THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION IN ENGLISH

INTRODUCTION- COMMUNICATION

Communication is a skill acquired by an individual to exchange message, fact, ideas, opinions, and even express emotions. This skill is acquired either without any conscious effort or by conscious effort through education. When the skill is acquired without conscious effort (like a child acquiring its mother tongued, it creates a certain profiles for the individual that is why some people appear aggressive, some other timid and a few other sly and cunning.

According to Davito (1973) defined communication as the act by one or more person, of sending and receiving messages distorted by noise within the opportunity for feedback.

James, et al (1995) asserts that communication also sees as an instrument of social interaction.

Sandra and Richard Weaver (1989) defined communication as a power in which people share information, ideas and feeling.

 

THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION

WHAT IS THEORY

Theory is more accurately defined as a set of interrelated concepts that present a systematic view of phenomenon  by specifying relation for the purpose of explaining and predicting the phenomenon; Tucker Weaver  and Berryman Fluk, in research in speech communication, 1981, Thing Kerlinger, Foundation of Behavioural Research 1973.

A Theory is set of concepts and relationship statement that enables one to understand, describe, explain, evaluate, predict, and control things (Phenomenon) theory – maker are puzzle – solvers. Humans naturally invent theories.

ATTRIBUTION THEORY

Attribution theory explains how and why ordinary people explain the things as they do. Everybody tries to make sense in this social world, people try to find the cause and effects even if they’re in none.

Attribution theory is the study which come under this social psychology, through this theory Heider explains the causes of individual behaviour and events.

The attribution theory was introduced by Heider but later it was developed by various psychologist and based on this theory various models were attempted to explain the behavioural processes of attribution.

According to Heider, how a person understands the event and how the events is related to the person’s thinking process and their behaviour. Attribution theory tends to explain certain basic questions of individuals “How other do and what they do”. A person interprets with themselves “why other do something which may cause attribute of one’s behaviour. Most of our attributions are driven by our emotional and motivational impulses. Fritz Heider classified the attribution theory into two types as:

1)   Internal Attribution

2)   External Explanatory Attribution

 

1. INTERNAL ATTRIBUTION

When a person is motivating for a certain action and questioned about it, the person need to explain the reason for the question or action. In internal attribution, a person always to show him as much as positive. Internal attribution are driven by motives and emotional attitudes of an individual.

Example

Jim scored the highest mark in class. He believes that he got marks because he worked hard and because he has the ability to score good marks. He attributes the causes in the factor which are internal. And thus his confidence level increases and he tends to score higher next time also.

 

2. EXTERNAL ATTRIBUTION

A person want to understand the world through events which happens around him and a person seeks reason for that particular event by using external event.

 

Example

Henry scored the lowest mark and he believed that it because of the pen. He even believes that the person who checked his answer sheet was not a good mood. He attributed the causes of this failure in external factors.

TYPE OF MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

1.  LINEAR MODEL: The linear model views communication as a one – way or linear process in which the speaker speak and the listener listens.

 

2.  Interactive Model: The main flaw in the linear model is that it depicts communication as one-way process where speakers only speaks and never listen. It also implies that listeners listen and never speaks or send message.

 

3.  Transactional Model: The main drawback in the interactive model is that it does not indicate that communicator can both send and receive messages simultaneously. This model also fail to show that communication is a dynamic process which changes over time.

 

4.  Shannon and Weaver Model of Communication: In 1948 Shannon was an American Mathematician Electronic Engineer and Weaver was an American Scientist both of them join together to write an article in “Bell System Technical Journal” called “A Mathematical Theory of Communication”.

The Model is specially designed to develop the effective communication between Sender and Receiver. Also they find factors which affecting the communication process called “Noise”. At first the model was developed to improve the technical communication later its widely applied in the field of communication.

The model deal with  various concept like information source, transmitter, noise, channel, message, receiver, information destination, encode and decode.

SENDER: The originator of message or the information source selects desire message.

 

ENCODER: The transmitter which convert the message into a signal.

Note: The sender’s message converted into signal like waves or binary data which is compactable to transmit the message through cables or satellites./

 

DECODER: The reception place of the signal which converts signals into message. A reverse process of encode.

 

Note: The receiver convert this Binary data or waves into message which is comfortable and understandable for receiver. Otherwise Receiver can’t Receive the exact message and it will affect the effective communication between the sender and receiver.

Receiver: The destination of the message from the sender

Note: Base on the decoded message the receiver gives their feed back to the sender, if the message distracted by noise it will affect the communication flow between sender and receiver.

 CONCLUSION

Fritz Heider thinking influenced generation of psychologists. He is one of the most cited social scientists of all time. There are several theories and model developed based on the attribution theory. This theory employs various methods for the measurement and categorization of attributions. Even if it was developed by Heider the main framework of the theory was modeled by Bernard Weiner and Harold Kelly.

 

REFERENCES

Aliyu, J. (2006) Upgrading English Achievement. Wusasa – Zaria; Tamaza

Banjo L. Bisong J. (1985). Developmental English. Ibadan Spectrum Books.

Shannon, E, E. & Weaver, W. (1949). The Mathematical Theory of Communication , Urbana Illinois: University of Illinois Press.

Berlo, D.K. (1960). The Process of Communication. New York, New York: Holt Rinehart & Winston.