Understanding Aural Communication Essentials

Good day everyone. Welcome to Aural Communication and Context. For our first lesson, we will be discussing the nature and elements of communication. For today's lesson, the first thing that we have to uncover, of course, is the definition of communication. We will also be discussing the nature of communication as well as the different process and elements involved. Before we begin, let us take a look at these pictures. What can you see? What are the people doing? You would notice that these people are talking to one another, to another person, or with one's self. This process is often referred to as communication. So how do we really define communication? What is communication all about? The first thing that you have to know about communication is its root word. It actually came from the Latin word communis, which means working together. So basically, whenever you communicate, they believe that you are working with someone else. You are working with other people. In fact, McCornack in 2014 described it as a process of sharing and conveying messages or information from one person to another within and across channels, context, media, and cultures. So basically, you are giving something to other people and in return, you are getting something from them as well. So how are we going to correct this? characterize or describe communication? What are its features? What are its characteristics? Number one, we can describe communication as a dynamic process. So there are two keywords in here, dynamic and process. Let's focus first on the first keyword, which is dynamic. When we say dynamic, it's not static. It is always changing. So the way that we have viewed communication right now or the way that we are viewing communication right now, it might change in the future. Same way that the others from before, from a long, long time ago, viewed communication and described communication was different from how we are describing it right now. So the process itself is ever-changing. It doesn't remain the same all throughout time or in different situations. It might be different. as well. Communication can also be described as a process that involves communicators. So basically, we refer to people involved in communication or people who are communicating with one another as communicators. Now communicators, they could be two types. So we have our speaker and we have our receiver or listener. So we will be talking about it later on. So for example, if we are involved in communication, it's either we play the speaker role or the receiver or the listener role. Communication can also be described as a process that is systemic. So when we say systemic, it follows a particular system. And if it follows a particular system, therefore it follows a step-by-step process. Another key feature of communication is that it is something that is irreversible. And when we say irreversible, you cannot take back whatever has been said, whatever has been relayed. Once it has reached its intended receiver or its intended listener, then you cannot take that back anymore. That is also the reason why we have the saying, be careful with what you say or be careful. with how you use your words because you will never know who is listening or who is receiving those messages. And remember that once you have said it out loud, you cannot take it back anymore. So that is also the reason why we have that particular saying. Another thing that you have to learn about communication is that it is described as a process that is also proactive or even the communicators themselves are considered to be. proactive. So how do we mean or what do we mean by that? When we say proactive, you engage in communication with a goal in mind. You already know what's going to happen. You are already anticipating responses, for example, from your listeners or from the receivers of your messages. It is something wherein people who are involved in that process are already aware of what might happen. So the way that... they are involved or the way that they engage in that particular act or process, they are already anticipating the outcomes of it. So they are aware of how to navigate during the communication process. We can also describe communication as a symbolic interaction. We engage in communication because we want to do something or we want to produce something. There is always an outcome to it. Take, for example, when you talk to your crush, when you initiate a conversation with someone that you like, you engage in that particular process or you engage in communication with them because you want to get to know them better. You want to develop a relationship with them. So it's something that is symbolic in a way. It means that you are interested. It means that you want to get to know them better without... even explicitly saying what you actually really intend to do. That's what makes communication a very symbolic interaction. However, one thing that you have to remember when it comes to communication is that whenever you communicate, the meaning that you are relaying to your listeners or to the receivers of your message may be individually construed. So what do we mean by that? When we say individually construed, different people might make different meanings out of what you have just said. So take for example, as I lecture to you guys, what I'm saying, how another people or how another student is understanding it might be different from how another student is understanding it as well. So it might be different from each and every one of my... listeners. That is why it is very important that we practice effective communication for us to be able to, of course, relay our intended meaning, our intentions. Because people might take it differently. Especially, for example, if you are talking to people of different cultural backgrounds, okay? Or just in general, when you are talking to people of different ages, different socioeconomic status. So the meaning of what you are saying might be taken differently by those people as well. Now let's move on to the next part of our discussion. What are the different elements of communication? When we say elements, these are the aspects that are present or these are the things that are involved in the process of communication. The first element in communication which is actually very important is the speaker. This is one of the communicators, all right? So this is one of the people involved in the communication process. And when we say speaker, this is where the message is coming from, all right? So he or she, the speaker, is the one relaying the information, giving the information. Or he or she is the source of the idea, the concept, and so on and so forth. The next element is what we call the message. Message is very simple. It is the idea, the concept, or anything, the emotion. It could be an emotion that you want to be relayed. So take, for example, if you are the speaker, you are responsible for the message of the communication process. Alright? So what is your idea? What is the information that you want to present? That could be your message. Another element involved in the process of communication is encoding. It is actually a sub-process. So when we say encoding, this occurs with the speaker or speakers. Before he or she could even deliver the message, this process happens. in the mind of the speaker. So what happens in that particular sub-process? What happens is that the speaker is analyzing, formulating the message, analyzing how is he or she going to deliver that message, thinking about... how or what is the most effective way of sending that particular message to their intended recipients. So that occurs, for example, when you are talking to your crush. Before you could even relay, say to your crush, for example, that you like him or her, you think about it first. Now that thinking process is what we call encoding. Since you want your... crush, to understand your intended meaning, you have to really think carefully about how you're going to say if you like him or her or how you're going to say that you like him or her, all right? So that process that's happening in your mind whenever you want to say something, that is what we call encoding. The next element in communication is what we refer to as the channel. Some other books, some other textbooks might read it. refer to it as the medium, okay? The medium of communication. But basically, when we say channel, it is the way that we deliver the message. How did you deliver it in the first place? Did you write it? Did you express it using words? Did you express it using gestures and so on and so forth? Did you use multimedia presentation? Did you use a microphone? phone, there are many channels, there are many ways on how you can express yourself, how you can deliver a message, and how you can sustain the process of communication. Another sub-process that happens whenever we engage in the process of communication is decoding. However, this time, this does not occur in the mind of the speaker but rather it occurs in the mind of your intended receiver or intended listener. So when we say decoding, it is the process by which your listeners or your intended receivers, recipients of the message, are trying to process what they are or what they have listened to, what they have heard. For example, whenever you say to your crush or if you said to your crush that you like him or her, your crush will then try to figure out what exactly is it that you mean. Do you like him or her as a friend? Do you like him or her as something romantic? Or in other forms of liking someone. So that person is thinking about what you are saying. They're processing it in their mind. So what did he mean by it? Or what did she mean by it? So same thing goes in every process of communication. we engage in or in every conversation that we engage in. Of course, now that we have talked about the coding, the another element that you have to remember and very important as well because it's one of the communicators in the process of communication is the receiver. So the receiver will be the one receiving your message. They are the recipients of your message. They are listeners, okay? They will be the one listening to you as you speak. speak as you deliver your message. Next, of course, we have our feedback. The feedback is basically what you get after or what you get rather from your listeners or from your recipients after they have decoded the conversation itself or the message itself, all right? So once they have decoded the message that you have sent to them, it's gonna create or trigger something. in them that might give them or might allow them to give feedback so when we say feedback it's their response to what you have just said okay so take for example when you said that you like your crush or when you yeah when you said that you like your crush and then he responded i'm sorry okay meaning that the way that he decoded it all right the way that he decoded it Maybe he doesn't like you. So he said sorry because he doesn't want to hurt you. He doesn't want to hurt your feelings. So he said sorry. And that sorry is the feedback that you have received from your... receiver. Another important element that you have to always consider in terms of engaging in conversations or engaging in the process of communication is the context. When we say context, it doesn't simply refer to the place where the conversation or where the communication process took place. It could also mean the situation itself, the time, the different factors. involved for example the background of your recipients okay the context basically the surrounding okay where the conversation or the process of communication took place it is very important because one person might process it differently in different contexts the last element in the process of communication is the barrier We cannot help it that whenever we engage in conversation or whenever we talk to someone, we involve ourselves in the process of communication. There are instances wherein something is stopping us or something is disrupting, okay? Disrupting the process of communication. Now, those disruptions are what we refer to as barriers, which we will also be discussing in the coming... lessons. However, for now, let's just define it as something that hinders, that interrupts, that disrupts the communication process. Moving on, now let us discuss the process of communication. How does the communication process happen? What occurs during the process of communication? The process of communication always begins with the sender or what we call the source of the message okay so the sender will be going through the process of encoding first meaning he or she will think about first how to deliver the message he will be considering all the different factors that might affect that might hinder that might disrupt or might just influence the process of communication how am i going to deliver this message how am i going to say it I'm sure that whenever you converse with someone, you think about those things as well. Now, once it has been decided, once the sender has already decided on the message, on how he or she is going to deliver the message, now what's going to happen is that the sender has to transmit that message, deliver that message. And part of encoding is thinking of how is he or she going to do it. Okay, is it gonna be out loud? Is he gonna call? Is he gonna text? Is he gonna just post a message on Facebook? Or is he gonna ask to meet up? And so on and so forth. So there are many ways in which you can deliver a message. After transmission, of course, it's gonna go through decoding. Now the decoding process happens with the receiver. Once the receiver have received the message that you have encoded and then transmitted as a sender, the receiver will now have to decode, figure out what was it that you just said. What was it that he or she had just heard? All right? So he will try to figure out the meaning. What's your intention? Okay. What could it be? What does it mean? All right? So... the receiver will now think of those things. Once the receiver have thought of it, more often than not, the receiver will give you feedback. So when we say feedback, it's their response to what they have just heard, what they have just gotten from you as a sender. Now the feedback will once again go back to you, of course. It could be in any form. It could be in the form of a reply. a verbal reply, a text message, okay, and so on and so forth. There are also many ways on providing feedback. Like what I have just mentioned earlier, feedback could also be in many different forms. It could be in the form of a verbal reply. It could be in the form of a nod, a gesture, a body gesture, a body language, all right? So it could be in many different forms. Same as how you also delivered your message. But more often than not, it tells the sender. Feedback is very essential because it tells the sender that the receiver has received the message. And more often than not, when feedback is provided, there is an understanding among the involved communicators. If you're going to look at it right now, it seems as if the communication process is such an easy busy task. Okay, it's something that could be done so easily. However, there are of course instances like what I have mentioned earlier, wherein the communication process is disrupted, or something is stopping the sender from delivering the message, or sometimes there is something blocking the way between the sender and the receiver. Sometimes the receiver was not able to receive the message. even if the sender was able to transmit it. So the reasons for this is because we have this thing called noise or other textbooks will also refer to this as barriers. So when we say noise, these are just barriers that interrupt, disrupt, hinder the communication process. These could also be things that could influence, affect the process of communication. And more often than not, it affects it in a bad way. So take for example, if a teacher is lecturing in class, the teacher already knows how to teach. Therefore, it's already easy for the students to understand the message or the information that is being delivered by the teacher. However, suddenly there was a noise outside the school. teacher knows how to deliver what he or she is saying, knows how to deliver the information because of the noise, because of that particular barrier, okay? The receiver or the students, in this case, the students were not able to understand what the teacher was saying because it was too loud. So instances like that could disrupt, could hinder, could influence and affect the communication process heavily. To understand the communication process better, let us take a look at this example. Here are my sources and references for this particular lesson. See you all again!

We will also be discussing the nature of communication as well as the different process and elements involved. Before we begin, let us take a look at these pictures. What can you see?

What are the people doing? You would notice that these people are talking to one another, to another person, or with one's self. This process is often referred to as communication. So how do we really define communication?

What is communication all about? The first thing that you have to know about communication is its root word. It actually came from the Latin word communis, which means working together. So basically, whenever you communicate, they believe that you are working with someone else. You are working with other people.

In fact, McCornack in 2014 described it as a process of sharing and conveying messages or information from one person to another within and across channels, context, media, and cultures. So basically, you are giving something to other people and in return, you are getting something from them as well. So how are we going to correct this? characterize or describe communication?

What are its features? What are its characteristics? Number one, we can describe communication as a dynamic process. So there are two keywords in here, dynamic and process.

Let's focus first on the first keyword, which is dynamic. When we say dynamic, it's not static. It is always changing.

So the way that we have viewed communication right now or the way that we are viewing communication right now, it might change in the future. Same way that the others from before, from a long, long time ago, viewed communication and described communication was different from how we are describing it right now. So the process itself is ever-changing. It doesn't remain the same all throughout time or in different situations.

It might be different. as well. Communication can also be described as a process that involves communicators. So basically, we refer to people involved in communication or people who are communicating with one another as communicators.

Now communicators, they could be two types. So we have our speaker and we have our receiver or listener. So we will be talking about it later on.

So for example, if we are involved in communication, it's either we play the speaker role or the receiver or the listener role. Communication can also be described as a process that is systemic. So when we say systemic, it follows a particular system.

And if it follows a particular system, therefore it follows a step-by-step process. Another key feature of communication is that it is something that is irreversible. And when we say irreversible, you cannot take back whatever has been said, whatever has been relayed. Once it has reached its intended receiver or its intended listener, then you cannot take that back anymore.

That is also the reason why we have the saying, be careful with what you say or be careful. with how you use your words because you will never know who is listening or who is receiving those messages. And remember that once you have said it out loud, you cannot take it back anymore.

So that is also the reason why we have that particular saying. Another thing that you have to learn about communication is that it is described as a process that is also proactive or even the communicators themselves are considered to be. proactive. So how do we mean or what do we mean by that?

When we say proactive, you engage in communication with a goal in mind. You already know what's going to happen. You are already anticipating responses, for example, from your listeners or from the receivers of your messages.

It is something wherein people who are involved in that process are already aware of what might happen. So the way that... they are involved or the way that they engage in that particular act or process, they are already anticipating the outcomes of it.

So they are aware of how to navigate during the communication process. We can also describe communication as a symbolic interaction. We engage in communication because we want to do something or we want to produce something.

There is always an outcome to it. Take, for example, when you talk to your crush, when you initiate a conversation with someone that you like, you engage in that particular process or you engage in communication with them because you want to get to know them better. You want to develop a relationship with them.

So it's something that is symbolic in a way. It means that you are interested. It means that you want to get to know them better without... even explicitly saying what you actually really intend to do. That's what makes communication a very symbolic interaction.

However, one thing that you have to remember when it comes to communication is that whenever you communicate, the meaning that you are relaying to your listeners or to the receivers of your message may be individually construed. So what do we mean by that? When we say individually construed, different people might make different meanings out of what you have just said. So take for example, as I lecture to you guys, what I'm saying, how another people or how another student is understanding it might be different from how another student is understanding it as well.

So it might be different from each and every one of my... listeners. That is why it is very important that we practice effective communication for us to be able to, of course, relay our intended meaning, our intentions.

Because people might take it differently. Especially, for example, if you are talking to people of different cultural backgrounds, okay? Or just in general, when you are talking to people of different ages, different socioeconomic status.

So the meaning of what you are saying might be taken differently by those people as well. Now let's move on to the next part of our discussion. What are the different elements of communication? When we say elements, these are the aspects that are present or these are the things that are involved in the process of communication. The first element in communication which is actually very important is the speaker.

This is one of the communicators, all right? So this is one of the people involved in the communication process. And when we say speaker, this is where the message is coming from, all right?

So he or she, the speaker, is the one relaying the information, giving the information. Or he or she is the source of the idea, the concept, and so on and so forth. The next element is what we call the message. Message is very simple. It is the idea, the concept, or anything, the emotion.

It could be an emotion that you want to be relayed. So take, for example, if you are the speaker, you are responsible for the message of the communication process. Alright? So what is your idea?

What is the information that you want to present? That could be your message. Another element involved in the process of communication is encoding.

It is actually a sub-process. So when we say encoding, this occurs with the speaker or speakers. Before he or she could even deliver the message, this process happens.

in the mind of the speaker. So what happens in that particular sub-process? What happens is that the speaker is analyzing, formulating the message, analyzing how is he or she going to deliver that message, thinking about...

how or what is the most effective way of sending that particular message to their intended recipients. So that occurs, for example, when you are talking to your crush. Before you could even relay, say to your crush, for example, that you like him or her, you think about it first. Now that thinking process is what we call encoding.

Since you want your... crush, to understand your intended meaning, you have to really think carefully about how you're going to say if you like him or her or how you're going to say that you like him or her, all right? So that process that's happening in your mind whenever you want to say something, that is what we call encoding. The next element in communication is what we refer to as the channel.

Some other books, some other textbooks might read it. refer to it as the medium, okay? The medium of communication.

But basically, when we say channel, it is the way that we deliver the message. How did you deliver it in the first place? Did you write it?

Did you express it using words? Did you express it using gestures and so on and so forth? Did you use multimedia presentation?

Did you use a microphone? phone, there are many channels, there are many ways on how you can express yourself, how you can deliver a message, and how you can sustain the process of communication. Another sub-process that happens whenever we engage in the process of communication is decoding.

However, this time, this does not occur in the mind of the speaker but rather it occurs in the mind of your intended receiver or intended listener. So when we say decoding, it is the process by which your listeners or your intended receivers, recipients of the message, are trying to process what they are or what they have listened to, what they have heard. For example, whenever you say to your crush or if you said to your crush that you like him or her, your crush will then try to figure out what exactly is it that you mean. Do you like him or her as a friend? Do you like him or her as something romantic?

Or in other forms of liking someone. So that person is thinking about what you are saying. They're processing it in their mind.

So what did he mean by it? Or what did she mean by it? So same thing goes in every process of communication. we engage in or in every conversation that we engage in.

Of course, now that we have talked about the coding, the another element that you have to remember and very important as well because it's one of the communicators in the process of communication is the receiver. So the receiver will be the one receiving your message. They are the recipients of your message.

They are listeners, okay? They will be the one listening to you as you speak. speak as you deliver your message.

Next, of course, we have our feedback. The feedback is basically what you get after or what you get rather from your listeners or from your recipients after they have decoded the conversation itself or the message itself, all right? So once they have decoded the message that you have sent to them, it's gonna create or trigger something. in them that might give them or might allow them to give feedback so when we say feedback it's their response to what you have just said okay so take for example when you said that you like your crush or when you yeah when you said that you like your crush and then he responded i'm sorry okay meaning that the way that he decoded it all right the way that he decoded it Maybe he doesn't like you. So he said sorry because he doesn't want to hurt you.

He doesn't want to hurt your feelings. So he said sorry. And that sorry is the feedback that you have received from your... receiver. Another important element that you have to always consider in terms of engaging in conversations or engaging in the process of communication is the context.

When we say context, it doesn't simply refer to the place where the conversation or where the communication process took place. It could also mean the situation itself, the time, the different factors. involved for example the background of your recipients okay the context basically the surrounding okay where the conversation or the process of communication took place it is very important because one person might process it differently in different contexts the last element in the process of communication is the barrier We cannot help it that whenever we engage in conversation or whenever we talk to someone, we involve ourselves in the process of communication. There are instances wherein something is stopping us or something is disrupting, okay?

Disrupting the process of communication. Now, those disruptions are what we refer to as barriers, which we will also be discussing in the coming... lessons. However, for now, let's just define it as something that hinders, that interrupts, that disrupts the communication process.

Moving on, now let us discuss the process of communication. How does the communication process happen? What occurs during the process of communication?

The process of communication always begins with the sender or what we call the source of the message okay so the sender will be going through the process of encoding first meaning he or she will think about first how to deliver the message he will be considering all the different factors that might affect that might hinder that might disrupt or might just influence the process of communication how am i going to deliver this message how am i going to say it I'm sure that whenever you converse with someone, you think about those things as well. Now, once it has been decided, once the sender has already decided on the message, on how he or she is going to deliver the message, now what's going to happen is that the sender has to transmit that message, deliver that message. And part of encoding is thinking of how is he or she going to do it. Okay, is it gonna be out loud?

Is he gonna call? Is he gonna text? Is he gonna just post a message on Facebook? Or is he gonna ask to meet up? And so on and so forth.

So there are many ways in which you can deliver a message. After transmission, of course, it's gonna go through decoding. Now the decoding process happens with the receiver. Once the receiver have received the message that you have encoded and then transmitted as a sender, the receiver will now have to decode, figure out what was it that you just said.

What was it that he or she had just heard? All right? So he will try to figure out the meaning.

What's your intention? Okay. What could it be? What does it mean?

All right? So... the receiver will now think of those things. Once the receiver have thought of it, more often than not, the receiver will give you feedback. So when we say feedback, it's their response to what they have just heard, what they have just gotten from you as a sender.

Now the feedback will once again go back to you, of course. It could be in any form. It could be in the form of a reply.

a verbal reply, a text message, okay, and so on and so forth. There are also many ways on providing feedback. Like what I have just mentioned earlier, feedback could also be in many different forms.

It could be in the form of a verbal reply. It could be in the form of a nod, a gesture, a body gesture, a body language, all right? So it could be in many different forms.

Same as how you also delivered your message. But more often than not, it tells the sender. Feedback is very essential because it tells the sender that the receiver has received the message.

And more often than not, when feedback is provided, there is an understanding among the involved communicators. If you're going to look at it right now, it seems as if the communication process is such an easy busy task. Okay, it's something that could be done so easily.

However, there are of course instances like what I have mentioned earlier, wherein the communication process is disrupted, or something is stopping the sender from delivering the message, or sometimes there is something blocking the way between the sender and the receiver. Sometimes the receiver was not able to receive the message. even if the sender was able to transmit it. So the reasons for this is because we have this thing called noise or other textbooks will also refer to this as barriers.

So when we say noise, these are just barriers that interrupt, disrupt, hinder the communication process. These could also be things that could influence, affect the process of communication. And more often than not, it affects it in a bad way. So take for example, if a teacher is lecturing in class, the teacher already knows how to teach.

Therefore, it's already easy for the students to understand the message or the information that is being delivered by the teacher. However, suddenly there was a noise outside the school. teacher knows how to deliver what he or she is saying, knows how to deliver the information because of the noise, because of that particular barrier, okay? The receiver or the students, in this case, the students were not able to understand what the teacher was saying because it was too loud. So instances like that could disrupt, could hinder, could influence and affect the communication process heavily.

To understand the communication process better, let us take a look at this example. Here are my sources and references for this particular lesson. See you all again!

Transcript for:Understanding Aural Communication Essentials

Transcript for:
Understanding Aural Communication Essentials