COMMUNICATION
& SCHEMA
THE COMMUNICATION MODEL
SENDER
MESSAGE
INTERACTION
RECEIVER
THE SENDER
SENDER
MESSAGE
INTERACTION
RECEIVER
THE MESSAGE
SENDER
MESSAGE
INTERACTION
RECEIVER
THE INTERACTION
SENDER
MESSAGE
RECEIVER
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).
THE INTERACTION
SENDER
MESSAGE
RECEIVER
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).
THE RECEIVER
SENDER
MESSAGE
RECEIVER
INTERACTION
What must you do?
You have to break the code and interpret the symbols.
THE RECEIVER
SENDER
MESSAGE
RECEIVER
INTERACTION
What must you do?
You have to break the code and interpret the symbols.
THE MEANING
SENDER
MESSAGE
INTERACTION
Where is the meaning?
RECEIVER
THE MEANING
SENDER
MESSAGE
INTERACTION
Where is the meaning?
RECEIVER
SENDER
E
N
C
O WORDS
D ACTIONS
I
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MESSAGE
P
D
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K
O
MEDIUM
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D
G
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G
RECEIVER
ENCODING PROCESS: words, actions
PACKAGING: THE MEDIUM: message delivery system
DECODING:
DECODING:
NO INPUT
Can you see sound?
Can you hear sign language?
NO MEANING
INPUT
NO MEANING
What about opening IBM files on a Mac?
WRONG MEANING What about language learning?
DECODING:
NO INPUT
Can you see sound?
Can you hear sign language?
NO MEANING
INPUT
NO MEANING
What about opening IBM files on a Mac?
WRONG MEANING What about language learning?
THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTEXT
OUR CONTEXT
SENDER
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WORDS
ACTIONS
MESSAGE
P
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A
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OUR CONTEXT
MEDIUM
D
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O
RECEIVER
D
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When the source and the recipient share the same
context they encode and decode the message
with the same program.
What garbles the message?
OUR CONTEXT
Noise
SENDER
E
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O
D
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WORDS
ACTIONS
MESSAGE
P
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K
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MEDIUM
D
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RECEIVER
D
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OUR CONTEXT
* Radio * Stress * Boredom * Temperature * Mannerisms * Traffic *
What is going on with the receiver?
INTERPRETING
CONSTRUCTING MEANING
GRANTING OR WITHHOLDING PERMISSION
EVALUATING
MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS
D
E
C
O
RECEIVER
D
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G
PROVIDING FEEDBACK
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
STRAIGHTFORWARD REJECTION
UNCONSCIOUSLY FITS INTO BELIEF SYSTEM
SYNCRETISM
DELAYS THE DECISION
SYMBIOSIS -
Feedback
“This isn’t for me but I won’t stand in the way…”
D
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C
O
RECEIVER
D
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G
What happens when you take this process
CROSS CULTURALLY?
“OUR” CONTEXT
S
M
R
“THEIR” CONTEXT
S
M
R
YOU HAVE DIFFERENT CONTEXTS AND DIFFERENT OPERATING SYSTEMS.
THE MESSAGE IS PACKAGED AND SENT BY ONE SET OF STANDARDS,
BUT IS UNWRAPPED AND RECEIVED BY ANOTHER.
GOD’S
UNCHANGING
TRUTH
G
O
O
D
N
E
W
S
GOD’S
UNCHANGING
TRUTH
MY CONTEXT /
FORMATTING
STYLE
G
O
O
D
N
E
W
S
GOD’S
UNCHANGING
TRUTH
MY CONTEXT /
FORMATTING
STYLE
“THEIR”
CONTEXT /
FORMATTING
STYLE
G
O
O
D
N
E
W
S
GOD’S
UNCHANGING
TRUTH
MY CONTEXT /
FORMATTING
STYLE
“THEIR”
CONTEXT /
FORMATTING
STYLE
G
O
O
D
N
E
W
S
THERE ARE THINGS WHICH COLOR THE MESSAGE AND RESHAPE IT
SCHEMATA AND SCHEMA
The Importance of Context
OUR CONTEXT
SENDER
E
N
C
O
D
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G
WORDS
ACTIONS
MESSAGE
P
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K
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OUR CONTEXT
MEDIUM
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RECEIVER
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Cross-Cultural Communication
“OUR” CONTEXT
S
M
R
“THEIR” CONTEXT
S
M
COMMUNICATION DEPENDS HEAVILY ON CONTEXT…
R
“Nine Men Died on Base Today”
TO A BASEBALL FAN IT MEANS ONE THING…
TO AN AIR FORCE OFFICER IT MEANS ANOTHER.
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’.
An Ancient Proverb Says
“Even if a stick stays in the water,
it does not become a crocodile.”
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.
This Knowledge Is Called
And Is Stored In Cognitive Frameworks
Schemata contain our knowledge of the
physical and its culturally determined
categories...
They contain the abstract,
such as guides for social
interaction and discourse...
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 NEWS to others, it is
important that THEIR
schemata are not replaced with
OUR schemata, but with the
schemata of GOD’S WORD.
Another Ancient Proverb Says
“A wise child is talked to in proverbs.”
We leave you with this:
GO TO THE PEOPLE,
LIVE AMONG THEM.
BUT OF THE BEST TEACHERS,
WHEN THEIR TASK IS ACCOMPLISHED,
LEARN FROM THEM.
THEIR WORK IS DONE,
L0VE THEM.
THE PEOPLE WILL REMARK,
START WITH WHAT THEY KNOW,
“WE HAVE DONE IT OURSELVES.”
BUILD ON WHAT THEY HAVE.
An Old Chinese Poem