What is Communication?

• Communication: the process of sharing information between two or more people

• It involves a sender and a receiver

• For communication to be effective:

  • the sender & receiver need to be proficient in the symbol system used to communicate

  • there is an agreement on the system being used

Key Terms

• Formulation: putting thoughts/ideas into words to share with others

• Transmission: the process of conveying one’s ideas to another person

• Reception: the process of receiving a message from another person

• Comprehension: the process of making sense of that message

• Modality: the manner in which the message is conveyed (speech, sign language, reading, writing)

• Feedback: information provided by the receiver to the sender

  • This can be verbal/linguistic, non-verbal/extralinguistic, or paralinguistic (pitch, loudness, etc.)

A Model of Communication

Purposes of Communication

• Instrumental: used to request/ask for something

• Regulatory: used to direct others/give directions

• Interactional: used to interact/converse socially

• Personal: used to express feelings or thoughts

• Heuristic: used to inquire/find out information

• Imaginative: used to tell stories/role play

• Informative: used to provide organized descriptions of the event/object

• All of these are important in developing and maintaining social relationships & meeting basic wants and needs

How does communication relate to speech, language, and hearing?

These processes are essential for human communication:

• Formulation: putting thoughts/ideas into words to share with others

  • Involves language

• Transmission: the process of conveying one’s ideas to another person

  • Involves speech

• Reception: the process of receiving a message from another person

  • involves hearing

    • hearing loss can impair message reception

• Comprehension: the process of making sense of that message

  • involves language

Speech and Language are not the same thing!

• Language: A socially shared code using arbitary symbols for representing concepts/ideas

  • Symbols: words that are made of sounds combined in various sounds

  • Learning language is learning that one thing represents another

• Speech: The neuromuscular process that allows us to express language vocally and a physical action involving the coordination of respiration (breathing), phonation (voicing), and articulation (using the lips, tongue, and teeth in rapid motion to produce language)

Language Domains

• Semantics: meanings of words and word combinations

  • this is also called vocabulary

• Syntax: word order/grammar and sentence organization

  • without syntax, the semantics of language can’t make sense

• Morphology: internal organization of words

  • Morpheme: the smallest meaningful unit of language

• Phonology: sound and sound combinations of a language

• Pragmatics: how language is used for social purposes

Classification of Communication Disorders

• Communication disorder: a breakdown in any one of the communication processes (language, speech, hearing)

• Language disorders: language centers of the brain are somehow affected

  • Different types are child language disorders, adult language disorders, written language disorders, and reading disabilities

• Speech disorders: problems with physically producing speech

  • Different types are articulation and phonology disorders, fluency disorders, voice disorders, and motor speech disorders

• Hearing loss: problems with receiving sound

  • Includes sensorineural hearing loss, conductive hearing loss, and auditory processing disorders

• Feeding & swallowing disorders: neural or muscular issues with the action of swallowing

  • Includes pediatric feeding and swallowing problems as well as adult dysphagia