Importance of Language Symbols in Mass Communication

Abstract：Language symbols fall into two categories： audible language and inaudible language； both of them are necessities in the process of mass communication. During the process， any deviations in languages， audible or inaudible， will lead to mistakes in communication， affect the communication effect or even give rise to malfunction of communication. Scientific and reasonable understanding of the importance of language symbols in mass communication is an approach to fully understand the communication process and communication means， and to improve the communication efficiency. Only through the right understanding of the importance of language symbols in mass communication， can we master correctly the communication process， improve communication efficiency， enhance the communication capability of communicators and grow to be the most outstanding communication professionals.

Key Words： Language symbols； Mass communication

中图分类号：G642 文献标识码：C DOI：10.3969/j.issn.1672-8181.2013.15.099

1 Introduction

Mass communication is an information communication means， a process of delivering information and knowledge to most members of society. As society develops， more and more media come into being and more communication means pop up. The Symbol is the most important medium for mass communication and the language is the most fundamental communication means for mass communication.

The Symbol is an important part in modern communication studies which argues that the information communication activities should be done through symbols. Symbols are external expressions of information with which the information can be communicated. In the process of human communication， the most convenient and universal tool is the language symbol. As Lenin put it， language is an important communication tool for human beings. Language is not only the most preliminary and important medium but also the most fundamental one.

Against the aforementioned social and academic backgrounds， the writer of this paper wishes to probe into the relationship among mass communication， symbols， and language symbols as well as their importance.

This paper attempts， through discussion on what mass communication is， to help readers understand the definition， features and functions of mass communication， and reveals an important notion that the mass communication involves not only newspapers， journals， electronic media （radio broadcasting， movies， TV and network） but also people-to-people communication which is an important field in social life.

The elaboration on language symbols can help us understand the division and functions of language symbols and their important roles in mass communication. In today’s world where emerging media develop rapidly， people often neglect the role of he language symbol in mass communication， but the symbol serve as an important element in mass communication. The exchange and communication should be bilateral， and the most efficient and convenient way in communications between language senders and recipients is language. Language symbols consist of audible ones and inaudible ones； this paper focuses on the elaboration of the functions and features of language symbols as well as their importance in mass communication. Later， it expounds on the employment of language symbols in facilitating people’s communication and exchanges in daily life.

2 Definition and Features of Mass Communication

The mass communication， as its name reveals， has three layers of meaning： the first is large-scaled communication institution； the second is mass-copied communication content； the third is the communication target in a large number. Therefore， the so-called mass communication refers to a process in which the media agencies mass-copy and quickly disseminate information to influence the mass. We are inclined to advocate Melvin Defleur’s definition： mass communication is a process in which professional communicators utilize mechanical media to send messages in a wide， rapid， continued manner with a purpose of sharing the meaning sent by communicators among many recipients with diversified backgrounds and influencing them in various ways. Meanwhile， what we can not afford to neglect is the basic communications and exchanges among people in social life， because they serve as the foundation of mass communication. Only through bilateral exchanges， can the information be spread in a wide scope.

The reference shows that mass communication is one of the most developed businesses with a sustained growth. Mass communication has become an indispensable part in mankind communication or even people’s life. Compared with other communication forms， mass communication boasts the following features：

Communicators of mass communication are professional entities or individuals （e.g. in newspaper offices， radios broadcasting stations， TV stations， magazine offices）. “Individuals” are the separate persons we often mention in everyday life. So every person except professional communicators is a part of mass communication. “Professional communicators” are those who have received professional education， take communication as their career， collect， sort out and convey various types of information. They disseminate news， educational and entertainment information to the public through specialized media.

Communication Efficiency： Wide， rapid， continued and open communication. Hundreds of years ago， it took a long time to copy a document. Today， within a few seconds， the same task can be completed by a duplicator. The high-speed laser printing can duplicate books in tens of thousands of volumes very soon. The electronic media can break time and space limits to bring events to recipients at the right moment when they just take place. Besides its promptness and wide coverage， modern mass communication can spread information continuously. The newspaper day by day， magazines issue by issue and TV& Radio broadcasting programs on schedule are open to every person in society.

Recipient： large in number. Mass communication covers a wide range of issues， influences extensive aspects， and reaches a great number of recipients. Its scope and number can not be placed under control. Recipients are mixed. Its recipients vary greatly in terms of age， educational background， interest， tradition and race. Its recipients are scattered. They are scattered in different regions of the world， playing different roles and difficult to controlled. The recipients are anonymous. Communicators are open while recipients are secrete， which is difficult for communicators to fully understand the attitudes and demands of recipients.

3 Language Symbols

3.1 Definition of Symbol

As it is well known， the nature of mass communication is information flow. The information constitutes the basic materials for communication. Human communication focuses on information which is in constant flow. And the medium is required for the information flow from communicators to recipients； the medium is the symbol.

Symbols are ubiquitous in our life； people use them to undertake information communication with the external world. The ancient Roman thinker Augustine argued，” information is what can remind us of something and our impressions on it.” Such a definition only confused symbols with signs or signals. Later， British Philosopher Lock made his contribution to the recognition of symbols. He pointed out that symbols were “approaches to acquire and spread knowledge”. “If we want to spread ideas and take them down for our use， we have to create some symbols for our thoughts”. Semiotics is to “study people’s mind and the nature of symbols used to understand things and spread knowledge for others’ use”. Lock indentified the replacement role of languages and words as symbols in the thinking process and regarded them as basic approaches for knowledge spreading.

After him， many scholars made related elaborations and conclusions on semiotics. For instance， Lund Berger， an American socialist， believed “communication can be defined as the process of conveying meanings through symbols as the medium”. American philosopher Morris argued， “A symbol can represent something it refers to”. These are recognitions and definitions of symbols in theory.

As far as I am concerned， symbols are the abstract representation of other things. They can represent the existence of something and can also function as mental abstract notions. Symbols can serve as media between communicators and recipients， carrying information sent in two ways and take on sensible codes and coding systems like voices， images， gestures and facial expressions.

For example， at a railway crossroad， when people see the red light and hear the alarm， they know that a train will pass there soon. Thosesignals alert people and vehicles passing by that a train coming from the distance. Such a red light and alarms function as code conveying information. Another example is， in remote past， apes would climb to a big tree close by quickly after they noticed a danger. They would turn very nervous and give out short and anxious cries to alarm other apes to guard against the possible danger. Such nervous expressions and short but urgent cries are also an information code in communication.

To conclude， symbols are not only Pronominal but common in the whole society. Such commonness is deposited， enriched and improved in a certain society. In this process， symbols constitute the basis for social information communication， while the language symbols in particular are an intrinsic approach and carrier for human social communication.

3.2 Definition of Language Symbols

Language is the most important coding system in human society； it serves as the most important tool to help people to express， communicate， respond and exchange ideas. As we mentioned before， like symbols which are common in society， language also appear with the emergence of human society and take shape in the long process of people’s socialization. It is a coding system with voice and words as the material shell， vocabulary as the construction material and grammar as the inner structure rule.

Sapir， a well-known linguistician， once said， “ we can undoubtedly come to this conclusion： besides normally used language， all the other voluntary ways of conveying ideas should always undergo direct or indirect transfer of typical language symbols from mouth to ear or at least use real language symbols and the medium”. According to him， if audible languages are compared to commodities， inaudible languages will be currencies. Without commodities， currencies will be worthless； that is to say， without support of audible languages， inaudible languages will be meaningless. Therefore， audible languages are the most important and fundamental； it is their existence that makes other symbols become real symbols and meaningful codes.

Based on the above， language symbols include two types： audible ones and inaudible ones.

3.3 Features of Language Symbols

Languages of different countries in the world vary drastically from written words to pronunciation and to word meaning， but they hold some common features and traits：

1.The arbitrariness of Vocabulary Creation. As we mentioned above， language symbols are pronominal. Words and vocabulary are not directly and necessary related to meanings； the relationship between both sides is like one between the symbolizing and the symbolized. In practice， people coin new words to define objective realities and agree upon the definition， and later the common understanding and recognition become fixed. For instance， from the very beginning we named a flower as peony and another breed of flower as rose， agreed upon the names in use and later fixed the sayings without any changes. However， undoubtedly those names at the start were quite arbitrary.

2.Openness of Linguistic Vocabulary. Language is enriched along with people’s social practice. Every word in any language is not fixed totally； rather they are improved amid changes. People can coin limitless new words and meanings on the basis of the current words and things. For example， “fensi（vermicelli）” in Chinese means a kind of food made from bean or potato starch. But today “fensi” has a new meaning， referring to movie or star fans. It is the sound translation of “Fans” （meaning strong and feverish love in English）.

3.The socialization of language. The common feature of all languages in the world is its socialization. Language takes shape in society and serves as the medium for people’s interaction. Therefore， it sustains the basic relationship among social members， facilitates their interactions and helps them to forge ties and set up society. To some extent， the socialization of language is also reflected by its regional affiliation. For example， the North Dialect Region takes the Yellow River valley as the center and covers the northwest China， Yangtze River valley and Southwest provinces； Wu Dialect Region includes Shanghai， Southeast Jiangsu Province and most part of Zhejiang Province. The dwellers in North Dialect Region and Wu Dialect Region have lived in different regions respectively， undertaken cultural， political and economic activities， and developed different social modes with language as their communication tool.

4 Importance of Language Symbols in Mass Communication

4.1 Language Symbols in Mass Communication

As we discussed earlier， language is the most important symbolic system in human society. It is a prominent tool for people to express， communicate， respond and exchange ideas. The emergence of language is to serve the public in communication and exchanges. The language symbols， used by communicators in mass communication， are a carrier for mass communication. Without language symbols， mass communication can not take place.

Mass communication and language symbols are complementing each other and form an integrated whole. The latter is the only approach for communicators to spread information； without language symbol communicators， the information can not be spread. Communicators are the carrier of language symbols； without them the communication can not take place and language symbols can not come into existence. Therefore， the two are complementary and inseparable to each other and constitute a whole.

The following part is dedicated to detailed elaboration on the language symbols in mass communication.

4.2 Definition and Importance of Audible Language Symbols

The audible language is a social phenomenon， the most important communication tool for human society， a tool for thinking and information spreading and a carrier for mankind to preserve their recognition achievements. Anybody mastering the language will use it to think. The most important symbolic system is the audible language which is the most pivotal tool for communication and exchanges as well as the perfect and most convenient way for expression. It has the following functions：

municative Function. Language， since its birth， serves society as a communicative tool. In society， audible language is the leading communicative tool. A person may not be able to write or read， but he can not afford the incapability of speaking and listening. As Stalin put it， “No single society， even the least developed one， in man’s history can exist without its own language”. Normally speaking， a person in his whole life spreads information through speaking and listening； that is to say， the audible language is easier， more concrete and more effective than the written language.

2.Thinking Function. Language is the storage for thinking achievements. Karl Marx said， “Language is the direct result of thinking”. Language is a tool to express the thought and a physical shell of the thought. Stalin said， “Whatever kind of thoughts in one’s mind and whenever those thought come out， they can only survive and develop on the basis of language materials like sentences and words”.

These two principles for hosts in their language use can also apply to daily life. In our daily speech， we have to keep the information we send rich and avoid pompous words and digressions； meanwhile， we should also heed the acceptability which can guarantee smooth and harmonious communications.

5 Conclusion

Mass communication is a discipline weighing heavily on theory. Many scholars who have made researches and explorations on it point out that mass communication is based on human communication which is in essence two-way communication of language. The two-way communication of language includes not only audible language but also inaudible language； it is in fact about language symbols we have discussed. The communication focuses on exchanges which should be done in some way， whether words or voices or body languages. All those are language symbols； therefore， language symbols play a significant role in mass communication.

Generally speaking， we often have a misunderstanding that mass communication is communication through media. As a matter of fact， activities like language communication and social interaction are part of mass communication. So， mass communication is not far from our study and life； we should be aware that every sentence we utter is an action of communication and therefore part of communication. We have to recognize the importance of language symbols and understand what language symbols are. We need to master the utilization rule of language symbols and strive to be a new-era media professional understanding， enjoying and excelling in communication.

References：

[1]Hu Zhengrong. Theories of Human Communication [M]. China Communication University Press， 2010.

[2]Li Bin. Introduction to Communication Theory （Extended Edition） [M]. Xinhua Press， 2003.

[3]Fu Cheng. A Practical Course in Anchoring [M]. Beijing Broadcasting Institute Press， 2001.

[4]Luo Li. A Practical Course in Anchoring [M]. China Communication University Press， 2003.

[5]Lu Xichu. Host Program Course [M]. China Broadcasting and Television Press， 2001.

[6]Yu Hong. Introduction to Program Host （Revised Edition） [M]. China Broadcasting and Television Press， 2004.

[7]Zhao Yuming， Wang Fushun. TV & Broadcasting Dictionary [M]. Beijing Broadcasting Institute Press， 1999.

[8]Guan Tong. Practical Course of Oral Expression Training for College Students [Z].

[9]W・Severin，・W・Tankard. Communication theories： origins， methods， and uses in the mass media [M]. Fujian People’s Press， 1985.

[10]Dan・McGuire et al. Communication Models for the Study of Mass Communications [Z].

[11]Chen Weixing. Ontological Reflection on Communication Studies in China [J]. Modern Communication， 2011，（2）.

[12]www. .cn[DB/OL].

作者简介：韦庠（1984-），男，汉族，陕西西安人，主要研究方向为播音与主持艺术（有声语言表达），成都大学艺术学院，四川成都 610106