Communication Principles,

Processes, and Ethics

Learning Objectives

• Identify the principles, processes, and

ethics of communication;
• Describe the elements of communication in
various and multicultural contexts;
• Practice effective communication skills;
• Evaluate communication skills;
• Reflect on a learning experience.
Warm-up Activity

• Close your eyes.

• Come up with words or phrases that can be associated with
“communication.”
• Use a semantic web to clearly show the relationships of ideas
on communication.
• Answer briefly the following questions on a sheet of paper:
What does communication mean?
How important is communication to your personal and
professional success?
• Post your paper on the board and be ready to share your
answers with the class once you are called.
Defining Communication

Communication is a systemic process in which

people interact with and through symbols to
create and interpret meanings. (Wood, 2004)
Defining Communication
• In its simplest form, communication is the
transmission of a message from a source
to a receiver (Baran, 2006)

• The sending or exchanging of thoughts,

opinions or information by speech, writing
or signs (Webster 1997)
 Defining
Communication

Communication is the transfer of information and

understanding from one person to another.
(Newstrom, 2011)

Communication is the transfer of information from one

person to another, whether or not it elicits confidence.
But the information transferred must be
understandable to the receiver. (G.G. Brown)
Defining
Communication
• “Communication” is the interaction of a person
with other people, exchange of their ideas and
feelings, and transmission of information from one
person to another. (Hybel & Weaver)

•Communication is giving, receiving and exchanging

of ideas, facts, opinions, information, signals or
messages through an appropriate medium,
enabling individuals or group to persuade, to seek
information, to give information and to express
emotions.
(Fred G. Meyer)
 Defining
Communication
• Communication is the exchange of facts, ideas,
opinions or emotions by two or more persons.
(William Newman)

• Communication is a sum of all things one person

does when he wants to create understanding in
the minds of another. It involves systematic and
continuous process of telling, listening, and
understanding. (Louis Allen)
General Principles of Effective
Communication
• Know your purpose in communicating.
• Know your audience.
• Know your topic.
• Adjust your speech or writing to the
context of the situation.
• Work on the feedback given you.
 Principles of Effective Oral
Communication

• Be clear with your purpose.

• Be complete with your message.
• Be concise.
• Be natural with your delivery.
• Be specific and timely with your feedback.
Principles of Effective Written
Communication (The 7 Cs)
• Be clear.
• Be concise.
• Be concrete.
• Be correct.
• Be coherent.
• Be complete.
• Be courteous
Purposes of Communication

• To inform
• To persuade
• To entertain
• To evoke
• To argue
Types of Communication
According to Mode

1)Verbal – the use of words

2)Non-Verbal – the use of symbols,
pictures and body actions
3)Visual – pictures and images
Types of
Communication
According to Context

1)Intrapersonal – talking to oneself

2)Interpersonal – communication between and
among people
3)Extended – through the use of electronic media
4)Organizational – communication in
organizational contexts
5)Intercultural – communication between or among
people having different linguistic, ethnic, social
and professional backgrounds
Elements of Communication

• Sender
• Source of a message (West, 2009)
• encodes a message intended to produce the
desired response
• The person who initiates the communication
process
• The sender may be the writer of a letter, the
first speaker in a conversation or the person
who initiates the process though a gesture
(Pathak, 2005)
Elements Communication
• Message
• the physical product of the source
• spoken, written, or unspoken information sent
from a sender to a receiver (West, 2009)
• Thoughts, ideas, and concepts that the sender
wishes to communicate to the reader; since
thoughts or ideas do not have physical form, they
cannot be directly transmitted to the receiver.
• The sender therefore “encodes” the message
using an appropriate code. (Language is also a
type of code.)
Elements of
Communication
• Channel
• message vehicle and message carrier
• Pathway to communication (West, 2009)
• It represents our senses (visual/ sight,
tactile/touch, olfactory/smell, and is
dependent on who your receiver is.
Elements of Communication
• Noise (Interference)
• Also referred to as communication barriers
• Anything that interferes with the message
• According to West, there are four types of noise:
1. Physical noise (external noise) – involves any
stimuli outside of the receiver that makes the
message difficult to hear
2. Physiological noise – biological influences on a
sender or receiver that interfere with the
transmission or reception of a message.
Elements of Communication
• Noise (Interference)
• According to West, there are four types of noise:
3. Psychological noise (internal noise) – biases,
prejudices, and feelings that interfere with the
accurate transmission or reception of a message.
4. Semantic noise – occurs when senders and
receivers apply different meanings to the same
message; it may take the form of jargon,
technical language, and other words and phrases
that are familiar to the sender but that are not
understood by the receiver.
Elements of Communication
• Receiver
• recipient of the message; if the receiver fails to
respond right to the message then,
communication is not effective (Manalo, 2006)
• The intended target of a message (West, 2009)
• He or she might be the listener, the reader, or
observer
• He or she usually responds to the sender by:
• Listening or reading or observing carefully
• Interpreting the message
• Responding to the message
Elements of Communication
• Feedback
• A verbal (respond in words) or non-verbal
(facial expressions, body posture, and so
forth) response to a message.
• Two types of feedback:
• Internal feedback occurs when you assess
your own communication
• External feedback is the response you
receive from other people
 Process of Communication
The speaker generates an idea
Then speaker encodes an idea
or converts the idea into words
or actions.
The speaker transmits or sends
out a message.
The receiver gets the message.
The receiver decodes or
interprets the message based
on the context.
The receiver sends or provides
feedback.
Example
Daphne loves Rico, her suitor,
as a friend
She thinks of how to tell him
using their native language.
She tells him, “Rico, mahal kita
bilang kaibigan.”
Rico hears what Daphne says.
He tries to analyze what she
means based on the content and
their relationship, and he is
heartbroken.
He frowns and does not say
something because he is in pain.
Types of Communication Model
 Linear Models of
Communication
A characterization of communication
as a one-way process that transmit a
message from a sender to a receiver.
(West, 2009)
Aristotle’s Model

SPEAKER SPEECH AUDIENCE

Lasswell’s Model

WITH
TO WHICH
WHO? SAYS WHAT? TO WHOM? WHAT
CHANNEL?
Communicator Message Receiver EFFECT?
Medium
Feedback
• David K. Berlo 
• Ph.D. in Communications,
University of Illinois, Charles
Osgood was his faculty advisor
• A “disciple” of Wilbur
Schramm
• Previously served as Director
of Department of
Communications, Michigan
State University
• Joined Illinois State as
President of the university
(1970-1973)
Berlo’s Communication Model

SOURCE MESSAGE CHANNELHeari RECEIVERCom

Comm. Content ng m. Skills/
SkillsAttitudes Elements Seeing Attitudes
Knowledge Treatment Touching Knowledge
Social Structure Smelling Social
SystemCulture Code Tasting SystemCulture

A source encodes a message for a channel to a receiver who

decodes the message
FEEDBACK AND THE INTERACTIONAL MODEL:
OSGOOD-SCHRAMM’S MODEL
"In fact, it is misleading to think of the communication process as starting
somewhere and ending somewhere. It is really endless. We are little
switchboard centers handling and rerouting the great endless current of
information.... " (Schramm W.1954) quoted in McQuail&Windahl (1981)
• Wilbur Schramm emphasized
the importance of the study of
communication as a discipline of
study. He founded the Institute
of Communications Research at
the University of Illinois in 1947.
• In 1954, with fellow theorist
Charles E. Osgood, he created a
circular model of communication
that focused not only on the
components of communication,
but also on the behaviors of
senders and receivers.
Interactional Model:
Osgood-Schramm’s Model

Message

Encoder
Decoder

Interpreter Interpreter
Decoder
Encoder

Message
Interactional Model
• Wilbur Schramm (1954) developed a graphic way to
represent the reciprocal nature of communication. (Baran,
2010)
• This model shows that communication goes in two
directions: sender to receiver and from receiver to
sender.
• This circular process suggests that communication is
ongoing rather than linear.
• The interactional approach is characterized primarily by
feedback, which can be defined as responses to
people, their messages or both.
Shared Meaning and
the Transactional
Model(West, 2009)
A characterization of communication as
the reciprocal sending and receiving of
messages.
In a transactional encounter, the sender
and receiver do not simply send meaning
from one to the other and then back again;
rather, they build shared meaning through
simultaneous sending and receiving.
Transactional Model (West, 2009)

NOISE

(Receiver/ Sender) Message (Receiver/ Sender)

Field of Experience Field of Experience

Shared field of
experience
Giving and receiving of messages is
simultaneous and mutual.
Transactional indicates that the communication
process is cooperative.

The transactional process requires ongoing

negotiation of meaning.
It is characterized by a common “field of
experience”.

Refers to the influence of a person’s culture,

past experiences, personal history and heredity
on the communication process. When two
people’s fields of experience overlap, they can
communicate effectively.
 In Summary
Early models showed that
communication is linear and that
senders and receivers have separate
roles and functions.
The interactional approach expanded
that thinking and considered
+ communication as a circular process
where feedback is involved between
communicators.
The transactional approach refined
our understanding by stressing the
importance of the communicator’s
field of experience, by showing the
simultaneous sending and receiving
of messages and by focusing on the
mutual involvement of the
communicators to create meaning.
 Communication Ethics

• Uphold integrity - Be truthful with your

opinion and be accurate with your integrity.

• Respect diversity of perspective and privacy-

Show compassion and consideration with
beliefs, affiliations, and privacy of others.
Communication Ethics
• Observe freedom of expression effectively – Be
careful of what and how you say your words
depending on the type of people you are
communicating with.

• Promote access to communication – Give others

an opportunity to express what they feel and
think about the message being communicated.
 Communication Ethics

• Be open-minded – Accept that others have different

views or opinions, which may conflict with yours.

• Develop your sense of accountability- Acknowledge

responsibility for all your actions, good or bad.
Intelligence plus character, that is
the goal of true education.
~Martin Luther King
 References:
• Barrot, Jessie S.,Purposive Communication in the 21st Century, C & E
Publishing Inc.,Quezon City, 2018
• Manalo, Paterna E. and Fermin, Virginia E., Fundamental Speech
Communication for Filipinos. Mandaluyong City: National Bookstore, 2006.
• Madrunio, Marilu R., Purposive Communication Using English in Multilingual
Contexts,C&E Publishing,IncQuezon City,2018
• Wood, Julia T., Communication Mosaics An Introduction to the Field of
Communication. 3rdEdition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/ Thomson Learning,
2004.
• West, Richard; Turner, Lynn H., Understanding Interpersonal Communication.
International 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009.