Why do we need to study communication?

Most of our waking hours are spent communicating than doing anything else. We think, we talk to ourselves, we converse with other people, we listen to radio, we watch TV, we surf the Internet, write emails, participate in fora, etc. As the Palo Alto group said in their famous dictum, “One cannot NOT communicate.”

This dictum is indeed quite true. Communication is central to all humans. All aspects of our daily lives are affected by communication. But since communication has become part of our daily activities and routine, most people have taken communication for granted. Many people, especially those in the hard sciences, regard communication as a trivial phenomenon and find it irrelevant to study communication systematically.

But now that we are living in the information/knowledge era, communication has found its rightful place and has gained immense popularity. With globalization and the fast changing technology, the field of communication has been redesigned and redefined. Communication has become more essential than ever.

Communication has many functions in our daily lives: we need communication for socialization; to send out information; to educate people; to persuade someone; and for entertainment.

George Herbert Mead (1934) theorized that humans are talked into humanity. He meant that human beings gain personal identity through communicating with others. Mead theorized that we first see ourselves through the eyes of others, so their messages are extremely important in forming the foundations of self-concepts.

Defining Communication

Hundreds of definitions of communication abound in literature. The Internet alone hosts myriads of definitions that vary from defining communication as a mere tool to communication as a meaning-making process. In 1970s, approximately three decades ago, Frank Dance was able to document over 100 definitions of communication. Since then, more definitions have emerged not just in the West but even in the East. And yet, despite these multitude definitions, COMMUNICATION is one word that even communication scholars are having difficulty defining. As Littlejohn put it "the word communication is abstract, and like all words, possesses multiple meanings."

I believe that finding a common and unified definition of communication is futile. People have different cultures and experiences. But what is important is to define communication by looking into the tradition, paradigm, context, and situation it is being used for. Thus, it is better to define communication in terms of its utility rather than in terms of its correctness. For the purpose of this discourse, I would define communication in this way:

A process of creating and sharing information and knowledge within, between, or among individuals to arrive at a shared meaning and mutual understanding or to achieve the desired change that takes into account the interests, needs and capacities of all concerned.

This definition is quite limited and does not cover all aspects of communication. But let me emphasize the basic dimensions, concepts or postulates of communication. The concepts below are considered by many communication scholars as the point of convergence when defining communication as a process:

• Communication is dynamic, it is ever-changing with no clear beginning and ending.
• Communication is systemic, it consists of interdependent parts that interact continuously and affect one another.
• Communication interacts through symbols and how we select and organize them affects how other interprets our messages.
  
• Communication is grounded in perspective, it is contextual, and meaning is personally constructed, meanings are in people, not in words.
  

Given that communication is always context driven, as a DEVCOM scholar my definition of communication is anchored in the context of DEVCOM. The definition I gave above highlighted two functions:

• arriving at a shared meaning or mutual understanding; and
• achieving a desired change.
  

It is important to note that how we communicate is aligned to the purpose and goals of our developmental undertakings as DEVCOM scholars and practitioners. It definitely follows that the purpose of development dictates how we should communicate.

As DEVCOM scholars, when we communicate we become catalysts for change. We communicate with the intent not only to inform but to influence the behavior of our audience, how they think, feel, and act. In DEVCOM, we are purposive, we communicate to achieve the desired outcome and change. We are also results-oriented when we communicate. We evaluate the impact we have madel; if indeed we have made one, or if we have achieved or reached our purpose and goals.

Communication in DEVCOM also involves participation of the people. Participation may mean differently for many people, that is why it is important for people in communication act to share the meaning to achieve mutual understanding. When we communicate for development, we consciously or unconsciously assign values to the messages we communicate. So it is important to make these values and biases known and clearly understood when we communicate.

Communication as a discipline

What constitutes a discipline? Is communication a discipline?

Webster's defines discipline as a branch of knowledge. As a body of knowledge, discipline has an established set of concepts and facts. It is dynamic, constructed and tested through time and space by academics and scholars. According to Bridges (2004), a discipline means that "enquiry was conducted in accordance with some established rules and procedures which provided the basis for among other things distinguishing truths from falsity, warranted from unwarranted beliefs."

According to Flor (2007), a discipline has three aspects: theory, policy and practice. All these aspects are products of research and inquiry.

Thus, a discipline is constituted through research. A discipline is an established field of inquiry. It has gone through the rigors of research and has established a tradition of scholarly work. A discipline must have scholars, both academics and practitioners, who formally communicate relevant knowledge through publications and other scholarly work.

Given this requirements of discipline, it can be concluded that communication is definitely a discipline. Over the years, communication as a discipline has gone through various paragdimatic shifts. Communication scholars continue to conduct research to contribute to this body of knowledge.

References

David, Bridges (2004) The Disciplines and Discipline of Educational Research. Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Educational Research Association, Manchester Metropolitan University

Flor, Alexander (2007) Development Communication Praxis. University of the Philippines Open University

My Personal Bubble

Filipinos are touchy people. We love to hug, to hold hands, or just to put our arms around our family and friends. This is our way of telling our loved ones how much we love them, how much we care for them, and that we appreciate their presence in our lives.

Touch sometimes replaces talk. This is especially true to Filipino families wherein the family culture itself represses talk and dialogue. As a result, emotions are repressed and are often shown through touch.

But what if this culture of touch invades someone else's personal space?

This concern can be addressed by understanding the concept of proxemics. Proxemics refers to the type of non-verbal communication that is concerned with the physical space that an individual builds between himself and the person he/she is interacting with. People's need for 'personal space' or what is sometimes referred to as 'personal bubble' is a normal behavior of human beings. The amount of space needed or what a person perceives belongs to him/her depends on social norms, situational factors, personality characteristics, and level of familiarity. Distance between two persons during a casual conversation usually varies between 18 inches to four feet. But when a person talks before a crowd, the usual distance is around 10 to 12 feet.