Communication in the broad sense of the word is communication, the transfer of information from one person to another. The same concept in an organizational context is considered as a process (communication is the communication of people: the exchange of thoughts, ideas, information, feelings, intentions) and an object (it is a combination of technical means that ensure the transfer of information).
The functions of communication are information-communicative, emotional-communicative and regulatory-communicative. However, researchers define them differently. After reading this article, you will learn what the essence, objectives and role of communication are. We will also talk about the functions of this process.
The communication process and its role
A communication process is the exchange of information between two or more individuals. Its purpose is to provide understanding and transfer of information that is subject to exchange.
We transmit and receive information in order to:
- inform other people about something (for example, a press release or teletext);
- warn others (screaming or traffic signs);
- explain something (textbook);
- entertain (feature film or joke);
- to convince someone (calling for something poster);
- Describe something (an oral story or a documentary).
These are the goals of communication. In the framework of one process, most often, there are several. For example, a film can inform and entertain, and warn, and describe, and explain.
Meeting human needs in the communication process
The main reason we all need communication is the social needs of an individual or group. A person enters the process of communication in order to satisfy his urgent needs. Consequently, the above communication goals serve to satisfy the basic human needs. Among them are the following:
- survival;
- personal needs;
- collaboration with others;
- maintaining relationships;
- persuading someone to think or act in a certain way;
- association of organizations and societies into a single whole;
- exercise of power over people (in particular, propaganda);
- manifestation of imagination and creative nature;
- awareness of the world and our experience in it (what we think about ourselves, what we believe in, how we relate to others, what is true).
Human needs groups
Human needs are usually divided into the following groups:
- social;
- personal
- economic;
- creative.
In order to understand and interpret the theory of communication, which is scientific knowledge of the various laws of interaction, we are primarily interested in the social and personal needs of the individual.
Communication components
If mutual understanding is not achieved, we can say that communication did not take place. It follows that in this process both sides play an active role. The communication process is the interaction of a combination of a number of components. Briefly consider the main ones.
Communicator
A communicator, or sender, is a person who generates an idea or collects information and then transfers it. The sender is not just a source of information. He also acts as an encoder for messages that he transmits, and as a decoder of information received by him through feedback channels. In addition, the communicator is the person responsible for the formation of the target audience and the creation or selection of a key message.
Encoder
An encoding device, or encoding, is a type of information conversion by a communicator. There is a written and verbal coding.
Oral is that the transmission of information is carried out through verbal or non-verbal methods (tone, facial expressions, gestures, rather than ordinary words, very often acquire importance). An example of verbal coding is the translation of a message for deaf people. In this case, ordinary words are encoded with special characters that are transmitted to the addressee in a non-verbal way.
The written encoding is of the following types:
- electronic, when letters are converted to characters (0 and 1);
- special when letters are converted to sounds (for example, Morse code).
Channel and decoder
It is necessary to consider such a concept as a channel. This is a means of transmitting information (meetings, written transmission, oral transmission, telephone conversations, reports, memos, computer networks, e-mail, etc.).
A decoding device (decoding) is a type of message conversion by the receiver. These are the same tools and methods that are used for encoding, only in this case they are used in the opposite direction.
Barriers and Interferences
The transmission of information can be impeded by barriers and interference. There are the following types: age, social, terminological, racial, linguistic, economic, political, the addressee's ability to perceive information, noise, stereotypes, technical failures, etc.
Addressee, communication result, feedback
The addressee (recipient) is the person to whom the message is intended, which interprets it. The result of communication is the receipt and interpretation of this message. And finally, feedback is the recipient’s response to the message.
Communication functions
Since the time of Aristotle, thinkers have noted that the process of communication can manifest itself in different ways. Its essence depends on the internal and external environmental conditions, the declared and true goals of the parties, the number of participants, strategies and means of execution, etc. Communication functions should be determined, taking into account the influence of numerous factors on it. In a real messaging process, even in a single communicative act, several functions are sometimes combined. In this case, one or two of them are determining, basic. You can also talk about the functions of this communication as a whole, that is, about its role in the life and work of society and man.
As a rule, communication functions are distinguished only for the purpose of scientific-applied or research analysis. For example, it is necessary for consulting activities. An interaction model can be built by determining which of the functions is primary and which are secondary.
Communication models
To date, many models of communication have accumulated in educational and specialized literature. Most of them are described by researchers in the 20th century. However, Aristotle also proposed the first of the models known to us. Based on it, you can determine the tasks, functions of communication and its significance. In his works “Rhetoric” and “Poetics”, the thinker presented the following model: “speaker-speech-listener”. He pointed out that this classical model is universal, since it fully reflects the act of communication in both written and oral forms.
Nevertheless, in the first half of the 20th century, when such media as cinema, radio, television began to develop, the classical model was somewhat changed. In the 21st century, in connection with the development of computer technology, economic integration and political globalization, this model requires even more in-depth interpretation. Once again, researchers are faced with the task of determining the basic functions of mass communication.
Jacobson Model
According to R.O. To Jacobson, the addressee and the addressee take part in the functional model of a speech event or communication. A message is sent from the first to the second. This message is written using code. In Jacobson’s model, the context is related to the content of the message and the information it conveys. The concept of contact refers to the regulatory aspect of communication.
Jacobson Communication Features
In accordance with the Jacobson model, the following six functions can be distinguished:
- expressive (emotional), associated with the addressee, expressing his attitude to the content of his speech;
- Conative, reflecting the orientation towards the addressee, expressing the impact on the interlocutor;
- Referential (cognitive, denotative), focused on the context and is a reference to the semantic object that is presented in the message;
- poetic (rhetorical), aimed mainly at communication, making everyday speech of man a model of verbal art;
- metalanguage, which is associated with the code of the transmitted message, its understanding by the interlocutor, the correct interpretation;
- fatal, which is aimed at contact, on the continuous maintenance of this contact, and not on the novelty of the message or on its transmission.
The transfer of information affects the actions and actions of a person, his behavior, the state of his inner world and his organization. Some communication functions indicate this. The specificity of the process we are interested in is that with its help the mental worlds of people interact with each other.
However, are only people able to enter this process? As we noted above, the concept of communication can be considered in several ways. Its functions described above are inherent in human communication. However, this does not mean that communication can be carried out only in the world of people. We invite you to get acquainted with its diversity.
Variety of communication
So, this process is noted not only in human society. Communication is also characteristic of animals (bee language, capercaillie grouse, birds mating) and for mechanisms, that is, objects created by humans (sewers, pipelines, telephone and telegraph signals, transport). A special kind of communication can be observed even in inanimate nature. For example, it is carried out between some plants.
In particular, the African acacia, throwing special enzyme compounds into the surrounding space, informs other acacias about the invasion of a giraffe that eats tree shoots. The leaves of the trees that received this information quickly acquire qualities, from the point of view of the animal, characteristic of inedible food. The process described above is inherent in the basic functions of communication and its features. This means that it can be characterized by the term that interests us.
The very concept, role, functions of communication, we briefly described. The material presented above reveals the main aspects of this topic.