A method and an apparatus are provided for determining a downlink control indicator (DCI) at a receiver. A signal is received at the receiver. The receiver measures channel quality based on the received signal. Signals of physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) areas that correspond to each channel format indicator (CFI) in the received signal are decoded, if a measurement of the channel quality is not a configuration condition. The receiver obtains the CFI by decoding a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH) of the received signal, if the measurement of the channel quality is the configuration condition. The receiver determines the DCI based on the decoded signals.