Television communication event

One of our first assignments for class was to use a television show or movie to describe a communication event. We had to pay particular attention to the barriers and listening skills and then identify what they were and if this was a negative or positive example of communication.

I chose a scene from Fawlty Towers as my communication event. Using the communication model we were shown in class I have identified some of the barriers in this scene that affected clear communication. I have also added the dialogue of the scene from Fawlty Towers and a link to the clip so you can get a better idea of what happened.

Fawlty Towers: Touch of Class

http://youtube.com/watch?v=o8DngrgIpS0

Basil Fawlty: Ah, Manuel? There is too much butter on those trays.
Manuel: Que? (What?)
Basil Fawlty: [speaking slowly] there is too much butter on those trays.
Manuel: Ah, no senor. No "on those trays"... [Counting the trays]
Manuel: "uno, dos, tres" (1, 2, 3).

Channel: Speaking

Sender: Basil Fawlty.

Idea: He wants to communicate to the waiter that he has too much butter on the trays he is carrying.

Transmission: Basil says “Ah, Manuel? There is too much butter on those trays”.

Receiver: Manuel.

Idea: Manuel thinks Basil is trying to say uno, dos, tres (1, 2, 3) in Spanish.

Feedback: Manuel replies to Basil saying “: Ah, no senor. No "on those trays"... [Counting the trays] "uno, dos, tres".

Barriers: Manuel doesn’t speak English very well so he has misinterpreted what Basil is trying to tell him and has decoded the message as Basil is trying to say uno, dos, tres (1, 2, 3) in Spanish. On the other hand if you have watched the program before you will know that Basil is not very patient with Manuel and doesn’t think to speak slowly when talking to Manuel. It is also interesting to note that Basil’s Spanish is not good and his guest house that he owns is in Spain!

This small example of communication shows how the barrier of language can cause the receivers idea to be misunderstood and vise versa.

I have had the experience of teaching English in a foreign country and have found that not speaking the same language can result in a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding. It is important that when you speak to people who don’t speak the same language you need to make sure they understand what you are saying.