Negotiations in Meaning, Research Paper Example

The article discusses the underlying processes associated with the learning of linguistic skills.  The essential idea that the text is discussing is the role that structured learning environments, such as classrooms, play in the development of these skills.  Studies have confirmed that the learning of language skills is more accurate in situations where the individual must repair their associations with language due to the need to reconstruct their existing understanding of language and how it works.  This deconstruction is an essential function in the development of language skills for the individuals who are being studied within the research.  It has been found that certain situations provide the necessary elements and the opportunity for advancing these linguistic skills.

The development of this breakdown and rebuilding of language is achieved more efficiently in environments that promote the study of these skills, such as when preparing for a test.  However, the studies that are discussed in the text seem to present evidence that the development of important skills also occurs in situations that require less strict adherence to specific rules.  This demonstrates the importance of discourse and informal conversation in establishing language skills as well.  The end result of this study presents the different aspects of learning that occurs within settings of conversations and structured learning systems.  While conversations provide the opportunity to develop socially relevant skills, those abilities that are developed through the structured learning process provide the ability to learn the proper use of the rules of grammar.

In this way, the idea of learning language from conversation is established as a secondary measure.  This mode of learning, while able to help the individual develop interpersonal and social relationship skills, is not as effective in helping them to understand the basic structure of grammar.  This is primarily due to the lack of an information gap in the instance of personal exchange between speakers that provides the opportunity to reconstruct the underlying concepts that these individuals have developed.  Rather than promoting the deconstruction and reconstruction of linguistic structures, conversational learning promotes the identification with specific roles in communication.  Based on the perceived social roles of those who are taking part in the conversation, the application of specific rules can differ depending on their understanding of their purpose within the conversation.

The text goes on to demonstrate the importance of utilizing both of these systems of learning in the application of linguistic education.  While it is important to comprehend the use of language, this comprehension has no use for the individual if there are no social settings to practice them in.  This is due to the importance of both the utterance and the response in the use of language.  Having a speaker to say something that requires correction essentially inspires the individual to give them the correct pronunciation or to fix the error.  This process has been shown to be effective in the learning process.  In this way, both the deconstruction of language from opportunities provided by linguistic skills tests as well as the social application of these rules within the paradigm of social conversation can provide the opportunity for individuals to hone their linguistic skills.

Data given within the essay presents the idea that these triggers for response are difficult to determine.  This is due to the fact that findings suggest that the responses given will often be dependent upon the perceived social roles of those who are having the conversation.  This presents a significant challenge, as the resulting cultural, political, psychological, and religious modes of thought are daunting in the process of structuring these responses.  These variables present a challenge in regards to the ability for researchers to categorize the perceived function of those within the conversation.  Through the application of these social roles, the individuals within the conversation will provide subtle cues that help in propelling the conversation forward.  This essentially creates a feedback loop in which the individuals can call, respond, and clarify specific information in order to establish a foundation that promotes understanding on the parts of both of the speakers.

By increasing the amount of these language tests that are undertaken, the increases in output seem to help to provide these opportunities for linguistic development. This includes the use of clarification in order to confirm information and pragmatic markers, which indicate the individual’s mental attitude toward the subject. This presents the basic idea of negotiation cycles. These are essentially conversations that have interruptions within to promote the collection of information.  This effectively works to propel the conversation forward. In this way misunderstandings and misapprehensions work along with clarification in order to help promote the development of language.  These clarifications work to create small breaks in the conversation that present the opportunity to provide more knowledge in relation to the subject of the conversation.  Clarification, in this way, is an important element in linguistic development due to the opportunities that it provides for those speaking to better understand one another and the positions that they are attempting to express through their unique cultural roles.

Opportunities for conversation, therefore, provide the ability for learning better linguistic skills.  This is due to the need for clarification of information and exchange of information within conversations.  These processes add value to the ability of individuals to apply the use of conversational methods to overcome information gaps, which has the end result of restructuring linguistic understanding and ultimately providing insight into the underlying function of language in conversation.  This process presents the importance of understanding how misunderstandings in the discourse between people can create the opportunity for the development of linguistic skills.  Information gaps, in this way, are a fundamental element in the process of language ability.  Within conversation, the need to be understood promotes the use of clarification techniques which ultimately allowed them to understand one another’s positions in a more cohesive way.

The main difference between these two forms of linguistic adaptation, as outlined here, seems to be between the roles of conversation and structured learning in the development of language. While gaps of information are often present within social conversation these can often arise due to misunderstandings in regards to the underlying structure of language. These issues are related to the structures of grammar present within language. Social conversation, on the other hand, is developed through the idea of negotiation, which is important due to the need for clarification of certain concepts. Here, the application of interpersonal language skills allow for those having the conversation to better understand one another and the points that are being made as well as the information that is being presented.  This argument presents the idea of conversational gaps as more capable of promoting the learning process within the studies that the paper oversaw. These studies present the conclusion that the role of conversation in learning language related skills needs much more attention in the future in order to determine a better way for people to learn to apply what they have learned in social situations.