Arto Mustajoki University of Helsinki Department of Modern
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Arto Mustajoki University of Helsinki Department of Modern Languages CONTEXTS AS CAUSES FOR MISUNDERSTANDING www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 1
Theoretical background of the presentation • Dijk’s definition of a context • Recent psychological research on egocentrism and recipient design • The Mental World concept in a model of communication Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 2
Dijk (2006 etc. ) • Concept of “Mental contexts” • Contexts are not relevant as such. It is our interpretations of contexts that are relevant. • A context (taking part in a conference, buying something in a shop, chatting with a good friend) has no direct influence on our communicative behaviour – but our understanding of the context does. Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 3
Keysar and other psycholinguists • The cooperative principle of interaction is an ideal that is not usually put into practice • People tend to be rather egocentric in speech • Recipient design often fails • One reason for this is the common ground fallacy Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 4
Model of (mis)communication (Mustajoki) Monitoring and recipient design Mental world of the Speaker Overt interaction Form. Sp Form. Re Meaning. Sp= what the Sp wants to say Referential world. Sp Meaning. Re= what the Re comprehends Referential world. Re Mental world of the Recipient Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 5
Elements of Mental world More or less permanent features (a) communicative (linguistic) ability; (b) cultural and intellectual background; (c) the cognitive systems of the interlocutors. Movable (situational) features (a) the relations between the interlocutors; (b) the emotional (and physiological) state we are in; (c) contextual elements. Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 6
Contexts in Mental worlds • Sound/letter-level contexts: pencil : penguin • Semantic contexts: freedom, democracy, happiness • Syntactic contexts: John studies Chinese language and philosophy • Referential contexts: John • Pragmatic contexts: It is raining; Anna goes to the match with John; deadline • Speech situation contexts. In-group professional discourse Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 7
Contexts and misunderstanding • Phrases like It is raining; John studies Chinese language and philosophy; Please buy bread as well are good sentences without a context (or in a classroom context when we learn a language) • But in a certain context (concrete situation of interaction) they may lead to misunderstanding due to various factors: mishearing, nonlistening, common ground fallacy, etc. • The common denominator of these cases is a failure in recipient design: (1) we understand the need for recipient design but are not able to implement it; (2) due to an affective state or other reasons, we do not pay attention to recipient design; (3) we interpret some contexts (situations) as a recipient-design-free zone Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 8
Conclusion • Mental worlds are unavoidable contexts for any speech act • The mental worlds of two persons are never identical • Thus, the mental worlds of the Speaker and the Recipient are (at least partially) different • The differences can be (partly) eliminated by careful recipient design • Because recipient design often fails (for one reason or another), miscommunication occurs frequently Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 9
Final conclusion • In producing speech and in trying to comprehend it, we refer to and rely on situationally relevant context in our Mental worlds. • So, difficulties in understanding are due to differences between the corresponding context of the Speaker and that of the Recipient Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 10
Contact information Arto Mustajoki arto. mustajoki@helsinki. fi http: //www. helsinki. fi/~mustajok/pub/pdf-publications. html MODELLING OF (MIS)COMMUNICATION Prykladna lingvistika ta lingvystychni technologii Megaling-2007, Jalta 2008, 250 -267. Osasto / Henkilön nimi / Esityksen nimi www. helsinki. fi/yliopisto 18. 10. 2021 11