wEEk6 : MASS COMMUNICATION

We often hear the term Mass communication. What exactly is it? Mass communication is a form of communication through which instituitional sources address large, diverse audiences whose members are physically separated from one another. It is a powerful and pervasive mode of communication, and in modern societies, the media are important social instituitions that reflect and affect the values and behaviours of large segments of population.

PETA (People for the ethical treatment of animals) is the largest animal rights organization in the world. Below is a campaign poster by PETA, featuring Jonna Krupa posing nude to show that she rather go naked than to wear fur.

This is one of the mass media that PETA uses in its campaign against the fur industry, where animals are unethically and ruthlessly killed. Do you think it is effective ? How powerful are such mass media approaches to inform the masses? What are your thoughts after seeing this poster?

wEEk5 : Interpersonal and Group Communication

What is interpersonal communication?

In all sense, all communication is interpersonal, because all communication occurs betweeen people. The term interpersonal communication, however, is generally reserved for two-person, face-to-face interaction and is often used interchangeably with the term dyadic communication. Interpersonal communication has several unique characteristics. It is direct, personal, immediate, spontaneous and informal.


Group communication on the other hand is communication between a collection of individuals who, as a result of interacting with one another over time, become interdependent, developing shared patterns of behaviour and a collective identity.


Have you heard of virtual reality? Let's catch a glimpse of virtual reality in the short cartoon clip below:


Hope you enjoyed the cartoon above and have a better idea of virtual reality.
A real life application of virtual reality is the virtual classroom. YES! the virtual classroom, let's take a look at the following video clip:


Woww... cool issin't it ? Now we do not have to wake up super early to go school, to beat the morning peak period traffic for morning classes. We don't need to dress up, we can save on transportation time and money. And last but not the least, we stay in the comfort of our own room. But what impacts and consequences does a virtual classroom have on interpersonal and group communication? If the virtual classroom is to replace the traditional classroom, I forsee that alot of communication problems will arise in the workforce in future, where face-to-face interaction is mandatory. Do you think the virtual classroom is a good idea? And what consequences will it have on the interpersonal and group communication skills and development of a person? Do let me know your views... ... =)

wEEk tHrEE- fOUr (haha... Chinese New Year!)

This week we learn about the other part of unit 2 on verbal and non-verbal communication.

VERBAL AND NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

Under Verbal communication, there are four subsystems of the language system. Which are phonemes (sound), syntatics (structure), semantics (meaning) and pragmatics. Verbal communication, as its name suggest, simply means communicating verbally through a form of language.

We also learnt about non-verbal communication, which compared to verbal communcation, can sometimes be more subtle. Nonverbal communication is the sudy of communication systems that do not involve words.

Ok, before I bore you crazy, lets's take a look at one of the latest movies MARLEY AND ME. Its about the life of a married couple and how it evolved around a dog. A dog which they keep since its a baby. A dog obviously can't speak and engage in verbal communication right, for the purpose of showing nonverbal communication and for creativity's sake, for now, let's take a preview at one of the latest movie: (remember to look out for the nonverbal cues!)

Marley And Me

wow... cool huh? catch the part where the dog wags its tail with the necklace in its mouth, to communicate to its masters that he wants to play with them. Tat is nonverbal communication in its simplest.

Back to more serious stuff look at another equally popular movie this season:

N/B: While watching please note the difference in the presentation of this movie clip with the previous one!

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON

Notice any difference? YOu will notice that in this trailer, hardly any narrative is given compared to "Marley And Me." Like a Chinese saying that goes: "A picture speaks a thousand words." This is so true especially in nonverbal communication. A brief introduction is given and the rest of the scenes convey the rest of the messages nonverbally. How is this possible, it is possible as nonverbal communication is both uiversal and cultural. Also codes like kinesics (body movement and gestures), facial expression and eye behaviour, chronemics (time) and physical appearance and object language is used. Do you think the verbal method of communicating to the audience, in the movie Marley And Me, or the nonverbal method in The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button is more effective? And why? Do hope to hear from you and look forward to your comments. =)