COMMUNICATION AS A DISCIPLINE !

Communication as a Discipline

Stephanie Beas

Writing 2 Paper #2

University of California, Santa Barbara

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Every academic discipline follows a set of guidelines or conventions to pursue a

profound learning experience. These practices can independently define courses because they are

essential to the fields discipline. As a Pre-Communication major, I wanted to identify the

literacy practices in my prerequisite class and discover a pattern among my observations.

Communication 88 is designed to introduce research methods that are vital in the Social Science

& Media Studies. By gathering empirical data, interviewing my teaching assistant, and analyzing

journal articles, I became aware that the instructors act as role models for the students to apply to

their communication skills and, most importantly, to become better consumers of the scientific

knowledge. Through the conventions of a transactional environment, a versatile discipline, and a

theoretical perspective, the Communication field is interested in supporting original and

innovative work by academic researchers.

For a message to be effective among a dyad or a group of people, the communication

must be transactional, meaning there is a reciprocal process where one either acknowledges or

exchanges the feedback. In this same way, a Communication course must entail an educative

engagement between the professor and the students. To achieve this goal, the professor is

responsible to keep the class attentive by asking for the students input on certain topics. In

looking at the interview with my teaching assistant, It is important for a Communication course

to have open discussions or keep in touch with the level of understanding the students are

grasping from the information, otherwise the learning experience is redundant (Suh, 2017, May

2). Many of the terminology overlaps with other areas that are subsidiary to the courses interest;

therefore, the professor is conscious to maintain clarity and to evaluate the students

comprehension skills. The structure of the professors lectures is driven to provide comfort for
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the audience to openly make comments, all in a self-respected manner. Thus, to attain a

transactional environment, the professors remove their authoritative tone and replace it with a

sympathetic language to convey a warm interaction with their students. The value of an effective

interaction among another individual is further depicted in the research by Hiew, Halford, Van de

Vijver, & Liu (2016) that examined the correlation between culture and relationship satisfaction.

A direct and expressive communication will lead to higher intimacy among couples because of

the interchangeable disclosure between each partner (Hiew et al., 2016). In this way, the

Communication field not only reflects but studies how vital it is to enhance a transactional

environment in the society.

A speaker requires a versatile discipline to keep the audiences attention and thus lead to

effective responses. Because of this important consideration, a Communication course functions

as a literacy training ground to prepare students for academic success. In observing my

professors lecture practices, she incorporates lots of variety in her examples to profoundly

explain a concept because communication applies to a diverse range of interactions that are face-

to-face or virtual. By displaying videos from a popular show or movie scene, pictures of articles

about a study, or sharing personal experiences about her family member(s), the professor utilizes

common examples to gain the students interest throughout the slides presentation. Commenting

more on this technique, my teaching assistant agrees that personal experiences are simply [used]

to make possible connections with the audience, something others could relate to, and to help

them remember the concepts when it comes to studying (Suh, Personal Interview, 2017, May 2).

From intercultural, interpersonal, organizational, mass, public, or other contexts, the

Communication field fulfills a variety of interest for any scholarly individual who is interested in
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research. Because there is a broad set of areas defined in communication, students must learn to

adapt these different forms into their everyday life. A versatile discipline allows academic

scholars to conceptualize and operationalize numerous variables that underlie in the

Communication study.

Apart from teaching students to become public-speaking experts, the Communication

major also comprises theoretical perspectives in secondary research. Because the discipline has

become more intellectual with scientific research, the interest area focuses on social interactions,

ranging from the family to the workplace. In looking at either the quantitative or qualitative

method, every project observes different variables that socially supports prior theories and that

constantly reveals the formation of new hypotheses. It is important to maintain objectivity in

research because Science is systematic and requires rigorous observations in the communication

field; however, it is open to new discoveries and I feel like that is what makes research so

fascinating! (Suh, Personal Interview, 2017, May 2). In looking at the empirical studies of

Communication and Relationship Satisfaction in Chinese, Western, and Intercultural Chinese

Western couples and The Validity of Retrospectively Reported Conflict Interactions in

Couples, both examined literature reviews from past studies about interpersonal relationships to

hypothesize their research questions on the impact of communication and to elaborate on other

dependent variables. By developing a suitable method, for example, an experiment and/or a

survey, the process of conceptualizing the types of measurements is key to the results of a study.

Researchers must then develop an academic paper to support and heighten the credibility in their

arguments with numerical data, tables, or graphs. In addition, it is important for the colleagues to

employ minimal objectivity to discover other uncontrolled variables. Overall, the discipline of
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communication requires academic scholars to integrate theoretical perspectives in every level of

research analysis on social interaction.

As you can see, these three independent conventions connect with each other as a chain

network because one cannot function without the support of the other. Because the

Communication major became more science-oriented, students can encounter a wide range of

opportunities in research projects to ultimately strengthen their critical and creative thinking

skills. This scholarly field is observant of the interactions between other individuals and the

amount of influence verbal and nonverbal communication has on others. Whether operating in

interpersonal, intercultural, organizational, mass, public, or other contexts, the study of

communication integrates a transactional environment, a versatile discipline, and a theoretical

perspective for students to apply to their social surroundings.

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References

Backer-Fulghum, L., & Sanford, K. (2015). The validity of retrospectively reported

conflict interactions in couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 29(2), 253-262.

Hiew, D. N., Halford, W. K., Van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Liu, S. (2016). Communication

and relationship satisfaction in chinese, western, and intercultural Chinese

Western couples. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(2), 193-202.

Suh, Jennifer. Personal interview. 2 May 2017