Oral Communication in Context

The Functions, Nature, and Process of Communication

NATURE OF COMMUNICATION
 Communication is a two - way process of connecting to both living and non - living things. It is also a means of sharing and
exchanging messages, information, ideas, and feelings for mutual understanding (Gregoriom, J.C., 2015).

 Communication connects people and the world they live in. It is through that with communication people are able to express
their thoughts and ideas or convey information and messages through word of mouth, gestures and signals, signs, and others.
People have always communicated with one another in various forms.

 Communication is a process of sharing and conveying messages or information from one person to another within and
across channels, contexts, media, and cultures (McCornack, 2014).

 There is a wide variety of contexts and situations in which communication can be manifested; it can be a face-to-face
interaction, a phone conversation, a group discussion, a meeting or an interview, a letter correspondence, a class
recitation, and many others.

Let us further define communication:

1. Communication is a message understood.

- Unless a message is understood, we cannot say that communication has taken place. Let us send a message to someone
and say, “where came first”. The person who gets this message would wonder what it means, for the arrangement of the
words does not make any sense. The message is sent but the receiver does not understand it. Therefore, for communication
to take place, we have to consider two conditions. First, there should be a clear message. Second, the message must be
understood by the receiver for whom it is meant.

2. Communication is social interaction through messages.

- Think of someone telling, “It is very warm today.” In this case, we are communicating what ‘we experience’. The weather
being warm is what we feel or experience physically. In this scenario, we are sharing our feeling or experience with someone
else. Thus, we may say that “communication is a sharing of experience.” In our society, we all interact with messages.
Without interactions, a society cannot survive. Social interaction is always through messages.

 We discuss problems and arrive at solutions. We exchange ideas and interact with others. We transact, and then we
negotiate. In doing all these, we use communication. Imagine a situation where we are not able to speak and interact with
others or think of a family living in the same house without speaking to each other or relating any form of message to one
another. Such situation can be very lonely and problematic. Without communication, all forms of human relationships will
vanish and die. Communication is therefore crucial in building and maintaining relationships.

3. Communication is a process.
4. Communication occurs between two or more people (the speaker and the receiver).
5. Communication can be expressed through written or spoken words, actions (nonverbal), or both spoken words and nonverbal
actions at the same time.

PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
There are also times when we fail to communicate effectively which results to misunderstanding or miscommunication. Why do you
think this thing happens?
What are the ways to avoid them?
We are sometimes misunderstood due to the level of speech we use during conversation
- by the volume of our voice or the rate of our speech when we talk with our friends or acquaintances. Sometimes, we are
misunderstood due to the nonverbal actions that we project or incorporate in our speech during face – to - face
communication

- Also, when we send text or chat messages, we are misinterpreted because those messages are often brief and devoid of
emotion.

- Let us now try to consider the process of communication. How does communication take place? Who are involved? What
processes are considered? By understanding the communication process, we can also duly avoid
misunderstandings and / or miscommunication.
As seen in the illustration, communication begins when the speaker or source of communication responds to a stimulus and decides
to encode or transmit it in the form of a message (or a “code”) through a particular channel or means of communication.
The receiver decodes or interprets the message sent and responds accordingly based on his interpretation of the message. This
response comes in the form of a feedback sent to the original source of communication (sender). As the communication
transaction continues, the sender and receiver may exchange roles until understanding is achieved. Barriers to communication
sometimes block the transmission of the message thereby creating misunderstanding.
Through this process, we are able to understand that communication is systematic. In the advent of technology, the exchange of
information and messages in society has advanced and has been a subject of many studies.

1. The speaker develops an idea to be sent.

2. The speaker encodes the idea or converts it to words or actions.
3. The speaker transmits or sends out the idea using a specific medium or channel.
4. The receiver gets the message and decodes or interprets it.
5. The receiver provides or sends feedback.
 At any point of the communication process, noise may take place and hinder the flow of communication process.

FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION
Why do we communicate? Since communication is certain in our lives, it comes naturally and unknowingly.
Communication serves many purposes. The following are some of the many reasons why we communicate:

There are five functions of communication. These are regulation or control, social interaction, motivation, information, and emotional
expression.
1. REGULATION / CONTROL – Communication functions to control behavior. It can be used to regulate the nature and
number of activities people engage in.
“Take your medicine before you go to bed.”
“Finish your work before you go.”
 2. SOCIAL INTERACTION – Communication allows people to interact with others to develop bonds or intimacy. It also
allows individuals to express desires, encouragement, needs, and decision or to give and get information.
“Would you like to go to church with me?”
“Come on! You can do it!”

3. MOTIVATION – Communication persuades or encourages another person to change his/her opinion, attitude, and behavior.
“You’re on the right track. Keep up the good work.”
“My dream is to finish my Senior High School despite this pandemic”.

4. EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION – Communication facilitates people’s expression of their feelings such as love, fear, anger,
joy, hope, or any other emotion.
“I’m so happy to have you in my life.”
“I like you so much.”

5. INFORMATION – Communication functions to convey information. It can be used in giving and getting information.
“The Philippine Normal University was founded in 1901.”
“You can find the bathroom right next to this door”

THE ELEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION

1. SENDER
- The sender is the one who initiates the message that needs to be transmitted. He sends the message that may be in different
forms such as pictures, symbols, postures, gestures, or even just a smile. After generating the idea, he sends it in such a
manner that can be understood clearly by the receiver.

2. MESSAGE
- Message refers to the information intended to be communicated by words as in speech, letters, pictures, or symbols. It can be
verbal or non-verbal. It is the content the sender wants to convey to the receiver.

3. ENCODING
- It is the process of expressing the idea into appropriate medium. It may be verbal or non-verbal. The sender may put the
message into a series of symbols, words, pictures or gestures.

4. CHANNEL
- It refers the medium or passage through which encoded message is passed to the receiver. It may be transmitted through face-
to-face communication, telephone, radio, television, memorandum, or computer.

5. RECEIVER
- Receiver refers to whom the message is meant for. He plays a significant role in the communication process like the sender.
He needs to comprehend the message sent. His translation of the message received depends on his/her knowledge of the
subject matter of the message, experience, and relationship with the sender.

6. DECODING
- It means translating the encoded message into a language that can be understood by the receiver. After receiving the message,
the receiver interprets it and tries to understand it.

7. FEEDBACK
- It refers to the response of the receiver to the message sent to him/her by the sender. Feedback ensures that the message has
been effectively encoded and decoded.

8. NOISE
- It is a hindrance to communication. This can take place at any step in the entire communication process. There are various
types of noise.
 Examples of physical noise are loud music, an irritating sound of an engine of a machine, or a classmate who talks to you
while the teacher is giving a lecture.
 The second type of noise is physiological – when the body becomes the hindrance to communication such as headache,
toothache, or hunger.
 The third type is psychological noise that refers to qualities in us that affect how we communicate and interpret others such
as prejudice and any feeling can interfere with communication. Noise is considered as a barrier to effective communication.