The Object of Study
When discussing any form or language, it is essential to establish and determine the context and/or meaning the words or gestures are being used in. Considering "communication as a contract", the initial communication process is mutually agreed upon; however, can be terminated whenever a participant does not wish to continue the conversation.
In today society, there are so many loaded words and gestures, "it is the product passively registered by the individual" (pg. 4). With that notion in mind, the understanding of such speech and language can become a chore as individuals can venture to new forms of speech which the general population might be unaware of (i.e. speaking in slang).
As there are many forms and variations of language spoken, engaging in communication can create assumption problems. Individuals should not assume that their communication partner is aware of the underlying meaning of their spoken words. With a given "communication contract", they might be agreeing or disagreeing to something they don't fully understand.
Therefore, is it the responsibility of the person proposing something to make sure the other participant understands everything that is involved, or is it up to the other person to seek out clarification with unknown speech?
posted by IMunro @ 2:15 p.m.
1 Comments:
great post, ian, and thanks for considering "communication as a contract"!
I think the question that you raise of responsibility in communication is a really interesting one. I would venture to say that the responsibility to ensure that communication occurs would be distributed differently in different in communicative milieus.
To use my own situation as an example, I think in class I hold a little more responsibility than you all in terms of making sure communication happens (both when I speak and hopefully setting the stage for clear communication between students as well) but as university students, you all hold more responsibility than you used to, as high school students, towards your own educations, and therefore towards making sure you understand what is being said.
The context of a communicative event will always bring with it a different power/responsibility dynamic.
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