UNIT 3. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS. FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE.

LANGUAGE IN USE. THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING.

OUTLINE
TITLE PAGE
1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS.
2.1. Language and communication
2.2. Types of communication : verbal vs non-verbal
2.3. Characteristics of communication
2.4. Elements in the communication process
3. FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE.
3.1. Sausserre´s Speech Circuit Communication Model
3.2. Bühler´s Communication Model
3.3. Jackobson`s Communication Model
3.4. Shannon and Weaver`s Communication Model
3.5. Halliday`s Communication Model.
4. LANGUAGE IN USE
4.1. Language in use : Saussurre and Chomsky
4.2. Linguistic theories
4.2.1. Pragmatic theories
4.2.1.1. Austin and Searle: Speech Act Theory
4.2.1.2. Halliday and the Situational Context Theory
5. THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING
6. CONCLUSION
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. INTRODUCTION
Communication, the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of symbols,
has been an important concern to scholars since the time of ancient Greece.
Communication is more than just one person speaking and another one listening. We differentiate verbal and
non-verbal, oral and written or formal and informal. In addition, there is human and animal communication, and
nowadays we may also refer to human-computer 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 need to know which levels of the language should be used in different circumstances
and how to negotiate meaning , for this reason, the topics developed in the following pages are extremelly
important for English teachers due to the fact that it is essential to train our students to live in an increasingly
international, multicultural and multilingual world. So, our role as teachers is to transmit the practical and
functional aspects of our subject. In order to reach this objective, we will take into account the communicative
approach as it is highlighted by the European Council and by the current Organic Law LOMLOE 3/2020 on
29th December, BOE 340 on 30th December.

In this essay, I will first briefly provide a definition and explanation of the communication process, starting
with an explanation about the relationship between language and communication, and following with the
different types of communication and the main characteristics and elements involved in the communication
process. The next section deals with the functions of language and some of the main Communication Models
proposed in the last years. The last part deals with an explanation of language in use highlighting the
importance of a situational context for successful communication to take place and an explanation of the notion
of “negotiation of meaning”. The essay ends with a conclusion and a mention of the bibliography used to
prepare it.

2. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

2.1. Language and communication

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.

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 we may mention:

1- An auditory-vocal channel which only humans are endowed with.
2- Interchangeability of messages. Trasmitters can become receivers and viceversa.
3- Productivity, as there is an infinite number of possible messages to be expressed.
4- Displacement since we may talk about events remote in space or time.
5- Duality as sounds with no intrinsic meaning may be combined in different ways to form elements with
meaning.
6- Arbitrariness by which words and their meaning have no a priori connection.
7- Traditional transmission, since language is transmitted from one generation to the next by a process of
teaching and learning.
2.2. 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. Communication can be verbal and non- verbal. Thus, writing a letter, having a
conversation 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 or
body language, given that non-verbal symbols are also components of the communication process. For this
reason, Semiotics, the field which investigates the study of signs in communication processes, concerns itself
with the analysis of both linguistic and non-linguistic signs.

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.

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), by sight (as in traffic signs) or by touch (as in the Braille alphabet).

2.3. Characteristics of communication.

Communication is 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:

First, it is a form of social interaction.

Secondly, it has a purpose, that is, to communicate.
Thirdly, it involves a high degree of unpredictability and creativity.
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.

2.4. 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.

Jakobson states that all acts of communication, be they written or oral, are based on six constituent elements:

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 the 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.

3. THE FUNCTIONS OF LANGUAGE

When we refer to the functions of language, we are talking about the purposes language is used for by
individuals. It is part of our competence as speakers not only to know how to produce utterances, but also how
to use them in different situations of our social life.

Historically speaking, Plato was said to be the first to discuss about the funtion of language, which according to
him is for communication.

Some centuries later, in 1923, the anthropologe B. Malinowski stated that language has two main purposes:
pragmatic and ritual. For him, the pragmatic function refers to the practical use of language, either by means of
speech or of written texts; The ritual function is concerned with the use of language associated to ceremonies,
and also referred as magic.

3.1 Saussure’s Speech Circuit Communication model.

Saussure devised a circular communication model on the basis of two premises. On the one 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:

Acoustic signals are sent from a speaker to a receiver. Saussure outlined two processes within this framework.
a) Phonation where the sender formulates mental signs in the mind and then gives acoustic shape to them.
b) Audition, when the receiver transforms the acoustic message into mental concepts.

3.2 Bülher´s communication model

In the 1930s, the psychologist Karl Bühler, devised a model which described the communicative functions
according to the approach given by Plato. From this standpoint the main porpouse of language is to
communicate. Bühler describes language according to the Greek term “organum” which means “tool”. He
claims that language is an “organum” for a person to communicate with another about general things.

Bühler 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 attributed to a communicative function,
depending on which of the three components involved is intented to be hightlighted.

1. The expressive function is oriented towards the speaker, addressed to in first person.
2. The connative function is oriented towards the addressee in second person.
3. The representational function is oriented towards the rest of reality in third person

3.3. Jakobson´s Communication model

Bühler‟s scheme was adopted by the Prague School and later extended by Roman Jakobson. Jakobson
considers that all acts of communication, be they written or oral, are based on six constituent elements. In his
model, each element is associated with one of the six functions of language he proposed:

1. The referential function is oriented towards the context of the communication. This function aims to send
information or to tell others about the speaker’s idea. For example, “Our opening hours are 9 p.m to 5 p.m”
2. The poetic function focuses on the message of its own sake. It deals with the message within a decorative or
aesthetic function. This is achieved by means of rhetorical figures, pitch or loudness. For instance a poetry
or a slogan.
3. The emotive function focuses on the addresser, communicating the emotion or expressing the feelings of the
speaker. E.g.: “What a surprise!
4. The conative function is an orientation toward the addressee. Through this function, the speaker is trying to
get the receiver to do something related to his or her utterances such as in the command “Open the
window!”
5. The Phatic function is oriented on the contact between the speaker and the receiver, checking if the channel
is working or not. It establishes, prolongs or discontinues the conversation. For example; “Really?”
6. The Metalinguistic Function uses the language to describe itself: “What`s the subject of this sentence?”

3.4. Shannon’s and Moles’ communication models.

In the second half of the twentieth century, Shannon’s and Moles’ Communication Cycle model inspired other
linguists’ models on communicative functions and for this reason it is refered as “The Mother of All Models”.

It is a lineal model of communication developed by  Shannon and  Weaver. This model was designed originally
to explain communication through means such as telephone and computers which encode our words using
codes like binary digits or radio waves.
The components of this model are the followings:
1. The sender or information source who has the expressive function and starts the process by choosing a
message to send. A sender can send a message in multiple different ways: orally (through spoken word), in
writing, through body language, etc.
2. The encoder (Transmitter). This is the machine that converts the idea into signals to be sent from the sender
to the receiver or it can also be a person that turns an idea into spoken or written words or sign language.
3. The decoder (receiver) who changes the transmitted signal back into a message . How the recipient
interprets the message is called the appelative function.
4. The channel which is the medium used to transmit the message. Thus, in oral communication we refer to
air, and in written communication, we mean paper or writing material.
5. Noise. Disturbances which does not let the message get to the receiver as what is sent.

Both the sender and the recipient can respond to each other in this model, with the sender and recipient
alternating roles and receiving feedback. This leads to a cyclical process.

In the 1960s, Abraham Moles added the code as a crucial element for sender and receiver to communicate
successfully. For Moles, the sender and receiver must have a fundamental set of codes in common for
successful communication.

3.5. Halliday`s Communication Model

Halliday sees language as a social and cultural phenomenon. His model of language is called functional or
systemic grammar.

For Halliday, there are three macro-functions:

1. the ideational, which refers to the expression of content: speaker’s experience of the world;
2. the interpersonal: establishing and maintaining social relations;
3. the textual. Establishing cohesive relations in the sentences of the discourse: linking words and relating
meaning to context.

4. LANGUAGE IN USE.

According to Rivers (1981), 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; the second, language as a product, turns language into an object
of study; and the latter one, language as a process, deals with how to formulate messages to express specific
meanings and is linked to the next section named “Negotiation of Meaning”.

4.1. Language in use: Sausurre and Chomsky

Ferdinand de Saussure in his Course in General Linguistics (1916), developed a theoretical

linguistic dichotomy distinguishing between the French words “langue”(language), which denotes a system of
internalized, shared rules governing a language and “parole”(speech), that is how these rules are put into action
by the speakers of a language.

Later, in 1965 Noam Chomsky introduced the concepts of Competence and Performance. Those
concepts are very similar to Saussure’s dichotomy of langue and parole. Competence, by Chomsky,refers to the
native speaker’s knowledge of his language, the system of rules, his ability to produce and understand ;
Performance on the other hand is the study of the actual use of the language in real-life situations.

4.2. Language in use theories.

4.2.1 Pragmatic theories
Pragmatics is a branch of linguistics which helps us look beyond the literal meaning of words and
utterances and allows us to focus on how meaning is constructed in specific contexts.

We must differentiate between linguistic and situational context.

1. Linguistic context, also called co-text is the set of other words used in the text. For example, the Word
“pupil” is a homonym and we can guess which meaning is intended by means of the linguistic context. If
the Word “pupil” is used in a sentence with words as “teacher” or “school” the meaning is “student” but if
“pupil” is used with words such as “eyes” or “iris” we know this Word refers to a part of the eyes.
2. Situtational context refers to the general knowledge a person has of the world. For example: ‘Can you
pass the salt?’Literal Meaning: Are you physically able to do this task? Literal Response: ‘Yes’;
Pragmatic Meaning taking into account the sitiational context: Will you pass me the salt? Pragmatic
Response: The listener will pass the salt to the speaker.

4.2.1.1. Austin and Searle: Speech Act Theory

Speech Act Theory (Austin & Searle): Pioneered by Austin and developed by Searle,
Speech Act
Speech Act Theory (Austin & Searle): Pioneered by Austin and developed by Searle,
Speech Act
The Speech Act Theory was introduced by the British philosopher J.L. Austin in his work “How to Do Things
With Words”(1,975) and further developed by American philosopher J.R. Searle.
According to the Speech Act Theory, words are used not only to present information but also to carry out
actions. Austin distinguishes between two main utterances:

1. Constative: Utterances that describe or express facts or situations and therefore can be true or
false, for example: “Snow is white. (true) Snow is red. (false).
 2. Performatives: Utterances with which the speaker performs the action denoted by some
performative verb (e.g. promise, declare etc), for instance, when saying “I apologize for my behaviour”, by
uttering this, the speaker makes an apology. Austin further distinguishes between primary utterance ‘I shall be
there.’ and explicit performative ‘I promise that I shall be there.’”. The first example does not make use of a
performative verb, whereas the second does. Still, both examples have similar implications, i.e. they both are
promises, but only in the second example the promise is made explicit. At this point, Austin recognizes that an
utterance can also be performative without including a performative verb.
Performatives do not have truth conditions but felicity conditions or ‘successful’ use of performative
utterances. These ‘felicity conditions’ apply especially to performatives associated with specific rituals or
other types of formal events. According to Austin, the following conditions must be met for a performative
sentence to be successful:

1. the uttering of certain words (and not others) is necessary

2. the circumstances must be appropriate
3. the speaker or the listener should also perform other ‘physical’ of ‘mental’ actions accompanying the
utterance which lead to the performance of the act.

So, the utterance “I pronounce you husband and wife” must be said by an individual with the privilege of
celebrating a marriage and pronounced in an appropiate place such as a church.

Searle refined Austin`s felicity conditions and proposed the followings

1. Propositional content condition requires the participants to understand language.

2. Preparatory condition, which involves that the speech act is embedded in a context that is conventionally
recognized
3. Sincerity condition, that is, the speech act is being performed seriously and sincerely
4. Essential condition intends that an utterance be acted upon by the addressee

The linguist John Searle, proposed the following classification of speech acts:

1. Assertives: The speaker represents facts of the world. State
2. mes can be assessed as true or false. Examples are when we inform, deny or notify. “It´s raining”
3. Directives. Attempts to get the hearer to do something such as in requests or commands. “Please, stop
playing computer games”.
4. Commisives. Commit to a future course of actions. “I`ll be here next month”.
5. Expressives. Express the attitudes of the speaker. It includes thanking, apologizing or welcoming. “Thank
you for coming”
6. Declaratives. They bring a state of affair into existence by representing oneself as performing the action.
“I baptize you”.
There are 3 components in Speech Act Theory:
1. Locutionary act: the act of saying the literal meaning of the utterance. “It is raining outside”
2. Illocutionary Act: The act which is performed while saying the utterance. Illocutionary act includes
promising, apologising, predicting, ordering and requesting. For example, the sentence of the previous
example (“it is raining outside”) can also mean that the speaker may wish the hearer use umbrella if the s/he
wants to go outside or the speaker wants the hearer not to go outside and stay at home.
3. Perlocutionary Act.  This is the effect on the hearer on what the speaker says. For example,“it is raining
outside”,the perlocutionary effect from that utterance may be that the hearer uses an umbrella when s/he goes
outside or to stay in the room.
 Apart from distinguishing speech acts according to their general function, they
can also be distinguished with regard to their structure and they can be:

1. Direct Speech Acts, when there is a direct relationship between the structure and the communicative
function of the utterance, in this way, a declarative is used to make a statement: “You closed the window”, an
interrogative is used to ask a question: “Did you close the window?”and an imperative is used to make a
command: “Close the window!.

2. Indirect Speech Acts, when there is an indirect relationship between the form and the function of the
utterance, for example, an interrogative is used to make a request: “Could you pass the salt?”or a declarative is
used to make a request: “You’re standing in front of the TV.”

1.2.1.2. Halliday and the Situational Context Theory

Halliday proposed that the concept of context consists of three strata:
1. Context of culture. It is the outer context around a text. In context of culture, we understand language
from the information of cultural background. So, each person can make different interpretations in
understanding the meaning of language based on the cultural background.
2. Context of situation refers to the specific text and its component parts.
3. Co-text, also known as linguistic context refers to the relationship between the words, phrases, sentences
and paragraphs.
According to Halliday, context of situation consists on three aspects which determine the meaning of a text:
field, tenor and mode. Field refers to what is happening, to the nature of social action that is taking place.
Tenor refers to who is taking part, to the nature of the participants, their status and roles. Mode refers to what
part the language is playing, what it is that the participants are expecting the language to do for them in that
situation.

5. THE NEGOTIATION OF MEANING

Communication is a process in which participants negotiate meaning in a given situation or context.
When communicating, speakers often experience difficulties when their resources in the foreign or native
language are limited. Negotiation of meaning is the process that speakers go through to reach a clear
understanding of each other. Asking for clarification, rephrasing, and confirming what you think you have
understood are some strategies for the negotiation of meaning.
In 1975, Paul Grice proposed that participants follow a general principle of cooperation in order to
achieve a common communicative goal. Grice’s cooperative principle is a set of norms that are
expected in conversations. It consists of four maxims, we have to follow in order to be cooperative
and understood:
1.Maxims of quality. Try to make your contribution one that is true:
a) do not say what you believe to be false;
b) do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence
2. Maxims of quantity
a) Make your contribution as informative as is required for the current purposes of the
exchange;
c) do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
 3. Maxim of relation. Make your contribution relevant.

4. Maxims of manner. Be perspicuous, and specifically:

a) avoid obscurity
b) avoid ambiguity
c) be brief
d) be orderly.

Following these maxims, we can say that a successful communication does not only depends
on what we are saying but also on how we say what we want to transmit.
6. CONCLUSION
As teachers, we must highlight the great importance the previously explained topics have in our
English classroom and emphasize on the aspect that in a communicative interaction grammar and
vocabulary are not enough to convey a message. We are intented to select the linguistic elements
bearing in mind that we are influenced by the social and cultural context as well as by our intentions.
As the study of the culture 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. At present, this authentic communicative interaction is
approached within our current educational system through projects such as “Comenius” and
“Socrates”, intended to promote international exchanges within the European Community.
Since we are dealing with a communicative approach, it is relevant to conclude mentioning that
they are related to the objectives focused by the Educational Guidelines proposed by the Council of
Europe in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages: Learning, teaching,
assessment(CEFR) and our current educational system which maintain that students are intended to
carry out several communicative tasks with specific communictative goals within specific contexts.
Following this, present-day communicative approaches deal with a communicative model in which
first, there is an emphasis on significance over form and secondly, motivation and involvement,
because we cannot forget that motivation is the cornestone of learning.
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Numerous sources have contributed to provide an overall basis for the development of the unit:
o COMMON EUROPEAN FRAMEWORK OF REFERENCE FOR LANGUAGES:
LEARNING, TEACHING, ASSESMENT ,Council of Europe,2001 (CUP)
o THE CAMBRIDGE ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF LANGUAGE, Crystal D., 1997 (CUP)
o A COMPREHENSIVE GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,Quirk et alter,
1989(Longman)
o PRACTICAL ENGLISH USAGE, M. Swan,2005 (OUP)
o www.wikipedia.com
o www.britannica.com