Language, Culture, and Knowledge in Context - A Functional-Cognitive Approach - Brian Nolan

Language, Culture, and Knowledge in Context - A Functional-Cognitive Approach - Brian Nolan

Context, Situation, and Common Ground

Language, Culture, and Knowledge in Context - A Functional-Cognitive Approach - Brian Nolan

Brian Nolan [+-]
Technological University Dublin (retired)
Dr. Brian Nolan is a retired Head of School of Informatics and Engineering at the Technological University Dublin, in Ireland. His research interests include linguistic theory at the morpho-syntactic semantic interface, argument structure and valence, constructions in grammar, event structure in language, the architecture of the lexicon and computational approaches to language processing, computational linguistics, speech act theory, context and common ground. His linguistic work has been in the functional linguistic model of Role and Reference Grammar and he has published extensively internationally. In 2012 Dr. Nolan published his book with Equinox on the linguistic structure of Irish in a Role and Reference Grammar account entitled The structure of Modern Irish: A functional account. In 2013, Benjamins published his co-edited volume Linking constructions into functional linguistics – The role of constructions in grammar in their Studies in Language Companion series. His co-edited Benjamin volume on computational linguistics and linguistic theory, Language processing and grammars: The role of functionally oriented computational models was published in 2014, also in their Studies in Language Companion series. He also co-edited a Benjamins book on ‘Causation, transfer and permission’ in linguistic theory, which appeared in early 2015. In January 2017, Benjamins published his co-edited book on complex predication entitled Argument realisation in complex predicates and complex events: Verb verb constructions at the syntax semantic interface. In 2019, Dr. Nolan co-edited a volume with Cambridge Scholars Publishing on the ‘Linguistic perspectives on the construction of meaning and knowledge: The linguistic, pragmatic, ontological and computational dimensions’.

Description

In Chapter 8, Context, situation, and common ground, we address how context and situation are important notions within pragmatic analysis. Within a dialogue, context helps to differentiate, for example, between what is said vs. what is meant. The nature of the contribution of context, therefore, is a central area of research interest within pragmatic analysis. We also examine context and its relation to discourse. While theories of speech acts have accounted for some of the properties of speakers and hearers, such as their knowledge, intentions or beliefs, to formulate appropriateness conditions, in many instances they have not pursued a systematic analysis of contextual conditions. Context draws on knowledge of the world and, as almost anything may become relevant for discourse, a theory of context risks becoming too large and unmanageable. However, not everything that can be understood as a knowledge background to discourse is necessarily part of its context. Developing a theory of context means selecting those elements of a communicative situation that are systematically relevant for the discourse situation. This means that there is a need to examine how situations are defined and determine criteria for what must be included in a theory of context. Context models must inform us as to how participants produce and understand discourse, and enable participants to adapt discourse to the communicative situation at the moment of communicative interaction. We also examine context and common ground, and the way in which common ground mediates the multifaceted relationship between culture and language in interaction, and communication, and how culture informs language usage. Common ground is considered to be a complex distributed structured entity important to the interface between culture, language and knowledge, where knowledge includes ontology, knowledge representation, reasoning, cultural schemata, cultural metaphors and cultural conceptualisations. We address the question of how theories of language might effectively characterise contextual knowledge and the cultural connection. One way that functionalist approaches do this is through examining speech act performatives, that is, language in interaction and use within a specific culture. We include a case study addressing how we might meet the challenges of context in the linguistic analysis of two kinds of speech act.

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Citation

Nolan, Brian . Context, Situation, and Common Ground. Language, Culture, and Knowledge in Context - A Functional-Cognitive Approach. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. p. 123-178 Mar 2022. ISBN 9781800501928. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=41900. Date accessed: 29 Mar 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.41900. Mar 2022

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