Download Theories of communication 1. Transmission models Communication

Theories of communication
1. Transmission models
Communication: transmission of information through signs/signals
Language: system of signs
Shannon and Weaver (1948):
Noise source
Message
Information
Source
Signal
Signal
Transmitter Channel/Medium
Message
Receiver
Destination
Messages can be complex/multi-layered: multiple parallel signals (e.g. text and images);
human communication: e.g. face-to-face: language + appearance
Miscommunication:
Creation of message (encoding error)
Insufficient/partial transmission of information
Distortion through "noise" (e.g. physical/electronic)
Interpretation of message (decoding error)
2. Semiotic/semantic models
Communication: based on signs and their meanings
Semiotics: study of signs and sign systems, e.g. language, images, objects, body language
Semantics: study of linguistic signs
Ferdinand de Saussure (1915):
Language: systems of signs
Linguistic signs: form (e.g. sounds of words) + concept/meaning (mental representation)
Linguistic signs: arbitrary: socially created/constructed, socially agreed/conventional
Neologisms, e.g. "google", "emoticon", "tweep"; acronyms/initialisms: "lol"
Linguistic signs: complex: range of meanings, changeable meanings:
Language change, e.g. political correctness, e.g. "chairperson", "humanity" (vs. "mankind")
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Signs + multiple concepts/meanings: polysemy/homonymy, e.g. "window", "horn", "give
someone a lift" (puns/double meaning)
Multiple signs + identical concepts: synonymy, e.g. "lecture"/class", "flat"/"apartment"
Denotation - connotation: "cheap" vs. "inexpensive", "chef" vs. "cook", "independence" vs.
"separation", "under-occupancy penalty" vs. "bedroom tax", "terrorist" vs.
"martyr"/"freedom fighter"
Metaphors, e.g. "a wave of public support", "foot of a maintain", "property ladder"
Sayings, idioms, e.g. "out of your depth", "beyond the pale"
Proverbs: "Boys will be boys", "Don't put all your eggs in one basket", "If you can't beat 'em,
join 'em", "You can't have your cake and eat it"
Ambiguity of language (e.g. dictionary entries): language is open to interpretation
Meanings/concepts: culture-dependent
Scollon/Scollon (2001):
"All communications are taken through semiotic codes which have a history, by which we
mean that they exist outside and prior to any situated use. The consequence of this is that any
particular person is never free to use them in any arbitrary way, but must use them within
restricted meanings. When we are caught between the values, norms and practices of
different discourse systems in communication, each of these discourses has an expected set of
forms, and often they are in conflict with each other."
(Scollon/Scollon, p.272 f.)
("Discourse systems" = groups of people who share values/traditions/practices, i.e. cultures)
"Nothing defines a culture as distinctly as its language, and the element of language that best
encapsulates a society's values and beliefs is its proverbs.
The graphic to the right shows the words that are used in
English proverbs, with the size of each word indicating how
often it occurs. It's interesting to note that the two most
common words in English proverbs are 'good' and 'never'. A
bit of armchair psychology leads to the conclusion that, if
proverbs really do reflect belief, then the English are (or at least were when these proverbs
were coined) inclined to be virtuous but negative - not so far from the truth perhaps?
Proverbs are short and pithy sayings that express some traditionally held truth. They are
usually metaphorical and often, for the sake of memorability, alliterative."
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/proverbs.html
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Communication process: interpretation of meaning, inferences drawn about meaning by
participants
Successful communication: depends on shared meanings/concepts by participants
Miscommunication:
Differences:
Words/expressions and their meanings/concepts
Interpretation of meanings/concepts
Range of vocabulary/expressions/concepts
Complexity of usage of vocabulary/expressions/concepts (e.g. double
meanings/connotations)
Interpersonal, intercultural
Same language, different languages (translation)
Range of expressions:
Wierzbicka 1998:
"In my study (1992) of the Russian language in its relation to culture, I identified one of the
fundamental semantic themes of the Russian language as "emotionality," that is, "the
tremendous stress on emotions and on their free expression, the high emotional temperature
of Russian discourse, the wealth of linguistic devices for signalling emotions and shades of
emotions" (Wierzbicka 1992:395).
Heart (serdce):
The Russian collocations involving the heart are .... illustrative of the same characteristic
attitude to emotions: giving them full sway without any attempt to control them. The
collocations of the word serdce (heart) ........... point in (the) direction of strong feelings
being given full sway and allowed to be experienced to the full (more so than do English
expressions involving the word heart). For example, the English expression "N's heart skips a
beat" is .......... semantically close (to the) Russian expression uN ekaet serdce, (and) several
other Russian counterparts, some of them distinctly more dramatic and hyperbolic:
u N serdce zamiraet
"N's heart is (seems to be) dying"
u N serdce zzalos'
"N's heart squeezed"
uN serdce upalo
"N's heart fell" (cf. N's heart sank)
u N serdce oborvalos'
"N's heart snapped (and fell)"
u N serdce uslo v pjatki
"N's heart escaped into N's heels
-4The English expression "N's heart is pounding" has three counterparts in Russian, at least one
of them clearly more hyperbolic:
u N serdce kolotitsja
"N's heart is pounding (connotations of battering, smashing, thrashing)"
u N serdce b'etsja
lit. "N's heart is pounding (connotations of loud, desperate, and violent movements)"
uN serdce gotovovyskoc it' izgrudi
"N's heart is ready to jump out of N's breast"
These expressions "describe symptoms of fear, excitement, or joy," and they can be followed
by the phrases ot straxa (from fear), otvolnenija (from excitement), and ot radosti (from joy)
(1995:329).
Finally, (there are) several Russian expressions describing anxiety, despair, and sorrow, again
more numerous and more dramatic than the two English expressions listed in this section,
namely, "N's heart aches" and "N's heart bleeds" (the latter being often an ironic reference to
compassion, not necessarily genuine):"
u N serdce noet
"N's heart aches/moans"
uN serdce scemit
"N's heart aches/nags"
u N serdce rvetsja (or: razryvaetsja) nacasti (or: na kusocki, or: popolam)
"N's heart is tearing into parts" (or: into small pieces, or: into halves)
u N serdce oblivaetsja krov'ju
"N's heart is pouring over itself with blood"
Connotations:
"Strictly speaking, martyrdom and its closest Arabic equivalent do not refer to the same
concept. Martyrdom, in English is willingly accepting death rather than renouncing one’s
religion. In Arabic (..........) is offering one’s life in the service of God; it is a form of defying
death and injustice (life in the hereafter).
A good example of a common noun with associative meaning is the term "ayn" in
Arabic.This term frequently refers to the organ of sight, i.e. an eye. The Arabic term,
however, refers also to a way of looking at a person which may cause him harm (disease,
failure ... etc). Whatever opinion we may have of this meaning as a superstitious belief or as a
fact, the point is that an English speaker is unlikely to understand this associative meaning
and the translator has to find ways of bringing the association.
(...) words such as pig, dog and donkey have unpleasant negative associations (connotations)
in the Arab culture..., associations which are not the same in other cultures. (....) an owl is a
sign of wisdom in the European culture but it is a bad omen in the Arab culture."
-5http://ucam-ma.academia.edu/HassaneDarir
Wang 2011:
"Chinese students learning English may have come across expressions like these:
“You chicken!”
"The stork visited the Johnston’s yesterday"
The students may have been puzzled, unless they knew that chicken in English means a
coward, or a person without courage; that a visit by the stork refers to the birth of a baby.
Likewise, English students learning Chinese would probably wonder about the meaning of
你真熊！ (Chinese meaning: ‘You bear!’)
那家伙是个泥鳅！(Chinese meaning: ‘he is a loach!’)
To English-speaking people, the bear does not carry any special associations as it does to
Chinese. The animal might be considered fierce or dangerous; a bear in a zoo or wildlife park
might be regarded as mischievous or playful, but not stupid, incompetent, good-for-nothing,
as is implied in the Chinese remark above. The loach, which is not all common in most
English speaking countries, could merely be taken as another kind of fish; people would not
think of it as being slippery and untrustworthy. However, there does exist the English
saying ‘slippery as an eel’ which has the same meaning and feeling as the Chinese expression
about the loach above."
Understanding of metaphorical expressions:
Littlemore 2003:
"(The study concerned) eighteen Bangladeshi Civil Servants attending a six-week course in
public service administration at the University of Birmingham..... The aims of the course
were to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the British Civil Service, with a view to
promoting change and modernization within the Bangladeshi Civil Service. .......... It was
predicted that the lecturers would have certain sets of values which might, at times, conflict
with those held by the students........ In order to identify areas of disparity between the
(working) cultures of the Bangladeshi students and their British lecturers, Hofstede’s (1980)
cultural values questionnaire was administered. The students were found to be more like than
their lecturers to favour uncertainty avoidance, and to favour high power distance at work.
Seven metaphors were then chosen for the metaphor analysis task; all of which were thought
to express one of Hofstede’s value dimensions.
-6The metaphorical expression ..... “it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it
catches mice” (was) chosen for study as (it was) thought to reflect an underlying belief that
uncertainty is a good thing.
The metaphorical expression “top-down, bottom-up forms of assessment” ..... (was) chosen
as they were thought to imply a system of hierarchy.
The expression “it doesn’t matter if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice”
appeared to be misinterpreted by the majority of the students. Typical responses were: “good
Government is necessary”, “working Government is good” ......... ”. Almost none of the
students mentioned the fact that a pragmatic approach might be desirable. ......... In order to
fully understand the metaphor, one needs to accept that politicians may not have total control
over their policy-making, and may, at times, have to compromise. This view of policymaking may be unfamiliar to students coming from a society in which policy-makers have
high levels of control, and do not tolerate uncertainty.
(Regarding) “top-down, bottom-up forms of assessment” ..... only two of the students
mentioned the fact that the lecturer perceived this type of assessment to be potentially
problematic. This may have been due to (the fact that) the students may have looked more
favourably on high power-distance organisations...... Post-test discussion with the students
revealed that there is no “bottom-up” assessment within their organisation, and that they had
not fully grasped the concept during the lecture."
3. Action-based models
Communication: social interaction
Fiske (1990): Communication: "Social interaction through messages"
Berger & Chaffee (1987): Communication: "Process of expression, interaction, and
influence"
Watzlawick, Beavin and Jackson (1967):
"...it should be made clear from the outset that the two terms communication and behavior
are used virtually synonymously...Thus, from this perspective...all behavior, not only
speech, is communication, and all communication affects behavior"
"It is impossible not to communicate"
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Lasswell (1948): Mass media:
Language use as action:
J.L Austin (1965) "How to Do Things With Words":
"Speech act theory"
"Speech acts": intentions and effects connected with discourse/language use
"Function" of message: intention of sender/speaker (reason/purpose)
Effects of messages on receivers (cf. Lasswell)
Language: form + meaning + function
Functions: e.g. providing information, requesting information; asking people to do things,
influence/persuasion, expressing agreement/disagreement, negotiation, building/maintaining
relationships (politeness), entertainment (e.g. humour), encouragement/support, exercising
authority, criticism, confrontation, aggression, competitiveness
Transparency of functions: directness vs. indirectness, e.g. sarcasm
Ambiguity of functions: differences between form, meaning and function
Speech acts/functions, transparency/ambiguity of functions: culture-dependent
Communication process: interpretation of speech acts/ functions by participants
Successful communication: depends on shared understanding of speech acts/functions by
participants
Miscommunication:
Differences in functions (e.g. politeness, criticism, authority, aggression)
Differences in interpretation of functions/speech acts (e.g. directness vs. indirectness, e.g.
politeness, humour); unintended/construed effects, e.g. "political correctness" (e.g. race,
religion, sex), harassment
Differences: interpersonal, intercultural
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Humour:
Puns (word play) based on homonymy/polysemy/metaphors:
"There has been a buzz around the world about the decline of the global bee population"
(BBC News)
"BLUES skipper apologised for knee-jerk reaction that means he’ll miss European final"
(The Sun)
"Victoria Beckham serves up some hot Spice at StarBecks: POSH puts on pinny to help out
in Beijing coffee shop" (The Sun)
Perceptions of harassment:
Zimbroff 2007:
"Recent cross-cultural research on sexual harassment has shown that while there is no
difference between North American and Brazilian college students in the actual incidence of
unwanted sexual behaviors experienced, Brazilians have a different concept of what actually
constitutes sexual harassment. This difference was further explored by a study that compared
college students’ responses to written scenarios which portrayed potential instances of sexual
harassment .......The study revealed that North American, Australian, and German students
were much more likely to perceive the scenarios in terms of power abuse, gender
discrimination, and harm—factors which, in their minds, lead to sexual harassment. By
contrast, Brazilian students were more likely to perceive the scenarios in terms of innocuous
sexual behavior aimed at procuring a romance or even sexual intimacy, but not constituting
the abuse of power or gender discrimination harmfulness required to constitute sexual
harassment. Subsequent researchers expanded upon this work ........ with professional women,
finding once again that Brazilians, more so than Americans, tended to view sexual advances
as less harmful and more likely to reflect innocent romantic motives rather than as harassing,
-9abusive, or discriminatory. Furthermore, Ecuadorian study participants, responding to an
ambiguous scenario of a woman bringing sexual harassment charges, similarly judged
behaviors to be less offensive and sexually harassing than their American counterparts.
Several researchers tie this finding, in part, to the nature of South American culture, which,
generalized as highly eroticized and open to displays of nudity and sexuality, is more
accepting and even approving of sexual advances.
At the same time, researchers entertain a less innocuous explanation for their culturally-based
differential. They depict Brazilian society as patriarchal and hierarchical, in which women are
subordinate to men and males are entitled to make sexual advances. As a result, women in
Brazil may perceive Brazilian men’s sexual advances to be entirely normal. Moreover, penal
codes in Brazil have a far higher threshold for what actions constitute rape or sexual assault.
Generally, few laws against sexual harassment exist in many parts of South America, and
public awareness of sexual harassment as a social or legal problem (even in Brazil) is far less
pronounced than in America.
In European countries .......... the results tend to be similar to those in the United States.There
is more frequent reporting in the northern European countries than the southern European
ones, explained by some researchers as indicative of the wider recognition and understanding
of this discriminatory offense in the north. ........ Russia presents a unique European example
in which laws regarding sexual harassment..........are rarely enforced and often completely
ignored. Russian women are routinely referred to in sexually-categorizing terms.
In a study of Asian college students (i.e., Chinese, Korean, Japanese or individuals from
Hong Kong) versus non-Asian (primarily Canadian) descent, respondents were asked to
provide their reactions to given scenarios on the Sexual Harassment Attitude Scale (SHAS)
....... On a number of items, Asian students were significantly more tolerant of actions
deemed to constitute sexual harassment than were non-Asian respondents. .........In one study
of Hong Kong working women, researchers determined that reported rates of sexual
harassment in student and secretary samples were significantly lower than comparable U.S.
figures; ....... Even in the hospitality industry, where sexual harassment is known to be a
problem worldwide, Hong Kong reports a lower percentage of harassment cases than
reported in many other locations. The researchers were struck by the Hong Kong working
womens’ coping strategies in relation to sexual harassment, which tended to be less assertive
and more indirect than those of U.S. counterparts. While sharing of experiences of
harassment with friends and co-workers to gain support was common, formal reporting of
sexual harassment was very low. This failure to report has proven to be a complex
phenomenon. Women in Hong Kong are often unaware of their basic rights to protection
from harassment in their jobs and academic institutions, but there are also concerns with the
possibilities for retaliation and loss of privacy. Yet it is likely that cultural values related to
“interdependence, harmony, and cooperation” also result in the avoidance of acknowledging
or complaining to an authority about sexual harassment. In Japan there is no clear definition
of, nor even a formal term for, sexual harassment.The fact that the laws regulating workplace
discrimination against women are routinely ignored implies that a clearer definition of sexual
harassment will not guarantee enforcement."
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4. Context-based models
Communication: social interaction (behaviour) within a range of social/cultural contexts
Language use within social/cultural contexts: "discourse"
Kim (2001):
"The term communication is defined broadly to include all activities of message exchange
between an individual and the environment. All actions and events are communicative
messages as soon as they are perceived by a human being. Messages are more than explicit,
verbal, and intentionally transmitted messages. They include all those implicit,
nonverbal, and unintentional messages by which people influence one another. This
broad conception echoes Ruben's (1988) view of communication as "a basic life process," as
well as the view of Ruesch and Bateson (1951/1968), who regard communication to be the
very substance of all things social and who note that "all actions and events have
communicative aspects, as soon as they are perceived by a human being. . . . Where the
relatedness of entities is considered, we deal with problems of communication"
(Kim, p.32)
Newcomb (1953):
"Co-orientation model":
Social relationship between interlocutors (= context)
Interdependence between relationship of communication partners and message:
Types of contexts:
Situational contexts:
Individuals/communication participants/interlocutors
Place/domain: e.g. academic, business, leisure, home
Subject, topic
Purpose of interaction/function of discourse, e.g. learning, negotiation, entertainment
Medium/channel, e.g. written; spoken, e.g.face-to-face (dialogue)
- 11 Background contexts:
Individuals' values, attitudes, beliefs
Individual personality, educational background
Individuals' roles/status (e.g. social, institutional, professional)
Social/economic structures/institutions
Social/economic/business rules/conventions/practices/"etiquette" (formality)
Relationships between various actors/communication participants
Interdependence of discourse and contexts:
Contexts determine discourse (requirements/expectations)
Discourse reflects contexts (interpretation)
Complexity of contexts
Ambiguity of discourse
Contexts (situational/background): culture-dependent
J. Habermas (1984): “Every process of reaching understanding takes place against the
background of a culturally ingrained preunderstanding”
Miscommunication:
Differences:
Characteristics of contexts
Interpretation of various contexts (background, situational)
Extent to which context is taken into account
Interpersonal, intercultural
E. Hall (1976): "High-Context Communication" vs."Low-Context Communication":
Extent to which contexts are taken into account
Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications (Scotland) Act 2012:
Context-dependent assessment of communication as criminal offence
G. Hofstede (2001):
Job interview techniques