2.3.2.3. Channel
Gamble and Gamble (2002) say that the channel is the medium
with and through which we send and receive messages. The channel may be verbal
and nonverbal. Therefore, we are multichannel communicators because all our
senses can be used as channels of message transmission.
Likewise, Payne (2001, p.8) defines the `channel' as «The
mean used to transmit the message from sender to receiver». DeSantis
(1999, p.19) adds that «The channel is the route by which messages flow
between sources and receivers. The usual communication channels are light waves
and sound waves, which allow us to see and hear one another».
Similarly to Gamble and Gamble who say that the channel may be
verbal and non-verbal, DeSantis (op cit.) says that smelling, touching and
tasting are also channels through which we receive messages.
2.3.2.4. Noise
Gamble and Gamble (2002, p.9) say that «The noise is
anything that interferes with or distorts one's ability to send or receive
messages». This is can be the case for a language learner when he misses
proper language to use for a given situation.
The noise, as an essential of communication, is what Payne
(2001) calls «interference». He says that interference is anything
which blocks or hinders the reception of the message or the feedback. He adds
that the interference can possibly arise from the context, the sender, the
receiver or the channel.
Similarly to Payne, DeSantis (1999) refers to the noise as
interference. That is anything that changes the meaning of an intended message.
He adds that the interference can be external and physical and/or internal and
psychological. Therefore, DeSantis continues saying that «A person who
speaks in aloud voice to get someone's attention may create both physical and
psychological interference. If the receiver perceives the loudness as anger,
the loud voice creates not only a distraction from attending but also a
distortion of interpretation». (op cit., p.19)
2.3.2.5. Context
According to Gamble and Gamble (2002) the context is referred
to as the setting in which communication takes place. This setting may be
natural or so unnatural that it can affect communicators, causing them to alter
their posture, their manner of speaking, attire or means of interacting.
Payne (2001), talking about context, says that all
communication occurs in a specific time and space. He adds that there are
social and psychological aspects of context. Therefore, this has as synonyms,
situation, environment, occasion or setting.
For DeSantis (1999, p.21), «The context is the broad
circumstances or situation in which communication occurs.(...) The number of
people, the type of communication, and the situation in which the communication
occurs all lend themselves to the context. Each context affects what we say and
how we say it».
2.3.2.6. Feedback
For Gamble and Gamble (2002), the feedback is referred to as
information returned to a message source. This can be positive feedback when it
is concerned with a behaviour enhancing a response, or negative feedback when
it is concerned with a response that extinguishes behaviour in progress. The
feedback can also be internal or external.
Payne (2001, p.8) defines feedback as «The response the
sender gets from the receiver». Similarly, DeSantis (1999) says that the
feedback is the response to a message that a receiver sends back to a source.
This enables a sender to determine whether the message has been received and
understood as intended.
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