Avoidance of cognitive efforts as a risk factor in interaction

In an ordinary interaction, communicants have various, mostly unconscious goals which reflect their interactional, social and personal needs. In these interactions, people's minds try to find a balance between reaching these goals and consuming cognitive energy. If a speaker puts too little effort into speech production, she risks not achieving her communicative goals. This is especially typical when the atmosphere is relaxed, a good example of which is family discourse. An analysis of recorded conversations shows that there are certain regular manifestations of risk-taking in family discourse, such as expressing immature thoughts, raising a large variety of topics and overguessing. A substantial amount of risk-taking in family discourse is in one way or another connected with false confidence in the interlocutors' common ground. Family members know each other well, which results in an overestimation of the similarity of their understanding of words and objects. This attitude leads them to use cryptic, hard-to-comprehend speech. Quick, everyday interactions are mostly automated, and the speakers do not recognise that their speech is full of implicitness and underdeterminacy.Peer reviewe

Easy and plain languages as special cases of linguistic tailoring and standard language varieties

This article aims to introduce new insights to further the understanding of easy language (EL) and plain language (PL) as examples of tailored language and place them within a broader context of linguistic varieties. We examine EL and PL in relation to standard language, and we consider the degree of conscious effort required in tailoring and the compliance with the codified norms of standard language. Both EL and PL are used in asymmetric communication: PL to mediate between specialists and the general public and EL in communication with people with language barriers. We argue that while these varieties have similar purposes and methods, they also have significant differences; for example, the tailoring moves in opposite directions, as PL seeks general comprehensibility and EL aims to reach special and vulnerable groups. The differences between PL and EL are primarily linked to social prestige and the potential risk of stigma related to their use.Peer reviewe

Interlocutors-Related and Hearer-Specific Causes of Misunderstanding: Processing Strategy, Confirmation Bias and Weak Vigilance

Noises, similarities between words, slips of the tongue, ambiguities, wrong or false beliefs, lexical deficits, inappropriate inferences, cognitive overload, non-shared knowledge, topic organisation or focusing problems, among others, may cause misunderstanding. While some of these are structural factors, others pertain to the speaker or to both the speaker and the hearer. In addition to stable factors connected with the interlocutors′ communicative abilities, cultural knowledge or patterns of thinking, other less stable factors, such as their personal relationships, psychological states or actions motivated by physiological functions, may also result in communicative problems. This paper considers a series of further factors that may eventually lead to misunderstanding, and which solely pertain to the hearer: processing strategy, confirmation bias and weak vigilance

DHN2018 - an Analysis of a Digital Humanities Conference

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Dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation for paediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Aim To evaluate communication issues during dispatcher-assisted cardiopulmonary resuscitation (DACPR) for paediatric out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in a structured manner to facilitate recommendations for training improvement. Methods A retrospective observational study evaluated DACPR communication issues using the SACCIA ® Safe Communication typology (Sufficiency, Accuracy, Clarity, Contextualization, Interpersonal Adaptation). Telephone recordings of 31 cases were transcribed verbatim and analysed with respect to encoding, decoding and transactional communication issues. Results Sixty SACCIA communication issues were observed in the 31 cases, averaging 1.9 issues per case. A majority of the issues were related to sufficiency (35%) and accuracy (35%) of communication between dispatcher and caller. Situation specific guideline application was observed in CPR practice, (co)counting and methods of compressions. Conclusion This structured evaluation identified specific issues in paediatric DACPR communication. Our training recommendations focus on situation and language specific guideline application and moving beyond verbal communication by utilizing the smart phone’s functions. Prospective efforts are necessary to follow-up its translation into better paediatric DACPR outcomes

Väärinymmärrysten anatomiaa

Kieli on ihmisen nerokkaimpia keksintöjä. Törmäämme kuitenkin joka päivä tilanteisiin, joissa kommunikaatio ei suju toivotulla tavalla. Yllättävää on se, että väärinymmärtämisiä tapahtuu yhtä paljon kotioloissa kuin keskustelussa ventovieraan kanssa

The issue of Theorizing : Object-of-Study and Methodology

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Easy language in Russia

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