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LECTURE TWO
Communication: Definition,
Principles, Components, Contexts
and Models
By
Seth Awuku Manteaw, PhD
(Department of Agricultural Extension, University of Ghana)
Communication is a Concept, which is seen
differently by different scholars
 It is a Latin word: communicare, which
means “to make common” or “to share”
 It is defined as the process by which
meaning is exchanged between individuals
through a common system of symbols,
signs or behaviours
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1. Communication begins with the self. Barnlund (1970)
developed the idea that six persons are involved in every
two-person communication situation
 How you view yourself
 How you view the other person
 How you believe the other person views you
 How the other person views himself or herself
 How the other person views you
 How the other person believes you view him or her
2. Communication is complicated or complex. It is far more
than simple information transmission (there are several
aspects-verbal, nonverbal, channels, speaker and his/her
characteristics, the receiver and his/her characteristics
etc)
3.Communication involves others. It is a
dialogic process. Competent communicators
consider the other person’s needs and
expectations when communicating.
4. Communication is inevitable. Everything
about us is communication. Our actions and
inactions communicate something to those
who observe them
5. Communication is irreversible. We cannot go
back in time to erase our messages to others
6. Communication cannot be repeated. Your
second experience with a similar setting and
person would yield far different results, just as
you cannot repeat an experience, you cannot
repeat communication
7. More communication is not necessarily better
communication. Communication defined as
verbiage (use of words) does not necessarily
lead to positive outcomes
Components of communication
include people, messages, codes,
channels, feedbacks, encoding,
decoding and noise
1. People
• People are involved in the human communication
process in two roles: both as sources and receivers
of the messages.
• The Source initiates the message and the receiver
is the intended target of the message
• Individuals do not perform these roles
independently or separately. Instead, they are the
sources and receivers simultaneously and
continually.
• Individual characteristics of people including
race, sex, age, culture, religion etc affect the way
they send and receive messages.
2. Message
 The Message is the verbal and nonverbal form of the
idea, thought or feeling that one person (source) wishes
to communicate to another person or group (receivers)
 The Message includes the symbols (words and phrases),
facial expression, bodily movement, gestures, touch,
tone of voice etc
3. Channel
 The Channel is the means by which a message moves
from the source to the receiver
 In face-to-face communication, the senses of sound,
sight, smell, touch and taste can serve as channels. In
mass communication, radio, television, newspaper and
Internet are channels
4. Feedback
 Feedback is the receiver’s verbal and nonverbal
response to the source’s message (questions,
contributions, smiling, frowning, clapping, sleeping etc)
 It is part of any communication situation, even no
response or silence is feedback
5. Codes
 People converse with others by using a code (ust like a
cable, wire or fibre) called Language.
 A Code is a systematic arrangement of symbols used to
create meaning in the minds of another person(s)
 Verbal and nonverbal codes are the two types of codes
used in communication
6. Encoding and Decoding
 If communication involves the use of codes, the process of
communication can be viewed as one of encoding and
decoding
 Encoding is defined as the act of putting idea or a thought into
a code. Decoding is assigning meaning to that idea or thought
7. Noise
 Noise is anything that interferes with the delivery of the
message
 Noise can be Semantic (message gets through as sent, but the
receiver does not understand what it means) Mechanical (when
there is a problem with the machine being used to assist
communication) Environmental (noise that is external to the
communication, but that nonetheless interferes with it e.g. a
noisy class, a moving car etc), Psychological (state of mind or
mood of the receiver-sad, happy, nervous, worried, tired etc)
A model is a graphical representation of
something, used to explain concepts.
There are four main models of human
communication: Action, Interaction,
Transaction, Contructivist

In this model, one person sends a message and another
person(s) receive it. This model is called the
“inoculation model” because it seemed to depict a
speaker injecting an audience with a message
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The Action model is linear, although in some context
audiences affect speakers through nonverbal and verbal
feedbacks, not reflected in the model
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In this model, one person sends a message to a
second person who receives it and responds with
another message
This model seems to depict a conversation
between two people in which the communication
takes turns sending and receiving messages.
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In this model, rather than acting exclusively as
senders or receivers, here communicators
simultaneously send and receive messages. The
sending and receiving are no longer separate
activities and they do not occur one at a time
People are continually sending and receiving
messages
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The first three models are mechanistic as they simply show the
direction of communication movement: source to receiver,
source to receiver to source, and source and receiver at the
same time
In the constructivist model, the focus shifts from sources,
messages, receivers and feedbacks to what occurs in the minds
of communicators interpret ting meaning
The sender’s words are symbols to be interpreted and the
receiver constructs his/her own meaning. The receiver’s
interpretation of the sender’s message may or may not be the
same as what the sender intended it to be.
The only way to reach agreement about the message is by
discussing what the sender intended and what the receiver
interpreted. This is called negotiating meaning.
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Communication occurs in a context, a set
of circumstances or situations. The context
may be Intrapersonal, Interpersonal, Public
and Mass
This is the process of understanding and
sharing meaning within the self. It is
communication that occurs within your
own mind
 It includes such activities as solving
problems internally, resolving internal
conflicts, planning for the future etc

Communication that that involves one or
more other persons. Coordinating meaning
between at least two people in a situation
that allows mutual opportunities for both
speaking and listening
 It is divided further into Dyadic or twoperson communication and small-group
communication
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It is the process of generating meanings in a
situation where a single source transmits
message to a number of receivers who give
nonverbal and verbal feedbacks
In this type of communication context, the
source adapts the message to the audience in an
attempt to achieve maximum understanding
It is recognized by its formality, structure and
planning (lecture classes, convocations and
religious services)
This is the transmission of public
messages to travel over some distance to
reach large, heterogeneous, scattered
audiences
 Examples of mass communication include
print media such as newspapers,
magazines, flyers, pamphlets, posters,
billboards, journals, books, and electronic
media such as radio, television, Internet.
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THANK YOU
AND GOD
BLESS YOU