Was that crazy or what? Postman’s semantic environment model as a lens for understanding problematic communication

Abstract

Courses: Introduction to Communication Studies, Rhetorical/Media Criticism, Political Communication, Language and Social Interaction.

Objectives: The aims of this single-class activity are (1) to emphasize the complexities of communication competence; (2) to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate communication behaviors; and (3) to illustrate the connections between situational rules, norms, and context, and communication effectiveness.

Acknowledgments

My deepest thanks to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful suggestions and insightful comments on the manuscript.

ORCID

Justin D. Walton http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7245-0591