Communication – Concept, Characteristics & Process

Communication – Theoretical Concepts

Today we will be working on theoretical concepts of communication. Theoretical concept is important for NTA UGC NET Aspirants who are preparing to be Professionals in Education Industry. Although it has not much use for regular peoples, but you know, knowing is better than not knowing, which increases our ability to understand. So lets get started……

The word communication is derived from the Latin word ‘Communis’ or ‘Communicare’ which means to share.

According to Oxford Dictionary – Communication is the activity or process of expressing ideas and feelings or giving people information.

According to Sydney J. Harris – The two words ‘information’ and ‘communication’ are often used interchangeably, but they signify quite different things. Information is given out, but Communication is getting through.

In simple words – communication is the process by which information is exchanged between different people by symbols, signs or body language. It is exchange of facts, opinions, ideas or feelings. When the message is received and understood by receiver, which the sender wants to convey, it is called effective communication.

There is a difference b/w Speaking & Communication, Speaking is a one way process in which speaker provides information, While Communication is a two way process which includes feedback.

Communication is an interdisciplinary science, which means knowledge derived from other sciences is used in communication. For example – Psychology, Anthropology, Sociology etc.

Characteristics of Communication

  1. It is a two way process, which involves sender & receiver.
  2. It is an ongoing process.
  3. It is to create mutual understanding.
  4. It is goal oriented.
  5. It can be Formal, Informal, Verbal or Non-Verbal.
  6. It also consists feelings, behaviour & body language with facts, ideas & opinions.

Communication has following elements…..

  1. It involves at least two persons or more.
  2. It has a message – Message includes facts, ideas, opinions, information or emotions, which are transmitted to the receiver.
  3. Medium or Channel – It is a method by which message is sent to the receiver. It can be Non-Verbal, oral or written.
  4. Feedback – It is the reply or response of receiver to sender that he/she (receiver) has understood what he/she (sender) wanted to convey.

Process of Communication

It involves…

  1. Sender – This is the first step of communication, in this step sender encodes the message through selection and formulates the information to be conveyed.
  2. Message – Message is an idea, opinion or information which the sender wants to convey in form of suitable words and symbols.
  3. Channel or Medium – The third step of communication is channel or medium or method by which the message is going to be delivered.
  4. Receiver – This is the fourth step of communication in which the message is received by other person (receiver). The receiver decodes the message to understand the meaning of it.
  5. Feedback – Feedback is the fifth and last step of communication in which receiver responds to the received message.