4. Communication: The relational process of creating and interpreting
messages that elicit a response.
Messages are at the very core of communication study.
Creation of Messages. This phrase in the working defi nition indicates that
the content and form of a text are usually constructed, invented, planned,
crafted, constituted, selected , or adopted by the communicator.
Interpretation of Messages. Messages do not interpret themselves. words
don’t mean things, people mean things .
A Relational Process. Communication is a process of relating. This means it
is not primarily or essentially a process of transferring information or of
disseminating or circulating signs (though these things can be identifi ed as
happening within the process of relating).
Response
7. THE CYBERNETIC TRADITION : Communication as a System of Information Processing:
Cybernetics The study of information processing, feedback, and control in communication systems
THE SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL TRADITION : Communication as Interpersonal Interaction and
Influence
THE RHETORICAL TRADITION : Communication as Artful Public Address
• Rhetoric The art of using all available means of persuasion, focusing upon lines of argument,
organization of ideas, language use, and delivery in public speaking.
THE SEMIOTIC TRADITION : Communication as the Process of Sharing Meaning Through
Signs.
THE SOCIO-CULTURAL TRADITION : Communication as the Creation and Enactment of Social
Reality
THE CRITICAL TRADITION : Communication as a Reflective Challenge of Unjust Discourse
THE PHENOMENOLOGICAL TRADITION : Communication as the Experience of Self and Others
Through Dialogue