Tema 1.

LA LENGUA COMO COMUNICACIN: LENGUAJE ORAL Y

LENGUAJE ESCRITO. FACTORES QUE DEFINEN UNA SITUACIN
COMUNICATIVA:
EMISOR,
RECEPTOR,
FUNCIONALIDAD
Y
CONTEXTO.

1. INTRODUCTION
Traditionally, theories of language have concentrated on the study of its different components in isolation,
such as grammar, semantics, phonology, seeing language as a system that included all of them. However,
when language is first acquired in childhood, is merely by means of communicating with the people
around. In this sense, new approaches in the last third of the 20 th C, paid attention to language as
communication.
We, as human beings, need to communicate, and as most of us live in a literary society, we normally use
oral and written language to transmit or receive information. As far as oral communication is concerned,
most human beings speak using oral language in order to exchange information and interact with other
people, but the use of oral language entails the knowledge of certain particular elements, norms, routines,
formulae and strategies that are put into work when we are in conversations.
On the other hand, writing and reading require formal instruction, and children face a series of difficulties
when learning these skills, because they have to comfort oral to written discourse, adapting rules, learning
spelling, dividing speech chains into chunks called words, etc.
However, learning to write and read is probably the most fundamental step in education, because is the
basis for future instruction and access to many fields of knowledge. In this unit, we are going to review
the main characteristics of oral and written language, and then we will analyse the factors that define a
communicative situation, namely the sender and the receiver of the message, the functionality and the
context.

2. ORAL LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Among all the communication codes which are used by human beings (music, kinesics, sign language),
written and oral language is the most efficient for the transmission and reception of information, thoughts,
feelings and opinions. In addition, these linguistic codes are exclusively human and make us distinct
from animals. But written and oral language are different processes: whereas we learn to write through a
formal instruction, speaking and listening come naturally along different stages of the childs evolution.
Therefore we can say that oral language comes first in our history as individuals. Therefore, speech and
writing are not alternative processes, but rather we must consider them counterparts: all oral language
should have a good representative system in a written form.
From a psychological point of view, oral communication is a two-way process in which both speaker
(encoder) and hearer (decoder) must be present in the same situational context at a particular time and
place (unless we talk about special cases of oral communication such as phone conversations). The
functions of oral communication are, as we said before, to communicate or exchange our ideas or to
interact with other people. Unlike written communication, in oral interaction we can monitor the
reactions of the hearer through the feedback so that we can our speech in the course of the
communication, as well as use different linguistic and non-linguistic features (gesturing, intonation...) to
make our messages clearer. However, as it takes place in a particular place and time, the interlocutors
have to make their contributions at a high speed, without much time to think, unlike writing.
Along history, the study of spoken language has not much tradition, unlike written language, due to
several reasons:
- it was considered a secondary type of language as it was not reserved only to cultivate people.
- unlike written language, there was a lack of permanent records of oral language during our
past history.
- it presents more mutability in the understanding and interpretation of what it is said than in
written lg.
Halliday was among the first linguists to study oral language, saying that it was not a formless and
featureless variety of written language. Since then, there has been an increasing interest to which it has
contributed the inventions of audio, video and computer devices. In oral communication, we distinguish
two different types:
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Prepared speech
The formal setting is organised as writing (syntax, lexis & discourse
organisation) It is memorised or written down before (lectures, speech, oral poetry)
Spontaneous speech Speaker has not thought or memorised the message beforehand. It may
present inaccuracies, hesitations, silences and mistakes
As spontaneous speech is the main form of oral communication, and directly reflects real
communication processes with different demands and situations, and prepared speech does not allow for
feedback and monitoring, the analysis and study of oral communication should concentrate on
spontaneous speech, where the negotiation of meaning plays an important role for the communication
purpose to be correctly achieved.
But because of its pervasive and everyday nature, its scientific study has proved particularly complex. It
has been difficult to obtain acoustically clear, natural samples of spontaneous conversation, especially of
its more informal varieties. When samples have been obtained, the variety of topics, participants, and
social situations which characterise conversation have made it difficult to determine which aspects of the
behaviour are systematic and rule-governed.
2.1. ELEMENTS AND NORMS THAT RULE ORAL DISCOURSE
Linguistic elements
STRESS When we talk we have to bare in mind there is a regular distribution of accents along
words and sentences. However, if we want to give special emphasis to a particular word or
phrase, we change that regular pattern of stress and accent in order to make more prominent
what we want.
RHYTHM It is the relationship we make between accents (chunks of words) and silences.
Rhythm can range from very monotonous one (in quick or prepared speech) to rhythm with
contrasts in order to give expressiveness and sense to our speech. Pauses are also important,
because sometimes are made to divide grammatical units and other times are unpredictable
and caused by hesitations.
INTONATION is the falling and rising of voice during speech. Any departure from what it is
considered normal intonation shows special effects and expresses emotions and attitudes.
Normally, falling tones show conclusion and certainty, whereas rising tones may show
inconclusion or doubt (Ill do it / Ill do it... )
Paralinguistic elements
We cannot consider oral verbal communication without remembering that the whole body takes
part. In fact, many times, a person can express sympathy, hostility or incredulity by means of
body and facial gestures. This body language is normally culturally related & is learnt the same
way as verbal behaviour is learnt, although it allows for spontaneity and creativity: we use head,
face, hands, arms, shoulders, fingers...
Other linguistic features that characterise conversational language are:
Speed of speech is relatively rapid; there are many assimilations & elisions of letters; compressions of
auxiliary sequences (gonna); it can be difficult to identify sentence boundaries in long loose passages;
informal discourse markers are common ( you know, I mean); great creativity in the vocabulary choice,
ranging from unexpected coinage (Be unsad) to use of vague words (thingummy).
2.2. RULES
When we use language, we do not only utter grammatically correct sentences, but we know where, when
and to whom we are addressing our utterances. This is the reason why a speaker needs to know not only
the linguistic and grammatical rules of a language (Chomskys linguistic competence) or rules of usage,
but also how to put into effect these rules in order to achieve effective communication, so that we also
need to be familiar with rules of use.
Rules of usage In order to produce and understand messages in a particular language we need to be
familiar with:
PHONOLOGY We need to know the organisation, characteristics and patterns of sounds to
communicate.
MORPHOLOGY We need to know the word formation rules and types of combinations of bases
& affixes.
SYNTAX We need to know how words are put together to form sentences and which are their
relationships.
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SEMANTICS We need to know how words can be combined to produce the meaning we want or
to understand the meaning expressed by others, even if it is nonliteral, methaporical or
anomalous.
Rules of use To be communicatively efficient, we need to show our linguistic competence in real speech
through:
APPROPRIATENESS or knowledge of what type of language suits best in a given situation,
taking into account the context with its participants and their social relationships, the
setting, the topic, the purpose..
COHERENCE or ability to organise our messages in a logical and comprehensible way to
transmit meaning.
COHESION or capacity to organise and structure utterances to facilitate interpretation by means
of endophoras and exophoras ( references to linguistic & situational contexts),
repetitions, ellipsis...
2.3. ROUTINES AND HABITUAL FORMULAE
Mans ability to be creative with language is something obvious, but there are times when we choose
how, when and why not to be creative, to repeat what has been said or heard many times, often in exactly
the same form. Linguistic routines are fixed utterances which must be considered as single units to
understand their meaning, and they are of a learned character (Hi! familiar or empty How do you do?), the
process through which we acquire ritual competence being perhaps the most important socialisation we
make of language.
Understanding routines & formulae require shared cultural knowledge because they are generally
metaphorical in nature and must be interpreted at a non-literal level. People are often quite opposed to
routines, formulae and rituals because they are meaningless and depersonalise our ideas, because literal
semantic value is largely irrelevant. Some typical routines and habitual formulae are used in funeral
condolences, religious ceremonies, weddings, graduation ceremonies...
2.4. STRATEGIES SPECIFIC OF ORAL COMMUNICATION
Particular attention has been paid to the markers of conversational turns: how people know their turn to
speak. In formal dialogue, there are often explicit markers, showing that a speaker is about to talk; in
debate, the person in the chair more or less controls speakers turns. In conversation, however, the cues
are more subtle, involving variations in the melody, rhythm, and speed of speech, and in patterns of eye
movement.
When people talk in a group, they look at and away from their listeners in about equal proportions, but
when approaching the end of what they have to say, they look at the listeners more steadily, and in
particular maintain closer eye contact with those they expect to continue the conversation. A listener who
wishes to be the next speaker may indicate a desire to do so by showing an increase in bodily tension,
such as by leaning forward or audibly drawing in breath. In addition, there are many explicit indications,
verbal and non-verbal, that a speaker is coming to an end (Last but not least...), wishes to pass the
conversational ball (What do you think?, staring to someone), wishes to join in (Could I just say that...),
leave (Well, that is all...), change the topic (Speaking of Mary...), or check on listeners attention or
attitude (Are you with me?).
The subject-matter is an important variable, with some topics being safe in certain social groups (in
Britain, the weather, pets, children, and the locality), others more or less unsafe (religious and political
beliefs, questions of personal income such as How much do you earn). There are usually some arbitrary
divisions: for example, in Britain, it is polite to comment o the taste and presentation of a meal, but
usually impolite to enquire after how much it cost.
In Grices view, we cooperate in a conversation in order to produce a rational and efficient exchange of
information, so that to reach a good final result in a communicative process, we apply 4 cooperative
principles or maxims:
- Maxim of quality: Our contributions have to be sincere, believing what we say & avoiding things we
lack evidence of
- Maxim of quantity: We should make our contributions as briefly, orderly & informative as required for
the exchange.
- Maxim of relevance: An utterance has to be relevant with respect to the stage the conversation has
reached.
- Maxim of manner: Which concerns the manner of expression (avoiding obscurity, ambiguity...).
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3.WRITTEN LANGUAGE AND COMMUNICATION

Written communication is a type of communication, and as such, its main purpose is to express ideas and
experiences or exchange meanings between individuals with a particular system of codes, which is
different to that used in oral communication. In written communication, the encoder of the message is the
writer and the decoder and interpreter of the message is the reader, and many times, this interpretation
does not coincide with the writers intended meaning.
When we write, we use graphic symbols, which relate to the sounds we make when we speak. But
writing is much more than the production of graphic symbols, just as speech is more than the production
of sounds: these symbols have to be arranged, according to certain conventions, to form words, and
words to form sentences. These sentences then have to be ordered and linked together in certain
ways, forming a coherent whole called text.
Since classical times, there have been two contradictory approaches to speech and writing: firstly, the
view that writing is the primary and speech the secondary medium, because writing is more culturally
significant and lastingly valuable than speech; and secondly, the view that speech is primary and writing
secondary because speech is prior to writing both historically and in terms of a childs acquisition of
language. But leaving aside this dichotomy, the first thing we must notice is that speech and writing are
not alternative processes: speech comes first, but writing demands more skill and practice, and they have
different formal patterns.
Most important of all, however, is that written and spoken language are counterparts: a writing system
should be capable of representing all the possible wordings of a persons thoughts. This implies that both
systems could be regarded as the two sides of the same coin.
From a psychological point of view, writing is a solitary activity, the interlocutor is not present, so we
are required to write on our own, without the interaction or the help of the feedback usually provided
in oral communication. That is why we have to compensate for the absence of some linguistic features
which help to keep communication going on in speech, such as prosody and paralinguisic devices such as
gesturing, intonation, etc. Our texts are interpreted by the reader alone, and we cannot monitor his or
her reactions, unlike the speaker: we have to sustain the whole process of communication and to stay in
contact with our reader through words alone, and this is why we must be very clear and explicit about our
intentions when we write.
However, not all the acvantages are on the side of the oral communication: in writing, we normally have
time to think about what we are trying to express, so that we can revise it and re-write it, if need be, and
the reader, to understand a text, can also read and re-read it as many times as wanted.
3.1. STRUCTURE AND FORMAL ELEMENTS OF WRITTEN COMMUNICATION
There are some features characteristic of written language, but this should not be taken to imply that there
s a well-delimited dividing line between writing and speech. However, the extend to which each of
them makes use of different resources is directly related to the nature of the two channels: speech is the
language of immediate communication, and writing is a type of communication with a distance in
between. This is the reason why written texts present the following formal elements:
Linguistic features of written language A good writing system must be fixed, flexible, and adaptable
at a time, so that:
- it must provide a codified expression for the elements expressed by oral language: each idea =
a written form
- it must provide means for creating expressions for elements not codified yet: neologisms,
borrowings...
Syntactic features of written language
The syntactic elements which make writing different from
speech are:
- markers and rhetorical organisers for clauses relationships and clarity (written texts are more
permanent)
- use of heavily pre-modified NPs , SVO ordering and use of passive constructions and
subordinate phrases
Lexical features of written language In order to compensate the absence of paralinguistic devices and
feedback:

more accuracy in the use of vocabulary, avoiding redundancy and ambiguity (due to its
permanent nature)
- use of anaphoras and cataphoras, repetitions, synonyms... to signal relationships between
sentences
- there is more lexical density in writing than in speech (more lexical items than grammatical
ones)
Graphological implications Texts can be presented in different ways, as our culture value many times
more the form than the content. To compensate for the absence of feedback and paralinguistic devices,
written texts need to be accurate in spelling, punctuation, capital letters to mark sentence boundaries,
indentation of paragraphs, different fonts to call attention (italics, bold...) and in poetry or texts to draw
attention, exploitation of resources such as order and choice of words, variations in spelling (Biba la
kurtura).
In any case, what is most characteristic of written communication is that we see it (the organisation,
length...).
3.2. TYPES OF WRITTEN TEXTS: NORMS GOVERNING THEM, ROUTINES AND
FORMULAE
In writing, communication also takes place following system and ritual constraints: this is the reason why
when we look at a text we can distinguish and obtain information regarding different types of
organisation, different purposes and different lengths.
Traditionally, written texts were divided following the classification of genres. Then, linguists linked
their rhetorical mode to the syntactic structures, routines and formulae that characterised them, and
established the following classification:
Postcards
Pieces of writing normally directed to friends or family when travelling ,and sometimes
used for congratulations and greetings. We just write on one side and the language used is
colloquial.
Letters
They can be formal (to enterprises or someone we are not closed to) and informal (to
friends or family) There are some routines to write letters: apart from the writers address
on the top right-hand corner, the date, the first line (dear + name/sir/madam/Mr/Mrs...),
the closing (Yours...) and the signature, present in both types of letters, each type of letter
follows this structural organisation into paragraphs:
Formal:
1st = reason why writing, 2nd = what you want from addressee, 3rd =
conclusion.
Informal:
1st = introduction, 2nd = reason, 3rd = additional info, 4th = conclusion.
There are also directive letters, to provoke some reaction on the reader, using imperatives
& remarks.
Filling-in forms
Consist of answering what you are asked, as briefly as possible, so no writing style
is needed to do so.
Curriculum vitae Consists of a clear summary to give the academic knowledge and experience
someone has on a certain matter, so it includes personal details, current occupation,
academic qualification and professional experience.
Summaries Brief rsums of articles, booklets and books that due to their special form of composition
and writing they allow the reader to gather the main information about the original work
without reading it.
Reports
They are used to present clearly and with details the summary of present and past facts or
activities, and sometimes of predictable future facts from checked data, sometimes
containing the interpretation of the writer but normally with the intention of stating the
reality of an enterprise or institution without deformative personal visions, and can be
expositive, interpretative & demonstrative
Narrative texts
The most universal of all the types of written texts, refer back to the story-telling
traditions of most cultures. In fact there seem to be some basic universal structure that
governs this type of texts:
- Orientation (time, place and character identification to inform reader of the story
world),
Goal. Problem. Resolution. Coda and sometimes a morale at the end.

For this characteristic structure, some of the routines and formulae used are presentatives
(there is...), relatives, adjuncts of place and time, flash-backs, different narrative p.o.v.,
narrative dialogues, etc...
Descriptive texts
They are concerned with the location and characterisation of people and things in
the space, as well as providing background information which sets the stage for narration.
This type of texts is very popular in L2 teaching, and all types have the same preestablished organisation. Within descriptive texts we might find:
- External descriptions, presenting a holistic view of the object by an account of all
its parts
- Functional descriptions, which deal with instruments and the tasks they may
perform
- Psychological descriptions, which express the feelings that something produces in
someone
Some of the most characteristic structures are presentatives (there...), adjuncts of
location, stative verbs (look, seem, be...), use of metaphors, comparisons, qualifying
adjectives and relative sentences.
Expository texts
They identify and characterise phenomena, including text forms such as definitions,
explanations, instructions, guidelines, summaries, etc...They may be subjective (an essay)
and objective (definitions, instructions), or even advice giving. They may be analytical,
starting from a concept and then characterising its parts, and ending with a conclusion.
Typical structures are stative verbs, in order to, so as to, imperatives, modals
and verbs of quality.
Argumentative texts They are those whose purpose is to support or weaken another statement whose
validity is questionable.
The structures we find are very flexible, being this the reason for the existence of several
types:
Classical/Pros & cons zigzag/One-sided arg/Ecclectic appro/Oppositions arg first/Other
side questioned
There are sometimes when we choose how, when and why not to be creative with language to repeat what
is normally used in a given situation: we use linguistic routines and formulae. These are defined as fixed
utterances or sequences of utterances which must be considered as single units, because their
meaning cannot be derived of them unless considered as a whole.
In written texts we find different types of routines and formulaic expressions, which vary depending on
the type of text, as we have been previously seeing. Understanding them usually requires sharing cultural
knowledge, because they are genarally metaphorical in nature and must be interpreted at a non-linguistic
level (for instance, Dear in a letter does not always carry affective meaning).
All those phrases and sentences that, to some extend, have a prescriptive character, can be considered as
routines and formulaic expressions: to consider all the different existing routines would take too long, but
some examples are, in letters & postcards (Yours sincerely) in C.Vs, the organisation of info in different
blocks, in narration (Once upon a time) in descriptions (on the left, high above),etc...
All in all, we can say that they are sometimes very useful but often meaningless & depersonalise our
expressions & ideas.

4. THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

Definition
Generally speaking, communication is the exchange of meanings between individuals through
a common system of symbols, and this has been the concern of scholars since the Greeks.
Communication refers to the transmission of information (a message) between a source and a
receiver, using a signalling system.
At the turn of the century, the English literary critic Ivor Armstrong Richards offered one of the
first definitions, saying that communication takes place when one mind so acts upon its
environment that another mind is influenced, and in that other mind an experience occurs
which is like the experience in the first mind, and is caused in part by that experience.
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The study of human communication in all its modes is known as semiotics. There are several types of
communication, and although in principle any of the five senses can be used as a medium of
communication, in practice only three (tactile, visual and aural) are implemented in both activeexpressive and passive-receptive ways.
Tactile communication involves touch (e.g. shaking hands, grasping the arm) and the manipulation of
physical distance and body orientation in order to communicate indifference or disagreement, and is
studied by proxemics. Visual communication involves the use of facial expressions (smiling, winking...,
which communicate a wide range of emotions) and gestures and body postures of varying levels of
formality (kneeling, bowing...). Visual non-verbal communication is studied by kinesics. Often, visual
and tactile effects interact closely with verbal communication, sometimes even conveying particular
nuances of meaning not easy to communicate in speech (such as the drawing of inverted commas in the
air to signal a special meaning), and most of the times culturally related.
The chief branch of communication studies involves the oral-aural mode, in the form of speech, and its
systematic visual reflex in the form of writing. These are the verbal aspects of communication,
distinguished from the non-verbal (kinesics and proxemics) aspects, often popularly referred to as body
language.
The term language, as we understand it, is usually restricted to speech and writing, because these
mediums of transmission display a highly sophisticated internal structure and creativity. Non-verbal
communication, by contrast, involves relatively little creativity. In language, it is commonplace to find
new words being created, and sentences varying in practically infinite complexity. In this respect,
languages differ markedly from the very limited set of facial expressions, gestures, and body movements.
According to Harmer, the characteristics apply to every communicative situation is that a speaker/writer
wants to communicate, has a communicative purpose, and selects language, and a listener/reader wants to
listen to something, is interested in a communicative purpose, and process a variety of language.
Models
In order to study the process of communication several models have been offered;
fragmentation and problems of interdisciplinary outlook have generated a wide range of
discussion concerning the ways in which communication occurs. Most communication theorists
admit that their main task is to answer the question Who says what to whom with what effect?
The most important models are:
Dynamic Used to describe cognitive, emotional and artistic aspects of the different modes
(narrative, pictorial, dramatic...) of communication as they occur in sociocultural contexts in their
various manners and to and from different sorts of people. For those using this model, the stability
and function of the channel are more variable and less mechanically related to the process than the
linear models.
Linear
Proposed by Shannon and Weaver, though very mathematical, its simplicity, clarity
and surface generality proved very attractive. Originally intended for electronic messages, it was
then applied to all sorts of communication. In its conception it contained five elements arranged
in linear order: information source, transmitter, channel, receiver, destination. Then, the five
elements were renamed so as to specify components for other types of communication, and the
information source was split into its components to provide a wider range of applicability:
source, encoder, message, channel, decoder, receiver.
Key factors
In theory, communication is said to have taken place if the information received is the same as that
sent. In practice, we have to allow for all kinds of interfering factors, such as entropy (noise
distorsion) which can be counteracted by negative entropy (receivers ability to clear blurred
messages), by redundancy (used by the encoder), or by feedback (the sender calculates and
weights the effects on the receiver and acts accordingly); and then we have the context, which
covers the references to the linguistic aspects of the message or endophora (anaphora and
cataphora) and the external aspects of situation or exophora (such as the field, or total event and
purpose of the communication, the mode, or function of the text in the event, including channel
and genre, and the tenor, which refers to the participants and their relationships).

5. FACTORS AND FUNCTIONS OF A COMMUNICATIVE

SITUATION
The most usual answer to the question why do we use language? is to communicate our ideas. But it
would be wrong to think that communicating our ideas is the only purpose for which we use language.
Several other functions may be identified where the communication of ideas is marginal or irrelevant. We
hardly find verbal messages that would fulfil only one function , although the verbal structure of a
message depends primarily on the predominant function;
Following Jakobson, we agree that language must be investigated in all the variety of its functions, but
an outline of these functions demands a concise survey of the constitutive factors in any act of verbal
communication: the ADDRESSER sends a MESSAGE to the ADDRESSEE that to be operative requires
a CONTEXT referred to and to be grasped by the addressee (either verbal and situational, a CODE, fully
or partially common to the addresser and addressee, and a CONTACT, a physical channel and
psychological connection enabling them to enter and stay in communication
If the main purpose of our use of language is to communicate our ideas, concentrating on the context to
which these ideas refer to, then we are dealing with the referential or ideational function.
If there is a direct expression of the addressers attitude toward what is being communicated, tending to
produce an impression of a certain emotion, that is the emotive or expressive function (also very
common), which differs from the referential one in the sound pattern, and it flavours to some extend all
our utterances.
If we orientate our message towards the addressee because we want a certain reaction, we are dealing
with the conative function, syntactically and often phonetically deviate from other functions (vocatives
and imperatives).
We talk about the phatic function when the language we use is for the purpose of establishing or
maintaining social relationships, to check if the channel or contact works, to attract or confirm the
attention of the interlocutor or to discontinue communication, rather than to communicate ideas, and is
normally displayed by ritualised formulas (Well..., How do you do?).
If we use the language to talk about the language, such as when checking if addressee is using the same
code as the addresser (Do you follow me? Do you know what I mean?), we talk of the metalingual
function.
If, on the contrary, the focus is on the phonetic properties of the message, althogh not being the sole
function of the message, we say that we are using the poetic function of language.
To end up, we will say that Halliday grouped all the functions into three interrelated metafunctions:
ideational, to express ideas or experiences, the interpersonal to indicate, establish or maintain social
relationships, and the textual, to create written or spoken texts that fit in the particular situation in which
they are used.

6. FUNCTIONALITY AND CONTEXT: THE NEGOTIATION

OF MEANING
However, if communication were simply a matter of applying the adequate schema, we wouldnt have to
worry about the addressees response to the communication process. Therefore, we need procedures to
integrate these abstract schemata into the concrete process of discourse itself.
All communication depends on the alignment and adjustment of each interlocutors schemata, and
the procedures we use are the interactive negotiating activities that interpret the directions
provided and enable us to alter our expectations in the light of new evidence as the discourse
proceeds, and this procedural ability which traduces the schematic knowledge into communicative
behaviour is called capacity (inference, practical reasoning, negotiation of meaning, problem solving...).
This capacity apply to two different dimensions: one referred to the kind of schema that is being realised,
and the other to the kind of communicative situation that has to be negotiated, that is, to the way in which
the relationship between the schemata of the interlocutors is to be managed. We find that there are
occasions in which we use procedures to clear up and make more explicit and evident the frame of
reference, or use rhetorical routines to specify more accurately our illocutionary acts (the intended
effects of our utterances) or that felicity conditions are not satisfactory so that we must use those
procedures.
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Other procedures, this time on the part of the addressee, are interpretative (as in A-I have two tickets
for the theatre B- Ive got an exam tomorrow). In some occasions, however, negotiation is too long,
too difficult or even fails (as in interethnic interaction) because the schemata are very different, so that
interlocutors may use other signalling system (e.g. pictorial), or use (re)-formulation procedures (So
what you say is... Now lets put it straight..)

7. CONCLUSION
Communication is , therefore, the main purpose of a language, and the use and function that fulfils
depends greatly on the characteristics of the information or the form of the message. In any case, for a
communication process to be complete, it is necessary that both addresser and addressee negotiate the
meaning of what is being transmitted, overcoming any possible obstacles difficulting that process.

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Halliday, M. A. K.
An Introduction to Functional Grammar Chapter 9 1985
Tannen, D.
Conversational Style
Chapter 8 1984
MacArthur, T. The Oxford Companion to the English Language OUP Oxford 1992
Hedge, T.
Writing.
OUP. Oxford. 1993