Of course they focus on different aspects of communication.

當然它們都關注於傳播學的不同面相

Some scholars want to understand the workings of the media infrastructure for instance,

舉例來說，有些學者想要了解媒體周邊設施的運作原理

others focus on the social importance of communication, or

其他的專注於傳播的社會重要性，或

political communication effects or one of many alternative perspectives.

政治傳播效應或眾多面相的其中之一

It’s not surprising that communication is studied by so many from so many angles.

傳播現象被許多人從很多角度研究並不令人意外

It fills our lives & society, we spend tremendous amounts of time communicating ideas,

它充斥於我們的生活和社會當中，我們花非常多的時間來溝通想法

sharing thoughts, absorbing new information, being entertained or persuaded somehow.

分享想法、吸收新資訊，被娛樂或者被說服等等

Communication, simply put, enables us to function as social, cultural and political animals.

傳撥，簡單來說，就是能夠讓我們進行社交、文化和政治動物的功能

It makes sense that these different perspectives have led to a wide spectrum

所以這些不同的面相導致了

of scientific thought on the topic of communication.

對傳撥這個主題有廣泛的科學研究是有道理的

In this course we’ll go out and explore some of them and try to find our way

這堂課中我們將會出去探索這些領域的其中一部分且試著在這個

in this wild jumble of theories, models and concepts.

理論、模型和概念的狂野叢林中理出一條自己的路

Perhaps a good starting point therefore is to begin with a brief definition

也許從對「理論、模型和概念」的簡短定義出發

of ‘theory’, ‘model’, and ‘concept’.

是個好的起始點

A concept is a word or set of words that represents an idea.

概念就是表達一個想法的一個字或一組字

It’s of course important to clearly define the concepts we use.

當然，清楚定義我們所使用的概念是很重要的

Let’s take the concept of ‘identity’ for instance.

舉「身分」這個詞的定義來說

It’s easy to imagine two or more different interpretations

很容易想像兩個或更多不同關於

about what constitutes an identity

「身分」這個詞包含的解釋

Is it how one views oneself, or perhaps we should also take into consideration

它的概念是一個人如何看待他自己或者也許我們應該也把

how ones identity is perceived by others.

其他人如何看待那一個人給考慮進去

Or is that particular concept better described perhaps with the word ‘image’?

或者有沒有特定的概念能夠把像是「影像」這個字詮釋的更好？

Often scientists squabble over definitions, and rightly so,

科學家常常在定義上爭論不休，但這也是理所當然的

Often scientists squabble over definitions, and rightly so,

科學家常常在定義上爭論不休，但這也是理所當然的

because it should be clear what we talk about.

因為這本該清楚知道我們在談論的對象是什麼

These discussions sometimes never stop, and why would they?

這些討論有時從不休止，但為什麼要停止呢？

Different people give different meanings to a word,

不同的人對於一個字會有不同的釋義

and who can say which are the ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ definitions?

且誰能夠對於哪個定義給上「對」、「錯」的標籤呢？

At most we can speak about preferred or dominant definitions of concepts,

最多我們能夠說的就是有某個對於蓋念上我們偏好或者主流的定義

but even these usually change over time and from context to context.

但即使如此，這些定義隨著時間和文章脈絡也時常的改變

In this course I will often stop to define certain key concepts.

這堂課中我會時常停下來定義特定的關鍵概念

I would like to stipulate that these definitions are unfortunately

我喜歡明確規範這些定義

more often than not quite disputed.

不幸地更常不會引起爭論

If you are following this MOOC and you had some previous classes in communication

如果你有在跟著這個線上課程學習且你之前有上過一些傳播的課

or perhaps you have worked in communication or read books or articles about the topic

或者也許你在傳播業工作或讀到關於這個主題的書或文章

don’t be surprised when I will define things slightly different than you have learned.

當我對事物的定義和你學的有些不同時別驚訝

For instance, when I said that media are every channel that we use to communicate,

舉例而言，當我說媒體就是我們溝通的每一個管道

so this would include the voice, it’s very possible that you have learned previously

所以也會包含聲音，很有可能你之前學過的

that only technical channels are considered media, which would exclude the voice.

就只有科技的渠道會被稱作媒體，也就是這的定義將聲音排除在媒體的範疇之外

Because both definitions, and many more, exist in the scientific field.

因為這兩個定義，還有其他的，都存在這個科學的領域中

To make things more difficult, scientists, like many professionals,

科學家，跟許多專家一樣，喜歡把事情弄得更複雜

sometimes give every day words a different meaning.

有時候會給日常生活中的字彙不同的含意

If I would ask a random person in the street the definition of the word ‘text’,

如果我在街上隨機問一個人「簡訊」的定義

most will agree that a ‘text’ is a message made up out of some type of letters.

大部分人會同意「簡訊」是一個由一些類型的字元組成的訊息

Communication scientists however regard each carrier of communication as a text.

總之傳播科學家將每個傳播的載具視為文字

So a movie, a song, a painting, they‘re all ‘texts’ in our eyes, ready to be ‘read’ by an audience.

所以一部電影、一首歌、一幅畫，它們在我們的眼裡都是「文字」，準備好被一位觀眾「閱讀」