Comm. Arts 101 / Intro to Communication Theories

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This is our Communication Arts 101 or “Introduction to Communication Theories” blog.

I’m Prof. Antonino Salvador S. de Veyra, and I’ll be your teacher for this semester.

My consultation hours are from 9:00-11:00 a.m., Mondays to Fridays, at the Department of Humanities office. You may contact me at +63 82 293 0084 loc. 206, or through +63 928 350 3148. You may also email me at comm.arts101@yahoo.com or post a comment on this blog (just make sure you log in your email address and, preferably, your own blog/site’s URL).

Communication Arts 101 or “Introduction to Communication Theories” serves as your introductory course to the Communication Arts program.

It is a three-unit course that involves the study of principles, concepts, and theories of language and communication. It emphasizes the learning, analysis, and applications of communication paradigms/models and theories.

By the end of the semester, you should be able to:

• Articulate during class discussions the principles, concepts, and theories involved in language and communication
• Apply these principles, concepts, and theories as well as methods and techniques in analyzing communication acts
• Demonstrate skills in analyzing various language and communication phenomena
• Demonstrate skills in conceptualizing communication models appropriate to several communicative situations

The course is classified as a lecture class. However, you will also be involved in the generation of ideas for further exploration and in the production of papers. Class sessions will begin with a lecture/discussion, based on assigned readings, leading to class or group or individual activities. Discussions and activities will be organized around particular units.

The class meets twice a week, for one and a half hours per session, over a sixteen-week period. The schedule of discussion topics and/or activities adapts the suggested outline found in the Instructor’s Manual for Em Griffin’s A First Look at Communication Theory. (I find Griffin’s book the most helpful when it comes to introducing communication theory to undergraduate majors. However, materials on the scheduled topics will also include readings from our list of references below.) The schedule for lecture and/or discussion topics are as follows:

• Day 1: Orientation to the course
• Day 2: Nature of communication [Readings: West’s Chapter 1/Wood’s “Opening” and Chapter 1]
• Day 3: Overview of communication theory [Readings: Griffin’s “Introduction” and Chapters 1-2/Littlejohn’s Chapter 1/West’s Chapter 2/Wood’s Chapter 3]
• Day 4: Evaluation/critique of communication theories [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 3/Littlejohn’s Chapter 2/West’s Chapter 3-4/Wood’s Chapter 2]
• Day 5: Symbolic Interactionism and Coordinated Management of Meaning [Readings: Griffin’s “Interpersonal Messages” and Chapters 4-5/Littlejohn’s Chapter 8: “Symbolic Interactionism” and Chapter 9: “Coordinated Management of Meaning”/West’s Chapter 5-6/Wood’s Chapter 5: “Symbolic Interactionism” and Chapter 6: “Rules Theory or the Coordinated Management of Meaning”]
• Day 6: Expectancy Violations Theory [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 6 and “Ethical Reflections: Kant, Augustine, and Bok”/Littlejohn’s Chapter 7: “Expectancy-Violation Theory”/West’s Chapter 8]
• Day 7: Social Penetration Theory and Uncertainty Reduction Theory [Readings: Griffin’s “Relationship Development” and Chapters 8-9/Littlejohn’s Chapter 12: “The Development of Relationships”/West’s Chapter 9-10/Wood’s Chapter 8: “Uncertainty Reduction Theory” and “Developmental Theories”]
• Day 8: Social Information Processing Theory [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 10]
• Day 9: Relational Dialectics and Interactional View [Readings: Griffin’s “Relationship Maintenance” and Chapters 11-12/West’s Chapter 11/Wood’s Chapter 7]
• Day 10: Constructivism [Readings: Griffin’s “Cognitive Processing” and Chapter 13/Littlejohn’s Chapter 6: “Constructivism”/Wood’s Chapter 6: “Constructivism”]
• Day 11: Social Judgment Theory [Readings: Griffin’s “Influence” and Chapter 14/Littlejohn’s Chapter 7: “Judgment Processes”]
• Day 12: Elaboration Likelihood Model, Cognitive Dissonance, Buber, and Nilsen [Readings: Griffin’s Chapters 15-16 and “Ethical Reflections”/Littlejohn’s Chapter 7: “Information Organization” and “Judgment Processes”]
• Day 13: Functional Perspective on Group Decision Making [Readings: Griffin’s “Group Decision Making” and Chapter 17/Littlejohn’s Chapter 13]
• Day 14: Adaptive Structuration Theory [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 18/Littlejohn’s Chapter 13/West’s Chapter 14]
• Day 15: Information Systems Approach [Readings: Griffin’s “Organizational Communication” and Chapter 19/Littlejohn’s Chapter 14: “The Process of Organizing”/West’s Chapter 16]
• Day 16: Cultural Approach to Organizations [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 20/Littlejohn’s Chapter 10: “Cultural Interpretation”/West’s Chapter 15/Wood’s Chapter 9: “Organizational Culture”]
• Day 17: Critical Theory of Communication Approach to Organizations [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 21]
• Day 18: Midterm Examinations (and submission of research paper proposals)
• Day 19: Rhetoric [Readings: Griffin’s “Public Rhetoric” and Chapter 22/West’s Chapter 17]
• Day 20: Dramatism [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 23/Littlejohn’s Chapter 8: “Dramatism and Narrative”/West’s Chapter 18/Wood’s Chapter 5: “Dramatism”]
• Day 21: Narrative Paradigm, Aristotle and West [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 24 and “Ethical Reflections”/Littlejohn’s Chapter 8: “Dramatism and Narrative”/West’s Chapter 19/Wood’s Chapter 5: “Narrative Theory”]
• Day 22: Semiotics [Readings: Griffin’s “Media and Culture” and Chapter 25/Littlejohn’s Chapter 4/Wood’s Chapter 4]
• Day 23: Media Ecology [Readings: Griffin’s Media Ecology online/Littlejohn’s Chapter 15/Wood’s Chapter 10]
• Day 24: Cultural Studies [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 26/Littlejohn’s Chapter 11: “Marxist Critique”/West’s Chapter 20/Wood’s Chapter 11: “Cultural Studies Theories”]
• Day 25: Cultivation Theory [Readings: Griffin’s “Media Effects” and Chapter 27/Littlejohn’s Chapter 15: “Theories of Cultural Outcomes”/West’s Chapter 21/Wood’s Chapter 10: “Cultivation Theory”]
• Day 26: Agenda-Setting Theory [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 28/Littlejohn’s Chapter 15: “Theories of Cultural Outcomes”]
• Day 27: Spiral of Silence, Habermas, and Christians [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 29 and “Ethical Reflections”/ Littlejohn’s Chapter 15: “Theories of Cultural Outcomes”/West’s Chapter 23]
• Day 28: Anxiety/Uncertainty Management and Face-Negotiation Theory [Readings: Griffin’s “Intercultural Communication” and Chapters 30-31/West’s Chapter 24]
• Day 29: Speech Codes Theory [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 32]
• Day 30: Genderlects Styles and Standpoint Theory [Readings: Griffin’s “Gender and Communication” and Chapters 33-34/West’s Chapter 25/Wood’s Chapter 9]
• Day 31: Muted Group Theory, Benhabib, and Gilligan [Readings: Griffin’s Chapter 35 and “Ethical Reflections”/Littlejohn’s Chapter 11: “Feminist Theory”/West’s Chapter 26/Wood’s Chapter 11: “Feminist Theories” and “Muted Group Theory”]
• Day 32: Integration [Readings: Griffin’s “Communication Theory” and Chapter 36/Littlejohn’s Chapter 16/West’s “Epilogue”/Wood’s Chapter 12] — Final research papers are also due on this date
• Final Examination Period

Since the course involves a lot of discussions/activities, you are expected to come to class prepared for the scheduled topic. You must also refrain from missing classes and scheduled activities. You may refer to the University’s Student Manual regarding policies on absences and corresponding penalties. Attendance and participation in class discussions and activities will make up 30% of your final grade.

To prepare for lectures/discussions/activities, you may refer to the following sources found at the CHSS Library or access other references on communication in the library or online (some resources are found as links on the sidebar):

• Griffin, Em. A First Look at Communication Theory. 6th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw Hill, 2006.
• Littlejohn, Stephen W. Theories of Human Communication. 4th and 5th eds. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1992, 1996.
• West, Richard and Lynn H. Turner. Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co., 2000.
• Wood, Julia T. Communication Theories in Action. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 1997.

Aside from attendance/participation, you will undergo Midterm and Final Examinations (see schedule above). Scores from the two examinations make up 30% of your final grade.

You will also submit (see schedule above for due dates) individual final research papers that analyze a communication act or situation. The research papers should show your ability to appropriately apply a communication paradigm or model or theory to comprehensively analyze their chosen communication act/situation for study. Your final research papers make up for 40% of your final grade.

Research proposals and final research papers submitted beyond the deadline will be marked on grade level down for each calendar day it is late. For example, a proposal/paper marked 2.0 will be given a grade of 2.25 if it is handed in one day late (Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays included).

Students commit plagiarism when they present as their own someone else’s work. Proposals/papers suspected or found to be plagiarized will be returned to students for revision. Repeated offenses will result in, depending on the gravity of the case: (1) a failing mark for the activity, (2) a failing mark for the course, (3) possible expulsion of students concerned (University policies will apply for the latter case).

The rule for late submission will apply for plagiarized proposals/papers returned for revision. Other forms of intellectual dishonesty like cheating during examinations will not be tolerated.

Marks will be computed using the following formula:

Student’s score (50) / highest possible score + 50 = Grade

To arrive at a particular rating, you may get your individual raw score and multiply it by 50 (the transmutation base). You then divide the product by the highest possible score, and add 50 to the quotient. The grade arrived at is equivalent to the University’s rating scale as shown below:

• 98-100 → 1.0 → Excellent
• 95-97 → 1.25
• 92-94 → 1.50 → Very Good
• 89-91 → 1.75
• 86-88 → 2.0 → Good
• 83-85 → 2.25
• 80-82 → 2.50 → Satisfactory
• 77-79 → 2.75
• 74-76 → 3.0 → Passing
• 71-73 → 4.0 → Conditional Failure
• 00-70 → 5.0 → Failure

Your rating for every activity/output will be computed according to its corresponding percentage of the final grade: class participation (30%); midterm and final examinations (30%); and the final research paper (40%).

Here’s to a semester of learning and fun.

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Header image is a detail from Ilja Jefimowitsch Repin’s “Saporoschzen schreiben dem türkischen Sultan einen Brief,” posted on Wikimedia.