Dr.

Hanif Suhairi Abu Bakar

Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP)
 Upon completion of this topic students
should be able to

Describe the functions of communication.

Identify in general the types/contexts/fields of

human communication.
The Outline
1. Functions of human communication
1. SOCIAL NEEDS
2. IDENTITY NEEDS
3. PRACTICAL PURPOSES
4. PHYSICAL NEEDS
5. OFFER HELPS
6. TO PLAY
2. Fields of human communication
1. SPIRITUAL
2. INTERPERSONAL
3. INTRAPERSONAL
4. SMALL GROUP
5. ORGANIZATIONAL
6. CORPORATE
7. PUBLIC
8. MASS
9. INTERCULTURAL
 WARNING ~ EXPLICIT
CONTENT
THE FOLLOWING PRESENTATION IS INTENDED
FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES BUT CONTAINS
MATERIAL THAT MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR
ALL VIEWERS.

VIEWER DISCRETION IS STRONGLY ADVISED.

The Evolution of Communication
FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE MAY
LEAD TO
 FUNCTIONS OF
HUMAN COMMUNICATION
The functions of human communication explain
the question why human need to communicate.

According to Adler & Towne (2003),

man communicate because of:
Social needs
Identity needs
Practical purposes
Physical needs
 Social Needs
Social needs is defined as the need to have
relationship with other people in order for us to:

be liked and be loved ..no matter who we are.

communication is also used to:

avoid others, to fight, to abandon relationship
and etc.
Human CANNOT, NOT communicate.
 Identity needs
Through communication, human learns about
his/her self identity.

All these were identified

through the way we interact with others.

What about those who have identity crisis?

Shes a man, hes a womanthats going to
end like this!
Those people who have high level of self-esteem
relatively tend to find friends who are ready to
approve their personality.

Those people with low self-esteem or who think

that they are useless, usually will find people who
treat them in a rough/rude manner.

Therefore,
We need to practice supportive communication in
order to change the imperfect feeling of others to
a more meaningful state of emotion.
 Practical Purposes
Practical purpose of communication is
communication with the aim to persuade people
(in order to change their attitudes and behaviour)

Examples:
Marketing communication is meant for
influencing people to buy a product which
sometimes does not required by them.

Negotiation used to resolve conflict (which

caused by a struggle for the same objective,
or to make the best choice when we face a
various number of sources.
 Communication skills (ability to deliver speech
and listen effectively) is a necessity for job
applicants during interview session #1 ,
interview session #2

Communication at work is to create better work

environment [if only it were that simple :)].

Political communication purpose is to influence

people for voting.
 Physical Needs
Several researches show that
human communication closely related to:

The health state of a person .

Human life span

Examples:
Mortality rate among divorced people (before they reach
70 year old) because of heart disease, cancer, and stroke
is Double compared to those who are married.
Triple because of hypertension,
Five fold because of committing suicide,
Seven fold because of liver disease), and
Ten fold because of tuberculosis.
In addition
 according to Jeseph A. Devito (1997),
people communicate to:

Offer HELP, examples:

- Therapist (helping someone to reduce their

physical or emotional pain).

- Teachers (helping students to understand

certain knowledge),

- Counselors (helping client to find the best

way to resolve problems faced by the client),

- Team members (help the team in problem

solving).
To PLAY

Communication is an act of play means we

communicate in order to have fun, trying to avoid
problems, or as a mean of relaxing.

Examples:

listening to jokes by a comedian or jokes shared

by others.

share something that can make the listeners feel

happy or escape from any form of pressure.
9 FIELDS OF HUMAN
COMMUNICATION
Spiritual Communication

refers to communication process with

GOD
praying, repenting , etc.
Intrapersonal
Communication
Intrapersonal communication is
the active internal involvement of
the individual in symbolic
processing of messages.
(Go to GAP to buy a pair of pants male v.s female)

The individual becomes his or her

own sender and receiver,
providing feedback to him or
herself in an ongoing internal
process.
Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication also

recognized as dyadic communication
which is the process almost done
through face to face in order to
establish, maintain, repair, or
deteriorate interpersonal relationship.
 Small Group
Communication
 Organizational Communication

Occurs within members in organization (internal

communication) or individuals or groups from outside
organization (external communication)

Internal communication happens in upward, downward

and horizontal communication

whether in a face-to-face manner or through channels

such as memos, letters, policy statement, brochures or
bulletins.
Public Communication

Communication occurred in large group

(more than 20 people)
with the aim
to share information or feelings
with the hope to change the values, attitude, and/or
behavior of the audience or to make the
receivers/audience agreed with the source/sender
pattern of thought.
How? Present Like Steve Jobs
Feedback is limited
 Mass Communication

A form of communication by which messages are created

by sender and distributed to mass audiences through
traditional media (smoke etc); printed media (books,
reports, magazine); or electronic media (radio, tv,
Internet etc).

Mass media is any medium used to transmit messages.

Feedback is very limited or none at all.

 Intercultural Communication
Communication between human with different culture (religion,
norms, rules and roles) background.
Lain padang lain belalang

Which will be disscussed further later during week 14

Before I ended this classplease
remember that you could submit
the assignment before semester
break (Last Week to submit is
number 9) you are going to submit
your written assignment and cd of
your presentation.

Also please remember:

 Lecture : Miss Zainab

UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA PERLIS

TITLE OF THE ASSIGNMENT

Group Name
School:
SEMESTER 1
ACADEMIC SESSION 2015/2016

No. Name Matric No. IC No. Contact

No.
THANK YOU