Language in Interaction: Its Role in any Society Globally

LANGUAGE IN INTERACTION
Name
Institution of Affiliation
Date
Language in Interaction
The role of language in any society globally is communication. There are thousands of languages world over used by different speakers. English alone is spoken by 1500 million people with its native speakers accounting for less than half of that numberCITATION Sta16 \p "Statista : statista.com" \n \y \t \l 1033 (p. Statista : statista.com). It is critical to understand the language if we are to appreciate its primary role of enhancing communication. Language is particularly essential in building relationships. These relationships can be diverse in their nature from personal to corporate relationships. Language provides a mechanism through which we can articulate our reality, concepts, ideas, feelings, emotions in different scenarios. Language, therefore, gives purpose and meaning to every aspect of our lives. Humans utilize language in different but gender specific ways. Males in human society will utilize language to construct their social status and to determine and preserve their independence from other malesCITATION Yeh96 \p "Harpaz : human-brain.org" \n \y \t \l 1033 (pp. Harpaz : human-brain.org). Females, however, utilize language to build communion, consensus and relationships within a group. It is, therefore, critical that we have an exceptional understanding of language especially noting that humans are communal beings. Language is the tool that facilitates community. An understanding of language, therefore, contributes to a better understanding of ourselves as a speciesCITATION Kor51 \p 311 \l 1033 (Korzybski, 1951, p. 311). In this regard, we refer to language in its robust form consisting of both verbal and non-verbal cues.
The main aim of this paper is to examine the contribution of utterances and non-verbal means of communication to the performance of a practical joint action. The paper utilizes an excerpt from the crystal maze as an appropriate case study. The paper will utilize a number of theoretical principles and analytical methods to analyse the transcription.
A joint action emanates from the joint attention of two or more individuals. The individuals focus on conducting a single action that is of interest to each of the individuals. Joint attention simply refers to the shared focus of multiple persons on an object of joint interest. Joint attention is critical for the development of language as a joint action is dependent on it. Aspects of language development such as comprehension and word learning are dependent on thisCITATION Hir09 \p 611 \l 1033 (Hirotani, et al., 2009, p. 611).
The context of language use looks at how language is used with regard to the setting of a particular conversation. The context looks at whether language is utilized differently in particular scenario based on the environment. The use of context allows us to assign meaning to different words. Context can be linguistic or situationalCITATION ADu97 \p 171 \l 1033 (Duranti, 1997, p. 171). Linguistic context refers to the linguistic variables while situational context refers to the non-linguistic elements that allow us to assign meaning to a word or statementCITATION MOH13 \p ": myenglishpages.com" \y \l 1033 (RHALMI, p. : myenglishpages.com).
Common ground refers to the shared knowledge, beliefs and assumptions that are critical to two parties engaged in a conversation. Common ground allows for communication to occur as both parties have mutual interest and beliefs that ensure communication is decoded appropriately. Coordination refers to the use of flexible syntactic structure to coordinate action of a joint natureCITATION HHC05 \p 508 \l 1033 (Clark, 2005, p. 508).
Activity types refer to the nature of activity that is constructed through the use of languageCITATION Ple10 \p 67 \l 1033 (Plews & Zhao, 2010, p. 67). It unfolds as a result of the interaction between individuals with the use of language only as a tool and not the basis of categorization of the activity typeCITATION STE79 \p 367 \l 1033 (Levinson, 1979, p. 367). Activity types allow for utterances to be understood as contributions to the activityCITATION EGo81 \p 231 \l 1033 (Goffman, 1981, p. 231). They follow a set schemata that allows persons in a conversation to understand the activity type without necessarily having an overt explanation as to its contentCITATION May03 \p 98 \l 1033 (Mayes, 2003, p. 98).
Joint projects look at conversation as consisting of both horizontal and vertical transitions. These transitions are taken seamlessly with limited attention paid to them. Horizontal transitions occur where two individuals are conversing. Prior to the first individual establishing a reference point and the point being understood by the second individual, the conversation remains horizontal. As soon as the second speaker understands the reference point, the transition becomes vertical.
Material signals are an element of functional-cognitive linguistics that assign meaning to signals emanating from a speaker that are non-verbal and contribute to the context of a conversationCITATION Hew05 \p 55 \l 1033 (Hewings, 2005, p. 55). These signals can be used to direct the attention of speakers by directing using gestures, expressions, sign language, etc.CITATION Bic09 \p 46 \l 1033 (Bickerton, 2009, p. 46). These material signals can also be utilized to indicate to a speaker whether the conversation is meant to be public or a private conversation. It enables to intuitively communicate complex feelings, meaning and emotions that would not be adequately conveyed verballyCITATION APa15 \p 87 \l 1033 (Pablé & Hutton, 2015, p. 87).
Deixis in linguistic refers to deictic element i.e. words whose meaning cannot be adequately surmised without contextual information. All English pronouns are deictic. The function of deictic elements is to establish the position (physical location, discourse, time) in relation to another objectCITATION Fil82 \p 40 \l 1033 (Fillmore, 1982, p. 40). Integration refers to the different action and activities that take place concurrently that come together to create one well-defined conversation. Integration brings together different but whole functioning parts of a conversation and creates a functioning wholeCITATION RHa98 \p 121 \l 1033 (Harris & Wolf, 1998, p. 121).
TRANSCRIPTION
Crystal Maze - Series 1 Episode 6
(Enters)
(Takes Position)
Show Host: (Coming onto the Set to Greet, the Contestants) 2:11
Ooooh that’s an awful lot for an old man.
(To the Contestants) Hello Chaps. Ah Six of you, you’re all here. 2:15
Show Host: (Addressing Mark)
No, ah, (stuttering) 2:18
you are gonna be…you are gonna be the…the captain aren’t you. You been. Were you elected by your peers will you? Or did you just
(Other Contestants are laughing) 2:22
Mark: (Interjects) No, I forced the decision on them 2:23
Show Host: You forced the decision? That sounds good. (Speaking directly to Mark) Now who’s the Vice captain? 2:24
Mark: (Looking at Jane) It’s Jane the vice-captain 2:28
Show Host: Jane, Hello dear 2:29
Jane: (Slightly bows hear and acknowledges the salutation) Hello
Show Host: (Addressing all the contestants)2:30
Alright, Now Jane of course will take over all the decision making should you get locked in. People do get locked in and it costs you a crystal to get the person out. 2:33
Show Host: (Looks at Mark) 2:39
Your first job is to actually get inside basically. (Removes a timepiece from his pocket) That’s gonna be a bit time consuming. (Points towards the door)You’ll find those doors open and some chains behind there and you will find a portcullis and one of the chains raises the portcullis and all the others are use...