11/11/2023, 23:15 An Introduction to Communication: Defining Communication | ecampus-flsh

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1. Defining Communication
Defining Communication

This course is about the fascinating subject of communication. It is an understatement to say that communication is ubiquitous,
omnipresent and pervasive, appearing everywhere at the same time. In the course of our lives, we pass through spheres of
experience that range from the private, the interpersonal, the public and professional, as well as the cultural sphere. Across all these
spheres, communication appears to be vital. Communication is deeply rooted in human behaviours and societies. It is difficult to
think of any social or behavioural event from which communication is absent. Indeed, communication applies to shared behaviours
and properties of any human collection or aggregate. In all these contexts, we are engaged in some sort of communication, creating
and interpreting meanings by means of symbols.

Communication scholars having different theoretical affiliations and coming from different disciplines with different perspectives
have put forth various definitions of communication. Yet, no single definition has been accepted as the definitive or standard
definition within the field of communication. Therefore, attempting to formulate one single all-inclusive definition is likely to be
highly controversial or seriously deficient and incomplete. An alternative procedure is to attempt to pin down the core concepts of
communication that lie at its heart and that should not be overlooked or missed. Let us, then, examine each of these core concepts of
communication, which are central to its existence and character.

Let us consider the following working definition of communication.

Communication is the process in which participants make use of symbols in order to create and interpret meanings.

An obvious beginning point is to attempt to define each of the core terms in the above definition.

Process

Communication scholars generally think of communication as a process. To say that communication is a process means that it is
always ongoing and never-ending. It never stops. It has been happening for quite a long time and is likely to continue in the future. It
is not a finished product.

Communication is also a process because it is dynamic not static. It is characterized by constant change, activity and progress. That
communication is a process means that it is always in motion, moving forward and changing continually.

It is a process since it is complex consisting of many different and connected parts.

For example, an encounter between two or more participants is influenced by previous encounters and it also influences future
encounters.

Therefore, it is inaccurate to conceive of communication as consisting of separate “acts” of communication as if they occurred in
isolation. Communication is best conceived of as a process in which meaning comes from the unfolding of interrelated series of
encounters.

Symbols

Communication is not possible without the use of symbols. Communication makes use of symbols to represent things, objects,
artefacts, processes, events, states of affairs, ideas and thoughts, feelings and emotions. In other words, communication works
through representations. Representations are words, pictures, sounds, sequences of words, pictures (moving and still), stories,

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narratives, speeches, conversations, texts, discourses etc. that ‘stand for’ ideas, emotions, and facts. Representations are culturally
understood symbols.

What is the essential nature of symbols? The most significant feature of symbols is their arbitrary nature. A symbol can be defined as
an arbitrary label given to a phenomenon.

What is meant by saying that symbols are arbitrary?

In order to answer this question, we need to consider the nature of signs. A sign is anything that stands for something else in the
production of meaning. It may include words, photographs, sounds and gestures. A sign has three characteristics:

1) it has a physical form, i.e. a form that can be perceived by any of the five senses (hearing, sight, smell, touch, taste);

2) it refers to something other than itself (objects and concepts);

3) it is used and recognized as a sign; that is, it is an element in a shared cultural code or system, i.e., culturally understood as such.

Ferdinand de Saussure, one of the founding fathers of semiotics (the study of signs), labelled the physical form the signifier and the
abstract concept the signified. For example, if we take a word as an example, the signifier is the sequence of sounds that make up the
word that we perceive with our hearing or the sequence of letters that we can perceive by our sight. The signified is the abstract
concept that the word denotes or very simply its meaning.

Now, words in any language are symbols since the relation between the signifier and the signified is completely arbitrary, i.e. there is
no logical or natural connection between the signifier and the signified. The relation is based on convention or agreement.

Meanings

What do we use symbols for?

We use symbols to create or construct meanings, i.e., what phenomena signify to us, the significance of things, events, processes and
states.

What meanings can be created and interpreted in communication?

Referential meaning consists of information about the external world. Referential meaning represents events, states and actions.
This meaning is not restricted to describing the experience of the concrete and the tangible; it may involve talking about abstract
concepts. It may also involve speculation on the very purpose of existence.

Expressive meaning reflects the sender’s emotions and attitudes.

Conative meaning refers to the intended effect of an utterance on its hearers; it attempts to get an audience to perform an action or
believe in something.

Phatic meaning is directed towards the social contact between communicators.

Poetic meaning is directed towards the aesthetic dimension of language. It reflects nuances of interpretation created by the stylistic
qualities of an act of communication (the use of rhyme and rhythm, alliteration, figurative language to create effects).

Metalinguistic meaning addresses matters concerning language itself (definitions of words, word puzzles, dictionaries, grammar
books).

LIENS UTILES
Universite Cadi Ayyad
Ministère de l'Enseignement Supérieur de
la Recherche Scientifique et de l'innovation

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