Monocultural
in the communication process. As ideas, feelings, or information cannot
be communicated directly, people must symbolize them for expression.
Th erefore, encoding describes the production of a symbol message (words
or behaviors) from the sender; this message is sent through some channel
(letter, phone, face to face meeting, etc.), and decoding describes the process
by which the receiver interprets a meaning from the symbol message.
Some key features of communication:
• Successful communication requires not only that the message
is transmitted but also that it is understood.
• Th e message sent by the sender is never identical to the message
received. Distortion can occur at all stages of the communication
process.
• Communication occurs in a context; culture is often one
important context. To achieve understanding between the
sender and the receiver, a vast amount of common information
needs to exist between the two.
• Communication is irreversible, once a message is sent, it cannot
be taken back.
• Communication is a dynamic process between the sender and
the receiver.
In intracultural communications, the context facilitates the interaction,
as collective mental programming has set up the terms of the
exchange even between individuals who had never met before. Th e shared