标准书号80-81 308-08155 Introduction新.pptVIP

Twelve Units Value Nonverbal Communication Studying Abroad Education Social Phenomena Social Etiquette Social Welfare Work Food Common Activities Movie Travel and Transportation Four parts in each unit:1. Introduction2. Passages Exercises3. Topic-related Activities4. Topic-related Information What is Communication? The message is the idea, thought or feeling to be shared. The sender is the person who communicates the message. The receiver is the person or audience for whom the communication is intended. For most animals, the sign systems are closed. That’s to say, different signs cannot be combined to create new signs. For these animals, each sign functions independently. This eliminates lots of misunderstandings. Human communication is based entirely on symbols. A symbol is a sign whose meaning is arbitrary (based on chance rather than reason) through prior agreement. Selection of channels may affect the message conveyed. The degree to which an individual relies on one channel or another is often a product of culture. Communication characteristics 1. Human communication is symbolic. We use symbols to share our internal state. We can generate, receive, store, and manipulate symbols. Different symbols may be used in different cultures to mean the same. And any particular symbol may have different meanings in different cultures. (man, women) 2. Communication is dynamic. The meaning of a symbol is not determined by a genetic “program” but by culture. Neither are the sounds and words of a language. They have no permanent, fixed meanings. Cultures change. Meanings of words also change sometimes. The flexibility of human communication is increased further by another characteristic of symbol: they may be multivocal ---- often they have multiple level of meanings. 3. Communication is systemic. We send and receive messages in a specific setting (both physical and social context). Cont