ABSTRACT

The ninth edition of this textbook for hybrid introductory communication courses provides a balanced introduction to the fundamental theories and principles of communication.

The book explores communication in a variety of contexts—including interpersonal, group, organizational, and mass media—and provides students the theoretical knowledge and the research and critical thinking skills they’ll need to succeed in advanced communication courses and professions. The first section explores the history of communication study and explains basic perspectives used by scholars in the field. The second looks at how communicators decode and encode messages, while the third examines channels and contexts, from interpersonal to mass media. This edition devotes attention to how new technologies are changing the ways we think about communication, with revised and updated examples, and gives special attention to relevant critical theory. Two appendices give users the flexibility to tailor their courses to the interests and needs of their students, offering guidelines for preparing and presenting public presentations and giving examples of major research methods.

Thinking Through Communication is an ideal textbook for Introduction to Communication courses that aim to provide a comprehensive overview of the field.

Material for instructors containing PowerPoint slides, test questions, and an instructor’s manual is available at https://routledge.com/9780367857011.

part I|45 pages

Introduction to Communication

chapter Chapter 1|17 pages

The Communication Tradition

chapter Chapter 2|26 pages

Definitions, Models, and Perspectives

part II|92 pages

Listening and Language

chapter Chapter 3|27 pages

Decoding Messages: Perception and Listening

chapter Chapter 4|33 pages

Encoding Messages: Spoken Language

chapter Chapter 5|30 pages

Encoding Messages: Nonverbal Communication

part III|227 pages

Channels and Contexts

chapter Chapter 6|26 pages

Communicating in a Permanently Connected World

chapter Chapter 7|35 pages

Interpersonal Communication

chapter Chapter 8|32 pages

Group Communication

chapter Chapter 9|37 pages

Organizational Communication

chapter Chapter 10|27 pages

Public Communication

chapter Chapter 11|39 pages

Communicating to Mass Audiences

chapter Chapter 12|29 pages

Intercultural Communication