Communication is understood as the process of meaning-making through a channel or a medium. It comes from the Latin communicares, meaning to share or to make ideas common. THE COMPONENTS OF THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS 1. SOURCE The sender carefully crafts the message. 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 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 It is the means by which a message is conveyed. When we answer a phone call, the phone is the channel. If 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 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. 5. FEEDBACK In any communication scenario, a 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 a 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 set-up 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 NINE 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, euphemisms and doublespeak language. 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. 1. 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. 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 Lesson 2: communication and globalization Globalization is the communication and assimilation among individuals, ethnicities, races, institutions, government of various nations supported by technology and compelled by international trade. Due to globalization, the more you become exposed to diversity --- the valuing of the uniqueness or differences in gender preference, color, age, religious affiliation, ethnicity, education, social and economic status and political beliefs. Hence, to effectively communicate in a global context, a general understanding of the differences in conducting communication from one country to another or from one culture to another helps avoid miscommunication. People’s background and experiences influence their view of the world and the values, beliefs and behavior patterns assumed to be good. The following are possible cultural barriers to effective communication in a global environment: 1. Cultural relativism 2. Lack of knowledge of other’s culture 3. Discrimination and harassment 4. Language differences To get the desired outcome or response, the above barriers must be properly addressed. It is the responsibility of the parties involved in the communication process to eliminate the possible hindrances in their exchange. The goal of effective global communication is to achieve communication that gets the desired response leading to harmonious connections, Krizan (2014) suggests these strategies to become an effective global communicator: 1. Review communication principles 2. Analyze the message receiver 3. Be open to an accepting of other cultures 4. Learn about cultures and apply what is learned 5. Consider language needs LESSON 3: LOCAL AND GLOBAL COMMUNICATION IN MULTICULTURAL SETTINGS Intercultural communication – refers to interaction with people from diverse cultures (Jandt, 1998) Forms of Intercultural Communication (Jandt, 1998) 1. Interracial communication – communicating with people from different races 2. Interethnic communication – interacting with people of different ethnic origins 3. International communication – communicating between representatives from different nations 4. Intracultural communication – interacting with members of the same racial or ethnic group or co-culture According to Gamble and Gamble (2008), communication style among cultures differs; it may be high-context or low-context communication High-context communication is a tradition-linked communication system which adheres strongly to being indirect. Low-context communication is a system that works on straightforward communication. Improving Intercultural Communication Competence The following guidelines may help you enhance your ability to communicate widely across cultures (Gamble & Gamble, 2008) 1. Recognize the validity and differences of communication styles among people. 2. Learn to eliminate personal biases and prejudices. 3. Strive to acquire communication skills necessary in a multicultural world.