2.3. Definition and Views on Communication
2.3.1. Definition
In our everyday life humans, like most of other divine
creatures, need the others to solve various problems encountered. Therefore,
there is always a need of communication between them. Here, several scholars
have much to say about communication.
Revell (1979, p.1) defines communication as «An
exchange, between people, of knowledge, of information, of ideas, of opinions,
of feelings». Similarly, for Richards et al (1985, p.48)
«Communication is an exchange of information, ideas, etc, between two or
more persons». Then, Gamble and Gamble (2002, p.6) say,
«Communication is the deliberate or accidental transfer of meaning.»
They also present the following model to illustrate the communication
process.
Figure 1: Gamble and Gamble's
model of communication process
Channel(s)
Channel(s)
Message
Message
Receive/Send
Send/ Receive
Context
Noise Noise
Noise
Source: Gamble and Gamble (2002, p.14)
2.3.2. Essential Components of Communication
A number of authors tried to provide a classification of
essential components of communication. Their classifications are similar for
some components and a bit different for the others. Those writers are mainly
Gamble and Gamble (2002), DeSantis (1999) and Payne (2001). According to Gamble
and Gamble (2002), there are seven essentials of communication namely: people,
message, channels, noise, context, feedback, and effect.
2.3.2.1. People
Gamble and Gamble (2002) say that the human communication
involves people, and those people are referred to as senders, persons who
encode messages and receivers who decode messages during every communication
event.
According to DeSantis (1999), the communication is made
between two sides, the source and the receiver. For him the source, which is
the creator of the message, performs four roles: determining the meaning of
what is to be communicated, encoding the meaning into the message, sending the
message, and perceiving and reacting to a listener's response to the message.
However, the receiver decodes the messages by analysing and interpreting them.
Then, the receiver has to store and recall the message, and finally, to respond
to the source, message, channel, environment, and noise.
Payne (2001) has also classified this component of
communication as composed of two elements namely, the sender that he considers
as the initiators of the communication and the receiver which he considers as
the target of the communication.
2.3.2.2. Message
According to Gamble and Gamble (2002), the message is referred
to as the content of a communication act. That is what you talk about, the
words you use, the sounds you make, the way you gesture, and your facial
expression during any communication act.
For Payne (2001, p.8), «The message is whatever the
sender communicates to the receiver». DeSantis (1999, p.18) adds that
«A message is a stimulus produced by the source. It comprises, words,
grammar, organization of thoughts, physical appearance, body movement, aspects
of the person's personality and self-concept, and the personal style»
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