The purpose of language is to communicate. In order to successfully do this, a language has to be understood and interpreted in the right way. This can only be done with proper knowledge of situational factors. A single statement does not necessarily mean anything without there being a question leading up to it. A conversation between two people does not necessarily make sense without any knowledge about the participants or the topic of conversation. Many factors influence how a situation is perceived and interpreted, as shown in the following example of a communicative event.
After landing at the airport in Aberdeen, a woman has to approach the lost luggage counter since she did not get her suitcase. She is approximately 40 years in age and seems stressed from the previous flight. Her flight was delayed and many passengers have the same problem and are all queuing when she approaches the desk. Since she is in front of the queue most bystanders are looking in her direction.
The lady at the counter greets the passenger with a friendly, ‘Good morning, how may I help you?’ while already getting out a lost luggage form. She will be referred to as person B. Person B is approximately 50 years in age and has a local accent. The passenger seems very annoyed and mumbles, ‘Morning. I just flew in from Copenhagen and my suitcase got lost’. Through her body language she conveys annoyance but also tiredness from her travels. She leans onto the counter and keeps on checking her watch to indicate that she is in a hurry. The passenger is hereby breaking conversational and cultural norms. After person B asks for the bag tag from the passenger, she slams this on the counter without saying a word. This nonverbal message gets the fact that she is unhappy with the situation across easily. Person B then politely asks the passenger to describe her suitcase and asks for the passengers contact details. After giving this information, the passenger asks, ‘When will I be getting my suitcase?’ Person B then informers her, ‘It should be delivered to you tonight or tomorrow, the next flight from Copenhagen arrives at 18.40. The driver will call you with more details’. The passenger then simply says, ‘Fine’, grabs her receipt, turns around, and leaves the terminal. The context of the conversation influences how each participant behaves. Person B has to be very formal and polite, since she is at work. This also influences the tenor of the discourse since it is a formal setting and the participants do not know each other. However, the participants of the conversation still have a certain amount of shared knowledge. They both know that they are at the counter for lost luggage and that they have to organise the delivery of the suitcase. The passenger is also influenced by the context of the situation; she wants help and information from person B. In comparison to person B, the communicative event influences her to a greater degree. She just lost her suitcase, which contains many personal belongings. The main purpose of the communicative event is to figure out a way to get the suitcase to her as soon as possible. This requires the exchange of information in order for a report to be filled. The passengers’ goal is it to get the information across as quickly as possible. Through her choice of words and her body language she also conveys that this is an inconvenience to her. The passengers objective is to inform person B that she wants her …show more content…
While it is clear that she wants her suitcase back from the beginning of the conversation, it only is evident after this last statement that she is definitely not satisfied with the airlines’ service.
The example of the conversation in the airport shows how important it is to be aware of the context of a situation. It is obvious how not only the setting and the participants influence a conversation, but also cultural norms as well as shared knowledge. Nonverbal communication is also very important in understanding a situation. Not having any knowledge about the context can, therefore, easily lead to miscommunication. This demonstrates how amazing it is that it seems effortless for us to have a conversation, when we have to consider and interpret so many things at
After landing at the airport in Aberdeen, a woman has to approach the lost luggage counter since she did not get her suitcase. She is approximately 40 years in age and seems stressed from the previous flight. Her flight was delayed and many passengers have the same problem and are all queuing when she approaches the desk. Since she is in front of the queue most bystanders are looking in her direction.
The lady at the counter greets the passenger with a friendly, ‘Good morning, how may I help you?’ while already getting out a lost luggage form. She will be referred to as person B. Person B is approximately 50 years in age and has a local accent. The passenger seems very annoyed and mumbles, ‘Morning. I just flew in from Copenhagen and my suitcase got lost’. Through her body language she conveys annoyance but also tiredness from her travels. She leans onto the counter and keeps on checking her watch to indicate that she is in a hurry. The passenger is hereby breaking conversational and cultural norms. After person B asks for the bag tag from the passenger, she slams this on the counter without saying a word. This nonverbal message gets the fact that she is unhappy with the situation across easily. Person B then politely asks the passenger to describe her suitcase and asks for the passengers contact details. After giving this information, the passenger asks, ‘When will I be getting my suitcase?’ Person B then informers her, ‘It should be delivered to you tonight or tomorrow, the next flight from Copenhagen arrives at 18.40. The driver will call you with more details’. The passenger then simply says, ‘Fine’, grabs her receipt, turns around, and leaves the terminal. The context of the conversation influences how each participant behaves. Person B has to be very formal and polite, since she is at work. This also influences the tenor of the discourse since it is a formal setting and the participants do not know each other. However, the participants of the conversation still have a certain amount of shared knowledge. They both know that they are at the counter for lost luggage and that they have to organise the delivery of the suitcase. The passenger is also influenced by the context of the situation; she wants help and information from person B. In comparison to person B, the communicative event influences her to a greater degree. She just lost her suitcase, which contains many personal belongings. The main purpose of the communicative event is to figure out a way to get the suitcase to her as soon as possible. This requires the exchange of information in order for a report to be filled. The passengers’ goal is it to get the information across as quickly as possible. Through her choice of words and her body language she also conveys that this is an inconvenience to her. The passengers objective is to inform person B that she wants her …show more content…
While it is clear that she wants her suitcase back from the beginning of the conversation, it only is evident after this last statement that she is definitely not satisfied with the airlines’ service.
The example of the conversation in the airport shows how important it is to be aware of the context of a situation. It is obvious how not only the setting and the participants influence a conversation, but also cultural norms as well as shared knowledge. Nonverbal communication is also very important in understanding a situation. Not having any knowledge about the context can, therefore, easily lead to miscommunication. This demonstrates how amazing it is that it seems effortless for us to have a conversation, when we have to consider and interpret so many things at