LESSON 2

EXPLAINING
THE NATURE OF
COMMUNICATION
INTRODUCING THE MODELS OF
COMMUNICATION
The best way to understand
communication is to see it
graphically. Many authors and
researchers have come up with
their own models based on what
they want to emphasize as being
an important component of
communication.
FOUR MODELS OF COMMUNICATION THAT
WILL INTRODUCE THE ELEMENTS OF
COMMUNICATION

a.

The first and earliest model is that of

Aristotle, who was a teacher of Rhetoric and
even put up an academy to produce good
speakers.
 The most important part
in Aristotle’s model is the
Setting where the listener
is situated although he
focused on the Speaker
and the Message. It is the
Setting that dictates the
Message.
 3 SETTINGS IN ARISTOTLE’S TIME
1. Legal Setting – the courts where ordinary
people defended themselves (there were no
lawyers then)
2. Deliberative Setting – the political
assemblies, the highest of which was the
Roman Senate
3. Ceremonial Setting – the celebrations
held when they won a war, when they lost a
leader or had a new one, and when they
welcomed a visiting leader from another
kingdom or country.
b.

The second model is that of Claude Shannon

and Warren Weaver (1948) which gave us the
concept of “noise”. This is often called the
Telephone Model because it is based on the
experience of having the message interfered with
by “noise” from the telephone switchboard back
in the 1940s.
 Shannon and Weaver
assert that the Message sent
by the Source (Speaker) is
not necessarily the Message
received by the Destination
(Listener), due to the
intervention of “noise” or
anything that hampers the
communication.
c.

The third model is that of Wilbur Schramm, who

is considered the Father of Mass Communication.
Schramm model explains why communication
breakdown occurs. He asserts that communication
can take place if and only if there is an overlap
between the Field of Experience of the Speaker and
the Field of Experience of the Listener.
 WHAT IS FIELD OF
EXPERIENCE?
It is everything that makes a
person unique – everything
he/she has ever learned,
watched, seen, heard, read, and
studied. It is everything a person
has ever experienced or not,
done or not.
d.

The fourth model is that of Eugene White

(1960), who tells us that communication is circular
and continuous, without a beginning or end. This is
why he made a cyclical model. He also points out
that although we can assume that communication
begins with thinking, communication can actually
be observed from any point in the circle.
 Eugene White contributed the
concept of Feedback to the field of
communication. Feedback is the
perception by the Speaker about
the Response of the Listener. The
Speaker can only receive Feedback
if the Speaker is monitoring the
Listener. The Speaker will know
what the Listener’s Response is
only if he/she is paying attention.
The four models will
be the guide in
understanding the
elements of
communication that
will be discussed in
the next lesson.
 GROUP ACTIVITY:
Group 1 – Aristotle’s Model (tableau)
Group 2 – Shannon-Weaver’s Model (skit)
Group 3 – Schramm’s Model (skit)
Group 4 – White’s Model (movie/teleserye scene)

Criteria:
Group cooperation – 3
Relevance to the topic – 3
Communication activity – 4
Voice quality/Speech – 5
Over-all Performance – 5
TOTAL -------------------------- 20