SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 1 DE 17.

UNIT 3. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS. FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE.

LANGUAGE IN USE. THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING.
For a broad introduction to the relationship of language to the concept of communication, the study will
survey the origins and emergence of language within human biological and cultural evolution in order to
understand the instrumental role of language for humankind. Upon this basis, human language and other non-
human systems of communication will be overviewed, and we will also consider the main characteristics involved
in the study of the communication process, such as its elements and the role of the human vocal tract. An
overview of approaches to the structure of language will provide a background for the main models of
communication, and therefore, the active functionality of language will also be approached within the most
outstanding models of language theory. In an effort to understand language in use and the negotiation of
meaning, we will offer a theoretical background which includes the most important aspects involved in these
processes. Finally, the presentation will conclude with the most relevant aspects on present-day directions in the
communication process.
1. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS.
There is more to communication than just one person speaking and another one listening. Human
communication processes are quite complex. We differentiate verbal and non-verbal, oral and written, formal
and informal, and intentional and unintentional communication. In addition, there is human and animal
communication, and nowadays we may also refer to human-computer communication.
In this chapter, we will first briefly provide a historical background for the need of communicating and
the way of presenting reality through messages. We will also provide a link to the relationship of language and
communication, and on defining the concept of communication, we will describe the main features within the
communication process. Another section will examine the concept of language from a linguistic theory; and
finally, the distinction verbal and non-verbal will be approached in terms of the communication process, and
elements involved in it.
1.1. EARLIER APPROACHES.
Since ancient times the way of improving communication preoccupied humans beings as they had a need
to express some basic structures of the world and of human life, such as feelings, attitudes and everyday
situations. This development in the direction of the study of meaning was labelled during the last century under
the term semantics, which had a linked sense with the science related to the study of signs, semiotics.
Studies of symbolism began in the modern sense of the word only when people had learned to analyse
the content of a message from the form. Thus, G.F.W. Hegel (1170-1831) laid down the road for later research in
the field when he considered Babylonian and Egyptian architecture to be the best exponent of early symbolism
when linking nature to religious thoughts. In fact, the earliest real study on the logic of symbolism was given by
Edmund Burke (1729-97) in his work A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origins of Our Ideas of the Sublime and
Beautiful from 1757. In it, Burke gives numerous examples of architecture linked to expressing feelings.
The first attempt to formulate a science of signs dates from the late nineteenth century, when a French
linguist, Michel Bréal, published Essai de sémantique (1897), which was a philological study of language. Some
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 2 DE 17.
years later, Ferdinand de Saussure (1857 - 1913) divided language into two components, symbols, and syntax as it
is stated in his book, Cours de linguistique générale (trans.1983). It is relevant to mention that, in the first half of
the twentieth century, phonology and grammar were included in the study of meaning as another branch of
linguistics.
Grammar and phonology were included as post-Saussurean semantics in the study of meaning as a
branch of linguistics. Both were concerned with relations within language (sense) and relations between language
and the world (reference). Generally, their study is known as structural or lexical semantics. Reference is
concerned with the meaning of words and sentences in terms of the world of experience: the situations to which
they refer or in which they occur.
1.2. LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION.
The human curiosity concerning language is no modern phenomenon. Language has been examined by
linguists and philosophers for several millennia. Therefore, we can look back on a respectable stock of literature
on the topic originating from the times of Ancient Greece until the present day. The result is a compendium of
linguistic disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, neurology, and even computer science.
The concept of language has been approached by many linguists, but the most outstanding definition
comes from Halliday (1973) who defines it as an instrument of social interaction with a clear communicative
purpose. At this point, it is relevant to establish a distinction between human language and other systems of
communication, such as animal communication systems. For Malinowsky, a relevant anthropology figure,
language had only two main purposes: pragmatic and ritual. The former refers to the practical use of language,
either active by means of speech or narrative by means of written texts. The latter is concerned with the use of
language associated to ceremonies, and also referred to as magic.
Among the design features of human language in opposition to other systems we may mention first, an
auditory-vocal channel which only humans are endowed with. Secondly, the possibility for individuals to
reproduce messages to say anything in any context, that is, interchangeability of messages. This ability is only
restricted in certain ceremonial contexts such as church services, business meetings, and so on, where a fixed
form is expected to be followed. Thirdly, productivity, as there is an infinite number of possible messages to be
expressed, including the possibility to express invented things or lies. Fourth, displacement since we may talk
about events remote in space or time, in contrast to other animals that have no sense of the past and the future.
Although some animals seem to possess abilities of displacement, they lack the freedom to apply this to new
contexts, thus a bee to indicate a food setting. Fifth, duality as sounds with no intrinsic meaning may be combined
in different ways to form elements with meaning. We talk about the concept of arbitrariness by which words and
their meaning have no a priori connection. And finally, a traditional transmission, since language is transmitted
from one generation to the next by a process of teaching and learning.
1.3. TYPES OF COMMUNICATION: VERBAL VS NON-VERBAL.
Following Crystal (1985), one of the main characteristics of language is that it is an essential tool of
communication. Hence, the importance of studying ways and means of improving communication techniques
through history with a highly elaborated signalling system, both spoken and written, which has had an immense
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 3 DE 17.
impact on our everyday life. Thus, writing a letter, having a conversation, watching a play, or reading a magazine,
among others, are instances of verbal communication by means of language. However, other means should be
also taken into account, such as gestures, facial expressions, body language, touch and so on, given that non-
verbal symbols are also components of the communication process.
Nevertheless, language may be studied as part of a much wider domain of enquiry, that is semiotics. This
field investigates the study of signs in communication processes in general. It concerns itself with the analysis of
linguistic and non-linguistic signs as communicative devices and with their systems. Therefore, it deals with
patterned human communication in all its modes and in all contexts.
When the act of communication is verbal, the code is the language. Regarding the structured use of the
auditory- vocal channel, it may result in speech, but also non-verbal communicative uses of the vocal tract are
possible by means of paralanguage, such as whistling or musical effects.
When we refer to non -verbal communication, visual and tactile modes are concerned. They may be used
for a variety of linguistic purposes such as the use of sign languages. For instance, the receiver may get the
message by sound (as in speech and birdsong), by sight (as in written language, reading, Morse or traffic signs) or
by touch (as in the Braille alphabet of the blind or secret codes).
1.4. CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNICATION.
For most of its history, the concept of communication has always been approached from different
disciplines, such as anthropology, psychology, or sociology among others, in order to provide an appropriate
definition for the term. Still, communication is traditionally understood 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 1973).
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.
The communication process involves certain elements and the use of linguistic symbols that mean
something to those who take part in the process. These symbols are spoken words in oral communication and
alphabetical units in written communication. Let us have a brief look at these elements in the next section.
1.4.1. Elements in the communication process.
One of the most productive schematic models of a communication system emerged from the speculations
of the Russian linguist Roman Jakobson (1896-1982). Jakobson’s model of language functions is not the only one.
We may find other linguists’ models such as Bühler’s tripartite system and Bronislaw Malinowski’s theory, to be
examined in next sections.
Jakobson’s model clarity has made it become the best-known model to be followed on language theory.
Following Jakobson (1960), this model can be used for a number of different purposes in the study of language
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 4 DE 17.
and communication. It was introduced to explain how language works as the code of communication. Jakobson
states that all acts of communication, be they written or oral, are based on six constituent elements. In his model,
each element being primarily associated with one of the six functions of language he proposed, thus referential,
emotive, conative, phatic, metalingual, and poetic, to be broadly examined in the next section, but now we will
concentrate on the six elements in Jakobson’s model. They are as follows.
Any particular act of communication takes place in a situational context, and it involves a sender (or
addresser) and a receiver (or addressee). It further involves a message which the sender transmits and which the
receiver interprets. The message is formulated in a particular code, and for the whole thing to work, sender and
receiver must be connected by a channel through which the message is sent. In acoustic communication it
consists of air, in written communication of paper or other writing materials.
As we have stated before, each of these elements has a correspondent in the functions of language,
which we will be dealing with in the following section. But before, we will provide a brief overview of the
relationship between the components and their functions. Thus, the referential function refers to the context, to
what is being spoken of and what is being referred to. The attitude of the addresser (or encoder) is related to the
emotive or expressive function through emphasis, intonation, loudness, or pace, etc. On the other hand, the
response in the addressee (or decoder) is associated to the conative function. The poetic function focuses on the
message by means of associations (equivalence, similarity and dissimilarity, synonyms and antonyms); repetitions
of sound values, stresses, accents; and the word and phrase boundaries and relationships. The metalinguistic
function is related to the use of the same codes for the message to be understood. Finally, the channel is
associated to the phatic function, enabling both addresser and addressee to enter and stay in communication.
1.4.2. The human vocal tract.
For human beings, a relevant aspect is to communicate verbally, expressing thoughts with words. For the
speaker to produce many differentiated sounds, only humans have been endowed with a highly sophisticated
speech organ. Hence, this complex organ consists of consonants and vowels which are part of our vocal apparatus
as a limited set of speech sounds.
However, it enables us to use our language in a very economical way for a virtually infinite production of
linguistic units. Linguistically speaking, the distinctive speech sounds are called phonemes which are meaningless
by themselves. However, we can assemble and reassemble phonemes into larger linguistic units, commonly called
words. In spite of our limited capacity to produce new phonemes, our capacity to produce vocabulary is
unlimited.
2. FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE.
On defining the word function (Jakobson 1960), we may say it is considered to be a synonym of use.
However, when dealing with language, it is related to the way people use language. Therefore, when we refer to
the functions of language, we are actually talking about the properties of language, and the purposes it is used for
by individuals.
Several classifications of linguistic functions have been attempted by different scholars through different
disciplines to be examined in this section. Given the communicative interaction aspect of language, it is absolutely
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 5 DE 17.
necessary to establish the different purposes for which communication may serve. Thus, linguistics focuses on
syntax and the forms of language; semantics, on the meaning of language, and finally, pragmatics is related to the
use and function of language itself.
2.1. THE ROLE OF FUNCTIONALIST THEORIES.
Most theories of language development have approached the issue from one of two broad viewpoints.
Thus, behaviourist linguists such as Skinner claimed that language is learnt by imitation, and innatist, as Chomsky,
believed that we are born with the necessary cognitive equipment to learn language. However, these theories are
not truly complete accounts of language development because they only begin to study from the first appearance
of words and syntax; none considers how the child gets to this stage.
This is where functionalist theories attempted to redress the balance; by concentrating on the functions,
or uses, of language, they hope to understand why and how a child begins to use language. For a functionalist
theory the intention to communicate should be present before language itself appears. Another important
feature is the crucial central role of the caretaker, usually the mother, in the child's linguistic development, as
from the earliest moment she treats the child as a conversational partner, gradually shaping the infant's
behaviour. Hence, the child is well-equipped with the knowledge of the social functions of language by the time
he actually begins to speak.
2.2. MODELS OF COMMUNICATION: A LINGUISTIC CLASSIFICATION.
In this section, relevant figures on a theory of language and their models of communication are
approached in terms of a classification of linguistic functions so as to answer the question of why people use
language. In order to do so, the different purposes of communication are provided by different disciplines such as
linguistics, which focuses on syntax and the forms of language; semantics, focusing on the meaning of language;
and finally, pragmatics, which is related to the use and function of language itself in particular contexts.
Historically speaking, Plato was said to be the first to discuss an instrumentalist definition of language,
and according to this definition, language primarily serves the purpose of communication, as it is a linguistic tool.
Some centuries later, an anthropological perspective, brought about by Bronislaw Malinowski in his book The
problem of Meaning in Primitive Languages (1923), states that language has only two main purposes: pragmatic
and ritual. For him, the pragmatic function refers to the practical use of language, either active by means of
speech or narrative by means of written texts. The ritual function is concerned with the use of language
associated to ceremonies, and also referred to as magic. Further instances of linguistic and semantic purposes are
broadly overviewed below within other linguists’ models.
Among all the proposals mentioned in next sections, coming from linguists such as Malinowsky, Saussure,
Bühler, Halliday and Jakobson, we highlight the considerable impact of Jakobson’s work in all the literary and
linguistic fields to which he contributed, such as anthropology, psychoanalysis discourse analysis, and especially in
semiotics, where the structure of sign systems is studied. His influence was decisive on literary theory as there are
still important works based on Jakobson’s theory, becoming a somewhat unusual afterlife theoretical writing.
2.2.1. Saussure’s model.
Saussure (trans. 1983) devised a circular communication model on the basis of two premises. On the one
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 6 DE 17.
hand, the first premise claims that communication is linear in that two people communicate in a way that a
message is conveyed from one to the other. On the other hand, the second premise states that the participants in
the communication process are both simultaneously active, in the way that they do not only listen, but they may
answer or at least show some reaction.
On the basis of this understanding, Saussure shows the mechanisms of a dialogue. First, acoustic signals
are sent from a speaker to a receiver. Saussure outlined two processes within this framework. The first one is
phonation where the sender formulates mental signs in the mind and then gives acoustic shape to them. The
second one is audition, and it is the opposite process of the receiver transforming the acoustic message into
mental signs.
Part of the Saussurean model of the speech circuit consists of his model of the linguistic sign whose most
important feature, is namely the division into acoustic shape, or acoustic image, and the idea related to the
image, the mental concept. Hence, concept and acoustic image are transported in communication.
2.2.2. Shannon’s and Moles’ communication models.
In the second half of the twentieth century, we find two prominent figures within American literary
theory, whose communication models inspired other linguists’ models on communicative functions as we will see
in next sections. Thus, we refer to Shannon’s and Moles’ theory on communication process.
In 1949 a model on communicative function was developed by the American engineer Claude E. Shannon
in his work A Mathematical Theory of Communication (1949). For him, communication is basically explained by
certain elements such as a sender, a receiver, a channel, a message shaped in the way of input and output, and
finally, external factors such as noise.
The first one, the input, is the intended message that is sent by a sender via a channel. Hence, the
message received becomes, in turn, the output. During their transmission, both input and output may be altered
in quality by external circumstances to the process of communication. Thus, noise usually affects the channel of a
telephone communication line, which in turn, affects the output as the outcome of the message.
Shannon devises various components of the communication process that will be described in detail. First
of all, the input, that makes up the content of the message within a communicative intention; secondly, the
sender, who encodes the message giving expression to the content; the third element is the channel, through
which the message is sent. Thus, in oral communication we refer to air, and in written communication, we mean
paper or writing material; in fourth place, noise which is considered in a communicative sense under phenomena
such as a crushed or stained paper; fifth, the receiver who decodes the incoming message; and finally, the
content, decoded by the receiver becomes the output.
During the 1960s, another American linguist, Moles, added the code as a crucial element for sender and
receiver to communicate successfully. Shannon’s model served, then, as the basis for an improved model. For
Moles, the sender and receiver must have a fundamental set of codes in common for successful communication.
No matter if the speakers share or not the same language. Both of them have to rely on known words when
communication is hardly impossible.
2.2.3. Bühler.
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 7 DE 17.
From Plato’s instrumental approach, Karl Bühler devised a model which described the communicative
function s according to the instrumental approach given by Plato. From this instrumental approach, the main
purpose of language is to communicate. Bühler defines the term language according to the Greek term ‘organum’
which means ‘tool’. He claims that language is an organum for one person to communicate with another about
general things. Hence, the three main functions of language Bühler distinguishes in his model are representation,
expression, and appeal. Which function applies to which communicative action depends on which relations of the
linguistic sign are predominant in a communicative situation.
As a psychologist, Karl Bühler, established three functions within the framework of grammar from the
point of view of the individual, thus, expressive, conative and representational functions. Bühler's communication
model is described as the process between a sender and a receiver by including a third element, the objects or
states of affairs. Each act of communication is then attributed to a communicative function, depending on which
of the three components involved was intended to be highlighted.
The expressive function is oriented towards the speaker, addressed to in first person. The conative
function is oriented towards the addressee in second person, and finally, the representational function is oriented
towards the rest of reality in third person. For Bühler, there is a distinction which portrays the two key features of
the relationship between the sign and its physical realization. These are the phenomenon of the sound, that is the
actual word spoken, and the linguistic sign. Both of them share common space in some functions of language, and
extend beyond in other areas.
When the phenomenon sound contains more acoustic information than the sign does, Bühler defines it as
abstractive relevance. For him, we are capable of highlighting the relevant information without being hindered by
the elements of casual conversation, for instance, the "ahs" and "ehms". Bühler also claims for an appreciative
enlargement. This means that part of the message may be lost, due to either misspellings or omissions on the part
of the sender, or because the channel is subjected to noise. When this happens, we are still able to fill in the gaps
to create a meaningful message, gathering somehow what we lost in conversation.
2.2.4. Halliday’s model.
In 1985, Halliday declared in his work An Introduction to Functional Grammar, that ‘the value of a theory
lies in the use that can be made of it.’ The functional grammar model is concerned with a sociological model, that
is, the ways in which language is used for different purposes and in different situations. Halliday emphasizes the
functions of language in use by giving prominence to a social mode of expression, as register influences the
selection from a language’s system. At this point, meaning is considered as a product of the relationship between
the system and its environment, constructing reality as configurations of people, places, things, qualities and
different circumstances.
To Halliday (1985), language bridges from the cultural meanings of social context to sound or writing, by
moving from higher orders of abstraction to lower ones, thus, semantics, lexico-grammar and phonology.
Accordingly, messages combine an organization of content according to the receptive needs of the speaker and
listener, and the meaning they are expressing. For Halliday, there are three macro-functions that, in combination,
provide the basic functions on learning a foreign language. Thus, the macro -functions are mainly three, the
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 8 DE 17.
ideational, the interpersonal, and the textual.
Ideational meanings, in the words of Halliday (1985), represent our experience of phenomena in the
world framed by different processes and circumstances which are set in time by means of tense and logical
meanings. Interpersonal meanings are shaped by the resources of modality and mood to negotiate the proposals
between interactants in terms of probability, obligation or inclination, and secondly, to establish and maintain an
ongoing exchange of information by means of grammar through declaratives, questions, and commands. Textual
meanings are concerned with the information as text in context at a lexico-grammatical level. Phonology is
related arbitrarily to this function as its abstract wordings includes intonation, rhythm and syllabic and phonemic
articulation.
On combining these interrelated functions, Halliday proposes seven basic functions on language use and
they are listed as follows. Firstly, the instrumental to express desires and needs. Secondly, the regulatory where
rules, instructions, orders, and suggestions are included. Thirdly, the interactional, where we may include
patterns of greeting, leave-taking, thanking, good wishes, and excusing. Fourth, the personal function which
encourages students to talk about themselves and express their feelings. Fifth, the heuristic function focuses on
asking questions. Next, the imaginative function, which is used for supposing, hypothesizing, and creating for the
love of sound and image. Finally, we find the informative function which emphasizes affirmative and negative
statements.
Halliday’s functional grammar model provides a description of how the structure of English relates to the
variables of the social context in which the language is functioning. In this way, it is uniquely productive as an
educational resource for teaching how the grammatical form of language is structured to achieve purposes in a
variety of social contexts.
2.2.5. Jakobson’s model.
2.2.5.1. Jakobson’s Model of Communicative Functions.
Jakobson extended other linguists’ models to his theory of communicative functions. For instance, he
adapted Bühler's tripartite system of communicative functions, adding three more to his, and somehow his model
reminds us of those of Moles', except for one, namely context. Jakobson states that a common code is not
sufficient for the communicative process, but rather a context is necessary from which the object of
communication is drawn. This context resembles Bühler's object correlate. Jakobson allocates a communicative
function to each of the components which may be active simultaneously in utterances. They are as follows.
The emotive function focuses on the first person, and reflects the speaker’s attitude to the topic of his or
her discourse. It resembles Bühler's expressive function. The addresser's own attitude towards the content of the
message is emphazised by means of emphatic speech or interjections.
The conative function is directed towards the addressee, and it is centred on the second person. We may
find in Literature where the most explicit instance is illustrated by two grammatical categories, the vocative and
the imperative. This function is similar to Bühler’s appellative function.
The referential function refers to the context, and emphasizes that communication is always dealing with
something contextual, what Bühler called representative. This function can be equated with the cognitive use of
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 9 DE 17.
language, which highlights the informational content of an utterance, and virtually eliminates the focus on the
speaker or on the addressee.
The phatic function helps to establish contact between two speakers, and refers to the channel of
communication.
The metalinguistic function deals with the verbal code itself, that is, on language speaking of itself, as an
example of metalanguage. The aim is to clarify the manner in which the verbal code is used, for instance, when
the code is misunderstood and needs correction or clarification through questions such as "Sorry, what did you
say?"
The poetic function deals with the message as a signifier within a decorative or aesthetic function of
language. This is achieved by means of rhetorical figures, pitch or loudness.
2.2.5.2. Jakobson’s Constitutive Factors.
In this section the functional structure of Jakobson’s Constitutive Factors Model (1960) is briefly explained
as the elements of the communication process have been already overviewed in previous sections. According to
Jakobson (1960) a message is sent by an addresser to an addressee, and for this to occur, a common code must
be used by the addresser and addressee, as well as a physical channel, or contact, and the same frame of
reference, or context.
Each of the constituent elements of the communicative process has a corresponding function where the
message has to be located it. The constitutive factors are as follows. When the message deals with context, its
relationship is representational; with the speaker is expressive; with the addressee is conative; with the channel is
phatic; with the code is metalingual; and finally, the relationship between a message and itself is poetic.
3. LANGUAGE IN USE AND THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING.
This section, in briefly reviewing the concept of language, mainly as a tool and as a process, will provide,
first, a common background to the notions of language in use and the negotiation of meaning, respectively.
Although these two notions may be examined individually, they share common links to particular disciplines such
as semantics, pragmatics, and sociolinguistics. Thus, language as a tool or language in use operates upon
conveying our intentions and our personal meaning within semantics whereas language as a process goes beyond
linguistics into pragmatics and social psychology (Rivers 1981). The most relevant contributions in terms of
concepts and approaches will be provided by the most prominent specialists in this field. Secondly, language in
use and the negotiation of meaning will be examined, in turn, by offering a definition of the term itself, its most
relevant features and key concepts, and present-day approaches related to the issue.
3.1. A THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO LANGUAGE IN USE AND THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING.
3.1.1. Three fundamentals on a theory of language.
According to Rivers (1981), historically speaking, language teaching has been based on three main views
of language, thus, language as a product, language as a tool and language as a communication process. These
three levels of language have links to acknowledged disciplines according to their underlying theories of language.
Thus, the former level, language as a product, turns language into an object of study within the discipline of
linguistics. Here language is analysed in phonological, syntactic, morphological, and semantic terms regarding
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 10 DE 17.
parts of speech and syntactic rules. Within the second level, language as a tool, our intentions to convey meaning
are given prominence, and the ways we can use language are described in terms of semantics, expressing a wide
range of personal meanings such as asking, denying, persuading or stating. The latter level, language as a process,
deals with how to formulate messages to express specific meanings whether in oral or written form in order to
affect our purposes and avoid misleading in particular situations.
As speech is a social event, it can be learned only through experience with language in use. We may
understand a language system and be able to combine its linguistic elements to express specific meanings, but we
may still not understand a word or feel unable to say what we really want to say. There is a need for internalizing
the intrinsic aspects of a language, that is, a need for a negotiation of meaning, for instance, how to greet each
other, make polite enquiries, ask conventional questions, congratulate or just keep interaction moving. Speakers
need to know what levels of language they should use in different circumstances such as when to speak or remain
silent, and also how to grasp covert meanings behind words and gestures. To Rivers (1981), our timing is an
essential issue in order to provide a solution to this problem, and disciplines such as pragmatics, social
psychology, and semantics are intended to shed light on these situations for speakers to be successful at all levels
of communication.
At this point it is relevant to introduce the issue of next sections such as the relationship of language to
semantics, pragmatics and sociolinguistics in order to give a framework to language in use and the negotiation of
meaning.
3.1.2. The influential role of semantics and pragmatics.
Both pragmatic and semantic fields play an important role within the notions of language use and
negotiation of meaning. The former, semantics, refers to the study of the meaning of words and the use a
speaker may make of it, including distinctions about the meaning and use of words such as their connotations,
denotations, implications, and ambiguities. The latter, pragmatics, deals with the relation between signs and the
listener’s interpretation of them and examines how listeners perceives the speaker’s intentions. Recently,
pragmatics deals with those aspects that cannot be included within a conventional linguistic analysis.
It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that semantic and pragmatic approaches rose in importance when
several works on first-language acquisition proved to be more readily explicable in semantic terms regarding early
utterances of young children. Prominent researchers like Roger Brown and Schlesinger found that the semantic
and pragmatic way of negotiating and interpreting meaning, that is, the rules of language in use, was seen to be
dependent to a large degree on the situations in which speech acts occurred.
Language teachers found this functional approach of more value for application than some of the more
abstract linguistic models of preceding decades. There was a growing emphasis on designing classroom activities,
so that the language use would reflect normal purposes of language in interactional contexts. Learners of a
language had to know how to express their intentions appropriately in many contexts as there is no meaning
without context.
Teachers began to recognize the artificiality of many language exercises and adapt them so that they
reflected more authentic uses of language (Rivers 1981). For instance, practicing the interrogative would be
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 11 DE 17.
replaced by students asking each other or the teacher questions of some relevance to their daily life and
activities, or going out of class to ask a native speaker questions about his or her life and work. Materials writers
began to pay more attention to the communicative act and the levels of language within which the students
needed to operate in order to respond appropriately with different interlocutors in different circumstances.
3.1.3. The influential role of sociolinguistics.
The origins of this branch of linguistics began during the 1960s and 1970s, when several studies on
sociology focused their interest on the study of the context in which language is used, thus, biological,
psychological, personal, functional, and social, and also how these contexts affect and are affected by language.
The field of sociolinguistics concerns itself particularly with the way language is used for communication within
the social group in terms of language use, speech varieties within a community, the language behaviour of ethnic
groups, bilingualism and multilingualism.
Hence, many important studies have been developed within this discipline in order to help students
develop a feeling for appropriate language use in different situations. Thus, during the 1970s, an influential
linguist on communicative language interaction, the American anthropologist Hymes (1972), claimed that the
most novel and relevant aspect that sociolinguistic brought to light about language within a community, was to
establish what a speaker needs to know to communicate effectively in culturally significant settings. He coined,
then, the concept of communicative competence which soon began to affect the language-teaching community,
as it dealt with the underlying student’s knowledge of the rules of grammar and how to use them in socially
appropriate situations. Materials writers and classroom teachers realized that students not only needed to know
how to express ideas in correct grammatical patterns, but also to know the culturally acceptable ways of
interacting orally with others.
Another relevant concept to a sociolinguistic approach on language use and the negotiation of meaning is
the concept of register. From Latin ‘registrum’, that is, a list or catalogue, it defines a variety of language
according to social use, thus, scientific, journalistic, religious and formal style. This term was given relevance by
the British linguist Michael Halliday (1975) and defines an acceptable type of language in a community for certain
situations and for special purposes. Since registers differ, we may find different types of discourse regarding oral
and written format; formal and informal style or the social purpose as for instance, scientific papers.
Since the study of the culture in which the second language is embedded is an important aspect of
foreign- language teaching, the students need opportunities to interact with native speakers in natural settings
through different activities such as exchange and study abroad programs. This interaction will help students to
use appropriate questions and comments with the appropriate stress and intonation to avoid causing offense and
giving wrong impressions by mixing elements from several registers in speech and writing.
3.1.4. Approaches to language use and the negotiation of meaning.
Among the most prominent scholars in this field, we may mention Hymes, Noam Chomsky, Halliday, and
Canale and Swain, who, on challenging previous behaviourist assumptions about language structure and language
learning, shed light on a theory of language use by taking the position that language is creative, rule governed and
with a communicative value.
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 12 DE 17.
It was in the 1970s when the notion of communicative competence comes into force. The American
anthropologist Dell Hymes (1972) was linked to this sociolinguistic term that refers to the speaker’s underlying
knowledge of the rules of grammar and their use in socially appropriate circumstances. For Hymes, the goal of
language teaching is to develop a communicative competence which allows a learner to be communicatively
competent in a speech community. This term differs from Chomsky’s dichotomy between competence and
performance, where competence is the knowledge of grammar rules and performance, how those rules are used.
Hymes’s concept of communicative competence brings about the nuance of situational contexts where learners
have to apply their knowledge and ability in a foreign language to choose what levels of language they should use
in different circumstances.
Halliday (1970), as we have seen in previous sections, elaborated a functional theory on the use of
language, giving prominence to a social mode of expression in which the value of language lies in the use that the
speakers make of it and their selection from the language system, thus, from three main macro-functions such as
ideational, interpersonal, or textual, he establishes other seven basic functions to be described later in the section
on “Negotiation of meaning”. Hence, meaning is, for Halliday, a product of the relationship between the system
and its environment. Similarly, Canale and Swain (1980) went further within the purposes of real communication
and negotiation of meaning by identifying four dimensions of communicative competence, thus, grammatical,
sociolinguistic, discourse and strategic competence.
3.2. LANGUAGE IN USE.
In this section, a definition of language in use will be provided, and then, we will describe the two levels at
which language works, thus, combining elements and adapting them to a certain situational context. Here we will
highlight the importance of a situational context for successful communication to take place since the notion of
language in use is linked to the influence of sociolinguistics.
3.2.1. On defining “language in use”.
According to Rivers (1981), historically speaking, language teaching has been based on three main views
of language, thus, language as a tool, language as a product and language as a communication process. The
former, and the one we are dealing with in this section is language as a tool, which deals with the ways we can
use language to convey our intentions and personal meaning. This level highlights the ways language is used to
operate upon the environment by means of things, people our ourselves, in order to express nuances and
subtleties of meaning; the second, language as a product, turns language into an object of study; and the latter
one, language as a process, is linked to our next section named “Negotiation of Meaning” to be dealt with
afterwards. This function deals with how to formulate messages to express specific meanings.
On defining the term use, it is worth mentioning that this concept traces back to Aristotle, and
emphasizes the ways we can use a language to operate upon the environment, that is, upon things, upon people,
and upon ourselves in the self -directive function of thought. The language we learn is intended to be internalized
as an instrument as it will provide us with the appropriate means to express nuances and subtleties of meaning.
The concept use has been defined by Brune, among others, as a powerful determinant of rule structure. For
Halliday (1985), the value of a theory lies in the use that can be made of it. Hence, his theory on language use
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 13 DE 17.
results from the link between the language system and a social mode of expression, that is, different
circumstances.
When dealing with language as a tool, we refer to the different ways in which we can use language
according to, first, our intentions and personal meaning, and secondly, the circumstances in which the act of
communication takes place. Secondly, regarding language as a process, we may understand the way we use our
language to affect our purposes, whether in oral or written form, in different circumstances.
3.2.2. Two levels at language in use.
In the early part of the twentieth century, emphasis was given to the intellectual aspect of language
learning and written skills whereas in the mid-1960s, there was a revolution of language teaching methods which
brought about an early cultivation of the speaking skill, as well as the production on meaningful sentences by
analogy and variation. This approach, in the words of Ellis (1985), was considered to be consistent with native-
language use, where speakers use language without conscious effort and without rules to their language
production. Since artificial samples of the foreign language stopped students from communicating effectively, the
aim was for students to be able to create new utterances at will to convey their personal message and to know
how to use those utterances in different circumstances.
In order to produce fluent language users at an authentic speech level, a wide range of approaches
claimed for a competent use of the foreign language, that is, avoiding the unsystematically and incomprehensible
use of language. Rivers (1981) states that we may identify two levels of language use. The first level refers to the
manipulation of language elements, combining and varying them in order to express our meaning
comprehensibly according to the demands of the language system. Here we refer to phonology, orthography,
syntax, lexicon, and semantics. The second level deals with the expression of personal meaning by selecting
appropriate means with infinite possibilities of expression. The selection depends on the type and degree of
intensity of the message to be conveyed, the situational context in which the utterance takes place, and the
relationship between speaker and listener.
From the 1980s on, there was an increasing emphasis on language functions. The term “use” was to be
defined within the framework of a foreign- language situation for students to use their knowledge and ability in
genuine communication. In an act of communication, we are influenced by environmental factors as well as by
our own intentions, and therefore, the speakers will select, according to the circumstances, a set of linguistic
means in order to express their own purposes. They needed to know which levels of the language they should use
in different circumstances and how to negotiate meaning by means of asking acceptable questions. This selection
reflects the complexity of the use of human language, as there are infinite aspects of meaning both within
language and in the relation between language and world.
3.3. THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING.
This section is intended to define the notion of “negotiation of meaning” within a linguistic approach on
second language acquisition. Some key concepts such as register and discourse will be defined in order to give a
relevant framework to the notion of negotiating meaning. As we shall see later, the linguistic environment that
speakers and learners are exposed to plays an important role in this interactive process.
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 14 DE 17.
3.3.1. On defining “negotiation of meaning”. Communication strategies.
Problems of communication affect us all in many aspects of day-to-day living, and can cause serious
trouble. It is incredibly easy to be unintentionally misunderstood, or to speak ambiguously, or vaguely. In the
words of Crystal (1985), to initiate communication is one thing whereas to make it successful is another. An
excellent example of difficult communication is in the doctor -patient relationship, where most patients find it
very difficult to get the right words to describe their symptoms whereas for doctors, the problem is to formulate a
diagnosis in words which the patient will understand. They may use a term which has negative associations for
the patient and could cause unfortunate side-effects. Within this interaction, there is a need and a wish for a
mutual understanding.
When communicating, speakers often experience considerable difficulty when their resources in their
foreign or native language are limited. This effort to overcome communicative difficulties in order to secure a
mutual understanding is known as the ‘negotiation of meaning’. This is a major feature of conversations involving
second language acquisition, as strategies and tactics are involved in this process on the part of the native
speaker and the learner. Communication strategies will be the issue of our next section.
3.3.2. Strategies and tactics in the negotiation of meaning.
Communication strategies were discussed in psycholinguistic terms as they were treated as the mental
phenomena which underlay actual language behaviour. In the words of Tarone (1981), they are characterized by
the ‘negotiation of an agreement on meaning’ between interlocutors. Since Selinker (1972) coined the term
‘communication strategy’, there has been a steady increase of interest in the learner’s communication strategies
since they are said to be responsible for the interaction in the communication process. Two main features
characterize strategies, first, to be potentially conscious and secondly, to be problem-oriented, that is, that they
are employed to overcome a communication problem.
Strategies and tactics can help to expand resources as their main contribution is to keep the channel
open, facilitating the acquisition of new lexis and grammatical rules. Among the main conversational devices the
speaker uses to avoid problems, within strategies we may mention checking meaning, predicting, and selecting a
topic. Within tactics used to solve the problem, we mainly mention asking for clarification and repetition, and
topic switching. To sum up, we may say that communication strategies are psycholinguistic plans which are part
of the speaker’s communicative competence, combining strategies and tactics in order to negotiate meaning to
achieve successfully their communicative purposes (Ellis 1985).
3.3.3. Key concepts in the negotiation of meaning: register and discourse.
In an act of communication, we do not always use the appropriate level of language within a certain
situation, and we often have expectations towards the response of the person to whom we are addressing the
message because some of our expectations are culturally based. If we do not choose our words carefully, and our
anticipation of the reaction of the receiver is ill founded, the message decoded may be quite different from the
message we intended to convey (Rivers 1981). Two receivers may decode two different messages from the same
signal. Then, misinterpretation is likely to occur, and even more when using a non-native language.
The cultural associations of the linguistic items, and of the accompanying prosodic, paralinguistic, and
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 15 DE 17.
kinetic elements such as intonation, stress, tone of voice, facial movements, and gestures, may be quite different
for listener and speaker. In fact, in the words of Crystal (1985), there are areas where the implications are of
world importance, such as political and philosophical terms which describe ideals and norms of behaviour with
different meaning in different countries. The meaning of terms like ‘freedom’, ‘communist’, and ‘democratic’
have good or bad or neutral overtones depending very much on which part of the world you were brought up in,
and similarly with issues such as religion, and business among others.
It is within this cultural embedding that key concepts such as register and discourse come into force. Both
of them claim for differences in grammar and lexis appropriate for a variety of situations. The term register was
first given broad currency by the British linguist Michael Halliday (1975) and defined as a certain type of language
which is acceptable in a community, for certain situations and for special purposes. Registers were, then, sub-
classified into three domains to be included in a discourse definition: field of discourse, referring to the subject
matter of the variety; manner of discourse , referring to the social relations between the participants, as shown by
variations in formality; and mode of discourse , referring to the choice between speech and writing, and the
choice of format;
Therefore, the term discourse is to be defined as a sub-classification of register which, in linguistics, refers
to a unit or piece of connected speech or writing that is longer than a conventional sentence. In general, it is a
formal term for institutionalized forms of talk, conversation, dialogue, lecture, sermon, and communicative
events in general. Halliday emphasizes in his systemic linguistics the social functions of language and the thematic
and informational structure of speech and writing. He also relates grammar at the clause and sentence level to
situational constraints, referred to in discourse as fields when dealing with the purpose of communication
(technical, scientific or advertising); manner, regarding the relationship between the participants (formal or
informal); and mode , referring to channels of communication (literary or non-literary texts).
4. PRESENT-DAY DIRECTIONS IN THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS.
This section looks at present-day approaches on the communication process from an educational
approach, and therefore, within the framework of a classroom setting. This type of formal instruction in language
teaching addresses the role played by our current educational system, LOMCE, in providing the foundations for
attempts at real communication from an eclectic approach.
Since we are dealing with a communicative approach, it is relevant to mention the objectives that our
current educational system searches for. First, a focus on fluency to promote an interactive group work in the
classroom. Secondly, as communicative approaches claim for, to provide students with genuine interactions in
order to increase their learning in the foreign language. The aim is for students to acquire a communicative
competence, where their knowledge and ability in the foreign language will help them get the meaning of a
sentence, even if the different functions of language make it difficult. Finally, students are provided with
strategies and techniques to overcome their communicative problems in an attempt to make communication as
real as possible in a formal setting.
This authentic communicative interaction is approached within our current educational system through
specific projects and programmes proposed by the European Community, especially designed to provide students
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 16 DE 17.
a genuine communicative interaction. At present, projects such as “Comenius” and “Socrates” are intended to
promote international exchanges within the European Community, and projects such as “Plumier” are designed
to promote the use of new technologies to communicate with other students worldwide. These three projects are
designed for students to practice and increase their learning in the foreign language. “Plumier” Quite recently, the
Spanish Educational System, and in particular, Murcia educational institution, establishes in its curriculum several
literary contests to be developed in a foreign language, such as The 20th Anniversary of Murcia as a Province , and
tour-guided visits in a foreign language to museums, such as Salzillo’s museum and Cieza’s museum. Furthermore,
bilingualism schooling and programmes have become a reality nowadays in our regional secondary schools
providing students with a natural setting within a classroom context.
As a summary of the previous discussion on a detailed account of the communication process, we may
highlight the importance of functionalist theories on the different communication models presented in this study,
following the premise that a language is learnt in order to fulfil more efficiently the functions of communication,
and to develop structures out of these functions from the environment. This is the main issue within the section
of language in use, which considers the role of semantics, pragmatics, and especially sociolinguistics as one of the
basis of a functionalist theory of language development, as they focus more on the intent or purpose behind an
utterance than on its grammar or syntax.
The following section is devoted to the notion of negotiation of meaning in which concepts such as
register and discourse are under revision. Strategies and tactics for learners to put in practice their knowledge
and ability in a foreign language are also under discussion from a communicative approach in a formal setting.
This section gives us an overview on how people who are not native speakers of a language, may not
communicate successfully with other people when their cultural competence is not appropriate in the interaction
within a specific setting.
On the communication process and the elements involved in it, we may say it is worth repeating that in a
communicative interaction, grammar and vocabulary resources are not enough to convey a personal message.
We are intended to select the linguistic elements to express it so as to arouse in the receiver the meaning we are
trying to convey, bearing in mind that we are influenced by the social and cultural context as well as by our own
intentions. It is, therefore, relevant to highlight the importance of the cultural embedding we are dealing with, as
it will help us avoid misinterpretations with native speakers of the foreign language. Other elements can help us
to transmit a message successfully, such as prosodic, kinetic and paralinguistic elements, in order to convey our
attitude to the basic message. Thus, being humorous, ironical, disapproving or cautious. Eventually, as the
emitters of a message, we choose the form and choice of items in our message in order to be successful in the
communication process.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
On the communication process
Crystal, D. 1985. Linguistics. Harmondsworth, England. Penguin Books.
Halliday, M. A. K. 1973. Explorations in the Functions of Language. London: Edward Arnold.
Rivers, W. 1981. Teaching Foreign -Language Skills. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
 SECUNDARIA INGLÉS. TEMA 3. PÁG. 17 DE 17.
On functions of language
Halliday, M. A. K. 1973. Explorations in the Functions of Language. London: Edward Arnold.
Halliday, M.A.K. 1985. An Introduction to Functional Grammar. London: Edward Arnold.
Saussure, F. 1916. Cours de linguistique générale (Course in General Linguistics, trans. Roy Harris, 1983). New
York: Philosophical Library.
Introduction to language use and the negotiation of meaning
Rivers, W. 1981. Teaching Foreign -Language Skills. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
On semantics, pragmatics and sociolinguistic influence on language
Brown, R. 1973. A First Language: The Early Stages. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Halliday, M. 1975. Learning How to Mean. London: Edward Arnold.
Hymes, D. 1974. Foundations in Sociolinguistics: An Ethnographic Approach. Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press.
On language use and strategies
Ellis, R. 1985. Understanding Second Language Acquisition. Oxford University Press.
Hymes, D. 1972. On Communicative competence. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
For current statistics and references
Revistas de la Asociación Española de Lingüística Aplicada (AESLA): De la Cruz, Isabel; Santamaría, Carmen;
Tejedor, Cristina y Valero, Carmen. 2001. La Lingüística Aplicada a finales del Siglo XX. Ensayos y propuestas.
Universidad de Alcalá.
Celaya, Mª Luz; Fernández-Villanueva, Marta; Naves, Teresa; Strunk, Oliver y Tragant, Elsa. 2001. Trabajos en
Lingüística Aplicada . Universidad de Barcelona.
Moreno, Ana I. & Colwell, Vera. 2001. Perspectivas Recientes sobre el Discurso. Universidad de León.
Revista de CERCLE, Centro Europeo de Recursos Culturales Lingüísticos y Educativos.
Web pages: http://www.britishcouncil.org/education/teachers/txeurope.htm