A LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT*

[Bill Crocker, Foundation President] ^

 

The fiftieth conference of A.N.Z.A.A.S. will be an important event for all those interested in the study of communication in Australia. The program of the Communication Section (outlined elsewhere in this Newsletter) raises some very significant questions, including the status of communication as a distinct academic discipline. It seems highly appropriate, therefore, that at this particular time we should be launching the Australian Communication Association.

If A.C.A. is to most effectively serve its membership and the emerging discipline, however, the founding members need to clarify as much as possible what their central concerns are. This is particularly so since the term "communication" can have so many meanings.

If you look at all the topics for discussion at A.N.Z.A.A.S. you will see that they are all concerned with mass media and/or telecommunications. The "communication" referred to in that program means communication over significant distances and mediated by electronic gadgets. The formulation, dissemination and response to messages transmitted via the electronic media constitutes a field of study of vital importance in contemporary society. There are already a number of organizations and journals in Australia catering for people working in that field.

The Australian Communication Association is primarily concerned with another kind of communication. Some examples might help to establish parameters.

A.C.A. is concerned with the intereactions [sic] which take place when, for example:

- people talk together to achieve phatic communication;

- individuals talk to others (or to themselves) to solve problems or clarify attitudes;

- counsellors give guidance to those seeking it;

- professionals, such as physicians, priests, lawyers, and architects, consult with clients;

- managers and supervisors work with employees;

- teachers or lecturers interact with students;

[PAGE 1 ENDS]

- training supervisors and army instructors seek to modify the behaviour of their subordinates;

- administrators interpret institutional policies with staff;

- salesmen sell their products;

- groups and organizations meet to decide on policies and ways of implementing policies;

- employers and employees negotiate;

- arbitration commissioners conciliate;

- people read to others, tell stories or play language games;

- people deliver lectures, sermons and political speeches;

Events of this kind are often grouped into the three categories of person-to-person communication, group discussion and public speaking. It is characteristic of all of them that participants have eye contact and immediate direct feedback. There is no generally accepted term for all of them. We could refer to them all, however, as examples of interpersonal communication and distinguish them from the central concerns of the A.N.Z.A.A.S. program which might be called media communication.

Of course there is a great deal of overlap between these two cognate areas, It is sometimes difficult to decide whether a particular communication event should properly be classified as belonging to one or the other. For example, in some kinds of public speaking (such as a sermon in a cathedral) there may be little eye-contact or immediate, direct feedback whereas a telephone conversation (electronically mediated over a considerable distance) may be best classified as interpersonal communication.

It would be foolish at present to try to draw boundaries between these areas. The differences between them are largely ones of specialization and emphasis. But the differences are significant, especially in practical applications of the research in the two areas. It is important to study and teach both specialisations. Until the formation of A.C.A. there was no national organization or journal concerned centrally with interpersonal communication in Australia.

There seems to be a strong need for an association which will facilitate contacts among people whose professional concerns involve the study and applications of theories of interpersonal communication. This need has become obvious because:

1. There is growing recognition of the importance of interpersonal communication skills for the psychological, social, vocational and educational well-being of every individual and for our society as a whole. This new recognition has resulted, for example, in:
   
   1. A growing demand for courses. Many new degree or diploma courses in communication have been established in universities and CAE's. Demand for places in these courses is high. There has been a proliferation of short courses such as those at Q.I.T and the University of New England listed in the last Newsletter.

   
   [PAGE 2 ENDS]

   2. Increasing numbers in occupations requiring special interpersonal communication skills. These occupations include social workers, counsellors, business consultants, industrial conciliators and paramedical professionals. Businessmen and organizations are increasingly seeking professional advise on communication problems and seeking training for staff.
   3. Increased emphasis on the teaching of oracy in schools. Every English or Language Arts syllabus in Australia now gives a prominent place to interpersonal communication. Speaking and listening are now often found listed with reading, writing and arithmetic as the fundamental skills to be developed through formal education.
      
      
2. There is substantial amount of research in Australia on interpersonal communication. For example, there is the work of Brian Hansford and colleagues on Communication Apprehension; Milton Clark, Diana Davis and Ron Holt on Receptor Skills; Michael Dunkin on Communication of Teachers; Brian Cambourne, Don Novick and Don Waters on Children's Oral Language; W.P. and E.J. Robinson on Communication skills in Young Children' and many others.
3. There are significant overseas developments in the study of interpersonal communication in overseas countries which are influencing what is done in Australia. One example of this ins the rapidly expanding interest in communication in classrooms which has resulted in such books as Barnes's From Communication to Curriculum (in the U.K.) and Hurt, Scott and McCroskey's Communication in the Classroom (in the U.S.A.). Another example is the growing amount of research and teaching on intercultural communication.
   

For these reasons there is a widespread wish for an organization which will help those working in the field of interpersonal communication in Australia to establish their professional identity, to relate to colleagues, to become aware of developments, resources and opportunities, and to test and compare what they are doing in the light of what others are doing. Such an organization can also establish valuable links with associations representing people working in cognate fields, with regional associations such as the Communication Association of the Pacific and with associations in other parts of the world.

The formation of the Australian Communication Association would seem to be a timely event. Much hard work will be required, of course, if it is to fulfil its potential. We have an excellent national executive, however, and first-rate foundation members. The meeting at Raywood should consolidate the basic organizational work, generate activities and begin planning for our first major convention early in 1981 [Signed] Best wishes, Bill Crocker.

 

* First published in the Australian Communication Review 1(2) (March 1980): 1-3 and reprinted here in the original formatting.

First Upload 7th May, 2004. © Bill Crocker 2004

MLA Referencing information. Bill Crocker, 'A Letter From the President'. An ANZCA Dossier. Comp. Steven Maras. 2003. Date of access <http://www.anzca.net/dossier.htm>.

Back to ANZCA Dossier

Home | About | Contacts | Dossier | Conference | Members | Join | Calls for Papers | Search