A Model of the Communication

Process (Keren)
1. The text was written by Roman Jakobson, an American linguist and literary theorist
born in Moscow, in 1988.
2. A successful communication depends on six aspects: there is an addresser, who
sends a message to an addressee, who receives it. The message (content sent) must
be delivered through a contact, framed in a code (common to both the addresser
and the addressee) and it must refer to a context (the world in which the message
takes place).
3. Each of the six factors involved in the communication process determines a
different function of language:
a. REFERENTIAL (context: provide info, focusing on the denotative or
cognitive aspects of a message): “Water boils at 100 degrees”
b. EMOTIVE (addresser: his attitudes about what is being communicated):
“Wow, what a view!”
c. CONATIVE (addressee: influence): “Sara, put your phone away!”
d. PHATIC (contact: social relationships): “What are you going to wear for
prom?”
e. METALINGUISTIC (code: make a comment on language): “Taken is the
past participle of take”
f. POETIC (message: aesthetic effect): “He is like a shining star”
4. That does not mean a verbal message will fulfill only one of those functions: any act
of verbal communication is composed of all of them.
5. The verbal structure of a message depends primarily on the predominant function
(we may ask ourselves: “With what intention was this message transmitted?”)
6. Why do we say that a message works correctly only if the code is common to the
addresser and the addressee? Because what the sender communicates must be
interpreted by the receiver as the same meaning.
7. The context of the message is important: things may have different meanings
according to each culture.
8. And… what about ads? There is one sender but a lot of receivers: the interpretation
then has to do with context and other nonverbal aspects that help -or complicate-
our decoding of messages.