Transactional Model of

Communication

SPCH COMM HCC

Northwest Fall 2011

Todays Objective
Continue

to explore the communication

modeling process

Connect

our knowledge of roles and

actions in the linear model to the
transactional model

Recognize

and apply concepts of the

transactional model to our own
communication episodes

Warm Up
Recall

what we learned about the

linear model of communication
Shannon and Weaver; 1949; scholarly

dialogue in business, communication,

education, psychology & sociology.

Transition to Transaction
Critique of S&Ws linear model
Process

explained

Highlights

information transfer

Identification
Opens

of roles, roles are rigid

up process for questions

about people

Barnlunds Transactional
Model of Communication
Dean

1970

C. Barnlund submitted this model in

Barnlunds Transactional
Model of
The language of communication
Communication
Two-way, continuous transaction
Communicator
Environment
Noise
Meaning

In a transactional
model . . .

We activate a dynamic, simultaneous

process

Participants are sending and receiving

at all times

Encoding and decoding can and will

happen unconsciously

Communicators and
Environment

Communicators

give and get

simultaneously
Communicators

come into the episode

with personal experiences,
personalities and traits, cultural
backgrounds and relational histories

The

background details, along with the

physical location, comprise the
environment of the episode

Noise,

Noise,

Noise

Three types of noise impact

communication in the transactional
model
External Noise: Auditory interference
Physiological Noise: Biological
interference

Shared Meaning

Factors which
impact
*Fridays
Angelmeaning
Chat Topic, 7pm*
Channels
Communicators
Environment
Overlap of Communicator understanding

Take This Home, Do This

Now

In

1970 Barnlund put forth the Transactional

Model of Communication, a two-way,
communicator and meaning centered model

Some

concepts are revised from the linear

model, including simultaneous roles, impact
of channels, types of noise, communicator
background and shared meaning.
HANDS ON!
Grab a partner. Your team is
making a visual metaphor.