Reference no: EM132454044

Paragraph Essay

Connecting Theories to Communication Problems

The time and effort you put into this assignment will translate into a better start on your group project. You and your group members will decide who identified the most pressing communication problem, and will then develop an entire group lesson focused on solving that problem.

The paper should be a page in double-spaced 12-pt Times New Roman font.

Guideline -

1. Pick one communication theory you are interested in (below or otherwise). Define it. Cite one source.
2. Explain why it is part of the larger cluster (Interpersonal, Mass/Group, Language/Linguistic).
3. Give an example of a communication problem (not a hypothetical event, but a real-life communication problem happening today) demonstrating the theory. Examples...

• Groupthink affecting today's political primary voters.
• Texting hurting personal relationships (Models).
• Israel and Palestine discussing the conflict in very different ways (Semiotic/Social Constructionism).

For this essay, you will tackle a problem in communication. The problem you choose should:

1. Be specific - Don't talk about corporations in general-talk about how BP is coping with rebuilding its public image after the Gulf oil spill. Don't just say cell phones are hurting interpersonal communication; dig into a specific aspect of how.
2. Be current - This needs to be something going on in the world right now. You have to cite at least one news article and discuss it in detail. You can find news articles athttps://www.google.com/news/
3. Be relevant - You need to pick a topic that you care about-something that you have some interest in or expertise about, and can argue for well.
4. Deal with communication - That should be obvious, given the title of the assignment... but you'd be surprised. Don't concentrate on the fact that BP is losing money; concentrate on their abysmal public reputation.

Theory examples...

• Interpersonal Communication:
  • Heuristics - Common Biases and Errors
  • Attribution Theory
  • Self-fulfilling prophecy (Confirmatory hypothesis testing, Belief perseverance)
  • Argumentation Theory
  • Cognitive Dissonance
  • Communication Accommodation
  • Models of Communication
  • Selective perception
• Mass/Group Communication:
  • Agenda-setting Theory
  • Groupthink
  • Framing
  • Priming
  • Spiral of Silence
  • Roles and Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment
  • Norms and Hawthorn effect
  • Culture, Hofstede's cultural dimension theory, and The Geography of Thought (Nisbett, 2013)
  • Social Facilitation (Michaels et al, 1982)
  • Social Loafing - Ringelmann effect (Ingham, 1974; Latane, Williams, & Harkins, 1979)
  • Classical Rhetorical Theory
• Language Theories:
  • Semiotics
  • Linguistic Relativity (Sapir-Whorf)
  • Social Constructionism