introduction defining communication

communication let’s draw our map

being the communicator as you move through life communicating with lots of people in numerous settings, you bring yourself to the encounter; you most often look at the situation from your own perspective as a communicator in western society, the individual assumes tremendous importance as the key player in social life

... questions - who am I as a communicator? - what resources enable me to communicate? - how do other people view my behavior? - how does my communication change as I move from one situation to another?

the message in much human communication, words have a function beyond mere transfer of information the message has value as an act

... questions - how is the message structured and delivered? - what symbols and words does it include? - how is it interpreted?

conversation for most people, conversations are informal, everyday interactions in communication theory, the term has a special meaning; it is an interaction sequence with a defined beginning and end, turn taking, and some sort of purpose or a set of goals conversations are governed by rules, they have structure and display coherence and sense

(contin.) conversations include: - social talk; - debates and arguments; - problem-solving efforts; - conflict episodes; - romantic exchanges; - any other type of discourse in which communicators use language and nonverbal communication to interact with one another

workshop choose a topic to discuss as group; focus on a specific aspect and develop a conversation about it

relationships conversations are rarely isolated; instead they are connected to one another over time and create communication context much larger than any one conversation these larger contexts include: relationships, groups, organizations, media, culture and society

in general people are fascinated with relationships because they differ greatly some of relationships are easy and comfortable and others are hard and controlled relationships change and evolve, often dramatically, and such changes have the ability to affect us in significant ways

issues at stake we must constantly decide how much information about ourselves to share with others in relationships sometimes we really feel like sharing something private with a friend and other times we feel more guarded we negotiate what topics you can talk about and what levels of information can be revealed, not only between ourselves but also with others outside the relationship

managing differences the tension between disclosure and privacy is only one example of a difference we have to manage effectively in relationships we often feel confused about: -whether we should be dependent or independent -whether we should keep things the way are or change them -whether we should be an individual or be part of a couple

broadest context every act of communication – whether personal or mediated – is affected by and contributes to large social forms and patterns because the social and cultural context of communication is so huge, we often don’t see it

the forest we lose our view of the forest when we concentrate too much on individual trees how we understand and how we act are very much shaped by the language of our culture

language language is not an inert medium for transmitting information but affects and is affected by daily interaction patterns of interaction among friends, in communities, and throughout society determine lines of influence, which, in turn, shape our values, opinions, and behavior

culture cultural difference is palpable, but we may not be used to thinking of ourselves as cultural beings whose sense of identity and how we relate to others is a product of some combination of cultures that impact ourselves

workshop let’s reflect on how the social and cultural context may affect acts of communication

source Littlejohn, S. W. & Foss, K. A. (2008) Theories of Human Communication (9th edition).

thank you very much for your attention