.

Context: The exchange of INFORMATION a message between two or more people.

Medium: The mean of TRASMITTINGINFORMATION between a SPEAKER or WRITTER(the sender) and AUDIENCE(the
receiver)is called medium

Receiver: The person for whom the sender INTENDS a message. the receiver is RESPOSIBLE for listening to
understanding and responding to a message.

Feed back: In communication studies, the response of the AUDIENCE to a message or activity feedback can be conyed
both verbally or non verbally.
 MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

Models of communication refers to the conceptual model used to explain the human communication process. The first
major model for communication came in 1949 by Claude Elwood Shannon and Warren Weaver for Bell Laboratories.
Following the basic concept, communication is the process of sending and receiving messages or
transferring information from one part (sender) to another (receiver).

Shannon and Weaver. The original model was designed to mirror the functioning of radio and telephone technologies.
Their initial model consisted of three primary parts: sender, channel, and receiver. The sender was the part of
a telephone a person spoke into, the channel was the telephone itself, and the receiver was the part of the phone where
one could hear the other person. Shannon and Weaver also recognized that often there is static that interferes with one
listening to a telephone conversation, which they deemed noise.
David Berlo. In 1960, David Berlo expanded on Shannon and Weavers (1949) linear model of communication and
created the SMCR Model of Communication. The Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver Model of communication
separated the model into clear parts and has been expanded upon by other scholars.
Schramm. Communication is usually described along a few major dimensions: Message (what type of things are
communicated), source / emisor / sender / encoder (by whom), form (in which form), channel (through which medium),
destination / receiver / target /decoder (to whom), and Receiver. Wilbur Schramm (1954) also indicated that we should
also examine the impact that a message has (both desired and undesired) on the target of the message.
Barnlund. In light of these weaknesses, Barnlund (2008) proposed a transactional model of communication. The basic
premise of the transactional model of communication is that individuals are simultaneously engaging in the sending and
receiving of messages. In a slightly more complex form a sender and a receiver are linked reciprocally.
Psychology of communication. Bernard Luskin, UCLA, 1970, advanced computer assisted instruction and began to
connect media and psychology into what is now the field of media psychology. In 1998, the American Association of
Psychology, Media Psychology Division 46 Task Force report on psychology and new technologies combined media and
communication as pictures, graphics and sound increasingly dominate modern communication.
Constructionist Model. There is an additional working definition of communication to consider that authors like Richard
A. Lanham (2003) and as far back as Erving Goffman (1959) have highlighted. This is a progression from Lasswells
attempt to define human communication through to this century and revolutionized into the constructionist model.
Constructionists believe that the process of communication is in itself the only messages that exist. The packaging can
not be separated from the social and historical context from which it arose, therefore the substance to look at in
communication theory is style for Richard Lanham and the performance of self for Erving Goffman.
Linear Model. It is a one way model to communicate with others. It consists of the sender encoding a message and
channeling it to the receiver in the presence of noise. Draw backs the linear model assumes that there is a clear cut
beginning and end to communication. It also displays no feedback from the receiver. For example; a letter, email, text
message, lecture.
Interactive Model. It is two linear models stacked on top of each other. The sender channels a message to the receiver
and the receiver then becomes the sender and channels a message to the original sender. This model has added
feedback, indicates that communication is not a one way but a two way process. It also has field of experience which
includes our cultural background, ethnicity geographic location, extend of travel, and general personal experiences
accumulated over the course of your lifetime. Draw backs there is feedback but it is not simultaneous. For example
instant messaging. The sender sends an IM to the receiver, then the original sender has to wait for the IM from the
original receiver to react. Or a question/answer session where you just ask a question then you get an answer.
Transactional Model. It assumes that people are connected through communication; they engage in transaction. Firstly,
it recognizes that each of us is a sender-receiver, not merely a sender or a receiver. Secondly, it recognizes that
communication affects all parties involved. So communication is fluid/simultaneous.
Communication cycle. The first major model for communication came in 1949 by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver
for Bell Laboratories. The original model was designed to mirror the functioning of radio and telephone technologies.
Communication noise. In any communication model, noise is interference with the decoding of messages sent over a
channel by an encoder.