ALAGAPPA UNIVERSITY

INTRODUCTION TO VISUAL COMMUNICATION

UNIT-II

Understanding Visual Communication: SMCR Model Theoretical concepts and constructs in

Communication models – Lasswell‟s Model - Two-step flow theory – Schramm‟s Circular
Model - Whites Gatekeeper theory – Dance‟s Helical model - Levels of Communication:
Technical, Semantic, and Pragmatic.

UNDERSTANDING VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Visual communication is a way of the communication that people get through the reading or
seeing. As mentioned earlier, it can be anything that shows a message. It expresses an idea
and gives a piece of information with the use of the different signs, gestures, postures, and
anything that can be expressible. It comes with an impressive power to inform and educate a
person or groups. Just imagine while driving on an unknown road, we keep asking the people
about the destination. But if you have a medium of visual communication like a map, you can
simply find out the way without any help. You can say that visual communication can be
anything that expresses the things in a beautiful and understandable manner. People rely
more on the different forms of visual communication than the verbal communication as they
get all the details with the signs and symbols.

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IMPORTANCE OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

Visual communication attracts and maintains the audience’s attention, It is the transmission of
information by the use of a non-verbal medium such as the gestures, the visual aids, the facial
expression, the posters etc, This type of communication targets the recipients eyes only, That
is why it is called the visual communication.

Visual communication involves the use of visual elements such as drawings, the illustrations
and the electronic images to convey the ideas and the information to the audience, The visual
presentation of information and data is having an increasing impact on our practical life. There
are two main types of audio-visual communication, the live communication at the event and
the communication through the published content, The use of audio-visual aids can help you
communicate and you will be more likely to remember the information.

The communication that is done through the sight is called the visual communication, It also
includes the graphic design, the illustration and the animation, the books, the print, the
magazines, the screen-based media, the interactive web design, short film, design for
advertising, promotion, corporate identity and packaging design etc. Forms of Visual
Communication are the expressions, the hand gestures, the props, the models, the text , the
posters, the images, the graphs, the charts, the drawings and the sketches, the projections,
the signs and the symbols and the logos. Functions of communication: information,education
and entertainment.

ADVANTAGES OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

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The visual communication helps in re-enforcing the oral communication & supporting it, if you
are reading about something, You need to add the visual aids such as the graphs, the diagrams
and the charts to the content that you are reading to understand what you are reading and
you can explain the meaning of it very easily.

The pictures and the illustrations have stronger impact than the words, The pictures can be
used to tell the things that the words do not have the strength to tell, The visual
communication makes the person more involved and connected, as the visuals can pull down
most barriers of communication and open up the people.

The visual communications can be understood by the literate and the illiterate people, So, You
will be able to see the things with the eyes unlike the written communication that requires
that you are educated and able to read and write before you can understand it. You do not
need to speak a particular language, The visual communication is the communication where
the ideas and the information can be read or viewed through the means of visual aid, Most of
business organizations are using it to present the information.

The visual communication helps to take a quick decision, So, the management prefers the
visual techniques to communicate with the others, It will be more effective to exchange the
information and you can easily understand the information that is presented visually. The
complex information, the data and the figures can be easily presented very simply on the
graphs, the pictures and the diagrams, The picture is retained in our memory longer than the
words or the quotes and the people will remember the visuals very well.

The visual communication prevents the wastage of time, Written and oral communication
takes much time to exchange the information, But number of receivers can be communicated
at a time through the visual methods. The visual communication is very popular because the
people do not like much speech and long explanation rather than the chart & the diagram, It is
very fast, The graphic of any kind can elicit a stronger reaction from the reader, It is more
efficient way of communicating with less effort & time.

DISADVANTAGES OF VISUAL COMMUNICATION

The visual communication involves the use of poorly designed visual aids that are difficult to
understand or see, If the irrelevant information is presented, the images can be distracting
and impede the main concepts.

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The visual communication can be very expensive to produce it, Unlike some other channels of
communication such as the oral communication, Storing the visual communication can be very
expensive, Only large company or organization can use this technique as drawing the maps,
charts & diagram is very costly.

The visual communication takes more time and effort to produce it, Just imagine the amount
of the time and the effort that goes into the creation of the visual aids such as the graphs, the
maps, the diagrams etc and it is not alone sufficient for exchanging the information. When the
visual presentation of information becomes complex, The receivers cannot understand the
meaning of the presentation, It will be an incomplete method, It will not sufficient to
communicate effectively and clearly but it can be successfully used with the oral
communication.

The visual communication takes much time to communicate, whereas the oral communication
takes no time to exchange the information, It is difficult to understand, it requires a lot of
repetitions in visual communication, Since it uses the gestures, the facial expressions, the eye
contact, touch etc, for communicating with the others, they may not be understandable for
the simple people.

It is difficult to present all the topics or the subject matters, all the information cannot be
displayed through the visual communication, So, the whole concept or idea will not be
understandable, It requires more time and effort to select, compile, and present the
information. You need special knowledge and efficiency to deal with visual communication,
The graphs, charts or table may be in wrong order, The decision taken based on the wrong
information may lead to ineffective output or fruitless result and small amount of information
can be conveyed via the graphics only

MODELS OF COMMUNICATION

Models of communication refer to the conceptual model used to explain the human
communication process. Communication models are systematic representations of the

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process which helps in understanding how communication works can be done. Models show
the process metaphorically and in symbols. They form general perspectives on communication
by breaking communication from complex to simple and keeps the components in order.
Communication models can sometimes encourage traditional thinking and stereotyping but
can also omit some major aspects of human communication. Methods and channels of
communication to be used and the purpose of communication, must be considered before
choosing a specific communication model. Models are used by business companies and other
firms to foster their communication, explore their options and to evaluate their own
situations. It is also used to understand how the receivers will interpret the message.

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION MODELS

There are many models of communication developed by noted theorists of different

disciplines. Among the theorists are: Aristotle, Lasswell, Shannon, Weaver, McLuhan,
MacLean, Rileys, Westley, Gerbner, Rothstein, Schramn, Berlo, Osgood, Johnson, Cherry are
the renowned ones. Some important and well known contributions are highlighted below.
These communication models are mostly categorized into three general types of
communication models. Three general types of communication models are: Linear
Model,Transnational Model, Interactional Model.

ARISTOTLE’S MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

Aristotle, a great philosopher initiative the earliest mass communication model called
“Aristotle’s Model of Communication”. He proposed model before 300 B.C who found the
importance of audience role in communication chain in his communication model. This model
is more focused on public speaking with speaker, speech and the audience. It can be broadly
divided into 5 primary elements:

Today, the Aristotelian model of communication is still widely used and accepted. In this
model of communication, the sender sends the message to the receiver in an attempt to
influence them to respond accordingly. The message has to be very impressive and convincing.
Therefore, the sender must know and understand their audience well. This concept is used in
public speaking, seminars, and lectures.

LASSWELL’S MODEL

Harold Dwight Lasswell (1948), a political scientist and communication theorist, was a member
of the Chicago school of sociology. In his work 'The Structure and Function of Communication
in Society' (1948) he defined communication process as Speaker, Speech, Occasion, Audience
and Effect. The Aristotle’s communication model is a speaker centered model as the speaker
has the most important role in it and is the only one active. It is the speaker’s role to deliver a
speech to the audience. The role of the audience is passive, influenced by the speech. This
makes the communication process one way, from speaker to receiver. The speaker must
organize the speech beforehand, according to the target audience and situation (occasion).
The speech must be prepared so that the audience be persuaded or influenced from the
speech.

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Who (says) What (in) What Channel (to) Whom (with) What Effect

Harold Dwight Lasswell, the American political scientist states that a convenient way to
describe an act of communication is to answer few questions as mentioned above.
Though Lasswell’s model was developed to analyze mass communication, this model is
used for interpersonal communication or group communication to be disseminated
message to various groups in various situations. Lasswell’s model was developed to study
the media propaganda of countries and businesses at that time. Only rich people used to
have communication mediums such as televisions and radios back then. It was made to
show the mass media culture. Lasswell also brought the concept of Effective
Communication Process. He talked about the relation between presentation of facts and
how it generates different effects. The use of the concept of effect makes Lasswell model
non-linear unlike it’s name. It’s because effect can also be taken as feedback.Though,
generally, the component of effect was made to be more about outcome of the message,
the model is applied in different medias and fields despite being developed specifically for
mass communication.
This model is about process of communication and its function to society, According to
Lasswell there are three functions for communication:
1. Surveillance of the environment,
2. Correlation of components of society and
3. Cultural transmission between generation.

Lasswell model suggests the message flow in a multicultural society with multiple
audiences. The flow of message is through various channels, And also this communication
model is similar to Aristotle’s communication model. In this model, the communication
component, Who refers the research area called “Control Analysis”, Says what is refers to

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“Content Analysis”, In which channel is refers to “Media Analysis”, To Whom is refers to
“Audience Analysis” With What Effect is refers to “Effect Analysis”

This model is similar to the communication model proposed by Claude Shannon and Warren
Weaver. Their model is more graphical than Lasswell’s. George Gerbner who is the founder of
the cultivation theory, expanded Lasswell’s model and included the concept of reaction of the
receiver.

For Example: In CNN NEWS – A water leak from Japan’s tsunami-crippled nuclear power
station resulted in about 100 times the permitted level of radioactive material flowing
into the sea, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said on Saturday.
Who – TEPC Operator
What – Radioactive material flowing
into sea Channel – CNN NEWS
(Television medium) Whom – Public
Effect – Alert the people of japan from the radiation.

Advantage of lasswell model:

It is a simple and easy to understand model, since it does not recharge the communication
process and focuses on its most basic elements. It is valid for practically any type of
communication, regardless of the type of medium by which it occurs, who the sender and
receiver are, or what type of message is transmitted. It was the first model to focus on the
effect produced by a certain type of communication and to study its effects.

Disadvantage of lasswell model:

The major criticism of Lasswell’s Model is that it does not include feedback and it ignores the
possibility of noise. Without feedback, a communication process can not be fruitful. Lasswell’s
model is very linear and does not consider barriers in the communication process. The model
is also criticized for being very general and only including very traditional topics. The model is
very simplistic. The model is said to be propaganda based as it is more focused on the
resulting outcome and generally used for media persuasion.

TWO STEP FLOW THEORY

In 1944 Paul Lazarsfeld, (1901-1976) an American Social Researcher, Bernard Berelson

(1912 – 1979) and Hazel Gaudet, introduced The Two-Step Flow of Communication in the
book called “The people’s choice: How the voter make up his their mind in a presidential
campaign. New York: Columbia University Press”. The purpose of the study was focused
on Presidential election Campaign and the people decision-making process towards the
campaign. All three researchers wanted to find out practically whether the mass media
messages affect direct influence in voting decision among the people. Unexpectedly they
found the media messages (like radio and newspapers) are very less influence then an
informal, personal communication on voting behavior. Based on this researched data, The
Two Step Flow Communication Theory of Mass Communication was developed by Katz
and Paul Lazarsfeld.

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The concept of the ‘two-step flow of communication’ suggests that the flow of information
and influence from the mass media to their audiences involves two steps: from the media to
certain individuals (i.e., the opinion leaders) and from them to the public.

Opinion Leader:
Opinion Leader is a leader for a certain group who gives details and information to lesser
active persons in the group. In office, the managing director is an opinion leader and in
public, a political leader is an opinion leader. They interpret the information to their own
group. But one thing the Opinion leader is a leader only for their own group not for all.
In Public, Political leader is an opinion leader. Here few people are not influenced by the
leader and their political views and thought. These people won’t support opinion leaders
and isolated from the population.

Katz and Paul seems “the flow of media messages from radio and print to opinion leaders
and then the leaders leads the messages to lesser active users in the population”. Through
this transformation of message, the leaders may add their opinion on the actual content
which may affects the low active users. In some cases the Opinion leaders are filtering the
actual content ensures the information is needed by the people. Mostly the opinion
leaders are selective and they pass the messages to the group. (Low-end media users:
Poor, Worker and People who are not affordable for getting information directly). The
Opinion leaders have enough voice only in structured social groups not in an isolated
individual in the population.
Example : Mom watching News in ANB Channel they flash the headlines with “Research
reveals some toys leads the children’s aggressive and Violent”. That day Mom calls her
little son and went for shopping and Mom warn her son some toys are not good and make
skin allergy which leads her son to avoid those toys.
• Opinion leader: Mom
• Audience: Her Son
• Added information in actual content: Skin Allergy

Criticism:
- Researchers found substantial evidence that initial mass media information flows directly
to people on the whole and is not relayed by opinion leaders.
- The two-step hypothesis does not adequately describe the flow of learning. Lazarsfeld
and his associates in the 1940 election study were unable to determine the specific flow
of influence.
– Today most of the advertising researches are based on this theory. Especially opinion
leaders role in the society as well as in home to which helps to improve the market
with less efforts.

SHANNON & WEAVER MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

The first major model for communication came in 1949 by Claude Shannon and Warren
Weaver of Bell Laboratories which laid the foundation for the different communication
models.
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The features of this model are:

 A linear process.
 A Simple model (Technical)
 Content/message is easy to identify but hard to solve ( Semantic)
 Source is dominant factor/decision maker ( Impact/Effectiveness)
 Noise, a disturbing factor ( Impact/Effectiveness)

Some suggest that Shannon's model isn't really a model of communication. It is incomplete
and biased, as it models the flow of information through a medium, and is applicable to the
system it maps, a telephone or telegraph, than to most other media. It suggests, for instance,
a "push" model in which sources of information can inflict it on destinations. In the real world
of media, destinations are more typically self -selecting "consumers" of information who have
the ability to select the messages they are interested in, turn off messages that don't interest
them, focus on one message in preference to others, and can choose to simply not pay
attention. Shannon's model depicts transmission from a transmitter to a receiver as the
primary activity of a medium. In the real world of media, messages are frequently stored for
long periods of time and/or modified in some way before they are accessed by the
"destination". The model suggests that communication within a medium is frequently direct
and unidirectional, but in the real world of media, communication is almost never
unidirectional and is often indirect.

BERLO’S SMCR MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication represents the process of communication in its
simplest form. The model consists of four component that are each influenced by different
factors.The acronym SMCR stands for Source, Message, Channel, and Receiver. Berlo’s SMCR
Model of Communication describes the different components that form the basic process of

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communication. Because this communication tool also emphasises the coding and decoding of
the message, it can be used for more efficient communication.

To ensure the message is conveyed as effectively as possible, the sender and the receiver must
share some common ground. Communication skills play a crucial role in this. Other factors,
such as culture, knowledge and attitude are also vital. What may be considered rude in some
cultures, may be perfectly fine in others. Communication does not always go as smoothly as
one would hope. Various problems, such as disruptions, noise and an asynchronous process,
may obstruct proper communication.

SOURCE

The sender of the message is the source who creates and sends the message to the receiver.
The source is the start of the communication process and is the person who encodes the
message. Factors that may influence the sender are also applicable to the receiver. Consider
how the message is interpreted, for example. Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication
identifies the following factors that affect the source.

Communication skills – It is the individual’s skill to communicate (ability to read, write,

speak, listen etc…)
Attitudes – One’s attitude in relationship to the audience, receiver and subject changes the
meaning and consequence of the message. e.g. for the student the attitude is to learn more
and for teachers wants to help teach.

Knowledge – Familiarity with the subject of the message makes communication more
effective. The knowledge about the subject one is going to communicate for e.g. whatever the

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teacher communicates in the class about the subject so having knowledge in what you are
communicating.

Social system – The Social system includes the various aspects in society like Values, beliefs,
religion, culture, rules and general understanding of society that influence the way in which
the sender communicates the message, alongside location and circumstances. It is were the
communication takes place. For e.g. class room differs from country to country like behaviors,
how we communicate etc. We can communicate only to the extent that the social system
allows, when we communicate take social system into account.

Culture - Culture of the particular society also comes under social system.Cultural
differences may result in the message being interpreted differently.

Only if you have the above in the proper or adequate proportion we can communicate
properly.

ENCODER: The sender of the message (message originates) is referred as encoder, so the
source is encoding the message here.

MESSAGE

The message is the package of information or meaning that is sent from sender to receiver.
The message can be sent in various forms, such as audio, speech, text, video or other media.
The sender of the messages always wants the receiver to interpret the message in a certain
way. The source’s intention is therefore translated into a coded message. The receiver should
understand the message with reasonable accuracy. The message is influenced by:

Content - The beginning to the end of a message comprises its content, for e.g. From
beginning to end whatever the class teacher speaks in the class is the content of the message.

Elements - It includes various things like gestures, body language etc, so these are all the
elements of the particular message. Content is always accompanied by some
elements.Elements are (non)verbal aspects, such as gestures and signs, that may influence the
message. Albert Mehrabian’s communication model goes into this in more detail.

Treatment - It refers to the packing of the message. The way in which the message is
conveyed or the way in which the message is passed on or deliver it. Need to be careful of the
treatment, when there is too much treatment also the communication will not happen
properly.

Structure - As the word suggests, the structure of the message refers to the way in which it is
structured, how it is arranged, the way you structure the message into various parts. Message
is the same but if the structure is not properly arranged then the message will not get to the
receiver.

Code - The code of the message means how it is sent in what form it could be. This may
include text, language, body language, video, gestures, music, and even culture is a code.
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Through this you get/give the message or through which the communication takes place or
being reached.

CHANNEL

The channel is the medium used to send the message. The medium must be able to be picked
up by the sensory system of the receiver and may therefore involve vision, sound, smell, taste
or touch. Humans have the following senses:

 Hearing
 Seeing
 Touching
 Smelling
 Tasting

Whatever communication we do using any channels we use either of these senses. Mass
communication always involves technical tools, such as phones, the Internet and television. In
these cases, the transmitted information is assimilated via vision and sound.

Hearing - The use of ears to get the message for e.g. oral messages, interpersonal etc.
Seeing - Visual channels for e.g. TV can be seen and the message is delivered.
Touching - The sense of touch can be used as a channel to communicate for e.g. we touch
and buy food, hugging etc.
Smelling - Smell also can be a channel to communicate for e.g. perfumes, eatables, charred
smell communicates something is burning, we can find out about which food is being cooked
etc.
Tasting - The tongue also can be used to decipher e.g. Food can be tasted and
communication can happen.

DECODER : Who receives the message and decodes it, is referred to as decoder.

RECEIVER

The receiver is the person who receives and subsequently decodes the coded message. In a
linear communication process, the receiver is always located at the end. In order to make
communication as effective and smooth as possible, Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication
assumes the receiver’s thinking pattern must be in accordance with that of the sender. The
same factors therefore influence this component in Berlo’s SMCR Model of Communication.
After all, the receiver decodes the message him/herself and gives it their own meaning.

This model believes that for an effective communication to take place the source and the
receiver needs to be in the same level, only if the source and receiver are on the same level
communication will happen or take place properly. So source and receiver should be similar
For e.g. Communication skills on source side is good then the receiver should equally have
good listening skills. We cannot say the entire message passed reaches the receiver has it is,
because the receiver may not be good in listening, so only for the effective communication the
source and the receiver to be in the same level.
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Self image differs from person to person, for communicating the person should consider the
receiver. Keep the receiver in mind, speak accordingly and give them what they need.

Criticism of Berlo’s SMCR model of communication:

Needs people to be on same level for communication to occur but true in real life. Main
drawback of the model is that the model omits the usage of sixth sense as a channel which is
actually a gift to the human beings ( thinking, understanding, analyzing etc). There is no
concept of feedback, so the effect is not considered. There is no concept of noise or any kind
of barriers in communication process. It is a linear model of communication, there is no two
way communication. Both of the people must be similar according to all the factors mentioned
above.

A DISRUPTED COMMUNICATION PROCESS

In practice, communication is not nearly as smooth as described in Berlo’s linear model. There
are a number of factors that may lead to a disrupted communication process. Examples of
disruptions include:

Loss or distortion

The person sending the message must encode the message in such a way that the full
intention of the message is clear. He/she may choose to do this with words, but it is very rare
that the full intention is encoded in a message. In some cases, a message may even barely
contain the information the sender wants to convey.

Even if an additional channel is added to the communication process, the message may
become distorted. For example, consider the familiar team-building game where a message is
constantly passed on in a circle of people. The last person will often hear a completely
distorted or unrecognizable message. Every time the message is conveyed by a different
person, part of its initial intention is lost.

Noise

After the message is sent, noise may occur. This noise disrupts the source and message and
causes the receiver to only partially receive the message or not at all. Internal noise refers to a
state in which part of the communication process, the receiver for example, is not feeling well,
or not entirely focused. As a result, the receiver may miss out on certain parts of the message.
External noise, on the other hand, may be caused by background noise during a phone call, for
example. This also causes the receiver to potentially misunderstand certain parts of the
message.

There may also be situations in which noise is caused intentionally. Non-intentional noise is
caused unintentionally and can, for example occur if sender uses difficult words, which then
makes it more difficult for the receiver to understand the message.

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Synchronization

The communication process may be either synchronous or asynchronous. If the receiver is in

direct contact with the sender, this is referred to as a synchronous channel or process. If, on
the other hand, the sender and receiver are not in direct contact with each other, this is
referred to as an asynchronous communication process.

The danger of asynchronous communication is that both the sender and receiver will not
receive direct feedback on how the message is conveyed. It also prevents the message from
being adjusted, making it impossible to clarify certain matters further.

WILBUR SCHRAMM & OSGOOD MODEL OF COMMUNICATION

Osgood and Schramm’s Circular Model of Communication (1954) was an attempt to rectify the
earlier linear models of communication; it can happen within our self (Intra personal) or
between two (Inter personal) each person acts as both sender and receiver and hence use
interpretation. It occurs simultaneously, e.g., encoding, interpreting and decoding. Wilbur
Schramm stated that communication process does not start and end somewhere, but is
endless. The Circular model depicts two actors who reciprocate in identical functions
throughout: encoding, decoding, and interpreting. The model presented by Osgood and
Schramm shows not only the transmission and hearing of a message, but offers explanations
in how it can be perceived and understood. The process of understanding what has been said
can vary widely from person to person as there will always be a degree of semantic noise to be
taken into account, such as cultural differences, background, socio economics, education and
values.

Advantage of Osgood and Schramm’s Circular Model of Communication:

The merits of the model are that it is dynamic, includes redundancy, sender and receiver are

the same persons, feedback is integral part of the process and so suggests communication to
be circular in nature.

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Disadvantage of Osgood and Schramm’s Circular Model of Communication:
The chief demerit is that it does not talk about semantic noise and it assumes the moment of
encoding and decoding.

WHITES GATEKEEPER THEORY

Kurt Zadek Lewin (1890-1947), was born in German. He was a great Psychologist and pioneer
in Social Psychology. He developed the concept in the field of psychology called psychological
“field” and “life space” in order to understand the human behavior and its important
consideration of total life space. His studies are more based on to understand a person’s own
world, physical, mental and social through frequent conversation between his Pre-memories,
desire and his goals. And also his works help to understand the relationship between attitudes
and behavior in the group or individuals.

Kurt Lewin coins the word called “Gate keeping”. It’s nothing but to block unwanted or useless
things by using a gate. Here the person who make a decision is called “Gatekeeper”. At first it
is widely used in the field of psychology and later it occupies the field of communication. Now
it’s one of the essential theories in communication studies.

The Gatekeeper decides what information should move to group or individual and what
information should not. Here, the gatekeeper are the decision makers who letting the whole
social system. The gatekeeper is having its own influence like social, cultural, ethical and
political. Based on personal or social influences they let the information to the group. Through
this process the unwanted, sensible and controversial information’s are removed by the gate
keeper which helps to control the society or a group and letting them in a right path. In home
mother plays the vital role and she has to decide what their kid’s needs and what should
avoid. In news medium editor play vital role. He has to decide what kind of news items should
publish and what should not. Every day the news channel receives various news items from all
over the world. The channel have its own ethics and policies through this the editor decide the
news items for publish or aired. In some cases few news items are rejected by the editor due

the organizations policy or the news items which are not suitable to publish.

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Example : An international news channel receives numbers of news items within day like
international terror issues, UN discussions, Texas bull fighting and religious abuse on
international community.

A news channel can’t show all those news items to audience because it may affect the channel
reputation in public and organizations policy. Here, editor decides the news items especially
he can’t show the Texas bull fighting because it is not internationally popular story. But the
same time the news channel can’t show the religious abuses also because it may hurt
audience directly and it may affect organizations policy also. But international terror issues
and UN discussions are universal common news that won’t affect the channel reputation in
public and organizations policy.

News items: N1: Texas bull fighting, N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions, N4:
religious abuse on international community

Gatekeeper: Chief Editor

Selected News Items: N2: International terror issues, N3: UN discussions, Discarded News
Items: (on popularity) N1: Texas bull fighting

Discarded News Items: (on policy) N4: Religious abuse on International community.

DANCE‟S HELICAL MODEL

In 1967, Frank Dance proposed the communication model called Dance’s Helix Model for a
better communication process. The name helical comes from “Helix” which means an object
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having a three-dimensional shape like that of a wire wound uniformly around a cylinder or
cone. He shows communication as a dynamic and non-linear process.

Dance’s model emphasized the difficulties of communication. Frank Dance uses the form of a
Helix to describe communication process. He developed this theory based on a simple helix
which gets bigger and bigger as it moves or grows. The main characteristic of helical model of
communication is that it is evolutionary.

Frank Dance explains the communication process based on this Helix structure and compares
it with communication. In the Helix structure, the bottom or starting is very small then it’s
gradually moves upward in a back and forth circular motion which form the bigger circle in the
top and its still moves further. The whole process takes some time to reach. As like helix, the
communication process starts very slowly and defined small circle.

Communicators share information only with small portion of themselves to their relationships.
Its gradually develops into next level but which will take some time to reach and expanding its
boundaries to the next level. Later the communicators commit more and share more portions
themselves.

Example : When a child is born the only means of communication is crying, he/she cries for
everything like hunger, pain, cold etc.. As the child grows the means of communication
become wider and broader. He learns to makes noises then he learns language to obtain
attention and to fulfill his needs. As a Helix the process of communication in this case started
from crying and later it developed into a complex and compound means.

The Helical model of communication is largely dependent on its past. A child learns to
pronounce a word in his elementary classes and throughout his life he uses that word in the
same way he learnt. Just like that we used to react to certain things in a certain way in our
childhood and such reactions and habits lasts with us forever. The communication evolves in
the beginning in some simple forms then the same process of communication develops based
on the past activities. It develops further with modifications.

Frank Dance included the concept of time in his theory. Something happens over the other will
always be based on the first event according to him. This theory of communication was a
subject to a number of experimental researches. Even though this model of communication
clarifies everything there is a problem of over simplification. According to this theory a
communication process is the product of what we learn.

LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION

TECHNICAL, SEMANTIC, AND PRAGMATIC.

Levels of Communication: Technical, Semantic, and Pragmatic The study of linguistics

incorporates a number of aspects which are very closely related, yet distinctive from one
another. Some of the aspects we explore most often include phonetics,

phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics:

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• Phonetics is the science concerned with the study of speech processes, including the
production, perception and the analysis of sounds. It is closely connected to phonology.

• Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language or languages.

• Morphology is a branch of biology which concerns the form and structure or organisms;this
definition includes the form and structure of words within a language, and their modification.

• Syntax is the branch of linguistics that covers the grammatical arrangements of words within
sentences, and how we use speech in communication.

• Semantics deals with the study of meaning; how we combine words to create meaningful
discourse. It studies the relationship between signs and symbols and what they represent. It is
also used in logic as the principles that determine truth-values of formulas within a logical
system.

• Pragmatics (as applied to linguistics) is about how we actually use speech in communication,
and how context aids the transmission of meaning in utterances. These aspects of linguistics
are listed in their hierarchical order, with phonetics and phonology being the most basic, and
rising to pragmatics at the top. It can sometimes be difficult to differentiate between these
sub-fields as they are so closely related to one another.

Phonetics and Phonology – The Subtleties of Nuance

Phonetics deals with human production of speech sounds. Individual sounds are phonemes, of
which there are hundreds, although in English we manage with around forty. The distinctions
between the sounds indicate regional differences or subtle nuances of speech.Phonology is
about patterns of sounds, especially different patterns of sounds in different languages, or
within each language, and with different patterns of sounds in different positions in words etc.

Morphology – Let’s Make a Mockumentary!

Morphology is the study of how words are formed. We can understand words by focusing on
the smallest unit of functionality within language; the part that stands alone. For example, you
may be sitting at your desk right now. The word “desk” is a morpheme.If you speak of “desks”
then you have changed the word into a plural. Therefore, it comprises two morphemes, the
object itself and the plural “s.” So does the word “desktop.”“A blend combines two words to
create a new word. Smog is a blend of smoke plus fog. Mockumentary combines mock and
documentary. Jeggings are snug-fitting leggings that look like jeans.”We can also compound
two root words to make a new word. Some examples might be boathouse, yellowhammer,
blockhead, Greenpeace. We can also add prefixes and suffixes to root words. All of these
examples are aspect of morphology.

Syntax – Sentences with Clout!

Syntax concerns the correct structure of sentences in agreement with certain principles,
processes and rules as laid down by grammarians.Good grammatical sentences have a subject
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(who and what the sentence is about) and a predicate (information relating to the subject.)
For example, (in active voice): “Decoded sites help to disseminate useful information.” The
subject is “Decoded sites” and the predicate is that they “help to disseminate useful
information.” Generally, sentence structure is clearer if the subject comes first, but it’s not
mandatory. We could say, (in passive voice): “Useful information is disseminated by Decoded
sites.”

Tower of Babel, Painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563.

Image courtesy of the Kunsthistorisches Museum Semantics – A Regular Tower of Babel!The

term “semantics” is essentially to do with meaning, although it is an extremely broad term. It
can be used to examine changes in meaning over time. It examines shifts in meaning due to
cultural or social changes. It covers the interpretation of texts, ambiguity in the way language
is used, connotations that may skew meaning and it examines the effects of metaphor, pun
and word-play.In his essay The Signs of Drama, Martin Esslin says, of the fictional character,
Hamlet, “He may… become in the eyes of some members of the audience a representative of
a class of individuals.” Esslin continues by explaining that Hamlet could be viewed as a prince,
or as an intellectual who thinks too much, or as a son in love with his mother. He could also
represent the “human predicament” and, as Esslin adds, “a multitude of others.”Politicians are
accused of using semantics in order to mislead the public. Examples of how advertisers exploit
the use of semantics to increase their profits appear on our televisions and in our newspapers
every day.

In his essay, The Babel of Interpretations, linguist E.D. Hirsch asks:

“How can a consensus be reached with regard to a text’s meaning when every known
interpretation of every text has always been different in some respect from every other
interpretation of the text? … Every interpretation is partial. No single interpretation can
possibly exhaust the meanings of a test. Different interpretations bring into relief different
aspects of textual meaning… the diversity of interpretations should be welcomed; they all
contribute to understanding. The more interpretations one knows, the fuller will be one’s
understanding.”

E.D. Hirsch separates the act of interpretation into two distinctive areas, the art of
understanding and the art of explaining.Interpretation can deepen and develop our
appreciation of texts or it may even alter our conception of the text’s meaning, perhaps
making us change our mind or viewpoint.

Nessie Replica in Scotland. Image by StaraBlazkova

Pragmatics – What Happened to Nessie?“Pragmatics:” philosopher C.W. Morris invented the

term in the 1930s, and everyday speech is rife with such ambiguous first sentences that often
result in causing upset or even offence unintentionally.There have been a few articles
published recently with the title,“Loch Ness Monster Feared Dead Due to Lack of Sightings.”
One might ask, “Is it the lack of sightings that killed poor Nessie?”There are elements of
philosophy here – do we actually create our world from our own consciousness? That’s a

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much more interesting take on the situation than the possibility that Nessie may have simply
died and so we didn’t see it anymore.Linguistics: Complex But Useful Linguistics can seem
difficult, and literary theory can seem intimidating, even scary – with so many different schools
of thought and criticism to get your head around. However, it’s worth delving into, just one
step at a time, if only because it is rife with such delightful examples of human interaction.

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