In this lesson, students will examine accepted definitions of communication and create their own; analyze an accepted model of the communication process and apply it to authentic situations. They will use critical thinking skills to understand the elements of the communication process in social and professional situations.
Definition of Communication
Divide the students into groups of four. Each group should have a secretary, who will record the group's work on paper; a presenter, who will present the group's written work to the class; a time-keeper, who makes sure the group has finished all work on time; and an artist, who will do the group's artwork.
Put the following definitions of "communication" on the board or in a PowerPoint:
- Communication is the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of symbols. (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
- Communication takes place when one mind so acts upon its environment that another mind is influenced, and in that other mind an experience occurs which is like the experience in the first mind, and is caused in part by that experience. (English literary critic, I.A. Richards)
- Any act by which one person gives to or receives from person information about that person's needs, desires, perceptions, knowledge, or affective states. Communication may be intentional or unintentional, may involve conventional or unconventional signals, may take linguistic or nonlinguistic forms, and may occur through spoken or other modes.(National Joint Committee for the Communicative Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities)
Ask the students to think about what aspects of each definition seems most useful, accurate and meaningful. Give each group five minutes to combine elements of these definitions and compose and illustrate a definition of their own. Allow each group two minutes to present its definition.
The Communication Process Model
Distribute copies of the Shannon-Weaver model of communication to each group. Explain that this model is based on the work of two mathematicians, Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver. Start by talking about the source of communication. That source is usually a person with ideas and feelings. That person must use a device to encode those ideas and feelings into a form that other people can understand. That form becomes the message. The person who receives the message often uses a device to decode the message in order to understand it.
Ask the students to imagine a 10-year-old girl at home alone at lunchtime. Her stomach starts to rumble and she begins to feel weak. She looks in the pantry but can’t figure out what to do next. She believes her mother can help. Therefore, she picks up the telephone and calls her mother at work. “I’m hungry, Mom,” she says.
Call on a student to identify Person One (the girl). Call on other students to identify the encoder (the telephone), the message ("I’m hungry"), the decoder (the telephone) and Person Two (her mother).
Applying Elements of the Communication Process Model (Guided Practice)
Print out several classified ads from a website, a local newspaper or a similar type of publication. Give one to each group and have members list and illustrate the components of the communication process. Ask each member to describe the function of one element of the model as part of the presentation.
For example, an ad for a lost puppy will include Person One (the person who lost the puppy). The encoder may be a telephone or other technology used to receive the initial message. The message is the text (such as "Puppy lost between Elm and Main Streets. Please call.”) The decoder is the technology used to transmit the message, and Person Two is anyone who knows where the puppy is.
Applying Elements of the Communication Process Model (Independent Practice)
Distribute copies of a print ad or present a television ad to the whole class. For independent practice at home or in class, ask each student to list each element of the communication process as it applies to the ad.
For example, the company who sponsors the ad is Person One, and the target audience is Person Two. The encoder and decoder would depend on the medium. The message would be the slogan, dialogue or graphic image.
The Importance of Understanding the Communication Process Model
This lesson plan helps students see that communication is a process that involves both senders and receivers. Studying this model also increases awareness that the medium can affect the communication process. This may help students make better communication choices in their personal, social and professional lives.
For additional practice, teachers may ask students to create an ad of their own. Students should be required to list each element of the communication process and describe its function.
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