Communication serves four vital functions in society.

Roy summarized these functions as follows

(39):

Functions of Communication
i) Information function:

The basic requirement of adapting and adjusting oneself to the environment is information. There
must be some information about what is going on in the environment which concerns the people.
The receiving or giving of information underlines all communication functions, either directly or
indirectly.

ii) Command or instructive function:

Those who are hierarchically superior in the family, society or organization, often initiate
communication either for the purpose of informing their subordinates or for the purpose of telling
them, what to do, how to do when to do etc.

The command and instructive functions of communication are more observable in formal
organizations than in informal organizations.

iii) Influence or persuasive function:

According to Berlo (1960), the sole purpose of communication is to influence people. Persuasive
function of communication i.e. to induce people is extremely important for extension in changing
their behaviour in the desirable direction.

iv) Integrative function:

A major function of communication is integration or of continuously offsetting any disintegration at

the interpersonal or at the organizational level. This helps in maintaining individual, societal or
organizational stability and identity.

http://www.preservearticles.com/2012011721054/what-are-the-important-functions-of-
communication.html

Definition:
The process of sending and receiving messages through verbal or nonverbal means--speech (oral
communication), writing (written communication), signs, signals, or behavior.
Adjectives:communicative and communicational.

"All communication involves faith," says literary theorist Terry Eagleton. "[I]ndeed, some linguisticians
hold that the potential obstacles to acts of verbal understanding are so many and diverse that it is a
minor miracle that they take place at all" (Reason, Faith, and Revolution, 2009). See Examples and
Observations, below. http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/communicaterm.htm
 Two-way process of reaching mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange (encode-
decode) information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning. In general, communication is a means of
connecting people or places. In business, it is a key function of management--an organization cannot operate without
communication between levels, departments and employees. See also communications.

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/communication.html#ixzz2wAxLwl6k

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/communication.html

Definition:
The exchange of information (a message) between two or more people.
These are many different models of the interpersonalcommunication process, but here are some of the
key elements:
 the sender or communicator (the person who initiates a message)
 the receiver or interpreter (the person to whom a message is directed)
 the message (the verbal and/or nonverbal content that must be encoded by the sender and decoded by the receiver)
 the channel (the medium by which the message is delivered and received)
 the context (the setting and situation in which communication takes place)
 noise (anything that interferes with the accurate expression or reception of a message)
 feedback (a response from the receiver indicating whether a message has been received in its intended form)
Effective communication takes place when a sender's message is fully understood by the receiver.

http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/Communication-Process.htm

 Sender and Receiver

"In the basic interpersonal communication model, the sender, also known as the source, is the person who initiates
the communication process. . . . In adyadic, or two-person, communication situation, thereceiver is the other person
involved. In a public speaking or public communication situation, the audience is made up of receivers. The numbers can
vary from a few to a few hundred. The speaker may use only his/her voice or may need a public address system. In mass
communication, there could be literally hundreds, millions, or even billions of receivers. . . .

"In dyadic communication or public speaking, the channel, or a means of sending or receiving information, is both verbal
communication (the spoken word) and nonverbal communication (gestures and one's appearance)."
(W. A. Kelly Huff, Public Speaking: A Concise Overview for the Twenty-First Century. Peter Lang, 2008)

 Interaction of Senders and Receivers

"Because communication is interaction, participants take turns 'sending' and 'receiving.' Thisturn-taking is even true for mass-
mediated communication, for instance, the process whereby an entertainment program is created, programmed, and aired for
an audience's enjoyment. If the audience watches and enjoys the program, it is likely to continue to be aired. If the audience is
not amused, the program is canceled. . . .

"Interaction means that both parties--persons or entities--can affect the other. In this way, both parties are senders and
receivers. They are also co-persuaders in that they may take turns trying to affect one another by sharing symbols."
(Robert L. Heath and Jennings Bryant, Human Communication Theory and Research: Concepts, Contexts, and Challenges,
2nd ed. Lawrence Erlbaum, 2000)
 Context in the Communication Process
"Context refers to the idea that every act of communication must happen in some sort of surroundings. . . . Most obviously
there is the physical context--whether we are talkiing to someone in our living room or on the terraces at a football match. But
then there is thesocial context, which is to do with the occasion involved and the people in it. This might be a group of friends
in a club or a family meal or a group of mourners at a funeral. And then there is the cultural context, which refers to an even
broader set of circumstances and beliefs, which still may affect how we talk. For example, it would matter if the funeral was
in a Hindu or an Anglican context. It is particularly important to see that the media are part of the cultural context in which
we operate. How we talk, what we talk about, what music we listen to, has a lot to do with the influence of the cultural
context of the media."
(Richard Dimbleby and Graeme Burton, More Than Words: An Introduction to Communication, 3rd ed. Routledge, 1998)

 Noise in the Communication Process

"Noise is anything that disrupts or interferes with the communication process. Noise can be physical or psychological, it can
disrupt the communication process at any point, and it can be associated with any element in the system."
(Sandra D. Collins, Interpersonal Communication: Listening and Responding, 2nd ed. South-Western, 2009)

 Feedback in the Communication Process

"Feedback is the final link in the chain of the communication process. After receiving a message, the receiver responds in
some way and signals that response to the sender. The signal may take the form of a spoken comment, a long sigh, a written
message, a smile or some other action. Even a lack of response, is in a sense, a form of response. Without feedback, the
sender cannot confirm that the receiver has interpreted the message correctly. Feedback is a key component in the
communication process because it allows the sender to evaluate the effectiveness of the message . . . [and] take corrective
action to clarify a misunderstood message."
(Sathya Swaroop Debasish and Bhagaban Das, Business Communication. PHI Learning, 2009)

 Co-orientation in the Communication Process

"An interesting manifestation of the attention paid to the receiver in the study of thecommunication process is the concept of
'co-orientation,' which has become popular in the United States recently. The idea behind this concept is that two persons can
have similar perceptions and interpretations of the same object, and the greater the similarity (co-orientation), the more
efficient will be the flow of communication between the persons. Conversely, an intense flow of communication may
increase co-orientation."
(Juan Diaz Bordenave, "Communication Theory and Rural Development." Communication for Social Change Anthology, ed.
by Alfonso Gumucio Dagron and Thomas Tufte. CFSC Consortium, 2006)