CHAPTER THEE

COMMUNICATION IN EXTENSION
 3.0 COMMUNICATION:
Introduction
Comm. is an activity much taken for granted.
 It appears ironic that we sometimes failed to fully
appreciate the power of comm. in shaping our lives
and work when
 in reality, we are relentlessly engaged ourselves in
various day-to-day forms, means, and problems of
comm.
Extension education is essentially a process of
comm.
Thus comm. of ideas & skills between and among
people.
Ability to communicate determines to a very large
extent the success or failure of an extension worker.
Therefore extension educators and practitioners
alike must have adequate skills in communication
And being capable of initiating and managing
communication process in dissemination agricultural
information to farmers
as well as assist package farmers’ problems and
concerns for research attention.
 
 Objectives

After studying this chapter, you should be

able to:
explain clearly the term ‘communication
understand communication process
identify elements of communication
process
discuss, vividly the communication models
Identify barriers to communication
be abreast with ways of communicating
effectively
be able to apply communication process or
model in analyzing communication
problems in Extension
appreciate the concept of behavioural
change communication and its application
in extension
 UNIT ONE: COMMUNICATION
PROCESS
The Meaning of Communication
Communication is the basis for all human
interactions and provides the means for
individual or group of people to relate
reciprocally and hence enable groups to
function.
When we communicate, it is because we have
an idea or a feeling that we want to share with
someone.
In order to share it
 someone has to receive what we are
communicating.
Effective communication exists between two
people
when the receiver interprets the sender’s
message in the same way the sender
intended.
The process of communication is fundamental
to extension training of influencing desire
behaviour acquisition and change.
Thus learning processes, the dissemination of
innovations or social reengineering and
change cannot be explained without
reference to communication.
 
 Communication Defined

There is growing disagreement even among

communication experts themselves as to which
among human behaviours count as acts of
communication.
Communication may either be verbal (use of
spoken word or sound) or non-verbal (use of
gestures, facial expressions, etc.).
According to Rogers et al. (1981), communication is
a process that involves the exchange of ideas
between two or more individuals in an attempt to
arrive at convergence in meaning.
 James (1990) opined that communication is a
process involving the passing of messages from one
person to another through the use of symbols
which all parties in the communication process
understand.
Communication can be defined as:
1. The means of sending messages
2. The transmission of information
3. That situation in which a source transmits a message to a
receiver with conscious intent to affect the latter’s
behaviours.
4. The verbal interchange of thoughts or ideas
5. The process that links discontinuous parts of the living
world together
6. A process that makes common to two or several what
was the monopoly of one or some.
 
 Communication Process:
Communication process starts with a
sender/source;
 who has a message for a receiver. Two or more
people are always involved in communication.
The sender has the responsibility for the message.
The sender's message travels to the receiver
through one or more channels chosen by the
sender.
The channels may be verbal or non-verbal.
They may involve only one of the senses,
hearing for example, or they may involve all
five of the senses: hearing, sight, touch,
smell, and taste.
Non-verbal communication, popularly
referred to as body language, relies primarily
on seeing rather than hearing.
 Elements of commendation
process
• The process of communication between two
people includes 7 basic elements:
– The intentions, ideas, feelings of the sender and the
way he/she decides to behave, all of which lead to
his/her sending a message that carries some content.
– The sender encoding his/her message by translating
his/her ideas, feelings, emotions, and intentions into a
message appropriate for sending.
– Sending the message to the receiver.
– The channel through which the message is translated.
– The receiver decoding the message by taking it and
interpreting its meaning. His/her interpretation
depends on how well the receiver understands the
content of the message and the intentions of the
sender.
– The receiver responding internally to this
interpretation of the message.
– The amount of noise that interferes with
communication.
 UNIT TWO: MODELS OF
COMMUNICATION
In general, a model is a systematic representation of
an object or event in idealized and abstract form.
The building blocks from which all models of
communication are drawn.
• 1. Source/sender
• 2. Message
• 3. Channel/medium
• 4. Receiver
• 5. Effect, and
• 6. Feedback
Models of communication provide a theoretical &
conceptual framework depicting & explaining the
process of communication.
Various models have tried to depict & explain
communication process.
Some of them include :
The Linear Mode;
 interactional model
 transactional model among others.