A Coursework in Development Communication

A Coursework
in
DC – DEVELOPMENT
COMMUNICATION

Unit 3: COMMUNICATION, CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES

 Lesson 6: Communication Models

Prepared by: AIMEE F. ROMERO

Instructor

Disclaimer: ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This coursework is a compilation of works from

internet sources, manuals, and books from different authors
and will be used for educational purposes only. Due
GE-DC (DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION) – recognition
FIRST is given to
SEMESTER, the authors
A.Y. 2020- who are the source of
some parts found in this coursework. The 1 compiler/ owner
2021
does not clam copyrights to any part taken for other sources.
 A Coursework in Development Communication

A Coursework
in

Development
Communication

Name: ___________________________________________
Course and year: ___________________________________________
Class Schedule: ___________________________________________
Contact No: ___________________________________________
Instructor: AIMEE F. ROMERO

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 A Coursework in Development Communication

COURSEWORK OVERVIEW
A Coursework in Development Communication is an interactive and self-
instructional material designed to assist your learning in Development Communication
in the collegiate education. This material is anchored on the learning competencies of
Development Communication set by the communication experts of the Commission on
Higher Education (CHED). This coursework thoroughly discusses the content of the
course to achieve its desired learning outcomes in the best way possible, which are
specified on knowledge, skills, and values. With these target objectives, you are guided
on what you have to acquire.
This coursework provides learning activities that are related to real-life situations
and experiences to make your learning meaningful. The activities are developmentally
appropriate for you to arouse your motivation and interest in learning. You are also
given an opportunity to explore more of your potential, especially in communicating
effectively and appropriately to multicultural audiences for various purposes.
Through this coursework, it is hoped that you would become a relevant and
effective communicator in a multicultural world and help you achieve your academic
and professional goals.

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OBJECTIVES
The development of this coursework is in accordance with the learning
competencies set by CHED for Development Communication. As mentioned in the
preceding part, the desired outcomes of the subject are specified on knowledge, skills,
and values.
At the end of this coursework, you are expected to:
1. describe the environment, major issues, problems, and trends of development
and underdevelopment;
2. discuss basic concepts, models, and principles of development and
communication;
3. explain the functions of communication in development;
4. define the meaning, core values, domains, and areas of development
communication; and
5. identify the roles and competencies of a development communicator.

This coursework is designed to help students practice of applying processes,

strategies, and principles of communication to achieve positive social change and to
understand different issues of the society and deepen their understanding how
communication develops the lives of many. It also includes information dissemination
and education, behavior change, social marketing, social mobilization, media advocacy,
communication for social change and community participation.
Since this coursework is self-instructional, you need to work independently. It
only means that you need to read, analyze, and reflect on everything presented in
every coursework. The learning tasks/activities and assessments/quizzes are provided
to help you assess your progress and understanding on the lessons as you go through
the module. Your answers to these activities and quizzes will be checked by your
instructor or mentor.
Explore, discover, and learn about Development Communication at your own
pace.

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UNIT 3
COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS
AND PRINCIPLES

At the end of this coursework, you shall have:

1. Explain the primary roles of communication in development;
2. Discuss the communication issues and trends; and
3. Apply the importance of communication in our lives.

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Lesson 6

Communication Models
Learning Objectives:
After studying this lesson, you should be able to:
1. Discuss the different models of communication
2. Compare and contrast the models of communication

R
E
MODELS OF COMMUNICATION
A
D

WINTRODUCTION

hy study communication models? I like to think of models as simple or graphic

forms of frozen reality. In other words, when we speak of communication models,
we are really “freezing” the communication process, so we can better study or
explore it.

LASSWELL’S MODEL
Harold D. Lasswell was an American political scientist who wrote an article in
1948 that began with “A convenient way to describe an act of communication is to
answer the following question:
“Who,
Says What,
In Which Channel,
To Whom,
With What Effect?”
Lasswell’s model was the first real attempt among social scientists to depict
the communication process. However, it was later criticized because:

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1. The model took for granted that communication is mainly a persuasive

process, that the communicator always has some intent to influence the
receiver.
2. It omits the elements of feedback
Despite these limitations (which were really a reflection of the understanding
of communication during his time), this model remains a “ convenient and
comprehensive way of introducing people to the study of communication. ”

SHANNON AND WEAVER’S “MATHEMATICAL MODEL”

Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver were engineers working for the Bell
Telephone Company when they developed a graphical model of communication that
they could apply to their field. This model answered the questions: What kind of
communication channel can bring through the maximum number of signals ? How
much of transmitted signs will be destroyed by noise under way from transmitter
to receiver? (McQuail and Windahl, 1981).
Despite the technical beginnings of this model, it is easy to see how students
of communication can apply this to human communication.

Figure 6.1 Shannon and Weaver Model

What do you notice about this model of communication?

It is a one-way, linear model that introduces the dysfunctional factor, noise.
In the technical aspect, noise is anything that disrupts transmission of a signal. In
the human communication context, noise is anything that disrupts the smooth flow
of communication.

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NEWCOMB’S MODEL
So far, we have been looking at linear models or models that depict
communication following a line from Source to Receiver. Interestingly enough,
Newcomb’s model is triangular.
Fiske argues that Newcomb’s model is significant because it introduces the
role of communication in a society or social relationship. To Newcomb,
communication maintains equilibrium within a social system. Thus, ABX represents a
system. If A and B have similar attitudes about X, then the system is in
equilibrium. Should their attitudes differ, then there is no equilibrium and A and B
must communicate to find a way to put their system in balance by arriving at
similar attitudes once again.

Figure 6.2 Newcomb Model

Can you think of an example where this model would apply in everyday life?
I know a farmer (A) and his wife (B) who are thinking of raising pigs in their
backyard (X). The wife was not too enthusiastic at first because she did not want
the noise and the mess. They had many arguments and a few fights over this.
Then, the husband convinced his wife to talk to their extension agent and
some friends who are backyard swine growers. After many months, she finally
agreed to his plan and is happy with the additional income their backyard piggery
has brought them. Once more, their relationship is in a state of equilibrium.

OSGOOD AND SCHRAMM’S MODEL

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This model focuses on the main actors of the process —unlike the Shannon
and Weaver model, which focuses on the channels that mediate between sender
and receiver. Schramm and Osgood show the actors in communication to be equals
who perform the identical tasks of encoding, interpreting, and decoding messages .
Note

Figure 6.3 Osgood and Schramm Model

that the model does not fit the mold of traditional, one-way, linear communication
models, which clearly fix and separate the roles of sender and receiver.

The reason why this model required a cyclical representation was explained
by Schramm himself in 1954 (McQuail and Windahl, 1981):
“…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…”
However, note that while this model is useful in describing interpersonal
communication, it does not explain communication situations where there is little or
no feedback (e.g., mass communication).
Furthermore, it seems to connote a feeling of equality in communication.
Those of us who are experienced in this area know all too well that a communication
situation is often unbalanced in terms of resources, power, and time.

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GERBNER’S MODEL
George Gerbner introduced another linear model. Fiske (1982) explains that
Gerbner’s model is a more complex version of Shannon and Weaver’s. It is unique in
that it allows us to see the communication process as one that consists of “two
alternating dimensions— the perceptual or receptive, and the communicating or
means and control dimension.” The Gerbner model underwent several modifications
but the version of this model that is shown below gives the elements of his model.

Figure 6.4 Osgood and Schramm Model

What does this model demonstrate?

Actually, it demonstrates a process whereby an event (E) takes place and is
perceived by M (human or machine like a camera). M’s perception of the event is
percept E1 —and here begins the perceptual dimension that starts the process.
Once percept E1 is converted into a signal about the event (SE), we have a message
or statement about E.
Then, we move into the vertical dimension of the model. The circle is divided
into two: S (signal) and E (content). Because content can be communicated in
different ways, there are many potential Ss to choose from. The communicator
then must make a crucial decision: how to find the best signal for the content.
Fiske reminds us that SE is a “unified concept, not two separate areas brought
together.” Thus, the choice of signal will affect the presentation of the content.

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In the third stage of the mode, we move once more into the horizontal
dimension. What the receiver, M2, perceives is not an event (E). Rather, M2
receives a signal statement about the event (SE). Drawing upon his or her needs
and concepts from his or her culture, M2 finds meaning in the message.

WESTLEY AND MACLEAN’S MODEL

Fiske (1982) believes that the social need for information also underlies the
Westley and MacLean model of communication. He looks upon the 1957 model as an
extension of Newcomb’s 1953 model. However, the Westley and MacLean model
was created with the mass media in mind. Thus, while it is rooted in Newcomb’s
ABX model, it has a new element: C.
C represents the editorial-communicating function or the process one
undergoes in deciding what and how to communicate something. Fiske uses the
example of a news reporter to explain this model. Let’s use it too as it may be
familiar to you. The reporter (A) sends his story to the newsroom or C. In the
newsroom, editing takes place and the edited product is transmitted to his readers

Figure 6.5 Westley and MacLean Model

(B).
Just like in mass media, the reader (B) has lost touch with A and C. They
have no direct relationship with each other.

BERLO’S MODEL
Perhaps the most well-known (certainly one of the most cited) model of
communication is David Berlo’s model of communication. Like the other linear
models, Berlo delineates the different actors of the communication process and

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the elements that mediate between them. His model began as the SMCR model
(Source Message Channel Receiver).
When he added the element of effect, it became the SMCRE model of
communication. However, in his book the Process of Communication (1961), he also
discusses the element of feedback, leading some communicators to depict his
model as follows:

Figure 6.6 Berlo Model

DANCE’S HELICAL MODEL

McQuail and Windahl (1981) included Dance’s helical model of communication
in their book because they looked at it as an interesting development of the
Osgood and Schramm model.
The circular model of communication (e.g., Osgood and
Schramm’s model) suggest that communication is
circular, that it goes full circle to the same point from
which it started. The helical model, however, portrays
the communication process more accurately—in that it
shows the communication process as moving.
Dance’s model shows the dynamism of the communication
process. It gives the notion that man, when

Figure 6.7 Helical Model communicating, is active, creative, and able to store
information. McQuail and Windahl (1981) suggest that
the model “may be used to illustrate information gaps and the thesis that
knowledge tends to create more knowledge.” Thus, it illustrates situations wherein
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a teacher can assume that each lecture adds to his students’ knowledge, helping
them to become successively better informed. Thus, his new lectures can build on
that knowledge.

KINCAID’S CONVERGENCE MODEL

In 1981, D. Lawrence Kincaid brought forth his Convergence Model of
Communication. As illustrated in Figure 5-8, it shows a process of convergence
through which participants share information so that mutual understanding is
reached.

Figure 6.8 Convergence Model

Kincaid’s model shows the communication process as one in which mutual
understanding is reached through information that cuts through uncertainty. Once
mutual understanding is reached, there is mutual agreement. Based on that mutual
agreement, collective action can be taken (Rogers and Kincaid, 1981).

SUMMARY
As a process, communication is ongoing, cyclic, ever changing, with no
beginning and no end. The elements of the process are interdependent and
interrelated. These elements are the source, message, receiver, channel, effect,
and feedback. However, in the communication models designed to explain this
process, not all these elements are present. In other models, these elements are
given equivalents or called by other names (e.g., channel = transmitter or medium).

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REFERENCES
Berlo, D. (1960). The process of communication. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston, Inc.
Chandler, D. The transmission model of communication . Accessed 26 April 2006
from http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/documents/short/trans.html.
De Fleur, M.L. and Dennis, E.E. (1981). Understanding mass communication. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin Company.
Fiske, J. (1982). Introduction to communication studies. Chaucer Press:Suffolk.
Kincaid, D.L. (1978). The convergence model of communication . Honolulu:East-West
Center.
Johns Hopkins University. (1997). Handouts in Communication.
Lasswell, Harold D. (1948). The structure and function of communication in so ciety.
The Communication of Ideas. Bryson and Lyman, Eds. New York: Harper.
McQuail, D. and Windahl, S. (1981). Models of communication. New York: Longman,
Inc.

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ASSESSMENT

Task 1. Directions: Choose one (1) among the models of communication and make a
scenario/situation of how would this model apply.

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Task 2. Directions: Using Venn diagram, choose two (2) models and cite some
similarities and differences of the two (2) models.

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