Process of Communication; Function of Communication and Barriers in communication

Process of Communication

Communication as a process is dynamic, recursive, on-going, continuous and cyclical. There is no recognisable beginning and end, neither is there a rigid sequence of interaction. But we may try to identify how the process begins.

• Stimulation

This is the point at which the source sees the need to communicate. He receives stimulus that triggers him to communicate.

• Encoding The source processes the message he want to communicate into a form that will be understandable to the receivers. This may be a feeling, opinion, experiment etc.

• Transmission The message is passed across to the receiver through a chosen medium or channel.

• Reception The receiver gets the message that is sent from the source • Decoding The message is processed, understood and interpreted by the receiver.

• Response This is the reaction of the receiver to the message received, in form of feedback The process of communication can be well understood by the models that have been designed to explain the process.

This is explained later under models of communication. James, Ode and Soola (1990:4 cited in Sambe 2005:3) state that the communication process involves an action, reaction and interaction. By Action, it refers to the initiative taken by a sender or source to share information, observation or opinion with others. This could be done through writing, speaking, drawing or gesturing. By Reaction, it means a response to the action taken by the sender. The kind of response determines whether or not the receiver is willing to be a party to the communication encounter, and sets the tone or atmosphere for it. Reaction in a communication process may come by way of reply, rejoinder, answer, acknowledgement, retort or defence. By Interaction, it means that communication is the spontaneous reciprocity of messages between a sender and a receiver. It is the stage of exchange of messages between two or more persons sharing common experiences, codes or symbols. Interaction as a process of communication creates an overlap of field of experience between a source and a recipient. With this, they are tuned to each other physically, mentally or psychologically, and provide a basis to carry on the encounter (interaction) meaningfully and successfully.