Functions, Nature and Process
Functions, Nature and Process
1. Communication is a process.
2. Communication occurs between two or more people (the speaker and the receiver).
3. Communication can be expressed through written or spoken words, actions (nonverbal), or both spoken words and
nonverbal actions at the same time.
Let us further define communication using the two key terms stated above, “message” and “understand”.
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.
MESSAGE - the information, ideas, or thoughts conveyed by the speaker in words or in actions.
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.
ENCODING - the process of converting the message into words actions, or other forms that the speaker understands.
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.
CHANNEL - the medium or the means, such as personal or non-personal, verbal or nonverbal, in which the encoded
message is conveyed.
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.
RECEIVER - the recipient of the message, or someone who decodes the message.
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.
DECODING - the process of interpreting the encoded message of the speaker by the receiver.
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.