COMMUNICATION

PROCESSES, PRINCIPLES,
AND ETHICS

PREPARED BY:

MRS. KAREN M. MESINA

ASST. PROF. 1
LEARNING OUTCOMES
 GIVE THE MEANING OF
COMMUNICATION AND EXPLAIN WHY IT
IS A COMPLICATED PROCESS
 RECALL THE ELEMENTS OF
COMMUNICATION AND IDENTIFY THEM
IN DIFFERENT TEXTS
 NAME AND INTERPRET THE PRINCIPLES
OF COMMUNICATION
 DISCUSS THE ETHICAL ISSUES IN
COMMUNICATION
DEFINITION OF COMMUNICATION
 commun: “something in common”;
ication: “understanding”
 “a common understanding of something”

 “the simultaneous sharing and creating of meaning

through human symbolic interaction” (Seiler & Beall,
1999 as cited in Chase & Shamo, 2013)
 “a systematic process in which individuals interact
with and through symbols to create and interpret
meanings” (Woods, 2004 as cited in Padilla, Dagdag,
Roxas & Perez, 2016)
 Communication as
the process of
creating and
sharing meaning by
using verbal and
nonverbal symbols
in varied contexts.
 “DO NOT DISTURB”
I teach at a university. During a test I was
administering, I noticed that one of my adult
students, who was pregnant, kept rubbing her
side. After class I asked if she was OK.
“Oh, I’m fine,” she answered. “The baby was
pushing his foot against my ribs, and it hurts a
little.”
I was happy to hear her reply until she
continued, “It’s strange. He normally sleeps
during your class.”
 GUIDE QUESTIONS:

1. How many communicators are

sharing language symbols in the
illustration? Who are they?
2. What are the verbal symbols
shared in the illustration? Is there
evidence of misunderstanding
with regard to the verbal language
used in the illustration? Why do
you say so?
3. What are the nonverbal symbols in the
illustration? Does any nonverbal
symbol in the illustration cause any
misunderstanding between the two
communicators? In what way does the
misunderstanding (if any) happen? If
it does, why does it arise?
4. What is the context–situation–in the
illustration? Is there any problem in
communication with regard to its
context?
THE PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION
 Model
PARTS AND STEPS

1. Source – the sender of the message

2. Message – the information to convey
3. Encoding – the process of converting
ideas/thoughts into verbal/nonverbal
symbols
4. Channel – the manner in which the
message is conveyed
5. Decoding – the receiver’s mental
processing of the message into
meaning
6. Receiver – the person or group of
people who will get the message
7. Feedback – receiver’s response to
the message
8. Context – the situation in which the
communication takes place
 IN THE LINE OF FIRE (BUZEK, 2017)

THE LINE AT OUR LOCAL POST OFFICE WAS

OUT THE DOOR, AND, SEEING THAT ONLY ONE
POSTAL WORKER WAS DUTY, THE CUSTOMERS
WERE GETTING TESTY. TO HELP HURRY THINGS
ALONG, A CUSTOMER CALLED OUT, “HOW CAN I
HELP YOU GO FASTER?”

THE POSTAL WORKER YELLED BACK, “GO

HOME!”
ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION

1. Sender (who the source is)

2. Message (what the idea being
communicated says)
3. Channel (through verbal medium
the message is relayed)
4. Receiver (to whom it is directed)
5. Effect (what the desired result of the
communication is)
Once you have uttered something,
you can never take it back, and its
effect remains.

The same words spoken to a stranger

could injure a loved one.
KEY PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNICATION
Interpersonal communication is...
1. inescapable. It is not possible for humans not to
communicate. You communicate through both words and
behavior. You always communicate and receive
communication from others not only through words but also
through voice tone, gesture, posture, bodily movement,
facial expression, clothes worn, and so on.
2. irreversible. Once you have uttered something, you can
never take it back, and its effect remains. Words are
powerful; they can either heal or harm others.
Interpersonal communication is...
3. complicated. Whenever you communicate with anyone,
you simultaneously interpret bot his verbal; and nonverbal
language, and that is often both confounding and demanding.
Whenever you communicate, there are actually at least six
“people” involved:
a. The person whom you think you are

b. The person whom you think the person is

c. The person whom you think the other person thinks you
are
d. The person whom you think the other person think he is

e. The person whom the other person thinks you think you
are
f. The person whom the other person thinks you think he is
Interpersonal communication is...
4. contextual. Communication is affected by several factors; it does
not happen in isolation. There are many things that need to be
considered, such as the ones given below (King, 2000).
a. Psychological: who you are and what you bring to the
interaction – needs, desires, vales, beliefs, personality, and so on
b. Relational: your reactions to the other person based on
relationships
c. Situational: deals with the psycho-social “where” you are
communicating
d. Environmental: deals with the physical “where” you are
communicating
e. Cultural: includes all the learned behaviors and rules that
affect the interaction. If you come from a culture where it is
considered rude to make long, direct eye contact, you will out of
politeness avoid eye contact
MORALS:
GOOD (ETHICAL) OR BAD
(UNETHICAL)?
1. Since many classmates of John don’t see anything
wrong with cheating on tests, he cheats, too.
2. A boy who did not know how to swim died because he
saved his friend from drowning.
3. Mary reported to the librarian that Luz tore some pages
of a library book even if Luz was her friend.
4. To feed his hungry baby sister, Larry stole a can of
milk from a store.
5. Upon knowing that the cashier have her too much
change, Julie left the store in a hurry.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MORALS AND
ETHICS

Morals (personal) are our own set of

rules, so others are neither expected
nor required to follow them.
Ethics (societal) are rules accepted
and approved by society, so they are
imposed upon everyone.
ETHICS IN COMMUNICATION
1. Mutuality. Pay attention to the needs of
others, as well as yours.
2. Individual dignity. Do not cause another
person embarrassment or a loss of dignity.
3. Accuracy. Ensure that others have accurate
information. Tell them everything for they
have a right and need to know, not just what is
true.
4. Access to information. Never bolster the impact of
your communication by preventing people from
communicating with one another or by hindering
access to the supporting information.
5. Accountability. Be responsible and accountable for
the consequences of your relationships and
communication.
6. Audience. As audience or receiver of the
information, you also have ethical responsibilities. A
good rule of thumb is the “200% rule” where both the
sender and receiver have full or 100% responsibility to
ensure that the message is understood, and that ethics
are followed. This is a 100/100 rule, not a 50/50rule.
7. Relative truth. As either sender or receiver of information,
remember that your own point of view may not be shared by
others, and that your conclusions are relative to your perspective,
so allow others to respectfully disagree or see it differently.
8. Ends vs means. Be sure that the end goal of your
communication and the means of getting to that end are both
ethical although no rule can be applied without reservation to any
situation.
9. Use of power. In situations where you have more power than
others (e.g. a teacher with a student, a boss with a subordinate, a
parent with a child), you also have more responsibility for the
outcome.
10. Rights vs responsibilities. Balance your rights against your
responsibilities even if you live in a wonderful society where
your rights are protected by law; not everything you have a right
to do is ethical.
PAIR WORK
 USE YOUR CELLPHONE. WITH A SEATMATE, READ
ONE CONVERSATION THREAD FROM YOUR
PREVIOUSLY RECEIVED TEXT MESSAGES, AND
ANALYZE THE MESSAGE TO IDENTIFY THE
ELEMENTS OF COMMUNICATION IN THAT THREAD.
 WHICH OF JOHNSTON’S TEN (10) ETHICS OR
STANDARDS OF RIGHT OR WRONG BEHAVIORS
ARE VIOLATED ON THE FOLLOWING UNETHICAL
BEHAVIORS IN THE WORKPLACE? AFTERWARDS,
SUGGEST WAYS TO CORRECT THEM.
UNETHICAL BEHAVIORS IN THE
WORKPLACE (DUFF, 2017)
1. Your sales manager calls you into his office and threatens to
fire you unless you sell large toasters. You know the large
toasters are inferior products, so you have been selling the
small toasters to your customers. To keep your job, you
must violate your conscience and recommend that your
customers buy the large toasters.
2. Your boss promises you an extra day off if you rush out an
important project by a certain date. You work late hours and
finish the project before the deadline. Ready for your day
off, you mention it to your boss who responds, “No, we
have too much work to do.”