Question

Examine the 8 Essential Components of Communication from the textbook:

Source, Message, Channel, Receiver, Feedback, Environment, Context, Interference

Define each in your own words briefly by paraphrasing, not quoting what is in the textbook.

Discuss and debate on what would occur if one of these elements was taken out of the process of communication. Highlight the missing element and discuss what its loss would mean to the process.

Your post should be no less than 250 words.

Answer 1

Eight Important Components of Communication are Defined as below:

1. Source is also known as sender of the message. Source is the inception of message which has to be transmitted after encoding it properly so that the receiver can understand the meaning of the message clearly.
2. Message is the main information or matter which has to be sent to the receiver. It can be accompanied by different expressions used to send the message like style of talking, accent, gestures etc.
3. Channel is the medium of transferring the message. A sender can use any type of channel to transfer the message like for example through voice call, video call or through e-mails etc.
4. Receiver is someone to whom the message is sent by the source. Once the receiver receives the message he/she will decode the message for understanding it.
5. Feedback is the final reaction or reply of the receiver after understanding the message. This feedback is sent by the receiver to the source which can be both verbal or nonverbal.  
6. Environment is the physical atmosphere or ambiance in which the message is sent.
7. Context is basically the situation in which the message is sent. It can be a personal situation or a professional situation depending upon intention of the parties involved in the communication.
8. Interference are the obstructions which can occur while communicating. For example loud noise of music can effect the transmission of message and the receiver would be unable to get what the sender is trying to convey.

All of the above eight elements of communication are imperative for an effective communication. Not a single element can be missed from the process of communication since each element is crucial for forming smooth interaction between the parties. All the above elements impacts the motive of communication and if any of the element is removed this motive will remain unsatisfied or incomplete.

Suppose we are not considering interference as the element of communication in the communication process. Let say two parties are communicating on phone over some important business discussions and there is consistent noise coming from a building outside the sender's office, now can the receiver understand the message clearly? Of course not because the communication is blocked by that noise. Subsequently, the communication will fail. Hence, we understood that any interference or obstruction can effect the communication so it becomes important to consider it as the important component of communication process.