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Making Sense: the Interaction of Linguistic Expression and Contextual Information
Cambridge University
This paper briefly characterizes the view of ‘context’ which appears to be most prevalent in applied linguistics and in language teaching. It notes that ‘what is being talked about’, the conceptual content, is rarely considered in any serious way. It outlines the findings of various research projects directed by the author on some of the parameters which contribute to greater or lesser conceptual difficulty, hence to greater or lesser difficulty in talking about them, or in understanding what is said about them. The bulk of the paper describes some research which explores the role of intentionality (and causality) in narrative as a facilitator of understanding what is going on and of talking about it. These relationships are complex and hence require expression in complex language. It is noted that these findings have implications for the design of task-based materials for use with foreign and second language learners as well as mothertongue learners. Readers are reminded that context alone may not illuminate language use unless language is first deliberately used to guide listeners to identifying those features of context which will be relevant to the interpretation of language.
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