COMMUNICATION IN EXTENSION

Importance of Communication

Even the average person who has studied Sociology would know instinctively the
importance of communication in society. Communication is the fabric that holds society
together.

Society is the people talking, working, living, dying together. Society is a consensus
among people – they agree on certain norms and rules of behavior that govern their
living together. Without consensus, there would be no society but anarchy.

To achieve consensus, people must be able to communicate to each other their wants
and desires, their attitudes and ideas. This power to communicate is what makes a man
superior to animals.

The role of communication in society may be categorized into:

1. Political role
- disseminating information
- creating public opinion
- reflecting public opinion
- watchdog on government
2. Economic role
3. Social role
- popular culture
- building a nation
- entertaining a nation
4. Development function

Elements of the Communication Process

Definition of Communication

It is the process by which a source sends a message to a receiver by means of some

channel in order to produce a response from the receiver, in accordance with the
intention of the source. Key points that underlie the definition of communication:
1. Communication is a process.
2. The process consists of 5 basic elements.
3. The effectiveness of communication is achieved if the receiver’s response
matches with the intention of the source.

As a process, communication is said to be:

 On-going
 Cyclic
 Ever-changing
 With no beginning and no end
 Interdependent
 Interrelated

Reason why we discuss communication as a process

The emphasis on the concept of process stems from the need to change the early notion
of communication as one-way, unilinear activity.

Because of the continuous, cyclic, ever-changing nature of a process, we must

necessarily view communication as a two-way, multidimensional, interactional activity.

Elements of the Communication Process

1. Source

The source may be an individual or group of individuals or an organization. The source

has a purpose for initiating the communication which he expresses in his message. He
wants a specific response from the receiver.

Factors affecting fidelity of the source:

 Communication skills
 Knowledge level
 Attitude
- towards self
- towards subject matter
- towards receiver
 Socio-cultural system
- status
- role
- prestige
- beliefs and values
- expectations

2. Message

The message is the new idea, innovation or technology that the source want the receiver
to know, understand, accept and act upon.

A message has three factors:

 Code – any group of symbols that can be structured in such a way that it is
meaningful to some person (e.g. language music)
 Content – the material in the message selected by the source to express his
purpose. For example, in a research paper or report, the message content
includes the writer’s assertions, information presented and conclusions drawn.
 Treatment – the decisions which the source makes in selecting and arranging
both code and content. When a journalist writes an article, for example, he
makes decisions as to what he will include in his article, the angle of the story
and the words he will use.

Principles of Meaning

When we say –
“Meanings are in people, not in words,” or “Meanings are not in the message; they are in
the message users,” we imply that”:
  The meaning that man attaches to a certain object or event is the result of his
past learning experience.
 Since no two individuals can have exactly the same experiences, they cannot
have exactly the same meanings.
 It is only to the extent that people have had similar experiences that they can
share similar meanings.
 To the extent that they share similar meanings, they can communicate.

3. Channel

A channel is the medium or means by which a message travels between a source and a
receiver.

Determination of channels is determined by:

 Availability or resources
 Money
 Source preferences
 Which channels are received by most people at the lowest cost
 Which channels have the most impact
 Which channels are most adaptable to the kind of purpose of the source
 Which channels are most adaptable to the content of the message

Interpersonal channels
 Gatekeeper
 Opinion leader

Mass media channels

 Print
 Broadcast
 Audiovisual (electronic and non-electronic)

4. Receiver

The receiver is the person or group of persons at the other end of the communication.
They are the target of the communication. The receiver listens when the source talks,
the receiver reads what the source writes.

Because we cannot predict with complete accuracy the way our receivers will perceive
and respond to our message, we must try our best to understand his:
 Psychological
 Social psychological
 Sociological make-up.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE is a basic principle in communication. The more we know

and understand our audience, the greater is the likelihood of successful communication.

5. Effect
Effect is the difference between what a receiver thinks, feels and does before and after
exposure to a message. It always expressed in behavioral terms.
In extension-communication, the desired effect is usually adoption of an innovation.

Who is an effective communicator?

 Someone who gets the effects he wants from the receiver after communicating
with him.
 How does a communicator determine the effects he wants from the receiver?
 He must have a purpose, or an objective expressed in behavioral terms.
 How does a communicator know if he has been effective or not?
 If his purpose is equal to effect or P=E.
 If the effect elicited by the receiver is not equal to purpose, he has not been
effective or P≠ E.

Purpose: To make farmers adopt multiple cropping

Effect: A farmer adopted multiple cropping.
Therefore: P=E (source was effective)

Effect 2: A farmer did not adopt but gained knowledge about multiple cropping.
Therefore: P≠ E (source was not effective)

What are the determinants of effect?

 Characteristics of the Source (Sc)
 Characteristics of the Message (Mc)
 Characteristics of the Channel (Cc)
 Characteristics of the Receiver (Rc)
 Resources available to the Receiver (Re)

6. Feedback

Feedback is the information sent or fed back by the receiver intentionally or

unintentionally to the source. It may also come from any of the elements of
communication.

Who benefits from feedback?

 Feedback is source-oriented
 Tells whether the receiver is paying attention, understands or is bored with the
presentation
 Tells whether the source should adjust his presentation

Feedback Principles
 Feedback allows a communicator to monitor his performance and effectiveness.
 Positive feedback boosts communicator’s morale and enables him to perform
more communicative acts.
 Negative feedback or absence of it leads to discouragement and “kills” the
source’s motivation.
 Taking heed of feedback from a receiver will encourage him to give subsequent
feedback.
 Some communicators ignore/distort feedback because they:
 1. View communication as one-way
2. Feel threatened by feedback
3. Are not interested in communication effect
Levels of Communication

Communication has always been classified into three levels, namely: intrapersonal,
interpersonal and mass communication (Flor and Contado-Ongkiko, 1998).

Intrapersonal communication involves talking with oneself. In English, we learned that

“intra” is a prefix that means within, thus intrapersonal communication means
communicating within oneself. This may sound odd but we do talk to ourselves like
when we plan, before we make a major decision or when we introspect especially when
we have made a big mistake, we immediately chide ourselves. It may also be when we
proofread our own work (Dinampo, 1994).

The prefix “inter” means between which connotes that interpersonal communication
involves more than one person just like when you talk to your friend. This is also known
as face-to-face communication. However, the definition for this level of communication
evolved to “person-to-person communication” which caters to a communication situation
wherein “one person communicates with a roomful of people at one time but still on a
person to person basis” just like in theater and puppetry (Flor and Contado-Ongkiko,
1998). Moreover, this definition includes mediated communication like when you talk
over the telephone with your friends.

When coverage or the number of people receiving a message is enlarged, such that it
reaches to a heterogeneous audience, this is now called as mass communication.
Furthermore, this necessitates the use of communication technologies that could reach
these people instanteously like radio, tv, movies, bulletin, newsletters, leaflets, posters
and others.

However, this classification is considered traditional. The new categorization of the

breadth of the field of communication (DEVC 201) includes the following:
1. Intrapersonal communication – jargon for thinking
2. Interpersonal communication – communication between people exists on a
continuum
3. Group and team communication – transforms a collection of individuals into a
cohesive group
4. Public communication – public speaking
5. Media and new technologies – new term for mass communication
6. Organizational communication – personal relationships in professional settings
7. Intercultural communication – between people from different culture; either inside
a country of between and among countries
8. Transpersonal communication – communicating with a supreme being.

Extension Worker as a Communicator

After learning the nature of communication, how can extension workers and the
message motivate farmers, housewives, the youth or any sector in society? Information
is freely accessible to them in order that these people will feel the need to change.
Thus, attain a higher quality of life. Moreover, Bueno, et.al. (n.d.) assert that once
receivers have adopted an innovation, one of the roles of an extension worker is to give
reinforcement of the changes they have made.

It is not enough that you master the agricultural technologies you are trying to share to
your audience. As communicators, extension workers must possess certain traits, skills
and knowledge to be effective.

Knowledge

There are four aspects extension workers must be knowledgeable of: oneself, how to
communicate, subject matter and the receiver (Dinampo, 1994).

There is always a room for change. Thus, in order to grow into a more effective
communicator, extension workers need to know their strengths and weaknesses. Hone
more their potentials and overcome their weak points.

“Knowledge in and of itself is sterile but knowledge in the hands of a skilled

communicator is power and a source of change.” As opinion leaders, extension workers
must kept abreast of the recent technological advances especially in agriculture. The
rural farmers often rely on information given by extension workers.

One of the cardinal principles in communication is “know your audience.” Just like in
war, it is vital to know your enemies in order to apply the best strategy to become
victorious. Likewise, communicators must know the information needs and resources of
their audience in order to fit the information, communication code, channel and others to
the level of their audience.

Attitude

From the very beginning, extension workers must have a favorable attitude toward their
role, subject matter, and most of all their audience. Dictionaries define attitude as the
“predisposition to response in any situation, person or thing.” Bettinghaus claims that
communication is more likely to be effective if the source is highly favorable toward the
receiver. The favorable or unfavorable attitude of a person is manifested in his/her
behavior. Norman Vincent Peale advocates positive thinking.

Communication Skills

Furthermore, aside from being optimistic and knowledgeable, extension workers need to
develop good communication skills: the ability to write, speak, read, listen and even
reason. In conveying advances in agriculture, one needs to have highly developed
communication skills in order to make messages understandable to receivers.

Socio-cultural System

As members of a social system, extension workers are affiliated with groups,

organizations, governed by norms and rules and others that mold them to play their
respective roles in society.

However, Bettinghaus also espoused that there are certain characteristics of the source
as perceived by the receivers. These are credibility, homophily and empathy. Credibility
is “the perceived believability of the source on the basis of competence, trustworthiness
and dynamism.” If one is credible, one is more likely to influence the audience. On the
other hand, when receivers feel that the source possess certain background, beliefs and
values, this contributes to effective communication. Homophily can be achieved through
more interaction of communicators. Ever wondered why when meeting people for the
first time just like when traveling alone in bus, you search for something that you and the
stranger has in common – birthplace, school, organizational affiliation, ethnic origin and
others. This establishes good rapport and ensures smooth and effective communication.
Lastly, empathy is the “ability to put oneself in another person’s place psychologically.”
This is important to understand what the others feel and think and predict their reaction
or behavior to a message.

Barriers to Effective Communication

The social thread that weaves all processes in the society is communication, thus
communication is the most basic social process. In fact, as man belongs to the higher
social organization, it is necessary for his survival. One is dependent on communication
from cradle to the grave. As it is so much part of human existence, it is sometimes taken
for granted. However, Peter Drucker noted the importance of communication as the
criteria for success in management. Moreover, Harvard Business Review’s 1964 survey
of US corporations found out that communication ability tops the list of personal
attributes and their importance in promotion while technical skill based on experience
ranked 18th of the 22 attributes listed. Furthermore, Sievert as cited by Cleland noted
that a “higher percentage of the frictions, frustrations and inefficiencies in our working
relationships is traceable to poor communication.”

When we communicate, we always have a purpose in mind. Our purpose might be to

gain attention, understanding and acceptance or even to elicit action (Flor and Contado-
Ongkiko, 1998). Scholars believe that communication only happens when the receiver
attaches the same meaning to a word. Let us recall that communication came from a
Latin word, communis meaning common or to share (Dinampo, 1994). Thus, one can
only say that receivers understand each other. Berlo in his book, The Process of
Communication, espoused that effect is the difference between what a receiver thinks,
feels and does before and after exposure to a message. Others equate communication
effectiveness when the purpose of the source is equal to the effect on the receiver’s
behavior. Moreover, Juan F. Jamias claimed that effect is a function of the
characteristics of the source, message, channel and receiver as well as resources
available to the receiver. Thus, E = Sc + Mc + Cc + Rc + Rr.

The Individual Difference Theory claims that no two persons are the same due to
different heredity and environmental exposure such that the principle of selective
attention and perception come into play. I am sure you have experienced being
misunderstood and I sympathized with your frustrations. Yet, this is not an isolated case.
Throughout the ages, traumatic events have happened due to communication infidelity –
misinterpretation of design drawing, misunderstood change order, a missed delivery date
or failure to execute instructions. One famous catastrophe on January 28, 1986 which
could have been prevented was when space shuttle Challenger burst into raging flames.
Investigations revealed that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
middle managers did not give sufficient credence to the warnings of contractors and
engineers on the design and effects of cold weather on the O-ring seals. Moreover,
higher levels of NASA managers who are responsible for the final decision to launch
were uninformed of such important technical concerns. Safety concerns were
deemphasized to preserve the flight schedule.

As there many authors, there are various ways in which the process of communication
has been defined. However, the essence of this social process is that through a
communication code or system of signals or behavior, information is exchanged between
individuals. The three basic communication codes are language which one uses either
spoken or written words to communicate thoughts and emotions, paralanguage which
refers to the verbal elements that go along with spoken language including such qualities
of the voice as tone, pitch, rate, volume and emphasis and non-verbal symbols referring
to all intentional and unintentional means other than writing or speaking by which a
person sends a message, including such things as facial expressions, eye contact,
gestures, appearance, posture, arrival time of meetings, size and location of office and
others.

Today, most failures in communication can be traced to misunderstanding of the symbols

which is largely due to man’s inadequacies in creating, transmitting and receiving these
symbols. We have just discussed the origin of the word communication – communis, a
Latin word meaning common or share. This only occurs when the receiver attaches the
same meaning to the symbols sent by the sender. As no two individuals have the same
experience, there is no such thing as 100% communication fidelity. Moreover, one of the
cardinal principles in communication is that “meanings are in people, not in words.” This
implies that the meaning organisms attach to a certain object is the result of their
previous learning and experiences.

Decoding entails translating codes into an organism’s nervous system, in a way that is
meaningful (Berlo). When we were born, nothing is this world meant anything to us.
Gradually, we learn to organize the world into shapes, objects and sounds from what we
see and hear. There are several learning theories to explain how we have meanings.
One of the earliest is the SR in which a stimulus elicits a response from an organism.
However, Berlo classifies meaning into four types: denotative, connotative, structural and
contextual meanings. Denotative meaning or otherwise known as the dictionary
meaning is concerned with the relationship between a sign and object while structural
meaning deals with the sign-sign relationship. The third dimension of meaning is a
meaning an organism extracts from the formal relationship of structural and denotative
meanings. Lastly, connotative meaning is concerned with social reality, thus it is a
relationship between a sign, an object and a person. Thus, meanings result from two
factors: in the individual and the physical world around him. Equally important, man
operates on the principles of least effort, non-interference and discriminative capacity in
learning meanings (Dy). Inasmuch as meanings are perceived based on one’s frame of
reference, words and phrases that are used may not evoke the same image in another’s
mind, thus one should be specific as possible. Do not assume that everyone knows
what you are talking about.

In our study of communication, the model by Claude Shannon and Warren Weaver in
1947 was the first to introduce the element of noise in the communication process. In
layman’s term, noise is anything that distracts. In like manner, Shannon and Weaver
defined noise as “factors that distort the quality of a signal (Berlo, 1960). Thus, anything
that would affect, most often lessen the effectiveness of a communication act is
considered as noise.
There are many ways of labeling the different conditions that affect the communication
process, as there are many authors. What matters most is an awareness of these
barriers in order that appropriate steps are taken to address them. To simplify our
discussion of this, let us adopt the categories of barriers to effective communication of
Flor and Contado-Ongkiko (1998). They are environmental factors, channel noise,
semantic noise and socio-psychological barriers.

Conditions in the place where communication process takes place may distract the
audience from paying attention just like poor lighting conditions, uncomfortable chairs,
poor ventilation, famished audience and others. These are just some examples of
environmental factors while the ringing of cellphone during meetings, wrong spelling,
static, dead air during radio broadcast and others can be considered as channel noise.
They affect the channel of medium used in sharing something to someone. Factors
external to the communication like environmental factors and channel noise are
collectively under physical barriers.

When words with double meanings are used, semantic noise occurs. These words have
the tendency to be misunderstood when heard or read. Most often, these words have
the tendency to be received as sent but the meaning received is different from what the
source meant. Surely, you have had experienced these language problems due to
cultural differences.

Factors within the persons engaged in the communication act that influence perceptions
of meanings like emotional blocks, charisma, stereotyping, negative impressions and
absent-mindedness are examples of socio-psychological barriers. Moreover,
ethnocentrism, past experience, beliefs and practices also serve as challenges to
communicators. In addition, Suva (2000) considers the following as socio-psychological
barriers also: inadequate image of the other (failure to know the audience), ignorance,
two-valued evaluation/orientation, projection, beliefs, differences in language/dialect and
attitude.