Chapter 1

Communication and Language Functions

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1.1. The Elements of a Model of Communication:

 You have to know how to make the appropriate choices in any communication situation so
that the text produced correlates with the situation in which it occurs.

There is a number of factors that takes place in communication:

1. There is a sender – who wants to communicate
2. Message – the message the sender wants to send.
3. Reciever – the reciever is the one who the message is for.
4. Referent – what the sender wants to communicate about.
5. The sender has to choose between the spoken (say the message out loud) or the written
(written down) – this is also called Medium.
6. Before all this takes place, he will probably have given some thought to the type of situation
the text he is about to produce will have to fit into, the so-called social context.
7. There is a code that the sender has to think of to encode his text e.g. Morse, Danish or
maybe English.

“Communication model”:

1.1.1 The code:

 It is the way of telling something e.g. morse, English or danish.
 By choosing the language as a code the sender knows the signs and rules to encode his
message, and the reciever knows how to decode it.
 It is not simple; the code comprises a lot of things;
 Morphology – deals with the internal structure of words.
 Syntax – which deals with the rules about words combination in sentences.
  Semantics – which is the study of meaning
 Pragmatics – which is the study of language usage
 Text constitution – which is the study of text production.

1.1.2 The Medium

 In medium we distinguish between; speech and writing.
 A lecturer can prepare what to say in writing, but not realise that hist text was easier to
understand if it was read instead if he spoke the words.
 All in all, sometimes we find it easier when we read it instead of hearing it. And the same
vice versa. Sometimes what is written down can be difficult to understand then hearing it.

The differences between speech and writing:

The spoken medium: is used in the following channels:

The radio, the telephone, TV, conversation etc.

The written medium: is used in the following channels:

Newspapers, magazines, books, TV, computers, letters

1.1.3 The sender and Reciever

 The sender and reciever may not agree about their relative status, each speaking to the other
as superior-to-inferior or inferior-to-superior for reasons of politeness.
 The relationship between sender and reciever is clearly revealed in the use of particular
terms of address and personal pronouns.
 Gender and age are also an important factor, for how you chose your code.

Where does the communication take place?

 Between individuals, government, an institution, a newspaper, a company etc.
 The sender and reciever can also be fictional such as in novels and play.
1.1.4 The text
 A text may be of any length; one word like STOP! or several volumes like, say, a novel.

1.1.5 The Referent

 What is the subject? What is it about?
 It is referring to something – and this is called the referent.

1.1.6 The Social Context/Situation

 The social context is the situation in which the text occurs, the framework around the text
example a recipe.
 The sender´s choices with regard to words and structures will depend on the situation.
 Alle his choices will produce and overall conventionalized spoken or writing text that fits a
particular situation.

Example:
 Recipe – a recipe has some characteristic features, a special layout and form. They are
writing in a special way.

1.2 Functions of Language

 Any text – spoken or written – has a number of language functions.

Each of these six factors determines a different function of language:

Sender: The expressive language function

Reciever: The directive language function
Context: The informative language function
Channel: The phatic language function
Message: The poetic language function
Code: The metalinguistic language function

1.2.1 The expressive Language functions

 If the focus of attention in a text is the sender, the meaning is expressive (her/his attitudes).
 You use connotative instead of denotative
 Subjective rather than objective
 More personal.
 References to feelings, state of mind, health etc.
  Example: “I am tired”.

This is expressive if the context allows it. The sender express something.

1.2.2 The Directive Language Function

 Is used where the focus of attention is the reciever.
 Example: “Peter! Come here a minute!”.

 Have to be directive – you can use persuasion.

1.2.3 The Informative Language Function

 A text that has its focus on the subject is informative  it focuses on the contexts of a text.
 The informative language function is characteristic of non-fictional texts.

1.2.4 The Phatic Language Function

 The Phatic language function focuses on the channel between sender and reciever.
 Phatic language may be greetings or talk of the weather etc.

1.2.5 The Poetic language functions

 Focuses on the message

It can be:
1. Alliteration – repetition of words of the same letter or sound e.g. The majestic, the
magnificent Mississippi.

1.2.6 The Metalinguistic Language Function

 This use of language focuses on the code.
 You can use dictionaries and grammars.
 Many uses this to check their speech or searching for an appropriate term.