1. Communication theory and models
MODULE 5 Topic 1
Communication theory and models

2. CONTENT I. What is communicating? II. Communication Characteristics
III. Elements of communication
IV. The Communication process
V. Levels of Communication
VI. Classification of Communication
VII. When is communication effective?
VIII. Barriers and communication filters
IX. Theoretical models in the study of communication
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

3. What is communicating?
COMMUNICATING consists in the transmission of mental ideas, thoughts or feelings between two or more people that interact.
In every aspect of life and social functioning, the role of communication is essential. In fact, it is considered impossible the fact of no communication as it is an event inherent to the human being.
There is not only one definition of communication, as it can be described from different perspectives.
From the latin communicare, that can be translated as “putting something in common, sharing something”
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

4. Interpersonal Communication Characteristics
It is a SOCIAL PROCESS in which at least two people interact in a certain environment
It takes place in a certain SOCIAL CONTEXT, determined by the number and nature of participants
It is CREATIVE and facilitates the acquisition of knowledge about reality
It is DYNAMIC because it allows receiving, decoding and interpreting information
It is a CONTINUOUS PROCESS that takes place during the whole life of individuals while they remain in a social environment
It has as a result THE INTERACTION BETWEEN PARTICIPANTS that produce symmetric relations of communication (equity relations) or unbalanced relations (relation domination-subordination)
It is a process that uses SYMBOLS AND SIGNS
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

5. Elements of communication
Channel
Sender
Receiver
Code
Context
Message
Sender
It is the one that sends the message/ transfers information.
It may be: subject, collective, machine, etc.
Receiver
It is the one (or more than one) that receives the message.
It may be: person, group, machine, etc.
Message
Information transferred between the sender and the receiver.
Channel
Physical element by which the sender shares the information and the receiver perceives it through the senses.
It may be: natural (air, light), technical (radio, telephone), etc. It includes the receptive sense of the message (sight, ear, etc.)
Code
Number of signs and rules that, creating a language, helps to encode the message.
Context
Circumstances (place, mood of the speaker, etc.) in which the communication takes place.
Elements of communication
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

6. Levels of communication
Communication may occur in certain levels:
The communication process is wider through the extension of media. The transmission and the exchange of the information involves a bigger number of people
Massive
Organisational
Intergroup
Group
Interpersonal
Intrapersonal
Communication is formalised. The power, control and tasks of the sender and the receiver are well defined
Groups in which not all the members have personal and direct contact
Communication in smaller groups: family, friends, etc.
Face to face communication (lowest level of social communication)
At the level of biological and psychological processes of the subject.
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

7. Verbal Formal Non verbal Informal Classification of communication
According to the sensory channels
Audition
Vision
Touch
Smell
Taste
According to the use of oral or written signs
Verbal
Non verbal
According to the existence of feedback
Unidirectional
Bidirectional
According to the number of participants
Intrapersonal
Interpersonal
Group
According to the formal or non formal channel
Formal
Informal
Etc.
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

8. Verbal communication Elements involved
It is characterised by THE USE OF WORDS in the interaction between the sender and the receiver.
According to the channel they use:
Oral: uses oral codes or spoken words
Written: uses written codes.
It is the most explicit and evident modality of communication, because it is regulated by the norms we learned during socialisation.
The message, which is transferred through this kind of communication, can be modified by nonverbal communication.
Paralinguistic sounds
Any sound that does not form words: i.e. cries, groans, etc.
Prosodic elements
Intonation, emphasis, voice tone.
Position
The level of tension or relaxation and opening and closure.
Physiscal distance that exists between speakers
It gives you information about their social relation, intimacy level, etc.
Visual contact
The quality and duration of the appearence is an important element of communication
“Words are like a blanket that sometimes give us heat, sometimes choked us. Sometimes covers us but sometimes leaves us naked. Words are nothing and they are everything. They have no face and no profile, they are a mesh of nebulous environments but give us a name to each thing. They are helpful and sometimes they kill or give life or paralyse it. Words give more fear and you never know how to catch them or what to do with them, nor where to put them” (Garés, 1977).
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

9. Nonverbal communication
The NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION is a type of communication that is carried out without the use of words and, in many cases, in an unconscious manner.
It consists in the substitution, completing or complementing verbal information. However, these do not coincide, so it is crucial to pay attention to this type of nonverbal messages.
In the communication context, there has to be taken into account that GESTURES ARE NOT UNIVERSAL and so they differ depending on cultural codes of the sender or receiver, the circumstances in which these take place, etc.
i.e. While in western countries laughter or smiles are understood as gestures of happiness and closeness, in Japan these mean inconvenience.
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

10. Nonverbal communication
Elements involved
Facial expressions
Gestures. These are: moving the arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, head and body.
Physical contact.
Physical appearance. The way of dressing, grooming and visual exposure.
Paralinguistic sounds. Such as sighs, grunts, cries, wheezing, whistling, moaning, laughter or any sound that does not form words
Prosodic elements. Intonation, emphasis, voice tone, loudness, rhythm of speech, pitch of the voice
Eye contact, regarding the quality and length of this.
Posture. The level of tension or relaxation and openness or closure.
Physical distance between the speakers. Distance between them during the course of the conversation provides important information about their social relation, level of intimacy, etc.
Areas of personal distances
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

11. Nonverbal communication
But, Careful! Non verbal communication has different meanings depending on the culture in which they are performed …
For example:
In Greece, showing the palm of your hand is a great offense, whilst in Spain this is also interpreted as the “STOP” sign.
Arabs, Latin-Americans, and Italians are a representative example of high contact cultures and, as such, they are used to reach personal distance while communicating (45 to 76 cm), which is the distance considered intimate (15 to 45 cm) by low contact cultures such as the American one, the Canadian, the North-European and the Asian.

12. When is communication effective?
Cutlip & Center (1952), propose a theory that consists in the principles or requirements involved in the communication process so this can be considered effective.
Clear: without ambiguities
Concise: without redundancies nor unnecessary turns
Concrete: with a clear and concessive message
Correct: with true contents
Coherent: logic and sense is provided in communication
Complete: it has everything that is needed and essential
Courteous: courtesy must be a basic requirement
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

13. Communication barriers
These are obstacles that hinder the reception and comprehension of the message. There are different kinds of communication barriers when establishing an effective communication:
Interpersonal
Cultural
Idiomatic
Gender
Physical
Perceptual
Emotional/ psychological
Others
i.e. Mood: happy, sad, etc.
i.e. Ideological, educational, social status, etc.
i.e. Weak voice, faulty pronunciation, deafness, etc.
i.e. Stereotypes and prejudices based on gender: "women talk a lot but don’t say anything"
i.e. Noises, poor lighting, distance, etc.
MODULO 5. Comunicación e interpretación en contextos de mediación intercultural. Tema 1: Teorías y modelos de comunicación

14. Theoretical models in the study of communication
Communication models
What are they?
They are theoretical diagrams of the communication process that are elaborated to facilitate its study and comprehension
What models exist?
Multiples…
Shannon - Weaver’s model
Laswell’s model
Schramm’s model
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

15. Theoretical models in the study of communication
Laswell’s model (1948)
This model theorise about the communication process and its function in society. It is one of the basic models of collective communication, of the masses.
This model is influenced by the Aristotle theory as it states that to describe communication it is necessary to answer the following questions: Who says what?, In which channel?, To whom? And with what effect?
It points out that communication has 3 functions: vigilance of the environment, the correlation of the elements of society and the cultural transmission between generations. In the same way, it suggests that the message flows in a multicultural society with multiple audiences in multiple channels.
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

16. Theoretical models in the study of communication
Shannon - Weaver’s model (1949)
 This model represents the effective communication between the sender and the receiver. It means the first steps towards social interaction in communication, leaving behind old theories that did not pay attention to the receiver.
It describes the factors (interferences) that affect the communication process, which are denominated as “noise”. These interferences may affect the communication flow or may mean that the receiver does not get the message properly.
The interferences may be external (related to the environment: light, ambience, etc); internal (feelings and attitudes of participants); semiotics (involuntary or voluntary errors of the sender’s meaning of words or sentences).
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

17. Theoretical models in the suty of communication
Schramm’s model (1954)
The model is focused on collective communication processes.
It suggests that the communication characteristic is circular which means that each person is at the same time the sender and receiver of the message. This implies that encoding, interpreting and decoding functions are performed simultaneously by all participants.
Advantages of the model:
It is dynamic
It shows how the situation may vary
-It shows why the redundancies are an essential part of communication
-The sender and the receiver are the same person
-The feedback is the core characteristic of the model
Encoder -> Sender’s message
Decoder-> Receiver’s message
Interpreter-> Person that tries to understand or interpret
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

18. Resources Authors’ work (Theoretical Models) Readings
LasswelL, H. D., (1948). The Structure and Function of Communication in Society. In Bryson, L. (Ed.), The Communication of Ideas (pp ). New York, United States: Harper and Brothers.
Schramm, W. (1954). How communication works. In Schramm W. (Ed.), The process and effects of mass communication, (3-26). Illinois, United States: University of Illinois Press.
Shannon, C.E., & Weaver, W. (1964). The mathematical theory of communication. Illinois, United States: University of Illinois Press.
Readings
Groupe Urgence Réhabilitation Développement [Groupe u.r.d.]. (2009). Communication techniques. In Groupe u.r.d. The Participation Handbook for humanitarian field workers. Involving crisis-affected people in a humanitarian response (pp ). Retrieved from:
Interpersonal Communication Processes . In A Primer on Communication Studies. Recuperado de:
Krauss, R.M., Chen, Y., & Chawla, P. ( 1996). Nonverbal Behavior and Nonverbal Communication: What Do Conversational Hand Gestures Tell Us?. In Zanna, M. (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (pp ). Columbia University. San Diego, CA: Academic press. Retrieved from:
Wikibooks.org (2013). Communication theories: Retrieved from:
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models

19. Bibliography and references
Castro, I. & Moreno, L. Z. (2006). El modelo Comunicativo: Teóricos y teorías relevantes. Mexico: Trillas.
Cutlip, S.M. Center, A. H. (1971). Effective Public Communications. (Fourth Edition). Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey), pp
Garés, J. (1977). Fals sense mà (poemes de presó). Valencia, Spain: Eliseu Climent
Bibliography
Berger, C.R. (2005). Interpersonal communication: Theoretical perspectives, future prospects. In Journal of Communication 55(3),
Ekman, P. (1999). Emotional and conversational nonverbal signals. In Larrazabal, J.M. and Pérez, L.A. (Eds.), Language, Knowledge, and Representation. Proceedings of the Sixth Inernational colloquium on cognitive science (ICCS-99) (pp ). Kluwer Academic Publishers
Heath, R.L., & Bryant, J. (2000). Human communication theory and research. Hillsdale, N.J., United STATES: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Littlejohn, S. W. (2002). Theories of Human Communication. Albuquerque, NM, United States: Wadsworth.
Rodrigo, M. (1995). Los modelos de la comunicación. Madrid, Spain: Tecnos.
Train Intercultural Mediators for a Multicultural Europe. (2016).Self-study Course for Trainers of Intercultural Mediators. Module 4: Communication techniques. Retrieved from:
MODULE 5. Communication and interpreting in contexts of cultural mediation. Topic 1:Communication theory and models