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4 Key Models and Theories of Communication

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Mastering communication models and theories can help communicators and scholars gain ideas on how messages are constructed, disseminated and received and how various factors influence the effectiveness of communication.




Communication is a dynamic process that involves diverse components and relationships. Over the years, scholars have developed various models that serve as a lens through which scholars can examine and understand how the communication process unfolds.

Furthermore, each communication model provides a visual representation that facilitates understanding of the relationships between communicators, messages, channels and audiences. Mastering communication models and theories can help communicators and scholars gain ideas on how messages are constructed, disseminated and received and how various factors influence the effectiveness of communication.

The Key Communication Models and Theories are the following:

. Linear Model - is a one-way type of communication. This views communication as the transmission of message from sender to receiver, like in radio or television, with no immediate feedback. The Shannon-Weaver is the classical example of the linear model.

Developed in 1948 by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver, the Shannon-Weaver model of communication is a technical one-way process of transmitting information. This model breaks communication into 5 key components: sender, encoder, channel, decoder, receiver, with noise that may potentially disrupt or distort message transmission.

. Interactive Model - is a two-way and cyclical communication process, where participants are both senders and receivers, making use of feedback to create shared meanings. Interactive model also focuses on context, physical environment or psychological state, providing back and forth exchanges of messages.

The interactive model of communication's important components are: sender/receiver, feedback, context, field of experience which involves beliefs, practices and experiences that may affect how messages are interpreted. Interactive models of communication are text messaging, phone calls, emails and social media interactions where feedback is immediate.

. Transactional Model - is a simultaneous type of communication. This considers communication as a dynamic, simultaneous and continuous process where both participants of the communication process are senders and receivers in real time.

Unlike the linear model of communication, it underscores that shared meaning is created through a series of verbal and non verbal feedback within diverse contexts, environmental, relational, cultural and even physical. Examples of transactional type of communication are face to face communication, video calls and professional reunions.

- Berlo’s SMCR model - is a type of communication that concentrates on the source, message, channel and receiver, pointing out that individual characteristics may affect the result of the communication process.

Developed by David Berlo in 1960, it is an effective framework that breaks down communication into 4 important components, source, message, channel and receiver, underscoring that the result of the communication process depends largely on the characteristics of the source and the receiver, characteristics that may include attitudes, skills, knowledge, social and cultural background.

Berlo’s SMCR model believes that the meaning of a message is created only when it is encoded (put into words) by the source and decoded (interpreted) by the receiver. And all these encoding and decoding processes are filtered by the characteristics of the communication participants.

As a conclusion, communication is a process that involves different components and relationships. Communication models are powerful frameworks that facilitate understanding of relationships between communicators, channels, messages and audiences. Appropriate knowledge of at least the key communication models is imperative to have a better understanding of how messages are created, transmitted and received, and how diverse factors can influence the success and failure of human communication. 



Web References: 

Communication Theory. (n.d.). Shannon and Weaver Model of Communication. Communication Theory.
.https://www.communicationtheory.org/shannon-and-weaver-model-of-communication/

Journalism University. (n.d.). Berlo’s Model of Communication: 4 Pillars of Effective Exchange. Journalism University. 
https://journalism.university/introduction-to-journalism-and-mass-communication/berlos-model-communication-four-pillars-effective-exchange/


Pressbooks. (n.d.). Transaction Model of Communication. Pressbooks. 

Sarkar, S. (2024, December 2). Understanding Communication Theory: Models, Theories, Settings and Examples. Prezent. 
https://www.prezent.ai/blog/communication-theory#:~:text=The%20linear%20model%2C%20often%20called,%2C%20relationship%2C%20and%20individual%20experiences.












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