Communication

 Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information.

 Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether unintentional or failed
transmissions are included and whether communication not only transmits meaning but also
creates it. Models of communication are simplified overviews of its main components and their
interactions.
 Many models include the idea that a source uses a coding system to express information in the
form of a message. The message is sent through a channel to a receiver who has to decode it to
understand it.
 The main field of inquiry investigating communication is called communication studies.
 A common way to classify communication is by whether information is exchanged between
humans, members of other species, or non-living entities such as computers.
 For human communication, a central contrast is between verbal and non-verbal communication.
Verbal communication involves the exchange of messages in linguistic form, including spoken
and written messages as well as sign language. Non-verbal communication happens without the
use of a linguistic system, for example, using body language, touch, and facial expressions.
Another distinction is between interpersonal communication, which happens between distinct
persons, and intrapersonal communication, which is communication with oneself.
 Communicative competence is the ability to communicate well and applies to the skills of
formulating messages and understanding them.
 Non-human forms of communication include animal and plant communication. Researchers in
this field often refine their definition of communicative behavior by including the criteria that
observable responses are present and that the participants benefit from the exchange.
 Animal communication is used in areas like courtship and mating, parent–offspring relations,
navigation, and self-defense.
 Communication through chemicals is particularly important for the relatively immobile plants.
For example, maple trees release so-called volatile organic compounds into the air to warn other
plants of a herbivore attack.
 Most communication takes place between members of the same species. The reason is that its
purpose is usually some form of cooperation, which is not as common between different species.
 Interspecies communication happens mainly in cases of symbiotic relationships. For instance,
many flowers use symmetrical shapes and distinctive colors to signal to insects where nectar is
located.
 Humans engage in interspecies communication when interacting with pets and working animals.
 Human communication has a long history and how people exchange information has changed
over time. These changes were usually triggered by the development of new communication
technologies. Examples are the invention of writing systems, the development of mass printing,
the use of radio and television, and the invention of the internet. The technological advances also
led to new forms of communication, such as the exchange of data between computers.
Definitions
 The word communication has its root in the Latin verb communicare, which means 'to share' or 'to
make common'.
 Communication is usually understood as the transmission of information: a message is conveyed
from a sender to a receiver using some medium, such as sound, written signs, bodily movements,
or electricity.
 Sender and receiver are often distinct individuals but it is also possible for an individual to
communicate with themselves. In some cases, sender and receiver are not individuals but groups
like organizations, social classes, or nations.

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 In a different sense, the term communication refers to the message that is being communicated or
to the field of inquiry studying communicational phenomena.
 The precise characterization of communication is disputed. Many scholars have raised doubts that
any single definition can capture the term accurately. These difficulties come from the fact that the
term is applied to diverse phenomena in different contexts, often with slightly different meanings.
The issue of the right definition affects the research process on many levels.
 This includes issues like which empirical phenomena are observed, how they are categorized,
which hypotheses and laws are formulated as well as how systematic theories based on these steps
are articulated.
 Some definitions are broad and encompass unconscious and non-human behavior. Under a broad
definition, many animals communicate within their own species and flowers communicate by
signalling the location of nectar to bees through their colors and shapes.
 Other definitions restrict communication to conscious interactions among human beings. Some
approaches focus on the use of symbols and signs while others stress the role of understanding,
interaction, power, or transmission of ideas.
 Various characterizations see the communicator's intent to send a message as a central component.
In this view, the transmission of information is not sufficient for communication if it happens
unintentionally.
 A version of this view is given by philosopher Paul Grice, who identifies communication with
actions that aim to make the recipient aware of the communicator's intention.
 One question in this regard is whether only successful transmissions of information should be
regarded as communication. For example, distortion may interfere with and change the actual
message from what was originally intended. A closely related problem is whether acts of deliberate
deception constitute communication.
 According to a broad definition by literary critic I. A. Richards, communication happens when one
mind acts upon its environment to transmit its own experience to another mind.
 Another interpretation is given by communication theorists Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver,
who characterize communication as a transmission of information brought about by the interaction
of several components, such as a source, a message, an encoder, a channel, a decoder, and a
receiver.
 The transmission view is rejected by transactional and constitutive views, which hold that
communication is not just about the transmission of information but also about the creation of
meaning.
 Transactional and constitutive perspectives hold that communication shapes the participant's
experience by conceptualizing the world and making sense of their environment and themselves.
 Researchers studying animal and plant communication focus less on meaning-making. Instead,
they often define communicative behavior as having other features, such as playing a beneficial
role in survival and reproduction, or having an observable response.
Models of communication
Models of communication are conceptual representations of the process of communication. Their goal
is to provide a simplified overview of its main components. This makes it easier for researchers to
formulate hypotheses, apply communication-related concepts to real-world cases, and test predictions.
Due to their simplified presentation, they may lack the conceptual complexity needed for a
comprehensive understanding of all the essential aspects of communication. They are usually
presented visually in the form of diagrams showing the basic components and their interaction.
Models of communication are often categorized based on their intended applications and how they
conceptualize communication. Some models are general in the sense that they are intended for all

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forms of communication. Specialized models aim to describe specific forms, such as models of mass
communication.
One influential way to classify communication is to distinguish between linear transmission,
interaction, and transaction models.
Linear transmission models focus on how a sender transmits information to a receiver. They are linear
because this flow of information only goes in a single direction. This view is rejected by interaction
models, which include a feedback loop. Feedback is needed to describe many forms of
communication, such as a conversation, where the listener may respond to a speaker by expressing
their opinion or by asking for clarification.
Interaction models represent the process as a form of two-way communication in which the
communicators take turns sending and receiving messages.
Transaction models further refine this picture by allowing representations of sending and responding at
the same time. This modification is needed to describe how the listener can give feedback in a face-to-
face conversation while the other person is talking. Examples are non-verbal feedback through body
posture and facial expression. Transaction models also hold that meaning is produced during
communication and does not exist independently of it.
All the early models, developed in the middle of the 20th century, are linear transmission models.
Lasswell's model, for example, is based on five fundamental questions: "Who?", "Says what?", "In
which channel?", "To whom?", and "With what effect?". The goal of these questions is to identify the
basic components involved in the communicative process: the sender, the message, the channel, the
receiver, and the effect.

Lasswell's model was initially only conceived as a model of mass communication, but it has been
applied to other fields as well.
Some communication theorists, like Richard Braddock, have expanded it by including additional
questions, like "Under what circumstances?" and "For what purpose?".
The Shannon–Weaver model is another influential linear transmission model. It is based on the idea
that a source creates a message, which is then translated into a signal by a transmitter. Noise may
interfere with and distort the signal. Once

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the signal reaches the receiver, it is translated back into a message and made available to the
destination. For a landline telephone call, the person calling is the source and their telephone is the
transmitter. The transmitter translates the message into an electrical signal that travels through the
wire, which acts as the channel. The person taking the call is the destination and their telephone is the
receiver. The Shannon–Weaver model includes an in-depth discussion of how noise can distort the
signal and how successful communication can be achieved despite noise. This can happen by making
the message partially redundant so that decoding is possible nonetheless. Other influential linear
transmission models include Gerbner's model and Berlo's model.

The earliest interaction model was developed by communication theorist Wilbur Schramm. He states
that communication starts when a source has
an idea and expresses it in the form of a
message. This process is called encoding
and happens using a code, i.e. a sign system
that is able to express the idea, for instance,
through visual or auditory signs. The
message is sent to a destination, who has to
decode and interpret it to understand it. In
response, they formulate their own idea,
encode it into a message, and send it back as
a form of feedback. Another innovation of Schramm's model is that previous experience is necessary to
be able to encode and decode messages. For communication to be successful, the fields of experience
of source and destination have to overlap.
The first transactional model was proposed by
communication theorist Dean Barnlund in 1970.
He understands communication as "the
production of meaning, rather than the
production of messages". Its goal is to decrease
uncertainty and arrive at a shared
understanding. This happens in response to
external and internal cues. Decoding is the
process of ascribing meaning to them and
encoding consists in producing new behavioral
cues as a response.
Constitutive models hold that meaning is "reflexively constructed, maintained, or negotiated in the act
of communicating". This means that communication is not just the exchange of pre-established
bundles of information but a creative process, unlike the outlook found in many transmission models.
According to Robert Craig, this implies that communication is a basic social phenomenon that cannot
be explained through psychological, cultural, economic, or other factors. Instead, communication is to
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be seen as the cause of other social processes and not as their result. Constitutive models are closely
related to constructionist models, which see communication as the basic process responsible for how
people understand, represent, and experience reality. According to social constructionists, like George
Herbert Mead, reality is not something wholly external but depends on how it is conceptualized, which
happens through communication.

Other Species communication

Besides human communication, there are many other forms of communication found in the animal
kingdom and among plants. They are studied in fields like biocommunication and biosemiotics. There
are additional obstacles in this area for judging whether communication has taken place between two
individuals. Acoustic signals are often easy to notice and analyze for scientists, but it is more difficult
to judge whether tactile or chemical changes should be understood as communicative signals rather
than as other biological processes.
For this reason, researchers often use slightly altered definitions of communication to facilitate their
work. A common assumption in this regard comes from evolutionary biology and holds that
communication should somehow benefit the communicators in terms of natural selection. The
biologists Rumsaïs Blatrix and Veronika Mayer define communication as "the exchange of information
between individuals, wherein both the signaller and receiver may expect to benefit from the exchange".
According to this view, the sender benefits by influencing the receiver's behavior and the receiver
benefits by responding to the signal. These benefits should exist on average but not necessarily in
every single case. This way, deceptive signalling can also be understood as a form of communication.
One problem with the evolutionary approach is that it is often difficult to assess the impact of such
behavior on natural selection. Another common pragmatic constraint is to hold that it is necessary to
observe a response by the receiver following the signal when judging whether communication has
occurred.
Animal communication
Animal communication is the process of giving and taking information among animals. The field
studying animal communication is called zoo-semiotics. There are many parallels to human
communication. One is that humans and many animals express sympathy by synchronizing their
movements and postures. Nonetheless, there are also significant differences, like the fact that humans
also engage in verbal communication, which uses language, while animal communication is restricted
to non-verbal (i.e. non-linguistic) communication. Some theorists have tried to distinguish human from
animal communication based on the claim that animal communication lacks a referential function and
is thus not able to refer to external phenomena. However, various observations seem to contradict this
view, such as the warning signals in response to different types of predators used by vervet monkeys,
Gunnison's prairie dogs, and red squirrels. A further approach is to draw the distinction based on the
complexity of human language, especially its almost limitless ability to combine basic units of
meaning into more complex meaning structures. One view states that recursion sets human language
apart from all non-human communicative systems. Another difference is that human communication is
frequently linked to the conscious intention to send information, which is often not discernible for
animal communication. Despite these differences, some theorists use the term "animal language" to
refer to certain communicative patterns in animal behavior that have similarities with human language.
Animal communication can take a variety of forms, including visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and
gustatory communication. Visual communication happens in the form of movements, gestures, facial
expressions, and colors. Examples are movements seen during mating rituals, the colors of birds, and
the rhythmic light of fireflies. Auditory communication takes place through vocalizations by species
like birds, primates, and dogs. Auditory signals are frequently used to alert and warn. Lower-order
living systems often have simple response patterns to auditory messages, reacting either by approach
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or avoidance. More complex response patterns are observed for higher animals, which may use
different signals for different types of predators and responses. For example, some primates use one set
of signals for airborne predators and another for land predators. Tactile communication occurs through
touch, vibration, stroking, rubbing, and pressure. It is especially relevant for parent-young relations,
courtship, social greetings, and defense. Olfactory and gustatory communication happen chemically
through smells and tastes, respectively.
There are large differences between species concerning what functions communication plays, how
much it is realized, and the behavior used to communicate. Common functions include the fields of
courtship and mating, parent-offspring relations, social relations, navigation, self-defense, and
territoriality. One part of courtship and mating consists in identifying and attracting potential mates.
This can happen through various means. Grasshoppers and crickets communicate acoustically by using
songs, moths rely on chemical means by releasing pheromones, and fireflies send visual messages by
flashing light. For some species, the offspring depends on the parent for its survival. One central
function of parent-offspring communication is to recognize each other. In some cases, the parents are
also able to guide the offspring's behavior.
Social animals, like chimpanzees, bonobos, wolves, and dogs, engage in various forms of
communication to express their feelings and build relations. Communication can aid navigation by
helping animals move through their environment in a purposeful way, e.g. to locate food, avoid
enemies, and follow other animals. In bats, this happens through echolocation, i.e. by sending auditory
signals and processing the information from the echoes. Bees are another often-discussed case in this
respect since they perform a type of dance to indicate to other bees where flowers are located. In
regard to self-defense, communication is used to warn others and to assess whether a costly fight can
be avoided. Another function of communication is to mark and claim territories used for food and
mating. For example, some male birds claim a hedge or part of a meadow by using songs to keep other
males away and attract females.
Two competing theories in the study of animal communication are nature theory and nurture theory.
Their conflict concerns to what extent animal communication is programmed into the genes as a form
of adaptation rather than learned from previous experience as a form of conditioning. To the degree
that it is learned, it usually happens through imprinting, i.e. as a form of learning that only occurs in a
certain phase and is then mostly irreversible.
2015 – Ciccarelli
ANIMAL STUDIES IN LANGUAGE
There are really two questions about animals and language. The first is “Can animals communicate?”
and the second is “Can animals use language?” The answer to the first question is a definite “Yes.”
Animals communicate in many ways. They use sounds such as the rattle of a rattlesnake or the
warning growl of an angry dog. There are also physical behaviors, such as the “dance” of honeybees
that tells the other bees where a source of pollen is (Gould & Gould, 1994). But the answer to the
second question is more complicated, because language is defined as the use of symbols, and symbols
are things that stand for something else. Words are symbols, and gestures can be symbols. But the
gestures used by animals are instinctual, meaning they are controlled by the animal’s genetic makeup.
The honeybee doing the “dance” is controlled completely by instinct, as is the growling dog. In human
language, symbols are used quite deliberately and voluntarily, not by instinct, and abstract symbols
have no meaning until people assign meaning to them. (Although Chomsky’s innate language
acquisition device might lead some to think that language for humans is instinctual, it should be noted
that the infant’s production of speech sounds becomes quite deliberate within a short period of time.)
Can animals be taught to use symbols that are abstract? There have been attempts to teach animals
(primates and dolphins) how to use sign language (as animals lack the vocal structure to form spoken
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words), but many of these attempts were simply not “good science.” The most successful of these
experiments (which is not without its critics as well) has been with Kanzi, a bonobo chimpanzee
trained to press abstract symbols on a computer keyboard (Savage-Rumbaugh & Lewin, 1994). Kanzi
actually was not the original subject of the study — his mother, Matata, was the chimp being trained.
She did not learn many of the symbols, but Kanzi watched his mother use the keyboard and appeared
to learn how to use the symbols through that observation. One estimate suggested Kanzi could
understand about 150 spoken English words. Trainers who speak to him are not in his view, so he is
not responding to physical cues or symbols. He has managed to follow correctly complex instructions
up to the level of a 2-year-old child (Savage-Rumbaugh et al., 1998). A later report suggested Kanzi
and his half-sister Pan-Banisha eventually acquired a working vocabulary of 480 symbols and
understood up to 2,000 English words (Roffman et al., 2012)! However, aside from anecdotal reports
based on video recordings, little to no data have been offered in published studies. One published study
with Kanzi does suggest he makes sounds that seem to have consistent meaning across different
situations (Taglialatela et al., 2003). Nearly 100 videotaped hours of Kanzi engaged in day-to-day
activities were analyzed for these sounds. The researchers were able to identify four sounds that
seemed to represent banana, grapes, juice, and the word yes. (However, remember that four sounds do
not come close to making an entire language.)
Other studies, with dolphins (Herman et al., 1993) and with parrots (Pepperberg, 1998, 2007), have
also met with some success. Is it real language? The answer seems to be a qualified “yes.” The
qualification is that none of the animals that have achieved success so far can compare to the level of
language development of a 3-year-old human child (Pinker, 1995). However, linguists still debate
whether these animals are truly learning language if they are not also learning how to use syntax—
combining words into grammatically correct sentences as well as being able to understand the
differences between sentences such as “The girl kissed the boy” and “The boy kissed the girl.”
Combining different elements (e.g., words), which each have some meaning, to form more complex
expressions that reflect the meaning of the different elements is referred to as compositional syntax.
As yet, there does not appear to be any widely accepted, conclusive evidence that wild animals have
this kind of syntax or that any of the animals trained in language have been able to master this kind of
syntax (Hurford, 2012). There has been at least one report of non-human use of vocal compositional
syntax in the lab, demonstrated by the type of notes produced by Japanese great tits, a type of perching
bird, or “songbird.” In this study, and consistent with previous research, Japanese great tits were found
to respond to “ABC” calls by scanning the horizon (typically used in response to predators), and they
approached the sound source in response to “D” calls (typically used to attract other members of the
flock; Suzuki et al., 2016). Interestingly, when researchers combined the two into ABC-D calls, the
birds both scanned their surroundings and approached the sound source. When the order was reversed
to D-ABC calls, the birds reduced scanning and rarely approached the sound source. As indicated by
the authors, it appears the birds perceived ABC-D calls as a single meaningful unit (Suzuki et al.,
2016).

Plants, fungi, and bacteria

Plant communication refers to plant processes involving the sending and receiving of information. The
field studying plant communication is called Phyto semiotics. This field poses additional difficulties
for researchers since plants are different from humans and other animals in that they lack a central
nervous system and have rigid cell walls. These walls restrict movement and usually prevent plants
from sending and receiving signals that depend on rapid movement. However, there are some
similarities since plants face many of the same challenges as animals. For example, they need to find
resources, avoid predators and pathogens, find mates, and ensure that their offspring survive. Many of
the evolutionary responses to these challenges are analogous to those in animals but are implemented
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using different means. One crucial difference is that chemical communication is much more prominent
in the plant kingdom in contrast to the importance of visual and auditory communication for animals.
In plants, the term behavior is usually not defined in terms of physical movement, as is the case for
animals, but as a biochemical response to a stimulus. This response has to be short relative to the
plant's lifespan. Communication is a special form of behavior that involves conveying information
from a sender to a receiver. It is distinguished from other types of behavior, like defensive reactions
and mere sensing. Like in the field of animal communication, plant communication researchers often
require as additional criteria that there is some form of response in the receiver and that the
communicative behavior is beneficial to sender and receiver. Biologist Richard Karban distinguishes
three steps of plant communication: the
emission of a cue by a sender, the
perception of the cue by a receiver, and the
receiver's response. For plant
communication, it is not relevant to what
extent the emission of a cue is intentional.
However, it should be possible for the
receiver to ignore the signal. This criterion can be used to distinguish a response to a signal from a
defense mechanism against an unwanted change like intense heat.
Plant communication happens in various forms. It includes communication within plants, i.e. within
plant cells and between plant cells, between plants of the same or related species, and between plants
and non-plant organisms, especially in the root zone. A prominent form of communication is airborne
and happens through volatile organic compounds (VOCs). For example, maple trees release VOCs
when they are attacked by a herbivore to warn neighbouring plants, which then react accordingly by
adjusting their defenses. Another form of plant-to-plant communication happens through mycorrhizal
fungi. These fungi form underground networks, colloquially referred to as the Wood-Wide Web, and
connect the roots of different plants. The plants use the network to send messages to each other,
specifically to warn other plants of a pest attack and to help prepare their defenses.
Communication can also be observed for fungi and bacteria. Some fungal species communicate by
releasing pheromones into the external environment. For instance, they are used to promote sexual
interaction in several aquatic fungal species. One form of communication between bacteria is called
quorum sensing. It happens by releasing hormone-like molecules, which other bacteria detect and
respond to. This process is used to monitor the environment for other bacteria and to coordinate
population-wide responses, for example, by sensing the density of bacteria and regulating gene
expression accordingly. Other possible responses include the induction of bioluminescence and the
formation of biofilms.
Interspecies communication
Most communication happens between members within a species as intraspecies communication. This
is because the purpose of communication is usually some form of cooperation. Cooperation happens
mostly within a species while different species are often in conflict with each other by competing over
resources. However, there are also some forms of interspecies communication. This occurs especially
for symbiotic relations and significantly less for parasitic or predator-prey relations.
Interspecies communication plays a key role for plants that depend on external agents for reproduction.
For example, flowers need insects for pollination and provide resources like nectar and other rewards
in return. They use communication to signal their benefits and attract visitors by using distinctive
colors and symmetrical shapes to stand out from their surroundings. This form of advertisement is
necessary since flowers compete with each other for visitors. Many fruit-bearing plants rely on plant-
to-animal communication to disperse their seeds and move them to a favourable location. This happens

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by providing nutritious fruits to animals. The seeds are eaten together with the fruit and are later
excreted at a different location. Communication makes animals aware of where the fruits are and
whether they are ripe. For many fruits, this happens through their color: they have an inconspicuous
green color until they ripen and take on a new color that stands in visual contrast to the environment.
Another example of interspecies communication is found in the ant-plant relation. It concerns, for
instance, the selection of seeds by ants for their ant gardens and the pruning of exogenous vegetation
as well as plant protection by ants.
Some animal species also engage in interspecies communication, like apes, whales, dolphins,
elephants, and dogs. For example, different species of monkeys use common signals to cooperate when
threatened by a common predator. Humans engage in interspecies communication when interacting
with pets and working animals. For instance, acoustic signals play a central role in communication
with dogs. Dogs can learn to react to various commands, like "sit" and "come". They can even be
trained to respond to short syntactic combinations, like "bring X" or "put X in a box". They also react
to the pitch and frequency of the human voice to detect emotions, dominance, and uncertainty. Dogs
use a range of behavioral patterns to convey their emotions to humans, for example, in regard to
aggressiveness, fearfulness, and playfulness.

Computer networks
Computer communication concerns the exchange of data between computers and similar devices. For
this to be possible, the devices have to be connected through a transmission system that forms a
network between them. A transmitter is needed to send messages and a receiver is needed to receive
them. A personal computer may use a modem as a transmitter to send information to a server through
the public telephone network as the transmission system. The server may use a modem as its receiver.
To transmit the data, it has to be converted into an electric signal. Communication channels used for
transmission are either analog or digital and are characterized by features like bandwidth and latency.
There are many forms of computer networks. The most commonly discussed ones are LANs and
WANs. LAN stands for local area network, which is a computer network within a limited area, usually
with a distance of less than one kilometer. This is the case when connecting two computers within a
home or an office building. LANs can be set up using a wired connection, like Ethernet, or a wireless
connection, like Wi-Fi. WANs, on the other hand, are wide area networks that span large geographical
regions, like the internet. Their networks are more complex and may use several intermediate
connection nodes to transfer information between endpoints. Further types of computer networks
include PANs (personal area networks), CANs (campus area networks), and MANs (metropolitan area
networks).
For computer communication to be successful, the involved devices have to follow a common set of
conventions governing their exchange. These conventions are known as the communication protocol.
They concern various aspects of the exchange, like the format of messages and how to respond to
transmission errors. They also cover how the two systems are synchronized, for example, how the
receiver identifies the start and end of a signal. Based on the flow of informations, systems are
categorized as simplex, half-duplex, and full-duplex. For simplex systems, signals flow only in one
direction from the sender to the receiver, like in radio, cable television, and screens displaying arrivals
and departures at airports. Half-duplex systems allow two-way exchanges but signals can only flow in
one direction at a time, like walkie-talkies and police radios. In the case of full-duplex systems, signals
can flow in both directions at the same time, like regular telephone and internet. In either case, it is
often important for successful communication that the connection is secure to ensure that the
transmitted data reaches only the intended destination and is not intercepted by an unauthorized third
party. This can be achieved by using cryptography, which changes the format of the transmitted
information to make it unintelligible to potential interceptors.

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Human-computer communication is a closely related field that concerns topics like how humans
interact with computers and how data in the form of inputs and outputs is exchanged. This happens
through a user interface, which includes the hardware used to interact with the computer, like a mouse,
a keyboard, and a monitor, as well as the software used in the process. On the software side, most early
user interfaces were command-line interfaces in which the user must type a command to interact with
the computer. Most modern user interfaces are graphical user interfaces, like Microsoft Windows and
macOS, which are usually much easier to use for non-experts. They involve graphical elements
through which the user can interact with the computer, commonly using a design concept known as
skeuomorphism to make a new concept feel familiar and speed up understanding by mimicking the
real-world equivalent of the interface object. Examples include the typical computer folder icon and
recycle bin used for discarding files. One aim when designing user interfaces is to simplify the
interaction with computers. This helps make them more user-friendly and accessible to a wider
audience while also increasing productivity.

Communication studies
Communication studies, also referred to as communication science, is the academic discipline studying
communication. It is closely related to semiotics, with one difference being that communication studies
focuses more on technical questions of how messages are sent, received, and processed. Semiotics, on
the other hand, tackles more abstract questions in relation to meaning and how signs acquire it.
Communication studies covers a wide area overlapping with many other disciplines, such as biology,
anthropology, psychology, sociology, linguistics, media studies, and journalism.
Many contributions in the field of communication studies focus on developing models and theories of
communication. Models of communication aim to give a simplified overview of the main components
involved in communication. Theories of communication try to provide conceptual frameworks to
accurately present communication in all its complexity. Some theories focus on communication as a
practical art of discourse while others explore the roles of signs, experience, information processing,
and the goal of building a social order through coordinated interaction. Communication studies is also
interested in the functions and effects of communication. It covers issues like how communication
satisfies physiological and psychological needs, helps build relationships, and assists in gathering
information about the environment, other individuals, and oneself. A further topic concerns the
question of how communication systems change over time and how these changes correlate with other
societal changes. A related topic focuses on psychological principles underlying those changes and the
effects they have on how people exchange ideas.
Communication was studied as early as Ancient Greece. Early influential theories were created by
Plato and Aristotle, who stressed public speaking and the understanding of rhetoric. According to
Aristotle, for example, the goal of communication is to persuade the audience. The field of
communication studies only became a separate research discipline in the 20th century, especially
starting in the 1940s. The development of new communication technologies, such as telephone, radio,
newspapers, television, and the internet, has had a big impact on communication and communication
studies.
Today, communication studies is a wide discipline. Some works in it try to provide a general
characterization of communication in the widest sense. Others attempt to give a precise analysis of one
specific form of communication. Communication studies includes many subfields. Some focus on
wide topics like interpersonal communication, intrapersonal communication, verbal communication,
and non-verbal communication. Others investigate communication within a specific area.
Organizational communication concerns communication between members of organizations such as
corporations, nonprofits, or small businesses. Central in this regard is the coordination of the behavior
of the different members as well as the interaction with customers and the general public. Closely

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related terms are business communication, corporate communication, and professional communication.
The main element of marketing communication is advertising but it also encompasses other
communication activities aimed at advancing the organization's objective to its audiences, like public
relations. Political communication covers topics like electoral campaigns to influence voters and
legislative communication, like letters to a congress or committee documents. Specific emphasis is
often given to propaganda and the role of mass media.
Intercultural communication is relevant to both organizational and political communication since they
often involve attempts to exchange messages between communicators from different cultural
backgrounds. The cultural background affects how messages are formulated and interpreted and can be
the cause of misunderstandings. It is also relevant for development communication, which is about the
use of communication for assisting in development, like aid given by first-world countries to third-
world countries. Health communication concerns communication in the field of healthcare and health
promotion efforts. One of its topics is how healthcare providers, like doctors and nurses, should
communicate with their patients.

History of communication
Communication history studies how communicative processes evolved and interacted with society,
culture, and technology. Human communication has a long history and the way people communicate
has changed considerably over time. Many of these changes were triggered by the development of new
communication technologies and had various effects on how people exchanged ideas. New
communication technologies usually require new skills that people need to learn to use them
effectively.
In the academic literature, the history of communication is usually divided into ages based on the
dominant form of communication in that age. The number of ages and the precise periodization are
disputed. They usually include ages for speaking, writing, and print as well as electronic mass
communication and the internet. According to communication theorist Marshall Poe, the dominant
media for each age can be characterized in relation to several factors. They include the amount of
information a medium can store, how long it persists, how much time it takes to transmit it, and how
costly it is to use the medium. Poe argues that subsequent ages usually involve some form of
improvement of one or more of the factors.
According to some scientific estimates, language developed around 40,000 years ago while others
consider it to be much older. Before this development, human communication resembled animal
communication and happened through a combination of grunts, cries, gestures, and facial expressions.
Language helped early humans to organize themselves and plan ahead more efficiently. In early
societies, spoken language was the primary form of communication. Most knowledge was passed on
through it, often in the form of stories or wise sayings. This form does not produce stable knowledge
since it depends on imperfect human memory. Because of this, many details differ from one telling to
the next and are presented differently by distinct storytellers. As people started to settle and form
agricultural communities, societies grew and there was an increased need for stable records of
ownership of land and commercial transactions. This triggered the invention of writing, which is able
to solve many problems that arose from using exclusively oral communication. It is much more
efficient at preserving knowledge and passing it on between generations since it does not depend on
human memory. Before the invention of writing, certain forms of proto-writing had already developed.
Proto-writing encompasses long-lasting visible marks used to store information, like decorations on
pottery items, knots in a cord to track goods, or seals to mark property.
Most early written communication happened through pictograms. Pictograms are graphical symbols
that convey meaning by visually resembling real-world objects. The use of basic pictographic symbols
to represent things like farming produce was common in ancient cultures and began around 9000 BCE.
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The first complex writing system including pictograms was developed around 3500 BCE by the
Sumerians and is called cuneiform. Pictograms are still in use today, like no-smoking signs and the
symbols of male and female figures on bathroom doors. A significant disadvantage of pictographic
writing systems is that they need a large amount of symbols to refer to all the objects one wants to talk
about. This problem was solved by the development of other writing systems. For example, the
symbols of alphabetic writing systems do not stand for regular objects. Instead, they relate to the
sounds used in spoken language. Other types of early writing systems include logographic and
ideographic writing systems. A drawback of many early forms of writing, like the clay tablets used for
cuneiform, was that they were not very portable. This made it difficult to transport the texts from one
location to another to share information. This changed with the invention of papyrus by the Egyptians
around 2500 BCE and was further improved later by the development of parchment and paper.
Until the 1400s, almost all written communication required writing by hand. Because of this, the
spread of written communication within society was still rather limited since copying books by hand
was costly. The introduction and popularization of mass printing in the middle of the 15th century by
Johann Gutenberg resulted in rapid changes. Mass printing quickly increased the circulation of written
media and also led to the dissemination of new forms of written documents, like newspapers and
pamphlets. One side effect was that the augmented availability of written documents significantly
improved the general literacy of the population. This development served as the foundation for
revolutions in various fields, including science, politics, and religion.
Scientific discoveries in the 19th and 20th centuries caused many further developments in the history
of communication. They include the invention of telegraphs and telephones, which made it even easier
and faster to transmit information from one location to another without the need to transport written
documents. These communication forms were initially limited to cable connections, which had to be
established first. Later developments found ways of wireless transmission using radio signals. They
made it possible to reach wide audiences and radio soon became one of the central forms of mass
communication. Various innovations in the field of photography enabled the recording of images on
film, which led to the development of cinema and television. The reach of wireless communication
was further enhanced with the development of satellites, which made it possible to broadcast radio and
television signals to stations all over the world. This way, information could be shared almost instantly
everywhere around the globe. The development of the internet constitutes a further milestone in the
history of communication. It made it easier than ever before for people to exchange ideas, collaborate,
and access information from anywhere in the world by using a variety of means, such as websites, e-
mail, social media, and video conferences.

Human communication
There are many forms of human communication. A central distinction is whether language is used, as
in the contrast between verbal and non-verbal communication. A further distinction concerns whether
one communicates with others or with oneself, as in the contrast between interpersonal and
intrapersonal communication. Forms of human communication are also categorized by their channel or
the medium used to transmit messages. The field studying human communication is known as
anthropo-semiotics.
Human communication, or anthropo-semiotics, is a field of study dedicated to understanding how
humans communicate. Humans' ability to communicate with one another would not be possible
without an understanding of what we are referencing or thinking about. Because humans are unable to
fully understand one another's perspective, there needs to be a creation of commonality through a
shared mindset or viewpoint. The field of communication is very diverse, as there are multiple layers
of what communication is and how we use its different features as human beings.

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Humans have communicatory abilities other animals do not. For example, humans are able to
communicate about time and place as though they are solid objects. Humans communicate to request
help, inform others, and share attitudes for bonding. Communication is a joint activity largely
dependent on the ability to maintain common attention. We share relevant background knowledge and
joint experience in order to communicate content and coherence in exchanges. Most face-to-face
communication requires visually reading and following along with the other person, offering gestures
in reply, and maintaining eye contact throughout the interaction.
The current study of human communication can be branched off into two major categories; rhetorical
and relational. The focus of rhetorical communication is primarily on the study of influence; the art of
rhetorical communication is based on the idea of persuasion. The relational approach examines
communication from a transactional perspective; two or more people interact to reach an agreed
perspective.
In its early stages, rhetoric was developed to help ordinary people prove their claims in court; this
shows how persuasion is key in this form of communication. Aristotle stated that effective rhetoric is
based on argumentation. As explained in the text,[which?] rhetoric involves a dominant party and a
submissive party or a party that succumbs to that of the most dominant party. While the rhetorical
approach stems from Western societies, the relational approach stems from Eastern societies. Eastern
societies hold higher standards for cooperation, which makes sense as to why they would sway more
toward a relational approach for that matter. Maintaining valued relationships is generally seen as more
important than exerting influence and control over others. The study of human communication today is
more diversified than ever before in its history.
Classification of human communication can be found in the workplace, especially for group work. Co-
workers need to argue with each other to gain the best solutions for their projects, while they also need
to nurture their relationships to maintain their collaboration. For example, in their group work, they
may use the communication tactic of "saving face".
Spoken language involves speech, mostly human quality to acquire. Chimpanzees are the closest living
species to humans. Chimpanzees are closer to humans, in genetic and evolutionary terms, than they are
to gorillas or other apes. The fact that a chimpanzee will not acquire speech, even when raised in a
human home with all the environmental input of a normal human child, is one of the central puzzles
we face when contemplating the biology of our species. In repeated experiments, starting in the 1910s,
chimpanzees raised in close contact with humans have universally failed to speak, or even to try to
speak, despite their rapid progress in many other intellectual and motor domains. Each normal human
is born with a capacity to rapidly and unerringly acquire their mother tongue, with little explicit
teaching or coaching. In contrast, no nonhuman primate has spontaneously produced even a word of
the local language.
Human communication can be defined as any Shared Symbolic Interaction.
 Shared, because each communication process also requires a system of signification (the Code)
as its necessary condition, and if the encoding is not known to all those who are involved in the
communication process, there is no understanding and therefore fails the same notification.
 Symbolic, because there is a need for a signifier or sign, which allows the transmission of the
message.
 Interaction, since it involves two or more people, resulting in a further increase of knowledge
on the part of all those who interact.
Types of Human Communication:
Human communication can be subdivided into a variety of types:
Verbal Communication
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Verbal communication is the exchange of messages in linguistic form, i.e., by means of language. In
colloquial usage, verbal communication is sometimes restricted to oral communication and may
exclude writing and sign language. However, in academic discourse, the term is usually used in a
wider sense, encompassing any form of linguistic communication, whether through speech, writing, or
gestures. Some of the challenges in distinguishing verbal from non-verbal communication come from
the difficulties in defining what exactly language means. Language is usually understood as a
conventional system of symbols and rules used for communication. Such systems are based on a set of
simple units of meaning that can be combined to express more complex ideas. The rules for combining
the units into compound expressions are called grammar. Words are combined to form sentences.
One hallmark of human language, in contrast to animal communication, lies in its complexity and
expressive power. Human language can be used to refer not just to concrete objects in the here-and-
now but also to spatially and temporally distant objects and to abstract ideas. Humans have a natural
tendency to acquire their native language in childhood. They are also able to learn other languages
later in life as second languages. However, this process is less intuitive and often does not result in the
same level of linguistic competence. The academic discipline studying language is called linguistics.
Its subfields include semantics (the study of meaning), morphology (the study of word formation),
syntax (the study of sentence structure), pragmatics (the study of language use), and phonetics (the
study of basic sounds).
A central contrast among languages is between natural and artificial or constructed languages. Natural
languages, like English, Spanish, and Japanese, developed naturally and for the most part unplanned in
the course of history. Artificial languages, like Esperanto, Quenya, C++, and the language of first-order
logic, are purposefully designed from the ground up. Most everyday verbal communication happens
using natural languages. Central forms of verbal communication are speech and writing together with
their counterparts of listening and reading. Spoken languages use sounds to produce signs and transmit
meaning while for writing, the signs are physically inscribed on a surface. Sign languages, like
American Sign Language and Nicaraguan Sign Language, are another form of verbal communication.
They rely on visual means, mostly by using gestures with hands and arms, to form sentences and
convey meaning.
Verbal communication serves various functions. One key function is to exchange information, i.e. an
attempt by the speaker to make the audience aware of something, usually of an external event. But
language can also be used to express the speaker's feelings and attitudes. A closely related role is to
establish and maintain social relations with other people. Verbal communication is also utilized to
coordinate one's behavior with others and influence them. In some cases, language is not employed for
an external purpose but only for entertainment or personal enjoyment. Verbal communication further
helps individuals conceptualize the world around them and themselves. This affects how perceptions
of external events are interpreted, how things are categorized, and how ideas are organized and related
to each other.
Non-verbal communication
Non-verbal communication is the exchange of information through non-linguistic modes, like facial
expressions, gestures, and postures. However, not every form of non-verbal behavior constitutes non-
verbal communication. Some theorists, like Judee Burgoon, hold that it depends on the existence of a
socially shared coding system that is used to interpret the meaning of non-verbal behavior. Non-verbal
communication has many functions. It frequently contains information about emotions, attitudes,
personality, interpersonal relations, and private thoughts.
Non-verbal communication often happens unintentionally and unconsciously, like sweating or
blushing, but there are also conscious intentional forms, like shaking hands or raising a thumb. It often
happens simultaneously with verbal communication and helps optimize the exchange through

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emphasis and illustration or by adding additional information. Non-verbal cues can clarify the intent
behind a verbal message. Using multiple modalities of communication in this way usually makes
communication more effective if the messages of each modality are consistent. However, in some
cases different modalities can contain conflicting messages. For example, a person may verbally agree
with a statement but press their lips together, thereby indicating disagreement non-verbally.
There are many forms of non-verbal communication. They include kinesics, proxemics, haptics,
paralanguage, chronemics, and physical appearance. Kinesics studies the role of bodily behavior in
conveying information. It is commonly referred to as body language, even though it is, strictly
speaking, not a language but rather non-verbal communication. It includes many forms, like gestures,
postures, walking styles, and dance. Facial expressions, like laughing, smiling, and frowning, all
belong to kinesics and are expressive and flexible forms of communication. Oculesics is another
subcategory of kinesics in regard to the eyes. It covers questions like how eye contact, gaze, blink rate,
and pupil dilation form part of communication. Some kinesic patterns are inborn and involuntary, like
blinking, while others are learned and voluntary, like giving a military salute.
Proxemics studies how personal space is used in communication. The distance between the speakers
reflects their degree of familiarity and intimacy with each other as well as their social status. Haptics
examines how information is conveyed using touching behavior, like handshakes, holding hands,
kissing, or slapping. Meanings linked to haptics include care, concern, anger, and violence. For
instance, handshaking is often seen as a symbol of equality and fairness, while refusing to shake hands
can indicate aggressiveness. Kissing is another form often used to show affection and erotic closeness.
Paralanguage, also known as vocalics, encompasses non-verbal elements in speech that convey
information. Paralanguage is often used to express the feelings and emotions that the speaker has but
does not get explicitly stated in the verbal part of the message. It is not concerned with the words used
but with how they are expressed. This includes elements like articulation, lip control, rhythm, intensity,
pitch, fluency, and loudness. For example, saying something loudly and in a high pitch conveys a
different meaning on the non-verbal level than whispering the same words. Paralanguage is mainly
concerned with spoken language but also includes aspects of written language, like the use of colors
and fonts as well as spatial arrangement in paragraphs and tables. Non-linguistic sounds may also
convey information; crying indicates that an infant is distressed, and babbling conveys information
about infant health and well-being.
Chronemics concerns the use of time, such as what messages are sent by being on time versus late for
a meeting. The physical appearance of the communicator, such as height, weight, hair, skin color,
gender, clothing, tattooing, and piercing, also carries information. Appearance is an important factor
for first impressions but is more limited as a mode of communication since it is less changeable. Some
forms of non-verbal communication happen using such artifacts as drums, smoke, batons, traffic lights,
and flags.
Non-verbal communication can also happen through visual media like paintings and drawings. They
can express what a person or an object looks like and can also convey other ideas and emotions. In
some cases, this type of non-verbal communication is used in combination with verbal communication,
for example, when diagrams or maps employ labels to include additional linguistic information.
Traditionally, most research focused on verbal communication. However, this paradigm began to shift
in the 1950s when research interest in non-verbal communication increased and emphasized its
influence. For example, many judgments about the nature and behavior of other people are based on
non-verbal cues. It is further present in almost every communicative act to some extent and certain
parts of it are universally understood. These considerations have prompted some communication
theorists, like Ray Birdwhistell, to claim that the majority of ideas and information is conveyed this
way. It has also been suggested that human communication is at its core non-verbal and that words can

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only acquire meaning because of non-verbal communication. The earliest forms of human
communication, such as crying and babbling, are non-verbal. Some basic forms of communication
happen even before birth between mother and embryo and include information about nutrition and
emotions. Non-verbal communication is studied in various fields besides communication studies, like
linguistics, semiotics, anthropology, and social psychology.
Interpersonal communication
Interpersonal communication is communication between distinct people. Its typical form is dyadic
communication, i.e. between two people, but it can also refer to communication within groups. It can
be planned or unplanned and occurs in many forms, like when greeting someone, during salary
negotiations, or when making a phone call. Some communication theorists, like Virginia M.
McDermott, understand interpersonal communication as a fuzzy concept that manifests in degrees. In
this view, an exchange varies in how interpersonal it is based on several factors. It depends on how
many people are present, and whether it happens face-to-face rather than through telephone or email. A
further factor concerns the relation between the communicators: group communication and mass
communication are less typical forms of interpersonal communication and some theorists treat them as
distinct types.
Interpersonal communication can be synchronous or asynchronous. For asynchronous communication,
the parties take turns in sending and receiving messages. This occurs when exchanging letters or
emails. For synchronous communication, both parties send messages at the same time. This happens
when one person is talking while the other person sends non-verbal messages in response signalling
whether they agree with what is being said. Some communication theorists, like Sarah Trenholm and
Arthur Jensen, distinguish between content messages and relational messages. Content messages
express the speaker's feelings toward the topic of discussion. Relational messages, on the other hand,
demonstrate the speaker's feelings toward their relation with the other participants.
Various theories of the function of interpersonal communication have been proposed. Some focus on
how it helps people make sense of their world and create society. Others hold that its primary purpose
is to understand why other people act the way they do and to adjust one's behavior accordingly. A
closely related approach is to focus on information and see interpersonal communication as an attempt
to reduce uncertainty about others and external events. Other explanations understand it in terms of the
needs it satisfies. This includes the needs of belonging somewhere, being included, being liked,
maintaining relationships, and influencing the behavior of others. On a practical level, interpersonal
communication is used to coordinate one's actions with the actions of others to get things done.
Research on interpersonal communication includes topics like how people build, maintain, and
dissolve relationships through communication. Other questions are why people choose one message
rather than another and what effects these messages have on the communicators and their relation. A
further topic is how to predict whether two people would like each other.
Intrapersonal communication
Intrapersonal communication is communication with oneself. In some cases this manifests externally,
like when engaged in a monologue, taking notes, highlighting a passage, and writing a diary or a
shopping list. But many forms of intrapersonal communication happen internally in the form of an
inner exchange with oneself, like when thinking about something or daydreaming. Closely related to
intrapersonal communication is communication that takes place within an organism below the personal
level, such as exchange of information between organs or cells.
Intrapersonal communication can be triggered by internal and external stimuli. It may happen in the
form of articulating a phrase before expressing it externally. Other forms are to make plans for the
future and to attempt to process emotions to calm oneself down in stressful situations. It can help
regulate one's own mental activity and outward behavior as well as internalize cultural norms and ways
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of thinking. External forms of intrapersonal communication can aid one's memory. This happens, for
example, when making a shopping list. Another use is to unravel difficult problems, as when solving a
complex mathematical equation line by line. New knowledge can also be internalized this way, like
when repeating new vocabulary to oneself. Because of these functions, intrapersonal communication
can be understood as "an exceptionally powerful and pervasive tool for thinking."
Based on its role in self-regulation, some theorists have suggested that intrapersonal communication is
more basic than interpersonal communication. Young children sometimes use egocentric speech while
playing in an attempt to direct their own behavior. In this view, interpersonal communication only
develops later when the child moves from their early egocentric perspective to a more social
perspective. A different explanation holds that interpersonal communication is more basic since it is
first used by parents to regulate what their child does. Once the child has learned this, they can apply
the same technique to themselves to get more control over their own behavior.
Speech
Allowing words to make for an understanding as to what people are feeling and expressing. It allows a
person to get a direct thought out to another by using their voice to create words that then turn into a
sentence, which in turn then turns into a conversation to get a message across.
Conversation
Allows however many people to say words back and forth to each other that will equal into a
meaningful rhythm called conversation. It defines ideas between people, teams, or groups. To have a
conversation requires at least two people, making it possible to share the values and interests of each
person. Conversation makes it possible to get messages across to other people, whether that be an
important message or just a simple message.
Visual communication
The type of communication where it involves using your eyes that allow you to read signs, charts,
graphs, and pictures that have words or phrases and or pictures showing and describing what needs to
be portrayed to get information across. Using visual communication allows for people to live daily
lives without constantly needing to speak. A simple example is driving in a car and seeing a red sign
that says "stop" on it; as a driver, you are using visual communication to read the sign understand what
is being said and stop your car to not get into an accident. If carried out properly, visual
communication has various benefits. In the information era and fast-paced society in which time is
limited, visual communication help to communicate ideas faster and better. Generally speaking, it
offers these benefits: instant conveyance, ease of understanding, cross-cultural communication and
generation of enjoyment.
Writing
Writing revolves around putting words together to create a sentence that flows into a sentence of
meaning. Words are letters that are put together to transform a word that allows the person to
understand and follow along with what is being portrayed. Writing requires us to use our hands and
paper to form words and letters to create the flow of a message or conversation. Writing can also be
done in the form of typing which is what you are seeing here, forming words together on a computer.
"Writing" is the process of using symbols (letters of the alphabet, punctuation, and spaces) to
communicate thoughts and ideas in a readable form.
Mail
This is in the form of postage which is in a letter or package. When someone uses the post office
service requiring them to send a letter that they wrote with pencil and paper or they are using the
postage service to send an object to someone out of state. Makes for an easier process to send a loved
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one messages or objects that do not live next to you or within a drive distance. Material (such as letters
and packages) sent or carried in a postal system. For an example a loved one is in the military and is
out of state, to let them know what is going on in your life and to also ask how they are doing you send
them a letter via the postal service to get that message to them at their location. Workers at the postal
service get the letters and packages across states and countries.
Mass media
The means of communication reaching a large number of people such as the population of a nation
through certain channels like film, radio, books, music, or television in that the consumer participation
stays passive with comparison to interactive network platforms. The television allows for getting
messages to a lot of people in different locations in a matter of minutes making it for the fastest
communication skill.
Telecommunication
A style of communication that allows humans to understand conversation, speech, and or visual
communication through technology. Whether you are listening to the radio, using your eyes to watch
television, or reading words in an email that is Telecommunication. This type of communication allows
for a faster and more efficient process for a message to get across to another one from anywhere you
are. Location is not a problem for this type of communication. The transmission media in
telecommunication have evolved through numerous stages of technology, from beacons and other
visual signals (such as smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs), to
electrical cable and electromagnetic radiation, including light. Such transmission paths are often
divided into communication channels, which afford the advantages of multiplexing multiple
concurrent communication sessions.
Organizational communication (communication within organizations)
Defined by structure and planning, making words, phrases, and images flow into direction and
meaning. The construct of organizational communication structure is defined by its 5 main
dimensions: relationships, entities, contexts, configuration, and temporal stability. Making it easier to
work into groups of different culture and thoughts.
Mass communication
This type of communication involves the process of communicating with known and unknown
audiences, through the use of technology or other mediums. There is hardly ever an opportunity for the
audience to respond directly to those who sent the message, there is a divide/separation between the
sender and receiver. There are typically four players in the process of mass communication, these
players are those who send the message, the message itself, the medium in which the message is sent,
and those who receive the message. These four components come together to be the communication
we see and are a part of the most, as the media helps in distributing these messages to the world every
day.
Group dynamics (communication within groups)
Allows ideas to be created within a group of people, allowing many minds to think together to form
and create meaning. The interactions that influence the attitudes and behavior of people when they are
grouped with others through either choice or accidental circumstances.
Cross-cultural communication (communication across cultures)
This allows different people from different locations, gender, and culture, in a group to feed off of each
other's ideas to form something much bigger and better. Culture is a way of thinking and living

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whereby one picks up a set of attitudes, values, norms, and beliefs that are taught and reinforced by
other members in the group.
Face-to-Face Communication
Face-to-face interaction is social communication carried out with other present individuals without any
mediating technology. It is defined as the mutual influence of individuals’ direct physical presence
with their body language and verbal language. It is one of the basic elements of a social system,
forming a significant part of socialization and experience throughout an individual's lifetime. It is also
central to the development of groups and organizations composed of those individuals. Face-to-face
interaction not only allows people to communicate more directly, but has been shown to improve
mental health and can reduce various mental illnesses, most commonly, depression and anxiety. Most
research and studies on face-to-face interaction is done via direct observation; the goal is to explain the
regularities in the actions observed in these interactions. The study of face-to-face interaction examines
its organization, rules, and strategy. It has been of interest to scholars since at least the early 20th
century. One of the earliest social science scholars to analyze this type of interaction was sociologist
Georg Simmel. He defined a society as a number of individuals intertwined by various interactions. In
his 1908 book, he observed that sensory organs play an important role in interaction, discussing
examples of human behavior such as eye contact. His insights were soon developed by others,
including Charles Cooley and George Herbert Mead. Their theories became known as symbolic
interactionism; and have since opened the door to a variety and wide range of other theories. Symbolic
interactionists are more concerned with subjective meaning rather than objective structure. They focus
on how individuals interpret subjective meaning, which leads them to understand how that individual
views the world as well as how the repetition of meaningful interactions among individuals is the
groundwork to define the formation of society. By the mid-20th century, there was already a sizable
scholarly literature on various aspects of face-to-face interaction. Works on this topic have been
published by scholars such as Erving Goffman and Eliot Chapple. Despite the advent of many new
information and communication technologies, face-to-face interaction is still widespread and popular
and has a better performance in many different areas. Nardi and Whittaker (2002) pointed that face-to-
face communication is still the golden standard among the mediated technologies based on many
theorists, particularly in the context of the media richness theory where face-to-face communication is
described as the most efficient and informational one. This is explained because face-to-face
communication engages more human senses than mediated communication. Face-to-face interaction is
also a useful way for people when they want to win over others based on verbal communication, or
when they try to settle disagreements. Besides, it does help a lot for teachers as one effective teaching
method. It is also easier to keep a stronger and more active political connection with others by face-to-
face interaction.
Mediated Communication
Historically, mediated communication was much rarer than face-to-face. Even though humans have
possessed the technology to communicate in space and time (e.g. writing) for millennia, the majority
of the world's population lacked the necessary skills, such as literacy, to use them. This began to
change with the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg that led to the spread of printed
texts and rising literacy in Europe from the 15th century. Since then, face-to-face interaction has begun
to steadily lose ground to mediated communication. Compared with Mediated Communication Face-
to-face communication has been however described as less preferable to mediated communication in
some situations, particularly where time and geographical distance are an issue. For example, in
maintaining a long-distance friendship, face-to-face communication was only the fourth most common
way of maintaining ties, after te lephone, email, and instant messaging.
In the end, there are both pros and cons to each form of communication. Several studies compared the
two groups in order to determine the advantages and disadvantages of each. One group was
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communicating only through face-to-face communication, while the other was communicating only
through computer-mediated communication. These studies found that computer-mediated groups
perform better than face-to-face groups on idea generation tasks, while face-to-face groups excel in
social emotional exchange. This is because face-to-face groups have more tension release and
agreement statements, while computer-mediated groups have a tendency of giving more suggestions,
opinions, and formal expressions. There is a greater equality of participation in computer-mediated
groups, but there's also a higher rate of uninhibited behaviour because computer-mediated groups
induce a greater loss of self-awareness. There is generally a reduced sense of social pressure in
computer-mediated groups, but there is a stronger perception and sense of understanding in face-to-
face groups.
Talking to someone face to face gives a person non-verbal cues, such as smiling, physical movement,
and body positions that help people communicate. However, since social media lacks face-to-face
communication, some individuals have adapted to blind communication when speaking online, seen
through texting, commenting, and sending/receiving messages. By nature, humans are social. Social
interaction is essential to survival. With recent advances in technology, such as the Internet, instant
messaging, and smartphones, forms many channels and ways to interact with others. However, the
human brain has evolved to adapt and keep up with this flood of mass communication. While face-to-
face communication is predicted to improve quality of life, Internet and social media communication
did not. The Internet opens a new realm of possibilities in connecting with people around the globe
with inherent factors in online communication that limit its ability to promote the same level of social
satisfaction as traditional face-to-face communication. There are significant differences between online
and face-to-face communication, leading to online communication being less emotionally satisfying
and fulfilling than face-to-face communication. Social interaction on the internet and through social
media platforms makes the interaction considerably difficult to distinguish nonverbal cues. Transitive
memory development is also brought by face-to-face communication, which is more effective than
online communication.
While technology has been able to bring communities and people closer together, humans have a
responsibility to cultivate those connections and nurture them through old-fashioned face-to-face
communication. As a human species, continuing to connect with others without hiding behind
electronic screens is crucial.
Although there are increasingly virtual communications in large transnational companies with the
development of Internet, face-to-face interaction is still a crucial tool in communication between
employees and staff workers. Face-to-face interaction is beneficial to understand underlying truths that
are presented through emotion and body language, especially when there are language and cultural
differences present amongst individuals. Cooperation in a multicultural team requires knowledge
sharing. Ambiguous knowledge which arises frequently in a multicultural team is inevitable because of
the different language habits. Face-to-face communication is better than other virtual communications
for the ambiguous information. The reason is that face-to-face communication can provide non-verbal
messages including gestures, eye contact, touch, and body movement. However, the virtual
communications, such as email, only have verbal information which will make team members more is
understanding of the knowledge due to their different comprehension of the same words. On the other
hand, the understanding of professional standards shows no difference between face-to-face interaction
and virtual communications.
Van der Zwaard and Bannink (2014) examined the effect of video call compared with face-to-face
communication on the negotiation of meaning between native speakers and non-native speakers of
English. Face-to-face interaction provides individuals who use English as the second language both
intentional and unintentional actions which could enhance the comprehension of the chat in English.
Individuals are more honest in understanding when they are in face-to-face interaction than in video

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call due to the potential loss of face issues for the non-native language speakers during the video call.
As a result, face-to-face interaction has a more positive influence on the negotiation of meaning than
virtual communications such as the video call.
Channels
For communication to be successful, the message has to travel from the sender to the receiver. The
channel is the way this is accomplished. It is not concerned with the meaning of the message but only
with the technical means of how the meaning is conveyed. Channels are often understood in terms of
the senses used to perceive the message, i.e. hearing, seeing, smelling, touching, and tasting. But in the
widest sense, channels encompass any form of transmission, including technological means like books,
cables, radio waves, telephones, or television. Naturally transmitted messages usually fade rapidly
whereas some messages using artificial channels have a much longer lifespan, as in the case of books
or sculptures.
The physical characteristics of a channel have an impact on the code and cues that can be used to
express information. For example, typical telephone calls are restricted to the use of verbal language
and paralanguage but exclude facial expressions. It is often possible to translate messages from one
code into another to make them available to a different channel. An example is writing down a spoken
message or expressing it using sign language.
The transmission of information can occur through multiple channels at once. For example, face-to-
face communication often combines the auditory channel to convey verbal information with the visual
channel to transmit non-verbal information using gestures and facial expressions. Employing multiple
channels can enhance the effectiveness of communication by helping the receiver better understand the
subject matter. The choice of channels often matters since the receiver's ability to understand may vary
depending on the chosen channel. For instance, a teacher may decide to present some information
orally and other information visually, depending on the content and the student's preferred learning
style.
Communicative competence
Communicative competence is the ability to communicate effectively or to choose the appropriate
communicative behavior in a given situation. It concerns what to say, when to say it, and how to say it.
It further includes the ability to receive and understand messages. Competence is often contrasted with
performance since competence can be present even if it is not exercised, while performance consists in
the realization of this competence. However, some theorists reject a stark contrast and hold that
performance is the observable part and is used to infer competence in relation to future performances.
Two central components of communicative competence are effectiveness and appropriateness.
Effectiveness is the degree to which the speaker achieves their desired outcomes or the degree to
which preferred alternatives are realized. This means that whether a communicative behavior is
effective does not just depend on the actual outcome but also on the speaker's intention, i.e. whether
this outcome was what they intended to achieve. Because of this, some theorists additionally require
that the speaker be able to give an explanation of why they engaged in one behavior rather than
another. Effectiveness is closely related to efficiency, the difference being that effectiveness is about
achieving goals while efficiency is about using few resources (such as time, effort, and money) in the
process.
Appropriateness means that the communicative behavior meets social standards and expectations.
Communication theorist Brian H. Spitzberg defines it as "the perceived legitimacy or acceptability of
behavior or enactments in a given context". This means that the speaker is aware of the social and
cultural context in order to adapt and express the message in a way that is considered acceptable in the
given situation. For example, to bid farewell to their teacher, a student may use the expression
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"Goodbye, sir" but not the expression "I gotta split, man", which they may use when talking to a peer.
To be both effective and appropriate means to achieve one's preferred outcomes in a way that follows
social standards and expectations. Some definitions of communicative competence put their main
emphasis on either effectiveness or appropriateness while others combine both features.
Many additional components of communicative competence have been suggested, such as empathy,
control, flexibility, sensitivity, and knowledge. It is often discussed in terms of the individual skills
employed in the process, i.e. the specific behavioral components that make up communicative
competence. Message production skills include reading and writing. They are correlated with the
reception skills of listening and reading. There are both verbal and non-verbal communication skills.
For example, verbal communication skills involve the proper understanding of a language, including
its phonology, orthography, syntax, lexicon, and semantics.
Many aspects of human life depend on successful communication, from ensuring basic necessities of
survival to building and maintaining relationships. Communicative competence is a key factor
regarding whether a person is able to reach their goals in social life, like having a successful career and
finding a suitable spouse. Because of this, it can have a large impact on the individual's well-being.
The lack of communicative competence can cause problems both on the individual and the societal
level, including professional, academic, and health problems.
Barriers to effective communication can distort the message. They may result in failed communication
and cause undesirable effects. This can happen if the message is poorly expressed because it uses terms
with which the receiver is not familiar, or because it is not relevant to the receiver's needs, or because it
contains too little or too much information. Distraction, selective perception, and lack of attention to
feedback may also be responsible. Noise is another negative factor. It concerns influences that interfere
with the message on its way to the receiver and distort it. Crackling sounds during a telephone call are
one form of noise. Ambiguous expressions can also inhibit effective communication and make it
necessary to disambiguate between possible interpretations to discern the sender's intention. These
interpretations depend also on the cultural background of the participants. Significant cultural
differences constitute an additional obstacle and make it more likely that messages are misinterpreted.

REFERENCES
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, January 23). Communication. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 18:52,
February 1, 2024, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Communication&oldid=1198155672

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1. Discuss in detail communication: (1) introduction, (2) definition, (3) models of communication,
(4) other species communication, (5) computer networks, (6) communication studies, (7)
history of communication.
2. Discuss in detail human communication.

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