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COMM110- Purposive Communication

COMM110- Purposive Communication
Objectives:

At the end of this modules, you are expected to:

• explain communication process and principles;

• identify different levels of communication;
• apply principles and ethics of communication.

NATURE OF THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

As we all know, human communication is vital for survival and it is

one thing in life that we cannot avoid to do.

Communication is:
✓ comes from the Latin word ‘communis’, which means ‘common’. To
be common means
“to
come together” or “to commune”- “to share something in
common”.

✓ is the process of exchanging ideas, thoughts, feelings and emotions

from one person to another

✓ with the use of symbols which may be verbal and/or non-verbal

and aims for understanding.

Black and Bryant (1922) define communication as:

✓ the process by which individuals share meaning.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

 ✓ the process by which an individual (the communicator) transmits
stimuli (usually verbal symbols) to modify the behavior of other
individuals (communicatee).
✓ occurring whenever the information is passed from one place to
another. Not simply the verbal, explicit, and intentional
transmission of message; it includes all those processes by which
people influence one another.

What then is PURPOSIVE COMMUNICATION?

Purposive communication

• is an intentional communication that happens within the

bounds of specific contexts.
• is a communication applied in specific setting,
environment, scene, social relations and culture.

Contexts affects the process of sending and receiving of messages;

semantics or meanings, choice of channels, words and methods of
delivery.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

COMMUNICATION AS A PROCESS AND ITS FOUR ATTRIBUTES

ELEMENTS OF HUMAN COMMUNICATION

Berlo’s Model of Communication (1961)

COMM110- Purposive Communication

1. Source

• refers to a person or a group of persons “with a purpose, a reason

for engaging in communication” (Berlo, 1961).
• The source initiates the communication process.
• Also referred to as the encoder, sender, information, source or
communicator.

2. Receiver

• refers to the person or group of persons at the other end of the

communication process.
• He or she is the target of the communication (Berlo, 1961).
• The receiver listens when the source talks; the receiver reads what
the source writes.

3. Message

• A source must have something to transmit.

• His or her purpose is expressed in the form of a message.
• The message may be an idea, purpose or intention that has been
translated into a code or a systematic set of symbols (Berlo, 1961).

A message has three factors:

1. Message code – any group of symbols that can be

structured in a way that is meaningful to some person. Thus,
language (sounds, letter and words) is a code because it
contains elements that are arranged in meaningful orders.

2. Message content – is the material in the message selected

by the source to express his/her purpose. Ex: research report

COMM110- Purposive Communication

 (included writers’ assertion’s, information presented,
conclusions drawn.

3. Message treatment – decisions that the communication

source makes in selecting and arranging both code and
content. Ex: A journalist writes an article
(what information to include, the angle of the story, the words
he will use.)

4. Channel

• modes of encoding and decoding the messages (e.g. speaking)

• message vehicles (sound waves)
• vehicle carriers (air)
• determined by: availability, money, source preferences, which
channels are received by most people at the lower cost, which
channels have the most impact; which channels are adaptable to
the purpose of the source; which channels are most adaptable to
the content of the message.

5. Effect

• The outcome of a communication or the response of the

receiver to the message of the source.
• Sometimes it adheres to the desired outcome of the source,
sometimes the effect is not the desired outcome.

• Overt Effect – obvious or visible; responses include non-verbal

cues (nodding of head,
signing of a contract).
• Covert Effect – non-observable but sometimes they are the
most important.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

6. Feedback

• When an individual communicates with himself, the messages he

encodes are fed back into his system by his decoder (Berlo, 1960).
• A communication response is feedback to both source and receiver.
• Feedback could take form of non-verbal or verbal cues.
LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION

1. Intrapersonal Communication

✓ communication with oneself.

2. Interpersonal Communication

✓ often defined as face-to-face communication

✓ person-to-person communication – communication between
one person, a group, or a room full of people at one time but
still on a person-to person basis.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

 3. Mass Communication

✓ A communication that employs technological devices (radio,

television, films) to disseminate symbolic content to large,
heterogeneous, and widely dispersed audiences (Janowitz,
1968 and McQuail, 1981).
✓ Communicating with large group of people at one time
through the use of social media.

MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

\
1. Laswell’s Model

• Harold D. Laswell, an American political scientist.

• Limitations: omits the elements of feedback; the model took for

granted that the communication is mainly a persuasive process.
No feedback

2. Shannon and Weavers “Mathematical” Model

• Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver were engineers working

for Bell Telephone Company.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

 • the model answered the question

•one-way linear model

•introduced the element of noise – in technical aspect, noise is
anything that disrupts the transmission of a signal; in human
communication context, noise is anything that disrupts the
smooth flow of communication.
3. Newcomb’s Model

• Introduces the role of communication

in a society or social relationship.

• Communication maintains equilibrium

within a social 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.

4. Osgood and Schramm’s

Model
• Wilbur Schramm and
Charles Osgood
• Compares their model to
Shannon and Weaver’s

COMM110- Purposive Communication

 (focus on channel)
• Schramm and Osgood model focuses on the actors in the
communication to be equal in performing the tasks of
encoding, interpreting, and decoding messages.

5. Dance’s Helical Model

• Portrays the communication process as

moving.
• Shows the dynamism of the
communication process • May be used
to illustrate information gaps and the
thesis that knowledge tends to create
• more knowledge.

FORMS OF COMMUNICATION

Verbal communication

• is the transmission of ideas, opinions, feeling emotion or

attitude through the use of oral language.

• Examples of verbal communication are meetings, letters,

reports, emails, notes, memos, group discussions,
interviews, counseling, face-to-face conversations,
telephone calls, radio, etc.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

Non-verbal communication

• Refers to the sending of messages to another person utilizing

method or means other than spoken language. These methods
include the following:

a. Visual

1. Posture is the position and movement of the body. The way

we stand or carry ourselves speaks so much of our
personality

2. Gestures and Body Movements. When a student raise his

hand in a lecture class, he may want to recite, ask a
question or make a request.

3. Facial expression. It is the arrangement of facial muscles to

communicate emotional states or reactions to messages.

4. Eye Movements. It is said that “the eyes are the windows of

the soul.” Our eyes can communicate love, hatred, anger,
joy, fear or any other type of emotion. Eye movement can
be a form of feedback and therefore play an important role
in the communication process.

5. Proxemics. According to Edward T. Hall, proxemics stands

for the way people communicate by their use of space in
relation to other people.

6. Geographic Location. The position of the interactants

during a communication event shows the kind of
relationship existing between the speaker and listener.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

 7. Time. A person’s observation of time reveals a lot his
personality. Punctuality and tardiness talk louder than
physical characteristics.

8. Artifacts. These refers to things or objects we put on our

body, in our homes or in our personal possessions. The
clothes we wear, the jewelry we put on, the material
objects we stores in our bags, the decorations we buy for
our hoes and places of work speak so much of ourselves.

9. Physical characteristics. The color of one’s skin, the size and

shape of one’s body or the color of one’s hair conveys a
message.

b. Auditory

1. Silence. There is a saying that “silence speaks louder than

words.” A person’s silence may mean approval or
disapproval, acceptance or non-acceptance, understanding
or lack of it.

2. Paralanguage. This is the technical name given to the non-

verbal features in speech such as intonation, pitch, louden,
and intensity.

3. Tactile. This refers to communication through touch, a

method of conveying feelings without the use of words.

4. Olfactory. This form of communication refers to smell. The

cologne or perfume we wear can tell the kind of person we
are to whoever e come in contact with in different
situations.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

COMM110- Purposive Communication
5. Gustatory. This refers to communication though taste. The
choices we make in terms of the food and drink we take for
our everyday nourishment indicate the type of individual
we are or want to become.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

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COMM110- Purposive Communication

7C’S OF COMMUNICATION

1. Clear

There are several stages to clarity.

Firstly, it’s important to be clear about the purpose of the message you’re
delivering. The recipient should be made aware of why they are receiving
the message and what you’re trying to achieve by delivering it. If there are
multiple goals, each should be laid out separately.

Secondly, it’s essential that the content of the communication is itself

clear. You should avoid jargon, use simple language, use simple structures
and focus on the core points of your message.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

2. Correct

It’s essential that both the factual information and the language and
grammar you use are correct. If your audience spots errors in either, they
will be distracted and your credibility will be greatly reduced. This will
reduce the effectiveness of your communication.

Some communications simply must be correct, clear and concise.

3. Complete

Completeness is often one of the most important of the 7 Cs of

communication.

When creating a message, it’s important to give the recipient all of the
information they need to follow your line of reasoning and to reach the
same conclusions you have. This level of detail will be different in different
situations, and you should adjust your communications accordingly.

In addition, you should make things as easy as possible for the recipient.
For example, if you are issuing a “call to action”, provide explicit guidance
on that action. Increasingly it’s common to include things like hyperlinks in
written communications or to attach FAQs, both of which help audiences
access a complete set of information while also ensuring that core
communications focus on core messages.

4. Concrete

When shaping your communication you must ensure that you are specific
and that the logic and messages that you’re using fit together, build on
each other and support each other. Your arguments should be based on
solid facts and opinions from credible sources and you should share
irrefutable data to support your argument.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

It may be important to help bring the solid nature of what you’ve created
to life for your audience through examples that show the relevance of
your messages for them as individuals.

5. Concise

When communicating messages of this nature it’s important to stick to the

point and keep your messages short and simple. Don’t use 10 words if you
can use five. Don’t repeat your messages.

The more you say, the more risk there is of confusion. Avoid that risk by
focusing solely on the key points you need to deliver.

6. Courteous

People are not always courteous.

You can increase the effectiveness of your communications by being polite

and showing your audience that you respect them. Your messages should
be friendly, professional, considerate, respectful, open and honest.

To help ensure you are courteous, you should always use some empathy
and consider your messages from the point of view of the audience.

7. Coherent

The last of the 7 Cs of communication is coherence. If your

communications are not coherent they will not be effective. To help make
sure your communications are coherent you should have a logical flow and
your style, tone and language should be consistent throughout.

In addition to making sure that each communication you issue is coherent

within itself, you should also ensure consistency of message when
delivering multiple communications.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

ETHICS OF COMMUNICATION

Ethics

• A system of moral principles

• Deals with the value relating to human conduct, with respect to the
rightness and wrongness of actions and to the goodness and
badness of motives and ends of such action.

Communication Ethics

• The principle governing the communication, the right and wrong

aspects of it, the moral-immoral dimensions relevant to
Interpersonal Communication are called the ethics of Interpersonal
communication.
• Maintaining the correct balance between speaking and listening.
• Degree of critism and praise

Fundamentals of Ethical Communication

• Responsible thinking
• Decision making
• Development of communication and communities

Principles of Ethical Communication

1. Advocate truthfulness, accuracy, honesty, and reason as essential

to the integrity of communication.
2. Endorse freedom of expression, diversity of perspective, and
tolerance of dissent to achieve the informed and responsible
decision making fundamental to a civil society.

COMM110- Purposive Communication

 3. Strive to understand and respect other communicators before
evaluating and responding to their messages.
4. Promote access to communication resources and opportunities as
necessary to fulfill human potential and contribute to the well-
being of families, communities, and society.
5. Promote communication climates of caring and mutual
understanding that respect the unique needs and characteristics of
individual communicators.
6. Condemn communication that degrades individuals and humanity
through distortion, intimidation, coercion, and violence, and
through the expression of intolerance and hatred.
7. Committed to the courageous expression of personal convictions in
pursuit of fairness and justice.
8. Advocate sharing information, opinions, and feelings when facing
significant choices while also respecting privacy and confidentiality.
9. Accept responsibility for the short- and long-term consequences of
our own communication and expect the same of others.

MODULE 1 INSIGHT

Congratulations for finishing Module 1! Let’s assess your learnings

base on the objectives of this module. Write your take-aways from
this module (maximum of 1 paragraph). (Grading rubric:
50% Reflective, 25% Coherence, 25% Conciseness)

COMM110- Purposive Communication

ACTIVITY/WORKSHEET 1: ESSAY

Direction: (Grading rubric: 50% Reflective, 25% Coherence, 25%

Conciseness)

COMM110- Purposive Communication

1. Write an essay on “how the pandemic changes our way of
communication.”
2. Minimum of 2 paragraphs and maximum of 5 paragraphs.
3. You can write it in this module or in google classroom.

COMM110- Purposive Communication