COMMUNICATION & SCHEMA
MESSAGESENDER RECEIVER
THE COMMUNICATION MODEL
INTERACTION
MESSAGESENDER RECEIVER
INTERACTION
THE SENDER
Primary
Tertiary 2 Timothy 2:2
Secondary
MESSAGESENDER RECEIVER
INTERACTION
THE MESSAGE
This is what I want to send… the ‘stuff’ in my head.
MESSAGESENDER RECEIVER
INTERACTION
THE INTERACTION
How does the message get from me to you?
First I start with a thought…
Then I externalize it using some code (English) and symbols (words).
MESSAGESENDER RECEIVER
INTERACTION
THE INTERACTION
How does the message get from me to you?
First I start with a thought…
Then I externalize it using some code (English) and symbols (words).ENCODING
MESSAGESENDER RECEIVER
INTERACTION
THE RECEIVER
What must you do?
You have to break the code and interpret the symbols.
MESSAGESENDER RECEIVER
INTERACTION
THE RECEIVER
What must you do?
You have to break the code and interpret the symbols.
DECODING
MESSAGESENDER RECEIVER
INTERACTION
THE MEANING
Where is the meaning?
MESSAGESENDER RECEIVER
INTERACTION
THE MEANING
Where is the meaning?
IN PEOPLE !
MESSAGESENDER
ENCODING
DECODING
WORDS ACTIONS
PACKAGING
MEDIUM RECEIVER
ENCODING PROCESS: words, actions
PACKAGING: THE MEDIUM: message delivery system
DECODING:
DECODING:
NO INPUT
NO MEANING
INPUT
NO MEANING
WRONG MEANING
Can you see sound? Can you hear sign language?
What about opening IBM files on a Mac?
What about language learning?
DECODING:
NO INPUT
NO MEANING
INPUT
NO MEANING
WRONG MEANING
Can you see sound? Can you hear sign language?
NO PROGRAM
What about opening IBM files on a Mac?
WRONG
PROGRAM/SYSTE
M
What about language learning?
FAU
LTY
PRO
GR
AM
OUR CONTEXT
OUR CONTEXT
THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT
MESSAGESENDER
DECODING
WORDSACTIONS
PACKAGING
MEDIUM
ENCODING
RECEIVER
When the source and the recipient share the same context they encode and decode the message with the same program.
THEY SHARE THE SAME OPERATING SYSTEM. THE SENDER’S MEANING
EQUALS THE RECIPIENT’S MEANING.
Noise
MESSAGESENDERWORDSACTIONS MEDIUM
DECODING
PACKAGING
OUR CONTEXT
OUR CONTEXT
ENCODING
RECEIVER
What garbles the message?NOISE !
* Radio * Stress * Boredom * Temperature * Mannerisms * Traffic *
RECEIVER
DECODING
What is going on with the receiver?
INTERPRETING
GRANTING OR WITHHOLDING PERMISSION
PROVIDING FEEDBACK
CONSTRUCTING MEANING
EVALUATING
MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS
MAKING DECISIONS
THE CREDIBILITY OF THE MESSENGER * THE TOLERANCE OF THE TOPIC THE ACCEPTIBILITY OF THE LANGUAGE
What are the receiver’s response options?
SINCERE ACCEPTANCE
UNCONSCIOUSLY FITS INTO BELIEF SYSTEM
SYMBIOSIS -
STRAIGHTFORWARD REJECTION
SYNCRETISM
DELAYS THE DECISION
Feedback
RECEIVER
DECODING
“This isn’t for me but I won’t stand in the way…”
What happens when you take this process
CROSS CULTURALLY?
S M R M R
“OUR” CONTEXT “THEIR” CONTEXT
S
THE MESSAGE IS PACKAGED AND SENT BY ONE SET OF STANDARDS,
BUT IS UNWRAPPED AND RECEIVED BY ANOTHER.
YOU HAVE DIFFERENT CONTEXTS AND DIFFERENT OPERATING SYSTEMS.
G NO E
O W D S
GOD’S GOD’S UNCHANGING UNCHANGING TRUTHTRUTH
G NO E
O W D S
GOD’S GOD’S UNCHANGING UNCHANGING TRUTHTRUTH
MY CONTEXT / MY CONTEXT / FORMATTING FORMATTING STYLESTYLE
G NO E
O W D S
GOD’S GOD’S UNCHANGING UNCHANGING TRUTHTRUTH
MY CONTEXT / MY CONTEXT / FORMATTING FORMATTING STYLESTYLE
““THEIR” THEIR” CONTEXT / CONTEXT / FORMATTING FORMATTING STYLESTYLE
G NO E
O W D S
GOD’S GOD’S UNCHANGING UNCHANGING TRUTHTRUTH
MY CONTEXT / MY CONTEXT / FORMATTING FORMATTING STYLESTYLE
““THEIR” THEIR” CONTEXT / CONTEXT / FORMATTING FORMATTING STYLESTYLE
NOT MUCH OF NOT MUCH OF THE GOOD NEWS THE GOOD NEWS
IS LEFT IS LEFT UNAFFECTED.UNAFFECTED.
THERE ARE THINGS WHICH COLOR THE MESSAGE AND RESHAPE IT
SCHEMATA AND SCHEMA
OUR CONTEXT
OUR CONTEXT
The Importance of Context
MESSAGESENDER
DECODING
WORDSACTIONS
PACKAGING
MEDIUM
ENCODING
RECEIVER
Cross-Cultural Communication
S M R M R
“OUR” CONTEXT “THEIR” CONTEXT
S
COMMUNICATION DEPENDS HEAVILY ON CONTEXT…
“Nine Men Died on Base Today”
HOW CAN THIS BE INTERPRETED?
TO AN AIR FORCE OFFICER IT MEANS ANOTHER.
TO A BASEBALL FAN IT MEANS ONE THING…
It is very difficult to ‘access’ the local contextual ‘shareware’.
Cultures leave much unstated, depending instead on the shared context to convey meaning.
In print cultures we ‘spell out the details’ when we recognize that others don’t share our mental ‘shareware’.
“Even if a stick stays in the water, it does not become a crocodile.”
An Ancient Proverb Says
LIVING IN A CULTURE DIFFERENT FROM OUR OWN DOES NOT MAKE US A CHILD OF THAT CULTURE…
OBSERVING AND RECORDING BEHAVIOR IN A CULTURE DOES NOT MEAN WE UNDERSTAND THE ASSUMTIONS ABOUT REALITY THAT UNDERLINE THOSE BEHAVIORS…
REALITY LIES IN THE SYSTEMS OF KNOWLEDGE FOUND IN THE MINDS OF A PEOPLE…
We Acquire Knowledge In Different Ways
* PERSONAL EXPERIENCE * OBSERVATION * SPECIFIC INSTRUCTION * CONVERSATION * READING * MODELING *
Culture is the accumulation of this knowledge which enables a people to function effectively in their environment.
SCHEMATA
Schemata contain our knowledge of the physical and its culturally determined categories...
They contain the abstract, such as guides for social interaction and discourse...
This Knowledge Is Called
And Is Stored In Cognitive Frameworks
AMERICANS HAVE A ‘SCHOOL’ SCHEMA. ONE CAN SAY TO ANOTHER, “I WENT TO SCHOOL IN TEXAS” WITHOUT HAVING TO EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT OF WHAT IT MEANS TO GO TO SCHOOL.
IF ANOTHER SAYS, “I WAS HOME SCHOOLED,” THE LISTENER’S MIND SWITCHES TO THE APPROPRIATE SITUATION.
WITHIN THE ‘SCHOOL’ SCHEMA THERE ARE SUB-SCHEMATA:
* HOMEWORK * TESTS * TEXTBOOKS * LECTURES *
‘GOING TO SCHOOL’ IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD MAY HAVE DIFFERENT SCHEMA. IT MAY MEAN CHANTING THE KORAN AND WRITING ARABIC ON A WOODEN BOARD WITH CHARCOAL.
COGNITIVE SHEMATA WORK TOGETHER AS A TYPE OF INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM. THEY ASSIMILATE INCOMING INFORMATION, WORKING TO ‘DECODE’ IT, WE MIGHT SAY.
IN MEMORARY THEY ORGANIZE DATA FOR STORAGE IN THE ‘MEMORY BANKS’.
IN RECALL - IF SOME INFORMATION IS MISSING - THEY FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH WHAT ‘PROBABLY’ SHOULD BE THERE!
Schemata work on FULLY AUTOMATIC when it comes to
information processing within
our minds.
THOSE WITHIN A ‘FOREIGN’ ENVIRONMENT CARRY THEIR OWN CONSTRUCTS OF CULTURE, WORLDVIEW, AND SCHEMATA WITH THEM.
AS THEY COME UP AGAINST A SCHEMA DIFFERENT THAN THEIR OWN THEY EITHER REJECT IT, ASSIMILATE IT, OR REPLACE IT WITH THE NEW.
SCHEMATA ARE DEPENDENT UPON ONE’S EXPERIENCE AND CULTURE. THE MORE INPUT ONE RECEIVES, THE MORE ONE EXPERIENCES, THE MORE SCHEMATA MUST BE FORMED TO PROCESS THE INFORMATION AND EXPERIENCES.
WHEN FACED WITH A SITUATION FOR WHICH THERE IS NO SCHEMATA, THE NORMAL REACTION IS CONFUSION AND FEAR.
THEN ASSIMILATION INTO AN EXISTING SCHEMA IS ATTEMPTED
NEXT IS ACCOMODATION OF THE EXPERIENCE BY CHANGING AN EXISTING SCHEMA OR FORMING A NEW ONE.
CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION TEACHES THAT IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SENDER TO ASSURE THAT THE MESSAGE IS UNDERSTOOD BY THE RECEIVER.
IT IS ALSO THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE SENDER
TO MINIMIZE THE IMPACT HIS OR HER SCHEMATA HAVE ON THE MESSAGE
TO UNDERSTAND THE SCHEMATA OF THE RECEIVER
TO PUT THE MESSAGE IN A FORM THAT IS ACCESSIBLE TO THE RECEIVER
PREFERRED LANGUAGE * PREFERRED LEARNING STYLES PREFERRED COMMUNICATION PATTERNS
Unfortunately our own UNMODIFIED / NON-UPGRADED schemata have little value in
working with many of the world’s people groups and
cultures.
It has been said that people differ not so much in their reasoning powers
as in their starting points. These STARTING POINTS are
schemata which have been formed in their lives.
As we seek to communicate the GOOD GOOD
NEWSNEWS to others, it is important that THEIRTHEIR
schemata are not replaced with OUROUR schemata, but
with the schemata of GOD’S WORDGOD’S WORD.
“A wise child is talked to in proverbs.”
Another Ancient Proverb Says
GO TO THE PEOPLE,
We leave you with this:
LIVE AMONG THEM.
LEARN FROM THEM.
L0VE THEM.
START WITH WHAT THEY KNOW,
BUILD ON WHAT THEY HAVE.
BUT OF THE BEST TEACHERS,WHEN THEIR TASK IS ACCOMPLISHED,
THEIR WORK IS DONE,
THE PEOPLE WILL REMARK,
“WE HAVE DONE IT OURSELVES.”
An Old Chinese Poem