Communication Theories

There is much discussion in the academic world of communication as to what actually constitutes communication.There are many different views on every communication theory, such as it being a dynamic and complex system of interactions rather than just skills of platform speaking.

According to an article(http://spot.colorado.edu/~craigr/Communication.htm) prepared for the Encyclopedia of Rhetoric by Robert T. Craig of the Department of Communication at the University of Colorado at Boulder,the author describes seven major traditions of communication theory that can be distinguished.

The oldest of these traditions is rhetoric, from which comes the idea that communication can be studied and cultivated as a practical art of discourse, or a sensible use of the language.
A second tradition is semiotics, which is the study of signs. This tradition views communication as a process that relies on signs and sign systems to mediate across the gaps between subjective viewpoints, or to act as a go-between among opposing individual perspectives.
The third tradition, phenomenological, relies on the notion that the basis for communication lies in our common existence with others in a shared world that may be constituted differently in experience. It views communication as the experience of self and other in dialogue.
Fourth, the cybernetic tradition, theorizes communication as information processing. It is one of the newest traditions of communication theory and it suggests that all complex systems, such as computers, telecommunication devices, and even cells, plants, and animals communicate because they process information.
Social psychology, a fifth tradition, views communication as expression, social interaction and influence. It suggests that communication always involves individuals with their distinctive personality traits, attitudes, beliefs, and emotions.
Sociocultural is a sixth tradition and it conceives communication as a symbolic process that produces and reproduces shared meanings, rituals, and social structures, or a reproduction of social order.
The final tradition of communication theory discussed was the critical tradition, which defines communication as discursive reflection, or as a reflexive, dialectical discourse essentially involved with the cultural and ideological aspects of power, oppression, and emancipation in society. The author concludes that these seven traditions do not cover the field of communication theory completely as ideas about communication are too numerous, diverse, and dynamically evolving to be captured entirely by any simple scheme.