> From: SABINE BRAUN <euv-6874@student.euv-frankfurt-o.de>
> Date: Wed, 28 May 2003 14:48:40 +0200 (MEST)
> Subject: RT and misunderstanding
>
>
> Dear all,
>
> my name is Sabine Braun and I am a student of linguistics at European
> University Frankfurt (Oder) / Germany. In my final thesis I am working
> on
> comprehension processes in verbal communication (comprising cases of
> understanding, misunderstanding and non-understanding in dyadic verbal
> interaction).
>
> The RT-approach is supposed to be at the heart of my considerations.
> Concerning this I have a question to ask you as RT-specialists and
> -enthusiasts.
>
> The phenomenon of verbal misunderstanding is not really considered
> within
> RT. I could find only one single remark in Sperber & Wilson's
> Relevance.
> Communication and Cognition (1995) concerning the failure of
> communication, i.e. the occurring of misunderstandings (p. 16):
>
> "A speaker who intends an utterance to be interpreted in a particular
> way
> must also expect the hearer to be able to supply a context which allows
> that interpretation to be recovered. A mismatch between the context
> envisaged by the speaker and the one actually used by the hearer may
> result in a misunderstanding"
>
>
> This short comment just mentions one possible reason for the occurring
> of
> misunderstandings but does not go any deeper.
>
> Why is unsuccessful communication neglected within RT? Is not it as
> much
> worth explaining as successful communication? Isn't an approach which
> claims to provide a theory for successful comprehension processes also
> supposed to deal with the opposite phenomenon? That is to say that the
> possibility of failure of verbal interaction should be automatically
> incorporated within a theory of successful communication (= RT). It
> seems
> to me that these are two sides of the same coin.
>
> I'd really appreciate your comments on this.
>
> Maybe in your opinion this is not a question worth raising. If that is
> the
> case I am even more interested in your comments.
>
> Thanks very much in advance.
>
> Best wishes
>
> Sabine Braun.
>
>
>
> Sabine Braun
> Richard-Sorge-Str. 63
> 10249 Berlin
> ratzfatz@gmx.li
>
>
>
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