Communication: Definition 4
In From Input to Output: A Teacher’s Guide to Second Language Acquisition, Bill VanPatten gives a definition of communication particularly adapted to language teaching: “the expression, interpretation, and negotiation of meaning in a given social and situational context” (115).
Observations
1a. This definition is much more person-oriented and much less mechanical than many definitions of communication.
1b. The "expression, interpretation, and negotiation of meaning" are processes involved in communication, and expressing them in this non-mechanical way seems important at least in regard to linguistic communication.
2. Unlike many definitions, this one references meaning, which has to be crucial to any understanding of communication.
3. This definition does not explicitly reference intention, although it could certainly be inferred from terms such as “expression” and “negotiation.”
Observations
1a. This definition is much more person-oriented and much less mechanical than many definitions of communication.
1b. The "expression, interpretation, and negotiation of meaning" are processes involved in communication, and expressing them in this non-mechanical way seems important at least in regard to linguistic communication.
2. Unlike many definitions, this one references meaning, which has to be crucial to any understanding of communication.
3. This definition does not explicitly reference intention, although it could certainly be inferred from terms such as “expression” and “negotiation.”
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