ORAL COMMUNICATION

QUARTER 1 MODULE 1 STUDY NOTES

FUNCTIONS, NATURE AND PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION

I. NATURE OF COMMUNICATION
Communication is a two-way process of connecting to both living and non-living things. It is also a means of sharing and exchanging
messages, information, ideas, and feelings for mutual understanding (Gregoriom, J.C., 2015).
Communication connects people and the world they live in. It is through communication that people are able to express their thoughts
and ideas or convey information and messages through word of mouth, gestures and signals, signs, and others. People have always
communicated with one another in various forms.
Let us further define communication using the two key terms stated above, “MESSAGE” and “UNDERSTAND”.
1. COMMUNICATION IS A MESSAGE UNDERSTOOD.
Unless a message is understood, we cannot say that communication has taken place. Let us send a message to someone and say, “where
came first”. The person who gets this message would wonder what it means, for the arrangement of the words does not make any sense.
The message is sent but the receiver does not understand it. Therefore, for communication to take place, we have to consider two
conditions. First, there should be a clear message.
Second, the message must be understood by the receiver for whom it is meant.

2. COMMUNICATION IS SOCIAL INTERACTION THROUGH MESSAGES.

Think of someone telling, “It is very warm today.” In this case, we are communicating what ‘we experience’. The weather being warm
is what we feel or experience physically. In this scenario, we are sharing our feeling or experience with someone else. Thus, we may
say that “communication is a sharing of experience.” In our society, we all interact with messages. Without interactions, a society cannot
survive. Social interaction is always through messages.

II. PROCESS OF COMMUNICATION

We are sometimes misunderstood due to the level of speech we use during conversation - by the volume of our voice or the rate of our
speech when we talk with our friends or acquaintances. Sometimes, we are misunderstood due to the non- verbal actions that we project
or incorporate in our speech during face-to-face communication. Also, when we send text or chat messages, we are misinterpreted
because those messages are often brief and devoid of emotion.

Feedback
As seen in the illustration,
1. communication begins when the speaker or source of communication responds to a stimulus and decides to encode or transmit it in
the form of a message (or a “code”) through a particular channel or means of communication.
2. The receiver decodes or interprets the message sent and responds accordingly based on his interpretation of the message.
3. This response comes in the form of a feedback sent to the original source of communication (sender).
4. As the communication transaction continues, the sender and receiver may exchange roles until understanding is achieved. Barriers
to communication sometimes block the transmission of the message thereby creating misunderstanding.
Through this process, we are able to understand that communication is systematic. In the advent of technology, the exchange of
information and messages in society has advanced and has been a subject of many studies.

III. FUNCTIONS OF COMMUNICATION

Why do we communicate?
Since communication is certain in our lives, it comes naturally and unknowingly. Communication serves many purposes. The
following are some of the many reasons why we communicate:
 ORAL COMMUNICATION
QUARTER 1 MODULE 2 STUDY NOTES
COMMUNICATION MODELS
Communication plays a crucial role in human life. It facilitates the sending and receiving of knowledge and information. It allows people
to develop various kinds of social relationships. It provides an avenue for people to express their ideas, thoughts, feelings, and insights.
Without it, societies will be restrained from developing and progressing. With all the advancements in technology, communication
nowadays has changed dramatically, adapting to the 21st century way of life. Beginning from the ancient times when messages were
written on tablets, clays and barks of trees or conveyed by the heralds or emissaries for proclamations to an entire territory,
communication has drastically evolved to fastest means of sending messages through electronic gadgets and computers.
Video calling or conferences is another high technological innovation where distance is not quite a problem anymore to foster mutual
understanding. The representations below will help you understand the basic elements of communication. See how the elements operate
and interact as communication progresses.

I. MODELS OF COMMUNICATION PROCESS

A. LINEAR COMMUNICATION
Have you talked to somebody but did not get any reaction from him/her at all? Have you experienced sending a message without
receiving any feedback? This is linear communication.
Linear communication is one-way, focusing on the transmission of a message to a receiver who never responds or has no way of
responding to the information conveyed. For instance, a competition organizer is presenting the contest mechanics. The message is final
and cannot be contended at all. It could be the president giving his State of the Nation Address on the national television or a student
who reads a poem or tells a story in front of an audience in a school program. Other examples include sending a notification or automated
message that does not require a reply, reading a blog, or even the traditional way of sending a message such as a telegram.

Shannon-Weaver Model
An example of linear type of communication is the Shannon-Weaver model (1949). It is also considered as the mother of all
communication models. It has a one-way process starting from a source (producer of message); passing through a channel (signals
adapted for transmission) which may at times be interrupted by noise (barrier) to a receiver (decoder of message from the signal). The
process stops after the message has arrived at its destination.

B. INTERACTIVE
When was the last time someone surprised you? How did you react? Who was the last person whom you praised for a job well-done?
What response did you get? What is the significance of getting a response or reaction from the person to whom you addressed your
statement?
Interactive approach is a two-way communication process where a response is given after a message is sent. The recipient of the action
intentionally or unintentionally gives feedback associated with the information received.
Let us extract Criselda and her mother’s dialogue from the story.
Criselda: Nanay, I can smell the aroma of your best delicacy, adobo.
Aling Terie: Yeah, I know. It is the favorite of the family so adobo is what I prepared today.
Criselda: I can’t wait to taste it!
Aling Terie’s response to Criselda’s statement proves that she decodes the intended meaning of the idea passed on to her.
That is what we call feedback. See, feedback makes a difference. If the mother did not respond to the statement of her daughter, the latter
would not know whether her mother understands what she said. The exchange of ideas or information verifies that both parties understand
the message. Take a look at the next model.
Schramm (1954) visualized the process of communication as an exchange of thoughts and ideas. Feedback was added to the Shannon-
Weaver Model. The recipient of the message decodes it and creates a feedback based on his understanding of the information sent and
vice versa.
The figure identifies the six elements of communication which are the sender, the message sent, the receiver and the feedback provided
by the receiver and sent back as a response to the sender and the processes of encoding and decoding.
Remember, information may become useless if it is not conveyed properly to others. Thus, the processes of encoding and decoding are
the key components of this model, including feedback.
Encoding is when an idea or information is translated into words and expressed to others.
Decoding is when this idea or information is understood and interpreted by the receiver.
Hence, the receiver must be able to send feedback to the sender in order to complete the process. Otherwise, the communication
transaction fails.
Schramm’s model, which is a two-way communication model, revolves around these principles. The process goes on starting from the
sender (source) who encodes the message transmitted to the receiver which he interprets; decodes a message (feedback) to be sent back
to the source who in turn, decodes and interprets the information sent.

C.TRANSACTIONAL MODEL
Communication is dynamic. It has a complex nature. It takes place among individuals at any given time with any given subject. However,
there are tendencies that barriers would interfere which may create a sudden impact and change in the processing of information.
In a classroom setting, for example, you are being grouped into five or six members for an activity. Your task is to give an opinion or
reaction to the closure of the biggest television network in the Philippines. Each of you expresses your thoughts regarding the matter.
While having that activity, you also heard the JHS graders having their dance practice for the upcoming event. That noise did not interrupt
your discussion as you give your own views. This situation is an example of a transactional approach. The communicator (source)
encodes the message and transmits it through a channel. The message transmitted may be affected by the noise (barrier). The receiver
(recipient of the message) decodes, processes, and filters the message for understanding and is now ready to give his own feedback to
the sender.

The transactional model shows a circular process of interaction between the persons involved in the communication, with each one
actively participating and sharing ideas with one another. They are the communicators actively exchanging information and reaction.
Feedback is given freely and deliberately to one another or to all members participating in the communication transaction. The sender
and the receiver may simultaneously exchange roles as communicators. Since communication is deemed dynamic and progressive, the
topic may also change from time to time.
In this concept, the noise or barrier to communication is also taken into consideration for it may directly or indirectly affect the smooth
flow of communication. In the event that the message was not clearly conveyed due to the barrier, the communication continues in order
to clarify the intended meaning of the sender. When the transmission is cut along the way due to the barrier, the communicators work
collaboratively to understand each other. Now, the sender becomes a receiver of feedback (the response from the receiver) and the
receiver also acts as sender providing information in response to the message conveyed to him. In this way, the communication is made
more effective and complete.