THEME 3:

THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS. THE FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE.

LANGUAGE IN USE. THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING.

OUTLINE.

1. INTRODUCTION.

2. THE FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE.

2.1. Communication means.
2.1.1. Speech.
2.1.2. Visual mode.
2.1.3. Tactile communication.
2.1.4. Olfatory, gustative mode.
2.2. Communication factors.
2.2.1. Addresser.
2.2.2. Addressee.
2.2.3. Message.
2.2.4. Code.
2.2.5. Contact.
2.2.6. Context.
3. THE FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE.
3.1. Malinoski.
3.2. Bühler.
3.3. Roman Jakobson.
3.3.1. The expressive function.
3.3.2. The conative function.
3.3.3. The poetic function.
3.3.4. The metalinguistic function.
3.3.5. The phatic function.
3.3.6. The referential function.
3.4. Halliday’s model.
3.4.1. The ideational function.
3.4.2. The interpersonal function.
3.4.3. The textual function.
4. LANGUAGE IN USE.
4.1. Usage vs. use.
4.2. Discourse analysis.
5. THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING.
5.1. Negotiation of meaning.
5.1.1. Feedback.
5.1.2. Foreigner Talk.
5.1.3. Repair.
5.2. Grice’s Cooperative principle.
5.3. Turn-taking procedures.
5.4. Adjacency pairs.

6. CONCLUSION.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

1
1. INTRODUCTION.

In this theme I am going to analyze the various aspects intervening in the communication
process. This matter has been widely discussed over time. Linguists see the communication
process from different standpoints.
I will summarize the most relevant approaches to the communication process taking into account
the fact that the current legislation in Spain supports a particular viewpoint: the communicative
approach and the task-based functions.
In order for me to develop this theme, first I am going to establish what we can understand by
communication process. Linked to this, I am going to refer to the language functions and the
concepts of “language in use” and “negotiation of meaning”. Eventually, it all will lead to a
conclusion.

2. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS.

Communication is defined as “the exchange and negotiation of information between at least two
individuals through the use of verbal and non-verbal symbols, oral and written, and production
and comprehension processes”. (Halliday).
From this definition we may conclude that the main features of the communication process are
as follows: First, it is a form of social interaction, and therefore it is normally acquired and
used in such an interaction. Secondly, it always has a purpose that is to communicate. Thirdly,
it involves a high degree of unpredictability and creativity, and therefore, a successful and
authentic communication should involve a reduction of uncertainty on behalf of the participants.
Finally, the communication process involves both verbal and non-verbal language, such as
gestures or body language (kinesics) and physical distance between people when talking to each
other as well as their postures (proxemics).

2.1. Communication means.

When we think about the communication process, we usually think about language. However,
language is just one means of communication. All the definitions given above refer to the
exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of symbols, but not only
linguistic symbols. This takes us to semiotics, a field which investigates the structure of all
possible sign systems and which deals with human communication in all its modes: sound, sight,
touch, smell and taste.

2.1.1. The structured use of the auditory-vocal channel results in the primary manifestation of
language: speech. But non-linguistic uses of the vocal tract are also possible: psychological
reflexes, such as coughing and snoring; musical effects, such as whistling; and the
communication of identity, in the form of voice quality.

2.1.2. The visual mode is used for a variety of purposes, some linguistic, some not. The primary
way in which visual effects have linguistic use is in the various sign languages used by deaf
people. Then, we have the development of the written language and further writing-based codes,
such as traffic lights, semaphores and Morse code, which could be included here.

2.1.3. Tactile communication has a very limited linguistic function, apart from the use of the
Braille alphabet. Its main uses are non-linguistic, in the form of the various ways in which bodily
contact and physical distance may carry a meaning.

2
2.1.4. The communication using the visual and tactile mode is often referred to as “non-verbal
communication”, or “body language”. There seems to be little role for the olfactory and
gustatory modes in human communication. However, they play an important part in our
reception of information about the outside world.

2.2. Communication factors.

One of the most productive models of the process of communication was created by Roman
Jakobson. He considers that all acts of communication, written or oral, are contingent on six
constituent elements: the addresser, the addressee. the message, the code, the contact or channel
and the context.

2.2.1. Addresser: It is the person transmitting or sending a message.

2.2.2. Addressee: It is the person or group of people to whom the message is addressed.

2.2.3. Message. It is the meaning or content which is transmitted.

2.2.4. Code or language: It is the set of signs whose combinations and rules are known by both
the addresser and the addressee.

2.2.5. Contact or channel: It is the means through which the information is transmitted.

2.2.6. Context: It is the situation where the communication appears. It will determine the register
to be used: field, mode and tenor.

3. THE FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE.

The most logical answer to the question “Why do we use language?” It could be “to
communicate ideas”, as this is probably the most widely recognised function of language. But it
would be wrong to think of it as the only way in which we use language. People do different
things with their language; by using it, they expect to achieve a large number of different aims
and purposes. Below, we can examine the way a number of scholars have attempted to classify
and list these functions.

3.1. Malinowski

He classified the functions of language into the two broad categories of pragmatic and magical.
As an anthropologist, he was interested in the practical or pragmatic uses of language on the one
hand, and on the other hand in the ritual or magical uses of language associated with ceremonial
or religious activities in the culture.

3.2. Bühler

He was concerned with the functions of language from the standpoint of the individual. His
classification had three types of functions: expressive language, conative language and
representational language. The expressive language is orientated towards the self, the conative
language towards the addressee, and the representational language towards the rest of the
reality. Bühler was applying a conceptual framework inherited from Plato: the distinction

3
between first, second and third person- and he recognised three functions according to their
orientation to one or other of the three persons.

3.3. Roman Jakobson’s model.

Bühler’s scheme was adopted by the Prague School and later extended by Roman Jakobson,
who, on the basis of the six factors of his own model of communication, distinguished six
different functions of language:

3.3.1. Expressive or emotive function. It is related to the addresser and where language is used
to express the speaker’s feelings. It includes expressions of pain, anger, affection, etc. Swear
words or expletives are probably the commonest expressive expressions, although, at a more
sophisticated level, there are many literary devices of grammar and vocabulary which can
convey the writer’s feelings.

3.3.2. Conative function. It is related to the addressee and where language is used to get the
addressee to do what the speaker wants. It tries to produce an answer. It could be, for instance, a
command.

3.3.3. Poetic function. It is related to the message itself and where the primary orientation is
towards the form of the message. The form of the message becomes more important than the
meaning. For instance, literature and poetry. The focus is on the message “for its own sake”.

3.3.4. Metalinguistic function. It is related to the code and where language is used to refer to
itself.

3.3.5. Phatic function. It is related to the contact or channel and where language is used to
establish and maintain personal relationships. The use of phrases such as “pleased to meet you”
and ritual exchanges about health and the weather do not communicate ideas and no factual
content is involved. It is a mechanism to keep communication going.

3.3.6. Referential function. It is related to the context and where language is used to convey
information about the world around us. It transmits information about anything but the language
itself.

3.4. Halliday’s model.

The British linguist Michael Halliday believes language exists to fulfil certain human needs. His
model of language is called functional or systemic grammar. The development of this grammar
was a reaction to more abstract approaches associated with Chomsky’s generative grammar.
Halliday sees language as a social and cultural phenomenon, whereas Chomsky sees it as a
biological one. Halliday identifies three principal functions of language or macro-functions:

3.4.1. The ideational function, with which we represent the world to ourselves.

3.4.2. The interpersonal function, by which we represent ourselves to other people.

3.4.3. The textual function. This function emphasizes language as an instrument of

communication with which we construct sentences coherently and cohesively. We use language
to form texts, whether spoken or written.

4
4. LANGUAGE IN USE.

In order to connect some ideas expressed above with the point we are going to develop now, we
have to remind ourselves that language is the most frequently used and most highly developed
form of human communication we possess. An act of communication is basically the
transmission of information of some kind -a message- from a source to a receiver. In the case of
language, both source and receiver are human and the message is transmitted vocally, through
the air, or graphically, by marks on a surface. Language is therefore one form of communication.

4.1. Language usage vs. language use.

The learning of a language involves acquiring the ability to compose correct sentences. To
produce sentences which are correct is to manifest our knowledge of English as a system, to
manifest our knowledge of language usage. However this is not enough; in real life, in real
communication, we use the system not to show our knowledge of it but to achieve a
communicative purpose: this is called by Widdowson ‘to produce instances of language use’;
we do not only manifest the abstract system of the language, we show this knowledge by
engaging in meaningful communicative behaviour.
The distinction between “usage” and “use” is related to Saussure’s distinction between “lange”
and “parole” and Chomsky’s similar distinction between “competence” and “performance”.
The learning of a language involves acquiring the ability to compose correct sentences. That is
one aspect of the matter. But it also involves acquiring an understanding of which sentences, or
parts of sentences, are appropriate in a particular context. Dell Hymes thought that Chomsky had
missed out some very important information: the rules of use. Hymes, then, said that
competence by itself is not enough to explain a native speaker’s knowledge, and he replaced it
with his own concept of communicative competence. Hymes distinguished four aspects of this
competence: systematic potential, appropriacy, occurrence and feasibility.
A language would be a set of tools that people use in order to carry out different tasks. The
concept of tasks is included as such in the legislation currently in force in Spain LOGSE. In the
area of foreign languages, students should be able to perform a series of communicative tasks at
the end of each school stage.
Following that thread, Hymes distinguishes four aspects of Communicative Competence:
-Systematic potential: we study if an utterance is possible according to the forms of expression
available in a particular language.
-Appropriacy: we study which language is appropriate in a given context.
-Occurrence: it means that a native speaker knows how often a particular expression occurs in
L1, and acts accordingly.
-Feasibility: a native speaker knows whether an utterance is possible or not in a language,
beyond grammar-rule considerations.
Consequently, language in use must be a priority in any L2 classroom. Teachers must keep
students on the right track as far as language use is concerned.
When speaking about language in use, it is important to bear in mind that someone knowing a
language knows more than how to understand, speak, read and write sentences. He also knows
how sentences are used to communicative effect; he also acquires competence as to when to
speak, when not to, and as to what to talk about, with whom, when, where and in what manner.
The acquisition of such competence is, of course, produced by social experience and
interaction.
Attention to the social dimension is thus not restricted to occasions on which social factors seem
to interfere with or restrict the grammatical. The engagement of language in social life has a
positive, productive aspect. There are rules of use without which the rules of grammar would be

5
useless. Just as rules of syntax can control aspects of phonology, and just as semantic rules
control aspects of syntax, so rules of speech acts enter as a controlling factor for linguistic form
as a whole.

4.2. Discourse analysis.

Once we accept the need to use language as communication, we can no longer think of it in
terms only of sentences. This has very important consequences in teaching practice, as we must
consider the nature of discourse and how best to teach it. Instead of wanting our students to
achieve a grammatical competence, a knowledge of sentences, we should aim at their achieving
communicative competence, as language does not occur in stray words or sentences but in
connected discourse.
If we are to teach language in use, we have to shift our attention from sentences in isolation to
the manner in which they combine in text on the one hand, and to the manner in which they are
used to perform communicative acts in discourse on the other.

5. THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING.

When learners of a foreign or second language interact with native speakers or other learners,
they often experience considerable difficulty in communicating. This leads to substantial
interactional efforts by the conversational partners to secure mutual understanding.

5.1. Negotiation of meaning

It is what speakers do in conversation in order to achieve successful communication. For

conversation to progress naturally and for speakers to be able to understand each other it may be
necessary for them to use feedback, foreigner talk, and repair.

5.1.1. Feedback is any information that provides information on the result of behaviour to
indicate that they understand or they do not understand, or that they want the conversation to
continue. In discourse analysis, feedback given while someone is speaking is called back
channelling, for example comments such as uh, yeah, really, smiles, headshakes, and grunts that
indicate success or failure in communication.

5.1.2. Foreigner talk is the type of speech often used by native speakers of a language when
speaking to foreigners who are not proficient in the language, trying to help them to express their
ideas.

5.1.3. Repair is, in conversational analysis, a term to describe the ways in which errors or
misunderstandings are corrected by speakers or others: I bought a, uhm…..what do you call it..a
floor polisher. (self-repair); A: How long you spend? B: Hmm? A: How long did you spend
there?(other repair).

5.2. Grice’s Cooperative principle.

It is a principle that assumes that the people involved in a conversation make the contributions
required for the purpose of the talk in which they are engaged. So they follow a series of
conversational conventions called “maxims” which Grice classified as quantity, quality,
relevance and manner.
-Maxim of quantity: give as much information as is needed.

6
-Maxim of quality: speak truthfully.
-Maxim of relevance: say things that are relevant.
-Maxim of manner: say things clearly and briefly.

5.3. Turn-taking procedures.

The distribution of talk among the participants in a conversation is governed by turn-taking

norms. These rules may differ from one community to another and depend on the type of speech
event: raising hand, the chairman. They are generally negotiated in conversations.

5.4. Adjacency pairs.

Adjacency pairs are another part of the structure of conversation and are studied in
conversational analysis. An adjacency pair is a sequence of two related utterances by two
different speakers. The second utterance is always a response to the first. In the following
example, speaker A makes a complaint, and speaker B replies with a denial. A: You left the light
on. B: It wasn’t me!
The sequence of complaint- denial is an adjacency pair. Other examples of adjacency pairs are:
greeting- greeting, question- answer, invitation- acceptance/ non-acceptance, offer-
acceptance/non-acceptance, complaint- apology.

6. CONCLUSION.

To sum up, I think the relevance of unit is that all of the topics mentioned in it should be
included in our classroom practice. Our students should be aware of the different functions that
can be expressed, for instance, by just one utterance and they should also take into account other
elements of communication such as negotiation of meaning and language in use.

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Some of the books I have checked to elaborate this unit, all of them published in the 2nd half of
the 20th century, are the following:
WIDDOWSON, H.G. Teaching Language as Communication. OUP. 1985.
RICHARDS, J.C. Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied linguistics, Longman, 1992.
HARMER, J. The Practice of English Language Teaching. Longman 1991.
MACKEY, W.F. Language Teaching Analysis. Longman 1965.