Transactional Model of Communication

SPCH COMM HCC Northwest Fall 2011

Today’s Objective Continue to explore the communication

modeling process

Connect our knowledge of roles and actions in the linear model to the transactional model

Recognize and apply concepts of the transactional model to our own communication episodes

Pages 7-12 of your textbook. Model is Fig 2., page 9

Warm Up

Recall what we learned about the linear model of communication Shannon and Weaver; 1949; scholarly

dialogue in business, communication, education, psychology & sociology.

Transition to Transaction

Critique of S&W’s linear model

Process explained Highlights information transfer Identification of roles, roles are rigid Opens up process for questions about

people

21 years later a more dynamic model emerged

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4RDCy7nBJI&feature=related

Barnlund’s Transactional Model of Communication

Dean C. Barnlund submitted this model in 1970

Barnlund’s Transactional Model of Communication

The language of communication

Two-way, continuous transaction

Communicator

Environment

Noise

Meaning

In a transactional model . . . We activate a dynamic, simultaneous

process

Participants are ‘sending’ and ‘receiving’ at all times

Encoding and decoding can and will happen unconsciously

Communicators give and get simultaneously

Communicators come into the episode with personal experiences, personalities and traits, cultural backgrounds and relational histories

The background details, along with the physical location, comprise the environment of the episode

Communicators and Environment

Noise, Noise, Noise

Three types of noise impact communication in the transactional model

External Noise: Auditory interference

Physiological Noise: Biological interference

Psychological Noise: Internal noise , thought interference

Factors which impact meaningChannelsCommunicatorsEnvironment

Overlap of Communicator understanding

Shared Meaning *Friday’s Angel Chat Topic, 7pm*

In 1970 Barnlund put forth the Transactional Model of Communication, a two-way, communicator and meaning centered model

Some concepts are revised from the linear model, including simultaneous roles, impact of channels, types of noise, communicator background and shared meaning.

HANDS ON! Grab a partner. Your team is

making a visual metaphor.

Take This Home, Do This Now