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Introduction to Intermediate
and
Advanced English
First Semester
2009 – 2010
Allan Roi C. Roño and Priya Ramnani
What is communication?
it is an activity so intertwined with human life
it is complex
it is powerful
it has limitations
What some scholars have said:
The process that links discontinuous parts of
the living world to one another
A system of for relaying information and orders
Those situations where a source transmits a
message to a receiver with the intent to
change behavior
A process that makes common to two or more
what was the monopoly of one or a few
A verbal interchange of a thought or idea
The transmission of information
The mechanism by which power is exerted
Adjusting ideas to people, and people to ideas
Looking back:
How is it an activity so intertwined with
human life?
How is it complex?
How is it powerful?
What may be some of its limitations?
C. David Mortensen said in The Study of Human Interaction,
“In the case of the term communication, few would have
qualms about saying that it occurs whenever people
attempt to use the power of spoken or written words to
influence others. And yet here is where the difficulties
occur. Does our common sense notion mean that
communication is limited solely to human activity? Do
machines communicate? Is all communication a matter
of using spoken or written words? What is meant by the
idea of influence? Must the influence be intentional? If
so, what about overheard or accidental speech that
nonetheless modifies the behavior of a bystander? Is all
thinking to be regarded as communication?”
Scholars agree that communication is multi-dimensional
and that there can be many definitions depending on
your approach or intention
Perhaps the average person can benefit best by gaining
an understanding of the varied aspects of comm
There is no right or wrong perspective
The different theoretical or definitional trajectories simply
enable different kinds of comm studies
By developing an understanding of
communication, you:
become more discriminating in interpreting
comm activities
gain tools to improve your comm skills
widen your perception to transcend habitual
thinking
By developing an understanding of
communication, you:
become increasingly adaptable and flexible to
communicative situations
become more sophisticated in your approach
to communication
gain new “lenses” for seeing ordinary comm
activities
English 1 and Literature deal with the
WRITTEN TEXT: 1) ESSAYS
2) ACADEMIC PAPERS
applicable to other Subjects
3) LITERARY COMMENTARY
English 2 deals with the
SPOKEN WORD: 1) DEBATES
2) ACADEMIC DISCOURSE
applicable to other Subjects
Definitions of MEDIA
medium: any object or tool used in the
transmission of messages
mechanism used to carry signs from one
person to another
collection of channels for mass
communication: print, broadcast (TV/radio),
new media
Five core concepts
(Center for Media Literacy, 2007)
1. All media messages are constructed.
2. Media messages are constructed using a
creative language with its own rules.
3. Different people exchange the same
messages differently.
4. Media have embedded values and points of
view.
5. Media messages are constructed to gain
profit/power.
Deconstructing media: five key questions
(Center for Media Literacy, 2007)
1. Who created this message?
2. What techniques are used to attract my
attention?
3. How might different people understand this
message differently from me?
4. What lifestyles, values, and points-of-view are
represented in or are omitted from this
message?
5. Why was this message sent?
The four laws of media
(McLuhan, 1988)
1. Enhancement – media improves or enhances
the way we do things
2. Reversal – when pushed to the limit, media
can reverse its original
characteristics or functions and
create new problems
3. Obsolescence –media can render something
obsolete
4. Retrieval – media restores something that
was once lost or obsolesced
Enhancement





What is the intended function of the
medium?
What does it improve or make efficient?
Does it extend some part of the human body,
or one or more of the senses?
Does it extend some aspect of the human
mind?
Does it amplify some human capability or
augment a deficiency?
Reversal



What effects will the medium create that are
opposite to what was originally intended?
What are the contradictions inherent in the
medium or technology?
What is the “ecological” or “environmental”
impact of the medium to its contemporary
media environment?
Obsolescence




What older technology does the new medium
replace?
What does it render unnecessary?
What procedures does it “short circuit” or
bypass?
What happens to the “old” medium that
becomes obsolete?
Retrieval


What archaic elements are made relevant
again?
What previously marginalized or repressed
ideas, artifacts, or socio-cultural aspects
are brought forth and revived?
Retrieval


What archaic elements are made relevant
again?
What previously marginalized or repressed
ideas, artifacts, or socio-cultural aspects
are brought forth and revived?
En: voice (reach, loudness),
connectivity
Rev: correct grammar,
spelling;
overdependence
Obs: the telephone booth;
face-to-face contact
Ret: tribal drums, smoke
signal, secret
messages
En: speed and
transportation
Rev: created traffic,
noise, annoying
Obs: horse and carriage,
bicycles, walking
Ret: “age of knights”