2020-2021

Tema 3. El proceso de comunicación. Funciones del lenguaje. La lengua en uso. La

negociación del significado.

Topic 3. The process of communication. Functions of language. Language in use. The

negotiation of meaning.
© 2020, Granada, by Stephen Pearse Hughes. All rights reserved. Any copying or
distribution, partial or otherwise, may not be undertaken without the express authorisation of
the author.

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. The process of communication in language learning
2.1 Verbal communication
2.2 Non-verbal communication and paralanguage
3. Language functions
3.1 Categorisation of functions
3.2 Functions in language education
4. Language in use
4.1 Flexibility and adapting language
4.2 Turn-taking
4.3 Thematic development, cohesion and coherence
4.4 Propositional precision
4.5 Spoken fluency
5. Negotiation of meaning
6. Pedagogical and curricular considerations
7. Conclusion
References
1. Introduction
Today, it is widely accepted that language learning does not simply entail the rote learning of rules or
long lists of isolated words; indeed, language is not even limited to the development of the four skills of
listening, speaking, reading and writing. Instead, communication in the L2 brings into play these and
other fundamental areas, including the ability to successfully engage in situations that require the ability
to effectively use the language in functional situations and to negotiate not only in terms of the meaning
of oral and written texts, but also of understanding concepts and, indeed, mediating with others.
The introduction of the Companion Guide to the Common European Framework (CoE, 2018) fully
takes into account this reality and provides an innovative and integrative paradigm for language
learning. At the heart of this new paradigm are four key areas: reception (listening and speaking),
production (speaking and writing), interaction (oral and written) and mediation (of texts, concepts and
communication). All of these areas join together to provide a more realistic treatment of communication
processes and incorporate the multi-faceted components of language functions, language in use and
negotiation of meaning. These developments are visible in national and regional curricular legislation
for language learning in secondary education (MECD, 2015a, 2015b; Consejería, 2016a; 2016b, 2020),
particularly in terms of strategy development, in functional contents and assessable learning outcomes
and in the promotion of project work and task-based learning.
In this topic, the areas of communication processes, functions, language in use and negotiation
of meaning will be examined with a view to obtaining an insight into how these issues may be addressed
in class. In the treatment of these areas, special consideration is given to the implications for teaching
and learning that arise as a result of current legislation and the recently introduced European guidelines.

2. The process of communication in language learning

Communication essentially refers to the meaningful exchange of ideas, feelings and information. In
communicative exchanges, there is a complex system that involves verbal and non-verbal abilities,
memory and cognitive processes, situational awareness and knowledge. As mentioned in the original
version of the Common European Framework (CoE, 2001: 1) ‘communication calls upon the whole
human being’. In other words, as speakers of a language, students must be able to use their brains and
their body in order to be able to understand and articulate messages.

2.1 Verbal communication

Verbal communication refers to the use of language in spoken or written form and involves receptive,
productive and interactive skills. As mentioned in the CEFR Companion Volume (CoE, 2018), however,
another aspect which incorporates all of these areas is that of mediation. Indeed, as language learners,

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students need to be able to both understand and act as an information source; they also need to have
a purpose or a reason for communicating a message and be able to mediate with the meaning of oral
and written texts, concepts and other elements of interpersonal communication. These four areas
(reception, production, interaction and mediation) are considered to be ‘macrofunctions’ and, as
mentioned in CoE (2018), they tend to reflect the way in which individuals actually use the language.
The In order for interlocuters to participate in verbal exchanges, they firstly need to be able to
understand each other. When input in a foreign language is comprehensible, not only does it allow for
speakers to conduct normal communicative exchanges, it also helps them to gradually and
unconsciously acquire certain elements of the language.
In terms of input and reception, the Companion Volume to the CEFR distinguishes between
receptive activities and reception strategies (Figure 1).

- Understanding interaction
Listening - Listening as audience member
comprehension -Listening to anouncements and instructions
- Listening to radio and audio recordings
Activities

- Reading corrrespondence
- Reading for orientation
Reading
- Reading for information and argument
comprehension
- Reading instructions
- Reading as a leisure activity

Audiovisual
- Watching TV, film & video
comprehension
Strategies

Identifying cues
and inferring

Figure 1. Receptive activities and strategies. Adapted from CoE (2018: 54)

Here, in addition to the variety of situations which involve receptive communication, we have a focus
on receptive strategies. These strategies, which are also highlighted in national legislation (MECD,
2015a) are seen as facilitating components of oral and written comprehension.
In addition to receptive activities, learners are engaged in language production and, here, they
must make efforts to ensure that their output is comprehensible and the very effort of producing
utterances in itself helps to reinforce acquisition of the language. Again, the Companion Volume to the
CEFR provides an outline of the main production activities and strategies (Fig. 2

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 - Sustained monologue: describing experience
- Sustained monologue: giving information
Spoken production - Sustained monologue: putting a case
- Public announcements
Activities

- Addressing an audience

- Creative writing
Written production
- Written reports and essays

- Planning
Strategies

- Compensating
- Monitoring and repair

Figure 2. Oral and written production activities and strategies. Adapted from CoE (2018: 68)

In oral productive activities, participants often have time to plan what they are going to say. When
students plan speech, they are more likely to use a more correct form of the target language, whereas
when speech is spontaneous, it is more likely to be the case that they will use their own interlanguage
form (Ellis, 1996: 724).
Unlike oral communication, those who write in the target language often have the opportunity
to take their time about constructing their utterances and may be able to correct what they have written.
Given the permanent nature of the written word, and particularly in formal writing, learners need to be
careful with grammatical accuracy, spelling and punctuation; on the other hand, in less formal messages,
the need for accuracy may be somewhat diminished.
Interaction involves synchronous or asynchronous communication either orally or in writing.
While interactive communication involves both the receptive and productive skills, there is a series of
issues that distinguishes this area from the others. Oral interaction, for example, frequently takes place
in informal circumstances and even among native speakers, there may be a certain degree of relaxing of
grammatical rules; in addition, contractions and ellipsis (i.e. missing words) are regularly present in this
form of communication. Similarly, there is usually some sort of immediate verbal or non-verbal feedback
which can help the participants know whether or not their message has been understood and accepted
and to ask for clarification if needed. In writing, interlocutors also have the opportunity to engage in
information sharing and in the negotiation of meaning. Again, there are a series of activity types and
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strategies that are involved in both oral and written interactive processes (Figure 3).

- Understanding the interlocutor

- Conversation
- Informal discussion
- Formal discussion
Spoken interaction - Goal-oriented cooperation
- Obtaining goods and services
- Information exchange
- Interviewing and being interviewed
Activities

- Using telecommunications

- Correspondence
Written interaction
- Notes, messages and forms

- Online conversationand discussion

Online interaction
- Goal-oriented transactions and negotiation

- Taking the floor (turn-taking)

Strategies

- Cooperating
- Asking for clarification

Figure 3. Oral and written interaction activities and strategies. Adapted from CoE (2018: 82)

As can be observed, the current focus on interaction takes into account not only more traditional forms
of oral and written communication, but also the increased use of Information and Communication
technologies. Additionally, there is a focus here on strategies related to the communication process
itself, as well as on the negotiation of meaning.
The last area in verbal communication, mediation, deals with all of these areas and, as described
in CoE (2018) consists in three major areas: texts, concepts and communication. Here we can see how
oral and written receptive, productive and interactive communication integrate in ways which reflect
real-life communication processes. Examples of mediation activities and strategies are shown below
(Figure 4)

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 - Relaying specific oral/written information
- Explaining data
- Processing an oral/written text
Mediating a text - Translating an oral/written text
- Note-taking
- Expressing a personal response to a creative text
- Analysis and criticism of literary texts
Activities

- Collaborating in a group: facilitating collaborative interaction with

Mediating a concept peers; collaborating to construct meaning
- Leading group work: managing interaction; encouraging conceptual talk

-- Facilitating pluricultural space

Mediating
- Acting as an intermediary in informal situations
communication
- Facilitating communication in delicate situations and disagreements

- Linking to previous knowledge

Strategies to explain a
- Breaking down complicated information
new concept
Strategies

- Adapting language

Strategies to simplify a - Amplifying a dense text

text - Streamlining a text

Figure 4. Mediation activities and strategies. Adapted from CoE (2018: 104)

As can be observed, these activities and strategies not only deal with the language communication
process itself; they also incorporate areas in which all possible forms of functional language and
language usage may arise. In addition, this concept of mediation also involves negotiation, not only in
terms of semantic or conceptual meaning, but also in terms of the negotiation that takes place between
individuals, for example in group organisation or conflict resolution.

2.2 Non-verbal communication and paralanguage

Non-verbal communication is often integrated into the receptive, productive, interactive and mediation
components of communication. These non-verbal communication acts are an especially important part
of oral communication. Here, some of the forms of non-verbal communication include gestures, posture,
facial expressions or body language. In addition to gestures and body language, another important part
of non-verbal communication is paralanguage. This refers to non-verbal elements such as prosody
(rhythm, stress, intonation, etc.). For example, if someone were to say ‘I’m waiting’ with a smile but a
feigned angry tone of voice, the listener can interpret that the person is not actually angry. Here there

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would be at least two forms of non-verbal communication (facial expression and prosody) that would
accompany the words in order to form the message. To a lesser extent, non-verbal communication can
also take place in writing. This may be observed with the use of capital letters, underlining or bold type
to highlight messages, or even with the use of emoticons in emails, SMS or chat messages.
The use of non-verbal language also has an important part to play in terms of mediation. Facial
expression, gestures and paralanguage can show a lack of understanding or check if another person has
understood; similarly, it can show surprise, agreement or questioning, and it can play an important role
in flowing and functional communication.

3. Language functions
For many years, language learning has been considered the mastery of forms (grammar) and lexical
knowledge; however, a language is meant to be used in real-life, functional situations. While
grammatical and lexical mastery do form part of communicative competence, they are a means to an
end – that end is communication. To a certain degree, then, the mastery of accurate, fluent and
appropriate must take into account the pragmatic and functional nature of the language.
The question of ‘functions’ in language learning, however, is not clear-cut and straight-forward;
indeed, there are a number of ideas that are related to this area. As previously mentioned, for example,
CoE (2018) describes a series of ‘macro-functional’ categories for communicative language activities,
which include reception, production, interaction and mediation. In addition, there are other
categorisations of language functions, as well as what we commonly consider to be ‘functional
language’. These different perspectives are discussed below.

3.1 Categorisation of functions

Language has a purpose – to communicate something meaningful to an audience. It consists in a series
of speech acts and has a function. In Jacobson’s (1960) model, there were six components or factors of
communication: a) the context, b) the addresser, c) the addressee, d) the contact, e) a common code, f)
the message. The functions of language mentioned by Jacobson include:
1. referential (e.g. The shop is on the corner)
2. emotive (Wow!)
3. conative (used to indicate effort in the agent, e.g. get over here)
4. phatic (used for general purposes or social interaction, e.g. nice morning)
5. metalingual (e.g. How do you say that in English?)
6. poetic (focuses on the message – e.g. language used in poems and slogans)

It is argued that mastery of the linguistic and communicative functions is needed at increasing levels for
individuals not only to communicate in the language, but also to appreciate the ways in which language

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is used effectively in a wide variety of contexts. As discussed below, a series of specific functions are
often highlighted in language learning.

3.2 Functions in language education

Language learners need to be able to communicate in a wide variety of situations and be able to use
functional language, or what Richards (2015) labels as ‘transactions’. Some functional language
utterances are fixed lexical phrases which can be learnt in such a way as to make learners sound more
fluent (Harmer, 2012). Many functional situations, however, involve learners engaging in higher levels
of linguistic input, processing and output.
The original version of the Common European Framework (CoE, 2001) includes the need for
students to be able to use functional language. For example, at A2 level, students are expected to be
able to greet people, handle short social exchanges, make arrangements or make and accept offers. It is
possible for students to perform a series of functions as a normal part of the language class (e.g. asking
for permission); however, it is also necessary for them to be able to employ functions beyond the
classroom doors. For all of these aspects, planning plays a fundamental part in the process. Indeed, many
planned communicative objectives are functional in nature and are often expressed in terms of
developing the students’ ability to deal with certain functional situations (e.g. to understand and
produce dialogues related to trying and buying clothes). Other functional activities might involve the use
of simulations, such as role-play or responses to messages based on similar models. Here, the use of a
range of appropriate comprehensible input may serve as a model to guide students in their own
production of the language. It is also possible for learners to use functional language in real situations
with native speakers organised by the school (e.g. participation in school exchanges or projects).
The focus on functions has developed over the years in language learning. Today, students are
expected to be able to communicate in a wide variety of situations and use a range of functional
language within those situations. These functions often employ ‘pre-fabricated’ language, which can
help in the flow of communication.
Some of the functions students might be expected to master are included below, along with examples
of prefabricated language or commonly associated expressions:
• apologising (I’m sorry; I do apologise)
• asking for or giving advice (What do you think?; If I were you)
• agreeing or disagreeing (You’re absolutely right; no way!)
• making suggestions (What about…./ Let’s…)
• asking for information (Excuse me. Could you tell me…?)
• expressing an opinion (In my opinion, …)
• showing approval or disapproval (That’s great; That’s not on!)
• expressing surprise, pleasure or anxiety (How wonderful!; Oh dear)
• persuading (Oh, come on!)
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 • congratulating (Well done!)
This is just a sample of the many different functions that students will need to be able to understand
and express. At the same time, it is important to note that the complexity at which these functions are
treated will obviously vary depending on the age and current levels of competence of the learners.

4. Language in use
As discussed in CoE (2018), linguistic competence and pragmatic competence differ in the sense that the
former deals more with the ‘usage’ of the language, while the latter deals with the ‘use’ of the language.
In this sense, language in use involves a number of key areas in terms of how language is organised and
used to perform communicative functions. Essentially here, we are talking about performance-based
learning. As Richards (2015) indicates, language ability develops through participation in social activities
that can be understood as acts of performance; this view of performance-based learning ‘focuses on
language as a means of achieving social goals and actions’. Attaining these goals and engaging in social
situations often takes place with a series of commonly accepted premises and this section will examine
some of these key features of language in use as provided by the CEFR Companion Volume.

4.1 Flexibility and adapting language

Flexibility deals with the ability of learners to adapt their language to the context and variety of situations
in which communication takes place. Here, CoE (2018) mentions three specific scales for flexibility,
including:
• recombining learnt elements creatively
• adapting language to the situation and to changes in the direction of talk
• reformulating in order to emphasise points and express degrees of commitment, confidence and
to avoid ambiguity.

This flexibility allows learners to adjust their communication in ways that help them to convey messages
in a more effective and appropriate way, while at the same time allowing them to build on what they know
in order to find and develop new ways to communicate.

4.2 Turn-taking
Turn-taking, which was previously mentioned in the treatment of interactive strategies, deals with the
ability to initiate, engage in and finalise communicative discourse. This ability is important in terms of
taking the communicative initiative in ways which are appropriate and acceptable to audiences; it is
important for the speaker, not only in terms of respecting the voice of others, but also in making their
own voice heard. Here, a number of elements which have been previously mentioned can come into

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play, including the use of functional language, prefabricated expressions and mediation of
communication.

4.3 Thematic development, cohesion and coherence

Thematic development is an area of language use that deals with how ideas are expanded in a logical
way. In CoE (2018), the areas of thematic development include:
• telling a story/relating a narrative
• developing a text, expanding and supporting points appropriately
• developing an argument.

In addition to the linguistic resources required for this type of language use, then, there is also a need
to make arguments coherent and cohesive in order to convey the message in a way that can be
understood by the audience. Here, coherence essentially refers to the construction of understandable
texts, which can be facilitated through elements such as referencing, examples, enumeration or
clarifications. Cohesion, on the other hand, refers to the logical organisation of ideas, often aided
through appropriate connectors and structural elements, such as paragraphs. Again, this area requires
the mediation not only of texts and concepts, but also of communication.

4.4 Propositional precision

Propositional precision is an aspect of language use that refers to the ability to convey ideas in a precise
way. As mentioned in CoE (2018), this area can involve a number of key concepts, including:
• the ability to communicate detail reliably
• the degree of detail and precision in information given
• the ability to qualify, emphasise and disambiguate likelihood, commitment, etc.

Essentially, then, this area deals with the degree to which speakers are able to use language and
concepts in ways which yet again point to the mediation of texts, concepts and communication.

4.5 Spoken fluency

A final area of language use described in CoE (2018) is that of spoken fluency. This particular point deals
with three areas, including:
• the ability to construct utterances
• the ability to maintain lengthy production of conversation
• the degree of ease and spontaneity of expression

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This aspect of language use can be facilitated by strategies such as planning and the use of pre-fabricated
language, which are areas mentioned previously in the treatment of production and mediation and in the
section on functional language.

5. Negotiation of meaning
Negotiation of meaning is the process by which speakers of a language attempt to understand each
other. This negotiation is directly related to the previously mentioned aspect of mediation in a number
of ways since it requires:
• engaging with the meaning of words (mediation of texts)
• dealing with notions or ideas (mediation of concepts)
• engaging with others to (co)construct meaning (mediation of communication).

Ellis (1996: 716) states that communication between L2 learners often leads to breakdowns in
communication and frequently, one or more of the interlocutors attempts to interact in ways which will
secure mutual understanding. This is essentially negotiation of meaning, and it is important on a number
of levels. Firstly, in order to be able to communicate effectively, any utterance which is produced must
be understood. When the meaning is not clear, a number of strategies, such as asking for repetition or
clarification, may be employed. However, in addition to the importance of communicating the message
clearly, the actual process of negotiating meaning is an additional opportunity in itself to develop
language skills.
Long (1996) argues that through the process of negotiating for meaning, students have
opportunities to receive comprehensible input and to produce comprehensible utterances, thus further
advancing the learner’s language skills. The negotiation of meaning often entails modifying the language
to make it more understandable for the listener. At the same time, in reformulating utterances, the
speaker must draw on his/her linguistic and paralinguistic resources. This retrieval of information from
memory is an important part of language development. Similarly, when a message is not correctly
produced and understood, this provides the speaker with the opportunity to notice that something is
wrong with the linguistic form of the utterance and may lead to self-repair, which in itself is one of the
more effective forms of error correction (see Richards, 2015).

6. Pedagogical can curricular considerations

Current legislation for secondary education (MECD, 2015a; Consejería, 2016a; 2016b)) highlights the
importance of the development of communicative competence through realistic and meaningful
practice of the language skills. While legislation also incorporates linguistic areas, such as grammar,
vocabulary and pronunciation, these elements are fully integrated in the receptive, productive and
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interactive skills which focus on the communication process and on real situations of use of language.
Additionally, a large amount of emphasis is placed on the strategies to be developed in order to facilitate
successful communicative exchanges for each one of the key language skills.
Within these skills, a series of communicative functions are also highlighted. Among other areas
the functions mentioned include the initiation and continuation functions for personal and social
relationships, description of physical and abstract qualities of people, things and places, narration of
specific and habitual events, offers of help or advice, expressions of wishes or intentions as well as
functions for the organisation of discourse. As mentioned by Harmer (2012) a careful choice needs to be
made when deciding upon which functional exponents are to be taught or practised; this will depend
partly on the students' level and partly on what they want or need to be able to use.
To a certain extent, these functions allow for some aspects of negotiation of meaning, however,
this area is more readily observable in the learner strategies outlined in RD 1105. Here, for example,
strategies such as paraphrasing, asking for help and even using body language can enhance learners'
levels of language comprehension and production. This area is particularly important as it contributes
to the building of the speaking habit in the classroom (see Harmer, 2012).
A key unifying concept for all of these areas, however, is to be found in the notion of mediation
in terms of texts, concepts and communication. In this sense, one of the most useful aspects of current
legislation lies in the promotion of task-based learning, problem solving activities and project work,
present in national legislation on Key Competences (MECD, 2015b) and in regional curricular guidelines
for Andalusia. This type of activity encourages real-life, meaningful engagement with the language
through activities which lead to a series of purposeful outcomes.

7. Conclusion
Communication is at the heart of language teaching and learning in Europe today. Unlike previous
methods, there is a concern now for enabling students to be able to communicate with ever increasing
levels of fluency and accuracy. However, communication is not limited to those aspects pertaining to
discourse competence; there are also a series of pragmatic considerations, related to language in use,
which must be taken into account. Within this pragmatic competence, the four areas of reception,
production, interaction and mediation have been identified as the macrofunctions communicative
language activities. Taken as a whole, these macrofunctions encompass the multi-faceted dimensions of
communicative exchanges and incorporate, in turn, the many different aspects of strategy use and the
employment of functional language, including those pertaining to the negotiation of meaning.
As a complex area, then, this area is made up of skills and abilities and knowledge and awareness
as well as the taking of initiatives. Here, mediation would seem to be a common unifying component

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and the vehicle for this mediation, along with all of the other aspects, would appear to be present in the
form of meaningful, goal-oriented tasks that prepare students for real-life communication outside the
classroom.

Legislation
Consejería (2016a). Orden de 14 de julio de 2016, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente
a la educación Secundaria Obligatoria en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
Consejería (2016b). Orden de 14 de julio de 2016, por la que se desarrolla el currículo correspondiente
al Bachillerato en la Comunidad Autónoma de Andalucía.
Consejería (2020). INSTRUCCIÓN 9/2020, de 15 de junio, de la Dirección General de Ordenación y
Evaluación Educativa, por la que se establecen aspectos de organización y funcionamiento para los
centros que imparten Educación Secundaria Obligatoria.*
MECD (2015a). Real Decreto 1105/2014, de 26 de diciembre, por el que se establece el currículo
básico de la Educación Secundaria Obligatoria y del Bachillerato.
MECD (2015b). Orden ECD/65/2015, de 21 de enero, por la que se describen las relaciones entre las
competencias, los contenidos y los criterios de evaluación de la educación primaria, la
educación secundaria obligatoria y el bachillerato.

References
CoE (2001).Common European framework of reference for language: Learning, teaching, assessment.
Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
CoE (2018). Common European framework of reference for languages: Learning, teaching, assessment.
Companion volume with new descriptors. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.
Ellis, R. (1997). The study of second language acquisition (5th edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harmer, J. (2012). Teacher knowledge: Core concepts in English language teaching. Harlow: Pearson
Long, M.H. (1996). The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In W. C. Ritchie
and T. K. Bhatia (eds.) Handbook of Second Language Acquisition, 413-468. New York: Academic
Press.
Richards, J.C. (2015). Key Issues in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[*Please note that this is an instruction for ESO for the year 2020-21. It is possible a new law will come
out later, this will be discussed as events develop]

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