The Importance Of Communication In Context

Introduction

Context can be broadly defined as “the interrelated conditions in which something exists or occurs. “(prutting 1982 pg. 46 ) The study of pragmatics is significantly influenced by context, in that while it is incredibly multifaceted, it is distinctly shaped by a number of variables. These include; the conversations environment, the means of communication, the communicative partner and the rules for current interaction (Prutting, 1982) In this paper, the context being deconstructed is that of a formal e-communicative environment; communication via email. Through analysing the ways in which language is formulated and structured in a formal environment, this paper seeks to bring to the fore valid reasons for miscommunication in this context and develop an understanding as for why this is so prevalent in email interaction.

What is Pragmatics?

Before we can deconstruct the pragmatics in a formal email context, it is important to understand exactly what pragmatics is. Defined as meaning in context (ref), pragmatics identifies the way in which words can create meaning in any given social environment. It looks at language respective to its social context and the individual constructing the message rather than just analysing the meaning of the written words themselves.

Much of what we understand of any language extends far beyond the literal meaning of the words and sentences (Capelli, Nakagawa & Madden, 1990). This goes for both written and spoken words. Communication, by nature, is a reciprocal partnership where by both parties are involved in its construction and interpretation. While verbally communicated messages are interpreted by an individuals verbal and non-verbal cues, the visual and audible advantage is lost whe...

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...e that ultimately result in miscommunication and misunderstanding on the recipients end. It is important for the receiver of a formal email to consider the senders intentions and acknowledge the absence of physical pragmatic cues before jumping to any conclusions.

Conclusion

As the dependency on emailing as a central means of communication continues to grow, the need for accurate communication methods and elimination of miscommunication errors grows with it. This paper explored the role pragmatics plays in email message construction and assessed the key errors that are made when conveying messages, particularly in a formal environment. It is imperative that the sender of any email message eliminates interpretive assumptions, no matter what their relationship with the receiver, and employs proper formal netiquette to ensure messages are clear and understood.