ALDERSGATE COLLEGE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 1

COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES, AND EDUCATION - IT REINABELLE E. CASTRO

MODULE 1. THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION

Communication is the transfer of information from one person to another, whether or not it elicits confidence. But the information
transferred must be understandable to the receiver – G.G. Brown.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this module, students should be able to:
1. determine the importance of studying human communication; and
2. identify the model of communication.

PRETEST
1. Why do people communicate?
2. What might happen to the world if communication does not exist?
3. Why do miscommunications and misunderstandings happen?
LEARNING FOCUS

Meaning of Communication
Communication comes from the Latin word communicares, meaning to share or to make ideas common.
Media critic and theorist James Carey defined communication as "a symbolic process whereby reality is
produced, maintained, repaired and transformed" in his 1992 book "Communication as Culture," positing that we
define our reality via sharing our experience with others. (www.thoughtco.com)
What is Human Communication
Human communication is the exchange of information between two or more human beings, whether verbal
(in speech and writing) or nonverbal. The study of this field involves contributions from psychology, social science,
computer science, logic, and linguistics.
Human communication is the field dedicated to understanding how humans communicate. Human
communication is grounded in cooperative and shared intentions. Humans have communication abilities that other
animals do not.

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ALDERSGATE COLLEGE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 1
COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES, AND EDUCATION - IT REINABELLE E. CASTRO

Communicating aspects like time and place as though they were solid objects are a few examples. It is said
that humans communicate to request help, inform others, and share attitudes as a way of bonding. Communication is
a joint activity that largely depends on the ability to keep common attention, share the relevant background
knowledge and collective experience to get the content across, and make sense in the exchanges.
(https://getuplearn.com/blog/human-communication/#google_vignette

Model of Human Communication

Understanding the communication process may help you become a better
communicator.
1. Source – The sender carefully crafts the messages. The
sender may be anyone: an author of a book, a public
speaker in a special occasion, or even a traffic
enforcer.
2. Message – The message is the message is the
reason behind any interaction. It is the meaning
shared between the sender and the receiver.
Messages take many forms. They could mean poems,
songs, essays, news articles, road signs, and even
symbols.
3. Channel – The channel is the means by which a message is
conveyed. When we answer a phone call, the phone is the channel. On the
other hand, when your parents receive a notification of your absences from
school, the channel is a letter. It is the responsibility of both the sender and the receiver to choose the best
channel for the interaction.
4. Receiver – The receiver is the person who receives the transmitted message. The receiver may be a part of
an audience in a public speaking event, a reader of a letter or a driver who reads road signs. The receiver is

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ALDERSGATE COLLEGE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 1
COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES, AND EDUCATION - IT REINABELLE E. CASTRO

expected to listen or read carefully, to be aware of different kinds of sender to jot down information when
needed, to provide response and to ask questions for clarification.
5. Feedback – In any communication scenario, feedback is essential to confirm recipient understanding.
Feedbacks, like messages are expressed in varied forms. A simple nod for a question of verification is
considered feedback. Thus, feedbacks may be written, spoken, or acted out.
6. Environment – The place, the feeling, the mood, the mindset, and the condition of both sender and receiver
are called the environment. The environment may involve the physical setup of a location where
communication takes place, the space occupied by both the sender and the receiver, including the objects
surrounding the sender and receiver.
7. Context – context involves the expectations of the sender and the receiver and the common or shared
understanding through the environmental signals.
8. Interference – interference is also known as barrier or block that prevents effective communication to take
place.
Kinds of Interference
a. Psychological barriers – are thoughts that hamper the message to be interpreted correctly by the
receiver.
b. Physical barriers – include competing stimulus, weather and climate, health, and ignorance of the
medium.
c. Linguistic and cultural barriers – pertain to the language and its cultural environment. Words may
mean another in different cultures.
d. Mechanical barriers – are those raised by the channels employed for interpersonal, group or mass
communication. These include cellphones, laptops and other gadgets used in communication.

The 9 Principles of Effective Communication

Michael Osborn (2009) claims that communication must meet certain standards for effective communication
to take place.
1. Clarity – Clarity makes speeches understandable. Fuzzy language is absolutely forbidden, as are jargons,
cliché expressions, euphemism, and double speak.
2. Concreteness – Concreteness reduces misunderstandings. Messages must be supported by facts such as
research data, statistics or figures. To achieve concreteness, abstract words must be avoided.
3. Courtesy – Courtesy builds goodwill. It involves being polite in terms of approach and manner of addressing
an individual.
4. Correctness – Glaring mistakes in grammar obscures the meaning of a sentence. Also, the misuse of
language can damage your credibility.
5. Consideration – Messages must be geared towards the audience. The sender of a message must consider
the recipient’s profession, level of education, race, ethnicity, hobbies, interests, passions, advocacies, and
age when drafting or delivering a message.
6. Creativity – Creativity in communication means having the ability to craft interesting messages in terms of
sentence structure and word choice.
7. Conciseness – simplicity and directness help you to be concise. Avoid using lengthy expressions and words
that may confuse the recipient.
8. Cultural Sensitivity – Today, with the increasing emphasis on empowering diverse cultures, lifestyles, and
races and the pursuit for gender equality, cultural sensitivity becomes an important standard for effective
communication.

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ALDERSGATE COLLEGE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION 1
COLLEGE OF ARTS, SCIENCES, AND EDUCATION - IT REINABELLE E. CASTRO

9. Captivating – You must strive to make messages interesting to command more attention and better
responses.

Ethical Considerations in Communication

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that focuses on issues of right and wrong in human affairs.
Ethical Communicators:
1. Respect audience.
2. Consider the result of communication.
3. Value truth.
4. Use information correctly.
5. Do not falsify information.

Image from https://study.com/academy/lesson/being-an-

ethical-speaker.html
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
Activity 1: Firming Up
1. Illustrate the communication process through a diagram.
2. Identify possible communication blocks in the following situations:
a. A written letter of complaint
b. Interaction between a nurse and a patient in pain
c. Songs with figurative language

Activity 2: Concretizing
1. List various channels through which personnel of your university/college connect with you. Which channel(s)
do you find most effective? Why?
2. Through a slogan, state how the knowledge of the communication process aids people in communicating
effectively.

Activity 3: Introspecting
Directions: Complete the thought.

In this lesson, I learned that to be an effective and ethical communicator, I ____________________

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