5.1. The nature of communication

Communication between humans is am extremely complex and ever-changing phenomenon, and it is not my intention to examine all the many variables that are involved. But there are certain generalisations that we can make about the majority of communicative events and these will have particular relevance for the learning and teaching of languages.

When two people are engaged in talking to each other we can be fairly sure that they are doing so for good reasons:

1) They want to say something. ‘Want’ is used here in a general way to suggest that speakers make definite decisions to address other people. Speaking may, of course, be forced upon them, but we can still say that they feel the need to speak, otherwise they would keep silent.

2) They have some communicative purpose. Speakers say things because they want something to happen as a result of what they say. They may want to charm their listeners; they may want to give some information or express pleasure. They may decide to be rude or to flatter, to agree or complain. In each of these cases they are interested in achieving this communicative purpose – what is important is the message they wish to convey and the effect they want it to have.

3) They select from their language store. Speakers have an infinite capacity to create new sentences. In order to achieve their communicative purpose they will select (from the ‘store’ of the language they possess) the language they think is appropriate for this purpose.

These three generalisations apply equally to someone having a private conversation and to the politician giving a speech to thousands. They apply to the schoolteacher and the radio announcer, the judge and the shop assistant.

It is important, too, to realise that these generalisations do not only apply to the spoken word. They characterise written communication as well, and although a difference may be that the writer is not in immediate contact with the reader, the same also applies to the example of the radio announcer, and, to some extent, the academic giving a lecture in a packed hall.

Assuming an effective piece of communication, we can also make some generalisations about a listener (or reader) of language. By effective communication we mean that there is a desire for the communication to be effective both from the point of view of the speaker and the listener. Of course there are many other characteristics that are necessary for effective communication (e.g., some communicative efficiency/ competence on the part of the speakers), but once again three points can be made about the listeners:

1) They want to listen to ‘something’. Once again ‘want’ is used in a general way. But in order for someone to understand what they are listening (or reading) they must have some desire to do so.

2) They are interested in the communicative purpose of what is being said. In general people listen to language because they want to find out what the speaker is trying to say – in other words what ideas they are conveying, and what effect they wish the communication to have.

3) They process a variety of language. Although the listener may have a good idea of what the speaker is going to say next, in general terms, he or she has to be prepared to process a great variety of grammar and vocabulary to understand exactly what is being said.

Once again these comments apply generally to all listeners, and are equally true of readers.

Whenever communication takes place, of course, there is a speaker (and/or writer) and a listener (and/or reader). This is the case even where a novelist writes a manuscript, for here the writer assumes that there will be a reader one day and that that reader will be performing a communicative act when reading a book. In conversation and, for example, the exchange of letters, the speaker or writer quickly becomes a listener or reader as the communication progresses. We can summarise our generalisations about the nature of communication in the following way: