Communication
The Application of Five Communication Theories
There are countless communication theories, with each one looking at a different aspect of communication or looking at communication in a new way. The number of theories that exist raises the question of how they can be used to understand communication. The answer is that every communication is complicated, with one single theory not being enough to understand every communication completely. For this reason, various theories can be applied to various situations, with each one helping us to understand something about the communication. To consider how real situations can be analyzed, five communication theories will be described. Each one will then be applied to a real situation to show how the theory helps create understanding of the communication events and processes that make up human life.
Theory of Feminine Style
The theory of feminine style argues that the difference in the way that men and women communicate is linked to the traditional roles that they play in society. The theory describes how women have been confined to private roles, such as within the home and the family. In contrast, men have held public roles and been seen as more important in society. This has created a difference where women's communication styles have developed to suit their private environment. In contrast, men's communication styles have developed to suit their public lives.
The theory of feminine style focuses especially on rhetoric and the use of public speeches. The main features that characterize the feminine style are (Dow & Tonn:
a tendency to use concrete examples use of a personal tone a tendency to rely on personal experience a tendency to apply inductive reasoning the use of audience participation
Each of these features are linked to the woman's private role and the communication style that developed on account of the private life. For example, a personal tone is used because women's communication has developed based mainly on one-on-one personal communications. As another example, audience participation is used because women are accustomed to gaining feedback from the person they are speaking to.
The theory of feminine style also shows how men communicate differently, especially in public situations. The masculine style is based on being aggressive, debating others, and using logical arguments. One prime example of the difference is seen by comparing the styles of two talk show hosts, Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Phil. Dr. Phil's style is one of debate, where he debates his guests for the purpose of uncovering their problems. In doing so, he also uses logic and is often direct and aggressive. In contrast, Oprah Winfrey has a more personal approach and is focused on the personal experience of the guest. While Dr. Phil debates guests about their issues, Oprah Winfrey is more likely to try to create a personal connection based on understanding them. Audience participation is also used by Oprah Winfrey, who often appeals directly to both the audience in the studio and the home audience. In addition, she often adds comments of understanding based on her own personal experience, while Dr. Phil does not link his own experience to that of his guests. The styles of these two well-known television hosts shows the major differences between the feminine and masculine style.
The Medium Theory
Marshall McLuhan's medium theory argues that the medium of a communication is the message. This is based on the idea that the medium is more than just the way that a message is communicated and that the medium has its own qualities that define the message. This includes that the way the message is perceived and understood depends on the medium.
For McLuhan, mediums differ according to the cognitive processes each one requires. As an example, one can consider a television news report using both video and comments on the video to place it into context. Understanding this message requires visual and hearing skills to see and hear what is being shown. However, understanding this message does not require analysis skills because the meaning has already been created by the medium itself. Unless the individual watching the news report chooses to think critically about what they are seeing, the medium has the message as part of it. In contrast, one can consider news of the same event being passed onto somebody via first-person accounts. In this case, the person is being given information and observations, rather than meaning. The person then has to analyze the information to find the meaning in it. In this case, the main cognitive skills are comprehension...
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